Theodotos 3

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitL VII
Dates694 (c) / 695 (ob.)
Variant NamesTheodosios
ReligionChristian
LocationsConstantinople;
Constantinople (officeplace);
Thrace (residence);
Stenon (Straits) (residence);
Constantinople (residence);
Thrace;
Stenon (Straits);
Ox (Forum of the, Constantinople) (deathplace)
OccupationHegoumenos;
Hermit;
Monk
TitlesAbbas (office);
Logothetes, Genikon (office)
Textual SourcesNicephorus, 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)

Theodotos 3 was called Theodosios in Zonaras, Theodotos elsewhere. Formerly a hermit living on the Thracian side of the Narrow Straits (τὸ Στενόν, perhaps the Bosporos), he was a monk and (according to Theophanes) an abbas, whom the emperor Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) appointed logothetes of the genikon (Θεόδοτον δέ τινα μοναχόν, ἐγκλειστὸν τὸ πρότερον κατὰ τὰ Θρᾳκῷα τοῦ Στενοῦ λεγομένου πόρου γεγονότα, τῶν δημοσίων λογιστήν, ὃν τὸ δημῶδες γενικὸν λογοθέτην καλοῦσι, κατέστησεν: Nic. Brev. de Boor 37, Mango 39:6-9; εἰς τὰ τοῦ γενικοῦ λογοθεσίου πράγματα κατέστησεν ἀββᾶν τινα ὀνόματι Θεόδοτον, ἔγκλειστον τὸ πρότερον ὄντα ἐν τοῖς Θρᾳκῴοις τοῦ Στενοῦ μέρεσιν: Theoph. AM 6186); the date was in or before 694 (Theodotos 3 and Stephanos 4 are first recorded by Theophanes shortly after the solar eclipse of 5 October 693); both Nicephorus and Theophanes record that he was a man who displayed great cruelty and who extorted money not only from those subject to him but also from highly placed officials of the empire, imposing severe punishments and causing deaths: Nic. Brev. de Boor 37, Mango 39, Theoph. AM 6186, Zon. XIV 22. 27, and cf. also Stephanos 4.

In 695, after the overthrow of Justinian II (Ioustinianos 1) and the accession of Leontios 2, Theodotos 3 and Stephanos 4 were both seized by the mob, dragged to the Forum of the Ox and burnt alive: Nic. Brev. de Boor 39, Mango 40:38 (Θεόδοτον τὸν μοναχὸν), Theoph. AM 6187 (Θεόδοτον τὸν μοναχὸν καὶ γενικὸν λογοθέτην), Zon. XIV 22. 35.

A seal belonging to Theodotos 3 when he held this office survives: Zacos and Veglery 1064A = Oikonomides, Dated Seals, p. 36, no. 23 (obv.: + Θεο - τοκε βο - [η]θη Θεο - δοτω - [+]; rev.: + μον - αχω [και] γ - ενικω λ - ογοθε - [τη]). On the attribution, cf. Oikonomides, Dated Seals, pp. 36-37.

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