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CRISTO RAUL.ORG '

READING HALL

CAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY

 

 

THE RISE OF THE SARACENS AND THE FOUNDATION OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE

 

CHAPTER XIII

THE SUCCESSORS OF HERACLIUS TO 717

 

 

BESIDES Constantine, who had been his colleague since 613, Heraclius left four sons by Martina — Theodosius, who was deaf and dumb, Heraclius, who had been crowned in 638, David the Caesar, and Martin the nobilissimus, and (though Constantine was twenty-eight and Heraclius only sixteen) he desired by his will that they should enjoy equal rights, while Martina received the honours of an empress and a mother from both. Relying upon this provision, Martina claimed to exercise the practical sovereignty herself: but the people would not permit this, on the ground that a woman could not receive foreign envoys, and compelled her to leave the government to her stepson. Anticipating such a result, Heraclius had entrusted a large sum to the patriarch Pyrrhus for her benefit: but, Philagrius the treasurer having discovered this and informed Constantine, Pyrrhus was forced to surrender it. As the Emperor was suffering from consumption (which caused him to reside at Chalcedon), Philagrius, fearing to be left exposed to Martina’s vengeance, persuaded him to send a donative to the soldiers through Valentine the Armenian, the commander of Philagrius’ guard, urging them to protect his two sons and maintain their claim to the succession. Valentine however used the money to gain influence for himself; and after Constantine’s death (24 May 641) Philagrius was forcibly ordained and banished to Septum (Ceuta), and many of his supporters were flogged, without opposition from the army, though Martina tried to attach it to her son’s cause by a further donative in the name of the dead Emperor. But in consequence of her incestuous marriage and her attempt to exclude Constantine from power she was exceedingly unpopular, and by the malevolence of her enemies she was now accused of poisoning him. Valentine, who had either originated this report or used it for his own purpose, placed himself at the head of a military force in Asia, occupied Chalcedon on the pretext that the lives of Constantine’s sons were in danger, and sent instructions to the troops in the provinces not to obey Martina, while the Empress brought the army of Thrace to defend the capital. To allay the commotion, Heraclius produced his elder nephew, Heraclius, a boy of ten, to whom he had stood godfather, and, touching the wood of the cross, swore that the children should suffer no harm; he even took the boy to Chalcedon and gave the same assurance to Valentine and his army; but, though Valentine allowed him to return, he refused to lay down his arms. By these acts the Emperor succeeded for a time in gaining the support of the capital. But the country round Chalcedon was covered with vineyards, many of which belonged to the citizens of Constantinople; and, when the vintage came on and the produce was reaped by Valentine’s army, they cried loudly for an accommodation, directing their attack against the patriarch Pyrrhus, who was the strongest supporter of Martina and was suspected of having been concerned in the murder of Constantine, and insisting on the coronation of the young Heraclius. The Emperor then went to St Sophia and ordered Pyrrhus to crown his nephew: but the people insisted that according to custom he should do this himself; and they gave the new Augustus the name of Constantine, though to distinguish him from his father he was popularly known as Constans (Sept.). The feeling against Pyrrhus was however still unabated; and, after a mob had vainly sought him in the cathedral, and in revenge desecrated the sanctuary, on the following night he laid his stole on the altar in token of leave-taking (29 Sept.), and after hiding for a time escaped to Africa: and, though he had neither resigned nor been deprived, Paul was ordained to succeed him (Oct.).

Peace was now made, Valentine being appointed Count of the ex­cubitors and receiving a promise that he should not be called to account for the money received from Philagrius, who was recalled from exile, and that his soldiers should receive a donative. The Caesar David was then crowned as a third emperor under the name of Tiberius, and Valentine marched to Cappadocia to act against the Arabs.

The peace was however of short duration. The troops in Cappadocia produced a letter purporting to have been written by Martina to a certain David, in which he was urged to attack Valentine, marry Martina, and depose Constans. Soldiers and people rose against the Empress under the leadership of Theodore the Armenian, who, having seized David in a fortress to which he had fled, cut off his head and had it exhibited all over the eastern provinces. On Theodore's return to Constantinople Martina was by decree of the Senate deprived of her tongue, and Heraclius and Tiberius of their noses, and they were all banished to Rhodes (Dec.). Constans thus became sole emperor.

All this must have been done at the instigation of Valentine, who after unsuccessful operations against the Arabs returned to Constantinople with a guard of 3000 men and forced Constans to give him the rank of Caesar (early in 643): but on strong opposition manifesting itself a compromise was made, whereby he gave up this title, but was made commander of the troops in the capital and gave his daughter in marriage to Constans. Two years later his tyrannical acts led to a popular rising, during which he was seized and beheaded. His military command was given to Theodore (646).

641-655] Arab War 

The Arabs first invaded Asia Minor during the commotions of 641. In 642 a plan of Valentine for a combined attack on them was frustrated by his defeat; but Theodore and Procopius penetrated as far as Batnae, and an Armenian force occupied Amida and nearly reached Edessa before they were routed. In 643, Valentine having returned to Constantinople, the enemy again entered Asia Minor, and Arabissus capitulated to Umair. In 644 Muawiya, amir of Syria, took and plundered Euchaita; and in 646 after besieging Caesarea for ten days he ravaged the neighbourhood, returned, and forced it to pay tribute, afterwards vainly attacking Amorium. On this expedition he found the Cilician fortresses deserted and left garrisons in them till his return, but in 647 had them destroyed. In 649 Habib, and in 651 Busr, raided Isauria, and in 651 Sufyan also invaded Roman territory from Germanicea, while in 649 Muawiya placed a fleet on the sea and plundered Constantia in Cyprus, but retreated on the approach of a Roman fleet under Cacorizus the chamberlain.

These were only plundering expeditions: but about 647 Habib occupied Melitene, Sozopetra, and Adata; and, as the war had gone against the Romans, Constans in 651 sent Procopius to treat for peace with Muawiya (the Caliph Othman was ignored), and a truce was made for two years, the Emperor paying tribute and leaving Gregory, the nephew of Heraclius, as a hostage.

The truce of 651 was hardly more than nominal; for the secession of Armenia led to the Emperor’s expedition to that country (652) and to the outbreak of fresh hostilities there, and after the expiration of the armistice the war was renewed on a larger scale than before. Great preparations were made by Mudawiya for an attack by sea and land upon Constantinople. He himself, starting from Melitene, took Ancyra and advanced to Dorylaeum (653), destroying all the fortresses on the way. Meanwhile ships were being hastily built at Alexandria, Tripolis, and other places; and in 654 a fleet under Abul-Awar after occupying Cyprus pillaged Cos, Crete, and Rhodes (where the famous colossus, long since fallen, was broken up and sold to a Jew). But, while the work was going on at Tripolis, two Roman brothers, Muawiya’s slaves, liberated the prisoners, and, with their help killed the governor and his guard, burnt the ships, and escaped by sea to Roman territory. Muawiya, who was probably recalled by the news of this disaster, did nothing this year beyond taking a fortress near Melitene: but the naval preparations were not given up, and in spring 655 Abul-Awar was sent to Phoenix in Lycia, a place celebrated for cypresses, to cut wood for shipbuilding, where he was joined by the Egyptian ships under Abdallah. But the new naval policy of the Arabs had forced the Romans also to institute a standing fleet; and the invaders were attacked by the Emperor in person, who was accompanied by his brother, Theodosius. In the battle which followed the Arabs were victorious, the Roman fleet being almost destroyed and Constans with difficulty escaping in disguise; but the Arabs, having attained their object, returned. Muawiya at the same time made an expedition by land as far as Caesarea; but in 656 the murder of Othman and the civil war which followed put an end to his schemes, and he was at last glad to buy peace by paying tribute (659). The Emperor used the respite to reduce some Slavonic tribes, some of which he transferred to Asia to assist in the defence against the Arabs.

