LEO

LEO, the name of six emperors of the East, of which the chief was Leo III., surnamed the Isaurian, born in Isauria; raised to the imperial throne by the army, defeated by sea and land the Saracens who threatened Constantinople; ruled peacefully for nine years, when he headed the ICONOCLAST MOVEMENT, which provoked hostility and led to the revolt of Italy from the Greek empire; d. 741.