CRISTO RAUL.ORG ' |
 |
READING HALLCAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY |
 |
 |
 |
THE
CHAPTER XIII
THE SUCCESSORS OF
HERACLIUS TO 717
BESIDES Constantine, who had been his colleague since
613, Heraclius left four sons by Martina — Theodosius, who was deaf and dumb,
Heraclius, who had been crowned in 638, David the Caesar, and Martin the nobilissimus, and (though Constantine
was twenty-eight and Heraclius only sixteen) he desired by his will that they
should enjoy equal rights, while Martina received the honours of an empress and
a mother from both. Relying upon this provision, Martina claimed to exercise
the practical sovereignty herself: but the people would not permit this, on the
ground that a woman could not receive foreign envoys, and compelled her to
leave the government to her stepson. Anticipating such a result, Heraclius had
entrusted a large sum to the patriarch Pyrrhus for her benefit: but, Philagrius
the treasurer having discovered this and informed Constantine, Pyrrhus was
forced to surrender it. As the Emperor was suffering from consumption (which
caused him to reside at Chalcedon), Philagrius, fearing to be left exposed to Martina’s
vengeance, persuaded him to send a donative to the soldiers through Valentine
the Armenian, the commander of Philagrius’ guard, urging them to protect his
two sons and maintain their claim to the succession. Valentine however used the
money to gain influence for himself; and after Constantine’s death (24 May 641)
Philagrius was forcibly ordained and banished to Septum (Ceuta), and many of
his supporters were flogged, without opposition from the army, though Martina
tried to attach it to her son’s cause by a further donative in the name of the
dead Emperor. But in consequence of her incestuous marriage and her attempt to
exclude Constantine from power she was exceedingly unpopular, and by the
malevolence of her enemies she was now accused of poisoning him. Valentine, who
had either originated this report or used it for his own purpose, placed
himself at the head of a military force in Asia, occupied Chalcedon on the
pretext that the lives of Constantine’s sons were in danger, and sent
instructions to the troops in the provinces not to obey Martina, while the
Empress brought the army of Thrace to defend the capital. To allay the
commotion, Heraclius produced his elder nephew, Heraclius, a boy of ten, to
whom he had stood godfather, and, touching the wood of the cross, swore that
the children should suffer no harm; he even took the boy to Chalcedon and gave
the same assurance to Valentine and his army; but, though Valentine allowed him
to return, he refused to lay down his arms. By these acts the Emperor succeeded
for a time in gaining the support of the capital. But the country round
Chalcedon was covered with vineyards, many of which belonged to the citizens of
Constantinople; and, when the vintage came on and the produce was reaped by
Valentine’s army, they cried loudly for an accommodation, directing their
attack against the patriarch Pyrrhus, who was the strongest supporter of
Martina and was suspected of having been concerned in the murder of
Constantine, and insisting on the coronation of the young Heraclius. The
Emperor then went to St Sophia and ordered Pyrrhus to crown his nephew: but the
people insisted that according to custom he should do this himself; and they
gave the new Augustus the name of Constantine, though to distinguish him from
his father he was popularly known as Constans (Sept.). The feeling against
Pyrrhus was however still unabated; and, after a mob had vainly sought him in
the cathedral, and in revenge desecrated the sanctuary, on the following night
he laid his stole on the altar in token of leave-taking (29 Sept.), and after
hiding for a time escaped to Africa: and, though he had neither resigned nor
been deprived, Paul was ordained to succeed him (Oct.).
Peace was now made, Valentine being appointed Count of
the excubitors and receiving a promise that he should not be called to account
for the money received from Philagrius, who was recalled from exile, and that
his soldiers should receive a donative. The Caesar David was then crowned as a
third emperor under the name of Tiberius, and Valentine marched to Cappadocia
to act against the Arabs.
The peace was however of short duration. The troops in
Cappadocia produced a letter purporting to have been written by Martina to a
certain David, in which he was urged to attack Valentine, marry Martina, and
depose Constans. Soldiers and people rose against the Empress under the
leadership of Theodore the Armenian, who, having seized David in a fortress to
which he had fled, cut off his head and had it exhibited all over the eastern
provinces. On Theodore's return to Constantinople Martina was by decree of the
Senate deprived of her tongue, and Heraclius and Tiberius of their noses, and
they were all banished to Rhodes (Dec.). Constans thus became sole emperor.
All this must have been done at the instigation of
Valentine, who after unsuccessful operations against the Arabs returned to
Constantinople with a guard of 3000 men and forced Constans to give him the
rank of Caesar (early in 643): but on strong opposition manifesting itself a
compromise was made, whereby he gave up this title, but was made commander of
the troops in the capital and gave his daughter in marriage to Constans. Two
years later his tyrannical acts led to a popular rising, during which he was
seized and beheaded. His military command was given to Theodore (646).
