The Age Of Heraclius (602-641)

During the fifth century AD, the western roman empire had fallen to a multitude of migrating tribes. New kingdoms replaced former provinces while the eastern roman empire entered an era of growth and prosperity. In the sixth century, during the eventful reign of Justinian the Great, Roman armies reconquered Africa, Italia and parts of Hispania. These expensive wars, combined with the arrival of a devastating plague, drained Constantinople’s resources. The following decades saw the overextended empire slowly recede to external pressures, the government needing to focus its limited resources against the more vital threat that was the Sassanian empire. In the year 602 AD, the capable emperor Maurice faced a military rebellion led by a man named Phocas. The latter killed his sovereign and took power. The murder of the legitimate emperor Maurice provided Sassanian shah Khosrow II with a convenient casus belli to invade Roman territory. This war would set the entire near east ablaze and mark the end of Antiquity. The crucial decades that followed would be defined by the deeds of one man above all, Heraclius. Few periods of Roman history can be considered as important a turning point as the age of Heraclius. Upon becoming emperor, he was propelled into the most devastating war ever fought with the Sassanians. Against the odds, he led the army to victory after which he dedicated his time to reunite all romans. However, as the dust cleared in the Middle East, the Muslims burst out of Arabia and completely reshaped the balance of power. Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Egypt fell to the armies of Islam. Just like his empire, Heraclius lost the strength to resist the new invaders. Thus, he enshrined his name as the emperor who lived too long. The Arabs, for their part, would push their advantage, conquering the entirety of North Africa and restricting the fragmented Roman territories to essentially Anatolia. Their incoming strikes towards Constantinople meant that it was now a struggle for survival. The eastern romans were no longer the hegemon of the mediterranean sea. Antiquity was truly over, the Byzantine dark ages had begun. Late November 602 AD, the revolt of the armies of Illyricum against the emperor Maurice, had led to the violent taking power of Phocas, the first usurpation in more than a century. Already, the new monarch would face enemies abroad and inside the empire. Initially, Phocas sought to remove a potential threat, the main members of the former administration. Among them, Peter had died during the usurpation, Comentiolus was executed and Philippicus exiled. The popular Priscus was spared and promoted to command the imperial guard. Maurice’s widow and daughters were exiled to a monastery. Attacks against Roman positions in Italy renewed. Phocas reinstated Smaragdus as exarch who faced a combined effort by the Lombards Avars and Slavs. Dalmatia was ravaged, and cities in the Po valley fell one after the other. Among Maurice’s loyalists remained Narses in Mesopotamia. He rebelled against Phocas and requested help from King of Kings Khosrow II. Khosrow agreed, invaded and dispersed a local army. There was a rumor that Theodosius, son of Maurice, had survived the usurpation. Now, a man claiming to be this Theodosius was proclaimed emperor in Edessa. Just as when Maurice sent Narses to reinstate Khosrow a decade earlier. Khosrow could now justify the invasion by assisting Narses and pressing the claim of the former imperial dynasty. After an extended siege, Khosrow took Dara. Meanwhile, general Leontius arrived in Mesopotamia and recaptured Edessa. Narses fled and when offered mercy by Phocas’ nephew, Domentziolus, he eventually surrendered. Brought to Constantinople, the man was burned. Around that time, a conspiracy against Phocas was uncovered. The responsibles were executed, Constantina among them. The death of Narses did not discourage the Sassanians who defeated general Leontius, soon replaced by Domentziolus. As usual for an emperor facing a Persian invasion, Phocas placated the Avars with a large tribute in order to move troops from Illyricum to Mesopotamia. Slavs, as often, acted independently from their Avar overlords. Thus, Thessalonica endured an attack by one of their raiding parties. Unable to spare resources for the struggling exarch of Ravenna, Phocas made concessions to the lombards. A truce was concluded between Smaragdus and Agilulf and extended several times over. After the peaceful interlude that was the reign of Recarred, incursions against the province of Spania restarted. Under Witteric, the Wisigoths made some gains at the expense of the romans. In the capital, Priscus married Phocas’ daughter Domentzia. With the emperor in his late fifties and having no son, it gave the general an excellent claim to the throne. However, relations between the two men were starting to deteriorate. For