Artemius Anastasius known in English as Anastasios II or Anastasius II, (died 719), was Byzantine emperor from 713 to 715.

Anastasios was originally named Artemios (Ἀρτέμιος), and had served as a bureaucrat and imperial secretary for his predecessors. After the Opsikian army in Thrace

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

 had overthrown Emperor Philippicus

Philippikos

Philippikos or Philippicus , was Emperor of Byzantium from 711 to 713.-Biography:Philippicus was originally named Bardanes , and was the son of the patrician Nikephorus, who was of Armenian extraction from an Armenian colony in Pergamum....

, they acclaimed Artemius as emperor. He chose Anastasius as his regnal name. Soon after his accession, Anastasius II imposed discipline on the army and executed those officers who had been directly involved in the conspiracy against Philippicus.

Anastasios upheld the decisions of the Sixth Ecumenical Council and deposed the Monothelete Patriarch John VI of Constantinople

Patriarch John VI of Constantinople

John VI , Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 712 to 715.John VI was placed on the patriarchal throne in 712 by Emperor Philippikos, as a replacement for the deposed Patriarch Kyros. John was favored by Philippikos, because he shared his Monothelite sympathies...

, replacing him with the orthodox Patriarch Germanus

Patriarch Germanos I of Constantinople

Saint Germanus I was Patriarch of Constantinople from 715 to 730. He is regarded as a saint, with a feast day of May 12.-Life:According to Theophanes the Confessor, Germanus was a son of patrician Justinian who was executed in 668. Justinian was reportedly involved in the murder of Constans II and...

 in 715. This also put an end to the short-lived local schism with the Catholic Church.

The empire was threatened by the Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

s both by land and sea (they penetrated as far as Galatia

Galatia

Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. Galatia was named for the immigrant Gauls from Thrace , who settled here and became its ruling caste in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of...

 in 714), and Anastasios attempted to restore peace by diplomatic means. His emissaries having failed in Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

, he undertook the restoration of Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

's walls and the construction of a new fleet. However, the death of the Caliph

Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word   which means "successor" or "representative"...

 al-Walid I in 715 gave Anastasius an opportunity to turn the tables on the enemy. He had his fleet concentrate on Rhodes

Rhodes

Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

 with orders not only to resist the approach of the enemy, but to destroy their naval stores, and dispatched an army under Leo the Isaurian

Leo III the Isaurian

Leo III the Isaurian or the Syrian , was Byzantine emperor from 717 until his death in 741...

, afterwards emperor, to invade Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

.

The troops of the Opsikian theme, resenting the emperor's strict measures, mutinied, slew the admiral John, and proclaimed Theodosios

Theodosios III

Theodosios III or Theodosius III , was Byzantine Emperor from 715 to March 25, 717.Theodosius was a financial officer and tax collector in the southern portion of the theme of Opsikion. According to one theory he was the son of the former Emperor Tiberius III. When the thematic troops rebelled...

, a tax-collector of low extraction, emperor. After a six months' siege, Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 was taken by Theodosios; Anastasios, who had fled to Nicaea

Iznik

İznik is a city in Turkey which is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea, the first and seventh Ecumenical councils in the early history of the Church, the Nicene Creed, and as the capital city of the Empire of Nicaea...

, was compelled to submit to the new emperor in 716 and retired to a monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 in Thessalonica

Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

.

In 719, Anastasios headed a revolt against Leo III, who had succeeded Theodosius. He received a considerable amount of support, including auxiliaries reportedly provided by Tervel of Bulgaria

Tervel of Bulgaria

Khan Tervel also called Tarvel, or Terval, or Terbelis in some Byzantine sources, was the Emperor of the Bulgarians at the beginning of the 8th century. In 705 he received the title Caesar which was a precedent in history. He was probably a Christian like his grandfather Khan Kubrat...

. However the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor

Theophanes the Confessor

Saint Theophanes Confessor was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He is venerated on March 12 in the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church .-Biography:Theophanes was born in Constantinople of wealthy and noble iconodule parents: Isaac,...

, who offers this information elsewhere, confuses Tervel with his eventual successor Kormesiy

Kormesiy of Bulgaria

Kormesiy was a ruler of Danubian Bulgaria in the first half of the 8th century. Western chronicles name Kormesiy "the third ruler over the Bulgarians", and he is sometimes considered the direct successor of Tervel....

, so perhaps Anastasios was allied with the younger ruler. In any case, the rebel forces advanced on Constantinople. The enterprise failed and Anastasios, falling into Leo's hands, was put to death by his orders.

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