Theophilos Erotikos ( el, ) was an 11th-century
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
general, and governor in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...
and
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
, where he led a short-lived rebellion in 1042.
Biography
Serbian revolts
Around 1034, according to
John Skylitzes, the Serbs renounced Byzantine rule;
Stefan Vojislav
Stefan Vojislav ( sr-cyr, Стефан Војислав; gr, Στέφανος Βοϊσθλάβος; 1034–d. 1043) was the Prince of Duklja from 1040 to 1043. Beginning in the year 1018, he served as a Byzantine governor, until 1034 when he le ...
, a Serbian lord that held Zeta and Ston, organized a revolt while the Byzantines arranged the succession of the throne. Vojislav was defeated and imprisoned in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
, and his holdings were restored under the control of Erotikos, who had the title "''
strategos'' of Serbia". Vojislav however managed to escape his imprisonment at the Byzantine capital, and organized another revolt in late 1037 or early 1038, targeting the pro-Byzantine Serbian lords in the neighbouring regions of
Duklja
Duklja ( sh-Cyrl, Дукља; el, Διόκλεια, Diokleia; la, Dioclea) was a medieval South Slavic state which roughly encompassed the territories of modern-day southeastern Montenegro, from the Bay of Kotor in the west to the Bojana R ...
:
Travunija and
Zahumlje. Vojislav managed to expel Erotikos and asserted himself as "Prince of the Serbs".
Cyprus
Erotikos was nevertheless appointed as governor of Cyprus, and in 1042, at the death of
Michael V and the resulting turmoil in the imperial government, he decided to take advantage of the situation: he incited the local populace to revolt, especially against the local ''
krites'' (senior fiscal and judicial official), who was accused of excessive taxation and murdered by the rebels.
The new emperor,
Constantine IX Monomachos
Constantine IX Monomachos ( grc-x-medieval, Κωνσταντῖνος Μονομάχος, translit=Kōnstantinos IX Monomachos; 1004 – 11 January 1055), reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 1042 to January 1055. Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita ...
, sent a fleet under Constantine Chage, which quickly suppressed the rebellion and arrested Erotikos. The rebel was brought to Constantinople, where he was paraded on horseback in the
Hippodrome
The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used ...
dressed in women's clothes. After this
public humiliation, his estates and fortune were confiscated, but Erotikos himself was set free.
[Skylitzes, 429.12–17; Zonaras XVII.22.22]
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Erotikos, Theophilos
11th-century Byzantine military personnel
Byzantine governors of Cyprus
Byzantine rebels
11th century in Serbia
Byzantine Serbia