Constans had crowned his eldest son, Constantine, as Augustus in Apr. 654, and in 659 conferred the same dignity on his two younger sons, Heraclius and Tiberius, and had his brother Theodosius put to death on a charge of conspiracy (659). This made him very unpopular both with the citizens and with the army he was greeted in the streets with the appellation “Cain”, and at last, finding life in Constantinople irksome and perhaps dangerous, although war had again broken out with the Arabs, resolved to leave his capital and devote his attention to restoring the imperial power in the West, for which the disunion among the Lombards after the death of Aripert (661) afforded an obvious opportunity. In 662 he invaded the duchy of Benevento, and took several cities with little or no resistance. He failed indeed before the strong town of Acerenza; but he stormed Luceria, which he razed to the ground, and laid siege to Benevento itself, which was defended by Duke Romuald in person. Here he was met by a vigorous defence, and, having heard that Grimoald was marching to his son’s assistance, made terms with the Duke, receiving his sister Gisa as a hostage, and raised the siege. An attempt to attack Capua was foiled by a defeat on the Calor, and he then withdrew to Naples for the winter. In spring (663) he sent the Persian Sapor on a fresh invasion; but he had hardly crossed the frontier when he was met by Romuald at a place called Forinum and severely defeated. Constans then abandoned all thought of reducing the duchy, and, secured against attack by the possession of Gisa, betook himself to Rome, and was met by the pope and clergy six miles from the city, which he entered on 5 July, the first Emperor who had been seen in the ancient capital for 190 years. He attended service in the principal churches and made offerings, but left a more impressive memorial of his visit by appropriating all the bronze ornaments that he could find, including the tiled roof of the Pantheon. This last with some of the other articles he sent to Constantinople, carrying the rest with him. After a stay of twelve days he returned to Naples, and then went on to Sicily, which was threatened by the Arabs, and settled at Syracuse, where he set himself to organise measures for the defence of Sicily and Africa. For this purpose heavy burdens were laid on his Italian and Sicilian subjects: but he was so far successful that no further invasion of Sicily was made while he lived, and in Africa, though the patrician Nicephorus is said to have been defeated in 665, no permanent conquest was effected till after his death. From Syracuse he sent for his wife and sons; but, as this foreshadowed a transfer of the seat of government, the citizens, headed by Andrew the chamberlain and the patrician Theodore of Colonia, refused to let them go.

It was not only at Constantinople that Constans was unpopular; and in 668 a plot was formed among those who surrounded him, one of whom, Andrew, son of Troilus, while the Emperor was bathing, poured an unusual quantity of soap over his face so as to blind him, and then killed him by striking him on the head with a silver ewer (15 July). The army proclaimed as emperor an Armenian named Mzhezh, who is said to have been of high character, but seems to have had no other recommendation except good looks, and was reluctant to accept the honour. His elevation found no favour elsewhere, the armies of Italy, Sardinia, and Africa united to overthrow him, the rebellion collapsed (Feb. 669), and the assassin Andrew, Mzhezh himself, and his chief adherents suffered death, among them the patrician Justinian, whose young son, Germanus, afterwards patriarch, was mutilated.

In 661 Hasan’s abdication enabled Muawiya to renew the war. A raid by Habib in 661 effected nothing; but in 662 the Romans were defeated, and in 663 Busr wintered in the Empire. As Constans had taken the bulk of the Anatolie theme to the West, Abd­ar-Rahman, son of the celebrated Khalid, could advance in 664 to Colonia (Archelais), where he wintered, and in 665, after failing in an attack on some islands in Lake Caralis, he placed a garrison in Amorium, the head-quarters of the Anatolics, which was forced to capitulate, took Pessinus, and, after an unsuccessful attack on another fortified place, Cius, Pergamum, and Smyrna. Having been joined by some of the Slav colonists, he again wintered in Roman territory, and then returned to Emesa, where he soon afterwards died, it is said by poison (666).

In 666 Malik made a raid from Adata and wintered in Roman territory, and in 667 Busr ravaged the district of Hexapolis, west of Melitene, while another force wintered at Antioch in Pisidia: but in 668 the rebellion of Sapor, now general of the Armeniacs, gave an opening for a more dangerous attack. Sapor sent Sergius, one of his subordinates, to ask for the Caliph's support; and on hearing of this the young Constantine, who was ruling in his father's absence, sent Andrew the chamberlain to present gifts to Muawiya and beg him not to countenance rebellion. The two envoys met at the Caliph's court, and Muawiya decided in favour of Sergius, who insulted Andrew by calling him not a man but a eunuch. Andrew retreated by the pass of Arabissus on the road to Hexapolis, where Sapor then was, the commandant of which still held for the Emperor, and having instructed this officer to watch for Sergius and arrest him if he passed that way, went on to a place called Amnesia. Here Sergius was brought as a prisoner, and Andrew avenged the insult to himself by having him mutilated and then hanged. Sapor now advanced to Hadrianopolis in Bithynia; and Muawiya sent Fadala to his assistance, while Constantine sent Nicephorus to oppose him. But, while Sapor was riding before the walls, his horse bolted and dashed his head against the gate, which caused his death. His men then returned to their allegiance; and Fadala, who had only reached Hexapolis, was obliged to ask for reinforcements, which were sent under Muawiya’s son, Yazid, while a fleet under another Yazid supported the army. The Arabs advanced to Chalcedon, and in spring 669 crossed to Thrace and attacked Constantinople, which was defended by Constantine (usually known as Pogonatus), now reigning Emperor. No serious siege was however undertaken; and in the summer pestilence and lack of food compelled them to retire: but on their way back they took Amorium, in which a garrison was placed. During the winter however Andrew surprised the town by night in deep snow and slew the Arabs to a man.

668-679] Attacks on Constantinople

In 670 Fadala came again by sea to the Propontis and wintered at Cyzicus; and during the years 668-671 other lesser raids took place. In 672 Busr carried off numerous prisoners, and in 673 another great effort was made. A fleet under Mahomet wintered at Smyrna, and another under Kais in Lycia, with which an army under Sufyan co-operated, and a colony was settled in Rhodes, while an attack on Constantinople was being planned, to meet which Constantine prepared fireships provided with Greek fire, the invention of the Syrian architect Callinicus. On the arrival of reinforcements the combined fleet appeared before Constantinople in spring 674, and after occupying Cyzicus assailed the city without success from April to September, and returned to Cyzicus for the winter. The same year Fadala and Abdallah wintered in Crete; and other expeditions were made every year without important result: but meanwhile the fleet at Cyzicus attacked Constantinople each year down to 677, when the loss in men and ships compelled it to withdraw. On its return it suffered severely from a storm off the Pamphylian coast, what remained of it was attacked by the division of the Roman fleet which from the town of Cibyra in Pamphylia was called Cibyrrhaeotae, and few, if any, ships returned home. This disaster and the Mardaite invasion of Phoenice and Palestine (678) caused Medwiya for the second time to buy peace by paying tribute. The colony in Rhodes was now withdrawn, and the fortress of Camacha on the Euphrates, which the Arabs had after two earlier unsuccessful attempts taken in 679, restored. The garrison in Cyprus was removed by Yazid, but the island continued to pay tribute. The last raid was one in Isauria in the early part of 680. Peace having been thus secured on the east, the Khan of the Avars and other barbarian rulers sent presents and made treaties with the Emperor.

Meanwhile a theological controversy which seemed likely to cause a division between East and West and facilitate usurpations like that of Mzhezh was demanding the attention of the government. The disaffection of Egypt and the East arising from the Synod of Chalcedon had long been a menace to the Empire and had led to Zeno’s attempt to restore union through the Henotikon and the attempt of Justinian to placate the Monophysites by the condemnation of the Three Chapters; but in neither case was permanent success attained. The rapid conquests of the Persians drew the attention of Heraclius to this state of affairs, and led him to try a plan suggested by the patriarch Sergius, himself a Syrian by birth, to whom it had occurred that the Monophysites might accept the expression “two natures” if satisfied that this did not imply two operations. About 618 accordingly Sergius wrote to the Egyptian George Arsas, one of the Paulianist section of the Monophysites, adherents of the patriarch Paul of Antioch, deposed in 578, asking for quotations in support of the doctrine of one operation, and suggesting a union on this basis. Further steps in this direction were however prevented by the Persian occupation of Egypt. In 622 again Heraclius during his Armenian campaign conversed with a Monophysite leader named Paul, to whom he propounded the doctrine of one operation, but without success. He then drew up an edict against Paul, which was sent to Arcadius of Cyprus, in which the doctrine of two operations was condemned. In 626, while in Lazica, he discussed the question with Cyrus, bishop of Phasis, who was doubtful on the point and wrote to Sergius for information. Sergius answered his objections and sent him a copy of a letter of Menas of Constantinople to Pope Vigilius in which one operation was asserted: by this Cyrus seems to have been satisfied. Communication with the East having been restored in 628, Sergius sent the letter of Menas to Theodore, bishop of Faran near Sinai, who expressed his assent. This correspondence and Menas’ letter were then sent to the Monophysite Paul at Theodosiopolis.

