Tiberius III

Apsimar served as a droungarios in the Cibyrrhaeot Theme before being swept into the power struggle that defined late seventh-century Byzantium. In 696, Emperor Leontius sent him with an army to recapture Carthage from the Umayyads; they took the city but were driven back to Crete by reinforcements. Fearing execution for failure, officers murdered their own commander John the Patrician and proclaimed Apsimar emperor as Tiberius III. He sailed to Constantinople and deposed Leontius in 698. Tiberius abandoned Africa but fought the Umayyads along the eastern frontier with modest gains. In 705, Ju…