the papacy, Phocas elected pope Bonifacius III, recognizing the religious primacy of Rome over Constantinople and giving his consent to convert the pantheon into a church. Not only that, but Phocas enjoyed popularity in Italy as a whole. His policy towards the Lombards had brought peace in the peninsula and a column dedicated to him was erected in the eternal city. Phocas’ lack of legitimacy meant that his standing was far less secure in Constantinople. There, he dealt with his enemies ruthlessly. This state of affairs pushed Priscus to contact the exarch of Africa and pushed him to revolt. The military defeats against Persia worsened the emperor's position and Heraclius, controlling a valuable pacified province with a decently sized army, saw his chance to rise in rebellion against Phocas. Coins were minted depicting him and his son, also named Heraclius, as consuls. His nephew Nicetas was sent east to take Egypt from the loyalists, gathering berber allies on the way. By now, Kosrow had delegated the war to his generals. In Mesopotamia Shahrbaraz continued the progress by taking Amida. Meanwhile in Armenia, the Romans were continuously losing ground. Shahin defeated Domentziolus near Theodosiopolis. The city surrendered, wishing to support the cause of the pretender Theodosius. With the gates to Anatolia wide open, Shahin was able to lead a raid as far as Chalcedon, just in sight of Constantinople. In Egypt, Nicetas took Alexandria and the Nile delta, helped by the wavering loyalties of the locals. Then, a loyalist force under Bonosus arrived from the east and reversed some of the initial gains. After some more brutal fighting, the rebels were victorious and cut the grain supply to Constantinople. Defeated, Bonosus abandoned the defense of Egypt. The jews of the Levant revolted and violence erupted in the urban centers. Phocas was in a perilous situation, facing riots and losing ground against two enemies. The Roman forces in Mesopotamia were depleted because of the revolt. Thus, the Persians pushed forward and soon, occupied every city up to the Euphrates. It was time for the rebels to make the decisive move. The younger Heraclius sailed with a fleet towards Constantinople. Phocas’ supports were crumbling and Priscus, in control of the imperial guard, was not willing to help. Time was with Heraclius who won a naval battle near the Capital and waited for the events to unfold. Two days later, his defeated enemy was brought to him. Heraclius is said to have asked “Is this how you have ruled wretch ?” to which Phocas replied “And will you rule better”? After which Heraclius killed him on the spot. The pretender was crowned emperor by patriarch Sergius and married his betrothed Fabia who took the name Eudokia. The news of his son’s coronation spread and the elder Heraclius passed away soon after. From the front however, the news was bleak. Sassanian armies poured into Syria. Not only that but Comentiolus, brother of Phocas, was still alive commanding troops in Anatolia. Heraclius needed to to solve this problem to stabilize his position. Having released Phillipicus from Phocas’ detention, the emperor sent him to negotiate. Comentiolus imprisoned the man shortly before he himself was murdered, ending this standoff. Heraclius also attempted to open negotiations with the Persians, to no avail. The war turned into a disaster. Antioch and Emesa fell and now, Shahin captured Caesarea in Cappadocia. Priscus intervened and besieged the enemy inside the city. At some point, the emperor arrived in person to meet Priscus, but the latter refused to see the emperor which outraged Heraclius. Priscus had never been completely reliable in the first place. Thus, when the latter failed to score a decisive victory as Shahin escaped, Heraclius saw an opportunity. He invited Priscus to Constantinople to become the godfather of his newly born son, Heraclius Constantine. Once he arrived, the emperor accused Priscus of treason and publicly humiliated the man before exiling him to a monastery. Heraclius was now free of domestic rivals who he gradually replaced with members of his own family. For now, Phillipicus would take the lead of the army to campaign in Armenia. In an effort to alleviate the finances of the war, Heraclius and patriarch Sergius issued a law to cut costs on the imperial bureaucracy and church staff. This religious legitimacy was needed and Heraclius consolidated it even more as he reconciled with Bishop Theodore of Sykeon, a former supporter of Phocas. By now, the empress Eudocia had passed away. For a second marriage, Heraclius made the controversial choice of his niece Martina. The incestuous nature of this union clearly was unpopular. Patriarch Sergius opposed it but eventually relented, blessing the new imperial couple. To assert legitimacy, Heraclius Constantine was crowned Augustus in the imperial palace. This year, Heraclius marched into Syria and combined his army