Editing Leo V the Armenian (section)

=== Possible descendants ===
[[Nicholas Adontz]], in his book ''The age and origins of the emperor Basil I'' (1933), expressed a theory that Leo V and Theodosia were ancestors of [[Basil I]]. The theory was partly based on the account of his ancestry given by [[Constantine VII]], a grandson of Basil I, as well as the accounts given by Theophanes Continuatus.<ref name="gw.geneanet.org" />  Basil I, according to these accounts, was a son of peasants. His mother is named by Constantine VII as "Pankalo". The name of his father was not recorded, but the names Symbatios (Smbat) and Constantine have been suggested; both were names used by the eldest sons of Basil, with eldest sons of Byzantines typically named after their grandfathers.<ref name="gw.geneanet.org" />  The paternal grandfather of Basil is named as Maiactes (or Hmayeak in Armenian). Basil's paternal grandmother was not named but was identified as a daughter of "Leo", a citizen of [[Constantinople]]. Adontz identified this Leo as Leo V, which would make Leo V and Theodosia great-grandparents of Basil I.<ref name="gw.geneanet.org" />  

The scholar Chris Bennett has hypothesised that, for this theory to be true, Leo's daughter would had to have been of marriageable age between the years 780 to 797, which given the ages of her brothers (all born after 800) is unlikely. However, as a counter-argument Bennett has also suggested that Constantine VII may have made a mistake when determining the years separating Maiactes and Basil, and that the latter may have been born at least 20 years after his reported birth date of {{circa}} 811.<ref name="gw.geneanet.org" /> This would indicate that it was Basil's father, rather than Basil himself, who was born at this time and had witnessed the wars with [[Krum of Bulgaria]], and that Leo's daughter could therefore have been born (rather than married) in the 790s, which would make Adontz' theory possible.<ref name="gw.geneanet.org" />{{efn|Bennett refers to a further possibility, namely that Maiactes and his wife were Basil's great-grandparents and not his grandparents, but does not elaborate further. See Chris Bennett, "The Relationship of Basil I to Leo V" (1995).}}

Adontz' theory has been accepted by several genealogists, including [[Christian Settipani]] in his search for [[descent from antiquity]]. The name "Anna" has been suggested for the daughter of Leo V and Theodosia, because it was given to daughters of [[Basil I]], [[Leo VI the Wise]], [[Constantine VII]] and [[Romanos II]] – almost every emperor that would claim descent from this woman.<ref name="gw.geneanet.org" />[[File:Leo V solidus.jpg|thumb|260px|Solidus of Leo V with his son and co-emperor, [[Constantine (son of Leo V)|Constantine]]]]