641-655] Arab War
The Arabs first invaded Asia Minor during the
commotions of 641. In 642 a plan of Valentine for a combined attack on them was
frustrated by his defeat; but Theodore and Procopius penetrated as far as
Batnae, and an Armenian force occupied Amida and nearly reached Edessa before
they were routed. In 643, Valentine having returned to Constantinople, the
enemy again entered Asia Minor, and Arabissus capitulated to Umair. In 644
Muawiya, amir of Syria, took and plundered Euchaita;
and in 646 after besieging Caesarea for ten days he ravaged the neighbourhood,
returned, and forced it to pay tribute, afterwards vainly attacking Amorium. On
this expedition he found the Cilician fortresses deserted and left garrisons in
them till his return, but in 647 had them destroyed.
In 649 Habib, and in 651 Busr, raided Isauria, and in 651 Sufyan also invaded
Roman territory from Germanicea, while in 649 Muawiya placed a fleet on the sea
and plundered Constantia in Cyprus, but retreated on the approach of a Roman
fleet under Cacorizus the chamberlain.
These were only plundering expeditions: but about 647
Habib occupied Melitene, Sozopetra, and Adata; and, as the war had gone against
the Romans, Constans in 651 sent Procopius to treat for peace with Muawiya (the
Caliph Othman was ignored), and a truce was made for two years, the Emperor
paying tribute and leaving Gregory, the nephew of Heraclius, as a hostage.
The truce of 651 was hardly more than nominal; for the
secession of Armenia led to the Emperor’s expedition to that country (652) and
to the outbreak of fresh hostilities there, and after the expiration of the
armistice the war was renewed on a larger scale than before. Great preparations
were made by Mudawiya for an attack by sea and land upon Constantinople. He
himself, starting from Melitene, took Ancyra and advanced to Dorylaeum (653),
destroying all the fortresses on the way. Meanwhile ships were being hastily
built at Alexandria, Tripolis, and other places; and in 654 a fleet under
Abul-Awar after occupying Cyprus pillaged Cos, Crete, and Rhodes (where the
famous colossus, long since fallen, was broken up and sold to a Jew). But,
while the work was going on at Tripolis, two Roman brothers, Muawiya’s slaves,
liberated the prisoners, and, with their help killed the governor and his
guard, burnt the ships, and escaped by sea to Roman territory. Muawiya, who was
probably recalled by the news of this disaster, did nothing this year beyond
taking a fortress near Melitene: but the naval preparations were not given up,
and in spring 655 Abul-Awar was sent to Phoenix in Lycia, a place celebrated
for cypresses, to cut wood for shipbuilding, where he was joined by the
Egyptian ships under Abdallah. But the new naval policy of the Arabs had forced
the Romans also to institute a standing fleet; and the invaders were attacked
by the Emperor in person, who was accompanied by his brother, Theodosius. In
the battle which followed the Arabs were victorious, the Roman fleet being
almost destroyed and Constans with difficulty escaping in disguise; but the
Arabs, having attained their object, returned. Muawiya at the same time made an
expedition by land as far as Caesarea; but in 656 the murder of Othman and the
civil war which followed put an end to his schemes, and he was at last glad to
buy peace by paying tribute (659). The Emperor used the respite to reduce some
Slavonic tribes, some of which he transferred to Asia to assist in the defence
against the Arabs.
Constans had crowned his eldest son, Constantine, as
Augustus in Apr. 654, and in 659 conferred the same dignity on his two younger
sons, Heraclius and Tiberius, and had his brother Theodosius put to death on a
charge of conspiracy (659). This made him very unpopular both with the citizens
and with the army he was greeted in the streets with the appellation “Cain”,
and at last, finding life in Constantinople irksome and perhaps dangerous,
although war had again broken out with the Arabs, resolved to leave his capital
and devote his attention to restoring the imperial power in the West, for which
the disunion among the Lombards after the death of Aripert (661) afforded an
obvious opportunity. In 662 he invaded the duchy of Benevento, and took several
cities with little or no resistance. He failed indeed before the strong town of
Acerenza; but he stormed Luceria, which he razed to the ground, and laid siege
to Benevento itself, which was defended by Duke Romuald in person. Here he was
met by a vigorous defence, and, having heard that Grimoald was marching to his
son’s assistance, made terms with the Duke, receiving his sister Gisa as a
hostage, and raised the siege. An attempt to attack Capua was foiled by a
defeat on the Calor, and he then withdrew to Naples for the winter. In spring
(663) he sent the Persian Sapor on a fresh invasion; but he had hardly crossed
the frontier when he was met by Romuald at a place called Forinum and severely
defeated. Constans then abandoned all thought of reducing the duchy, and,
secured against attack by the possession of Gisa, betook himself to Rome, and
was met by the pope and clergy six miles from the city, which he entered on 5
July, the first Emperor who had been seen in the ancient capital for 190 years.
He attended service in the principal churches and made offerings, but left a
more impressive memorial of his visit by appropriating all the bronze ornaments
that he could find, including the tiled roof of the Pantheon. This last with
some of the other articles he sent to Constantinople, carrying the rest with
him. After a stay of twelve days he returned to Naples, and then went on to
Sicily, which was threatened by the Arabs, and settled at Syracuse, where he
set himself to organise measures for the defence of Sicily and Africa. For this
purpose heavy burdens were laid on his Italian and Sicilian subjects: but he
was so far successful that no further invasion of Sicily was made while he
lived, and in Africa, though the patrician Nicephorus is said to have been
defeated in 665, no permanent conquest was effected till after his death. From
Syracuse he sent for his wife and sons; but, as this foreshadowed a transfer of
the seat of government, the citizens, headed by Andrew the chamberlain and the
patrician Theodore of Colonia, refused to let them go.
