Paul was the Exarch of Ravenna from 723 to 727. According to John Julius Norwich

John Julius Norwich

John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...

, the person traditionally recognized as the first doge of Venice

Doge of Venice

The Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...

, Paolo Lucio Anafesto

Paolo Lucio Anafesto

Paoluccio or Paolo Lucio Anafesto was the reputed first doge of Venice. A noble of Eraclea, then the primary city of the region, he was elected in 697 as an official over the entire lagoon that surrounded Venice, both to put an end to the conflicts between the various tribunes who until then had...

, was actually Exarch Paul. Moreover, Paul's magister militum

Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...

had the same first name as the doge's reputed successor, Marcellus Tegallianus

Marcello Tegalliano

According to tradition, Marcello Tegalliano was the second Doge of Venice . However, John Julius Norwich has argued that the first doge, Paoluccio Anafesto, was actually Paul, Exarch of Ravenna, and that Marcellus was actually his magister militum of the same first name.-Sources:*Norwich, John...

, casting doubt on the authenticity of that doge as well.

In 727, the exarchate rose in revolt against the imperial imposition of iconoclasm

Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...

. The armies of Ravenna

Ravenna

Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...

 and the Duchy of the Pentapolis

Duchy of the Pentapolis

In the Byzantine Empire, the Duchy of the Pentapolis was a duchy , a territory ruled by a duke appointed by and under the authority of the Praetorian Prefect of Italy and then the Exarch of Ravenna . The Pentapolis consisted of the cities of Ancona, Fano, Pesaro, Rimini and Sinigaglia...

 mutinied, denouncing both Exarch Paul and Emperor Leo III, and overthrew those officers who remained loyal. Paul rallied the loyalist forces and attempted to restore order, but was killed. The armies discussed electing their own emperor and marching on 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:...

, but when they sought Pope Gregory III

Pope Gregory III

Pope Saint Gregory III was pope from 731 to 741. A Syrian by birth, he succeeded Gregory II in March 731. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by the iconoclastic controversy in the Byzantine Empire, in which he vainly invoked the intervention of Charles Martel.Elected by...

advice he dissuaded them from acting against the sitting emperor.