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75-473: The Chronicon Paschale follows earlier chronicles. For the years 600 to 627 the author writes as a contemporary historian—that is, through the last years of emperor Maurice , the reign of Phocas , and the first seventeen years of the reign of Heraclius. Like many chroniclers, the author of this popular account relates anecdotes, physical descriptions of the chief personages (which at times are careful portraits), extraordinary events such as earthquakes and

150-488: A "perfect reward" in the kingdom of heaven. The choice was offered by an angel. Anthony Alcock has published an English translation. According to another legend in the same text, Maurice prevented a nurse from substituting one of his sons so as to save at least one of the heirs of the empire. It has been proposed that the name of the Albanian folk hero Muji derives from that of Emperor Maurice (Murik, Muji). Similarly,

225-408: A clear distinction between civil and military offices, primarily to lessen the possibility of rebellion by over-powerful provincial governors. In 584, Maurice created the office of exarch, which combined the supreme civil authority of a praetorian prefect and the military authority of a magister militum and enjoyed considerable autonomy from Constantinople. The Exarchate was successful in slowing

300-641: A gilded statue of himself erected on a monumental column in the Roman Forum , known as the Column of Phocas . Despite being appointed as Comes excubitorum , Priscus was not loyal to Phocas, and in 608 he appealed to Heraclius the Elder , the Exarch of Carthage , to rebel against Phocas. Heraclius the Elder agreed, and began to prepare to invade, by cutting off the supply of grain to Constantinople and assembling

375-430: A large army and navy. Heraclius the Elder launched his invasion in 609, with his nephew, Nicetas , marching troops overland to the capital, and his son, Heraclius , leading a naval invasion of Thessalonica , before marching to Constantinople. Heraclius arrived outside Constantinople on 3 October 610, and seized the city on 5 October. Heraclius was declared emperor on the same day, and swiftly had Phocas executed. Phocas

450-510: A low-ranking officer under Emperor Maurice . In 602, the Byzantine army rebelled against Emperor Maurice , largely due to exhaustion and outrage over orders to continue campaigning north of the Danube in winter as well as previous cuts in wages. The army sent Phocas to Constantinople as a spokesperson on behalf of the legions, whereupon he declared himself emperor. On 23 November 602, Phocas

525-605: A precarious position, which led him to devote his energy to purging enemies and destroying conspiracies. Because of this focus, and the local resistance he faced all throughout the Byzantine Empire, he was unable to confront foreign attacks on the empire's frontiers. The Avars and Slavs launched numerous raids into the Balkan provinces of the Byzantine Empire, and the Sassanian Empire launched an invasion of

600-545: A protesting military delegation, headed by an officer named Phocas , was humiliated and rejected in Constantinople. Maurice's marriage produced nine known children: A daughter, Miriam/Maria , is recorded by the 12th-century chronicler Michael the Syrian and other eastern sources as married to Khosrow II but not in any Byzantine Greek ones; she is probably legendary. His brother Petrus (c. 550 – 602) became

675-548: Is a relatively well-documented era of late antiquity , in particular by the historian Theophylact Simocatta . The Strategikon , a manual of war which influenced European and Middle Eastern military traditions for well over a millennium, is traditionally attributed to Maurice. Maurice was born in Arabissus in Cappadocia in 539. His father was Paul . He had one brother, Peter , and two sisters, Theoctista and Gordia,

750-548: Is almost universally dismissed by modern historians; Irfan Shahîd says that it probably had more to do with Maurice's dislike of the veteran and militarily successful Arab ruler. This was compounded by the Byzantines' habitual distrust of the " barbarian " and supposedly innately traitorous Arabs, as well as by al-Mundhir's staunchly Monophysite faith. Al-Mundhir was arrested the following year on suspicion of treachery, triggering war between Byzantines and Ghassanids and marking

825-480: Is difficult to ascertain since emperors of the Heraclian dynasty who succeeded Phocas had a vested interest in tarnishing his reputation. Phocas was probably born in 547, as he was said to be aged 55 when he became emperor. He and his family were likely of Thraco-Roman or Cappadocian origin. The life of Phocas before his usurpation of the Byzantine Empire's throne is obscure, but it is known that he served as

