Heraclius I

Emperor of the Romans
 King of Kings

* Solidus
* Illustration

* Life
* Names
* Reign

**Flavius Heraclius novus Scipio** (Greek: Φλάβιος Ἡράκλειος νέος Σκιπίων, *translit.* *Phlábios Hērákleios néos Skipíōn*; Cappadocia, c. 574/575 – Constantinople, 11 February 641), enumerated as **Heraclius I** and also known as **Heraclius the Younger** (Latin: *Heraclius iunior* or *minor*; Greek: Ἡράκλειος ὁ νέος, *translit.* *Hērákleios ho néos*), was Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. He rose to power starting from 608, when he and his father, exarch of Africa Heraclius the Elder, declared themselves consuls and rebelled against emperor Phocas. The rebellion succeeded, and Heraclius the Younger took power in 610 with the death of Phocas. Shortly thereafter, Heraclius the Elder died from natural causes.

Heraclius faced a challenging reign dominated by continuous warfare. The empire suffered losses on multiple fronts, including the collapse of the eastern and Balkan frontiers, the province of Spania, and the empire's holdings in Dalmatia. Following several crushing defeats, Heraclius contemplated complete surrender and submission to Persia, but was persuaded to continue the fight after Khosrow II rejected his peace offer. Following a restructuring of the military, Heraclius launched a successful offensive, financed by debasing the currency and fining soldiers convicted of misconduct, and decisively defeated the Persians in their own heartland.

However, subsequent efforts by Heraclius to reconcile rivaling religious factions and his controversial marriage to his cousin Martina caused further instability. In an attempt to unite the Chalcedonian Christians and the Monophysites, Heraclius attempted to prop up several compromise doctrines, firstly Monoenergism and, following the former's failure, Monothelitism. The latter brought the empire to the brink of civil war and was condemned by several religious leaders as heretical. Only a few years later, the Muslim conquests erupted and dealt a significant blow to the empire, exacerbated by Heraclius's senility and political missteps. Following the disastrous defeat at the river Yarmouk in 636, the Muslims conquered all of Syria and the Levant, and by 640 had entered Egypt.

Heraclius died in 641, leaving a mixed legacy with both remarkable successes and devastating failures. He was succeeded not only by his eldest son Heraclius II, but also by the latter's half-brother Heraclius III (Heraclonas), whose elevation he had been persuaded to secure by his empress Martina. This proved a mistake, causing further instability.

## Early life

Heraclius was born as **Flavius Heraclius** (Greek: Φλάβιος Ἡράκλειος, *translit.* *Phlábios Hērákleios*) in 575 (or perhaps in 574) to Heraclius the Elder, a general of Armenian origin, and a Roman wife, Epiphania. He had at least two younger siblings, Theodore and Maria, and possibly another brother, Gregoras. Sebeus suggests that Heraclius and his father were related to the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, while Cyril Mango believes that the Heraclians descend from Heraclius of Edessa. To differentiate the future emperor Heraclius from his father, he is often referred to as **Heraclius the Younger**. Other sobriquets, however, are also in use, such as **Heraclius the Libyan** (or **Heraclius the African**) and **Heraclius the Armenian**, though all of these are also applicable to his father. From an early age, Heraclius was bilingual in Greek and Armenian; following his relocation to Carthage, he picked up Latin as well.

Heraclius the Elder was assigned by Emperor Maurice to fight in the Roman-Persian War of 572-591, and following his contributions, was created Exarch of Africa around 600, replacing Innocentius. This implies a deep loyalty towards the emperor from Heraclius the Elder, and thus explains why, around 608, the Heraclians rebelled against Maurice's successor by coup, Phocas. Most secondary sources published at the time are biased against Phocas in favour of Heraclius and so allege that Phocas's mismanagement of the Roman-Persian War of 602-628 incited a popular revolution against him. More nuanced research, however, points out that the Roman Empire did not suffer serious territorial losses against Persia until 609 (after Heraclius's revolt had already begun), and that the Heraclian revolt did not necessarily enjoy widespread support from the people. The Heraclians conquered Egypt and cut off the grain supply to Constantinople, crippling Phocas's government and allowing the Persians to break the Roman lines.

By 5 October 610, Heraclius had entered Constantinople, after Phocas's ally Priscus had defected to Heraclius and betrayed the city to him. Legend has it that the following exchange took place:

>
> **Heraclius:** "Wretch! Is this how you have ruled the empire?"
>
> **Phocas:** "Will you rule it better?"
>
>
>
>

Heraclius then supposedly beheaded Phocas with his own blade, and then emasculated him as revenge for molesting the wife of a certain senator called Fotius. This is almost certainly a fabrication created by pro-Heraclian authors though. More reliable sources imply that Phocas was already dead when Heraclius entered the city; one such source, *The seventh century in the West-Syrian chronicles*, implies that Phocas was assassinated around roughly the same time that Heraclius made his assault on Constantinople. In any event, whatever the true fate of his predecessor, Heraclius became emperor that day, and married his wife Fabia Eudokia. Shortly after his accession, Heraclius the Elder died from natural causes.