After the recovery of the East the plan of reconciliation was taken up in earnest. In 630 or 631 Heraclius met the patriarch Athanasius at Hierapolis in Syria and promised him the official patriarchate of Antioch (vacant since 610) if he would accept communion with the Chalcedonians on the basis of the doctrine of one operation; and to this he was ready to consent; but, though some Jacobite monasteries, especially that of Maron in the Lebanon, accepted the union, the patriarch’s death wrecked the scheme (631). In 631 the Armenian Catholicus, Ezra, came on the Emperor’s invitation to Syria, was induced to accept the communion of the Chalcedonians, and on his return ratified the union at a synod at Theodosiopolis, but without formally recognising the Synod of Chalcedon. In 632, on the death of the patriarch George, Cyrus was appointed to the see of Alexandria and immediately opened negotiations with the chief Monophysite party in the city, the Theodosians. With these a union was effected by means of nine articles, in which the doctrine of two natures was asserted with a qualification, and one theandric operation maintained, while there was no acceptance of the Synod of Chalcedon or anathema against the Monophysite leaders (3, June 633).

631-637] Sophronius: Pope Honorius 

At this point opposition arose. Sophronius, a Palestinian monk, who was then in Alexandria, entreated Cyrus not to make public proclamation of the articles; whereupon Cyrus referred him to Sergius to whom he gave him a letter. As Sergius was unable to convince Sophronius, who was a man of great influence, the attempt at union seemed likely to cause a new schism: accordingly he agreed to a compromise by which both expressions “one operation” and “two operations” were to be avoided; and Sophronius with a letter of explanation from Sergius returned to Jerusalem, where early in 634 he was chosen patriarch. Sergius meanwhile wrote to Cyrus in the sense of the compromise; but Cyrus, not wishing to undo his own work, did not immediately accept it. Receiving a request from Heraclius at Edessa to send the quotations in support of the doctrine of one operation and one will contained in the letter of Menas, Sergius did so, but suggested that the controversy should cease. He then wrote an account of the affair to Pope Honorius, proposing that both expressions “one operation” and “two operations” should be rejected as stumbling-blocks, but specially reprobating the latter as implying the doctrine of two wills, which he condemned as impious. In answer to this Honorius concurred in the banishment of both expressions, and maintained the doctrine of one will, the advocates of which are generally known as Monotheletes. Sophronius now sent his synodical letter to the patriarchs, in which in accordance with the compact he avoided the expression “two operations”, but strongly asserted the doctrine implied in it. This letter Sergius ignored: but Honorius wrote to Sophronius begging him to let the dispute drop; and the messengers of Sophronius said that he would do so if Cyrus would do the same. To him therefore the pope also sent a request to cease preaching one operation. Sophronius however sent bishop Stephen of Dora to Rome to try to bring the pope round to his side; but the capture of Jerusalem (637) and his own death, which soon followed, prevented any further action on his part, while in Egypt the abandonment of the doctrine on which the union was built destroyed the union itself, and the violent measures used by Cyrus to enforce conformity made matters worse than before.

The next step on the part of Sergius was to compose the Ekthesis, in which the principles contained in the letter to Honorius were put in the shape of a formal confession of faith (636). Heraclius on his return from the East signed this document, and it was posted on the walls of St Sophia (autumn 638). A copy was sent to Cyrus, who received it with veneration, and to Severinus, who had been elected to the papacy after the death of Honorius (Oct.); while a synod at Constantinople threatened spiritual penalties against anyone who asserted either one operation or two operations. This was the last act of Sergius, who died 9 Dec. 638. As Severinus rejected the Ekthesis, confirmation of his election was refused, and his emissaries were detained in Constantinople; but on their allowing it to be understood that they would obtain his acceptance permission was given for his consecration, which took place 28 May 640.

Pyrrhus and Maximus [636-648

Egypt having been cut off by the Arab invasion, the question resolved itself into a contest between Rome and Constantinople. Severinus died two months after his consecration without accepting the Ekthesis; and his successor, John IV, wrote to the new patriarch, Pyrrhus, to denounce it: whereupon Heraclius, now at the point of death, in a letter to the pope disclaimed the responsibility for it, which he threw on Sergius. After his death John wrote to Constantine maintaining the doctrine of two wills, explaining away Honorius’ letter, and asking for the removal of the Ekthesis. The civil troubles prevented any further steps at the time; but the government of Constans gave the pope to understand that the Ekthesis would be removed (642); and Pope Theodore (consecrated 24 Nov.) wrote to Paul of Constantinople to complain that this had not been done. He further reproached Paul for having taken possession of the see when Pyrrhus had not been formally deposed, and wrote to the Emperor to suggest that Pyrrhus should be tried at Rome. Sergius of Cyprus expressed his adherence in a letter to the pope (29 May 643): but his strongest support came from Africa, where the exarch Gregory was contemplating rebellion.

The most resolute opponent of Monotheletism was Maximus, archimandrite of Chrysopolis, who had met Sophronius in Africa shortly before the Alexandrine union, and had now again gone thither to stir up opposition to the Ekthesis. Here in the presence of Gregory he held a dispute with Pyrrhus (July 645); who, hoping by Gregory's help to obtain restoration, declared himself converted, and having gone to Rome with Maximus, condemned the Ekthesis and was received by the pope with the honours of a patriarch. In 646 several synods were held in Africa; and letters in condemnation of the Ekthesis were written to the pope, the Emperor, and the patriarch, the last being sent through the pope. Theodore forwarded the African letter with a remonstrance of his own; and Paul answered by an enunciation of the Monothelete doctrine; upon which Theodore declared him deposed.

Gregory rebelled in 647: but in 648 he fell in battle with the Arabs; and Pyrrhus, having nothing more to hope from the party of Maximus, went to Ravenna and made his peace with the government by recanting his recantation. Theodore then solemnly deposed and anathematised him in St Peter’s. Meanwhile, as the Ekthesis had only shifted the dispute from operations to wills, Paul made another attempt on the same lines to restore peace. An imperial edict, known as the Type, was at his instigation put forth, by which the Ekthesis was abrogated and all controversy on either question forbidden under heavy penalties (648); and, when the papal representatives refused to accept this, they were punished by imprisonment, flogging, or exile.

Theodore died in May 649; and his successor, Martin, who was consecrated without awaiting the imperial confirmation (5 July), immediately held a synod in the Lateran, which asserted the doctrine of two wills, denounced all who maintained one operation or one will, and condemned the Ekthesis and the Type, and Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, Cyrus, and Theodore of Faran (5-31 Oct.). The synodal acts were sent to the Emperor; and Paul of Thessalonica, who refused to accept the Roman theology, was declared deposed by a letter of the pope.

