Heraclius
| Heraclius | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Byzantine Emperor | |||||
 Heraclius and his sons Constantine III and Heraklonas | |||||
| Reign | October 5, 610 – February 11, 641 | ||||
| Coronation | October 5, 610 | ||||
| Predecessor | Phocas | ||||
| Successor | Constantine III Heraklonas | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Heraclian Dynasty | ||||
| Father | Heraclius the Elder | ||||
Heraclius or Herakleios or (Latin: Flavius Heraclius Augustus; Greek: Ἡράκλειος, Hērakleios), (c. 575 - February 11, 641) was Roman Emperor from October 5, 610 to February 11, 641.
Life
Origins
Heraclius' family was of Armenian or Syrian descent[1], though beyond that there is little specific information known about his ancestry. He was the son and namesake of Heraclius (generally referred to retrospectively as Heraclius the Elder), who had been a key general of Emperor Maurice's in the 590 AD war with Bahram Chobin, usurper of the Sassanid Empire. After the war, Maurice appointed Heraclius the Elder to the position of Exarch of Africa. Though the younger Heraclius' birthplace is unknown, he grew up in Roman Africa; according to one tradition, he engaged in gladiatorial combat with lions as a youth.
Revolt against Phocas and the accession of Heraclius
In 608, Heraclius the Elder renounced his loyalty to the Emperor Phocas, who had overthrown Maurice six years earlier. The rebels issued coins showing both Heraclii dressed as consuls, though neither of them explicitly claimed the imperial title at this time. The younger Heraclius' cousin Niketas launched an overland invasion of Egypt; by 609, he had defeated Phocas' general Bonosus and secured the province. Meanwhile, the younger Heraclius sailed eastward with another force via Sicily and Cyprus. As he approached Constantinople, he made contact with leading aristocrats in the city, and soon arranged a ceremony where he was crowned and acclaimed as emperor. When he reached the capital, the Excubitors, an elite imperial guard unit led by Phocas' son-in-law Priscus, deserted to Heraclius, and he entered the city without serious resistance. Heraclius personally executed Phocas.
On October 5, 610, Heraclius was crowned for a second time, this time in the Chapel of St. Stephen within the Great Palace, and at the same time married Fabia, who took the name Eudokia. After her death in 612, he married his niece Martina in 613; this second marriage was considered incestuous and was very unpopular. In the reign of Heraclius' two sons, the divisive Martina was to become the center of power and political intrigue. Despite widespread hatred for Martina in Constantinople, Heraclius took her on campaigns with him and refused attempts by Patriarch Sergius to prevent and later dissolve the marriage. [2]
War against Persia
When Heraclius took power, the Empire was in a desperate situation. Phocas' initial revolt had stripped the Danube frontier of troops, leaving most of the Balkans at the mercy of the Avars. Chosroes II of the Sassanid Empire had been restored to his throne by Maurice and they had remained allies. He had used the death of his ally Maurice as an excuse to launch a war against the Romans. Chosroes had at his court a man who claimed to be Maurice's son Theodosius, and Chosroes demanded that the Romans accept him as Emperor. The Persians had slowly gained the upper hand in Mesopotamia over the course of Phocas' reign; when Heraclius' revolt resulted in civil war, the Persians took advantage of the internal conflict to advance deep into Syria.
Heraclius offered peace terms to the Persians upon his accession, but Chosroes refused to treat with him, viewing him as an usurper of Theodosius' throne. Heraclius' initial military moves against the Persians ended disastrously, and the Persians rapidly advanced westward. They took Damascus in 613, and with the help of the Jews (who over the course of the previous century had become increasingly marginalized and oppressed) took Jerusalem in 614, damaging the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and capturing the Holy Cross and Egypt in the process. They made raids deep into Anatolia as far as Chalcedon, a town lying almost opposite of Constantinople across the Bosphorus. The Persians were also in communication with the Avars.
The situation was so grave that Heraclius reportedly considered moving the capital from Constantinople to Carthage, but was dissuaded by Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople. He remained in the East and worked on reorganizing the Roman military. He developed the idea of granting land to individuals in return for hereditary military service. The land so granted was organised into themata, a Greek word to describe a division of troops within a large district under military administration, each theme being placed under the command of a strategos or military governor. This arrangement ensured the continuance of the Empire for hundreds of years and enabled Heraclius to reconquer lands taken by the Persians, ravaging Persia along the way. According to the trend in more recent scholarship, the theme system was actually developed by Heraclius' successors, most notably his grandson Constans II. However, the blueprint for it was provided by the exarchates set up by Maurice at Carthage and Ravenna.