It was not only at Constantinople that Constans was
unpopular; and in 668 a plot was formed among those who surrounded him, one of
whom, Andrew, son of Troilus, while the Emperor was bathing, poured an unusual
quantity of soap over his face so as to blind him, and then killed him by
striking him on the head with a silver ewer (15 July). The army proclaimed as
emperor an Armenian named Mzhezh, who is said to have been of high character,
but seems to have had no other recommendation except good looks, and was
reluctant to accept the honour. His elevation found no favour elsewhere, the
armies of Italy, Sardinia, and Africa united to overthrow him, the rebellion
collapsed (Feb. 669), and the assassin Andrew, Mzhezh himself, and his chief adherents
suffered death, among them the patrician Justinian, whose young son, Germanus,
afterwards patriarch, was mutilated.
In 661 Hasan’s abdication enabled Muawiya to renew the
war. A raid by Habib in 661 effected nothing; but in
662 the Romans were defeated, and in 663 Busr wintered in the Empire. As
Constans had taken the bulk of the Anatolie theme to the West, Abdar-Rahman,
son of the celebrated Khalid, could advance in 664 to Colonia (Archelais),
where he wintered, and in 665, after failing in an attack on some islands in
Lake Caralis, he placed a garrison in Amorium, the head-quarters of the
Anatolics, which was forced to capitulate, took Pessinus, and, after an
unsuccessful attack on another fortified place, Cius, Pergamum, and Smyrna.
Having been joined by some of the Slav colonists, he again wintered in Roman
territory, and then returned to Emesa, where he soon afterwards died, it is
said by poison (666).
In 666 Malik made a raid from Adata and wintered in
Roman territory, and in 667 Busr ravaged the district of Hexapolis, west of
Melitene, while another force wintered at Antioch in Pisidia: but in 668 the
rebellion of Sapor, now general of the Armeniacs, gave an opening for a more
dangerous attack. Sapor sent Sergius, one of his subordinates, to ask for the
Caliph's support; and on hearing of this the young Constantine, who was ruling
in his father's absence, sent Andrew the chamberlain to present gifts to
Muawiya and beg him not to countenance rebellion. The two envoys met at the
Caliph's court, and Muawiya decided in favour of Sergius, who insulted Andrew
by calling him not a man but a eunuch. Andrew retreated by the pass of
Arabissus on the road to Hexapolis, where Sapor then was, the commandant of
which still held for the Emperor, and having instructed this officer to watch
for Sergius and arrest him if he passed that way, went on to a place called
Amnesia. Here Sergius was brought as a prisoner, and Andrew avenged the insult
to himself by having him mutilated and then hanged. Sapor now advanced to
Hadrianopolis in Bithynia; and Muawiya sent Fadala to his assistance, while
Constantine sent Nicephorus to oppose him. But, while Sapor was riding before
the walls, his horse bolted and dashed his head against the gate, which caused
his death. His men then returned to their allegiance; and Fadala, who had only
reached Hexapolis, was obliged to ask for reinforcements, which were sent under
Muawiya’s son, Yazid, while a fleet under another Yazid supported the army. The
Arabs advanced to Chalcedon, and in spring 669 crossed to Thrace and attacked
Constantinople, which was defended by Constantine (usually known as Pogonatus),
now reigning Emperor. No serious siege was however undertaken; and in the
summer pestilence and lack of food compelled them to retire: but on their way
back they took Amorium, in which a garrison was placed. During the winter
however Andrew surprised the town by night in deep snow and slew the Arabs to a
man.
668-679] Attacks on Constantinople
In 670 Fadala came again by sea to the Propontis and
wintered at Cyzicus; and during the years 668-671 other lesser raids took
place. In 672 Busr carried off numerous prisoners, and in 673 another great
effort was made. A fleet under Mahomet wintered at Smyrna, and another under
Kais in Lycia, with which an army under Sufyan co-operated, and a colony was
settled in Rhodes, while an attack on Constantinople was being planned, to meet
which Constantine prepared fireships provided with Greek fire, the invention of
the Syrian architect Callinicus. On the arrival of reinforcements the combined
fleet appeared before Constantinople in spring 674, and after occupying Cyzicus
assailed the city without success from April to September, and returned to
Cyzicus for the winter. The same year Fadala and Abdallah wintered in Crete;
and other expeditions were made every year without important result: but
meanwhile the fleet at Cyzicus attacked Constantinople each year down to 677,
when the loss in men and ships compelled it to withdraw. On its return it
suffered severely from a storm off the Pamphylian coast, what remained of it
was attacked by the division of the Roman fleet which from the town of Cibyra
in Pamphylia was called Cibyrrhaeotae, and few, if any, ships returned home.
