Elpidios 2

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitL VIII
Dates781 (taq) / 802 (tpq)
PmbZ No.1515
Variant Names'lpydy
LocationsSicily (officeplace);
Sicily (residence);
Africa (residence);
Constantinople;
Sicily;
Africa
TitlesPatrikios (dignity);
Strategos, Sicily (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);
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 SourcesSchlumberger, G., "Sceaux byzantins inédits", REG 13 (1900), pp. 467-492

Elpidios 2 was a patrikios; he was a former strategos of Sicily in February 781 when the empress Eirene 1 appointed him to the same post again (προεβάλετο δὲ Ἐλπίδιον τὸν πατρίκιον στρατηγὸν ἐν Σικελίᾳ, ὡς καὶ προστρατηγήσαντα τῶν ἐκεῖσε: Theoph. AM 6273); he was sent out in February 781, but in April allegations were made against him of supporting the cause of the Caesars (i.e. of Nikephoros 5 and the other surviving half-brothers of the emperor Leo IV (Leo 4)) (ὡς τὰ τῶν καισάρων φρονῶν: Theoph. AM 6273); Eirene 1 sent Theophilos 2 to bring Elpidios 2 back but the people of Sicily refused to give him up; the empress therefore seized Elpidios 2's wife (Anonyma 26) and sons (Anonymi 28) and had them beaten and tonsured and imprisoned: Theoph. AM 6273, cf. Zon. XV 10. 17-19.

Perhaps owner of a seal; see Winkelmann, Rangstruktur, p. 86 ("SSceaux 148 = Ermitaz M-7990, 8. Jh., von V. Shandrovskaia (VV 29, 1968, 253) 2. H. 8. /1. H. 9. Jh. datiert, Elpidios Patr. u. Strat. Siz.").

Nothing is known about the date or duration of his first tenure as strategos of Sicily.

In 782 he was defeated after a struggle by large imperial forces under the command of Theodoros 13; taking the contents of his treasury and accompanied by the doux Nikephoros 6 he fled to Africa where he obtained promises of safety from the Arabs and joined them; they recognised him as emperor and crowned him accordingly: Theoph. AM 6274, cf. Zon. XV 10. 20-22. According to the Chron. 1234, in 792 the emperor Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8) "was angry with Elpidios ("'lpydy") the patrikios of Sicily, because he committed adultery with Eirene 1 his mother, and when he decided to put out his eyes, he fled to the Arabs": Chron. 1234, §188 (II, p. 4). Patrikios of Sicily ("Alpidi, the patriki of Sicily"); he fled to the Arabs when threatened with blinding by the emperor Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8) because he was committing adultery with the emperor's mother, the empress Eirene 1; he joined the Arab general Sulayman with a large army and they invaded the lands around Samisum, but were caught by severe winter weather and sustained heavy losses; they took refuge among the Romans and were well treated, leaving in January, many of them with severe frostbite: Bar Hebr., p. 119. When Nikephoros 8 became emperor Elpidios 2 advised the Arab commander `Abd al-Malik (Abdulmalik 2) to make ready for war: Bar Hebr., p. 121.

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