Stephanos 5 | Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire |
| Sex | M |
| Floruit | E VIII |
| Dates | 710 (taq) / 711 (ob.) |
| Locations | Cherson (Tauric Chersonese) |
| Titles | Patrikios (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) |
Known as Asmiktos, Stephanos 5 was a patrikios (Στεφάνῳ πατρικίῳ, τὸ ἐπίκλην Ἀσμίκτῳ): Theoph. AM 6203. In 710 he was sent by Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) with Mauros 1 and a fleet to Cherson on a punitive expedition; he had orders to massacre everyone in the forts of Cherson and Bosphoros and the surrounding districts, as an act of revenge by Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) for their earlier plots against him, and to install Elias 1 as governor of Cherson and leave Bardanes (Philippikos 1) in exile there; he carried out his orders, but spared a few young boys to be slaves and a number of the leading dignitaries (cf. Toudounos 1 and Zoilos 1), whom he sent to Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1); the emperor Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) accused him of excessive leniency and ordered him home; he set out in early October, but a great storm overtook the fleet and many lives were lost; the fate of Stephanos 5 is not recorded but he probably perished in the storm also: Nic. Brev. de Boor 44-45, Mango 45, Theoph. AM 6203, Zon. XIV 25. 12.
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