Theodosius (son of Maurice)
| Theodosius | |
|---|---|
| Co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire | |
|
|
| Reign | 590–602 |
| Predecessor | Maurice |
| Successor | Phocas |
| Born | August 4, 583/585 |
| Died | after November 27, 602 |
| Dynasty | Justinian Dynasty |
| Father | Maurice |
| Mother | Constantina |
Theodosius (Greek: Θεοδόσιος; August 4, 583/585 – after November 27, 602) was the eldest son of Byzantine Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) and was co-emperor from 590 until his deposition and execution during a military revolt in November 602. Along with his father-in-law Germanus, he was briefly proposed as successor to Maurice by the troops, but the army eventually favoured Phocas instead. Sent in an abortive mission to secure aid from Sassanid Persia by his father, Theodosius was captured and executed by Phocas's supporters a few days after Maurice. Nevertheless, rumours spread that he had survived the execution, and became popular to the extent that a man who purported to be Theodosius was entertained by the Persians as a pretext for launching a war against Byzantium.
Theodosius was the first child of Maurice and his wife, the Augusta Constantina. He was born on August 4, 583 (according to the contemporary John of Ephesus and other chroniclers) or 585 (according to the later histories of Theophanes the Confessor and Kedrenos). He was the first son to be born to a reigning emperor since Theodosius II in 401, and was accordingly named after the previous ruler. The papal envoy, or apocrisiarius, to Constantinople, the future Pope Gregory the Great, acted as his godfather. The scholar Evagrius Scholasticus composed a work celebrating Theodosius' birth, for which he was rewarded by Maurice with the rank of consul.
...
Wikipedia