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900-447: Is generally depicted as a villain by Byzantines and modern historians alike, but some of the earliest sources available about Phocas' reign were written during the reign of Heraclius. The writings that survive are not reliably neutral and the writers would have good reason to demonize him in order to strengthen the rule of Heraclius. In the cultural sphere, the reign of Phocas is marked by the change of Imperial fashion set by Constantine

975-629: The Fasti consulares ; the Chronicle and Church History of Eusebius ; John Malalas ; the Acta Martyrum ; the treatise of Epiphanius , bishop of Constantia (the old Salamis) in Cyprus (fl. 4th century), on Weights and Measures . Maurice (emperor) Maurice ( Latin : Mauricius ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Μαυρίκιος , translit.   Maurikios ; 539 – 27 November 602)

1050-471: The curopalates and was killed at the same time as Maurice. Petrus married Anastasia Aerobinda (born c. 570), daughter of Areobindus (born c. 550), and had female issue. Maurice's nephew Domitian of Melitene was probably a son of Petrus. In 602, Maurice, with the lack of money as always dictating policy, decreed that the army should stay for winter beyond the Danube . The exhausted troops mutinied against

1125-664: The Battle of the Blarathon . The victory was decisive; Maurice finally brought the war to a successful conclusion with the re-accession of Khosrow. Subsequently, Khosrow was adopted by the emperor in order to seal their alliance. The adoption was made through a rite of adoptio per arma , which ordinarily assumed the Christian character of its partakers. However, the chief Byzantine bishops, "despite their best attempts", failed to convert Khosrow. Khosrow rewarded Maurice by ceding to

1200-622: The Bosphorus . By the time his reign ended in 610, the Persians had already crossed the Euphrates and taken Zenobia. Contemporary accounts describe the Persians as being very brutal to the occupied population. The 'miracle of St Demetrios' described the carnage: [T]he devil raised the whirlwind of hatred in all the East, Cilicia, Asia, Palestine and all the lands from there to Constantinople:

1275-470: The Carpathian Basin in 568. Almost immediately they launched an attack on Sirmium , the keystone to the Byzantine defences on the Danube , but were repulsed. They then sent 10,000 Kotrigur Huns to invade the Byzantine province of Dalmatia . There followed a period of consolidation, during which the Byzantines paid them 80,000 gold solidi a year. In 579, his treasury empty, Tiberius II stopped

1350-482: The Excubitors , the imperial bodyguard). When Tiberius was named Caesar in 574, Maurice was appointed to succeed him as comes excubitorum . In late 577, despite a complete lack of military experience, Maurice was named as magister militum per Orientem , effectively commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army in the east. He succeeded General Justinian in the ongoing war against Sassanid Persia . At about

1425-574: The Slavs . Maurice had to continue the war against the Persians. In 586 his troops defeated them at the Battle of Solachon south of Dara . In 588, a mutiny by unpaid Byzantine troops against their new commander, Priscus , seemed to offer the Sassanids a chance for a breakthrough, but the mutineers themselves repulsed the ensuing Persian offensive. Later in the year they secured a major victory before Martyropolis . The Sassanid commander, Maruzas ,

1500-705: The "Head of all Churches" and "Universal Bishop". Phocas transferred the title of "Universal Bishop" from the Diocese of Constantinople to the Diocese of Rome . Boniface sought and obtained a decree from Phocas in which he restated that "the See of Blessed Peter the Apostle should be the head of all the Churches" and ensured that the title of "Universal Bishop" belonged exclusively to the Bishop of Rome. This act effectively ended

1575-552: The 10th-century Codex Vaticanus graecus 1941 , is damaged at the beginning and end and stops short at 627. The Chronicle proper is preceded by an introduction containing reflections on Christian chronology and on the calculation of the Paschal (Easter) cycle. The so-called 'Byzantine' or 'Roman' era (which continued in use in Greek Orthodox Christianity until the end of Turkish rule as the 'Julian calendar')

