Alexios Mosele () or Musele/Mousele (Μουσελέ) was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

aristocrat and general, chosen by Emperor Theophilos (r. 829–842) for a time as his heir, betrothed to his daughter Maria and raised to the supreme dignity of ''

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

''. He campaigned in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, recovering territory from the

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

, and fought with some success in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

against the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

. Recalled to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

on suspicion of plotting to usurp the throne, he was imprisoned but later pardoned and allowed to retire to a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, where he spent the remainder of his days.

Biography

Alexios was possibly the son or the grandson of the general Alexios Mosele, who had been active under

Constantine VI Constantine VI (, 14 January 771 – before 805), sometimes called the Blind, was Byzantine emperor from 780 to 797. The only child of Emperor Leo IV, Constantine was named co-emperor with him at the age of five in 776 and succeeded him as sol ...

(r. 780–797), although Byzantine chroniclers record that he was descended from the Krenites family. A brother named Theodosios, who held the high court title of ''

patrikios The patricians (from ) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 B ...

'', is also recorded.. Sometime between 838 and 839, Alexios was engaged to the princess Maria, Emperor Theophilos's youngest and favourite daughter, despite the fact that she was an

infant In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of ...

. Theophilos had no male heir at the time, and this move was evidently intended as marking out Alexios as his heir apparent. He was progressively promoted to ''patrikios'' and ''

anthypatos ''Anthypatos'' () is the translation in Greek of the Latin ''proconsul''. In the Greek-speaking East, it was used to denote this office in Roman and early Byzantine times, surviving as an administrative office until the 9th century. Thereafter, an ...

'', then to ''

magistros The (Latin; ; ) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called ''magist ...

'' and eventually to ''

''.. He was the only person known to have been promoted to the rank during Theophilos's reign, and may indeed have been raised to it as early as 831, when the presence of an unnamed ''Caesar'' is attested at an imperial triumph. Alternatively, it may be a reference to another, otherwise unknown, holder of the title, who probably died shortly after.. In summer 836, Mosele was dispatched with an army against the

Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. Instead of confronting them, however, he focused on recovering for the Byzantine Empire the coastal strip between the rivers Nestos and Strymon, which had been abandoned to the local Slavs by the Byzantine-Bulgarian Treaty of 816. In this way, he restored the direct land connection between Thrace and

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area) and the capital city, capital of the geographic reg ...

, the Empire's major Balkan city. After founding a new city, named ''

Caesaropolis Caesaropolis () was a Byzantine city on the coast of eastern Macedonia (region), Macedonia. It was founded in 836 by the ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' Alexios Mosele (Caesar), Alexios Mosele to consolidate Byzantine control over the Slavic tribes of ...

'' after himself, he returned to Constantinople. Alexios may have participated in Theophilos's successful campaign against Melitene in 837, as he is recorded to have participated in the triumph that followed the emperor's return. This, however, is disputed by some scholars. In 838, Mosele was sent on an expedition against the Arabs in

. There, he achieved a number of successes, forcing the Arabs to raise their siege of Cephaloedium, and inflicted several defeats upon their forces. His forces, however, were insufficient to evict the Arabs altogether from their holdings in the western part of the island, and in late 838 he suffered a defeat at the hands of fresh Arab reinforcements. In 842 he was accused by some Sicilians of colluding with the Arabs and planning to become emperor himself. To avoid forcing his ''Caesar'' into a corner, Theophilos sent Theodore Crithinus, Archbishop of Syracuse, to recall him under guarantees of personal safety. Nevertheless, upon his arrival in the capital, Alexios was stripped of his titles, beaten, and imprisoned. Theodore Crithinus publicly confronted the emperor for his breach of his word at the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae, but the enraged Theophilos had him beaten and exiled as well. Soon, however, the

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

John the Grammarian too publicly berated Theophilos. The emperor relented, released both Theodore and Alexios, and restored the latter to his rank and property. His relations with the emperor, however, cooled considerably, particularly after the birth, in 840, of Theophilos's son,

Michael III Michael III (; 9/10 January 840 – 24 September 867), also known as Michael the Drunkard, was Byzantine emperor from 842 to 867. Michael III was the third and traditionally last member of the Amorian dynasty, Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty. He ...

(r. 842–867). By 842, Mosele had retired to a monastery at the quarter of ''ta Anthemiou'' in Chrysopolis, which he himself had founded. Nothing is known of him thereafter..

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mosele, Alexios 9th-century Byzantine military personnel Byzantine generals Byzantine people of Armenian descent Caesars (heirs apparent) Byzantine heirs apparent who never acceded Patricii Phrygian dynasty Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Byzantine governors of Sicily Magistroi People of the Muslim conquest of Sicily Founders of Christian monasteries