with Nicetas’ troops. A large battle took place near Antioch where the Romans met defeat. The Persians looted the city and deported its population. Heraclius and his brother Theodore made a stand in Cilicia where they were, once again, pushed back as the region fell to the enemy. The land communication with Egypt was severed. Anatolia faced renewed attacks by Shahin. Philippicus attempted to force him to withdraw by counter invading, without much effect. The old general passed away soon after. Nicetas continued his resistance in Syria, winning a small victory near Emesa. Ultimately, he was driven back with heavy casualties on both sides. Shahrbaraz continued the conquests, facing little resistance until reaching Jerusalem. There, after a siege in which local jews assisted the invaders, the defiance of the population was punished. According to some, tens of thousands were massacred. The Persians captured Patriarch Zacharias alongside a large number of prisoners. Crucially, the presumed relic of the True Cross was carried away to Ctesiphon. The fall of the holiest christian city was a shock to the population. Its impact being comparable to the first sack of Rome in 410. The latest troop transfer to Anatolia Prompted the Avars and Slavs to invade. The empire lost Salona in Dalmatia while the main forstresses of Moesia fell. Refugees fled to the fortified coastal cities, in particular, Thessalonica. The latter was again besieged by Slavs and successfully defended. With imperial grip on Illyricum growing weak, the realities of slavic presence in the region fully revealed themselves. For the exposed province of Egypt, the Sassanian invasion was only a matter of time. Religiously, the monophysites of Syria and Egypt did not recognize the official creed of Chalcedon but there existed a schism between them. The bishops of Antioch and Alexandria met in an attempt to solve this dispute. Nicetas, willing to ignite a spirit of resistance against the Sassanians, supported this union and participated in the negotiations. Lying on the western edge of the empire, the province of Spania was not even of secondary importance to the central government. Thus, local forces were simply overwhelmed by king Sisebut who brutally took Malaca. Heraclius could do nothing but recognize the new reality in a peace agreement which left the Romans only in control of a few coastal cities. The exarch John had replaced Phocas’ candidate Smaragdus and maintained the cordial policy with Agilulf. However, late pay led his disgruntled men to kill him. Then in Naples, John of Conza rebelled and took the city. While Sharbaraz conquered the east, Shahin had once again forced its way through Anatolia to Chalcedon. Heraclius wished to open negotiations and Shahin agreed to let a Roman delegation travel to Persia. Khosrow however, was still unwilling to negotiate anything. His troops seized victory everywhere they went. The diplomats were put to death, the war would not end there. For the roman empire, the usurpation of Phocas itself caused an internal instability which was enough to undo his predecessor's efforts. The constant struggle between the new regime and members of the former administration disunited the Romans to the point that the frontier defense effectively collapsed. Ultimately, the Rebellion of Heraclius and his initial defeats turned what was a losing war into a catastrophe. As the empire fell apart from every corner of the Mediterranean sea, it would take a Herculean effort to restore its integrity. In the year 615 AD, the Roman empire was in peril. The wars it was fighting had massively reduced its territory and emptied its resources. Perhaps, emperor Heraclius would oversee the collapse of the Roman world. As enemy invasions depleted tax revenue, drastic measures were taken to finance the costs of war. The church's valuable metals were requisitioned and used to mint a new kind of silver coin called the Hexagram. On each coin were the words "May God help the Romans." Order had to be restored in Italy. Eleutherius was elected the new exarch and executed those implicated in the death of his predecessor John. The rebellion in Naples was crushed and a tribute was paid to the lombards. These actions stabilized the exarchate. Like a rock standing on the coastline, Thessalonika endured repeated waves of slavic attacks. On this occasion, the Avars joined forces, bringing siege engines to intensify the assaults. The emperor was in no position to provide assistance but the resilient defenders managed to withstand the onslaught, eventually paying the invaders to leave. This would break the Slavic will to take the city for the next 60 years. Persian commander Sharbaraz began the invasion of the empire’s breadbasket, Egypt. The locals, being monophysites, did not put much effort in the defense. Soon, Alexandria was besieged. As Heraclius had done several years earlier, an exarch took advantage of the