Editing Leo III the Isaurian (section)

== Reign ==
[[File:ByzantineEmpire717+extrainfo+themes.svg|thumb| Byzantine Empire 717 AD. 1. Ravenna 2. Venetia and Istria 3. Rome 4. Naples 5. Calabria 6. Hellas 7. Thrace 8. Opsikion 9. Thrakesion 10. Anatolikon 11. Karabisianoi 12. Armeniakon. Hatched area: Frequently invaded by [[Umayyad Caliphate]]]]

Having thus saved the Empire from extinction, Leo proceeded to consolidate its administration, which in the previous years of anarchy had become completely disorganized.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |page=78}}</ref> In 718 he suppressed a rebellion in [[Sicily]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-15 |title=Leo III the Isaurian (ca. 680–741) - Weapons and Warfare |url=https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2020/01/15/leo-iii-the-isaurian-ca-680-741/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> The following year saw the deposed Emperor [[Anastasius II (emperor)|Anastasius II]] raise an army and attempt to retake the throne, but he was captured and executed by Leo's government. The rebellion was the only serious threat to Leo's usurpation.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |pages=77–78}}</ref> Umayyad attacks under Caliph [[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik]] continued in the form of yearly raids in eastern and central [[Asia Minor]] (see hatched area in figure), which affected communications, commerce and agricultural production. In 721, the city of [[Dalisandus (Isauria)|Dalisandus]] was captured, followed by the fortresses of [[Kemah, Erzincan|Kamachon]] and [[Ikonion]] in 723/724 and several frontier fortresses in 725. [[Kayseri|Caesarea (Cappadocia)]] was captured in 727, then [[Çankırı|Gangra]] in 728. The Byzantine counter-raids were generally of little strategic impact, although crucially a major invading force was destroyed in the [[Battle of Akroinon]] of 740. It was only during the [[Third Fitna]] of 744–747, a civil war within the Umayyad Caliphate, that the regularity of attacks were temporarily interrupted.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |pages=75–76}}</ref>

Leo secured the Empire's frontiers by inviting [[Slavs|Slavic]] settlers into the depopulated districts and by restoring the [[Byzantine military|army]] to efficiency.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-15 |title=Leo III the Isaurian (ca. 680–741) - Weapons and Warfare |url=https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2020/01/15/leo-iii-the-isaurian-ca-680-741/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> His military efforts were supplemented by his alliances with the [[Khazars]] and the [[Georgians]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-15 |title=Leo III the Isaurian (ca. 680–741) - Weapons and Warfare |url=https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2020/01/15/leo-iii-the-isaurian-ca-680-741/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> However, the [[Lombards]] exploited the Empire's difficulties beginning in 717, when the duke of [[Benevento]] captured [[Cumae]], the duke of [[Spoleto]] captured [[Narni]]  and [[Liutprand, King of the Lombards]], occupied [[Classe, ancient port of Ravenna|Classe]] in the [[Exarchate of Ravenna]]. Although Narni was never regained, Gregory II recovered Cumae and Liutprand withdrew from Classe. In 724 or 725, Leo increased taxes in Italy which Gregory opposed. This led to two plots to assassinate Gregory, the second of which was supported by [[Paul (exarch)|Exarch Paul]], but both were foiled by the Romans with the help of the Lombards of Benevento and Spoleto.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Thomas S. |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=440 |chapter=Byzantine Italy (680–876) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

Leo effected many political and ecclesiastical restructurings in order to bolster the authority of the Empire and the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]]. Since the end of the seventh century, imperial ''stratēgoi'' were sent to the theme of Sicily (which included [[Calabria]]), and in 732–733 Leo deprived the church of Rome of the [[patrimony of St Peter]] in the theme, reallocating tax income that originally went to the church of Rome to the imperial administration (a large annual sum of 350 pounds of gold).  However in 743, Constantine V compensated [[Pope Zachary]] for this loss by granting him the estates of Ninfa and Norma to the south of Rome. Between 732 and 754, the bishops of Illyricum, [[Crete]], Sicily, Calabria and [[Naples]] (until 769) were transferred from the authority of Rome to Constantinople.<ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=285 |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref> The Isaurians in general saw the church and its patriarchs as subordinate to the imperial will.<ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=286 |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

