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Byzantium under the Heraclians

Byzantine Empire
Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων
610–711
The Byzantine Empire by the end of the wars with Sassanid Persia, during Heraclius' reign.
Capital Constantinople
Languages Latin (until 610), Greek
Government
Emperor
 •  610–641 Heraclius
 •  February–May 641 Constantine III, Heracleonas
 •  May–September 641 Heracleonas
 •  642–668 Constans II
 •  668–685 Constantine IV
 •  685–695; 705–711 Justinian II
Historical era Early Middle Ages
 •  accession of Heraclius October 5, 610
 •  deposition of Justinian II December 711
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Byzantium under the Justinian Dynasty
Twenty Years' Anarchy
Heraclian dynasty
Chronology
Heraclius 610–641
with Constantine III as co-emperor, 613–641
Constantine III 641
with Heraklonas as co-emperor
Heraklonas 641
Constans II 641–668
with Constantine IV (654–668), Heraclius and Tiberius (659–668) as co-emperors
Constantine IV 668–685
with Heraclius and Tiberius (668–681), and Justinian II (681–685) as co-emperors
Justinian II 685–695, 705–711
with Tiberius as co-emperor, 706–711
Succession
Preceded by
Justinian dynasty and Phocas
Followed by
Twenty Years' Anarchy

The Byzantine Empire was ruled by Hellenized Armenian emperors of the dynasty of Heraclius between 610 and 711. The Heraclians presided over a period of cataclysmic events that were a watershed in the history of the Empire and the world in general.

At the beginning of the dynasty, the Empire was still recognizable as the Eastern Roman Empire, dominating the Mediterranean and harbouring a prosperous Late Antique urban civilization. This world was shattered by successive invasions, which resulted in extensive territorial losses, financial collapse and plagues that depopulated the cities, while religious controversies and rebellions further weakened the Empire.

By the dynasty's end, a very different state had emerged: medieval Byzantium, a chiefly agrarian, military-dominated society that was engaged in a lengthy struggle with the Muslim Caliphate. However, this state was also far more homogeneous, being reduced to its mostly Greek-speaking and firmly Chalcedonian core territories, which enabled it to weather these storms and enter a period of stability under the successor Isaurian Dynasty.

The Heraclian dynasty was named after the general Heraclius the Younger, who, in 610, sailed from Carthage, overthrew the usurper Phocas, and was crowned Emperor. At the time, the Empire was embroiled in a war with the Sassanid Persian Empire, which in the next decade conquered the Empire's eastern provinces.

After a long and exhausting struggle, Heraclius managed to defeat the Persians and restore the Empire, only to lose these provinces again shortly after to the sudden eruption of the Muslim conquests. His successors struggled to contain the Arab tide. The Levant and North Africa were lost, while in 674–678, a large Arab army besieged Constantinople itself.


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