emperor’s difficulties to rebel. However, Eleutherius was killed by his own soldiers before he could be crowned emperor in Rome. Despite his troubled reign, it was the only instance of a rebellion against Heraclius. Alexandria had now fallen, compelling Nicetas to retreat to Constantinople. There, the loss of Egypt meant that Heraclius was forced to terminate the government provided grain dole for the population. The catastrophic developments persisted with the onset of a fresh wave of plague that swept through the empire. Heraclius briefly contemplated relocating the capital to Carthage, yet Sergius managed to dissuade him from this course of action. Anatolia was a contested province, continuously attacked by persian armies. While cities were repeatedly sacked, the conquests proved to be temporary in nature. In the year 620, it was the turn of the strategically located city of Ancyra to fall. The frontier between the two empires remained porous, allowing spies and refugees to circulate freely. At this point in the war, Heraclius was preparing for an upcoming military campaign, gathering intelligence and studying military manuals , including, most probably the famous Strategikon. In 622, Heraclius marched east, gathering his remaining armies in Anatolia. There, he conducted military training and made religious speeches in front of the troops. Sharbaraz operated in the area, Heraclius took action and outmaneuvered his opponent. By autumn, the Romans had won their first significant victory of the war. A welcome improvement for the army’s morale. As the war reached the imperial inner territory, not even the Aegean islands were safe. Crete and Rhodes were attacked by Slavs and Persians respectively. For their part, the Avars needed to be placated before Heraclius could resume his campaigns. However, a diplomatic encounter between the emperor and the Khagan turned into a treacherous ambush, from which Heraclius narrowly escaped. The Avars penetrated the Anastasian walls, ravaged the area, took tens of thousands of prisoners but did not attack Constantinople itself. In the end, both sides settled for a fragile peace treaty for which the government paid 200 000 solidi. The last Roman held cities in Spania fell to the Goths. As remaining imperial troops evacuated the province, seven decades of eastern roman presence on the peninsula were at an end. In April 624, Heraclius embarked on a new campaign, entrusting Constantinople to a regency council. The empress Martina was set to accompany her husband on this endeavor. The first milestone was Caesarea. There, the emperor released possibly fabricated letters from Khosrow, rejecting Heraclius’ call for peace and insulting Jesus Christ. Once more, the intention was to galvanize the troops against their enemy. The roman army forced its way through Armenia, reaching Persia in the summer. Khosrow himself was in the area with a large army. He retreated south after a minor engagement. Heraclius took Ganzak and destroyed its Zoroastrian Holy site. The warrior emperor then went north to winter in Albania. There, he allied with parts of the local elite and released his Persian prisoners of war. Among the allies Heraclius sought to acquire were the Turks. Ambassadors were sent north of the caucasus to establish contact with them. Around that time, The Romans learned that three Persian armies were converging from distinct directions. Shahrbaraz advanced from Pontus, Shahin from Armenia and Sharaplakan from Persia. The army was at risk of taking a catastrophic blow from which the roman state would never recover. Heraclius acted fast. He first went for Sharaplakan and defeated him. After this success, he clashed with Shahin whom he also vanquished. The last available Persian army commanded by Shahrbaraz met Heraclius at lake van. Campaigning in the Armenian mountains was a matter of initiative and careful manoeuvers. This time again, in a surprise attack, Heraclius defeated his Persian rival. The roman army began its retreat through Mesopotamia. The Persians pursued, taking strategic locations on the path to Anatolia. To break the blockade, Heraclius and his men forced their way through the enemy lines. Eventually, they reached the relative safety of Anatolia, having extracted themselves from enemy territory. Khosrow decided for decisive actions. The Persians reformed two armies. The first under Shahin was to maintain pressure on Anatolia and protect Persia. The second under Shahrbaraz marched west. The Sassanians were not alone, they had coordinated themselves with the Avars, who had already broken the latest peace treaty. The objective of the allies was clear, Constantinople. Heraclius chose to bet on his capital’s formidable defenses and only sent a portion of his force in reinforcements. In the city, Bonus commanded the troops while Sergius exalted morale. Avars and Slavs launched assaults at the walls but were continuously repelled. In