Anastasius II

Byzantine emperor
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Also known as: Artemis
Quick Facts
Original name:
Artemis
Died:
721

Anastasius II (died 721) was the Byzantine emperor from 713 to 715. He was chosen to take the throne after an army coup deposed Philippicus, whose secretary he had been. Anastasius reversed the ecclesiastical policies of Philippicus and tried to reform the army before he, too, was deposed. Assuring Pope Constantine of his orthodoxy, Anastasius withdrew Philippicus’ monothelite decrees, which had imposed the heretical doctrine of a single will of Christ. Militarily, he fortified Constantinople, selected the island of Rhodes as a Byzantine naval base, and sent the Isaurian Leo, the future emperor Leo III, to defend Syria against the ...(100 of 156 words)