Heraclius

“ Heraclius himself lived to see—so cruel are the vicissitudes of fortune—the very provinces which he had wrested from the hands of the fire-worshippers, in the hands of the more insolent followers of the False Prophet, and the Crescent planted within sight of the walls of Constantinople. ”

“ This meeting brought about a result which the Melchite John's charities could not effect. It issued in a union between the Syrian and the Coptic Churches, both of which were of the Monophysite creed.
The deplorable surprise of the reign of Heraclius appeared only too soon. The man who had the genius to save the empire had not the common sense to govern it. Heraclius was one of the greatest generals the world has ever seen; he proved to be one of the most incompetent, blundering rulers who ever mismanaged a great empire. ”

“ A man thus injur'd never can forgive. Heraclius
He lov'd Ardelia with the purest flame; Indeed she was, for innocence and truth, For elegance, true dignity, and grace, The fairest sample of that ancient worth Th' illustrious matrons beasted to the world When Rome was fam'd for every glorious deed. But she's no more! Valentinian
Hah! slave, forbear--- Mean'st thou to try my love, or wake my fears? Say thou at once---suspense I ne'er could bear. Heraclius
Despair, resentment, agonizing grief, This morn have clos'd the period of a life Too pure and spotless for the Roman world. ”

“ No Roman emperor, in the course of many hundred years, during the whole time in which Rome and Persia stood as rivals over against each other, obtained such a triumph over the king of kings, as did Heraclius. He surpassed by far Trajan at the culmination of the empire. Heraclius, commending his city and his son to the protection of God, of our Blessed Lady, and of the bishop of his city, God's representative, went forth on what seemed a desperate expedition, borrowing from churches and monasteries the means to equip it. For seven years victory crowned his course. ”

“ When Heraclius with his fleet appeared off Constantinople, Crispus rose in revolt ; Heraclius forced the entrance of the Golden Horn ; and the emperor, abandoned by his mercenaries, hid himself in his palace. The ignominious death, which Phocas suffered from the infuriated mob, is related in the life of that emperor [Phocas] . When Phocas was conducted before Heraclius, " Is it thus, wretch," exclaimed tlife victor, " that thou misgovemest the empire?" "Govern it better," was the sturdy answer ; and Heraclius. ”

“ Of the wives of Tiberius, Maurice, and Phocas, we know merely the names--respectively, Anastasia, Constantina, and Leontia Augusta. Heraclius's memorable reign was shared with two empresses, the first of whom, Eudocia, did nothing to win publicity, while the career of the second--Martina--recalls the wickedness and the intrigue of Verina and Sophia. But the spouses of the successors of Heraclius did not follow Martina's ignoble example, but were women of whom nothing was recorded either of praise or blame. ”

“ It was perhaps a misfortune for mankind that Heraclius was by birth a Roman rather than a Greek, as his views were from that accident directed to the maintenance of the imperial dominion, without any reference to the national organisation of his people. His civilisation, like that of a large portion of the ruling class in the Eastern Empire, was too far removed from the state of ignorance into which the mass of the population had fallen, for the one to be influenced by the feelings of the other, or for both to act together with the energy conferred by unity of purpose in a variety of ranks. ”

“ So, my brothers, you will address yourselves to Heraclius upon all the points you are used to submit to me. Whenever he needs counsel, my care and my help will not be wanting.... In this way, without any loss to you, I shall be able to devote the remainder of life which it may please God still to leave me, not to laziness and rest, but to the study of the Holy Scriptures. This work will be useful to Heraclius, and hence to yourselves. ”

“ Since the days of Scipio and Hannibal, no bolder enterprise has been attempted than that which Heraclius achieved for the deliverance of the empire. He permitted the Persians to oppress for a while the provinces, and to insult with impunity the capital of the East; while the Roman emperor explored his perilous way through the Black Sea and the mountains of Armenia, penetrated into the heart of Persia, and recalled the armies of the Great King to the defence of their bleeding country. With a select band of five thousand soldiers, Heraclius sailed from Constantinople to Trebizond ”

