Gregoria (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Γρηγορία, fl. 641) was the Byzantine empress as the wife of

Constantine III Constantine III may refer to: * Constantine III (Western Roman Emperor), self-proclaimed western Roman Emperor 407–411 * Heraclius Constantine, Byzantine Emperor in 641 * Constans II, Byzantine emperor 641–668, sometimes referred to under this ...

. She participated in the minority

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

government of her son,

Constans II Constans II ( grc-gre, Κώνστας, Kōnstas; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), nicknamed "the Bearded" ( la, Pogonatus; grc-gre, ὁ Πωγωνᾶτος, ho Pōgōnãtos), was the Eastern Roman emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last ...

, in 641–650.

Life

She was a daughter of Niketas, a first cousin of

Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was Eastern Roman 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 revol ...

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 ...

'', Vol. 3 who had led an overland invasion of

Roman Egypt , conventional_long_name = Roman Egypt , common_name = Egypt , subdivision = Province , nation = the Roman Empire , era = Late antiquity , capital = Alexandria , title_leader = Praefectus Augustalis , image_map = Roman E ...

in 608 in the revolt which elevated Heraclius to the throne. Niketas fought against the representatives of

Phocas Phocas ( la, Focas; grc-gre, Φωκάς, Phōkás; 5475 October 610) was Eastern Roman emperor from 602 to 610. Initially, a middle-ranking officer in the Eastern Roman army, Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldie ...

in Egypt and seems to have secured control of the province by 610.Walter Emil Kaegi, ''Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium'' (2003) On 5 October 610, Heraclius succeeded Phocas as the emperor. Niketas was rewarded with the social rank of patrician and the military position of '' Comes Excubitorum'', commander of the

Excubitors The Excubitors ( la, excubitores or , , i.e. 'sentinels'; transcribed into Greek as , ) were founded in as an imperial guard unit by the Byzantine emperor Leo I the Thracian. The 300-strong force, originally recruited from among the warlike mou ...

. He seems to have remained in control of Egypt and took part in the defense against the invasion of Khosrau II of the

Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

. Egypt was lost to Khosrau in 618 but Niketas survived. Niketas was then appointed

Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and ea ...

of the

Exarchate of Africa The Exarchate of Africa was a division of the Byzantine Empire around Carthage that encompassed its possessions on the Western Mediterranean. Ruled by an exarch (viceroy), it was established by the Emperor Maurice in the late 580s and survive ...

. His term started in 619 and lasted to his death in 628/629. Her paternal grandfather was Gregorius, brother to

Heraclius the Elder Heraclius the Elder ( el, Ἡράκλειος, ''Herákleios''; died 610) was a Byzantine general and the father of Byzantine emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641). Generally considered to be of Armenian origin Heraclius the Elder distinguished hims ...

. Heraclius had been appointed Exarch of Africa by Maurice and lived to support the revolt of his son. But not to its conclusion. Gregorius seems to have served under the command of his brother but the extent of his role is unknown.

Empress

Gregoria was betrothed to her second cousin

, only known son of Heraclius and his first wife Eudokia. Constantine was crowned co-emperor by his father on 22 January 613. Their marriage took place in 629/630. The groom was about seventeen years old. Gregoria was likely of equivalent age. She had arrived to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

from the Western Pentapolis in

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

. Since Cyrenaica was in the territory of her father Niketas, Gregoria is assumed to have been brought up under his supervision instead of that of her father-in-law.Lynda Garland, "Gregoria, Wife of Heraclius Constantine
/ref> She was the junior Empress with Martina as the senior one. Gregoria and her husband had at least two sons.

was born on 7 November 630. According to Theophanes, a second son was named Theodosius. He was executed by Constans in 659/660. A genealogical theory also adds a daughter to the list of children. The daughter is given as Manyanh, a purported granddaughter of Heraclius and wife of

Yazdgerd III Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne at the ...

."Manyanh Princess of Byzantium"
/ref> Heraclius died on 11 February 641. Constantine III became senior emperor with his paternal half-brother

Heraklonas Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Herakleios; 626 – 642), known by the diminutive Heraclonas or Heracleonas ( gr, Ἡρακλ ��νᾶς), and sometimes called Heraclius II, was the son of Heraclius and his niece Martina. His father ...

as his co-ruler. Constantine died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

between April and May of the same year. A revolt in favor of Constans resulted in the deposition of Heraklonas by September. Her son was a minor until 650, and Gregoria was most likely regent during his minority, but her acts as regent is not mentioned in Byzantine sources.

References

External links

The pages of "Heraclius" dealing with Niketas and EgyptThe page of "The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire", vol. 2 dealing with Heraclius of Edessa
{{s-end 7th-century births 7th-century deaths Heraclian dynasty 7th-century Byzantine empresses 7th-century women rulers Mothers of Byzantine emperors