Tiberius Petasius 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 ...

usurper A usurper is an illegitimate or controversial claimant to power, often but not always in a monarchy. In other words, one who takes the power of a country, city, or established region for oneself, without any formal or legal right to claim it a ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

730/731.

History

Very little of Tiberius life is known, other than that he was born Petasius, and that he revolted against the Byzantine Emperor

Leo III the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian (; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was the first List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor of the Isaurian dynasty from 717 until his death in 741. He put an end to the Twenty Years' Anarchy, a period o ...

() in either 730 or 731, in

Tuscia Tuscia ( , ) is a historical region of central Italy that comprises part of the territories under Etruscan influence, or Etruria, named so since the Roman conquest. From the Middle Ages, the name was used to refer to three macro-areas: the " ...

, taking the

regnal name A regnal name, regnant name, or reign name is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they accede ...

Tiberius. It is possible that he was acclaimed as emperor by local Italian assemblies, who subsequently lost heart when the rebellion of Agallianos Kontoskeles in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

was crushed. Tiberius gained the allegiance of several towns near Tuscia, including Castrum Manturianense (identified by the historian Ludovico Muratori as modern-day

Barbarano Romano Barbarano Romano is a (municipality) in the Province of Viterbo in the Italian region of Latium, located about northwest of Rome and about south of Viterbo. Barbarano Romano borders the following municipalities: Blera, Capranica, Vejano, Vet ...

Blera Blera is a small town and ''comune'' in the northern Lazio region of Italy. It was known during the Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, ...

, and Luna (modern-day location unknown, but likely not the

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

in northern

Etruria Etruria ( ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and north-western Umbria. It was inhabited by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that f ...

); Tiberius based himself out of Castrum Manturianense. The

Exarch of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna (; ), also known as the Exarchate of Italy, was an administrative district of the Byzantine Empire comprising, between the 6th and 8th centuries, the territories under the jurisdiction of the exarch of Italy (''exarchus ...

, Eutychius (), was sent to suppress Tiberius revolt. Eutychius was short on manpower, thus Pope Gregory II (), who did not support Leo III, but opposed the creation of rival emperors, sent several bishops, as well as Papal forces to support Eutychius. Their combined armies marched to Castrum Manturianense, crushed the rebellion in battle, and killed Tiberius. After killing Tiberius, Eutychius sent his head to Leo III. The issue of

Iconoclasm Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

may have played a part in Tiberius revolt, with Tiberius deriving support from Italians who opposed Leo III's iconoclastic policies, although the only source which states that the anti-Iconoclastic sentiment of the Italians was related to the revolt of Tiberius comes from a much later anti-Iconoclast.

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* * * * * * * * * Byzantine usurpers 8th-century Byzantine people 8th-century Italian people Exarchate of Ravenna 730s deaths Year of birth unknown {{Byzantine-bio-stub