“ The policy of Heraclius was directed to the establishment of a bond of union, which should connect all the provinces of his empire into one body, and he hoped to replace the want of national unity by identity of religious belief. The church was far more closely connected with the people than any other institution, and the emperor, as political head of the church, [178] hoped to direct a well-organised body of churchmen. But Heraclius engaged in the impracticable task of imposing a rule of faith on his subjects, without assuming the office, or claiming the authority of a prophet or a saint. ”

“ Heraclius then went to Chosroes, and told him what he had done, offering him his life if he too would embrace Christianity,55 but the Persian monarch refused, and Heraclius smote off his head.56 He then crowned a son of Chosroes, and caused him to be baptized,57 himself standing sponsor, and buried the slain king with befitting honours.58 Then, taking possession of the holy relic,59 he set out with it for Jerusalem. ”

“ For eight years his reign continued. ... Africa was the only portion of the Roman Empire which in the reign of Phocas was suffering neither from civil strife nor foreign invasion. It was well governed by the aged exarch Heraclius, who was so well liked in the province that the emperor had not dared to depose him. Urged by desperate entreaties from all parties in Constantinople to strike a blow against the tyrant, and deliver the empire from the yoke of a monster, Heraclius at last consented." He sent his son—who bore the same name, Heraclius—with a fleet, to Constantinople. ”

“ Sergius, the patriarch of Constantinople, states that he and Cyrus the bishop of Phasis were consulted by the Emperor Heraclius about this question, showing that whatever had been its source it was now much interesting the emperor's mind. True to the traditional ecclesiastical policy of his predecessor, but with more vigour in the execution of it, Heraclius was anxious to establish a modus vivendi between the Monophysites and their opponents. Thus from the first Monotheletism appears as a political movement. ”

“ In his second campaign (624–26) he penetrated into Armenia and Albania, and beat the enemy in the open field. After a short stay at Constantinople, which his son Constantine had successfully defended against renewed incursions by the Avars, Heraclius resumed his attacks upon the Persians (627) . ”

“ The triumphs which Heraclius had won through his own energy and skill did not bring him lasting popularity. In his civil administration he followed out his own ideas without deferring to the nobles or the Church, and the opposition which he encountered from these quarters went far to paralyse his attempts at reform. Worn out by continuous fighting and weakened by dropsy, Heraclius failed to show sufficient energy against the new peril that menaced his eastern provinces towards the end of his reign. In 629 the Saracens made their first incursion into Syria (see Caliphate, section A, § 1) ”

“ However, if it seems unbelievable to anyone that someone might be able to learn the future through the art of astrology, this argument seems clear evidence to us: the emperor Heraclius, through this kind of study, foresaw that a circumcised race would rise up against the Roman empire, but he was unable through this method to foresee that it would not be the Jews, but the Saracens who would do this. ”

“ At the battle of Yermuck, the imperial forces were totally routed, and Heraclius, downcast and dismayed, returned to Constantinople, bearing with him, as a source of consolation, the invaluable fragment, whose alleged miraculous powers were never exerted for its own protection.9 It is rarely that, when a sovereign despairs of success, his subjects have the courage (it would, perhaps, be termed the disloyal presumption) to prolong their resistance ”

“ HERA′CLIUS, the son of Hiero, was a noble and opulent citizen of Syracuse. Heraclius, before the praetorship of C. Verres, in B. c. 73 — 71, one of the wealthiest, became, through his exactions and oppression, one of the poorest men in Sicily. ”

“ At the time Heraclius ascended the throne, these national and religious feelings already exercised their power of modifying the operations of the Roman government, and of enabling mankind to advance one step towards the establishment of individual liberty and intellectual independence. ”

