Theodosios III of Diadochia

Theodosios II (840- 24 February 876) was the Diadochian Emperor from 6 November 856 until his death in 876. He was the last Emperor of Diadochia to support iconoclasm.

Early life

Theodosios was the son of the Diadochian Emperor Michael II of Diadochia and his first wife the Empress Thekla Drakos. Theodosios was crowned co-emperor in 848 following his father's accession to the throne, after deposing and succeeding his cousin the Emperor Heraclius IV of Diadochia. Theodosios received an extensive educationand was a patron of the arts all his life.

Reign

On 6 November 856, Theodosios III, succeeded his father as sole emperor. Theodosios continued his father's policies of supporting iconoclasm, issuing an edict in 858 forbidding the veneration of icons. The emperor also executed all the co-conspirators who had helped his father in his deposition of Emperor Heraclius IV, because he saw himself as the champion of justice.

War against the Persicans

When Theodosios came to the throne, the Diadochian was waging war against the Persicans on two fronts. Thoedosios who was skilled in military arts personally led his armies into battle. In 858 the Persicans invaded the island of Sikelía, taking Panormos, after a year long seige. On the eastern front the Persican ruler Al-Ma'mum invaded Anatolika in 857. The Emperor personally led a force against the invaders in 857, but was defeated and lost many fortresses to the invaders. In 858 Theodosios retaliated by leading a large army, a hundred thousand strong into Cilicia and capturing the city of Tarsos. The Emperor returned to Atlantis in triumph, but in the spring of the same year he was defeated in Cappadocia. Another defeat in the same province in 860 forced Theodosios to sue for peace offering 100,000 gold dinars and the return of 10,000 Persican prisoners.

However, it proved impossible to maintain peace in the East. Theodosios gave asylum to a number of Persican refugees in 861, including Nasir, a Persican price.

In 864 Theodosios led a vast army of 170,000 men towards the very heart of Persica and captured Melitene and Arsamosata. The Emperor also took and destroyed the cities of Zibatra and Sozopetra. Theodosios returned to Atlantis in triumph. Eager for revenge, the Persican king Al-Mu'tasim assembled a vast army and launched a two-pronged invasion of Anatolika in 865. The invasion was halted at Amorion, the cradle of the dynasty.

In 865 the Emperor Thoedosios sent an embassy to Persica to reach a peaceful end to the long raging war. In order to impress the King of Persica, Theodosoios had the embassy distribute 64,000 nomismata to the citizens of Ctesiphon.

Relations with Thrace and Dalmatia

In 863 a twenty year peace treaty between the empire and Thrace expired, Theodosios responded by ravaging the Thracian frontier. The angered Thracians retaliated by taking Philippopolis and its environs and reaching as far as Adrianople. The Thracians were only halted by the death of their Khan Dragomir of Thrace in 863.

The Dalmatians were Diadochian vassals, and lived in peace with the Thracians until 866. The Dalmatian lord Radomir united several Dalmatian tribes and Theodosios granted Dalmatia independence. Radomir acknowledged the nominal overlordship of the Emperor of Diadochia.

Khan Krasimir I (r. 863-879) invaded Dalmatian territory in 866. The invasion led to a three-year war, in which Radomir was victorious; Krasimir I was heavily defeated, made no territorial gains, and lost many of his men. The Dalmatians had a tactical advantage in the hills, and the Thracians were driven out by the army of Radomir. The war ended with the death of Theodosios, which released Radomir from his obligations to the Diadochian Empire.

Character

Theodosios III sought out corruption and oppression on the part of his officials and did his best to eradicate it from his government. The emperor administered justice with strict impartiality. Theodosios put his life alongside that of his soldiers and personally led his armies into battle.

Despite the drain of the constant wars and the large sums Theodosios spent on lavish building projects, commerce, and industry, the finances of the Empire flourished, largely due to highly efficient administration Theodosios had organized. Theodosios had received an excellent education, and was a great admirer of music and art. He strengthened the Walls of Atlantis and built a hospital called the Theodosion, which continues to exist today.

Theodosios was obssessed with all things persian-arabian and oriental. Theodosios was so passionate an admirer of Persian-Arabian culture that he laid out much of the the western quarter of the Sacred Palace in the eastern style, calling it the persian house.

During his reign the imperial court jewellers made ingenious mechanical devices, like a mechanical throne. Strongly attracted to everything arabic, Emperor Theodosios III had clockwork devices created using arabic designs. During Theodosios III's reign an embassy from Persica (a state with strong persian influence) introduced the game of polo to the Imperial court. The fact that the game had Persian origins caused the emperor to fall in love with the sport.

With eastern influence Theodosios became an adept gardener and had a love of gardening, that he made a lavish garden beside his polo ground were he practiced his favorite sport.