Once he had rebuilt the army, Heraclius took the field himself in 621; he was the first emperor to campaign against a foreign enemy in person since Theodosius I. Confident that Constantinople was well defended and unwilling to engage in a war of attrition over the lost eastern provinces, he marched across Asia Minor and invaded Persia itself. He would stay on campaign for several years. In 626, Constantinople itself was besieged by the Avars; but Persian attempts to cross the Bosporus and aid the Avars were repulsed by the Roman navy, and the Avars withdrew now also being busy fighting Croats who recently arrived in Dalmatia and formed a state there. Meanwhile, Heraclius acquired the assistance of the Western Turkish Khaganate and its leader, Ziebel, who invaded Persian Transcaucasia. Heraclius also exploited divisions within the Persian Empire, keeping the Persian general Shahrbaraz neutral by convincing him that Chosroes had grown jealous of him and ordered his execution.
At the Battle of Nineveh in 627, the Roman forces (without the Khazars, who left Heraclius) defeated the Persians under Rhahzadh. Heraclius personally defeated and killed Rhahzadh in the battle. When Chosroes still refused to make peace, Heraclius continued his campaign; as he approached the Persian capital of Ctesiphon, the Persian aristocracy deposed Chosroes. His successor Kavadh II made peace with Heraclius by restoring all the empire's former territories. The Persian Sassanid dynasty never recovered from this war; it took years for a strong king to emerge from a series of coups, and soon the Muslim Arab Caliphate overwhelmed the sinking state.
Heraclius took for himself the ancient Persian title of "King of Kings", virtually dropping the traditional Roman imperial title of "Augustus". Later on, starting in 629, he styled himself simply as Basileus, the standard Greek word for "monarch", and that title was used by the Roman emperors for the next 800 years. Heraclius also Hellenised the Empire by largely discontinuing the use of Latin as its official language, replacing it with Greek. The empire continued to call itself Roman throughout the rest of its history, but the term also increasingly came to be used as a Greek self-descriptive. In 630, he reached the height of his power, marching barefoot as a pious Christian pilgrim into Jerusalem and restoring the True Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Prophet Muhammad s.a.w's letter to Roman Caesar Heraclius:
The second letter mentioned in the hadith was sent to Qaysar (Ceasar), the king of the Romans. According to historians his name was Hiraql. This letter was sent with Sayyidina Dihyah Kalbi Radiyallahu 'Anhu. Although the Qaysar did not accept Islaam, he respected the letter and kept it safely. When Sayyidina Rasulullah Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam heard of this he said: 'Kisra tore his country to pieces, and Qaysar guarded his'. The contents of the letter were as follows:
(Reported by Al-Bukhaari, Kitab-ul-Jihad and Shamail At-Timidhi).
The letter sent to Heraclius, the Byzantine Emperor. ”In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful. Blessed are those who follow the guidance, Verily I call you to Islam. Embrace Islam that you may find peace, and God will give you a double reward. If you reject then on you shall rest the sin of your subjects and followers. O People of the Book come to that which is common between you and us; that we will serve none but Allah, nor associate aught with him, nor take others for lords besides God. But if you turn away, then say: bear witness that we are Muslims.”
The portion from, 'Oh People of the Book, come towards ... to the end, is an aayah of the Qur-aan in Surah Aali 'Imraan. When Sayyidina Dihyah Kalbi Radiyallahu 'Anhu delivered this letter and it was read before the Qaysar, his nephew who was present, became very angry, and began saying, give this letter to me. The uncle (Qaysar) asked: 'What will you do with it?" He replied: 'This letter is not worth reading, your name was not mentioned first in the letter, but that of his (Sayyidina Rasulullah Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam). Instead of emperor he addresses you as a ruler etc. etc'. The Qaysar replied: 'You are stupid. Do you want me to throw away such a letter from a person to whom the Great Jibra-eel ('Alayhis Salaam) comes. If he is a prophet then he should write like this'. Sayyidina Dibyah Radiyallahu 'Anhu was accommodated with great honour and respect. The Qaysar was on a tour there at that time.
When he was returning he called all the ministers of his kingdom, and said to them that, "I wish to bring your, attention to such a thing that is full of goodness and prosperity. And is a means to keep your country for long. Verily this person (i.e. Sayyidina Rasulullah Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam) is a prophet, follow him and pay allegiance to him". He delivered this long speech in a room where all the doors and windows were closed and locked. The ministers and others became so rash with anger that they caused a commotion and began jumping about violently, trying to run out. Since all the doors and windows were locked, this situation carried on for a while. The Qaysar calmed all those present and delivered another speech, and said: 'A person who has claimed prophethood has appeared. I was 'testing your reaction that how firm are you on you religion, and now I have gauged it'. As was normal all began prostrating before him. Thereafter he praised them and let them leave.