“ After Heraclius had repelled the Persian invasion, he was still regarded in a more friendly way by the Copts than had been the case with other Byzantine emperors; and at first he took some pains to cultivate pleasant relations with them. He did not go so far as to refuse to appoint a Melchite patriarch. That would have been to give mortal offence to his Greek subjects all over the empire. But he was careful to select for the office a man whose life and character were in high repute even among the national Christians. ”

“ The vigour and ability of Heraclius so restored the empire, when wellnigh sinking under the might of its enemies, that for a century it was regarded with awe by the barbarous nations all round its immense frontier. The five provinces beyond the Euphrates were conquered by the Romans from the Parthians during the decline of the empire. Nothing is so remarkable, in the last three centuries of Roman history, as the small number of the forces which combated around the Eagles, and the astonishing victories which, when led by ability, they gained over prodigious bodies of their enemies. ”

“ Having thus secured his eastern frontier, Heraclius returned to Constantinople with ample spoils, including the true cross, which in 629 he brought back in person to Jerusalem. On the northern frontier of the empire he kept the Avars in check by inducing the Serbs to migrate from the Carpathians to the Balkan lands so as to divert the attention of the Avars. ”

“ The work, which is imperfect at the beginning and end (breaking off in the year 627) , is preceded by an introduction on the Christian methods of reckoning time and the Easter cycle. It was written during the reign of Heraclius (610–641) , and is generally attributed to an unknown Byzantine cleric and friend of the patriarch Sergius, who is specially alluded to as responsible for the introduction of certain ritual innovations. ”

“ And this father consecrated the Offering and administered to the people the Holy Mysteries, and he commanded them to be strong in the True Faith, and he made them to know what was going to happen. And then he sent letters to all the bishops, and to all the heads of the monasteries, and commanded them to take to flight. Then he departed into the desert of Scete, to the monastery of Abba Macarius, and from there he departed into Upper Egypt. And Heraclius, Emperor of Rome, had dominion over the churches, and over the believers, and he punished very many of them. ”

“ Stripped of the diadem and purple, clothed in a vile habit, and loaded with chains, he was transported in a small boat to the Imperial galley of Heraclius, who reproached him with the crimes of his abominable reign. “Wilt thou govern better?” were the last words of the despair of Phocas. ”

“ Heraclius now, at last, was thoroughly aroused. It was but a few years before that he had gloriously repulsed the Chosroes; but after that he had relapsed into the inactivity of earlier years. Tidings of the invasion—a fresh irruption, as it would seem, of barbarians from the south instead of from the north—awakened him from his lethargy. Repairing to Hims, he gathered together an immense force, and sent it, in separate divisions, to stem the advancing tide. The largest of these, numbering (tradition tells us) 90,000 men, was commanded by his brother Theodoric. ”

“ The marked difference which existed between the higher and educated classes in the East, and the ignorant and superstitious populace, rendered it next to impossible that any line of conduct could secure the judgment of the learned, and awaken the fanaticism of the people. As a further apology for Heraclius it may be noticed that his acknowledged power over the orthodox clergy was much greater than that which was possessed by the Byzantine emperors at a later period, or that which was admitted by the Latin church after its separation. ”

“ Save Africa and Egypt and the district immediately around the capital, all the provinces were overrun by the Persian, the Avar, and the Slav. The treasury was empty, and the army had almost disappeared owing to repeated and bloody defeats in Asia Minor.
Heraclius seems at first to have almost despaired of the possibility of evolving order out of this chaos, though he was in the prime of life and strength—“a man of middle stature, strongly built, and broad-chested, with grey eyes and yellow hair, and of a very fair complexion ”

“ Alarmed by the danger of his kingdom, the powers of Chosroes were already recalled from the Nile and the Bosporus, and three formidable armies surrounded, in a distant and hostile land, the camp of the emperor. The Colchian allies prepared to [163] desert his standard; and the fears of the bravest veterans were expressed, rather than concealed, by their desponding silence. “Be not terrified,” said the intrepid Heraclius, “by the multitude of your foes. With the aid of heaven, one Roman may triumph over a thousand barbarians. ”