Heraclius
Byzantine emperor who defeated the Persians but lost newly regained lands to the Arab conquests.
He is known for recovering the True Cross and for his military campaigns that temporarily restored Byzantine territories.[1][2]
Quick Facts
- Reign
- 5 October 610 –; 11 February 641
- Predecessor
- Phocas
- Successor
- Heraclius Constantine, Heraclonas
- Spouse
- Eudokia, Martina
- Issue
- Eudoxia Epiphania
- Heraclius Constantine
- Heraclonas
- David Tiberius
- John Athalarichos (illegitimate)
- Dynasty
- Heraclian
- Regnal name
- Imperator Caesar Flavius Heraclius Augustus; Αὐτοκράτωρ καῖσαρ Φλάβιος Ἡράκλειος αὐγουστος
- Father
- Heraclius the Elder
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Heraclius considered abandoning Constantinople for Carthage in 618 but was convinced to stay by Patriarch Sergius and the citizens.[3] In 627, he defeated the Persians at the Battle of Nineveh and sacked Khosrow's palace at Dastagird.[4] Heraclius the Elder, a general who was appointed Exarch of Africa after serving in Maurice's war of 590, had Heraclius as his eldest child.[5][6] Following the death of his first wife in 612, Heraclius wed his niece Martina in either 622 or 623, a union that provoked scandal.[7]
On 4 April 622, Heraclius departed Constantinople; he lifted troop morale through religious symbols and military exercises before starting his counter-offensive.[8] Khosrow was deposed and slain; his son Kavad II then requested peace and consented to evacuate all occupied lands.[1] In 629, Heraclius brought the True Cross back to Jerusalem.[1]
What the cited sources add
Walter Kaegi considers Heraclius's Armenian origin "probable" and notes his mother Epiphania was probably of Cappadocian origin.[5] Kaegi notes Heraclius's military successes likely drew on his father's experience passed down orally.[7] Warren Treadgold commends Heraclius's success against the Persians and argues his performance against the Arabs was respectable.[9] Kaegi notes Heraclius failed to conserve Roman elements of the empire, becoming more Middle Eastern.[9]
J. Lascaratos, a medical historian, identified Heraclius's urethral condition as the earliest documented instance of epispadias.[10]
References
- Wikipedia, "Heraclius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Baynes 1912, p. 288; Speck 1984, p. 178; Baynes 1912, p. 288; Haldon 1997, p. 41 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Heraclius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thomson Howard-Johnston Greenwood 1999, p. 221 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Heraclius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Haldon 1997, p. 41; Kaegi 2003, p. 21–22, 36 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Heraclius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Treadgold 1997, p. 410 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Heraclius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Evans 2018, p. 34; Kaegi 2003, p. 21–22, 36; Vasiliev 1958, p. 193; Redgate 2000, p. 237 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Heraclius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kaegi 2003, p. 21–22, 36; Kaegi 2003, p. 21–22, 36 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Heraclius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kaegi 2003, p. 21–22, 36 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Heraclius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kaegi 2003, p. 21–22, 36; Greatrex Lieu 2002, p. 194–195; Theophanes 1997, p. 303.12–304.13; Cameron 1979, p. 23; Grabar 1984, p. 37 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Heraclius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Treadgold 1997, p. 410; Kaegi 2003, p. 21–22, 36 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Heraclius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kaegi 2003, p. 21–22, 36; Lascaratos Poulakou-Rembelakou Rembelakos Marketos 1995, p. 382; Kaegi 2003, p. 21–22, 36 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Heraclius (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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