Heraklonas
Emperor of the Romans
Heraklonas with his father, Heraclius and brother, Constantine III
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign	February–April/May 641 (Co-emperor) –September/October 641 (Emperor)
Predecessor	Heraclius Constantine III
Successor	Constans II
Co-emperors	Constantine III (February–April/May 641)
Born	626
Died	641 (aged 15)
Full name Flavius Constantinus Heraclius (Heraclianus)
Dynasty	Heraclian Dynasty
Father	Heraclius
Mother	Martina

Constantine Heraclius (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Ἡράκλειος; Latin: Flavius Constantinus Heraclius (Heraclianus) Augustus; 626–641), commonly known by the diminutive Heraklonas or Herakleonas (Greek: Ἡρακλωνᾶς/Ἡρακλεωνᾶς), or rarely, Heraclius II,^[1] was the son of Heraclius and his niece Martina. His father had stipulated in his will that both of his stepsons should rule jointly upon his death. Heraclius also specified that his wife, Martina, was to be called "Mother and Empress" in so far as she might have influence at court as well.^[2] The Emperor Heraclius died in February 641 from edema. When Martina did make the late Emperor's will public she faced staunch resistance to her playing any active role in government, but both Heraklonas and Constatine III were proclaimed joint-emperors in February 641 without incidence . After Constantine died of tuberculosis in April/May 641, Heraklonas became sole emperor, under the regency of his mother due to his young age, usually dated from April/May – September/October 641, when he was overthrown by Valentinus, a general and usurper of Armenian extract, who installed Constans II, the son of Constantine III. Valentinus had Heraklonas' nose cut off, then exiled him to Rhodes, where he is believed to have died in the same year.

History[edit]

Heraklonas was born on 3 May 626, in the suburban Palace of Sophianae. He was the son of Emperor Heraclius, and his niece-wife Martina.^[3][4][5]

Under Heraclius, the Byzantine Empire was invaded in 639 by the Arabs, due to the failure of the Theme of Mesopotamia to pay tribute. The cities of Edessa and Dara were quickly captured. In the same year, another group of Arabs, led by 'Amr ibn al-'As, invaded Byzantine Egypt. He quickly occupied the coastal towns of Egypt, but was unable to cross the Nile, due to stiff resistance by Byzantine forces led by John. After a bloody battle between John and 'Amr, in which John perished, 'Amr was forced to appeal to the Umayyads Caliph Umar for more troops. John was replaced by Heraclius' brother, Theodore, who gathered his forces around Babylon Fortress, a major fortress in Egypt. By summer 640, 'Amr's forces had swelled to around 15,000 men.^[6] With these men, 'Amr decisively defeated Theodore north of Babylon, before laying siege to the fortress itself.^[7]

Heraklonas' joint rule with Constantine III[edit]

Heraclius died of edema February 641, leaving the empire jointly to his eldest son, Constantine III, and Heraklonas.^[7] At the time of his elevation to co-emperor, Heraklonas was only 15 years old, whereas Constantine was 29, which in effect meant that Constantine held all of the real power. Heraclius' will was objectionable to much of the Byzantine public, as Heraklonas was the result of an avunculate marriage, that is, a marriage between an uncle and niece, which many felt was illegal, and thereby made Heraklonas a bastard. Also considered objectionable was the fact that Constantine's ten year old son, Constans II, was not elevated alongside Constantine and Heraklonas, breaking the tradition of the succession of senior emperorship from eldest son to eldest son, when possible. It was also thought that the lack of elevation could have precluded him from the succession entirely.^[5] Shortly after Constantine took the throne, he was informed by his financial minister, Philagrius, that Heraclius had created a secret fund for Martina, administered by Patriarch Pyrrhus. Constantine confiscated this account, using it to help meet the budget for the spring military payroll, plus with the traditional accessional donatives, which amounted to half the amount of the payroll,^[8] amounting to a total of 2,016,000 nomisma.^[9]

Constantine also appointed Valentinus as the commander of the main eastern army, in the hopes of retaining at least the Egyptian coastline. However the Byzantine general Theodore, was still unable to repel the Arab attacks. Constantine summoned Cyrus of Alexandria, made him Prefect of Egypt, and instructed him to prepare to reinforce Alexandria. Before this invasion could take place, however, Babylon surrendered to the Arabs, allowing them to besiege Alexandria.^[9] Shortly after this, in May/April, Constantine died of an advanced case of tuberculosis, leaving Heraklonas as sole emperor, under the regency of Martina.^{[4][8][9][10]} Partisans of Constantine spread the rumor that Martina had had Constantine poisoned in order to take control, as regent for Heraklonas.^[9]

Sole rule and fall[edit]

Martina maintained the plans of Constantine, and sent Cyrus to Alexandria, with much of the praesental army. She then summoned the Thracian army to Constantinople, to replace them. Martina was placed in a precarious position, having to deal not only with the Arabs, but also with Valentinus, who was beyond her reach, stationed in Anatolia, although she exiled his patron, Philagrius, to Africa. Also at this time, both Heraklonas and Martina's reputation with the army suffered as a result of Martina's inability to raise enough funds to match the donative given by Constantine. In August 641, Valentinus marched his troops to Chalcedon, to force Martina to elevate Constans II to co-emperor. While Valentinus was encamped across the Bosphorus from Constantinople, a mob rose up in Constantinople, demanding that Pyrrhus crown Constans II as emperor,^[9][11][12] and for Pyrrhus to abdicate, to be replaced by his steward Paul II. Martina, now in a truly desperate situation, offered the military further donatives, recalled Philagrius from Africa, and offered Valentinus the title of Count of the Excubitors. Despite these offers, Valentinus entered the city in September/October, and deposed Heraklonas and Martina, then elevated Constans II to emperor.^[9][10] Valentinus was unwilling to kill a woman and child, but had Martina's tongue slit and Heraklonas' nose cut off, then exiled them to Rhodes, after which nothing is known of them, although it is believed that Heraklonas died before 642.^[13][10]

References[edit]

Primary sources[edit]

Citations[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• 
  Bellinger, Alfred Raymond; Grierson, Philip, eds. (1992). Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection: Phocas to Theodosius III, 602-717. Part 1. Phocas and Heraclius (602-641). Dumbarton Oaks. ISBN 9780884020240. 
  


• 
  Carroll, Warren H. (1987). The Building of Christendom. Christendom College Press. ISBN 9780931888243. 
  


• 
  Fontaine, P.F.M. (2004). The Light and the Dark: A Cultural History of Dualism. The dualism in byzantine history, 638-1453 and in the East-West relationship of the Middle ages. Groningen: J.C. Gieben. ISBN 9789051791341. 
  


• 
  Kaegi, Walter E. (2003). Heraclius: Emperor of Byzantium. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521814591. 
  


• Ostrogorsky, George. (1969). History of the Byzantine State. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-0599-2
  


• 
  Stratos, A. N. (1980). Justinian II, Leontius and Tiberius 685-711. Amsterdam: Hakkert. ISBN 9789025608521. 
  


• 
  Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804726306. 
  


• 
  

Further reading[edit]

• 
   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Heracleonas". Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 308. 
  

External links[edit]

Media related to Heraclonas at Wikimedia Commons