Staurakios (eunuch)
Encyclopedia
Staurakios (died on June 3, 800) was a Byzantine
eunuch
official, who rose to be one of the most important and influential associates of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens (r. 797–802). He effectively acted as chief minister during her regency for her young son, Emperor Constantine VI (r. 780–797) in 780–790, until overthrown and exiled by a military revolt in favour of the young Byzantine emperor in 790. Restored to power along with Irene in 792, he aided her in the removal, blinding, and possible murder of Emperor Constantine VI in 797. His own position thereafter was threatened by the rise of another powerful eunuch, Aetios
. Their increasing rivalry, and Staurakios's own imperial ambitions, were only resolved by Staurakios's death.
, the Byzantine Empire's foreign minister. Already holding the high court rank of patrikios, through this appointment Staurakios became, in the words of Theophanes the Confessor
, "the foremost man of his day and in charge of everything" for most of Empress Irene's subsequent reign. This appointment was part of Empress Irene's consistent policy to rely on eunuch officials as ministers and generals, in large part the result of her distrust towards the established generals of her late husband, Emperor Leo IV
(r. 775–780) and his father Emperor Constantine V
(r. 741–775). The generals, intensely loyal to the Isaurian dynasty and its vehemently iconoclastic policies, could threaten her own position: already a few weeks after Emperor Leo IV's death, Irene had foiled a palace plot to put his surviving brother, the Caesar
Nikephoros
, on the throne.
This reliance on eunuchs caused some hostility in the military; resentment at Staurakios's appointment to this powerful post is given by the Byzantine chroniclers as the reason for the (initially secret) defection of the prominent Armenian
strategos
of the Bucellarian Theme
, Tatzates
, to the Arabs in 782. This was a critical blow to the Byzantines, who at that time had almost succeeded in encircling the army of the future Caliph Harun al-Rashid
(r. 786–809). On Tatzates's suggestion, Harun asked for negotiations, but when the imperial envoys, including Staurakios, arrived, they were seized and held as hostages. At this point, Tatzates and his men publicly went over to the Caliph. Staurakios and the other envoys were released only when Empress Irene accepted the Caliph's harsh terms for a three-year truce, including the annual payment of an enormous tribute of 70,000 or 90,000 gold dinars
and the handing over of 10,000 silk garments.
In the next year, Staurakios led an imperial expedition against the Slavic communities (Sclaviniae) of Greece
. Setting out from Constantinople
, the imperial army followed the Thracian
coast into Macedonia
, and then south into Thessaly
, Central Greece
and the Peloponnese
. This expedition restored a measure of Byzantine imperial authority over these areas, and collected booty and tribute from the locals. Empress Irene rewarded her loyal minister by allowing him to celebrate a triumph
in the Hippodrome of Constantinople
in January 784.
Buoyed by this success, which was followed by a restoration of imperial control in much of Thrace as far as Philippopolis
, Irene moved towards the restoration of the veneration of icons
, which had been prohibited by Emperor Constantine V. A new ecumenical council
was convened. Initially, in 786, it was held in the Church of the Holy Apostles
in Constantinople, but the soldiers of the tagmata
, founded by Emperor Constantine V and loyal to his iconoclastic policies, gathered outside in protest and forced the assembly to be broken up. In order to neutralize their reaction, Empress Irene sent the tagmata to the army base of Malagina
in Bithynia
, allegedly in preparation for a campaign against the Arabs. There, some 1,500 of the soldiers were dismissed while Staurakios brought loyal thematic troops from Thrace to guard the capital. Irene then reconvened the council at Nicaea, after dismissing the most recalcitrant iconoclast bishops. Predictably, iconoclasm was overturned as a heresy
, and the veneration of images was restored.
was chosen, although Constantine was unhappy about the breaking up of his earlier betrothal with Rotrude
, Charlemagne
's daughter. From this point on, he began to resent his mother's control over state affairs and the power of her eunuch officials. Along with a few trusted conspirators, Emperor Constantine VI planned to arrest Staurakios and exile him to Sicily
, while he would assume his position as effective co-ruler of the Byzantine Empire. Their plans were preempted by Staurakios, however: he persuaded Empress Irene to arrest, torture, exile or imprison Emperor Constantine's associates, while Constantine was placed under house arrest. Next, Empress Irene demanded of the army an oath
of loyalty
which placed her before Emperor Constantine as a ruler. This demand provoked a mutiny by the soldiers of the Armeniac Theme
, which then spread throughout the Anatolian armies, which assembled in Bithynia and demanded Emperor Constantine's release. Bowing to their pressure, Empress Irene capitulated and Emperor Constantine was installed as sole ruler in December 790. Among Constantine's first acts as Byzantine emperor was to have Staurakios flogged, tonsured
, and exiled to the Armeniac Theme, while all other eunuch officials were likewise exiled.
