page_title: Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628
section_title: Short-term consequences
hierarchical_section_title: Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 / Significance / Short-term consequences
caption_attribution_description: Español: La obra muestra a Santa Helena de Constantinopla junto al emperador Heraclio y la Vera-Cruz, aunque dicha santa vivió en realidad trescientos años antes que el emperador. English: Saint Helena &amp; Heraclius taking the Holy Cross to Jerusalem, Museo de Zaragoza, óleo sobre tabla (195 x 115 cm.) procedente del retablo de la Santa Cruz de Blesa, Teruel. العربية: أيقونة إسبانية من القرن الخامس عشر تظهر الإمبراطور هرقل يعيد الصليب الحقيقي إلى القدس بعد استعادتها، ترافقه القديسة هيلانة.
context_page_description: The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 was the final and most devastating of the series of wars fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Iran. The previous war between the two powers had ended in 591 after Emperor Maurice helped the Sasanian king Khosrow II regain his throne. In 602 Maurice was murdered by his political rival Phocas. Khosrow proceeded to declare war, ostensibly to avenge the death of Maurice. This became a decades-long conflict, the longest war in the series, and was fought throughout the Middle East: in Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Armenia, the Aegean Sea and before the walls of Constantinople itself.
  While the Persians proved largely successful during the first stage of the war from 602 to 622, conquering much of the Levant, Egypt, several islands in the Aegean Sea and parts of Anatolia, the ascendancy of emperor Heraclius in 610 led, despite initial setbacks, to a status quo ante bellum. Heraclius' campaigns in Iranian lands from 622 to 626 forced the Persians onto the defensive, allowing his forces to regain momentum.
context_section_description: After some months of travel, Heraclius entered Constantinople in triumph and was met by the people of the city, his son Heraclius Constantine, and Patriarch Sergius, prostrating themselves in joy. His alliance with the Persians resulted in the recovery of the Holy Sponge which fastened to the True Cross in an elaborate ceremony on 14 September 629. The ceremonial parade went toward the Hagia Sophia. There, the True Cross was slowly raised up until it vertically towered over the high altar. To many, this was a sign that a new golden age was about to begin for the Byzantine Empire.
  The victorious conclusion of the war cemented Heraclius' position as one of history's most successful generals. He was hailed as "the new Scipio" for his six years of unbroken victories and for leading the Roman army where no Roman army had ever gone before. The triumphal raising of the True Cross in the Hagia Sophia was a crowning moment in his achievements. Had Heraclius died then, he would have been recorded in history, in the words of the historian Norman Davies, as "the greatest Roman general since Julius Caesar". Instead, he lived through the Arab invasions, losing battle after battle against their onslaught and tarnishing his reputation for victory. Lord Norwich succinctly described Heraclius as having "lived too long".
  For their part, the Sasanians struggled to establish a stable government. When Kavadh II died only months after coming to the throne, Persia was plunged into several years of dynastic turmoil and civil war. Ardashir III, Heraclius' ally Shahrbaraz, and Khosrow's daughters Purandokht and Azarmidokht all succeeded to the throne within months of each other. Only when Yazdgerd III, a grandson of Khosrow II, succeeded to the throne in 632 was there stability, but by then it was too late to rescue the Sasanian kingdom.
caption: Heraclius returns the True Cross to Jerusalem, anachronistically accompanied by Saint Helena. 15th century, Spain
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