Philippikos or Philippicus , was Emperor of Byzantium from 711 to 713.

Biography

Philippicus was originally named Bardanes , and was the son of the patrician Nikephorus, who was of Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

n extraction from an Armenian colony in Pergamum.

Relying on the support of the Monothelite party, he made some pretensions to the throne on the outbreak of the first great rebellion against Justinian II

Justinian II

Justinian II , surnamed the Rhinotmetos or Rhinotmetus , was the last Byzantine Emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711...

; these led to his relegation to Cephalonia by Tiberius Apsimarus

Tiberios III

Tiberios III was Byzantine emperor from 698 to 21 August 705. Although his rule was considered generally successful, especially in containing the Arab threat to the east, he was overthrown by the former emperor Justinian II and subsequently executed.-Rise to power:Tiberius was a Germanic naval...

, and subsequently to his banishment, by order of Justinian, to Cherson. Here Bardanes, taking the name of Philippicus, successfully incited the inhabitants to revolt with the help of the Khazars

Khazars

The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...

. The successful rebels seized Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 and Justinian fled (to be assassinated soon afterward, unable to rally substantial support in the provinces); Philippikos took the throne.

Reign

Among his first acts were the deposition of the orthodox patriarch Cyrus

Patriarch Kyros of Constantinople

Kyros or Cyrus , Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 705 to 712. He is regarded as a saint in the Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church, which had set his feast for January 7 in Roman Catholic Church and January 8 in Orthodox Church. Cyrus was placed on the patriarchal throne in 705 by...

 of Constantinople, in favour of John VI

Patriarch John VI of Constantinople

John VI , Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 712 to 715.John VI was placed on the patriarchal throne in 712 by Emperor Philippikos, as a replacement for the deposed Patriarch Kyros. John was favored by Philippikos, because he shared his Monothelite sympathies...

, a member of his own sect, and the summoning of a conciliabulum

Conciliabulum

Conciliabulum is a Latin word meaning a place of assembly. Its implication transferred to a gathering, such as a conventicle or conference....

 of Eastern bishops, which abolished the canons of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. In response the Roman Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 refused to recognize the new emperor and his patriarch. Meanwhile Tervel of Bulgaria

Tervel of Bulgaria

Khan Tervel also called Tarvel, or Terval, or Terbelis in some Byzantine sources, was the Emperor of the Bulgarians at the beginning of the 8th century. In 705 he received the title Caesar which was a precedent in history. He was probably a Christian like his grandfather Khan Kubrat...

 plundered up to the walls of Constantinople in 712. When Philippicus transferred an army from the Opsikion

Opsikion

The Opsician Theme or simply Opsikion was a Byzantine theme located in northwestern Asia Minor . Created from the imperial retinue army, the Opsikion was the largest and most prestigious of the early themes, being located closest to Constantinople...

 theme to police the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

, the Umayyad

Umayyad

The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...

 Caliphate

Caliphate

The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...

 under Al-Walid I made inroads across the weakened defenses of Asia Minor

Asia Minor

Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...

.

In late May 713 the Opsikion troops rebelled in Thrace

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

. Several of their officers penetrated the city and blinded

Political mutilation in Byzantine culture

Mutilation in the Byzantine Empire was a common method of punishment for criminals of the era but it also had a role in the Empire's political life. The mutilation of political rivals by the Emperor was deemed an effective way of sidelining from the line of succession a person who was seen as a...

 Philippicus on June 3, 713 while he was at a public bathhouse. He was succeeded for a short while by his principal secretary, Artemius, who was raised to the purple as Emperor Anastasius II

Anastasios II (emperor)

Artemius Anastasius , known in English as Anastasios II or Anastasius II, , was Byzantine emperor from 713 to 715....

.

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