This disaster and the Mardaite invasion of Phoenice and Palestine (678) caused
Medwiya for the second time to buy peace by paying tribute. The colony in
Rhodes was now withdrawn, and the fortress of Camacha on the Euphrates, which
the Arabs had after two earlier unsuccessful attempts taken in 679, restored.
The garrison in Cyprus was removed by Yazid, but the island continued to pay
tribute. The last raid was one in Isauria in the early part of 680. Peace
having been thus secured on the east, the Khan of the Avars and other barbarian
rulers sent presents and made treaties with the Emperor.
Meanwhile a theological controversy which seemed
likely to cause a division between East and West and facilitate usurpations
like that of Mzhezh was demanding the attention of the government. The
disaffection of Egypt and the East arising from the Synod of Chalcedon had long
been a menace to the Empire and had led to Zeno’s attempt to restore union
through the Henotikon and the attempt of Justinian to placate the Monophysites
by the condemnation of the Three Chapters; but in neither case was permanent
success attained. The rapid conquests of the Persians drew the attention of
Heraclius to this state of affairs, and led him to try a plan suggested by the
patriarch Sergius, himself a Syrian by birth, to whom it had occurred that the
Monophysites might accept the expression “two natures” if satisfied that this
did not imply two operations. About 618 accordingly Sergius wrote to the
Egyptian George Arsas, one of the Paulianist section of the Monophysites, adherents of the patriarch Paul of Antioch, deposed in
578, asking for quotations in support of the doctrine of one operation, and
suggesting a union on this basis. Further steps in this direction were however
prevented by the Persian occupation of Egypt. In 622 again Heraclius during his
Armenian campaign conversed with a Monophysite leader named Paul, to whom he
propounded the doctrine of one operation, but without success. He then drew up
an edict against Paul, which was sent to Arcadius of Cyprus, in which the
doctrine of two operations was condemned. In 626, while in Lazica, he discussed
the question with Cyrus, bishop of Phasis, who was doubtful on the point and
wrote to Sergius for information. Sergius answered his objections and sent him
a copy of a letter of Menas of Constantinople to Pope Vigilius in which one
operation was asserted: by this Cyrus seems to have been satisfied.
Communication with the East having been restored in 628, Sergius sent the
letter of Menas to Theodore, bishop of Faran near Sinai, who expressed his
assent. This correspondence and Menas’ letter were then sent to the Monophysite
Paul at Theodosiopolis.
After the recovery of the East the plan of
reconciliation was taken up in earnest. In 630 or 631 Heraclius met the
patriarch Athanasius at Hierapolis in Syria and promised him the official
patriarchate of Antioch (vacant since 610) if he would accept communion with
the Chalcedonians on the basis of the doctrine of one operation; and to this he
was ready to consent; but, though some Jacobite monasteries, especially that of
Maron in the Lebanon, accepted the union, the patriarch’s death wrecked the
scheme (631). In 631 the Armenian Catholicus, Ezra, came on the Emperor’s
invitation to Syria, was induced to accept the communion of the Chalcedonians,
and on his return ratified the union at a synod at Theodosiopolis, but without
formally recognising the Synod of Chalcedon. In 632, on the death of the
patriarch George, Cyrus was appointed to the see of Alexandria and immediately
opened negotiations with the chief Monophysite party in the city, the
Theodosians. With these a union was effected by means of nine articles, in
which the doctrine of two natures was asserted with a qualification, and one
theandric operation maintained, while there was no acceptance of the Synod of
Chalcedon or anathema against the Monophysite leaders (3, June 633).
631-637] Sophronius: Pope Honorius
At this point opposition arose. Sophronius, a
Palestinian monk, who was then in Alexandria, entreated Cyrus not to make
public proclamation of the articles; whereupon Cyrus referred him to Sergius to
whom he gave him a letter. As Sergius was unable to convince Sophronius, who
was a man of great influence, the attempt at union seemed likely to cause a new
schism: accordingly he agreed to a compromise by which both expressions “one
operation” and “two operations” were to be avoided; and Sophronius with a
letter of explanation from Sergius returned to Jerusalem, where early in 634 he
was chosen patriarch. Sergius meanwhile wrote to Cyrus in the sense of the
compromise; but Cyrus, not wishing to undo his own work, did not immediately
accept it. Receiving a request from Heraclius at Edessa to send the quotations
in support of the doctrine of one operation and one will contained in the
letter of Menas, Sergius did so, but suggested that the controversy should
cease. He then wrote an account of the affair to Pope Honorius, proposing that
both expressions “one operation” and “two operations” should be rejected as
stumbling-blocks, but specially reprobating the latter as implying the doctrine
of two wills, which he condemned as impious. In answer to this Honorius
concurred in the banishment of both expressions, and maintained the doctrine of
one will, the advocates of which are generally known as Monotheletes.
Sophronius now sent his synodical letter to the patriarchs, in which in
accordance with the compact he avoided the expression “two operations”, but
strongly asserted the doctrine implied in it. This letter Sergius ignored: but
Honorius wrote to Sophronius begging him to let the dispute drop; and the
messengers of Sophronius said that he would do so if Cyrus would do the same.
