Elpidius (rebel)

Elpidius or Elpidios (Ancient Greek: Ἐλπίδιος) was a Byzantine aristocrat and governor of Sicily, who was accused of conspiring against Empress Irene of Athens (r. 780–802).

[1][2] Soon after, however, on 15 April, Irene was informed that he had supported a plot, discovered in October of the previous year to depose her and elevate the Caesar Nikephoros, the eldest surviving son of Constantine V, to power.

Along with his lieutenant, the doux Nikephoros (probably the commander of Calabria), he gathered what remained of the theme's treasury and fled to North Africa, where the Arab authorities welcomed him.

The Abbasids probably hoped that they could set him up as a rival emperor in at least part of Asia Minor, but the invading army was met with the onset of an early and heavy winter, losing many men to cold, and was forced to retreat.

When learning of this event, he is said to have advised Abd al-Malik ibn Salih, Emir of Mesopotamia, to "throw away his silk and put on his armour", as Nikephoros would pursue a more aggressive policy against the Abbasids than Irene.