Martin by his illegal consecration and flagrant disregard of the edict had defied the Emperor; and the answer of Constans, acting under the advice of Paul, was to send the chamberlain Olympius to Italy as exarch with orders to find out the general disposition towards the Type, and, if it should be favourable, and if the local army supported him, to arrest Martin, whom the Emperor did not recognise as pope, have the Type read in all the churches, and make the bishops sign it; but, if not, to wait till a stronger force could be collected. Olympius however, observing the state of affairs at Rome, preferred to play the part of Gregory, and accordingly came to an understanding with the pope and threw off allegiance to the Emperor. Some time afterwards he died in Sicily, whither he had gone to repel an Arab invasion; and after the imperial authority was thus restored in Italy, the new exarch, Theodore Calliopas, entered Rome with an army (15 June 653), and arrested Martin in the Lateran church (17 June) on charges of sending a letter and money to the Arabs and of disrespect to the Virgin (i.e. Nestorianism). At midnight on the 18th he was removed from Rome, conveyed to Misenum (1 July) and placed on board ship for Constantinople, which after a short stay in Naxos he reached (17 Sept.). He was kept in prison till 20 Dec., and then brought before the Senate. Being ill from the voyage and the long confinement, he was carried to the court in a litter. The charges of usurpation and disobedience, the real ground of his arrest, were kept in the background, nor do we hear anything more of those made against him at Rome; but he was accused of complicity with Olympius. Next, after the Emperor had been consulted, he was first exposed to the public gaze in the entrance-hall of the building, and then placed in a gallery overlooked by a hall in the palace where Constans was: here a crowd was allowed to surround him. The treasurer after again consulting the Emperor finally ordered him to be deprived of his pontifical headdress, as not being lawful pope, and delivered to the praefect to be beheaded. He was then stripped naked except for one torn garment and dragged with a chain round his neck over rough stones to a common prison with a sword in front of him, and thence to the praefect’s praetorium, where he was chained to the jailer: but in the evening the praefect sent food with an assurance that the sentence would not be executed, and the chains were removed. The sentence had in fact been passed in order to frighten him into submission; and after Paul's death, which shortly followed, unsuccessful attempts were made to extort a statement that Pyrrhus, who had returned to Constantinople after his reconciliation and was seeking restoration, had recanted under compulsion at Rome. Nevertheless Pyrrhus was restored, but died on Whit Sunday following (1 June 654). As all attempts to induce Martin to communicate with the clergy of Constantinople were vain, he was on 15 Mar. removed to the house of a scribe, and thence on 11 Apr. to a ship, in which he was conveyed to Cherson in the Crimea (15 May), where he remained till his death in Sept. 655, complaining bitterly of the lack of food and the neglect of his friends at Rome to send supplies.

Deposition of Martin [645-655

Martin had however better reason to complain of the fickleness of the Romans. At the time of his arrest the exarch had ordered the clergy to elect a new pope; and after a year’s resistance they yielded, and (10 Aug. 654) Eugenius was consecrated to the papacy. The new pope sent envoys to Constantinople without a letter; and these communicated with the new patriarch, Peter, under a compromise. It had been implied in the Type that the expressions “one will” and “two wills” were both in a sense correct: and, though this doctrine had been condemned by the synod, the envoys acquiesced in it (655). Peter then sent a synodical to the pope in which this principle was stated; but popular clamour compelled Eugenius to reject it.

Maximus had since 645 been living in Rome; and, as he was believed to have been the chief instigator of Martin’s resistance, it was thought that, if he could be induced to submit, the cause would be won. Accordingly an imperial commissioner who had been sent to order Eugenius to communicate with Peter tried to persuade Maximus to accept the Type; and on his refusal he was arrested and conveyed to Constantinople, where he was brought before the treasurer and Senate and accused of advising the magister militum of Numidia to disobey the orders of Heraclius to march against the Arabs in Egypt, of encouraging Gregory's rebellion, of disrespect to the Emperor, and of anathematising the Type (655). During part of the proceedings the patriarchs Peter of Constantinople and Macedonius of Antioch, who resided in the capital, were present, and on Whit Sunday (17 May) Peter made a special attempt to induce him to accept the compromise which had satisfied the Roman envoys: but, as he refused to yield anything, he was banished to Bizye in Thrace. On 24 Aug. 656 Theodosius, bishop of Caesarea in Bithynia, and two senators came to Bizye with an offer to repeal the Type if he would communicate with the Church of Constantinople; and on this being rejected Theodosius agreed to accept two wills and operations, that is without condemning the other doctrine according to the compromise; and, as Maximus insisted on the Emperor and the patriarch sending a profession of faith to the pope, Theodosius undertook to try to bring this about. Maximus promised that, if Theodosius were sent to Rome, he would go with him, but refused to accept one will and one operation in any sense. Constans would not concede this, but made another attempt to win Maximus over. On 8 Sept. he was brought with great respect to the monastery of Theodore at Rhegium, and the next day Theodosius and two patricians came and promised him high honours if he would accept the Type. This he also refused, and the patricians assailed him with blows and abuse till persuaded by Theodosius to desist. He was then conveyed under military guard to Selymbria (14 Sept.), and thence to Perberis. Five years later he was brought before a synod at Constantinople, anathematised with Sophronius and Martin, and flogged. He was then deprived of his tongue and right hand, taken to Lazica (8 June 661), and imprisoned. In this exile he died at the age of 82 (13 Aug. 662).

Sixth General Council [67o-681

The Armenians had outwardly accepted orthodox communion in 631; but, when Constans in 648 ordered them to receive the Synod of Chalcedon, they in a synod at Dvin openly refused. In 652, the chiefs having invited the Arabs into the country, Constans came with an army and lodged at Dvin in the house of the Catholicus, Nerses, who inclined to the Roman party and from opposition to the chiefs proclaimed the Synod, but had so little support that, when the Emperor returned early in 653, he was forced to go with him and did not return to his see till 658. After his death in 662 no more was heard of the union.

Vitalian, who succeeded Eugenius on 30 July 657, announced his ordination to Constans and sent a synodical to Peter in which he conformed to the Type. Peter in answer wrote a letter in which the numbers “one” and “two” applied to operations and wills were declared immaterial, the Emperor sent presents and renewed the privileges of the Church of Rome, and Vitalian’s name was inserted in the diptychs of Constantinople, which did not contain that of any of his predecessors since Honorius. Peter's successor, Thomas (17 Apr. 667-15 Nov. 669) sent no synodical; but for this the Arab attack was afterwards alleged as a reason. The next two patriarchs, John (Nov./Dec. 669–Aug. 675) and Constantine (2 Sept. 675-9 Aug. 677), sent synodicals in which no reference was made to the disputed points; but, Constans being dead, Vitalian yielded to popular feeling and rejected John’s synodical: similarly his successor, Adeodatus (672-676), rejected that of Constantine; and his name was therefore not inserted in the diptychs of Constantinople. Accordingly the next patriarch, Theodore, sent no synodical, and, supported by Macarius of Antioch, urged Constantine IV to have Vitalian’s name expunged from the diptychs. The Emperor, not wishing to perpetuate the schism, refused the request and wrote to Pope Donus (676-678), asking him, as the war prevented a general synod, to send deputies to discuss the disputed points with the two patriarchs. When the letter arrived, Donus was dead; and, as his successor, Agatho (678-681), had no intention of sending deputies to confer with Theodore, no answer came, and the Emperor was persuaded to allow Vitalian’s name to be struck off. The original purpose of Monotheletism however, the reconciliation of the Monophysites, had been nullified by the Arab conquests; and, as the pope conceded nothing, Constantine saw that to restore unity he would have to sacrifice the patriarch. Theodore was therefore deposed, and his place taken by George (Nov. or Dec. 679). Agatho then summoned a synod, which met at Rome on 27 Mar. 680, maintained the doctrine of two operations and two wills, condemned Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, Peter, Cyrus, and Theodore of Faran, and sent its decree to the Emperor with a long dogmatic letter from Agatho on the model of the Tome of Leo. Similar decrees were passed by synods at Milan and at Hatfield in England (17 Sept.). The deputies from Rome, who reached Constantinople on 10 Sept., were also accredited as representatives of the pope and the synod at the proposed conference: and, peace having now been made, Constantine requested the patriarchs to summon the bishops under their jurisdiction to a synod, which met in the domed hall (trullus) of the palace in the presence of the Emperor and the chief officers of state (7 Nov.), and, as representatives of the non-existent patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem were somehow procured, called itself oecumenical. The sittings, of which there were eighteen, continued to 16 Sept. 681; and the synod agreed as well with the pope in dogmatic matters as that of Chalcedon. The letter of Menas was pronounced spurious, as were also two letters ascribed to Vigilius. Macarius brought forward patristic passages in support of Monotheletism; but they were declared to prove nothing, and quotations were produced on the other side. George now professed himself in agreement with the letters of the pope and the Roman synod; and at his request Vitalian’s name was restored to the diptychs. Macarius on the other hand refused to abandon his Monothelete opinions and was deposed together with his disciple, the archimandrite Stephen, and Theophanes was appointed to succeed him. All the Monothelete leaders mentioned in the Roman decree were then condemned with the addition of Honorius, and their writings ordered to be burnt. An attempt at a compromise made by the presbyter Constantine of Apamea in Syria was rejected, and those condemned were formally anathematised in spite of the protest of George against the inclusion of his predecessors in the anathema: with these Macarius and other living Monotheletes were joined. A statement of faith was then drawn up, and a letter addressed to the pope with a request to confirm the proceedings. Finally an imperial edict was posted up in the vestibule of St Sophia, which forbade anyone under severe penalties to teach one will or operation. Macarius and his followers were banished to Rome, where, with the exception of two who recanted, they were shut up in separate monasteries. The papal envoys, who took back with them the synodal Acts and a letter of the Emperor addressed to the pope-elect, Leo II, dated 31 Dec., reached Rome in June 682; and Leo after his consecration (17 Aug.) confirmed the Acts in a letter to Constantine.