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1650-639: The 580s on. In 584, the Slavs threatened the capital and in 586 the Avars besieged Thessalonica , while the Slavs went as far as the Peloponnese . After his victory on the eastern frontier in 591, Maurice was free to focus on the Balkans . He launched several campaigns against the Slavs and Avars. In 592 his troops retook Singidunum (modern Belgrade) from the Avars. His commander-in-chief Priscus defeated

1725-531: The Byzantine government spent few resources to aid Italy due to troubles elsewhere. In the entirety of Phocas' reign, the only public structure built with taxes in the city of Rome was a statue of Phocas completed in 608. When Phocas usurped Maurice, Gregory the Great was bishop of Rome and he praised Phocas as a restorer of liberty. Gregory referred to him as a pious and clement lord, and compared his wife (the new Empress) Leontia to Marcian's consort Pulcheria (whom

1800-519: The Byzantine plan to the Persians, who then proceeded to destroy the bridge over the Euphrates. The chronicler John of Ephesus explicitly calls this assertion a lie, as the Byzantine intentions must have been plain to the Persian commanders. Both Maurice and al-Mundhir wrote letters to Emperor Tiberius, who tried to reconcile them. Maurice visited Constantinople himself, where he was able to persuade Tiberius of al-Mundhir's guilt. The charge of treason

1875-475: The Byzantines. The following year an ambitious campaign by Maurice, supported by Ghassanid forces under al-Mundhir III , targeted Ctesiphon , the Sassanid capital. The combined force moved south along the river Euphrates accompanied by a fleet of ships. The army stormed the fortress of Anatha and moved on until it reached the region of Beth Aramaye in central Mesopotamia , near Ctesiphon. There they found

1950-757: The Council of Chalcedon called the new Helena). In May 603, portraits of the imperial couple arrived in Rome and were ordered by the pope to be placed in the oratory of St. Caesarius in the imperial palace on the Palatine. Imperial approval was needed at that time to appoint a new pope, but the approval was delayed by a year upon the death of Pope Sabinian in 606, as Phocas was occupied with killing internal enemies that threatened his rule. He finally gave approval in 607 and Boniface III became pope. Phocas declared Rome "the head of all churches". Shortly afterwards, Phocas had

2025-658: The Danube line again. Meanwhile, Maurice was making plans for repopulating devastated areas in the Balkans by using Armenian settlers. Maurice also planned to lead further campaigns against the Avar Khaganate, so as to either destroy them or force them into submission. In the west, Maurice organised the threatened Byzantine dominions in Italy into the Exarchate of Italy . The Late Roman administrative system provided for

2100-539: The Great ( r.  306–337 ). Constantine and all his successors, except Julian the Apostate ( r.  361–363 ), were beardless. Phocas again introduced the wearing of the beard . This fashion lasted until the end of the Byzantine Empire. On 19 February 607, Emperor Phocas appointed Boniface III as the new bishop of Rome, then Phocas issued an imperial decree by the Roman government, recognizing Boniface III as

2175-682: The Lombard advance in Italy. In 591, he created a second Exarchate in Byzantine North Africa , along similar lines. In 597, an ailing Maurice wrote his last will, in which he described his ideas of governing the empire. His eldest son, Theodosius , would rule the eastern provinces from Constantinople ; his second son, Tiberius, would rule the western exarchates from Rome . Some historians believe he intended for his younger sons to rule from Alexandria, Carthage, and Antioch. His intent

2250-470: The Persians invaded the empire in 603. The Sassanids rapidly occupied the eastern provinces, leading the Magister militum per Orientem , Narses , to defect to their side. Phocas swiftly dealt with him, by inviting him to Constantinople under the promise of safe conduct, then having him burnt alive when he arrived. By 607, the Sassanids had occupied Mesopotamia , Syria , and much of Asia Minor , as far as

2325-591: The Slavs, Avars and Gepids south of the Danube in 593. The same year he crossed the Danube into modern-day Wallachia to continue his series of victories. In 594, Maurice replaced Priscus with his rather inexperienced brother Peter, who, despite initial failures, scored another victory in Wallachia. Priscus, now in command of another army further upstream, defeated the Avars again in 595. The latter now only dared to attack peripherally, in Dalmatia two years later. In

