Anastasia

Anastasia (, c. 650 – after 711) was the empress consort of Constantine IV of the Byzantine Empire.

Empress

Anastasia entered historical record when her husband Constantine IV succeeded to the throne in 668, following his father's death.

Constantine IV died of dysentery in September, 685. Anastasia is known to have survived him by more than two decades.

Later life

Justinian succeeded to the throne and would go on to earn a reputation for excessive harshness. Justinian needed funds for his building projects and allowed Stephen the Persian, his logothetes tou genikou (responsible for the taxation of the state), to secure them by any means. Both Theophanes and Nikephoros claimed that Stephen inflicted corporal punishment or plain torture while trying to collect the needed funds.

Theophanes records an incident in 693/694, where Anastasia was subject to flagellation under the orders of Stephen. Justinian was absent at the time. The incident might indicate lasting hostility between the mother of the emperor and his favourite.

The increased taxation and the methods used in collecting made Justinian increasingly unpopular with the people. He was deposed in a coup d'état under Leontius in 695. The whereabouts and status of Anastasia during the short reigns of Leontius (695–698) and Tiberius III (698–705) are unknown. Her son reclaimed the throne in 705 and would rule until 711.

Justinian died while facing a revolt under strategos Bardanes, renamed Philippicus. Justinian was captured and swiftly executed outside the gates of Constantinople. Anastasia resurfaces trying to protect the life of her six-year-old grandson, Tiberius. She took the boy to sanctuary at St. Mary's Church in Blachernae. However, they were pursued by Philippicus' henchmen. Anastasia was still pleading for his life while the boy was forcibly removed from the altar. He was executed despite her protests.

How long she survived her son and grandson is unknown. She was mentioned by Leo Grammaticus to have been buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles alongside her husband.