670-682] Constantine and his Brothers 

After the peace with the Arabs and the defeat by the Bulgarians in 680, which compelled the Emperor to cede the country north of Haemus, his chief attention was given to the succession. The ancient practice had been to divide an emperor's dominions between his sons after his death: and such a division had been projected by Maurice, but prevented by his overthrow. After the Arab conquests the reduced size of the Empire made this practically impossible: and Heraclius therefore arranged that the only two among his sons who had reached years of discretion and were not disqualified by any physical defect should reign jointly, a provision of which we have seen the bad result. Constans went further and gave the imperial title to all his sons while they were children, and therefore at his death left three nominal colleagues on the throne: but, as joint government was impossible, the exercise of the imperial functions fell to the eldest. This state of affairs quickly led to trouble. The Anatolic troops soon after their return from Sicily marched to Chrysopolis and demanded that Heraclius and Tiberius should be given an equal share of power with their elder brother, saying that, as there was a Trinity in heaven, there should be a Trinity on earth (670). Constantine pretended to agree and issued a proclamation that all three should receive equal honour, while he sent Theodore of Colonia to invite the leaders to come into the city and confer with the Senate, but, as soon as they were in his power, had them arrested and hanged; and the troops, deprived of their leaders, retired. Still however the younger brothers bore the imperial title, and their names appeared upon coins and in official documents, so that, when Constantine had sons of his own, the difficulty arose that in case of his death his brother Heraclius, as senior Emperor, would exclude them from the sovereignty. Accordingly, when his elder son, Justinian, had reached the age of 12, he deprived his brothers of their titles and cut off their noses (681). Henceforth the younger sons of emperors, though they might bear imperial titles, were usually excluded from power and from marriage; and, as the daughters of an emperor who had sons had been excluded from marriage since Theodosius' time, collateral branches, and therefore disputed successions, were avoided; but on the other hand a lasting hereditary succession was made impossible, and the crown lay open to any ambitious man or any nominee of the army — a state of affairs which continued till the system was abolished by the Comneni.

Accession of Justinian II [683-691

Having thus cleared the way, Constantine in 685 crowned Justinian as Augustus, but avoided his father's mistake of also crowning his other son, Heraclius. It was nearly his last act: at the beginning of September he died of dysentery, and the boy Justinian became sole emperor.

Constantine had taken advantage of the anarchy which followed the death of the Caliph Yazid (683) to renew the war; and Melitene was destroyed by the Romans, and the Arabs forced to abandon Germanicea. Hence Abd-al-Malik on succeeding his father, Marwan, as Caliph in Syria, was compelled to renew the peace by paying a larger tribute (7 July 685). Nevertheless the new Emperor not only sent an army under the Isaurian Leontius to Armenia and the adjacent countries as far as the Caucasus, which, having seceded from the Arabs, had been invaded by the Chazars (687), but sent another to co-operate with the Mardaites in Syria, and Antioch was occupied (688) for a time. Upon this Abd-al-Malik, not even yet being in a position to carry on war, again asked for terms, and a truce was made for ten years on the conditions that he should pay the same tribute as before, that Armenia, Iberia, Arzanene, and Atropa tene should be ceded, and the tribute of Cyprus divided, and that Justinian should transfer the Mardaites to his own dominions (689). The Emperor then went to Armenia where he appointed chiefs, took hostages, and received 12,000 Mardaites, whom he settled in different parts of the empire (690). By this step his forces were increased; but the Mardaites would perhaps have been of more use to him in the Caliph’s territories.

Justinian had been willing to make peace because he had become involved in a war with the Bulgarians, in which he suffered a defeat (689). During this war however he reduced large numbers of Slavs, whom he settled in the north-west of Asia Minor and organised as a military force under the name of “peculiar people”: this force is said to have amounted to 30,000 men.

686-695] Battle of Sebastopolis

Having made peace with the Bulgarians and strengthened the offensive power of the Empire by the acquisition of Mardaites and Slavs, he sought an opportunity of breaking the peace with the Arabs. He began by a breach of the spirit of the compact by which the tribute of Cyprus had been divided; for he removed a large proportion of the population to the Hellespont and other districts in the south and west of Asia Minor (691): and as Justinian I, whose example he seems always to have had in mind, had refounded his native town as Nova Justiniana and given it primatial rights in northern Illyricum, so Justinian II founded the city of Nea Justinianopolis for the Cypriots in the Hellespont, and the synod of 691 recognised the metropolitan of Cyprus, now bishop of this city, as metropolitan of the Hellespont, in prejudice of the rights of Cyzicus, aid enacted that he should enjoy the same independence of the patriarch as in Cyprus. Next the Emperor refused to receive the tribute-money in the new Arabic coinage, on which texts from the Koran were imprinted, and in spite of the Caliph's protests announced that he would no longer observe the treaty, and collected forces for an attack. Abd-al-Malik, delivered from his rival Abdallah, had no reason to reject the challenge, and sent his brother Mahomet into Roman territory. Meanwhile Justinian with a large army, in which the bulk of the Slavs were included, marched to Sebastopolis, while the Arabs occupied Sebastia. Between these two places the armies met, and the Arabs went into the battle with a copy of the treaty displayed instead of a flag (693). At first victory inclined to the Romans; but, most of the Slavs having been induced by promises to go over, they were routed; and Justinian on reaching the district where the Slavs were settled masacred all whom he could find with their wives and children. The first result of the defeat was the loss of Armenia; and in 694 Mahomet with the Slavs again invaded the Empire and carried off many captives, while an attempt of the Romans to invade Syria from Germanicea led to another disastrous overthrow, which forced them to abandon that city, and in 695 Yahya raided the country S.W. of Melitene.

The ex-patriarch Theodore by accepting the new order of things had escaped condemnation at the synod, and after Constantine's death induced the new Emperor to deprive George and restore him to the see (Feb./Mar. 686). As his restoration would be likely to rouse the pope's suspicions, Justinian laid the synodal Acts before the patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch, the pope's responsalis, such bishops as were in the city, the chief civil and military officials, and the heads of the civic factions, obtained their confirmation of them (686), and announced the fact to Pope John V with an assurance of his intention to maintain the authority of the synod (17 Feb. 687).

Trullan Council [688-695

But the mental attitude of East and West differed so much, and through their different surroundings their practices had become so divergent, that concord could not long be maintained. Neither the fifth nor the sixth synod had passed canons; and therefore, though the Arab invasions had in many ways introduced new conditions which needed regulation, there were no canons of general obligation later than those of Chalcedon. Accordingly at the end of 691 a synod was held in the Domed Hall for the purpose of making canons only. This synod, generally known as the Trullan from its place of meeting, or the Quinisext because it completed the task of the fifth and sixth synods, called itself oecumenical: it was attended by the patriarchs Paul of Constantinople (Jan. 688—Aug. 694) and George of Antioch, and titular patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem; and, though the papal legates did not formally take part in it, Basil of Gortyna claimed to represent the Roman Church. The assembly drew up a list of existing canons which were to be held binding, regularised the practice that had grown up with regard to the Eastern patriarchates by enacting that a bishop should suffer no detriment because he was prevented by barbarian incursions from going to his see, laid down rules dealing with the monastic life, the receiving of the eucharist, and the taking of orders, and condemned some surviving heathen observances and some practices prevailing in outlying parts of the Empire such as Armenia and Africa. If it had done no more, little would have been heard of it; but in the following points it offended the Church of Rome. It accepted all the apostolic canons, whereas the Roman Church received fifty only, and it laid special stress on the sixty-fifth, which forbade the Roman practice of fasting on Saturdays in Lent; following Acts xv. 29, it forbade the eating of flesh that contained blood; it forbade the representation of Christ as a lamb in pictures; above all it gave the patriarch of Constantinople equal rights with the pope, and in regard to the question of clerical celibacy, on which the Eastern and Western customs differed, it not only condemned the practice of compelling men to separate from their wives on taking higher orders, but declared such separation, except under special circumstances, to be unlawful. On the other hand it condemned marriage after ordination to the sub-diaconate and forbade the ordination of men who had been married twice. These regulations were described as a compromise; but in reality they differed little from a confirmation of the Eastern practice, with a prohibition of irregularities. Papal legates were present in Constantinople, and were afterwards induced to sign the Acts; but Pope Sergius disowned them, and, when urged to sign himself, refused. Justinian at last ordered him to be arrested and brought to Constantinople; but the army of Italy supported the pope, and it was only by his intercession that the imperial commissioner escaped with his life (695).