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2400-592: The advantage he had gained at the Battle of Constantina was lost when his successor as magister militum of the east, John Mystacon , was defeated at the River Nymphios by Kardarigan . The situation was difficult: Maurice ruled a bankrupt Empire; it was at war with Persia; he was paying extremely high tribute to the Avars , 80,000 gold solidi a year; and the Balkan provinces were being thoroughly devastated by

2475-508: The appearance of comets, and links Church history with a supposed Biblical chronology. Sempronius Asellio points out the difference in the public appeal and style of composition which distinguished the chroniclers ( Annales ) from the historians ( Historia ) of the Eastern Roman Empire . The Chronicon Paschale is a huge compilation, attempting a chronological list of events from the creation of Adam. The principal manuscript,

2550-511: The attempt by Patriarch Cyriacus of Constantinople to establish himself as "Universal Bishop". In calling the Pope the "head of all churches", Phocas' decree has been important in discussions about papal primacy and papal supremacy . Some Protestant historicist commentators have seen the decree of Phocas (usually taken to be in 606) as having eschatological significance. For example, in his Horae Apocalypticae , Edward Bishop Elliott took

2625-502: The basis for the later introduction of themes as military districts. Maurice promoted science and the arts and he is traditionally named as author of the military treatise Strategikon , which is praised in military circles as the only sophisticated combined arms theory until World War II . Some historians now believe the Strategikon is the work of his brother or another general in his court, however. His greatest weakness

2700-491: The beginning of the end of the Ghassanid kingdom. In June of 582 Maurice scored a decisive victory against Adarmahan near Constantina . Adarmahan barely escaped the field, while his co-commander Tamkhosrau was killed. In the same month Emperor Tiberius was struck down by an illness which shortly thereafter killed him. In this state Tiberius initially named two heirs, each of whom was to marry one of his daughters. Maurice

2775-421: The bridge over the Euphrates destroyed by the Persians. In response to Maurice's advance, Sassanid general Adarmahan was ordered to operate in northern Mesopotamia, threatening the Roman army's supply line. Adarmahan pillaged Osrhoene , and was successful in capturing its capital, Edessa . He then marched his army toward Callinicum on the Euphrates. With the possibility of a march to Ctesiphon gone Maurice

2850-410: The description of him by Theophylact may exaggerate these traits. He possessed insight, public spirit, and courage. He proved his expertise on military and foreign affairs during his campaigns against the Persians, Avars and Slavs, and during peace negotiations with Khosrow II. His administrative reforms reveal him as a farsighted statesman, all the more since they outlasted his death by centuries and were

2925-472: The disintegration of the empire of Justinian I . The death of Maurice was a turning point. The war against Persia which it caused weakened both empires, enabling the Slavs to permanently settle the Balkans and paving the way for the Arab-Muslim expansion . His court still used Latin alongside Greek , as did the army and administration. Historian A. H. M. Jones characterises the death of Maurice as

3000-442: The eastern provinces of the empire. The Avars were able to take all land in the Balkans north of Thessalonica. The populations of Christian cities were slaughtered or captured. The Byzantines transferred most of their forces to the eastern front due to the threat from the Persians. The Sassanid Persians had formerly been at peace with Maurice as a result of a treaty they made with him in 591. After Phocas usurped and killed Maurice,

3075-548: The emperor to choose between a long reign or death and acceptance in the kingdom of heaven. Maurice preferred the second choice. The same story has been recorded in a short Syriac hagiography on the life of the emperor. It is of East Syrian origin. This was later sanctified by the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to the Syriac author, the emperor asked in prayer to receive a punishment in this world and

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3150-514: The emperor, taking his family with him, left the city on a warship heading to Nicomedia . Theodosius was put ashore with direction to seek support from the Persians, but apparently never reached his destination. Phocas entered Constantinople in November and was crowned emperor. His troops captured Maurice and his remaining family, and brought them to the Harbor of Eutropius at Chalcedon. Maurice

3225-459: The emperor. In Italy Maurice established the Exarchate of Italy in 584, the first real effort by the empire to halt the advance of the Lombards . With the creation of the Exarchate of Africa in 591 he further solidified the power of Constantinople in the western Mediterranean . Maurice's successes on battlefields and in foreign policy were counterbalanced by mounting financial difficulties of

