Paulos 48 was atricius and exarchus of Italy; he was sent to Italy during the pontificate of pope Gregory II (Gregorios 72), after the failure of a plot to kill the pope (see Marinos 12) (?postmodum Paulus patricius et exarchus missus in Italiam?); the conspirators (see Basilios 55, Ioannes 232 and Iordanes 2) tried again and were caught: Lib. Pont. 91. 15. On imperial orders Paulos 48 planned again to kill the pope; allegedly Gregorios 72 was hindering the collection of taxes and preventing Paulos 48 from seizing the property of churches and so Paulos 48 wanted to replace him ("illis diebus imperatorum iussione Paulus patricius qui exarchus fuerat eundem pontificem conabatur interficere, eo quod censum in provincia ponere praepediebat et suis opibus ecclesias denudare, sicut in ceteris actum est locis, atque alium in eius ordinare locum": Lib. Pont., early recension); the emperor sent a spatharius (Anonymus 239) to remove the pope and Paulos 48 therefore sent his own army commander (Anonymus 240) with men from Ravenna and various other forts to carry this out ("denuo Paulus patricius ad perficiendum tale scelus quos seducere potuit ex Ravenna cum suo comite atque ex castris aliquos misit"); the attempt was prevented by a combination of forces from Rome and the Lombards: Lib. Pont. 91. 16, cf. Paul. Diac., Hist. Lang. VI 49 ("Paulus patricius", sent men from Ravenna to murder the pope; the attempt was foiled by Lombard intervention). The date was before the emperor Leo III (Leo 3) issued his first orders against the use of icons; when the orders against images reached Italy, there was widespread opposition, the authority of the emperor and the exarchos Paulos 48 was rejected and new commanders were appointed throughout Italy ("spernentes ordinationem exarchi, sibi omnes in Italia duces elegerunt"); only the pope's intervention, allegedly, averted the proclamation of a rival emperor and a full scale rebellion: Lib. Pont. 91. 17. In Ravenna there was division and fighting and Paulos 48 himself was killed ("Paulum patricium occiderunt"): Lib. Pont. 91. 18. Cf. Eutychios 4 (successor of Paulos 48).

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