Anna (Greek: Άννα,fl. 715–773 CE) was the wife ofArtabasdos, one of two rivalByzantine emperors in a civil war which lasted from June, 741 to November, 743 CE.[1][2][3] The other emperor was her brother,Constantine V.
Anna was a daughter ofLeo III the Isaurian and his wifeMaria. She was a sister ofConstantine V.[4][page needed][5][6][page needed] She also had two sisters named Irene and Kosmo, whose names and place of burial were recorded inDe Ceremoniis byConstantine VII, however nothing else is known of them.
The throne of theByzantine Empire was unstable in the early 710s.Justinian II had been deposed and executed in 711. His deposition was followed by the brief reigns ofPhilippikos (711–713),Anastasios II (713–715) andTheodosios III (715–717). All three were elevated to the throne aftercoup d'états by factions of theByzantine army.
Under these conditions two military commanders sought each other as allies. According to the chronicle ofTheophanes the Confessor,Leo,strategos of theAnatolikonTheme andArtabasdos, strategos of the Armeniac Theme, formed an alliance in 715. Their goal was the eventual deposition of Theodosios and elevation of Leo to the throne. The alliance was sealed with the betrothal of Anna to Artabasdos.[6][page needed]
Their revolt was launched two years later and succeeded in both its stated goals. On 25 March 717, Leo was proclaimed emperor inHagia Sophia. Anna was at this point a member of the new imperial family. Her marriage to Artabasdos followed the successful elevation of her father. Her husband was soon appointedkouropalatēs ("master of the palace") andkomēs of theOpsikion theme, while retaining control of his original command.[6][page needed]
The religious policies of Leo III divided theChalcedonianChristianity of his time toIconoclasts andIconodules. With the Emperor leading the former and prosecuting the latter.Leo III the Isaurian died on 18 June 741.
He was succeeded byConstantine V, his only known son. Constantine was also an Iconoclast and enjoyed support from their faction. On the other hand, Artabasdos gathered support from the Iconodules in preparation for a revolt.
In June 741/742, Constantine was crossingAsia Minor to campaign against theUmayyad Caliphate underHisham ibn Abd al-Malik on the eastern frontier. The forces of Artabasdos attacked his brother-in-law during this course. Defeated, Constantine sought refuge inAmorion, while the victor advanced onConstantinople and was accepted as emperor.
Artabasdos was crowned Emperor byPatriarch Anastasius of Constantinople. Anna was declared anAugusta and their son Nikephoros was raised to co-emperor. Artabasdus declared himself the "Protector of the Holy Icons" and sought to secure himself in the throne. His main support base consisted of the Armeniac, Opsikion and the province ofThrace. He was recognised as Emperor by Iconodule religious leaders, includingPope Zachary.
The civil war lasted for about two years, ending with the defeat of Artabasdos. The first major battle took place nearSardis,Lydia in May 743. An army led byNiketas, another son of Artabasdos, was defeated in August. Constantine headed for Constantinople and managed to capture the city three months later. Artabasdos was deposed on 2 November 743.
Theophanes records that Constantine had Artabasdos, Nikephoros, and Niketas first incarcerated and then subjected topublic humiliation in theHippodrome of Constantinople.[2] All three were thenblinded and exiled to themonastery of Chora. According toLife of Michael the Syncellus:
Anna and the other seven of her children, mentioned but not named, reportedly followed them to their monastic retirement. Anna was the caretaker of her husband and her children to their deaths. All were eventually buried in Chora. Thirty years after the suppression of the rebellion, Constantine reportedly forced Anna to dig up Artabasdus' bones, place them in her cloak (pallium), and throw them into the so-called tombs of Pelagius, charnel pits, among the bodies of executed criminals.[a]
At some point the relics ofPatriarch Germanus I of Constantinople were transferred to Chora and the monastery became a shrine to iconodule martyrs.[2]
Her year of death is unknown but she is not mentioned following the reign of her brother.
Anna and Artabasdos had a reported number of nine children:
Niketas was the eldest son, as in theChronographikon syntomon ofPatriarch Nikephoros I, his name is mentioned prior to Nikephoros. This led the Byzantinist Paul Speck in his 1981 biographyArtabasdos: Der rechtgläubige Vorkämpfer der göttlichen Lehren : Untersuchungen zur Revolte des Artabasdos und ihrer Darstellung in der byzantinischen Historiographie to suggest that Niketas was the eldest son but from a previous marriage, with Nikephoros being the eldest by Anna.
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| Preceded by | Byzantine Empress consort 741–743 withTzitzak (741–743) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Empress-Mother of the Byzantine Empire 741–743 | Succeeded by |