3300-460: The emperor. Probably misjudging the situation, Maurice repeatedly ordered his troops to start a new offensive rather than return to winter quarters. His troops gained the impression that Maurice no longer understood the military situation and proclaimed Phocas their leader. They demanded that Maurice abdicate and proclaim as successor either his son Theodosius or General Germanus . Both men were accused of treason. As riots broke out in Constantinople,

3375-440: The empire slowly but steadily succeeded, especially after the peace with Persia. His initial popularity apparently declined during his reign, mostly because of his fiscal policies. In 588 he announced a cut in military wages by a quarter, leading to a serious mutiny by troops on the Persian front. He refused to pay a small ransom in 599 or 600 to free 12,000 Byzantine soldiers taken prisoner by the Avars. The prisoners were killed, and

3450-435: The empire western Armenia up to the lakes Van and Sevan , including the large cities of Martyropolis , Tigranokert , Manzikert , Ani , and Yerevan . Maurice's treaty brought a new status-quo to the east territorially. Byzantium was enlarged to an extent never before achieved by the empire. During the new "perpetual peace" millions of solidi were saved by the remission of tribute to the Persians. The Avars arrived in

3525-413: The empire) read it for him. The speech proclaimed Maurice as Augustus and sole successor to the throne. On 14 August 582 Tiberius died and his last words were spoken to his successor: "Let my sovereignty be delivered to thee with this girl. Be happy in the use of it, mindful always to love equity and justice." Maurice became sole emperor, marrying Constantina in the autumn. Shortly after his ascension

3600-487: The empire. Maurice responded with several unpopular measures which alienated both the army and the general populace. In 602, a dissatisfied officer named Phocas usurped the throne, having Maurice and his six sons executed. This event would prove a disaster for the empire, sparking a twenty-six-year war with a resurgent Sassanid Persia which would leave both empires devastated prior to the Muslim conquests . Maurice's reign

3675-499: The end of the era of Classical Antiquity , as the turmoil that shattered the empire over the next four decades permanently and thoroughly changed society and politics. The first legendary accounts of Maurice's life are recorded in the ninth century, in the work of the Byzantine historian Theophanes the Confessor . According to his chronicle Chronographia , the death of the imperial family is due to divine intervention: Christ asked

3750-419: The factions, no longer content simply to spill blood in public places, attacked homes, slaughtered women, children, the aged, and the young who were sick; those whose youth and frailty impeded their escape from the massacre, [saw] their friends, acquaintances, and parents pillaged, and after all that, even set on fire so that the most wretched inhabitant was not able to escape. Phocas was unable to control either

3825-547: The first time in nearly two centuries, the Romans were no longer obliged to pay the Persians thousands of pounds of gold annually for peace. Afterward, Maurice campaigned extensively in the Balkans against the Avars —pushing them back across the Danube by 599. He also conducted campaigns across the Danube, the first Roman emperor to do so in over two centuries. In the west, he established two large semi-autonomous provinces called exarchates , ruled by exarchs , or viceroys of

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3900-434: The harbor of Eutropius when Constantina was found guilty of a conspiracy against Phocas. The entire family of Maurice and Constantina was buried at the monastery of St. Mamas or Nea Metanoia that had been founded by Maurice's sister Gordia. The Persian king Khosrow II used this coup and the murder of his patron as an excuse for a renewed war against the empire. Maurice is seen as an able emperor and commander-in-chief, though

3975-474: The heartlands of the Empire. Heraclius the Elder's son, Heraclius , took Constantinople on 5 October 610, executed Phocas the same day, and declared himself emperor. Surviving sources are universally extremely hostile to Phocas. He is described as an incompetent tyrant and usurper who brutally purged any real or perceived opposition and left the Empire wide open to foreign aggression. The veracity of these sources

4050-474: The latter of whom was later the wife of the general Philippicus . He is recorded to have been a native Greek speaker, unlike the previous emperors since Anastasius I Dicorus . Sources call him a native Cappadocian Greek and the first emperor "from the race of the Greeks". Maurice first came to Constantinople as a notarius to serve as secretary to Tiberius , the comes excubitorum (commander of

