Turkey / Byzantium: Anastasius II (-719); Byzantine emperor; from the book Icones imperatorvm romanorvm (Icons of Roman Emperors); Antwerp; c. 1645. Anastasius II; also known as Anastasios II and originally named Artemius; was a bureaucrat and imperial secretary in the Byzantine court. He was proclaimed emperor by the Opsician army after they had overthrown Emperor Philippicus. Changing his name to Anastasius; he took the throne and turned on those who had aided his rise by executing those directly involved in the conspiracy against Philippicus.