The [[740 Constantinople earthquake]] damaged the [[Walls of Constantinople]], the restoration of which Leo paid for out of the imperial treasury, raising the City taxes by 8<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>3</sub> per cent in order to do so, as was recorded on the land walls near the [[Sea of Marmara]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=265 |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |pages=155}}</ref> The Empire of the eighth century was characterized by ruralization and depopulation, which along with the Arab invasions motivated Leo to undertake intense centralization and militarization, particularly involving the many fortresses and walls in towns such as [[Nicaea]] and [[Padyandus]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=265–266 |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

Leo III died of [[dropsy]] on 18 June 741 and was buried in the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]].<ref>[[John Robert Martindale|Martindale, J. R.]] (2001), "[http://www.pbe.kcl.ac.uk/data/D48/F18.htm Leo 3]". ''[[Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire]]''</ref>

=== Iconoclastic policies ===
[[File:Mosaic cross (7th century) in the apse of Agia Sophia, Thessaloniki. Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, April 18 2024.jpg|thumb|A [[mosaic]] [[Greek cross|cross]] in the [[apse]] of the [[Hagia Sophia, Thessaloniki]]. This mosaic is exemplary of the 8th-century iconoclast style, in which prominence to the symbol of the cross was given rather than to icons.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |pages=135–136}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.thessalonikitourism.gr/index.php/el/component/k2/item/365-church-of-the-wisdom-of-god-church-of-agia-sophia | language = Greek | access-date = November 2, 2022 | title = Ιερός Ναός της του Θεού Σοφίας | trans-title = Holy Temple of God's Wisdom | website = thessalonikitourism.gr}}</ref>]]
Leo's most striking legislative reforms dealt with religious matters, especially [[iconoclasm]] ("icon-breaking," therefore an iconoclast is an "icon-breaker").<ref>Ladner, Gerhart. "Origin and Significance of the Byzantine Iconoclastic Controversy." ''Mediaeval Studies'', '''2''', 1940, pp. 127–149.</ref> After an apparently successful attempt to enforce the [[baptism]] of all [[Jew]]s and [[Montanists]] in the empire (722), he issued a [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|series of edicts]] against the veneration of images (726–729).<ref>Treadgold. ''History of the Byzantine State'', pp. 350, 352–353.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=261 |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

A revolt broke out in Greece under the leadership of [[Agallianos Kontoskeles]], mainly on religious grounds, with a certain Kosmas being declared rival emperor. The imperial fleet quashed the uprising in 727 by way of [[Greek fire]]. In 730, Patriarch [[Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople|Germanus]] opted to resign rather than subscribe to iconoclasm; Leo replaced him with [[Patriarch Anastasius of Constantinople|Anastasius]],<ref>Treadgold. ''History of the Byzantine State'', p. 353.</ref> who willingly sided with the Emperor on the question of icons. Patriarch [[John V of Jerusalem]] along with [[John of Damascus]] fiercely opposed imperial iconoclasm, issuing a pamphlet entitled ''Adversus Constantinum Caballinum''. A later polemical version of the pamphlet attributes to Leo the saying, "I am emperor and priest."<ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=283 |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

