| Mezezius | |
|---|---|
| Usurper of the Byzantine Empire | |
A solidus of Mezezius struck in Syracuse. |
|
| Reign | 668–669 |
| Born | 622 |
| Died | 669 |
| Predecessor | Constans II |
| Successor | Constantine IV |
Mezezius (Greek: Μιζίζιος) was an Armenian noble who served as a general of Byzantium, later usurping the Byzantine throne in Sicily from 668 to 669.
According to a letter from Pope Gregory II to Emperor Leo III, he was Count of the Opsikion, the imperial retinue (Latin: obsequium), and a later Syriac chronicle describes him as a patrikios. After Constans' murder at the baths of Daphne in 668, he was proclaimed emperor by the army thereafter and reigned in Sicily for a few months; however, when the news of the assassination of Constans reached his son Constantine IV in Constantinople, an expedition was sent to depose and kill him. His court was deported to Constantinople.[1]