Constantine III (Byzantine Emperor)
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Heraclius Constantine (; ; 3 May 612 – 25 May 641), often enumerated as Constantine III, was one of the shortest reigning
Byzantine emperors The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...
, ruling for three months in 641. He was the eldest son of Emperor
Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...
and his first wife Fabia Eudokia.


Reign

Constantine was crowned co-emperor by his father on 22 January 613 and shortly after was betrothed to his cousin, Gregoria, a daughter of his father's first cousin, Nicetas. As the couple were second cousins, the marriage was technically
incest Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...
uous, but this consideration must have been outweighed by the advantages of the match to the family as a whole. Furthermore, its illegality paled into insignificance beside Heraclius' marriage to his niece Martina the same year. In comparison, Constantine's marriage was far less scandalous than that of his father. Constantine assumed an honorary
consulship The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...
on 1 January 632, and at the same ceremony his brother Heraclonas was raised to the rank of ''
Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...
''. Theophanes the Confessor
AM 6108
(n.2)
Constantine became senior emperor when his father died on 11 February 641. He reigned together with his younger half-brother Heraclonas, the son of Martina. His supporters feared action against him on the part of Martina and Heraclonas, and the treasurer Philagrius advised him to write to the army, informing them that he was dying and asking for their assistance in protecting the rights of his children. He also sent a vast sum of money, more than two million '' solidi'' (gold coins), to Valentinus, an adjutant of Philagrius, to distribute to the soldiers to persuade them to secure the succession for his sons after his death. He died of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
after only three months, on 25 May, leaving Heraclonas sole emperor. A rumor that Martina had him poisoned led first to the imposition of
Constans II Constans II (; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), also called "the Bearded" (), was the Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last attested emperor to serve as Roman consul, consul, in 642, although the office continued to exist unti ...
as co-emperor and then to the deposition, mutilation, and banishment of Martina and her sons.


Family

In 629 or 630, Constantine married Gregoria, the daughter of Niketas. They had two sons, and perhaps a daughter: *
Constans II Constans II (; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), also called "the Bearded" (), was the Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last attested emperor to serve as Roman consul, consul, in 642, although the office continued to exist unti ...
, who succeeded as emperor * Theodosius


Regnal name

The Romans themselves did not use regnal numbers, which are instead applied to the emperors by modern historians. There is particular confusion surrounding the name "Constantine III" as it has been also applied to the earlier Western emperor Constantine (407–411), who started as a usurper but was later recognized by
Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...
(395–423). Charles le Beau (1701–1778), who established the convention of numbering eleven Constantines, uses the numeral only for the Eastern emperor.
Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...
(1737–1794) also explicitly refers to the Western emperor as a usurper and gives the numeral to the Eastern one. Justin Sabatier (1792–1869) and Louis Félicien de Saulcy (1807–1880) notably enumerate Heraclius Constantine as "Heraclius II", a numeral often used for his brother Heraclonas, but refer to the next Constantine as
Constantine IV Constantine IV (); 650 – 10 July 685), called the Younger () and often incorrectly the Bearded () out of confusion with Constans II, his father, was Byzantine emperor from 668 to 685. His reign saw the first serious check to nearly 50 years ...
, thus indirectly counting the Western emperor. This numbering has been followed by a few authors. Warwick Wroth (1858–1911) uses no numeral for Heraclius Constantine and uses "Constantine III" as an alternative name for
Constans II Constans II (; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), also called "the Bearded" (), was the Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last attested emperor to serve as Roman consul, consul, in 642, although the office continued to exist unti ...
. The ''
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...
(PLRE)'' (1980) uses the numeral solely for the Eastern emperor, while the ''
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzan ...
'' (1991) uses it solely for the Western one. Philip Grierson (1910–2006) applies the numeral to both emperors, but treats "Constantine III" more like an alternate name for Heraclius Constantine, who is not given a numeral in the index. The ''
Roman Imperial Coinage ''Roman Imperial Coinage'', abbreviated ''RIC'', is a British catalogue of Roman Imperial currency, from the time of the Battle of Actium (31 BC) to Late Antiquity in 491 AD. It is the result of many decades of work, from 1923 to 1994, ...
(RIC)'', which ends with the fall of the West, uses the numeral for the Western emperor, which has now become standard. Strangely enough, both Constantines had a son called Constans. Neither the ''RIC'', ''PLRE'' nor Grierson give the Western one a numeral, yet he's still often called "
Constans II Constans II (; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), also called "the Bearded" (), was the Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last attested emperor to serve as Roman consul, consul, in 642, although the office continued to exist unti ...
".


Notes and references


Notes


References


See also

*
List of Byzantine emperors The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...


Literature

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantine 03 (Byzantine emperor) 612 births 641 deaths 640s in the Byzantine Empire 7th-century Byzantine emperors 7th-century deaths from tuberculosis Heraclian dynasty Heraclius Porphyrogennetoi Tuberculosis deaths in the Byzantine Empire Sons of Byzantine emperors Byzantine consuls