Anatolia, Shahin was heavily defeated by the main roman army. Separated by the Bosphorus, communication between Avars and Persians was difficult while supplies were dwindling. With no hope of success, the allies abandoned the siege. Constantinople had withstood its first real test. From now, Sharabaraz only pursued his personal goals, remaining inactive in Syria and not following orders from Khosrow anymore. In the Caucasus, the success of the roman diplomatic mission with the turks led Heraclius to meet the Khagan Tong Yabghu. The negotiations, which involved a future marriage with Heraclius’ daughter Epiphania, led to a conclusive alliance. After much celebration, the new allies besieged the city of Tiflis. However, winter was approaching and Yabghu returned beyond the caucasus mountains, leaving part of his army to Heraclius. In the west, secular and religious authorities interfered. Theodorus, governor of Sardinia, decided to turn to his administrative superiors in Carthage to resolve ecclesiastical matters within the island. Pope Honorius protested, claiming that it fell under the responsibility of Rome. He sent a letter to the Praetorian Prefect of Africa, demanding Theodorus to be punished. From Tiflis, Heraclius changed his strategy. The new objective would be Mesopotamia itself. Khosrow, seeing Sharbabaraz’ passivity, ordered general Razhad to take action. As he was pursued, Heraclius feigned a retreat back to Anatolia and suddenly stopped at the battlefield of his choice. Not far from Nineveh, the last army standing between Heraclius and Khosrow was defeated. Mesopotamia was home of friendly Nestorian christians who provided valuable intelligence. The Romans ravaged their way south until the capture of Dastagard where they recovered some 300 lost military standards. It is said that Heraclius, in his calls to end the war, wrote to Khosrow the following words : “I pursue and run after peace. I do not willingly burn Persia, but compelled by you. Let us now throw down our arms and embrace peace. Let us quench the fire before it burns up everything.”. The Persians were preparing for a defense of Ctesiphon, destroying bridges around it. Faced with difficult terrain, Heraclius did not go further and went back to northern Iran which his turkic allies were already ravaging. Khosrow refused to negotiate but his prestige was effectively destroyed. He was killed and replaced by his son Khavad who in turn, sent diplomats to Heraclius. It was agreed that the prisoners of war would be freed, that the Sassanians would pay war reparations and that all occupied territories would be evacuated. Although peace had been established with the Sasanian empire, the eastern provinces remained under control of Sharbaraz' army. As for Khavad, he was already dead by September. His son and successor Ardashir III was only a child. Heraclius met Shahrbaraz to make the final negotiations. In return for the true Cross and the Sassanian army’s evacuation, the Roman army would assist the general in taking power in Persia. To strengthen bonds between the families of Heraclius and Sharbaraz, a marriage was organized. After 5 years of campaign, the emperor eventually returned to Constantinople where he emotionally reunited with his family. Celebrations were held for many days during which the holy lance, the holy sponge and most of all, the true cross were paraded. After 26 years of an intense struggle, the Romans were victorious. The great Persian war was at an end. Having prevailed over what could be considered the empire's most dreadful crisis, Heraclius immortalized himself as one of its greatest leaders. Campaigning around the peripheral yet strategic Armenian mountains, the Romans were able to dictate the course of the war, while the Theodosian walls showed their worth, protecting Constantinople during its first major siege. Now back to the status quo, both states were exhausted and devastated by two decades of an all-out war. As Heraclius settled down to begin the long process of empire-wide recovery, he was unaware that pivotal events unfolding in Arabia would, in term, completely undo his achievements. The year was 629 AD. In the aftermath of the ultimate Roman victory over Persia, both empires were devastated and needed time to restore their strength. Among his first decisions, emperor Heraclius began using the greek title “Basileus” to replace latin roman terms such as “Augustus”. As part of the alliance with the Turks, Heraclius’ daughter Epiphania was traveling east to marry the Qaghan Tong Yabghu. When news of his death reached Constantinople, she was recalled to her father’s court. In the wake of Persian withdrawal, Arabs filled the vacuum, launching raids in Palestine. To reassert their authority in the region, Romans and allied Ghassanids clashed with the invaders, defeating them at Mutah. While the imperials were victorious, it was a warning of things to come. With the path