## Reign

### Persian war

Heraclius inherited the Persian War from Phocas, but under his rule, it began as a total calamity. The Persians had overran Mesopotamia and the Caucasus in 609 due to the Heraclian revolt, and in 611, they conquered Syria, advancing into Anatolia right after. Heraclius attempted to launch a counter-offensive, but was decisively defeated outside Antioch by the Persians, who followed up by ravaging Asia Minor and occupying Armenia. The Persians then proceeded to also conquer Damascus and Jerusalem, assisted by the Jews. Countless churches in the city (including the Holy Sepulchre) were burnt and numerous relics, including the True Cross, the Holy Lance and the Holy Sponge, present at the time of Jesus Christ's death, were now in Ctesiphon, the Persian capital. In 617, the Persians invaded and conquered Egypt, depriving the empire of manpower and revenue.

Simultaneously, the Persians had reached Chalcedon. Heraclius, at this point, wanted to surrender unconditionally to the Persians and offer complete submission: The Eastern Roman Empire would become a Persian client state, with Khosrow II being granted official permission to freely appoint and dismiss the emperor at will. In a letter addressed to Khosrow, Heraclius acknowledged the Persian empire as "superior", described himself as Khosrow's "obedient son, one who is eager to perform the services of your serenity in all things", and even called Khosrow II the "supreme emperor". However, Khosrow – perhaps under the mindset that he could cause even more destruction against his seemingly defenseless rival – rejected the peace offer and imprisoned Heraclius's envoys.

### Domestic policy

While Heraclius was mostly focused on fighting the Persians and Arabs and seeking religious unity, he did organize a couple domestic reforms in secular matters. He replaced the old *polis* system, by which cities were organized as self-governing municipalities, with a new system, known as *kastron*. This involved extensive fortification of the cities, the addition of bishoprics, and transfer of power from the urban council to the *kastrophylax*, the leader of the local garrison. These *kastroi* were also used as refuge for citizens who were moved, deported, or forced on the run as a result of war.

He reformed the office of *sacellaris* (treasurer) to not only have financial, but also military responsibilities, and largely abolished the praetorian prefectures. The financial offices contained within the latter became independent departments headed by a logothete. In addition, the sacred largesses (*sacrae largitiones*) and the private domains (*res privata*) were also replaced by smaller, specialized departments titled *logothesia* (sing. *logothesion*) or *sekreta* (sing. *sekreton*). Heraclius further sought to carry out financial reforms by debasing the currency, standardizing weights and measures of coins, centralizing money production in Constantinople and closing coin issuing centers in other provinces.

Heraclius I was long credited (particularly by George Ostrogorsky) with the establishment of the *theme* system, whereby the empire was divided into military provinces, ran and defended by soldiers known as *strategoi*, who were simultaneously its primary landowners. This gave the men an incentive to defend and administer their home themes, and contributed greatly to the empire's continued longevity. Newer research, however, points to the foundation of the themes being laid by his grandson Constans III instead.

## Family

Heraclius married firstly Fabia Eudokia in 610, with whom he fathered two children. He later married his niece Martina and sired a dozen more, many of whom were sickly or born with physical deficits due to the incest:

He also had an illegitimate son, John Athalaricus, born out of an affair with an unknown mistress. He rebelled against Heraclius in 634 or in 637, but failed, and Heraclius had him mutilated and banished.

## Assessment

Despite unfathomable praise by many modern fans of Eastern Roman history (based largely on biased narratives), who often deem Heraclius one of the greatest of all Byzantine emperors, the nuanced story is that his reign both started and ended as a complete disaster. The Persian war effort, which remained stable under emperor Phocas, completely collapsed at the start of Heraclius's tenure due to his own mistakes, along with the empire's holdings in Spain, Dalmatia/Illyria, and the Balkans. He considered complete surrender and submission, changed his mind, and reconquered all of the land lost, only to lose all of it again to the Arabs a few years later. His promotion of Monothelitism would lead to several rebellions, usurpations, and even defections, plaguing the empire as late as the reign of Filepicus (r. 711-713), and his wedding to his own niece opened its own can of worms, quickly causing the empire misery almost immediately after his death. Heraclius is best remembered for his impressive turn-around of the disastrous Persian war, and had he lived only until 629, he would rightfully get all the praise. Unfortunately, his continued longevity ment that he had to witness all of his successes reduced to naught, and he died a broken man.

## Footnotes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 As derived from Nikephoros I of Constantinople, who writes: "So he died of this (disease) at the age of sixty-six after a reign of thirty years, four months, and six days". The 13th century *Chronicon Altinate* returns 11 January instead, but the book is full of corrupted dates. Other sources put the death of Heraclius in March.
2. ↑ The Senate conferred the title "the New Scipio" upon Heraclius in 627, after his victory over Persia. Prior to that, he was known simply as *Flavius Heraclius*.

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