At the beginning of his reign Justinian was necessarily in the hands of others; and, as he afterwards devoted his restless energies almost entirely to foreign and ecclesiastical affairs, the civil administration continued to be conducted by ministers who, as is natural in men who know that their power is precarious, had little scruple about the means adopted to extort money. Of these the most obnoxious were the two finance-ministers, the treasurer, Stephen, a Persian eunuch, who is said to have flogged the Emperor’s mother, Anastasia, during his absence, and the public logothete Theodotus, an ex-monk, who used to hang men up over fires for purposes of extortion. Such abuses were promoted by the fact that Justinian, as in other matters, so in the love of building followed the model of his namesake, and for these operations large sums were needed; and his unpopularity was increased by the conduct of Stephen, who, acting as superintendent of the works, had the work­men and their overseers tortured or stoned if they did not satisfy him. Further, on one occasion, in spite of the opposition of the patriarch Callinicus, the Emperor pulled down a church to gain room for building, and so made the clergy of the capital his enemies. Again, whereas in earlier times prisons had generally been used to keep persons in custody for a short time, it now became the practice to detain men for long periods in the praetorium by way of punishment; and, though this may often have been a mitigation, the novelty roused hostility, and the existence of many disaffected persons in one place constituted a danger which brought about the Emperor's fall.

Among the prisoners was Leontius, who commanded in Armenia in 687. One night towards the end of 695, after he had been in prison three years, he was suddenly released, named general of Hellas (as this theme is not otherwise known at this time, it was perhaps a temporary commission), supplied with a military train sufficient to fill three cutters, and told to start immediately. Unable to believe in the Emperor's sincerity, he consulted two of his friends, Paul, a monk and astrologer, and Gregory the archimandrite, an ex-military officer, who urged him to strike a blow at once, assuring him of success. Leontius and his small following then went to the praetorium and knocked at the gate, saying that the Emperor was there. The praefect hastily opened the gate and was seized, beaten, and bound hand and foot; and the prisoners, of whom many were soldiers, were released and armed. The whole force then went to the Forum, where Leontius raised the cry, “All Christians to St Sophia!” and sent messengers to do the same all over the city, while a report was spread that Justinian had given orders for a massacre (perhaps of the Blue faction), and that the life of the patriarch was in danger. A great crowd, especially of the Blues, collected in the baptistery of the cathedral, while Leontius with a few followers went to the patriarch and compelled him to come to the baptistery, where he gave his sanction to the rising by the words, “This is the day that the Lord hath made”, which the crowd answered by the formula of imprecation, “May the bones of Justinian be dug up!” They then rushed to the circus, to which at daybreak the Emperor, deserted by all, was brought. The people demanded his immediate decapitation but Leontius was content with cutting off his nose and tongue (not so completely as to prevent him from speaking) and banishing him to Cherson. The multi­tude then seized Stephen and Theodotus, dragged them by ropes along the main street till they were dead, and burnt their bodies. The Blues proclaimed Leontius emperor, and he was crowned by the patriarch.

As the Arabs were preparing to reconquer Africa, there was little fighting in Asia Minor during Leontius’ reign. In 697 the Caliph’s son, Walid, invaded the Empire from Melitene, and the patrician Sergius, who commanded in Lazica, betrayed that country to the Arabs. Further invasions were prevented by a plague and famine; and in 698 the Romans entered the district of Antioch and gained an unimportant victory.

In 697 Leontius sent the whole fleet under John the patrician to recover Africa, which had for the second time fallen into the hands of the Arabs; and John, having expelled the enemy from Carthage and the other fortified towns on the coast, reported his success to the Emperor and remained in Carthage for the winter. But early in 698, when a larger armament arrived from the east, he was unable to withstand it, and, abandoning his conquests, returned for reinforcements. When he reached Crete however, the crews renounced their allegiance and proclaimed Apsimar, drungarius (vice-admiral) of the Cibyrrhaeots, emperor under the imperial name of Tiberius. They then sailed to Constantinople, which was suffering from plague, and after a short resistance the besiegers were admitted through the gate of Blachernae at the N.W. corner by the treachery of the custodians, and plundered the capital like a conquered city. Leontius was deprived of his nose and sent to a monastery, and his friends and officers were flogged and banished and their property was confiscated (end of 698).

The new Emperor, as a sailor, gave special attention to the defence of the Empire on the sea side, restoring the sea-wall of Constantinople, and settling the Mardaites on the Pamphylian coast. He further repeopled Cyprus by sending back the inhabitants whom Justinian had removed (699). Military operations also were conducted with considerable success, which must be ascribed to an innovation which Tiberius immediately after his accession introduced by appointing his brother Heraclius, who as a general shewed himself not unworthy of his name, commander-in-chief of all the Asiatic themes, and charging him with the custody of the Cappadocian frontier. In 701 the Romans made a successful raid as far as Samosata, and in 704 Heraclius killed or captured the whole of an Arab force which was besieging Sisium in Cilicia. On the other hand Walid raided Roman territory in 699, his brother Abdallah took Theodosiopolis in 700, in 703 Mopsuestia was occupied and Armenia Quarta betrayed to the Arabs, and in 705 the Caliph's son, Maslama, took two fortresses, and a Roman army was defeated in Armenia.

Meanwhile Justinian was living in Cherson, a place which, while acknowledging the supremacy of the Emperor, was not governed by any imperial official, and enjoyed a large measure of republican freedom. Here he made no secret of his intention to seek restoration, and the citizens, fearing the Emperor's vengeance, determined either to kill him or to send him to Constantinople. He had however friends in the town, who informed him of their purpose, and, fleeing to Dora, in the south­east of the Crimea, he asked to be allowed to visit the Khan of the Chazars, who ruled in the neighbourhood. The Khan granted the request, received him with honour, and gave him his sister in marriage, to whom in memory of the wife of Justinian I he gave the name of Theodora. He then settled at Phanagoria.

Tiberius in alarm promised the Khan many gifts if he sent him either Justinian himself or his head; and the Khan, agreeing to this, sent him a guard under pretence of protection, while instructing his representative at Phanagoria and the governor of Bosporus to kill him as soon as orders should be received. Of this Theodora was informed by a slave of the Khan and told Justinian, who sent for the two officials separately and strangled them. Sending Theodora back to her brother, he embarked on a fishing-boat and sailed to Symbolum near Cherson, where he took his friends from the city on board, one of whom bore the Georgian name of Varaz Bakur. He then asked the aid of the Bulgarian ruler, Tervel, promising him liberal gifts and his daughter in marriage. To this he agreed; and, accompanied by Tervel himself and an army of Bulgarians and Slays, Justinian advanced to Constantinople (705). Here the citizens received him with insults; but after three days he found an entrance with a few followers by an aqueduct, and the defenders, thinking the walls were undermined, were seized with panic and made no resistance. Tiberius fled across the Propontis to Apollonia, but was arrested and brought back, while Heraclius was seized in Thrace and hanged on the walls with his chief officers. Tervel was invited into the city, seated by Justinian's side as Caesar, and dismissed with abundance of presents, while Varaz Bakur was made a proto-patrician and Count of Obsequium. Tiberius and Leontius were exhibited in chains all over the city, and then brought into the circus, where Justinian sat with a foot on the neck of each, while the people, playing on the names “Leontius” and “Apsimar”, cried, “Thou hast trodden upon the asp and the basilisk (kinglet), and upon the lion and the dragon hast thou trampled”. They were then taken to the amphitheatre and beheaded. Of the rest of Justinian’s enemies some were thrown into the sea in sacks, and others invited to a banquet and, when it was over, arrested and hanged or beheaded; but Theodosius the son of Tiberius was spared, and afterwards became celebrated as bishop of Ephesus. Callinicus was blinded and banished to Rome, and Cyrus, a monk of Amastris, made patriarch (706). On the other hand 6000 Arab prisoners were released and sent home. As soon as his throne was secure, Justinian fetched his wife, who had in the meantime borne him a son, whom he named Tiberius and crowned as his colleague.

