Editing Theophilos (emperor) (section)

===Campaigns against the Arabs===
[[File:Mamun sends an envoy to Theophilos.png|thumb|Abbasid Caliph al-Mamun sends an envoy to Emperor Theophilos.]]
At the time of his accession, Theophilos was obliged to wage wars against the [[Arab]]s on two fronts. [[Sicily]] was once again invaded by the Arabs, who took [[Palermo]] after a year-long siege in 831, established the [[Emirate of Sicily]], and gradually continued to expand across the island. In 830, [[Abbasid Caliph]] [[al-Ma'mun]] ({{reign|813|833}}) invaded [[Cappadocia]] in response to Theophilos' attack on [[Mopsuestia]] and [[Tarsos]], capturing the city of [[Tyana]]. He launched a second campaign in 831 and then a third in 832, in which he captured the major border fortress of [[Loulon]], but in 833 failed to seize [[Amorion]]. Another defeat in Cappadocia forced Theophilos to sue for peace (a one-off tribute of 100,000 gold [[dinars]] and the return of 7,000 prisoners), which he secured the next year, after the death of al-Ma'mun in 833. He was succeeded by his brother [[al-Mu'tasim]] ({{reign|833|842}}) who abandoned Tyana.{{sfn|Kaegi|2008|pp=390–391}}{{sfn|Norwich|1991|p=47}}[[File:Emperor Theophilus visits St Mary of Blachernae.jpg|thumb|Theophilos celebrating a triumph through Constantinople.]]

During the respite from the war against the Abbasids, Theophilos arranged for the abduction of the Byzantine captives settled north of the [[Danube]] by [[Krum of Bulgaria]]. The rescue operation was carried out with success in c. 836, and the peace between [[Bulgaria]] and the [[Byzantine Empire]] was quickly restored. However, it proved impossible to maintain peace in the East. Theophilos had given asylum to a number of refugees from the east in 834, including Nasr, a [[Persian people|Persian]]. He baptized one of the refugees, [[Theophobos]], who married the Emperor's aunt Irene and became one of his generals. As relations with the Abbasids deteriorated, Theophilos prepared for a new war.{{sfn|Ševčenko|1968|p=111}}{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=786}}
[[File:Theophilus follis.jpg|thumb|220px|right|''[[Follis]]'' of a new type, minted in large quantities in celebration of Theophilos' victories against the Arabs from c.&nbsp;835 on. On the obverse he is represented in triumphal attire, wearing the ''[[toupha]]'', and on the reverse the traditional acclamation "Theophilos ''[[Augustus (honorific)|Augustus]]'', you conquer".]]

In 837, Theophilos led a vast army of 70,000 men towards [[Mesopotamia]] and captured [[Malatya|Melitene]], [[Arsamosata]] and [[Samosata]]. The Emperor also took and destroyed [[Doğanşehir|Sozopetra]], which some sources claim as the birthplace of Caliph [[al-Mu'tasim]].{{efn|The claim that Sozopetra or Arsamosata was Mu'tasim's native city is found only in Byzantine sources. This claim is dismissed by most scholars as a later invention, i.e. as a parallel to Amorium, the likely birthplace of Theophilos. It was probably added deliberately to balance and lessen the effect of the blow that the latter's fall represented.{{sfn|Bury|1912|p=262}}{{sfn|Treadgold|1988|p=440}}{{sfn|Vasiliev|1935|p=141}}{{sfn|Kiapidou|2003}}}} Theophilos returned to Constantinople in triumph. Eager for revenge, al-Mu'tasim assembled a vast army and launched a three-pronged invasion of [[Anatolia]] in 838. Theophilos decided to strike one division of the caliph's army before they could combine. On 21 July 838, at the [[Battle of Anzen]] in Dazimon, Theophilos personally led a Byzantine army of 25,000 to 40,000 men against the troops commanded by [[al-Afshin]]. Afshin withstood the Byzantine attack, counter-attacked, and won the battle. The Byzantine survivors fell back in disorder and did not interfere in the Caliph's continuing campaign.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|pp=440–441}}{{sfn|Haldon|2008|p=83}}{{sfn|Kaegi|2008|p=391}}
[[File:Byzantines driving the Arabs to flight.jpg|thumb|The Byzantines engaging the Arabs in Asia Minor.]]

Al-Mu'tasim took [[Ancyra]], and al-Afshin joined him there. The full Abbasid army advanced against [[Amorion]], the ancestral home of the dynasty. Initially there was determined resistance. Then a Muslim captive escaped and informed the caliph where there was a section of the wall that had only a front façade. Al-Mu'tasim concentrated his bombardment on this section, and the wall was breached. Having heroically held for fifty-five days, [[sack of Amorium|the city fell]] to al-Mu'tasim on 12 or 15 August 838. Although the Caliph was soon forced to retreat to Abbasid territory to suppress an insurgency, the defeat was a major blow to Theophilos' resources and prestige, and numerous Byzantine prisoners were executed. The weakness of the Byzantine military was exposed, in particular by elite [[Turkic peoples|Turkish]] archers that the Caliph had recruited.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=786}}{{sfn|Kaegi|2008|p=391}}
[[File:Siege of Amorium.jpg|thumb|The Fall of Amorium to the Arabs in 838.]]

Around 841, the [[Republic of Venice]] sent a fleet of 60 galleys (each carrying 200 men) to assist the Byzantines in driving the Arabs from [[Crotone]], but it failed.{{sfn|Norwich|1982|p=32}} During the campaign al-Mu'tasim discovered that some of his top generals were plotting against him.  Many of these leading commanders were arrested and some executed before he arrived home. Al-Afshin seems not to have been involved in this, but he was detected in other intrigues and died in prison in the spring of 841. Al-Mu'tasim concluded a peace with Theophilos in 841. He fell sick in October and died on 5 January 842. The Sack of Amorion was the high point of Abbasid incursion past the [[Taurus Mountains]], after which political strife within the Caliphate improved the Byzantine military situation.{{sfn|Kaegi|2008|pp=391–392}}