The

Exarch 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 591 and survived until th ...

Heraclius the Elder Heraclius the Elder (; died 610) was a Byzantine Roman general and the father of Byzantine Roman emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641). Heraclius the Elder distinguished himself in the war against the Sassanid Persians in the 580s. As a subordinate ...

and his namesake son Heraclius the Younger began a rebellion against the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

emperor

Phocas Phocas (; ; 5475 October 610) was Eastern Roman emperor from 602 to 610. Initially a middle-ranking officer in the East Roman army, Roman army, Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers in their disputes with the cour ...

in 608. In October 610, Heraclius the Younger reached

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, executed Phocas, and was proclaimed as emperor, establishing the

Heraclian dynasty The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the dynasty of Heraclius between 610 and 711 AD. The Heraclians presided over a period of cataclysmic events that were a watershed in the history of the Empire and the world. Heraclius, the founder o ...

of the Byzantine Empire.

Background

Various reasons may have contributed to the beginning of this rebellion, such as the atmosphere of terror and fear of purges in

' military regime, avenging the death of Emperor Maurice in 602, personal ambitions of the Heraclii, the damaged reputation of Phocas. These were coupled with calculations in favor of the revolt, such as the distance 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 591 and survived until t ...

from Phocas in

, and the fact that Constantinople was relying on the grain and revenues from the Exarchate. The news of the

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

ruler

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; and ''Khosrau''), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 ...

's large-scale mobilization of forces to invade the eastern Byzantine territories, also ostensibly to overthrow Phocas and avenge Maurice's death, made the situation more favorable for this revolt in the west.

The rebellion

first made himself and his son hypatos, thus laying claim on the supreme power. The rebels attacked Egypt and Cyrenaica via land, while a naval assault was launched from North Africa against Constantinople, possibly via Sicily and Italy. The rebellion received support in most of Egypt and the central Mediterranean.

Aftermath

A revolt against the Heraclius' rule by Comentiolus, the brother of Phocas, was defeated after the assassination of the latter by '' patricius'' Justin in late 610 or 611.

died shortly after the success of the revolt.

References

Sources

*{{cite book , last1=Kaegi , first1=Walter E. , author-link=Walter Kaegi , title=Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium , year =2003 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , isbn=9780521814591 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlNlFZ_7UhoC 600s in the Byzantine Empire 600s conflicts 7th-century rebellions Heraclius Civil wars of the Byzantine Empire 1st-millennium coups d'état