Leo IV the Khazar (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Λέων ὁ Χάζαρος, ''Leōn IV ho

Khazar The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

os''; 25 January 750 – 8 September 780) was

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

from 775 to 780 AD. He was born to Emperor

Constantine V Constantine V ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντῖνος, Kōnstantīnos; la, Constantinus; July 718 – 14 September 775), was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able ...

and Empress

Tzitzak :''This individual is sometimes confused with Byzantine Empress Irene, who was her daughter-in-law.'' Tzitzak ( el, Τζιτζάκ) (died 750), baptised Irene ( el, Εἰρήνη), was a Khazar princess, the daughter of ''khagan'' Bihar, who becam ...

in 750. He was elevated to co-emperor on the next year, in 751, and married to

Irene of Athens Irene of Athens ( el, Εἰρήνη, ; 750/756 – 9 August 803), surname Sarantapechaina (), was Byzantine empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 until 790, co-ruler ...

in 768. When Constantine V died in September 775, while campaigning against the

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...

, Leo IV became senior emperor. In 778 Leo raided

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

Syria, decisively defeating the Abbasid army outside of

Germanicia Marash (Armenian: Մարաշ), officially Kahramanmaraş () and historically Germanicea (Greek: Γερμανίκεια), is a city in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean Region of Turkey and the administrative center of Kahramanmaraş ...

. Leo died on 8 September 780, of tuberculosis. He was succeeded by his underage son

Constantine VI Constantine VI ( gr, Κωνσταντῖνος, ''Kōnstantinos''; 14 January 771 – before 805Cutler & Hollingsworth (1991), pp. 501–502) was Byzantine emperor from 780 to 797. The only child of Emperor Leo IV, Constantine was named co-emp ...

, with Irene serving as regent.

History

Leo IV was born on 25 January 750AD, to Emperor

and his first wife, Empress

. Because his mother was a

, Leo was given the epithet 'the Khazar'. Leo was elevated to co-emperor in 751, while still an infant. He became emperor on 14 September 775, after Constantine V died while campaigning against the Bulgarian Empire. Leo was by this point suffering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

, which, combined with the infancy of his son,

, gave two of Leo's half-brothers, the ''caesares'' Nikephoros and Christopher, hope of attaining the throne. These hopes were crushed when, in 776, Leo elevated Constantine to ''caesar'', declaring him to be his successor. Shortly after this, Nikephoros and Christopher were discovered conspiring against Leo. Despite public opinion supporting the execution of the pair, Leo instead chose to pardon them, although he did exile several other plotters to Cherson.

Invasion of the Abbasid Caliphate

Leo launched an invasion against the

s in 778, invading Syria with a force made up of the armies of the multiple themes, including: the

Opsikion Theme The Opsician Theme ( gr, θέμα Ὀψικίου, ''thema Opsikiou'') or simply Opsikion (Greek: , from la, Obsequium) was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in northwestern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Created from the imp ...

, led by Gregory; the Anatolic Theme, led by Artabasdos; the

Armeniac Theme The Armeniac Theme ( el, , ''Armeniakoi hema'), more properly the Theme of the Armeniacs (Greek: , ''thema Armeniakōi'') was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in northeastern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). History The Armen ...

, led by Karisterotzes; the

Bucellarian Theme The Bucellarian Theme ( el, Βουκελλάριον θέμα, ''Boukellarion thema''), more properly known as the Theme of the Bucellarians ( el, θέμα Βουκελλαρίων, ''thema Boukellariōn'') was a Byzantine theme (a military-civil ...

, led by

Tatzates Tatzates or Tatzatios ( el, Τατζάτης or Τατζάτιος, from hy, Տաճատ Tačat) was a prominent Byzantine general of Armenian descent, who in 782 defected to the Abbasids and was appointed governor of ''Arminiya''. Biography Tatz ...

; and the Thracesian Theme, led by Lachanodrakon. Lachanodrakon besieged

for a time, before he was bribed to raise the siege, and then began to raid the surrounding countryside. The Abbasids attacked Lachanodrakon while he was raiding, but were decisively defeated by several Byzantine armies. The Byzantine generals who led troops during this battle were given a triumphal entry when they returned to Constantinople. A number of Jacobites (adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church) were taken from Syria and forcibly resettled in

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

. The next year, in 779, Leo successfully repelled an attack by the Abbasids against

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

Death and succession

Leo died of a violent fever, due to his tuberculosis, on 8 September 780. Constantine, still only nine years old, became the new emperor, with Irene as his regent.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leo 04 8th-century Byzantine emperors Isaurian dynasty 750 births 780 deaths Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Khazar people 770s in the Byzantine Empire Irene of Athens 8th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in the Byzantine Empire Sons of Byzantine emperors