Irene remained confined in a palace at the Harbour of Eleutherios in the capital and retained her formal title as empress of the Byzantine Empire. Then, on January 15, 792, for reasons not clear, she was recalled to the imperial palace with her title as Byzantine empress and co-ruler confirmed and her name restored in the imperial acclamations. Staurakios too seems to have been recalled and, along with Empress Irene, again took an active role in the governance of the state. This turn of events drove the Armeniacs once again to mutiny, but their commander, Alexios Mosele
, was in Constantinople. Despite guarantees of safety, Mosele was imprisoned and later blinded
at the instigation of Empress Irene and Staurakios, both eager to take revenge for his role in their overthrow in 790.
This alienated the army, especially the Armeniacs, who had provided a firm support base for Emperor Constantine against his mother. In 795, he also strained relations with the Church in the so-called "Moechian Controversy", when he divorced Maria and married his mistress Theodote
. As a result, Empress Irene's own position with the Byzantine Empire's bureaucracy became stronger and she began plotting against her son. While Irene bribed the tagmata
, Staurakios and other agents of Empress Irene foiled an expedition headed by Emperor Constantine against the Arabs, afraid that a victory would boost the Byzantine emperor's standing with the people and the army. As he returned to the capital, Constantine was seized and blinded. Although it was officially stated that he survived and remained imprisoned, he likely died of his wounds.
With the removal of Emperor Constantine VI, Irene henceforth reigned alone, the first Byzantine empress to do so. Staurakios, however, found his own position increasingly challenged by another powerful eunuch and trusted servant of the Byzantine empress, Aetios
. Both were engaged in an intense rivalry to place their relatives in positions of power so as to secure control of the Byzantine Empire after Empress Irene's death.
This rivalry intensified when Empress Irene fell seriously ill in May 799. With the backing of the Domestic of the Schools
Niketas Triphyllios, Aetios accused Staurakios to Empress Irene of planning to usurp the throne. Irene held a council at the Palace of Hieria
, where her powerful minister was rebuked but got off with an apology. Staurakios now prepared his own counter stroke, bribing members of the tagmata, although he seems to have lacked supporters among the higher command echelons. Although a eunuch was legally barred from the imperial throne, Staurakios nevertheless seems to have aspired to seize it for himself. Warned by Aetios, Empress Irene issued orders in February 800 that no one from the military should have any contact with Staurakios. This measure curbed the latter's designs, and introduced a precarious balance between Staurakios and Aetios, supported by Niketas Triphyllios. Soon after, Staurakios fell fatally ill, reportedly coughing up blood
. Nevertheless, persuaded by doctors
, monks
and soothsayers
that he would live and become Byzantine emperor, he instigated a revolt in Cappadocia
against his adversary Aetios, who had by then secured the post of strategos of the Anatolic Theme
(the highest-ranked military position in the Byzantine Empire). Even before news of the revolt, which was swiftly suppressed, reached the capital, however, Staurakios died on June 3, 800.
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
eunuch
Eunuch
A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...
official, who rose to be one of the most important and influential associates of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens (r. 797–802). He effectively acted as chief minister during her regency for her young son, Emperor Constantine VI (r. 780–797) in 780–790, until overthrown and exiled by a military revolt in favour of the young Byzantine emperor in 790. Restored to power along with Irene in 792, he aided her in the removal, blinding, and possible murder of Emperor Constantine VI in 797. His own position thereafter was threatened by the rise of another powerful eunuch, Aetios
Aetios (eunuch)
Aetios or Aetius was a Byzantine eunuch official, one of the most trusted advisers of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens . After Irene's rise to sole rule, Aetios developed an intense rivalry with her eunuch chief minister Staurakios. After Staurakios's death, Aetios became the leading man in the...