To him therefore the pope also sent a request to cease preaching one operation.
Sophronius however sent bishop Stephen of Dora to Rome to try to bring the pope
round to his side; but the capture of Jerusalem (637) and his own death, which
soon followed, prevented any further action on his part, while in Egypt the
abandonment of the doctrine on which the union was built destroyed the union
itself, and the violent measures used by Cyrus to enforce conformity made
matters worse than before.
The next step on the part of Sergius was to compose
the Ekthesis, in which the principles contained in the letter to Honorius were
put in the shape of a formal confession of faith (636). Heraclius on his return
from the East signed this document, and it was posted on the walls of St Sophia
(autumn 638). A copy was sent to Cyrus, who received it with veneration, and to
Severinus, who had been elected to the papacy after the death of Honorius
(Oct.); while a synod at Constantinople threatened spiritual penalties against
anyone who asserted either one operation or two operations. This was the last
act of Sergius, who died 9 Dec. 638. As Severinus rejected the Ekthesis,
confirmation of his election was refused, and his emissaries were detained in
Constantinople; but on their allowing it to be understood that they would
obtain his acceptance permission was given for his consecration, which took
place 28 May 640.
Pyrrhus and Maximus [636-648
Egypt having been cut off by the Arab invasion, the
question resolved itself into a contest between Rome and Constantinople.
Severinus died two months after his consecration without accepting the
Ekthesis; and his successor, John IV, wrote to the new patriarch, Pyrrhus, to
denounce it: whereupon Heraclius, now at the point of death, in a letter to the
pope disclaimed the responsibility for it, which he threw on Sergius. After his
death John wrote to Constantine maintaining the doctrine of two wills,
explaining away Honorius’ letter, and asking for the removal of the Ekthesis.
The civil troubles prevented any further steps at the time; but the government
of Constans gave the pope to understand that the Ekthesis would be removed
(642); and Pope Theodore (consecrated 24 Nov.) wrote to Paul of Constantinople
to complain that this had not been done. He further reproached Paul for having
taken possession of the see when Pyrrhus had not been formally deposed, and
wrote to the Emperor to suggest that Pyrrhus should be tried at Rome. Sergius
of Cyprus expressed his adherence in a letter to the pope (29 May 643): but his
strongest support came from Africa, where the exarch Gregory was contemplating
rebellion.
The most resolute opponent of Monotheletism was
Maximus, archimandrite of Chrysopolis, who had met Sophronius in Africa shortly
before the Alexandrine union, and had now again gone thither to stir up
opposition to the Ekthesis. Here in the presence of Gregory he held a dispute
with Pyrrhus (July 645); who, hoping by Gregory's help to obtain restoration,
declared himself converted, and having gone to Rome with Maximus, condemned the
Ekthesis and was received by the pope with the honours of a patriarch. In 646
several synods were held in Africa; and letters in condemnation of the Ekthesis
were written to the pope, the Emperor, and the patriarch, the last being sent
through the pope. Theodore forwarded the African letter with a remonstrance of
his own; and Paul answered by an enunciation of the Monothelete doctrine; upon
which Theodore declared him deposed.
Gregory rebelled in 647: but in 648 he fell in battle
with the Arabs; and Pyrrhus, having nothing more to hope from the party of
Maximus, went to Ravenna and made his peace with the government by recanting
his recantation. Theodore then solemnly deposed and anathematised him in St Peter’s.
Meanwhile, as the Ekthesis had only shifted the dispute from operations to
wills, Paul made another attempt on the same lines to restore peace. An
imperial edict, known as the Type, was at his instigation put forth, by which
the Ekthesis was abrogated and all controversy on either
question forbidden under heavy penalties (648); and, when the papal
representatives refused to accept this, they were punished by imprisonment,
flogging, or exile.
Theodore died in May 649; and his successor, Martin,
who was consecrated without awaiting the imperial confirmation (5 July),
immediately held a synod in the Lateran, which asserted the doctrine of two
wills, denounced all who maintained one operation or one will, and condemned
the Ekthesis and the Type, and Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, Cyrus, and Theodore of
Faran (5-31 Oct.). The synodal acts were sent to the Emperor; and Paul of
Thessalonica, who refused to accept the Roman theology, was declared deposed by
a letter of the pope.
