Sulayman 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitE VIII
Dates716 (taq) / 718 (tpq)
Variant NamesSolyman;
Souleiman;
Sulayman;
Solimas
ReligionMuslim
EthnicityArab
LocationsChalcedon (Bithynia);
Amorion (Galatia);
Constantinople
Textual SourcesAgapius, Kitab al-`Unwan. Histoire universelle écrite par Agapius (Mahboub) de Menbidj, tr. A. A. Vasiliev, PO 8 (1912), pp. 399-547; ed. L. Cheikho, Historia universalis/Kitab al-`Unvan, CSCO 65, (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);
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)

Sulayman 1 was son of Ma`ud (Mu`ad): Chron. 1234, ¤157 (p. 301). In 716 Sulayman 1 (Sulayman b. Mu`ad) and Bakthari 1 invaded Roman territory under the command of Maslama 1; they encountered Leo 3 at Amorion and, convinced that he intended to help them capture Constantinople, made an agreement with him and informed Maslama 1; after ravaging the countryside they wintered on Roman soil and in the following spring Sulayman 1 was sent by Maslama 1 to besiege Chalcedon; during the siege he loaned Leo 3 a force of Arab cavalry with which to threaten Amorion and rescue Leo 3's family: Chron. 1234, ¤157 (pp. 301-302), cf. Theoph. AM 6208 (at Amorion he negotiated with Leo 3 and tried in vain, to capture him), Agapius, Kitab al-`Unwan (tr. Vasiliev), PO 8, pp. 501-502 (Sulayman ibn Ma`adh and Bakhthari ibn al-Hasan commanded the avantguard of Maslama 1 over land; Sulayman met Leo 3 and, convinced by his promises of help, introduced him to Maslama).

During the thirteen month siege of Constantinople in 717 and 718 Sulayman 1 was the commander of the first Arab fleet: Nic. Brev. 53 (ὁ τῶν Σαρακηνῶν στόλος, οὗ ἡγεῖτο Σολιμὰν ὀνόματι Ἀράβων φωνῇ καλούμενος), Zon. XV 1. 24 (ὁ ἀρχισατράπης Σολιμᾶς), and cf. Theoph. AM 6209 (p. 395). The Greek sources have confused the caliph Sulayman brother of Maslama 1 and son of `Abd al-Aziz (Abdul Aziz 2) with the general who was son of Mu`ad; see Sulayman 4.

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