Gregory the Patrician

Gregory
Usurper of the Byzantine Empire in Africa
Reign	646–647
Successor	Gennadius (as Exarch)
Died	647 Sufetula
Religion	Chalcedonian Christianity

Gregory the Patrician (Greek: Γρηγόριος, Latin: Flavius Gregorius, died 647) was a Byzantine Exarch of Africa (modern Tunisia and eastern Algeria). A relative of the ruling Heraclian dynasty, Gregory was fiercely pro-Chalcedonian and led a rebellion in 646 against Emperor Constans II over the latter's support for Monothelism. Soon after declaring himself emperor, he faced an Arab invasion in 647. He confronted the invaders but was decisively defeated and killed at Sufetula. Africa returned to imperial allegiance after his death and the Arabs' withdrawal, but the foundations of Byzantine rule there had been fatally undermined.

Gregory the Patrician was related by blood to Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) and his grandson Constans II (r. 641–668), and was possibly the son of Heraclius' cousin Niketas. Gregory is first attested as Exarch of Africa ("patrikios of Africa" in Theophanes) in July 645, but may have been appointed already under Heraclius.

The Exarchate at this time was in internal turmoil due to the conflict between the mainly Orthodox Chalcedonian population and the supporters of Monotheletism, an attempt at compromise between Chalcedonianism and Monophysitism devised and promoted by Heraclius in 638. In Africa, the latter was mostly advocated by refugees from Egypt. In an effort to lessen the tensions, in July 645 Gregory hosted a theological dispute in his capital Carthage between the Chalcedonian Maximus the Confessor and the Monothelite former Patriarch of Constantinople, Pyrrhus. Gregory helped to bring about a reconciliation between the two, and Pyrrhus re-embraced the Chalcedonian position. Over the next few months, several local synods in Africa proceeded to condemn Monotheletism as heresy.

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