ABSTRACT
Based on the analysis in the previous sections of this study we should now be able to form a provisional picture of the emperor as a ruler as he is portrayed through the Byzantine sources, be they contemporary or not. Obviously a more comprehensive study will be needed in order to make a definitive assessment of the historical role played by Theophilos, an assessment based on objective standards, which will take into account other aspects of Theophilos’ government excluded from the present analysis (centred in his eastern policy) and will give due relevance to economic and geostrategic factors that are appreciable only in the long term and not in the short run of his sole reign of 12 years and some months. The words that follow must therefore be intended as a preparatory step for this future study without predetermining its conclusions in any form.