. Their increasing rivalry, and Staurakios's own imperial ambitions, were only resolved by Staurakios's death.
First minister under Irene's regency
Staurakios emerged into prominence in 781, when Irene, as regent for her infant son Emperor Constantine VI (r. 780–797), appointed him to the post of logothetes tou dromouLogothetes tou dromou
The logothetēs tou dromou , in English usually rendered as Logothete of the Course/Drome/Dromos or Postal Logothete, was the head of the department of the Dromos, the Public Post , and one of the most senior ministers of the Byzantine Empire.- History and functions :The exact origin and date of...
, the Byzantine Empire's foreign minister. Already holding the high court rank of patrikios, through this appointment Staurakios became, in the words of Theophanes the Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor
Saint Theophanes Confessor was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He is venerated on March 12 in the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church .-Biography:Theophanes was born in Constantinople of wealthy and noble iconodule parents: Isaac,...
, "the foremost man of his day and in charge of everything" for most of Empress Irene's subsequent reign. This appointment was part of Empress Irene's consistent policy to rely on eunuch officials as ministers and generals, in large part the result of her distrust towards the established generals of her late husband, Emperor Leo IV
Leo IV the Khazar
Leo IV the Khazar was Byzantine Emperor from 775 to 780 CE.Leo was the son of Emperor Constantine V by his first wife, Irene of Khazaria , the daughter of a Khagan of the Khazars...
(r. 775–780) and his father Emperor Constantine V
Constantine V
Constantine V was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775; ); .-Early life:...
(r. 741–775). The generals, intensely loyal to the Isaurian dynasty and its vehemently iconoclastic policies, could threaten her own position: already a few weeks after Emperor Leo IV's death, Irene had foiled a palace plot to put his surviving brother, the Caesar
Caesar (title)
Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
Nikephoros
Nikephoros (Caesar)
Nikephoros , also Latinized as Nicephorus or Nicephoros, was the second son of the Byzantine emperor Constantine V and Caesar of the Byzantine Empire. He was engaged in a plot against his half-brother, Leo IV Nikephoros , also Latinized as Nicephorus or Nicephoros, was the second son of the...
, on the throne.
This reliance on eunuchs caused some hostility in the military; resentment at Staurakios's appointment to this powerful post is given by the Byzantine chroniclers as the reason for the (initially secret) defection of the prominent Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
of the Bucellarian Theme
Bucellarian Theme
The Bucellarian Theme , more properly known as the Theme of the Bucellarians was a Byzantine theme in northern Asia Minor...
, Tatzates
Tatzates
Tatzates or Tatzatios was a prominent Byzantine general of Armenian descent, who in 782 defected to the Abbasids and was appointed governor of Armenia.-Life:...
, to the Arabs in 782. This was a critical blow to the Byzantines, who at that time had almost succeeded in encircling the army of the future Caliph Harun al-Rashid
Harun al-Rashid
Hārūn al-Rashīd was the fifth Arab Abbasid Caliph in Iraq. He was born in Rey, Iran, close to modern Tehran. His birth date remains a point of discussion, though, as various sources give the dates from 763 to 766)....
(r. 786–809). On Tatzates's suggestion, Harun asked for negotiations, but when the imperial envoys, including Staurakios, arrived, they were seized and held as hostages. At this point, Tatzates and his men publicly went over to the Caliph. Staurakios and the other envoys were released only when Empress Irene accepted the Caliph's harsh terms for a three-year truce, including the annual payment of an enormous tribute of 70,000 or 90,000 gold dinars
Gold Dinar
The gold dinar is a gold coin first issued in 77 AH by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The name is derived from denarius, a Roman currency...
and the handing over of 10,000 silk garments.
In the next year, Staurakios led an imperial expedition against the Slavic communities (Sclaviniae) of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. Setting out from 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:...
, the imperial army followed the Thracian
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...
coast into Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
, and then south into Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
, Central Greece
Central Greece
Continental Greece or Central Greece , colloquially known as Roúmeli , is a geographical region of Greece. Its territory is divided into the administrative regions of Central Greece, Attica, and part of West Greece...
and the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
. This expedition restored a measure of Byzantine imperial authority over these areas, and collected booty and tribute from the locals. Empress Irene rewarded her loyal minister by allowing him to celebrate a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
in the Hippodrome of Constantinople
Hippodrome of Constantinople
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with only a few fragments of the original structure surviving...
in January 784.
