| Mizizios Մժէժ | |
|---|---|
| Usurper of theByzantine Empire | |
 Asolidus of Mizizios struck inSyracuse, Sicily | |
| Reign | 668–669 |
| Predecessor | Constans II |
| Successor | Constantine IV |
| Born | 622 |
| Died | 669 (Aged 46-47) |
Mizizios orMezezius (Greek:Μιζίζιος;Armenian:Մժէժ,romanized: Mžēž orMzhezh)[a] was anArmenian noble who served as a general ofByzantium, later usurping the Byzantine throne inSicily from 668 to 669.
According to the Byzantine chroniclers, Mizizios was an Armenian, and "exceedingly handsome and beautiful".[1] According toCyril Toumanoff, he descended from the princelyGnuni family.[1][2] In a letter supposedly written byPope Gregory II to the EmperorLeo III the Isaurian (r. 717–741 A.D), he is referred to askomes of theOpsikion (Latin:obsequium)—at that time not yet a province, but rather the emperor's personal military retinue and field army.[1] The 12th-centurySyriac chronicle ofMichael the Syrian, and the so-calledChronicle of 1234, also accord him the rank ofpatrikios.[1]
Mizizios accompanied EmperorConstans II (r. 641–668 A.D) in hisItalian andSicilian expedition. When Constans was murdered inSyracuse, Sicily, in 668 A.D, Mizizios was proclaimed emperor against his will. However, according to the supposed letter of Pope Gregory II, the Sicilian bishops had pushed him to rebellion, because Constans had been aheretic for his support ofMonothelitism.[1] Michael the Syrian implies that the rebellion lasted about seven months before it was suppressed, but the sources, and modern scholars, are divided in how that came about:Theophanes the Confessor reports that Constans' son,Constantine IV (r. 668–685 A.D), personally led an expedition to Sicily, where he had Mizizios and his father's murderers executed, while theLiber pontificalis reports that loyalist troops from Italy and theExarchate of Africa suppressed the revolt, executed Mizizios, and sent his severed head toConstantinople.[1][2]
Mizizios had one son, John, who remained on Sicily after his father's execution. According to Michael the Syrian, in ca. 678 A.D, he too rebelled against Constantine IV, and also lasted for seven months before the emperor arrived in Sicily and defeated and killed him.[2][3]