*** Welcome to piglix ***

Maurice I

Maurice
MauriceTremissis.png
Tremissis of Emperor Maurice.
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign 14 August 582 – 27 November 602
Predecessor Tiberius II Constantine
Successor Phocas
Born 539
Arabissus, Cappadocia
Died 27 November 602 (aged 63)
Constantinople
Spouse Constantina
Issue Theodosius
Tiberius
Petrus
Paulus
Justin
Justinian
Anastasia
Theoctista
Cleopatra
Full name
Flavius Mauricius Tiberius
Dynasty Justinian Dynasty
Father Paul
Full name
Flavius Mauricius Tiberius

Maurice (Latin: Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus; Greek: Φλάβιος Μαυρίκιος Τιβέριος Αὔγουστος) (539 – 27 November 602) was Eastern Roman Emperor from 582 to 602.

A prominent general in his youth, Maurice fought with success against the Sassanid Persians. Once he became Emperor, he brought the war with Sasanian Persia to a victorious conclusion: the Empire's eastern border in the Caucasus was vastly expanded and for the first time in nearly two centuries the Romans were no longer obliged to pay the Persians thousands of pounds of gold annually for peace.

Maurice campaigned extensively in the Balkans against the Avars – pushing them back across the Danube by 599. He also conducted campaigns across the Danube, the first Roman Emperor to do so in over two centuries. In the West, he established two large semi-autonomous provinces called exarchates, ruled by exarchs, or viceroys, of the emperor.

In Italy, Maurice established the Exarchate of Ravenna in 584, the first real effort by the Empire to halt the advance of the Lombards. With the creation of the Exarchate of Africa in 590, he further solidified the power of Constantinople in the western Mediterranean.

His reign was troubled by financial difficulties and almost constant warfare. In 602, a dissatisfied general named Phocas usurped the throne, having Maurice and his six sons executed. This event would prove cataclysmic for the Empire, sparking a twenty-six year war with Sassanid Persia which would leave both empires devastated prior to the Muslim conquests.


...
Wikipedia

...