Alexander (Byzantineemperor)

For other emperors named
Alexander, see Emperor Alexander
(disambiguation).
Alexander III
Emperor of the Byzantine
Empire
Byzantine Mosaic portrait of
Emperor Alexander in the Hagia
Sophia. In his left hand he holds
a globus cruciger, and in his
right the akakia.
Reign
Co-emperor c.879
– 912
Emperor 912 –
913
Full name Alexander
Born September 19,
866
Died June 6, 913 (aged
46)
Predecessor Leo VI the Wise
Successor Constantine VII
Wife None
Dynasty Macedonian
dynasty
Father Basil I
Mother Eudokia Ingerina
Alexander (Greek: Αλέξανδρος,
Alexandros, c. 870–913),
sometimes numbered Alexander
III, ruled as Emperor of the
Byzantine Empire in 912–913. He
was the third son of Emperor
Basil I and Eudokia Ingerina.
Unlike his older brother Leo VI the
Wise, his paternity was not
disputed between Basil I and
Michael III because he was born
years after the death of Michael.
[1]
Alexander was crowned co-
emperor by his father in about
the year 879.[2] Upon his
brother's death on May 11, 912
Alexander succeeded as senior
emperor alongside Leo's young
son Constantine VII. He was the
first Byzantine emperor to use
the term
" autocrator" (αὐτοκράτωρ πιστὸς
εὑσεβὴς βασιλεὺς) on coinage to
celebrate the ending of his thirty-
three years as co-emperor.[3]
Alexander promptly dismissed
most of Leo's advisers and
appointees, including the admiral
Himerios, the patriarch
Euthymios, and the Empress Zoe
Karbonopsina, the mother of
Constantine VII whom he locked
up in a nunnery.[4] The
patriarchate was again conferred
on Nicholas Mystikos, who had
been removed from this position
because he had opposed Leo's
fourth marriage. During his short
reign, Alexander found himself
attacked by the forces of Al-
Muqtadir of the Abbasid Caliphate
in the East, and provoked a war
with Simeon I of Bulgaria by
refusing to send the traditional
tribute on his accession.
Alexander died of exhaustion
after a game of tzykanion on
June 6, 913, allegedly fulfilling his
brother's prophesy that he would
reign for 13 months.
The sources are uniformly hostile
towards Alexander, who is
depicted as lazy, lecherous, and
malignant, including the rumor
that he planned to castrate the
young Constantine VII in order to
exclude him from the succession.
At least that charge did not come
to pass, but Alexander left his
successor a hostile regent
(Nicholas Mystikos) and the
beginning of a long war against
Bulgaria.