Leontios

Justinian, emboldened by the increase of his forces in Asia Minor, now renews the war against the Arabs, provoking them into attacking the eastern frontier over a disagreement concerning Cypriot policy.

The Umayyad army is led by Muhammad ibn Marwan, brother of the Caliph, and included the minister of defense, the famously known Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf.

The imperial forcers are led by Leontios and include a "special army" of thirty thousand resettled Slavs under their leader Neboulos.

Justinian’s new troops help him to win a battle against the Caliphate in Armenia in 691, but they are soon bribed to revolt by the Arabs.

The Umayyads, incensed at the breaking of the treaty, use copies of its texts in the place of a flag.

Although the battle seems to be tilting to the imperial advantage, the defection of upwards of twenty thousand Slavs ensures a Roman defeat.

Justinian II has contributed to the development of the thematic organization of the Empire, creating a new theme of Hellas in southern Greece and numbering the heads of the five major themes—Thrace in Europe, Opsikion, the Anatolikon, and Armeniakon themes in Asia Minor, and the maritime corps of the Karabisianoi—among the senior administrators of the Empire.

He has also sought to protect the rights of peasant freeholders, who serve as the main recruitment pool for the armed forces of the Empire, against attempts by the aristocracy to acquire their land—putting him in direct conflict with some of the largest landholders in the Empire.

Although strife between Blues and Greens has persisted throughout the century, internal revolt has failed to imperil the Heraclian dynasty until the reign of Justinian II.

If his land policies threaten the aristocracy, his tax policy is no more popular with the common people.

Through his ruthless policy and the merciless extortion by his finance officials Stephen and Theodotos, the emperor has raised the funds to gratify his sumptuous tastes and his mania for erecting costly buildings.

This, ongoing religious discontent, conflicts with the aristocracy, and displeasure over his resettlement policy eventually drives his subjects into rebellion.

The population rises in 695 under Leontios, the strategos of Hellas, imprisoned by the emperor after the defeat by the Arabs at Sebastopolis and newly freed, and proclaims him Emperor.

Justinian is deposed and his nose is cut off (it will later be replaced by a solid gold replica of his original) to prevent his again seeking the throne: such mutilation is common in the of the Eastern Roman Empire (hence his byname Rhinotmetus).

He is exiled to Cherson in the Crimea.

The formation  of the theme of Hellas in 697 is evidence that that Roman authority is beginning to prevail along the peninsular coastline and in certain parts of Greece where Slavs have penetrated.

The Cibyrrhaeots ("men of Cibyrrha") derive their name from the city of Cibyrrha (it is unclear whether this is Cibyrrha the Great in Caria or Cibyrrha the Lesser in Pamphylia).

At this time, the Cibyrrhaeots are subordinate to the great naval corps of the Karabisianoi.

The command first appears in the expedition against Carthage in 698, when a Germanic naval officer from the region of Pamphylia, originally named Apsimaros, has risen to the position of droungarios of the Cibyrrhaeots.

He is attested as commanding the men from Korykos and has participated in the failed campaign of 698 to regain Carthage.

As admiral John the Patrician retreats from Carthage to Crete, the fleet rebels, deposes and murders their commander, and chooses Apsimaros as his replacement.

Changing his name to Tiberios, Apsimaros sails on Constantinople, which is suffering from a plague, and proceeds to besiege it.

His revolution attracts the support of the Green faction, as well as detachments from the field army and the imperial guard, and officers loyal to him open the gates of the city and proclaim him emperor, after which his troops proceed to pillage the city.

When he is firmly established on the throne, he commands that the nose of deposed Emperor Leontius be cut off, and orders him to enter the monastery of Psamathion.

Heraclius, appointed by his brother Tiberios III as patrikios and commander-in-chief (monostrategos) of the Anatolian themes, crosses with his army the mountain passes of the Taurus Mountains into Cilicia in autumn 698, and thence heads to northern Syrian.

After defeating an Arab army from Antioch, …

…Heraclius raids as far as Samosata before returning safely to the Empire in the spring of 699.

This success only serves to provoke a massive Arab response: over the next few years, the Caliphate's generals Muhammad ibn Marwan and Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik will launch a series of campaigns that will conquer what remains of Roman Armenia, without Heraclius being able to respond effectively.

Umayyad troops invade Armenia in 699 and secure the submission of Smbat VI Bagratuni.

Justinian, restored to the imperial throne, presides over the public humiliation of his predecessors Leontios and Tiberios III and their chief associates in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, after which they are executed.

Patriarch Callinicus I is also deposed, blinded and exiled; he is succeeded by Cyrus.

The Bulgar kingdom has been ruled since 700/01 by Tervel (Terbelis), the son of Asparukh, who had presumably been killed in a battle with the Khazars.

The deposed and mutilated emperor, gaining the help of Tervel and his army, …

…marches on Constantinople with fifteen thousand horsemen, bypassing the imperial forces under Heraclius awaiting them.

After three days, Justinian's men enter through the disused Valens Aqueduct.

Tiberios III flees the city to his brother's army in Thrace, but surrenders when the soldiers begin to desert.