Alexios Aspietes (Greek:Ἀλέξιος Ἀσπιέτης,fl. 1159–1205) was aByzantine governor and military leader who was captured by theBulgarians, and led an anti-Bulgarian rebellion atPhilippopolis in 1205, being acclaimed emperor by the citizens.

A member of theAspietes family, of nobleArmenian origin,^[1] Alexios Aspietes was probably a relative of the generalsMichael Aspietes andConstantine Aspietes, who were active in the late 12th century.^[2] Alexios Aspietes first appears in 1195, when he was governor of the town ofSerres, and was ordered by EmperorAlexios III Angelos to march against theBulgarian–Vlachrebellion of the brothersPeter andIvan Asen. In the event, in the summer or autumn of the same year, Aspietes and his army were defeated by the rebels, who took many prisoners, including Aspietes himself.^[3]

Aspietes disappears from the record for the next decade, but was apparently released from captivity, since in 1205 he is mentioned as being in Philippopolis (modernPlovdiv in Bulgaria). In the aftermath of the crushing victory by the Bulgarian tsarKaloyan over the forces of theLatin Empire at theBattle of Adrianople on 14 April, the mostlyByzantine Greek citizenry of Philippopolis rose up in opposition to the imminent conquest of their city by Kaloyan, and proclaimed Aspietes asemperor. Kaloyan immediately turned his army on the city, and after a brief resistance, the inhabitants were forced to surrender on terms in June. Kaloyan, however, enraged by the Greeks' collusion with the Latins, did not keep his word and executed the city's leaders, including Aspietes who, according toNiketas Choniates, was first left hanging upside down before being dismembered and thrown into a ravine to be eaten by the vultures.^[4]

• Kazhdan, Alexander (1991). "Aspietes". InKazhdan, Alexander (ed.).The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 211–212.ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
• Savvides, Alexis G. K. (1991). "Notes on the Armeno-Byzantine family of Aspietes, late 11th-early 13th centuries".Byzantinoslavica.52. Prague:70–79.

• 12th-century births
• 1205 deaths
• 12th-century Byzantine military personnel
• 13th-century Byzantine military personnel
• Aspietes family
• Byzantine governors
• Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars
• Byzantine pretenders
• Byzantine prisoners of war
• Byzantine usurpers
• 13th-century executions
• Dismemberments
• History of Plovdiv
• Military history of Serres

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