Martin by his illegal consecration and flagrant
disregard of the edict had defied the Emperor; and the answer of Constans,
acting under the advice of Paul, was to send the chamberlain Olympius to Italy
as exarch with orders to find out the general disposition towards the Type,
and, if it should be favourable, and if the local army supported him, to arrest
Martin, whom the Emperor did not recognise as pope, have the Type read in all
the churches, and make the bishops sign it; but, if not, to wait till a
stronger force could be collected. Olympius however, observing the state of
affairs at Rome, preferred to play the part of Gregory, and accordingly came to
an understanding with the pope and threw off allegiance to the Emperor. Some
time afterwards he died in Sicily, whither he had gone to repel an Arab
invasion; and after the imperial authority was thus restored in Italy, the new
exarch, Theodore Calliopas, entered Rome with an army (15 June 653), and
arrested Martin in the Lateran church (17 June) on charges of sending a letter
and money to the Arabs and of disrespect to the Virgin (i.e. Nestorianism). At
midnight on the 18th he was removed from Rome, conveyed to Misenum (1 July) and
placed on board ship for Constantinople, which after a short stay in Naxos he
reached (17 Sept.). He was kept in prison till 20 Dec., and then brought before
the Senate. Being ill from the voyage and the long confinement, he was carried
to the court in a litter. The charges of usurpation and disobedience, the real
ground of his arrest, were kept in the background, nor do we hear anything more
of those made against him at Rome; but he was accused of complicity with
Olympius. Next, after the Emperor had been consulted, he was first exposed to
the public gaze in the entrance-hall of the building, and then placed in a
gallery overlooked by a hall in the palace where Constans was: here a crowd was
allowed to surround him. The treasurer after again consulting the Emperor
finally ordered him to be deprived of his pontifical headdress, as not being
lawful pope, and delivered to the praefect to be beheaded. He was then stripped
naked except for one torn garment and dragged with a chain round his neck over
rough stones to a common prison with a sword in front of him, and thence to the
praefect’s praetorium, where he was chained to the jailer: but in the evening
the praefect sent food with an assurance that the sentence would not be
executed, and the chains were removed. The sentence had in fact been passed in
order to frighten him into submission; and after Paul's death, which shortly followed, unsuccessful attempts were made to extort a
statement that Pyrrhus, who had returned to Constantinople after his
reconciliation and was seeking restoration, had recanted under compulsion at
Rome. Nevertheless Pyrrhus was restored, but died on Whit Sunday following (1
June 654). As all attempts to induce Martin to communicate with the clergy of
Constantinople were vain, he was on 15 Mar. removed to the house of a scribe,
and thence on 11 Apr. to a ship, in which he was conveyed to Cherson in the
Crimea (15 May), where he remained till his death in Sept. 655, complaining
bitterly of the lack of food and the neglect of his friends at Rome to send
supplies.
Deposition of Martin [645-655
Martin had however better reason to complain of the
fickleness of the Romans. At the time of his arrest the exarch had ordered the
clergy to elect a new pope; and after a year’s resistance they yielded, and (10
Aug. 654) Eugenius was consecrated to the papacy. The new pope sent envoys to
Constantinople without a letter; and these communicated with the new patriarch,
Peter, under a compromise. It had been implied in the Type that the expressions
“one will” and “two wills” were both in a sense correct: and, though this
doctrine had been condemned by the synod, the envoys acquiesced in it (655).
Peter then sent a synodical to the pope in which this
principle was stated; but popular clamour compelled Eugenius to reject it.
Maximus had since 645 been living in Rome; and, as he
was believed to have been the chief instigator of Martin’s resistance, it was
thought that, if he could be induced to submit, the cause would be won.
Accordingly an imperial commissioner who had been sent to order Eugenius to
communicate with Peter tried to persuade Maximus to accept the Type; and on his
refusal he was arrested and conveyed to Constantinople, where he was brought
before the treasurer and Senate and accused of advising the magister militum of Numidia to disobey
the orders of Heraclius to march against the Arabs in Egypt, of encouraging
Gregory's rebellion, of disrespect to the Emperor, and of anathematising the
Type (655). During part of the proceedings the patriarchs Peter of
Constantinople and Macedonius of Antioch, who resided in the capital, were
present, and on Whit Sunday (17 May) Peter made a special attempt to induce him
to accept the compromise which had satisfied the Roman envoys: but, as he
refused to yield anything, he was banished to Bizye in Thrace. On 24 Aug. 656
Theodosius, bishop of Caesarea in Bithynia, and two senators came to Bizye with
an offer to repeal the Type if he would communicate with the Church of
Constantinople; and on this being rejected Theodosius agreed to accept two
wills and operations, that is without condemning the other doctrine according
to the compromise; and, as Maximus insisted on the Emperor and the patriarch
sending a profession of faith to the pope, Theodosius undertook to try to bring
this about. Maximus promised that, if Theodosius were sent to Rome, he would go
with him, but refused to accept one will and one operation in any sense.
Constans would not concede this, but made another attempt to win Maximus over.
On 8 Sept. he was brought with great respect to the monastery of Theodore at
Rhegium, and the next day Theodosius and two patricians came and promised him
high honours if he would accept the Type. This he also refused, and the
patricians assailed him with blows and abuse till persuaded by Theodosius to
desist. He was then conveyed under military guard to Selymbria (14 Sept.), and
thence to Perberis. Five years later he was brought before a synod at
Constantinople, anathematised with Sophronius and Martin, and flogged. He was
then deprived of his tongue and right hand, taken to Lazica (8 June 661), and
imprisoned. In this exile he died at the age of 82 (13 Aug. 662).
