Niketas 5 | Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire |
| Sex | M |
| Floruit | M VIII/E IX |
| Dates | 763 (n.) / 812 (tpq) |
| PmbZ No. | 5403 |
| Locations | Constantinople (residence); Aphousia (Sea of Marmara) (exileplace); Panormos (Hellespontus) (exileplace); Athens (Hellas) (exileplace); Athens (Hellas) (residence); Constantinople (birthplace); Therapia (Palace of, Constantinople) (residence); Panormos (Hellespontus) (residence); Aphousia (Sea of Marmara) (residence); Constantinople; Therapia (Palace of, Constantinople); Athens (Hellas); Panormos (Hellespontus); Aphousia (Sea of Marmara) |
| Titles | Nobelissimos (dignity) |
| Textual Sources | Nicephorus, 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) |
Niketas 5 was the son of the emperor Constantine V (Konstantinos 7) and his third wife Eudokia 1: Theoph. AM 6260, Nic. Brev. de Boor 70, Mango 78, Zon. XV 8. 2. Younger brother of Christophoros 1 and Nikephoros 5: Theoph. AM 6260 (καὶ Νικήταν, τὸν ἔσχατον ἀδελφὸν αὐτῶν). He was born in 763 (indiction one): Nic. Brev. de Boor 70, Mango 78. On 2 April 769 (Easter Sunday; indiction seven) he was made nobelissimos by his father: Theoph. AM 6260 (ποιήσας νοβελίσιμον), Nic. Brev. de Boor 77, Mango 87 (on the same occasion his brothers Nikephoros 4 and Christophoros 1 were crowned Caesars), Zon. XV 8. 2. Half-brother of Leo 4, brother of Anthimos 1, Eudokimos 1, Christophoros 1 and Nikephoros 5. On April 13 and 14 776, he took part in the ceremonies surrounding the coronation of Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8) by Leo IV (Leo 4): Theoph. AM 6268 (one of the three nobelissimoi - τρισὶ νοβελισίμοις). Early in the reign of Constantine VI he and his brothers were tonsured, consecrated priests and made to perform religious ceremonies at Christmas, after a conspiracy was discovered to put Nikephoros 5 on the throne: Zon. XV 10. 4. In 792, when the tagmata tried to proclaim Nikephoros 5 as emperor in place of Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8), Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8) had Nikephoros 5 blinded and cut off the tongues of his brothers Niketas 5, Christophoros 1, Anthimos 1 and Eudokimos 1; the date was August 792: Theoph. AM 6284, Zon. XV 12. 13. In 797 they were living in the palace of Therapia; they were involved that year in a conspiracy against Eirene 1, but it was discovered and they were exiled to Athens: Theoph. AM 6290, Zon. XV 13. 18-19. After another conspiracy in 799 they were all blinded on the orders of Eirene 1: Theoph. AM 6291 (see Nikephoros 5), Zon. XV 13. 20-21. In 812 the brothers were living under close guard on the island of Panormos; following another conspiracy they were exiled to Aphousia (in the sea of Marmara) (see Nikephoros 5): Theoph. AM 6304. See Rochow, Konstantin V, p. 232.
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