Reconciliation with the Pope [706-711

One of the first objects to which the restored Emperor turned his attention was the establishment of an understanding with Rome as to the Trullan synod. Having learned that coercion was useless, he tried another plan. He sent the Acts to John VII, asking him to hold a synod and confirm the canons which he approved and disallow the rest; but John, fearing to give offence, sent them back as he received them. His second successor, Constantine, however consented to come to Constantinople and discuss the matter (710). Landing seven miles from the capital, he was met and escorted into the city by the child Tiberius and the senators and patriarch; and Justinian, who was then at Nicaea, met him at Nicomedia, and, prostrating himself before him, kissed his feet. A satisfactory compromise (of what nature we do not know) was made, and the Pope returned to Rome (Oct. 711).

In the time of Tiberius the Arabs had never been able to cross the Taurus; but with the removal of Heraclius Asia Minor was again laid open to their ravages. A raid by Hisham the son of Abd-al-Malik in 706 produced no results: but in 707 Maslama, accompanied by Maimun the Mardaite; advanced to Tyana (June). A rash attack by Maimun cost him his life; and the Caliph Walid sent reinforcements under his son, Abbas. All the winter the Arabs lay before Tyana, which was stoutly defended; and Justinian, who had fallen out with Tervel and required the Asiatic troops in Europe, sent an army mostly of rustics to its relief. The generals however quarrelled, and the rabble was easily routed by the Arabs, who pressed the siege of Tyana until it surrendered (27 Mar. 708). The inhabitants were removed to Arab territory. Maslama then raided the country to the north-east as far as Gazelon near Amasia, while Abbas after defeating a Roman force near Dorylaeum, which he took, advanced to Nicomedia and Heraclea Pontica, while a small detachment of his army entered Chrysopolis and burnt the ferry-boats. In 709 Maslama and Abbas invaded Isauria, where five fortresses were taken; but at sea the Romans captured the admiral Khalid, whom however Justinian sent to the Caliph, and attacked Damietta in Egypt. In 710 an unimportant raid was made by Walid's son, Abd-al-Aziz: but in 711 Maslama took Camacha, as well as Taranta and two other fortresses in Hexapolis, which was now annexed; and, as Sisium was the same year occupied by Othman, the frontier was advanced to the Sarus. On the other hand a Roman army sent to recover Lazica, where Phasis only remained in Roman hands, after besieging Archaeopolis was compelled to retreat.

After a defeat by the Bulgarians (708) and the restoration of peace, Justinian turned his energies to exacting vengeance from the Chersonites, who had now accepted a Chazar governor. In 710 he collected ships of all kinds, for the equipment of which he raised a special contribution from all the inhabitants of the capital, and sent them to Cherson under the patrician Stephen Asmictus, whose orders were to kill the ruling men with all their families and establish Elijah the spatharius (military chamberlain) as governor. With him was sent a certain Vardan, who in spite of his Armenian name (probably derived from his mother’s family) was son of the patrician Nicephorus of Pergamum who had commanded in Africa and Asia under Constans, and, having been banished to Cephallenia by Tiberius and recalled by Justinian, was to be again exiled to Cherson. The city was unable to resist, the chief magistrate, Zoilus, and forty of his principal colleagues with their families and the Tudun (the Chazar governor), were sent in chains to Justinian, seven others were roasted over a fire, twenty drowned in a boat filled with stones, and the rest beheaded. The children were however spared for slavery; and Justinian, furious at this, ordered the fleet to return (Oct.).

Off Paphlagonia the fleet was almost destroyed by a storm; but he threatened to send another to raze Cherson and the neighbouring places to the ground and kill every living person in them. The citizens then strengthened their defences and obtained the help of the Khan, while Elijah and Vardan made common cause with them. Justinian sent 300 men under George, the public logothete, John the praefect, and Christopher, turmarch of the Thracesii, with orders to replace the Tudun and Zoilus in their positions, and bring Elijah and Vardan to Constantinople (711). The citizens, pretending to accept these terms, admitted the small force; but immediately shut the gates, killed George and John, and handed the rest over to the Chazars, and the Tudun having died on the way, the Chazars avenged him by killing them. The Chersonites then proclaimed Vardan emperor, and he assumed the Greek name of Philippicus. Justinian, more enraged than ever, had Elijah's children killed in their mother's arms and compelled her to marry her negro cook, while he sent another fleet with powerful siege-engines under the patrician Maurus Bessus with the orders which he had before threatened to give. Philippicus fled to the Chazars, and Maurus took two of the towers of the city, but, Chazar reinforcements having arrived, was unable to do more, and, afraid to return, declared for Philippicus and asked the Khan to send him back, which he did on receiving security in money for his safety. The fleet then sailed for Constantinople. Justinian's suspicions had been aroused by the delay; and, thinking himself safer in the territory of the Obsequian theme, commanded by Varaz Bakur, he took with him the troops of that theme, some of the Thracesii, and 3000 Bulgarians sent by Tervel, and, having crossed the Bosporus and left the rest in the plain of Damatrys about ten miles east of Chalcedon, proceeded with the chief officers and the Thracesian contingent to the promontory of Sinope, which the fleet would pass. After a time he saw it sail by, and immediately returned to Damatrys. Meanwhile Philippicus had entered Constantinople without opposition. The Empress Anastasia took the little Tiberius to the church of the Virgin at Blachernae, where he sat with amulets hung round his neck, holding a column of the altar with one hand and a piece of the cross with the other. Maurus and John Struthus the spatharius had been sent to kill him; and, when they entered the church, Maurus was delayed by Anastasia's entreaties, but John transferred the amulets to his own neck, laid the piece of the cross on the altar, and carried the child to a postern-gate of the city, and cut his throat. Varaz Bakur, thinking Justinian's cause desperate, had left the army and fled, but he was caught and killed. Elijah was sent with a small force against Justinian himself, whose soldiers on a promise of immunity deserted their master, and Elijah cut off his head and sent it to Philippicus, who sent it to Rome (end of 711).

Reign of Philippicus [711-713

The new Emperor was a ready and plausible speaker, and had a reputation for mildness; but he was an indolent and dissolute man, who neglected public affairs and squandered the money amassed by his predecessors. Accordingly no better resistance was offered to the Arabs. In 712 Maslama and his nephews, Abbas and Marwan, entered Roman territory from Melitene and took Sebastia, Gazelon, and Amasia, whence Marwan advanced to Gangra, while Walid ibn Hisham took Misthia in Lycaonia and carried off many of the inhabitants of the country. In 713 Abd-al-Aziz again raided as far as Gazelon, while Yazid invaded Isauria, and Abbas took Antioch in Pisidia and returned with numerous captives. Meanwhile Philippicus for some unknown reason expelled the Armenians from the Empire, and they were settled by the Arabs in Armenia Quarta and the district of Melitene (712). In Europe also the Bulgarians advanced to the gates of Constantinople (712).

There was however one subject on which Philippicus showed a misplaced energy. Having been educated by Stephen, the pupil of Macarius, he was a fervent Monothelete, and even before entering the city he ordered the picture of the sixth synod to be removed from the palace and the names of those condemned in it restored to the diptychs. Cyrus, who refused to comply with his wishes, was deposed and confined in a monastery, and a more pliant patriarch found in the deacon John (early in 712), who was supported by two men afterwards celebrated, Germanus of Cyzicus and Andrew of Crete. Shortly afterwards the Acts preserved in the palace were burnt, and a condemnation of the synod and the chief Dithelete bishops was issued, while many prominent men who refused to sign this were exiled. At Rome the document was contemptuously rejected, the Romans retaliated by placing a picture of the six synods in St Peter's and abandoning the public use of the Emperor’s name; and Peter, who was sent to Rome as duke, was attacked and forced to retire (713).