Sixth General Council [67o-681
The Armenians had outwardly accepted orthodox
communion in 631; but, when Constans in 648 ordered them to receive the Synod
of Chalcedon, they in a synod at Dvin openly refused. In 652, the chiefs having
invited the Arabs into the country, Constans came with an army and lodged at
Dvin in the house of the Catholicus, Nerses, who inclined to the Roman party
and from opposition to the chiefs proclaimed the Synod, but had so little
support that, when the Emperor returned early in 653, he was forced to go with
him and did not return to his see till 658. After his death
in 662 no more was heard of the union.
Vitalian, who succeeded Eugenius on 30 July 657,
announced his ordination to Constans and sent a synodical to Peter in which he
conformed to the Type. Peter in answer wrote a letter in which the numbers “one”
and “two” applied to operations and wills were declared immaterial, the Emperor
sent presents and renewed the privileges of the Church of Rome, and Vitalian’s
name was inserted in the diptychs of Constantinople, which did not contain that
of any of his predecessors since Honorius. Peter's successor, Thomas (17 Apr.
667-15 Nov. 669) sent no synodical; but for this the Arab attack was afterwards
alleged as a reason. The next two patriarchs, John (Nov./Dec.
669–Aug. 675) and Constantine (2 Sept. 675-9 Aug. 677), sent synodicals in
which no reference was made to the disputed points; but, Constans being dead,
Vitalian yielded to popular feeling and rejected John’s synodical: similarly
his successor, Adeodatus (672-676), rejected that of Constantine; and his name
was therefore not inserted in the diptychs of Constantinople. Accordingly the
next patriarch, Theodore, sent no synodical, and, supported by Macarius of
Antioch, urged Constantine IV to have Vitalian’s name expunged from the
diptychs. The Emperor, not wishing to perpetuate the schism, refused the
request and wrote to Pope Donus (676-678), asking him, as the war prevented a
general synod, to send deputies to discuss the disputed points with the two
patriarchs. When the letter arrived, Donus was dead; and, as his successor,
Agatho (678-681), had no intention of sending deputies to confer with Theodore,
no answer came, and the Emperor was persuaded to allow Vitalian’s name to be
struck off. The original purpose of Monotheletism however, the reconciliation
of the Monophysites, had been nullified by the Arab conquests; and, as the pope
conceded nothing, Constantine saw that to restore unity he would have to
sacrifice the patriarch. Theodore was therefore deposed, and his place taken by
George (Nov. or Dec. 679). Agatho then summoned a synod, which met at Rome on
27 Mar. 680, maintained the doctrine of two operations and two wills, condemned
Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, Peter, Cyrus, and Theodore of Faran, and sent its
decree to the Emperor with a long dogmatic letter from Agatho on the model of
the Tome of Leo. Similar decrees were passed by synods at Milan and at Hatfield
in England (17 Sept.). The deputies from Rome, who reached Constantinople on 10
Sept., were also accredited as representatives of the pope and the synod at the
proposed conference: and, peace having now been made, Constantine requested the
patriarchs to summon the bishops under their jurisdiction to a synod, which met
in the domed hall (trullus) of the palace in the presence of the Emperor and
the chief officers of state (7 Nov.), and, as representatives of the
non-existent patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem were somehow procured,
called itself oecumenical. The sittings, of which there were eighteen,
continued to 16 Sept. 681; and the synod agreed as well with the pope in
dogmatic matters as that of Chalcedon. The letter of Menas was pronounced
spurious, as were also two letters ascribed to Vigilius. Macarius brought
forward patristic passages in support of Monotheletism; but they were declared
to prove nothing, and quotations were produced on the other side. George now
professed himself in agreement with the letters of the pope and the Roman synod;
and at his request Vitalian’s name was restored to the diptychs. Macarius on
the other hand refused to abandon his Monothelete opinions and was deposed
together with his disciple, the archimandrite Stephen, and Theophanes was
appointed to succeed him. All the Monothelete leaders mentioned in the Roman
decree were then condemned with the addition of Honorius, and their writings
ordered to be burnt. An attempt at a compromise made by the presbyter
Constantine of Apamea in Syria was rejected, and those condemned were formally
anathematised in spite of the protest of George against the inclusion of his
predecessors in the anathema: with these Macarius and other living Monotheletes
were joined. A statement of faith was then drawn up, and a letter addressed to
the pope with a request to confirm the proceedings. Finally an imperial edict
was posted up in the vestibule of St Sophia, which forbade anyone under severe
penalties to teach one will or operation. Macarius and his followers were
banished to Rome, where, with the exception of two who recanted, they were shut
up in separate monasteries. The papal envoys, who took back with them the
synodal Acts and a letter of the Emperor addressed to the pope-elect, Leo II,
dated 31 Dec., reached Rome in June 682; and Leo after his consecration (17 Aug.)
confirmed the Acts in a letter to Constantine.
670-682] Constantine and his Brothers
After the peace with the Arabs and the defeat by the
Bulgarians in 680, which compelled the Emperor to cede the country north of
Haemus, his chief attention was given to the succession. The ancient practice
had been to divide an emperor's dominions between his sons after his death: and
such a division had been projected by Maurice, but prevented by his overthrow.