In the [[Italian Peninsula]], the defiant attitude of Popes [[Pope Gregory II|Gregory II]] and later [[Pope Gregory III|Gregory III]] on behalf of image-veneration led to a fierce quarrel with the Emperor, with the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'' stating that Gregory II "took up arms against the  emperor as if against an enemy."<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Thomas S. |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=441–442 |chapter=Byzantine Italy (680–876) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref> In Rome, the population was more sympathetic to iconodulia, killing a pro-imperial duke and blinding another, while in Naples, iconoclasm was broadly well-received. A conflict between pro- and anti-imperial factions in the [[Exarchate of Ravenna]] led to the death of Exarch Paul.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Thomas S. |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=441 |chapter=Byzantine Italy (680–876) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref> The struggle was accompanied by an armed outbreak in the Exarchate in 727, which Leo endeavoured to subdue by means of a large fleet. The new Exarch, [[Eutychius (exarch)|Eutychius]], disembarked in Naples but could not enter Rome and assert his authority. This led to an unexpected alliance between Liutprand and Eutychius against Gregory, who, however, managed to convince the King, appealing to his piety, to return north and the Exarch to put down a revolt in [[Etruria]] led by the usurper [[Tiberius Petasius]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Thomas S. |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=441 |chapter=Byzantine Italy (680–876) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref> In response to the promulgation of stronger iconoclastic decrees in 730, Gregory II and Gregory III summoned councils in [[Rome]] to anathematize and excommunicate the iconoclasts (730, 732). Leo retaliated by making the aforementioned transferals in [[Southern Italy]] and [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]] from the papal diocese to that of the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]].<ref>Treadgold. ''History of the Byzantine State'', pp. 354–355.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Thomas S. |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=441–442 |chapter=Byzantine Italy (680–876) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

====Analysis of Leo's iconoclasm====
Scholars offer various explanations for the ban on venerating icons {{circa|730}}. On the basis of Patriarch Germanus' letters read at the 787 [[Second Council of Nicaea]], which state that the bishops Constantine of [[Nakoleia]] and Thomas of [[Claudiopolis (Cilicia)|Claudiopolis]] had forbidden the veneration of icons even before 730, some scholars argue that the alleged [[aniconism]] of the eastern part of the Empire, Leo's place of origin, motivated his policies. The phrase "I am emperor and priest" attributed to Leo by later iconodule polemicists represents the characteristically Isaurian imperial ascendancy over the church, which was rejected in the mid-9th century after Patriarch [[Methodios I of Constantinople]] purged the clergy of iconoclasts, asserting the autonomy of the church against the iconoclast emperor, [[Theophilos (emperor)|Theophilos]] ({{reign|829|842}}).<ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=279 |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref> Others have discussed the mutual influence of Muslim and Byzantine iconoclasm, noting that [[Caliph]] [[Yazid II]] had issued an iconoclastic edict, also targeting his Christian subjects, already in 721.<ref>A. A. Vasiliev (1956), ''The Iconoclastic Edict of the Caliph Yazid II, A. D. 721'', pp. [https://archive.org/details/Vasiliev1956YazidEdict721  25-26]</ref>

According to historian Marie-France Auzépy, these explanations are insufficient. She appeals to an explanation by Byzantine chroniclers, that a terrifying volcanic eruption at [[Thira]] in 726 was interpreted by Leo as a manifestation of God's wrath. In the [[Bible]], God allows his people to fall to [[Babylonian captivity]] because of their [[idolatry]]. Thus, Auzépy says, the banning of the veneration of images was fundamentally a rejection of idolatry in order to ensure the survival of the Christian people of the Empire, a decision which was apparently vindicated by the abatement of the Arab and Bulgar threat during Leo's reign.<ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=280–282 |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

Some scholars, such as Leslie Brubaker and John Haldon, doubt whether there was any active imperial involvement in iconoclasm at all, proposing instead that Leo made a qualified critique of the use of images in public spaces, likely leading to the adoption of a somewhat iconoclastic attitude among the clergy in the late 730s or early 740s.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |pages=155}}</ref> The notion that there was mass imperial persecution and destruction of images is dismissed as a later "iconophile myth".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |page=152}}</ref> Brubaker and Haldon support this hypothesis by pointing to the absence of any reports of iconoclasm in several contemporary accounts, including those of [[Willibald]], who travelled to Nicaea from 727 to 729, Germanus and even [[John of Damascus]]. The [[Venerable Bede]] does refer to a critique of images in Constantinople, and Germanus and John of Damascus say that the clergy was divided on the issue of iconoclasm, however there was no evidence of widespread support for the iconoclastic policies or of systematic removal of images under Leo.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |pages=152–153}}</ref> Brubaker and Haldon attribute a more moderate iconoclasm to Leo, "It is quite possible that Leo did attempt to restrict the public display of certain types of image and to remove them from certain places in churches (near the [[altar]] and in the [[apse]], for example) to avoid their receiving the honour due to God alone", confirming this conclusion with the writings of Germanus and John of Damascus which appear to describe a kind of initial or moderate stage of iconoclasm.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |page=153}}</ref>