Buoyed by this success, which was followed by a restoration of imperial control in much of Thrace as far as Philippopolis
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
, Irene moved towards the restoration of the veneration of icons
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
, which had been prohibited by Emperor Constantine V. A new ecumenical council
Second Council of Nicaea
The Second Council of Nicaea is regarded as the Seventh Ecumenical Council by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic Churches and various other Western Christian groups...
was convened. Initially, in 786, it was held in the Church of the Holy Apostles
Church of the Holy Apostles
The Church of the Holy Apostles , also known as the Imperial Polyandreion, was a Christian church built in Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, in 550. It was second only to the Church of the Holy Wisdom among the great churches of the capital...
in Constantinople, but the soldiers of the tagmata
Tagma (military)
The tagma is a term for a military unit of battalion or regiment size. The best-known and most technical use of the term however refers to the elite regiments formed by Byzantine emperor Constantine V and comprising the central army of the Byzantine Empire in the 8th–11th centuries.-History and...
, founded by Emperor Constantine V and loyal to his iconoclastic policies, gathered outside in protest and forced the assembly to be broken up. In order to neutralize their reaction, Empress Irene sent the tagmata to the army base of Malagina
Malagina
Malagina , in later times Melangeia , was a Byzantine district in the valley of the Sangarius river in northern Bithynia, which served as a major encampment and fortified staging area for the Byzantine army...
in Bithynia
Bithynia
Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...
, allegedly in preparation for a campaign against the Arabs. There, some 1,500 of the soldiers were dismissed while Staurakios brought loyal thematic troops from Thrace to guard the capital. Irene then reconvened the council at Nicaea, after dismissing the most recalcitrant iconoclast bishops. Predictably, iconoclasm was overturned as a heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
, and the veneration of images was restored.
Clash with Constantine VI
In 788, Staurakios is recorded as attending as a judge in the bride show for the 17-year-old Constantine VI, along with Irene and the young Byzantine emperor himself. Maria of AmniaMaria of Amnia
Maria of Amnia was the first Empress consort of Constantine VI of the Byzantine Empire.-Family:Maria was born in Amnia, Paphlagonia. The name of her father is unknown. Her mother has been identified as Hypatia by Christian Settipani. Her maternal grandfather was Saint Philaretos, a magnate from...
was chosen, although Constantine was unhappy about the breaking up of his earlier betrothal with Rotrude
Rotrude
Rotrude was the second daughter of Charlemagne from his marriage to Hildegard.-Early life:...
, Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
's daughter. From this point on, he began to resent his mother's control over state affairs and the power of her eunuch officials. Along with a few trusted conspirators, Emperor Constantine VI planned to arrest Staurakios and exile him to Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, while he would assume his position as effective co-ruler of the Byzantine Empire. Their plans were preempted by Staurakios, however: he persuaded Empress Irene to arrest, torture, exile or imprison Emperor Constantine's associates, while Constantine was placed under house arrest. Next, Empress Irene demanded of the army an oath
Oath
An oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...
of loyalty
Loyalty
Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person, country, group, or cause There are many aspects to...
which placed her before Emperor Constantine as a ruler. This demand provoked a mutiny by the soldiers of the Armeniac Theme
Armeniac Theme
The Armeniac Theme , more properly the Theme of the Armeniacs was a Byzantine theme located in northeastern Asia Minor .-History:...
, which then spread throughout the Anatolian armies, which assembled in Bithynia and demanded Emperor Constantine's release. Bowing to their pressure, Empress Irene capitulated and Emperor Constantine was installed as sole ruler in December 790. Among Constantine's first acts as Byzantine emperor was to have Staurakios flogged, tonsured
Tonsure
Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...
, and exiled to the Armeniac Theme, while all other eunuch officials were likewise exiled.
Irene remained confined in a palace at the Harbour of Eleutherios in the capital and retained her formal title as empress of the Byzantine Empire. Then, on January 15, 792, for reasons not clear, she was recalled to the imperial palace with her title as Byzantine empress and co-ruler confirmed and her name restored in the imperial acclamations. Staurakios too seems to have been recalled and, along with Empress Irene, again took an active role in the governance of the state. This turn of events drove the Armeniacs once again to mutiny, but their commander, Alexios Mosele
Alexios Mosele (general)
Alexios Mosele or Mousoulem/Mousele was a late 8th-century Byzantine general of Armenian origin.Alexios is the first known member of the Mosele/Mousele family of Armenian origin. In 790, he was the droungarios of the Vigla guard regiment...
