Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 12, 2025
Theodosius III was the Byzantine emperor from around May 715 to 717. Before rising to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, he was a tax collector in Adramyttium. In 715, the Byzantine navy and the troops of the Opsician Theme, one of the Byzantine provinces, revolted against Anastasius II, acclaiming the reluctant Theodosius as emperor. He led his troops to Chrysopolis and then Constantinople, seizing the city in November 715. Anastasius did not surrender until several months later, accepting exile in a monastery in return for safety. Many themes viewed Theodosius to be a puppet of the troops of the Opsician Theme, and his legitimacy was denied by the Anatolics and the Armeniacs under their respective strategoi (generals) Leo the Isaurian and Artabasdos. Leo entered Constantinople and definitively seized power in 717, allowing Theodosius and his son to retire to a monastery. When Theodosius died is uncertain, but it may have been in 754. (Full article...)