713-715] Accession of Anastasius II 

An emperor without hereditary claim to respect, who could not defend the Empire from invasion and wantonly disturbed the peace of the Church, was not likely to reign long; but the fall of Philippicus was eventually brought about by a plot. A portion of the Obsequian theme, which had been the most closely attached to Justinian, had been brought to Thrace to act against the Bulgarians, whose ravages still continued; and, trusting to the support of these soldiers and of the Green faction, George Buraphus, Count of Obsequian, and the patrician Theodore Myacius, who had been with Justinian at his return from exile, made a conspiracy against the Emperor. After some games in the circus, in which the Greens were victorious, he had given a banquet in the baths of Zeuxippus, returned to the palace and gone to sleep, when an officer of the Obsequian theme and his men rushed in, carried him to the robing room of the Greens, and put out his eyes (3 June 713). The conspirators were however not ready with a new emperor: and, as the other soldiers were not inclined to submit to their dictation, they were unable to gain control of affairs; and on the next day, which was Whit Sunday, Artemius, one of the chief imperial secretaries, was chosen emperor and crowned, taking in memory of the last civilian emperor the name of Anastasius. George and Theodore were requited as they had served Philippicus, being blinded on 10 and 17 June respectively and banished to Thessalonica.

The ecclesiastical policy of the late Emperor was immediately reversed, the sixth synod being proclaimed at the coronation, and the picture soon afterwards restored. Anastasius wrote to assure the Pope of his orthodoxy; and John, who under Philippicus had from fear of offending either Emperor or Pope sent no synodical to Rome, wrote to the Pope to explain that he had always been an adherent of the synod. He therefore retained the see till his death, when he was succeeded by Germanus (11 Aug. 715), who had also abandoned Monotheletism.

Anastasius was a great contrast to his predecessor. A capable man of affairs, he set himself to place the Empire in a state of defence and appoint the best men to civil and military posts: but in the condition to which affairs had been brought by the frenzy of Justinian and the indolence of Philippicus a stronger ruler than this conscientious public servant was needed. In 714 Maslama raided Galatia, Abbas took Heraclea (Cybistra) and two other places, and his brother Bishr wintered in Roman territory. On the other hand an Arab general was defeated and killed. In the anarchic state of the Empire however Walid wished to send out something more than raiding expeditions; and Anastasius, hearing reports of this, sent Daniel the praefect on an embassy with instructions to find out what was going on; and on his reporting that a great expedition was being prepared ordered all who were unable to supply themselves with provisions for three years to leave Constantinople, while he set himself to build ships, fill the granaries, repair the walls, and provide weapons of defence.

In 715 a fleet from Egypt came, as in 655, to Phoenix to cut wood for shipbuilding; and Anastasius chose the fastest ships and ordered them to meet at Rhodes under a certain John, who also held the offices of public logothete and deacon of St Sophia. Some of the Obsequian theme, whom it was probably desired to remove from the neighbourhood of the capital, were sent on board; and, when John gave the order to sail to Phoenix, these refused to obey, cast off allegiance to Anastasius, and killed the admiral. Most of the fleet then dispersed, but the mutineers sailed for Constantinople. On the way they landed at Adramyttium, and, not wishing to be a second time defeated by the absence of a candidate for the throne, chose a tax-collector named Theodosius, whom, though he fled to the hills to escape, they seized and proclaimed emperor. Anastasius, leaving Constantinople in a state of defence, shut himself up in Nicaea, where he could watch the disaffected theme: but the rebels rallied to their cause the whole theme with the Gotho-Greek irregulars of Bithynia, collected merchantships of all kinds, and advanced by land and sea to Chrysopolis (Sept.). The fighting lasted six months, after which on the imperial fleet changing its station they crossed to Thrace and were admitted by treachery through the gate of Blachernae. The houses were then pillaged, and the chief officials and the patriarch arrested and sent to Anastasius, who, thinking further resistance useless, surrendered on promise of safety and was allowed to retire as a monk to Thessalonica (5 Mar. 716).1

Meanwhile the Arab preparations were going on with none to hinder. Even when the civil war was ended, there was little hope of effectual resistance from the crowned tax-gatherer and his mutinous army; and, if the Empire was to be saved, it was necessary that the government should be in the hands of a soldier. The Obsequian theme, though from its proximity to the capital it had been able to make and unmake emperors, was the smallest of the three Asiatic themes; and the other two were not likely to pay much regard to its puppet-sovereign. The larger of these, the Anatolic, was commanded by Leo of Germanicea, whose family had been removed to Mesembria in Thrace when Germanicea was abandoned. When Justinian returned, Leo met him with 500 sheep and was made a spatharius. Afterwards he was sent to urge the Alans of the Caucasus to attack the Abasgi, who were under Arab protection, and in spite of great difficulties he was successful: moreover, though he seemed to be cut off from the Empire, by his courage, presence of mind, and cunning (not always accompanied by good faith) he effected not only his own return but that of 200 stragglers from the army which had invaded Lazica. This exploit made him a marked man, and he was chosen by Anastasius for the command of the Anatolic theme: on that Emperor's overthrow both he and the Armenian Artavazd, who commanded the Armeniacs, refused to recognise Theodosius.

715-717] Leo and the Arabs 

Late in 715 Maslama, who had been appointed to lead the expedition against Constantinople, took the fortress of the Slavs, which commanded the passes of the Taurus, and returned to Epiphania for the winter; and in 716 he sent his lieutenant Sulaiman in advance, intending to follow with a larger army, while Omar was appointed to command the fleet. Sulaiman penetrated without opposition to Amorium, which, as it had then no garrison and was on bad terms with Leo because of his rejection of Theodosius, he expected easily to take. The Arabs moreover knew Leo to be a likely candidate for the crown and hoped to use him as they had used Sapor: accordingly, as Amorium did not immediately fall, they proclaimed him emperor, and the citizens were induced by the hope of escaping capture to do the same. Sulaiman having promised that, if Leo came to discuss terms of peace, he would raise the siege, Leo came with 300 men, and the Arabs surrounded him to prevent his escape; but Leo, who as a native of a town which had only been in Roman hands for ten years since 640 (he was probably born a subject of the Caliph), was well acquainted with the Arab character and could perhaps speak Arabic, induced some officers whom he was entertaining to believe that he would go and see Maslama himself, while he conveyed a message to the citizens to hold out, and finally escaped on the pretext of a hunting expedition. Soon afterwards the Arabs became tired of lying before Amorium and forced Sulaiman to raise the siege; whereupon Leo threw 800 men into the city, removed most of the women and children, and withdrew to the mountains of Pisidia, where he was safe from attack by Maslama, who had now entered Cappadocia and, in hope of gaining Leo's support, refrained from plundering the country. To him Leo sent an envoy to say that he had wished to come and see him, but treachery had deterred him from doing so. From this envoy Maslama heard of the garrisoning of Amorium; but this made him the more desirous of securing Leo; and he promised, if he came, to make satisfactory terms of peace. Leo pretended to agree, but protracted negotiations till Maslama, unable for reasons of commissariat to remain in Anatolic territory, had reached Acroinus (Prymnessus) in the Obsequian district, and then, having previously come to an understanding with Artavazd, to whom he promised his daughter in marriage (which, as he had no son, implied an assurance of the succession), started for Constantinople, while Maslama passed into Asia, where he wintered. The fleet was however less successful, for the Romans landed in Syria and burnt Laodicea, while the Arabs had only reached Cilicia. Meanwhile Leo made his way to Nicomedia, where Theodosius' son, who had been made Augustus, and some of the chief officers of the palace, fell into his power. The Obsequians were unable to organise serious resistance, and Theodosius after consulting the Senate and the patriarch sent Germanus to Leo, and on receiving assurance of safety abdicated. Leo made a formal entry by the Golden Gate and was crowned by the patriarch (25 Mar. 717). Theodosius and his son took orders and ended their days in obscurity.

 

 

CHAPTER XIV

THE EXPANSION OF THE SLAVS