4125-516: The name of the folk hero's wife, Ajkuna (or Kuna), corresponds to that of the Empress Aelia Constantina, the wife of Maurice, if we take into account the laws of phonetic evolution of the Albanian language since Late Antiquity. Though this proposition remains a matter of debate. Phocas Phocas ( Latin : Focas ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Φωκάς , translit.   Phōkás ; 547 – 5 October 610)

4200-628: The negotiations. In 580, Byzantium's Arab allies the Ghassanids scored a victory over the Lakhmids, Arab allies of the Sassanids, while Byzantine raids again penetrated east of the Tigris. Around this time the future Khosrow II was put in charge of the situation in Armenia, where he succeeded in convincing most of the rebel leaders to return to Sassanid allegiance, although Iberia remained loyal to

4275-530: The new king. The former Persian commander-in-chief, Bahram Chobin , who had rebelled against Hormizd IV , claimed the throne for himself and defeated Khosrow. Khosrow and the two Parthians fled to the Byzantine court. Although the Senate unanimously advised against it, Maurice helped Khosrow regain his throne with an army of 35,000 men. In 591 the combined Byzantine-Persian army under generals John Mystacon and Narses defeated Bahram Chobin's forces near Ganzak at

4350-399: The payments. The Avars retaliated with another siege of Sirmium . The city fell in c. 581. After the capture of Sirmium, the Avars demanded 100,000 solidi a year. Refused, they used the strategically important city as a base of operations against several poorly defended forts along the Danube and began pillaging the northern and eastern Balkans. The Slavs began settling the land from

4425-481: The same day. Phocas deeply mistrusted the uncooperative elite of Constantinople, to whom he was a usurper and a provincial boor. He therefore attempted to base his regime on relatives installed in high military and administrative positions. He immediately faced challenges in domestic and foreign affairs, and responded with little success. He dealt with domestic opposition with increasing ruthlessness that alienated ever wider circles, including some of his own household. At

4500-595: The same time he was raised to the rank of patrikios , the empire's senior honorific title, which was limited to a small number of holders. In 578, a truce in Mesopotamia came to an end and the main focus of the war shifted to that front. After Persian raids in Mesopotamia, Maurice mounted attacks on both sides of the Tigris, captured the fortress of Aphumon and sacked Singara . Sassanid emperor Khosrow sought peace in 579, but died before an agreement could be reached and his successor Hormizd IV (r. 579–590) broke off

4575-524: The same time, the Empire was threatened on multiple frontiers. Avars and Slavs renewed their destructive raids on the Balkans, and the Sasanian Empire launched a massive invasion of the eastern provinces . Finally, the Exarch of Africa , Heraclius the Elder , rebelled against Phocas and gained wide support throughout the empire. Phocas attempted to use border troops to crush the rebellion, but this only resulted in allowing invaders to break into

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4650-481: The same year the Byzantines concluded a peace treaty with the Avar leader Bayan I , which allowed the Byzantines to send expeditions into Wallachia . In 598, Maurice broke the treaty to permit a retaliation campaign inside the Avar homeland. In 599 and 601 the Byzantine forces wreaked havoc amongst the Avars and Gepids. In 602, the Slavs suffered a crushing defeat in Wallachia. The Byzantine troops were now able to hold

4725-564: The state or the army effectively. Due to his distrust of the bulk of Constantinople's elite, with whom he had had no connection before becoming emperor, frequently filling senior military positions with his relatives. He installed: his brother Domentziolus as Magister officiorum in 603; his nephew Domentziolus as Magister militum per Orientem in 604, giving him command over the eastern provinces; and his brother Comentiolus as Magister militum per Orientem around 610. All three remained loyal to Phocas until they were killed by Heraclius. Of

4800-425: The three known male blood-relatives of Phocas, all three were appointed to senior posts, two in military positions and one in an administrative position. Phocas also appointed Priscus , who was his son-in-law by way of his marriage to Phocas' daughter Domentzia , as Comes excubitorum , the captain of the Excubitors , in 603. When Phocas was emperor, Byzantine Italy was under continual attack from Lombards , but

