Alexios 2 was a native of Armenia. He was also called Mousele (his family name) (Ἀλέξιον τὸν Ἀρμένιον, ᾧ ἐπώνυμον Μουσελέ) or similar: Leo Gramm. 216, Georg. Mon. Cont. 794 (Μωσηλέ), Ps.-Symeon 630 (Μουσελέ), Theoph. Cont. III 18 (p. 107) (cited below), Zon. XV 27. 16 (cited below). A member of the family of the Krenitai, he was living in the so-called Domus of the Krenitissa on the Akropolis when in the late thirties the emperor Theophilos (Theophilos 5) selected him to marry his daughter (see below); he was then a handsome man and in the flower of his age: Theoph. Cont. III 18 (p. 107-8) (ὁ δ'ἀνὴρ τῆς τῶν Κρηνιτῶν κατήγετο γενεᾶς, χώρας τῆς τῶν Ἀρμενίων, Ἀλέξιος τοὔνομα, Μουσελὲ τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν, τῷ εἴδει ὡραῖος, ἀκμάζων τὴν ἡλικίαν, οἰκῶν κατὰ τὸ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως μέρος, κατὰ τὰς οὕτω καλουμένας τῆς Κρηνιτίσσης οἰκίας), Zon. XV 27. 16 (Ἀλέξιον τὸν λεγόμενον Μωσηλέ, ἄνδρα ἐξ Ἀρμενίων τοῦ γένους τῶν Κρινιτῶν, ἐν ἀκμῇ τῆς ἡλικίας καὶ τὴν ὄψιν χαρίτων μεστόν), Scyl., p. 64, 22-26 (ὁ νύμφιος δὲ ἦν τῆς τῶν Κρινιτῶν γενεᾶς, χώρας τῶν Ἀρμενίων, Ἀλέξιος τοὔνομα, Μωσηλὲ τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν, τῷ εἴδει ὡραῖος, ἀκμάζων τὴν ἡλικίαν). He may have been related to Alexios 1, possibly his son. For his name, the Armenian Moushegh, see under Alexios 1. Described as strong and brave: Leo Gramm. 216, Georg. Mon. Cont. 794, Ps.-Symeon 630. He was chosen by the emperor Theophilos 5 to marry his daughter, Maria 4 (whether he did marry her is uncertain, in view of Maria 4's age; she must have been still a child; possibly they were betrothed, but in Theophanes Continuatus she is styled γαμετὴ and reference is made to her widowhood - χηρεία): Theoph. Cont. III 18 (p.107), Leo Gramm. 216, Georg. Mon. Cont. 794, Ps.-Symeon 630, Zon. XV 27. 16-17. On the marriage, or more probably the betrothal, and its probable date, c. 836/837, see Treadgold, "Problem", pp. 329-331. He was raised first to the dignities of patrikios and anthypatos and then to those of magistros and Kaisar: Theoph. Cont. III 18 (p. 108) (ὃν πρῶτον μὲν τῇ τῶν πατρικίων καὶ τῶν ἀνθυπάτων τιμήσας ἀξίᾳ διὰ τὸ πρὸς τὴν θυγατέρα τούτου φιλόστοργον, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ μάγιστρον καὶ Καίσαρα τὸ ἔσχατον ἀνηγόρευσεν), Scyl., p. 64, 24-26 (πρῶτον μὲν τῇ τῶν πατρικίων καὶ ἀνθυπάτων τιμήσας ἀξίᾳ, εἶτα καὶ μάγιστρον καὶ ὕστερον καίσαρα), cf. Leo Gramm. 216, Georg. Mon. Cont. 794, Ps.-Symeon 630 (he was made patrikios by Theophilos 5, then shortly afterwards magistros - ποιήσας αὐτὸν πατρίκιον, μετ'ὀλίγον δὲ καὶ μάγιστρον), Zon. XV 27. 16 (ὃν πρότερον μὲν ἄλλοις ἐτίμησεν ἀξιώμασιν, εἶτα ἀνεῖπε καὶ Καίσαρα).

