Tiberios 4

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitE VIII
Dates705 (tpq) / 711 (ob.)
PmbZ No.8491
Variant NamesTybryws;
Tiberius
LocationsSyria;
Jerusalem;
Hagia Theotokos (Church of the, Blachernai);
Hebdomon;
Constantinople (residence);
Khazaria;
Constantinople;
Khazaria (birthplace)
TitlesAugustus (office);
Emperor (office)
Textual SourcesBar Hebraeus, Chronographia, tr. E. A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Abu 'l-Faraj (London, 1932; repr. Amsterdam, 1976) (history);
Chronicon Anonymi ad annum 1234 pertinens, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, I = CSCO 81-82 (Paris, 1916-20), II = CSCO 109 (Louvain, 1937) (chronicle);
Chronicon ad annum Domini 846 pertinens, ed. E. W. Brooks, tr. J.-B. Chabot, CSCO 3-4 (Louvain, 1904); also tr. E. W. Brooks, "A Syriac Chronicle of the Year 846", Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländ (chronicle);
Liber Pontificalis, ed. L. Duchesne, Le liber pontificalis. Texte, introduction et commentaire, 2 vols. (Paris, 1886-92); re-issued with 3rd vol. by C. Vogel, (Paris, 1955-57) (chronicle);
Nicephorus, Breviarium Historiae, ed. C. Mango, Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople: Short History; prev. ed. C. de Boor Nicephori ArchiepiscopiConstantinopolitani Opuscula Historica Leipzig 1880 (history);
Paulus Diaconus, Historia Gentis Langobardorum, ed. L. Bethmann and G. Waitz, MGH, Scr. Rer. Lang., pp. 12-187; also in MGH, Scr. Rer. Ger. 48, pp. 49-242 (history);
Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle);
Zonaras = Ioannis Zonarae Epitome Historiarum, libri XIII-XVIII, ed. Th. Büttner-Wobst, (Bonn, 1897) (history)
Seal SourcesZacos, G. and Veglery, A., Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. I (in 3 parts) (Basel, 1972).

Tiberios 4 was the son of the emperor Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) and his Khazar wife Theodora 1; he was with his mother in Khazaria when Justinian (Ioustinianos 1) regained the throne in 705; the emperor sent for them and on their arrival crowned them both: Nic. Brev. de Boor 43, Mango 42, Theoph. AM 6198 (τὴν Θεοδώραν καὶ Τιβέριον, τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς, καὶ ἔστεψεν αὐτούς), Zon. XIV 25. 7 (στείλας δ' εἰς Χαζαρίαν ἤγαγε τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ Θεοδώραν, ἤδη αὐτῷ τεκοῦσαν υἱόν, ὃν Τιβέριον κατωνόμασε). He was apparently born while his mother was in Khazaria, where Theodora 1 stayed while Justinian (Ioustinianos 1) made his attempt to recover his throne; according to Theophanes, Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) was ignorant of his existence until informed by the khagan of the Khazars. He was therefore born in 704 or 705. Son of Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1), he was fellow emperor with him for six years: Paul. Diac., Hist. Lang. VI 32. Emperor and son of Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1), he accompanied the party which welcomed the pope Constantine (Konstantinos 136) at Hebdomon (the seventh milestone from Constantinople) in early 711: Lib. Pont. 90. 5 ("Tiberius imperator, filius Iustiniani Augusti").

When his father was overthrown in 711 he took refuge with his grandmother Anastasia 1 in the Church of the Theotokos in Blachernai; there he was found by Mauros 1 and Ioannes 9 Strouthos, the agents of the new emperor Philippikos 1, and was dragged outside from the altar and murdered; he was buried in the Church of the Anargyroi of Paulina: Nic. Brev. de Boor 47-48, Mango 45, Theoph. AM 6203(p. 380), Zon. XIV 25. 27, cf. Chron. 1234, §154 (p. 299) (murdered).

Son of the emperor Justinian (Ioustinianos 1); he was killed when his father was overthrown and replaced by Philippikos 1: Chron. 846, p. 231, 4-8 = p. 175 (Chabot) = p. 580 (Brooks). Son of the emperor Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) and the daughter of the khagan of the Khazars (Theodora 1); he was born while his father was in exile and was taken to Constantinople by his mother after Justinian (Ioustinianos 1) regained the throne (in 705): Bar Hebr., p. 105 (Tebharyos). He was killed with his father when Philippikos 1 seized the throne in the year 1022 Sel. (710/711): Bar Hebr., p. 106.

For his imperial seals, see Zacos and Veglery 29.

In 738, following a raid on Asia by Sulayman 2 in which many captives were taken, one captive, a citizen of Pergamum, claimed to be none other than the son of Justinian II, Tiberios 4; the caliph Hisham 1 took the opportunity to alarm the Romans by giving the pretender an armed escort and imperial honours, sending him to Jerusalem and parading him around Syria: Theoph. AM 6229. See Beser 2.

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