4875-541: Was Byzantine emperor from 582 to 602 and the last member of the Justinian dynasty . A successful general, Maurice was chosen as heir and son-in-law by his predecessor Tiberius II . Maurice's reign was troubled by almost constant warfare. After he became emperor, he brought the war with Sasanian Persia to a victorious conclusion . The empire's eastern border in the South Caucasus was vastly expanded and, for

4950-605: Was Byzantine emperor from 602 to 610. Initially a middle-ranking officer in the Eastern Roman army , Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers in their disputes with the court of the Emperor Maurice . When the army revolted in 602, Phocas emerged as the natural leader of the mutiny. The revolt proved to be successful and led to the capture of Constantinople and the overthrow of Maurice on 23 November 602, with Phocas declaring himself emperor

5025-668: Was adopted in the Chronicon as the foundation of chronology; accordingly the date of the creation is given as 21 March 5507 BC. The author identifies himself as a contemporary of the Emperor Heraclius (610–641), and was possibly a cleric attached to the suite of the Ecumenical Patriarch Sergius . The work was probably written during the last ten years of the reign of Heraclius. The chief authorities used were: Sextus Julius Africanus ;

5100-401: Was betrothed to Constantina , and Germanus , related through blood to the great emperor Justinian I , was married to Charito. It appears that the plan was to divide the empire in two, with Maurice receiving the eastern provinces and Germanus the western. According to John of Nikiû , Germanus was Tiberius' favored candidate for the throne but declined out of humility. On 5 August, Tiberius

5175-569: Was crowned by the patriarch Cyriacus in the church of St John the Baptist at the Hebdomon . He entered Constantinople two days later, on 25 November. Maurice fled the city with his sons, Theodosius and Tiberius , but they were soon after captured and executed. Maurice's wife and daughters were put in the monastery of Nea Metanoia and later killed. Despite the executions of the previous emperor and his dynastic successors, Phocas remained in

5250-445: Was forced to retreat. The retreat was arduous for the tired army, and Maurice and al-Mundhir exchanged recriminations for the expedition's failure. However, they cooperated in forcing Adarmahan to withdraw, and defeated him at Callinicum . The mutual recriminations were not laid to rest by this. Despite his successes, al-Mundhir was accused by Maurice of treason during the preceding campaign. Maurice claimed that al-Mundhir had revealed

5325-474: Was his inability to judge how unpopular his decisions were. The historian C. W. Previté-Orton listed a number of character flaws in the emperor's personality: His fault was too much faith in his own excellent judgment without regard to the disagreement and unpopularity which he provoked by decisions in themselves right and wise. He was a better judge of policy than of men. It was this flaw that cost him throne and life, and thwarted most of his efforts to prevent

5400-435: Was killed, several of the Persian leaders were captured along with 3,000 other prisoners, and only a thousand men survived to reach refuge at Nisibis. The Byzantines secured much booty, including the Persian battle standards, and sent them, along with Maruzas' head, to Maurice in Constantinople. In 590, two Parthian brothers, Vistahm and Vinduyih , overthrew King Hormizd IV and made the latter's son, Prince Khosrow II ,

5475-452: Was murdered at the harbor of Eutropius on 27 November 602. The deposed emperor was forced to watch his five younger sons executed before he was beheaded himself. Empress Constantina and her three daughters were temporarily spared and sent to a monastery. The palace eunuch Scholasticus aided their escape to St. Sophia, but the church turned them over to Phocas, who sent them back to the monastery. A few years later, they were all executed at

5550-426: Was on his deathbed and civilian, military and ecclesiastical dignitaries awaited the appointment of his successor. He then chose Maurice and named him Caesar , after which he adopted the name "Tiberius". Maurice was crowned emperor soon after, on 13 August. Tiberius had reportedly prepared a speech on the matter but at this point was too weak to speak. The quaestor sacri palatii (the senior judicial official of

5625-559: Was to maintain the unity of the empire; this idea bears a strong resemblance to the Tetrarchy of Diocletian. However, Maurice's violent death prevented these plans from coming to fruition. In religious matters, Maurice was tolerant towards Monophysitism , although he was a supporter of the Council of Chalcedon . He clashed with Pope Gregory I over the latter's defence of Rome against the Lombards . Maurice's efforts to consolidate

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