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The purpose of this project is to gather the key profiles involved in Settipani's hypothetical genealogy around Ioannes Mystacon from his book Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs: les princes caucasiens et l'empire du VIe au IXe siècle. This project originates from this discussion: Iohannes Moustakou - Tree Cleanup
Hypothesis #1
The reasoning that Settipani uses goes something like this: The 7th century Armenian historian, Sebeos, mentions that Emperor Constans II supported a marriage between a relative of his and Prince Smbat V of Armenia and Sebeos also later mentions that the father-in-law of Smbat is Manuel Arshakuni. Now, how is Constans II related to Manuel Arshakuni? It cannot be through Constans II’s ancestors because the idea of them having Armenian origin has been disproved. See this discussion: Unknown Origins of Heraclius the Elder
Therefore it could be through Constans II’s father-in-law, Valentinus, which makes sense because he was Armenian. So, Settipani assumes that Valentinus and Manuel are possibly brothers (a big assumption but somewhat reasonable as they are both from the Arsacid dynasty) (pages 117-8).
The name Valentinus for an Armenian prince is unusual, as Valentinus is a Roman name, not Armenian, and his daughter married a Roman prince, so Settipani postulates that maybe he had some Roman blood (page 123). In order for him to be both Armenian and Roman there would need to be an alliance between Armenians and Romans in his ancestry. Now an example of this kind of alliance happened in the engagement between Artabanos and Praejecta. This engagement was called off, but Artabanos clearly liked Roman women, so maybe he later remarried to a Roman woman and perhaps had a child with this possible Roman woman, and that child could have, theoretically, been Valentinus himself, or perhaps Valentinus’ father. Since there may have to be an intermediate generation between Valentinus and Artabanos, perhaps that man was Iustinus, military commander of Armenia in 606, because he fits the time-frame nicely. Settipani constructs three different family trees to imagine how this connection could have played out (pages 124-125).
Hypothesis #2
Settipani also has a second hypothesis for that intermediate generation between Artabanos and Valentinus. Because Valentinus is called Valentinus, perhaps he is a distant descendent of the Roman Emperor Valentian III through his mother. Now there are three documented descendants of Valentian III in the sixth century. Of two of them nothing is known, so they are not useful, but one of them is Placidia, who married Ioannes Mystacon, and Moustakon (which was probably a nickname based on his moustache) is a figure whose life historians know a bit about. He was from Thrace, but since he was military commander of Armenia, Settipani suggests that he may have been of Armenian descent (as some military commanders of Armenia were) and since Artabanos was the military commander of Thrace, this also fits conveniently (pages 125-126).
To recap:
Settipani starts from the assumption that Valentinus and Manuel are brothers, then, because Valentinus is a Roman name, Settipani assumes that he had Roman ancestry as well as Armenia. Then, Settipani assumes that because of this he is the son or grandson of Artabanes, military commander of Thrace and of Armenian origin, because Artabanes had a failed engagement to a Roman woman. Next, Settipani can take his pick of military commanders of Armenia to fill the missing generation. Then, Settipani hypothesizes that Valentinus is a distant descendant of Valentian III because of the similarity in their names, this means that Settipani settles on Moustakon as a likely pick, because he assumes that he might theoretically be Armenian.
There are at least five major assumptions in Settipani’s narrative, each without a shred of real historical evidence. Settipani is using these hypothetical family trees like this one to make an argument for the continuity of political power from the Roman Empire through the Dark Ages, challenging the traditional historiography that shows a sharp break between the Roman Empire and the Medieval world. Settipani’s prospographical/onomastic approach to Moustakon’s genealogy, while intriguing, unfortunately does not meet the requirements of the genealogical proof standard which we try to follow on Geni.
How is this represented on Geni
There are notes in the key profiles in Settipani's lineage to note his theories, but as far as the Geni tree is concerned:
Valentinus and Manuel Arshakuni are not shown as brothers because the precise nature of their relation is unknown.
Neither Valentinus or Manuel Arshakuni are listed as the sons of Ioannes Mystacon and Placidia or of Artabanes.
Ioannes Mystacon is not shown as being connected to Artabanes.
Genealogical Charts from Settipani's book:
Hypothesis #1a, page 124.
Hypothesis #1b and 1c, page 125.
Hypothesis #2, page 126.