He was sent to Longobardia, where problems had arisen, with adequate military forces and acquitted himself well, winning the emperor's approval and enhancing his reputation but also incurring envy and jealousy which broke out into allegations that he was aiming at the throne; when he heard of them Alexios 2 asked the emperor for permission to retire into a monastery but Theophilos 5 refused, supposedly not wishing to make a widow of his daughter, and Alexios 2 continued to take part in public affairs undisturbed: Theoph. Cont. III 18 (p.108) (ἐφ' ἡσυχίας πολλῆς τοῖς δημοσίοις ἐνασχολούμενος πράγμασιν); however, after the birth of a son (Michael 11) to Theophilos 5 and the death of Maria 4, Alexios 2 quietly went into a monastery without consulting the emperor and refusing his request to come out again; the emperor then bestowed on him monasteries at Chrysopolis, Bursa and Elaia: Theoph. Cont. III 18 (p. 109) (τό τε κατὰ Χρυσόπολιν βασιλικὸν μοναστήριον, προσέτι μὴν καὶ τὸ τοῦ Βυρσέως καὶ τὸ τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Ἐλαίαν); he chose to live at Chrysopolis and there he purchased by imperial order, and with the support of the empress Theodora 2, a site called the Place of Anthemios, then owned by the imperial mangana, and founded there a monastery, in which he continued to live until his death; he was buried there and an icon of him was set up over the tomb: Theoph. Cont. III 18 (pp. 108-109), cf. Scyl., pp. 64-65, Zon. XV 27. 17-19.

His story is given a different slant in the tradition derived from Symeon the Logothete. There it is said that, after conferring dignities and the hand of his daughter on him, the emperor Theophilos (Theophilos 5) became suspicious that Alexios 2 had designs on the throne and sent him to Sicily as stratelates and dux of Sicily (καὶ στρατηλάτην καὶ δοῦκα Σικελίας ἐξέπεμψεν); following rumours from Sicily that he was betraying the Christian cause to the Arabs and was aiming at the throne, and also following the death of Maria 4, Theophilos 5 persuaded Theodoros 66 Krithinos, archbishop of Sicily, to bring Alexios 2 to Constantinople under pledges of safety; he was then beaten as a rebel and imprisoned and his property was confiscated; later he was released and restored to his property and treated with honour by Theophilos 5, following protests by Theodoros 66 and by the patriarch of Constantinople (presumably Ioannes 5) at Theophilos 5's conduct: Leo Gramm. 216-218, Georg. Mon. Cont. 794-796, Ps.-Symeon 630-632. Alexios 2 took the tonsure and founded a monastery, which was named after Anthemios; there in due course he died and was buried: Ps.-Symeon 632.

He is probably to be identified with the unnamed Kaisar recorded in the Life of St Gregory the Decapolite; on orders from the emperor, the Kaisar was stationed at Christoupolis, where his bodyguard arrested Georgios 136; he was also accompanied by an unnamed magistros (Anonymus 292) who later arrested Georgios 136 at Boleron: Ignatius, Vita Greg. Dec. 19. On the dates (possibly 836 or 837) and the identifications of the Kaisar with Alexios 2 and the magistros with Manuel 1, see Mango, Byzantina 13 (1985), pp. 640-643.

He is probably also to be identified with the unnamed Kaisar who took part with Theophilos 5 in a triumph to celebrate a victory over the Arabs: Const. Porph. De Cer. 505 (= Const. Porph., Military Treatises, C 840-844). This is dated in the sources to 831 but they have probably confused a triumph of 831 with another that was celebrated in 837; see Treadgold, "Problem", pp. 331-332).

Perhaps identical with the unnamed Kaisar who had a daughter Maria (see Maria 9), known from a seal dateable to the mid or late ninth century: Zacos and Veglery 2673. Obv.: circular inscription reading +Θκε βοιθη τι ση δ' around a bust of the Virgin holding the Child. Rev.: +Μαρη - α θυγατ - ρη του [Και] - σαρος. The text reads: Θεοτόκε βοήθει τῇ σῇ δ(ούλῃ) Μαρίᾳ θυγατρὶ τοῦ Καίσαρος. Zacos and Veglery, p. 1442, note, observe that the Kaisar has to be identified with either Alexios 2 Mousele, Bardas 5 or Petronas 5. It seems unlikely that Alexios 2 could be the Kaisar in question, as he would have had to have already had a daughter by a former wife before his marriage or betrothal to Maria 4.

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