Elias 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitE VIII
Dates710 (taq) / 711 (tpq)
PmbZ No.1474
Variant NamesHelias
LocationsCherson (Tauric Chersonese) (officeplace);
Cherson (Tauric Chersonese);
Damatrys
TitlesSpatharios (dignity);
Archon, Cherson (Tauric Chersonese) (office)
Textual SourcesNicephorus, Breviarium Historiae, ed. C. Mango, Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople: Short History; prev. ed. C. de Boor Nicephori ArchiepiscopiConstantinopolitani Opuscula Historica Leipzig 1880 (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)

Elias 1 was a spatharios of the emperor Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) (τὸν σπαθάριον: Theoph. AM 6203; τὸν αὐτοῦ δορυφόρον: Nicephorus), in 710 he was sent with the expedition under Stephanos 5 to Cherson to be installed there as governor; subsequently he joined other officials (ἄρχοντες: Theoph. AM 6203) in the area in seeking help against the emperor from the Khazars, and Justinian (Ioustinianos 1) sent another expedition (in 711, under Georgios 3 and Ioannes 8) to replace him and bring him back; he then supported the proclamation of Bardanes as emperor (Philippikos 1) and Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) had his infant children murdered and forced his wife (Anonyma 14) into marriage with her Indian cook (Anonymus 177); later, in 711, he led an army of Philippikos 1 against Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) at Damatrys, where, without fighting, he persuaded Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1)'s men to desert and to support Philippikos 1; he himself cut off the head of Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) and sent it to Philippikos 1 by the hands of Romanos 1; in Theophanes Elias 1 is still styled spatharios under Philippikos: Theoph. AM 6203 (ὁ προλεχθεὶς Ἡλίας σπαθάριος), Nic. Brev. de Boor 44-47, Mango 44-45, Zon. XIV 25. 17-18 (τοῦ σφῶν ἄρχοντος Ἡλία), 25. 25-26 (he induced Justinian II's army to desert, then beheaded Ioustinianos 1).

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