=== Legislation ===
{{See also|Silentiarius}}
Leo reformed the ''silention'', a type of restricted council instituted by [[Justinian I]], transforming it into a special assembly in the [[Great Palace of Constantinople]], in which the emperor would announce a solemn decision.<ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=277 |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

Leo undertook a set of civil reforms including the abolition of the system of prepaying taxes which had weighed heavily upon the wealthier proprietors, the elevation of the [[serf]]s into a [[social class|class]] of free [[Tenant farmer|tenant]]s and the remodelling of [[family law]], [[maritime law]] and [[criminal law]], notably substituting [[mutilation]] for the [[death penalty]] in many cases.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Freshfield |first=Edwin |title=The Official Manuals of Roman Law of the Eighth and Ninth Centuries |date=March 1930 |publisher=Cambridge Law Journal and Contributors |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |pages=35}}</ref> These punishments were contrary to the Roman legal tradition, and bear the influence of [[canon law]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |page=78}}</ref> The new measures, which were embodied in a new [[Legal code|code]] called the ''[[Ecloga]]'' (''Selection''), published in 741, met with some opposition on the part of the nobles and higher clergy. The ''Ecloga'' were a revision and abridgement of the sixth-century [[Code of Justinian]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |page=78}}</ref>  Leo's prologue to the ''Ecloga'' sets out his conception of law as requiring ethical significance founded upon God's will and divinely-sanctioned imperial authority.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |pages=78–79}}</ref> The authors of the legal codes of [[Basil I]] ({{reign|867|886}}) and [[Leo VI the Wise]] ({{reign|886|912}}) of the [[Macedonian dynasty]] formally rejected the ''Ecloga''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brubaker |first1=Leslie |title=Byzantium in the iconoclast era, c. 680–850 |last2=Haldon |first2=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |page=79}}</ref>

Leo and his successor [[Constantine V]] transformed the Byzantine ''[[orphanotrophos]]'' into a [[magistrate]]. Prior to these legislative reforms, [[Byzantine law]] required that all [[orphan]]s are passed into the Byzantine [[orphanage]] or to a [[monastery]].<ref>{{cite book | author1 = Timothy S. Miller | title = The Orphans of Byzantium: Child Welfare in the Christian Empire | year = 2003  | publisher =  Catholic University of America Press | isbn =9780813213132| page=203}}</ref>

===Numismatics===
[[File:Leo III and Constantine V miliaresion.jpg|thumb|right|Example of the ''[[miliaresion|miliarēsion]]'' silver coins, first struck by Leo III to commemorate the coronation of his son, [[Constantine V]] in 720.]]The coins minted during Leo's reign exclusively depicted male imperial dynasts, promoting the dynastic [[order of succession]].<ref>{{cite book | editor1 =  Leslie Brubaker | editor2= Shaun Tougher  | title = Approaches to the Byzantine Family | year = 2016  | publisher =  Taylor & Francis | isbn =9781317180005 | page=}}</ref> In 721, Leo introduced the [[miliaresion|''miliarēsion'']], a silver coin worth one-twelfth of a ''[[nomisma]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=270 |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref> The [[gold coin]]s of [[Leo IV the Khazar]] show posthumous portraits of Leo III.<ref>{{cite book | editor1 =  Leslie Brubaker | editor2= Shaun Tougher  | title = Approaches to the Byzantine Family | year = 2016  | publisher =  Taylor & Francis | isbn =9781317180005 | page=}}</ref>