Heraclius : Byzantine Emperor 610-641

 

In the year  610, a man by the name of Heraclius took the Byzantine throne. The Byzantine people were more than happy to see the back of the man Heraclius had usurped, named Phocas. Phocas had usurped Maurice in 602 and executed a number of Maurice's sons in front of him before killing the emperor himself. This unbelievable act of cruelty was a sign of things to come from Phocas and his 8 year long reign was punctuated with similar acts of violence. Phocas lived by the sword and would ultimately die by the sword. In the months leading up to Phocas deposition, plots against him were rife. One plot that Phocas foiled led to the emperor having the commander of his bodyguard executed in a marketplace within the walls of Constantinople. But this did nothing to help Phocas' popularity and the plan now was to have the emperor killed whilst Games were being held. This plot failed after one of the participants began to have misgivings and informed Phocas. The informant probably regretted his decision however and the emperor had him, as well as the other conspirators, beheaded.

Whilst this had been going on, the Senate asked for help against Phocas from one of the Byzantine generals based in North Africa, Heraclius' father, of the same name. Heraclius the Elder agreed to the request and sent his son to depose Phocas. Another general, Gregoras, heeded the appeal also sent of his sons, Niketas, to depose Phocas. It was now essentially a race between Heraclius and Niketas to get to Constantinople first, remove Phocas from power and become emperor themselves. Knowing that Heraclius was on his way, Phocas seized both Heraclius' mother and his fiancee and kept them under armed guard. But ultimately this desperate act would not work. Heraclius arrived at the city walls and attacked Constantinople's harbour. Battle was joined but Phocas had run out of time and sympathisers. He was seized by a mob of irate citizens and brutally put to death. Heraclius was proclaimed Emperor soon after.

Early indicators of what was to come in Heraclius' reign came in May 610 as the Byzantines' erstwhile enemy the Persians infringed upon Byzantine territory, campaigning in Syria, taking Edessa and making it as far as Antioch. A Byzantine army was sent out to meet them but was thoroughly routed. Much of Heraclius' reign would be taken up by his dealings with the Persians. And to make matters worse for the new emperor, there was another threat to the Byzantines, this time coming from Europe in the shape of the Avars who were causing much devastation indeed. 

With Heraclius struggling to come to terms with the problems facing his empire, the Persians continued on their merry way, taking Damascus in 613. Desperately seeking to stop his enemies from advancing any further, Heraclius sent envoys to the Persian king Chosroes II, hoping for a peace agreement in order to stop the bloodshed of his people. To sweeten the deal, Heraclius offered to pay tribute but Chosroes sent the envoys away empty handed. He had no intentions of stopping his advance. And then Chosroes struck his biggest blow yet by capturing Jerusalem and with it, the Persians also took the True Cross, the cross on which Jesus was supposedly crucified. The Persians would then go on to take Egypt. His sense of desperation increasing, Heraclius again attempted to negotiate with Chosroes but again failed to make any headway.

In 618, Thrace came under attack by the Avars. Heraclius, again, attempted to use diplomacy to put an end to the trouble as his focus was on campaigning against the Persians. Initially, peace seemed to have been reached reasonably quickly but the Avars went back on their word and went back to plundering and pillaging. Unamused, Heraclius again brought them to terms and in 622, Heraclius moved against Chosroes and the Persians. To help fund his campaign, Heraclius used loans from the church as he was struggling financially. That wasn't his only problem. Heraclius was also not impressed by the condition of his army. He found them to be lazy and ill disciplined. The emperor trained his men as best as he could and set off on a long, difficult and dangerous mission. Heraclius took his men through Armenia where they won an early skirmish against the Persians and took as prisoner one of their generals. Another Persian then attempted to attack Heraclius' men but advancing down from a mountainside, but again the Byzantines were successful and plundered much of the Persians provisions. It was early days in the campaign but Heraclius had made a good start.

Heraclius once again wrote to Chosroes seeking peace but this time, he wrote with a more forceful tone. He threatened to invade Persia if Chosroes did not agree to come to terms. Confident in his own might, Chosroes dismissed the threat out of hand.and so in April 623, Heraclius led his men into the heart of Persia, sacking and plundering as they went. Heraclius got word that Chosroes was at a city called Gazakon and, without hesitation, marched his men to face down his enemy. Alarmed at this development, Chosroes fled. Heraclius would eventually spend the freezing winter in Albania.

Throughout, Chosroes sent out a number of his generals to harass and harry Heraclius and his army to prevent them from re-entering Persian territory but the Byzantines held their enemies off. They then headed towards Syria where they would rest but would continue to be tracked by the Persians with skirmishes breaking out and losses were sustained on both sides. Meanwhile, Chosroes came up with a plan. He put together a sizeable army which included recruits from foreign lands and sent them out to confront Heraclius. Hoping to distract the emperor, Chosroes sent another force to attack Constantinople. Heraclius got word of this and divided his army into three, sending one part of guard Constantinople. Another division of the army  routed a Persian force at Nineveh, striking a sizeable blow to a furious Chosroes.

The force that Chosroes had sent out to attack Constantinople was currently attacking Chalcedon where they would spend the winter. The Avars launched an ambitious plan to take Constantinople themselves but would fail.  Much to the shock of the Persian king, Heraclius invaded Persia in midwinter and sacked towns and cities and went in hot pursuit of Chosroes. Chosroes was obliged to leave a city called Dastagird and head for his capital, Ctesiphon which is where Chosroes would be deposed and executed. Peace was agreed between the Byzantines and the Persians and the war was at an end and Heraclius finally withdrew from Persia.

Heraclius returned to Constantinople where he would, unsurprisingly, decide to rest. Having brought an end to the Persian wars, it wouldn't be long before Heraclius faced another threat, this time from Arab forces. The Arabs marched onwards taking Damascus, Antioch and other lands. They would take Egypt and also completely overwhelm the Persians. In 641, Heraclius died, possibly of dropsy. His reign was a long one, especially in the context of Byzantine history, over 30 years. The start of his reign had been relatively tentative but he grew in stature as time went on. As a commander, he both fought and led bravely. He had also restored Christian honour by reclaiming the supposed True Cross and reinstating it in Jerusalem. However, it was unfortunate for Heraclius that, having overcome one major enemy, another would emerge, undoing much of the territorial gains he had made after the end of the Persian wars.