, was in Constantinople. Despite guarantees of safety, Mosele was imprisoned and later 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...
at the instigation of Empress Irene and Staurakios, both eager to take revenge for his role in their overthrow in 790.
This alienated the army, especially the Armeniacs, who had provided a firm support base for Emperor Constantine against his mother. In 795, he also strained relations with the Church in the so-called "Moechian Controversy", when he divorced Maria and married his mistress Theodote
Theodote
Theodote was the second Empress consort of Constantine VI of the Byzantine Empire.-Family:Theodote was a member of a distinguished family of Constantinople. Her brother Sergios was mentioned as a hypatos. Their mother Anna was a sister of Theoktiste and her brother Platon...
. As a result, Empress Irene's own position with the Byzantine Empire's bureaucracy became stronger and she began plotting against her son. While Irene bribed the tagmata
Tagma (military)
The tagma is a term for a military unit of battalion or regiment size. The best-known and most technical use of the term however refers to the elite regiments formed by Byzantine emperor Constantine V and comprising the central army of the Byzantine Empire in the 8th–11th centuries.-History and...
, Staurakios and other agents of Empress Irene foiled an expedition headed by Emperor Constantine against the Arabs, afraid that a victory would boost the Byzantine emperor's standing with the people and the army. As he returned to the capital, Constantine was seized and blinded. Although it was officially stated that he survived and remained imprisoned, he likely died of his wounds.
Irene's sole rule and Staurakios's rivalry with Aetios
Aetios (eunuch)
Aetios or Aetius was a Byzantine eunuch official, one of the most trusted advisers of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens . After Irene's rise to sole rule, Aetios developed an intense rivalry with her eunuch chief minister Staurakios. After Staurakios's death, Aetios became the leading man in the...
. Both were engaged in an intense rivalry to place their relatives in positions of power so as to secure control of the Byzantine Empire after Empress Irene's death.
This rivalry intensified when Empress Irene fell seriously ill in May 799. With the backing of the Domestic of the Schools
Domestic of the Schools
The Domestic of the Schools was a senior Byzantine military office, extant from the 8th century until at least the early 14th century. Originally simply the commander of the Scholai, the senior of the elite tagmata regiments, the Domestic quickly rose in prominence: by the mid-9th century, its...
Niketas Triphyllios, Aetios accused Staurakios to Empress Irene of planning to usurp the throne. Irene held a council at the Palace of Hieria
Hieria
Hieria , modern Fenerbahçe, was a suburb of Byzantine-era Constantinople . It is prominent in the city's history as the site of an imperial palace....
, where her powerful minister was rebuked but got off with an apology. Staurakios now prepared his own counter stroke, bribing members of the tagmata, although he seems to have lacked supporters among the higher command echelons. Although a eunuch was legally barred from the imperial throne, Staurakios nevertheless seems to have aspired to seize it for himself. Warned by Aetios, Empress Irene issued orders in February 800 that no one from the military should have any contact with Staurakios. This measure curbed the latter's designs, and introduced a precarious balance between Staurakios and Aetios, supported by Niketas Triphyllios. Soon after, Staurakios fell fatally ill, reportedly coughing up blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
. Nevertheless, persuaded by doctors
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, monks
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
and soothsayers
Soothsayer
Soothsayer may refer to:* One practicing divination, including:** Fortune-teller** Oracle* The Soothsayer, an album by Wayne Shorter* "Soothsayer", a song by Buckethead from Crime Slunk Scene...
that he would live and become Byzantine emperor, he instigated a revolt in Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
against his adversary Aetios, who had by then secured the post of strategos of the Anatolic Theme
Anatolic Theme
The Anatolic Theme , more properly known as the Theme of the Anatolics was a Byzantine theme in central Asia Minor...
(the highest-ranked military position in the Byzantine Empire). Even before news of the revolt, which was swiftly suppressed, reached the capital, however, Staurakios died on June 3, 800.