1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Theophilus

THEOPHILUS, East Roman emperor (820–842), the second of the "Phrygian" dynasty. Unlike his father Michael II., he declared himself a pronounced iconoclast. In 832 he issued an edict strictly forbidding the worship of images; but the stories of his cruel treatment of recalcitrants are probably exaggerated. At the time of his accession, the Sicilians were still engaged in hostilities with the Saracens, but Theophilus was obliged to devote all his energies to the war against the caliphs of Bagdad (see Caliphate, especially sect. C, § 8). This war was caused by Theophilus, who afforded an asylum to a number of Persian refugees, one of whom, called Theophobus after his conversion to Christianity, married the emperor's sister Helena, and became one of his generals. The Roman arms were at first successful; in 837 Samosata and Zapetra (Zibatra, Sozopetra), the birthplace of Motasim, were taken and destroyed. Eager for revenge, Motasim assembled a vast army, one division of which defeated Theophilus, who commanded in person, at Dasymon, while the other advanced against Amorium, the cradle of the Phrygian dynasty. After a brave resistance of fifty-five days, the city fell into Motasim's hands through treachery (23rd of September 838). Thirty thousand of the inhabitants were slain, the rest sold as slaves, and the city razed to the ground. Theophilus never recovered from the blow, his health gradually failed, and he died at the beginning of 842. His character has been the subject of considerable discussion, some regarding him as one of the ablest of the Byzantine emperors, others as an ordinary oriental despot, an overrated and insignificant ruler. There is no doubt that he did his best to check corruption and oppression on the part of his officials, and administered justice with strict impartiality, although his punishments did not always fit the crime. In spite of the drain of the war in Asia and the large sums spent by Theophilus on building, commerce, industry, and the finances of the empire were in a most flourishing condition, the credit of which was in great measure due to the highly efficient administration of the department. Theophilus, who had received an excellent education from John Hylilas, the grammarian, was a great admirer of music and a lover of art, although his taste was not of the highest. He strengthened the walls of Constantinople, and built a hospital, which continued in existence till the latest times of the Byzantine Empire.

See Zonaras, xv. 25–29; Cedrenus, pp. 513–533; Theophanes continuatus, iii.; Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chaps. 48 and 52-, F. G. Schlosser, Geschichte der bUderslurmcnden Kaiser (1812); G. Finlay, History of Greece, ii. (1877) p. 142; G. F. Hertzberg, Geschichte der Byzantiner und des osmanischen Retches, bk. i. (Berlin, 1883); H. Gelzer, "Abriss der byzantinischen Kaisergeschichte" in C. Krumbachcr's Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur (2nd ed. 1897); and authorities under Roman Empire, Later. On the early campaigns against the Arabs see J. B. Bury, in Journ. Hell. Stud. xxix., 1909, pt. i.