now cleared, Heraclius entered Jerusalem and restored the True Cross to the Holy Sepulchre. Soon after, the emperor took headquarters in the Syrian city of Hierapolis for much needed administrative supervision. The evacuation of sasanian troops was not an entirely smooth process. In Edessa, the garrison was encouraged to stay by the local jews who started resisting. Heraclius’ brother Theodore responded with a brutal massacre. Roman resentment towards this minority was strong after its wartime collaboration with Persia. Thus, the imperials balanced between forgiveness and retaliation. An army was sent in support of Shahrbaraz’ bid for power in the unstable Persia. However, the latter was slain after a month of rule, reducing Heraclius’ influence in the region. Roman troops remained in upper Mesopotamia and negotiations with Ctesiphon continued. By 630, no sassanian garrison remained in roman territory and the borders were restored to their pre-war status-quo. After over a decade of Persian occupation, restoring Roman administration was not simple. In this post-war context, there were intense migrations and frequent resettlements. Disputes over property ownership were the norm while the government had to repay loans contracted to the clergy. Efforts were made to rebuild the ravaged infrastructures. The finances did not completely recover, mints were closed, cities were in decline and the old praetorian prefectures gradually disappeared. To make up for this, the army saw gradual demobilization, tributes to Arab allies were cut off and an official in charge of the treasury, the Sakellarios, gained in importance. Reuniting with the eastern provinces meant reconciling with a population which did not practice the official faith. In this field, patriarch Sergius of Constantinople brought upon the compromise formula of mono-energism. It claimed that Christ has a single so-called “energy”. At Hierapolis, Heraclius presented this formula to clerical authorities. After 12 days of debate, he gained the nominal approval of patriarch Athanasius of Antioch and most bishops present. However , Athanasius died the next year without signing any written document. For his vigorous promotion of the formula, bishop Cyrus of Phasis was made both prefect of Egypt and patriarch of Alexandria. Later, at Theodosiopolis, the Armenians gave their own feeble acceptance of mono-energism. Eventually, Heraclius allowed himself to return to Constantinople where his grandson received baptism. Looking north, the government was in no position to truly profit from the Avar decline. There were diplomatic actions with pontic and slavic tribes, but not enough to reassert control over Illyricum. Arab raids resumed and intensified around Palestine. Such a situation prompted Heraclius to request troop transfer from Africa to Egypt. Then, he established headquarters in Antioch. In Constantinople, a monk named Sophronius was made Patriarch of Jerusalem. He was an ardent defender of the chalcedonian creed and had participated in the debates at Hierapolis. His election threatened the fragile compromise built around mono-energism. Unclear to the Romans at the time, the armies they were fighting against claimed loyalty to the newly established Arab caliphate. Its recently deceased prophet, Muhammad, had introduced a new religion to the world: Islam. The muslims by now had conquered the Euphrates valley from the Sassanians and at Firaz, they vanquished a combined romano-persian force. Sophronius widely promoted opposition to the imperial formula, saying that it betrayed the chalcedonian belief of Christ’s human nature. Sergius, aware of this issue, wrote a letter to pope Honorius in which he declared that one should not debate over Christ’s single or multiple energies. Honorius agreed and in addition, wrote about a single Christic “will”. Meanwhile, in the same quest for religious unity, Heraclius ordered, to an unclear scale, the forced conversion of jewish communities in the empire. Now, muslim reinforcements from Mesopotamia clashed with imperial Arab allies in Syria. Indeed, despite former emperor Maurice’s hurtful diplomacy towards the Ghassanids and the latest cut of subsidies to many tribes, some Arabs remained Roman allies. Now stronger, the muslims made decisive moves. At Ajnadayn, they defeated a sizable Roman army. Theodore, who commanded it, was widely blamed by his brother for such a failure. More losses followed with the fall of Damascus and the battle of Pella, allowing the muslims to push all the way to Emesa. From Antioch but now too old to lead the army himself, Heraclius monitored the situation. A large force was now ready to launch a counter offensive. It was the first ever field army sent against Arabs. Marching south, the imperials forced the muslims to retreat until both armies met near the Yarmuk river. For days, imperial diplomacy and cautious assaults slowly melted down the Arab