In some narrations it is stated that he kissed the letter and put it on his head. He then covered it with silk and put it safely away. He sent for the pope and discussed this matter with him. The pope said: 'Verily this is the last of the Prophets, the good news of which has been mentioned in our Holy Books'. The Qaysar said: 'I also believe this, but there is one problem, if I become a Muslim these people will kill me, and I will lose my kingdom'. I'laamus Saa-i leen. The Qaysar was on a pilgrimage to Baytul Muqaddas when this letter, reached him. A trading caravan from Makkah was also there at that time. To investigate this matter the Qaysar called the leader of the Makkan traders. Details of this event are mentioned in Bukhaari. This incident took place at the time when Sayyidina Rasulullah Sallallahu 'alayhi, Wasallam had signed a peace treaty for a few years with the Makaans at Hudaybiyyah. An agreement was drawn up that there would be no war, between the Muslims and the Makkans. Abu Sufyaan, who had not yet; accepted Islaam, said: 'I once went to Shaam (Syria) during this period, of peace. At that time Hiraql received Sayyidina Rasulullah Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam's letter inviting him to accept Islaam. Upon receiving, this letter, which was delivered by Dihyah' Kalbi, he asked the local people if there was anybody in the town who knew this person claiming prophethood. They said: 'Yes, there are some people who have recently, arrived'. Thereupon we were asked to appear before the king. A few of my companions and myself from the Quraysh went to the king. He made us all sit near him and then asked: 'Who of you is the nearest in relationship to the person that has claimed prophethood?' I replied that I was the most closely related. He asked me to come nearer to him motioning my companions to sit behind me, and said to them: 'I am to ask him some questions. If he gives false information, inform me. Abu Sufyaan had not yet accepted Islaam and was a staunch enemy of Rasulullah Sallallahu'Alayhi Wasallam. He said: 'I swear that if I had not been afraid that the people would later say that I was a liar, and disgrace me, then I would have surely given false information, but fear of disgrace made me speak the truth'. He then began asking me through his interpreter the following questions: Q. The person who has claimed prophethood, how is he regarded amongst you according to his family lineage? A. He hails from a great family and is of a noble lineage amongst us. Q. Was anyone amongst his ancestors a king? A. There was none. Q. Before claiming prophethood, was he ever accused of falsehood? A. Never. Q. Those who follow him, are they from the elite, or are they from the ordinary people? A. From the ordinary people. Q. Are his followers increasing or decreasing? A. They are increasing. Q. Those who adopt his religion, does anyone among them become frustrated and turn away? A. No. Q. Did you go to war with him? A. Yes. Q. What were the results of the war? A. Sometimes they were victorious, at other times we were victorious. Q. Does he ever break his promises? A. No. These days we have an agreement between us. We do not know if he will fulfil it or not. Abu Sufyaan said: 'I did not have a chance to say anything from my own side besides this sentence'. Q. Did anyone claim prophethood before him? A. No. In some narrations it stated that Hiraql asked Abu Sufyaan: 'Why do you fear that he will dishonour the treaty?' Abu Sufyaan replied: 'My People have helped our allies against their allies'. Hiraql said you have been dishonest'.
Thereafter Hiraql continued the conversation and said: 'I asked you about his lineage. You replied that he was of noble lineage. The prophets are from the noble families of their people. I asked if any of his ancestors were kings? You said: 'No'. I thought that he wanted to regain the control of kingship. I asked if his followers were from the high class or common and weak people. All those who followed the earlier prophets, were from among such people (The high class felt it a shame to follow others). I asked if he was ever accused of falsehood before he claimed prophethood. You' denied it. I thought that by lying to people he would begin to lie about Allah (Na'udhu billah). (The person who does not lie to people, how can he lie about Allah). I asked if anyone accepted his message and thereafter became disillusioned and turned away from it (became a murtad-apostate). You replied in the negative. This is a peculiarity of imaan, that the love and happiness of it enters the heart. I enquired if their number increased or decreased? You replied that they were increasing. The peculiarity of good imaan is this till its completion. I asked about war against him? You said sometimes he gained victory, sometimes you. This was the case with all the prophets, but the best results were always in favour of them. I queried about his breaking promises? You said no. This is the quality of a prophet, for, he does not break promises. I asked did anyone claim, prophethood before him? You denied it. I thought if someone had claimed prophethood before, then he might be trying to imitate them. Hiraql thereafter asked these people: 'What are his teachings?' The people replied: 'To perform salaah, give zakaah and to uphold relationship with one's relatives. To keep one's chastity and modesty'. Hiraql said: 'If all that you have said is true, then verily he is a nabi (prophet). I was certain that he was to be born shortly, but not certain that he would be amongst you. If I were sure that I could go to him, I would surely have gone to meet him. (But cannot go because of the fear that I will lose my kingdom and my life). If I were in his presence I would have washed his feet. There is no doubt that his rule will reach till where I am'.
