Anastasius II (; , died 719) was the Byzantine emperor from 713 to 715. During his reign he reversed his predecessor's decision to appoint a Monothelete Patriarch of Constantinople. He instead re-elevated Orthodoxy in Constantinople by appointing Germanus I to the position in order to gain Pope Constantine's favor. His reign was spent attempting to reinforce the Empire and bring it into an era of stability. He was deposed by Theodosius during the Byzantine campaign against the Umayyad Caliphate in 715. Four years later, in 719, Anastasius would launch a rebellion against Emperor Leo III with the intent to reclaim the throne. He initially received support in the form of soldiers and funds from Tervel of Bulgaria. But once Anastasius failed to enter Constantinople, the Bulgar forces he had brought complied with a request from Leo III to turn Anastasius and his allies over. Anastasius would then be executed with other members of the rebellion in 719. Biography Anastasius was a Greek, originally had the baptismal name of Artemios (; ; male form of Artemis), and had served as a bureaucrat and Imperial secretary (asekretis) for his predecessors as Emperor. During this time, the Byzantine Empire was in a time of instability and crisis known as The Twenty Years’ Anarchy. Imperial authority was unstable after the last dynastic ruler, Justinian II, was initially dethroned. Byzantium experienced a quick succession of four rulers from 695-713. The fourth ruler being Philippicus Bardanes (Philippikos), who overthrew Justinian II for a second time. His policy led to the deposition of the Orthodoxy patriarch of Constantinople in favor of a Monothelete one. This was an unpopular move as the vast majority of Byzantium was Orthodox. It was also unpopular with the church in Rome and alienated the monarchy from the church. Philippicus also prioritized defending against the Bulgars and allocated troops to defend Constantinople. Which allowed the Umayyad Caliphate to advance on the empire’s eastern front. All these things caused Philippicus’ reign to be plagued with discontent among the populace. This discontent would lead the troops of the Opsikion Theme stationed in Thrace to overthrow Emperor Philippicus Bardanes in 713. Philippicus was blinded to both prevent him from leading a counter rebellion, as Justinian II had done. But also because the emperor of the Byzantines, traditionally, had to be free of physical imperfections. In blinding him, they hoped to disqualify him from ever being Emperor