army. Eventually, the exceptional commander Khalid Ibn Al Walid took decisive actions, encircled and massacred the Roman troops. On the 20th August 636, the only viable army the empire could deploy had been destroyed and the entirety of Syria laid open for the invaders. In November, the Sassanians suffered their own massive defeat at Al-Qadissiya, leaving their heartland of Mesopotamia exposed. Patriarch Sophronius had previously shipped the true Cross and other relics to safety. Soon, the muslims arrived at the walls of Jerusalem. After Yarmuk, Arab momentum in Syria was simply too great. Heraclius evacuated the province, seeking to build a new defensive line further north, calling military commanders not to engage the Arabs in pitched battles. A scorched earth policy was employed to devastate the region around the Taurus mountains. Redeployment and additional fortifications were meant to maximize Anatolia’s defenses. The siege of Jerusalem lasted half a year until Sophronius negotiated and eventually surrendered to the muslim caliph Umar. The holiest christian city had yet again fallen to enemy hands. After more fighting and a serious defensive attempt near Antioch, Syria was lost. John Cateas sent a tribute for the Arabs not to cross the Euphrates and invade his province. The emperor, fiercely disapproving of this kind of action, exiled the governor. Heraclius arrived in the capital to the unwelcoming news of a plot. It included powerful magnates and armenian strongmen, aiming to dethrone the emperor in favor of his illegitimate son John Athalarichos. The main conspirators were mutilated and exiled. The emperor, his life work being undone, saw not only his physical, but also his mental state failing. He solidified the Heraclian dynasty for the succession, putting forward his many children. Most importantly, Heraklonas was made co-emperor. This meant that Heraklonas, son of Martina, now shared the same rank as Heraclius Constantine, son of Eudokia, the emperor’s previous wife. Christological debates continued. Heraclius published Sergius’ final proposal for christian unity : the Ekthesis. It declared monothelitism to be the official imperial doctrine. This variant of mono-energism stated that Christ possessed two natures but only a single will. Several factors facilitated the acceptance of the Ekthesis. Firstly, the fall of Jerusalem and Antioch followed by Sophronius’ death paralyzed the opposition. Secondly, Cyrus continuously promoted monothelitism from Alexandria. Finally, Pyrrhus, Sergius’ successor in Constantinople, also supported the doctrine. However this time, it was Rome that showed resistance. The newly elected pope, Severinus, refused to sign the Ekthesis and was thus denied imperial recognition. Exarch Isaac had his underpaid troops storm and plunder the Lateran palace in Rome, aiming to enforce papal approval of Sergius’ formula. Parts of the spoils were forwarded to the emperor. This was not an isolated event as several officials in the empire went for such drastic measures to cope with the worsening fiscal crisis. With no more truce to shield it, upper Mesopotamia formed a vulnerable bulge between enemy occupied territories. After a failed counter attack on Syria by christian arabs, the muslims invaded from east and west, conquering the region. While still resisting, coastal cities were reduced one by one in Palestine, the invasion of Egypt began. Pelusium fell first, opening the way to the Nile. The Romans showed determined resistance in the central delta forming a solid lock near Babylon. It was only when the muslims were reinforced that the hard fought contest led to a Roman defeat and capture of the city. For his province, Cyrus negotiated terms to the muslims, paying tribute. However, when he sought to have the treaty ratified by Heraclius, the latter angrily refused and sent Thracian troops to continue the fight. If Alexandria fell, Egypt would be completely lost. Meanwhile, continuous muslim attacks on the eastern borders led to a first raid in Anatolia. The new pontiff, John, immediately condemned the Ekthesis and its monothelite doctrine as heresy, frustrating any progress made with the previous two popes on the matter. Heraclius passed away in early 641 after a 30 year reign of constant upheaval. Few periods of Roman history can be considered as important a turning point as the age of Heraclius. Upon becoming emperor, he was propelled into the most devastating war ever fought with the Sassanians. Against the odds, he led the army to victory after which he dedicated his time to reunite all romans. However, as the dust cleared in the Middle East, the Muslims burst out of Arabia and completely reshaped the balance of power. Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Egypt fell to the armies of Islam. Just like his empire, Heraclius lost the strength to resist the new invaders. Thus, he enshrined his name as the emperor who lived too long.