Theophylact ( la, Theofilactus or ''Theophylactus''; grc-gre, Θεοφύλακτος, Theophúlaktos) was

Exarch of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna ( la, Exarchatus Ravennatis; el, Εξαρχάτο της Ραβέννας) or of Italy was a lordship of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in Italy, from 584 to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the ...

from 701 or 702 to 709, succeeding John II Platinus. According to T.S. Brown, the garrison of

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

made an attempt on his life in 701. Shortly after his promotion, Theophylact marched from

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where John VI had recently been made

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. His reasons for marching into the city are not known, but his presence infuriated the Romans. The local soldiers threatened Theophylactus, but John managed to subdue them; several of the exarch's minions, however, were set upon. In 709 the

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 ...

Justinian II Justinian II ( la, Iustinianus; gr, Ἰουστινιανός, Ioustinianós; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" ( la, Rhinotmetus; gr, ὁ Ῥινότμητος, ho Rhinótmētos), was the last Eastern Roman emperor of the ...

sent an expedition under the command of the patrician Theodore against the city of

, possibly in retaliation for the participation of the city's inhabitants in the rebellion of 695. Theodore, upon reaching Ravenna, invited all of the leading citizens of the city to attend a banquet. As they arrived, they were seized and dragged aboard ship. Ravenna was then sacked, while the captured officials were brought to

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 ( ...

. There, Justinian sentenced them all to death; the Archbishop

Felix Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

alone was spared, although he was blinded. Theophylact was apparently not a victim of the catastrophe, but had little control over the situation, and the exarchate was severely weakened.Described in great detail by Andreas Agnellus (chaps. 138-140), whose ancestor Johannicus was one of those carried off; Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis (translator and editor), ''The Book of Pontiffs of the Church of Ravenna'' (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2004), pp.259-265. Theophylactus was succeeded by

John III Rizocopus John III Rizocopus ( la, Iohannes Rizocopus; grc-gre, Ιωάννης Ριζοκόπος, Iōánnēs Rizokópos) was Exarch of Ravenna from 710 until his death one year later in 711. Following the restoration of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II, ...

in 709.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theophylactus 8th-century exarchs of Ravenna 8th-century deaths Year of birth unknown