Chapter XVI
Civil War and the Surrender of the Imperial Army in Greece
The final episode of Theodoras’s reign is befitting of the moral state of his being from 1495-1497. It was in this final descent into the inferno that the Greek Renaissance began to flourish, for a period of twenty years, from about 1490-1510 at the end of his reign and for the majority of John X– which I will cover in greater detail later in this work. As for now, it seems fitting that a man who was about as intellectually apt as a toddler, schemed for murder as if it was his second nature, and had sold his soul to the Devil himself to maintain his power, would meet a most untimely and grizzly demise as he did. Certainly, had Dante been alive to include Theodoras in his poignant travels in heaven and hell, Theodoras would be placed in, at the very least, the seventh or eighth circle of hell.
The paranoia that gripped Theodoras was so pronounced that, in the last year of his life, he had virtually isolated himself from everyone in his life – from his wife, to his court, and even his closest friends. There seemed to be a wide conspiracy however, so in this case, Theodoras’s suspicions were confirmed when his wife, Bishop Alexandros, and Duke Manuel of Trebizond had come together to dispose Theodoras from his throne. The motives were simple: the wars between the Italians and Mohammedans were wreaking havoc over the land. All that had been worked so hard to accomplish was falling by the way side when Theodoras killed a Mohammedan diplomat offering peace, only enraging the Turkic Sultan in a time when the Romans were depleted of money and men to continue the war. Although, in 1495, when peace was concluded, it was not on favorable terms in the sense that it ended in a status-quo treaty (the reason being that war exhaustion was taking its toll and a large Mohammedan army had slipped past the Roman navy and had landed in Southern Greece).
Needless to say, the elites in the Roman Empire claimed Theodoras to be an infantile, insane, and incredulous warmonger who was no longer fit to lead. In response, Theodoras raised the new Imperial Guard, which personally swore their oath of loyalty to the emperor himself. Theodoras quickly moved against the conspirators with the Guard, who had also infiltrated the vast spy network inside the city and arrested over 100 members of the city, including members of the aristocracy. When he sent forces to arrest his wife and nephew, Prince John, he was depressed to learn that the two managed to escape. Although it seemed that he had managed to curb the conspiracy against him, it was in the palaces of Constantinople that Theodoras would meet his end.
Roman murder politics had long had a history. The very conservative Roman Empire inherited this tradition of 1,000 or more years. Ever since Brutus and Cassius murdered Julius Caesar, many political hopefuls – seeking power or to restore republicanism, took to the blade to murder their opponents. Naturally however, I should point out that the Roman politics of murder (and noble suicide) is not akin to the petty murder and criminality of modern crime and murder – based more upon the impulses of revenge than a paradoxical adherence to principle and the greater good. When Jack the Ripper conducted his murderous reign in which, the inept police of Scotland Yard were never able to obtain him – the manner of his murders are completely opposite from the nature of Roman political scheming and killing.
In the case of the murder of Julius Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, and the republican conspirators were not murdering out of lust or revenge – but in the sincere belief that by killing Caesar, who they saw as being detrimental to the republic despite Caesar’s maintaining that he was saving the republic – they would save the republic and restore the old order of Roman law and politics. The fury in which Octavian and Marc Antony pursued the republican conspirators was, in part, out of revenge, but also in the twin belief that Caesar was truly restoring republican honor and, being his closest confidants – they were the inheritors of the Caesaric tradition[1].
As demonstrated with the case of Theodoras, he was clearly not scheming in a misguided sincerity, but the conspirators against him certainly were. John of Patras was among the leading conspirators against Theodoras, a middle-tier duke from the Morea, he was strongly aligned with the interests of Annia and Prince John, who had managed to escape their prospective murder. The Duke of Patras gathered his private army, which included some 2,000 Italian condottieri. He quickly marched out of Achaea and entered into Athens, one of the seats of imperial power that was strongly supportive of the emperor. In entering Athens, the local governor who was loyal to Theodoras attempted to flee, but was captured.
The Duke of Patras, John, a painting from the Greek Renaissance, ca. 1510.