There are many other incidents about Hiraql related in the books of hadith. He was well versed in their holy books and was also an expert in astronomy. He therefore thought on these lines, and did some research on it too. In some narrations it is related that he kept the letter of Sayyidina Rasulullah Sallallahu'Alayhi Wasallam very carefully with respect in a golden case. This was kept safely by his children and then their offspring for many generations.
War against the Arabs
Prophet Muhammad had recently succeeded in unifying all the nomadic tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs, who had been too divided in the past to pose a military threat, now comprised one of the most powerful states in the region, and were animated by their new conversion to Islam. Heraclius fell ill soon after his triumph over the Persians and never took the field again. When the Muslim Arabs attacked Syria and Palestine 634, he was unable to oppose them personally, and his generals failed him. The Battle of Yarmuk in 636 resulted in a crushing defeat for the larger Roman army and within three years, Syria and Palestine were lost again. By the time of Heraclius' death, most of Egypt had fallen as well.
Legacy
Although the territorial gains he made from his defeat of the Persians produced were lost from the advance of the Muslims, Heraclius still ranks among the greatest Roman emperors ever. His reforms of the government reduced the corruption which had taken hold in Phocas' reign, and he reorganized the military with great success. Ultimately, the reformed imperial army halted the Muslims in Asia Minor and held on to Carthage for another 60 years, saving a core from which the empire's strength could be rebuilt. The recovery of the eastern areas of the Roman Empire from the Persians once again raised the problem of religious unity centering around the understanding of the true nature of Christ. Most of the inhabitants of these provinces were Monophysites who rejected the Council of Chalcedon. Heraclius tried to promote a compromise doctrine called Monothelitism; however, this philosophy was rejected as heretical by both sides of the dispute. For this reason, Heraclius was viewed as a heretic and bad ruler by some later religious writers. After the Monophysite provinces were finally lost to the Muslims, Monotheletism rather lost its raison d'être and was eventually abandoned.
Perhaps the most important legacy of Heraclius was changing the official language of the East Roman Empire from Latin to Greek in circa 620 AD[3], thus strengthening the process of Hellenization in what was to become known in the West later on as the Byzantine Empire, which had a distinctively Greek culture. For this reason, some historians tend to start the "Byzantine" Empire with the reign of Heraclius, defining the period before him as "Late Roman".
Family
Heraclius and Fabia Eudokia had two children:
- Eudoxia Epiphania, Augusta
- Heraclius Constantine (Constantine III), Emperor in 641
With his second wife, Martina, the Emperor had at least 10 children, though the names and order of these children are questions for debate:
- Fabius, who had a paralyzed neck
- Theodosios, who was a deaf-mute, married Nike, daughter of Persian general Shahrbaraz
- Constantine
- Constantine Heraclius (Heraklonas), Emperor 638 – 641
- David (Tiberios), proclaimed Caesar in 638
- Martinos or Marinos
- Augoustina, Augusta
- Anastasia and/or Martina, Augusta
- Febronia
Of these at least two were handicapped, which was seen as punishment for the illegality of the marriage.
He also had at least one illegitimate son, Atalarichos, who conspired a plot against Heraclius with his cousin, the magister Theodorus, and the Armenian noble David Saharuni. He was mutilated and exiled to Prinkipo of the Princes' Islands in 637. During the last years of Heraclius' life, it became evident that a struggle was taking place between Heraclius Constantine and Martina, who was trying to position her son Heraklonas in line for the throne. When Heraclius died, in his will he left the empire to both Heraclius Constantine and Heraklonas to rule jointly with Martina as Empress.
Note
- ^ Theophylact Simocatta, 109-110
- ^ Kaegli, Walter. Heraclis: Emperor of Byzantium.
- ^ Europe: A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1996. ISBN 978-0-19-820171-7
Sources
- The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.
- Charles, R. H. The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text, 1916. Reprinted 2007. Evolution Publishing, ISBN 978-1-889758-87-9. [1]
- W. Kaegi, Heraclius Emperor of Byzantium, Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- (primary source) C. Mango & R. Scott (trans.), The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford University Press, 1997.
- (primary source) C. Mango (trans.), Nikephoros Patriarch of Constantinople. Short History, Dumbarton Oacks Texts 10, 1990.
See also
- Aslim Taslam
- Non-Muslims Interactants with Muslims During Muhammad's Era
- Hadith of the prediction in Sura al-Rum
- Revolt against Heraclius
External links