John’s entrance into Athens and the disposition of the governor of Athens marked the beginning of the 100 Days Campaign against Theodoras in which the forces supportive of his nephew – Prince John, and John’s protector (Annia). About a week later, Theodoras got wind of the movements in Greece and planned to strike back. Calling upon his general, Alexios Passianos, to lead the army against the apparent conspirators, Passianos surprisingly refused to lead the army. Theodoras promptly had him arrested and beheaded for treason. His subordinate Constantine Boutoumites, was not as optimistic or guided by principle as Passianos, and accepted the duty to displace the conspirators in Greece.
Taking the Imperial Army south , about 6500 men, leaving around 3000 soldiers to defend Constantinople, Boutoumites was convinced that the display of the imperial flags and army would be enough to win back the support (or at the least the loyalty) of the dissident nobles who had finally risen up against Theodoras.
On the mountains and hills outside of the city of Volos (Greece), the two sides were lined up opposite of one another. Several other nobles and their private armies had come to the rally of Patras and their numbers doubled to just over 4,000 soldiers – not to mention however, they had the backing of the Greek people in the city who were equally tired of the wars and exhaustion brought upon them by Theodoras’s reign. Constantine Boutoumites, in approaching the city, was caught somewhat by surprise that the rebels had manage to fortify an otherwise great defensible position.
By the time Boutoumites had positioned his army on the plateau outside the city, the soldiers were tired, exhausted, and in no condition to fight (preferably, they lacked the energy and the morale to battle with the Despotates). Not being an idiot, Boutoumites attempted to negotiate with the rebels, who were led by Duke Patras. The Roman army was clearly unable to fight, and thus, Boutoumites may have been attempting to buy time (a day or two) to recover and do battle on more favorable terms. The rebels however, would have none of the negotiations. They spelled out, very plainly, that the army should retire, disband, or join them against Theodoras otherwise they would be slaughtered in the next hour.
General Boutoumites realized the fundamental truth of revolution. The conspirators were motivated out of passion (well, at least the nobles were – their soldiers were paid mercenaries), while he and the Roman Army was simply given orders to fight. Boutoumites returned the Roman lines and told his army to stand down. In a grand display of capitulation, the Roman Army laid down its arms to the Despotates and paved the way for their march on Constantinople. Several junior officers, much more loyal to the state than Boutoumites, fled from the mountains during the incident to alert Theodoras of the capitulation at Volos.
A picture of the landscape, shoreline and hills of Volos, Greece. Upon these hills the Roman Imperial Army laid down its arms to the Duke of Patras and the forces loyal to Prince John and Empress Annia, who were seeking to overthrow Emperor Theodoras.
Upon receiving the news, Theodoras went insane, to put it lightly. No longer trusting even those closest to him, as documented by Evagrius:
Upon receiving the news of the terrible defeat at Volos, Theodoras sank into a manic depression. No one in the court was to be trusted. He had lost any sense of loyalty and community among those whom he had formerly trusted [Passianos and Boutoumites]. With less than 3,000 soldiers defending the city, Theodoras feared that he would be the next emperor to lose the great city to foreign invaders. He immediately ran to the Golden Horn, preparing to set sail to Trebizond, the last bastion of imperial loyalty where the Duke had promised him safe passage and protection with his army…
…in addition, it was calculated on his part. Annia and John had fled to Sinop, or so it was believed. While in Trebizond, Theodoras planned to dispatch a final raid to capture his unfaithful wife and dangerous 13 year old nephew who threatened his standing on the throne.
-Evagrius,
Life of Theodoras, Book 6: The 100 Days
Thus, the emperor fled Constantinople and left the city to mob. Taking with him only his personal guard, the remaining soldiers in the city promptly abandoned their posts. When Duke Patras appeared before the city gates, the gates of Constantinople were thrown open and he, along with his conspirators, triumphantly rode into the city and “liberated” it from Theodoras. However, Theodoras’s arrival in Trebizond, under the cover of darkness, allowed for him to gather his strength one last time. Duke Michael Komnenos, unlike the nobles in Greece, gave Theodoras his undying support. Several days upon his arrival, he dispatched about 100 men to find Annia and John, expecting that their deaths would end the uprising against him.
[1]Livy’s
The Rise of Rome fits this paradigm model, as does
The Aeneid by Virgil show the belief that Augustus Caesar, in becoming emperor, was (almost paradoxically) restoring the old order and honor of the republic which – imperial apologists claimed the conspirators had abandoned. I hold to the belief that Octavian and Marc Antony and the Liberators (Cassius and Brutus) were all “standing in the footsteps of Caesar” for all intents and purposes.