After the Arab conquests the reduced size of the Empire made this practically
impossible: and Heraclius therefore arranged that the only two among his sons
who had reached years of discretion and were not disqualified by any physical
defect should reign jointly, a provision of which we
have seen the bad result. Constans went further and gave the imperial title to
all his sons while they were children, and therefore at his death left three
nominal colleagues on the throne: but, as joint government was impossible, the
exercise of the imperial functions fell to the eldest. This state of affairs
quickly led to trouble. The Anatolic troops soon after their return from Sicily
marched to Chrysopolis and demanded that Heraclius and Tiberius should be given
an equal share of power with their elder brother, saying that, as there was a
Trinity in heaven, there should be a Trinity on earth (670). Constantine
pretended to agree and issued a proclamation that all three should receive
equal honour, while he sent Theodore of Colonia to invite the leaders to come
into the city and confer with the Senate, but, as soon as they were in his
power, had them arrested and hanged; and the troops, deprived of their leaders,
retired. Still however the younger brothers bore the imperial title, and their names appeared upon coins and in official
documents, so that, when Constantine had sons of his own, the difficulty arose
that in case of his death his brother Heraclius, as senior Emperor, would
exclude them from the sovereignty. Accordingly, when his elder son, Justinian,
had reached the age of 12, he deprived his brothers of their titles and cut off
their noses (681). Henceforth the younger sons of emperors, though they might
bear imperial titles, were usually excluded from power and from marriage; and,
as the daughters of an emperor who had sons had been excluded from marriage
since Theodosius' time, collateral branches, and therefore disputed
successions, were avoided; but on the other hand a lasting hereditary
succession was made impossible, and the crown lay open to any ambitious man or any
nominee of the army — a state of affairs which continued till the system was
abolished by the Comneni.
Accession of Justinian II [683-691
Having thus cleared the way, Constantine in 685
crowned Justinian as Augustus, but avoided his father's mistake of also
crowning his other son, Heraclius. It was nearly his last act: at the beginning
of September he died of dysentery, and the boy Justinian became sole emperor.
Constantine had taken advantage of the anarchy which
followed the death of the Caliph Yazid (683) to renew the war; and Melitene was
destroyed by the Romans, and the Arabs forced to abandon Germanicea. Hence
Abd-al-Malik on succeeding his father, Marwan, as Caliph in Syria, was
compelled to renew the peace by paying a larger tribute (7 July 685).
Nevertheless the new Emperor not only sent an army under the Isaurian Leontius
to Armenia and the adjacent countries as far as the Caucasus, which, having
seceded from the Arabs, had been invaded by the Chazars (687), but sent another
to co-operate with the Mardaites in Syria, and Antioch was occupied (688) for a
time. Upon this Abd-al-Malik, not even yet being in a position to carry on war,
again asked for terms, and a truce was made for ten years on the conditions
that he should pay the same tribute as before, that Armenia, Iberia, Arzanene,
and Atropa tene should be ceded, and the tribute of Cyprus divided, and that
Justinian should transfer the Mardaites to his own dominions (689). The Emperor
then went to Armenia where he appointed chiefs, took hostages, and received
12,000 Mardaites, whom he settled in different parts of the empire (690). By
this step his forces were increased; but the Mardaites would perhaps have been
of more use to him in the Caliph’s territories.
Justinian had been willing to make peace because he
had become involved in a war with the Bulgarians, in which he suffered a defeat
(689). During this war however he reduced large numbers of Slavs, whom he
settled in the north-west of Asia Minor and organised as a military force under
the name of “peculiar people”: this force is said to have amounted to 30,000
men.
686-695] Battle of Sebastopolis
Having made peace with the Bulgarians and strengthened
the offensive power of the Empire by the acquisition of Mardaites and Slavs, he
sought an opportunity of breaking the peace with the Arabs. He began by a
breach of the spirit of the compact by which the tribute of Cyprus had been
divided; for he removed a large proportion of the population to the Hellespont
and other districts in the south and west of Asia Minor (691): and as Justinian
I, whose example he seems always to have had in mind, had refounded his native
town as Nova Justiniana and given it primatial rights in northern Illyricum, so
Justinian II founded the city of Nea Justinianopolis for the Cypriots in the
Hellespont, and the synod of 691 recognised the metropolitan of Cyprus, now
bishop of this city, as metropolitan of the Hellespont, in prejudice of the
rights of Cyzicus, aid enacted that he should enjoy the same independence of
the patriarch as in Cyprus. Next the Emperor refused to receive the
tribute-money in the new Arabic coinage, on which texts from the Koran were
imprinted, and in spite of the Caliph's protests announced that he would no
longer observe the treaty, and collected forces for an attack. Abd-al-Malik,
delivered from his rival Abdallah, had no reason to reject the challenge, and
sent his brother Mahomet into Roman territory. Meanwhile Justinian with a large
army, in which the bulk of the Slavs were included, marched to Sebastopolis,
while the Arabs occupied Sebastia. Between these two places the armies met, and
the Arabs went into the battle with a copy of the treaty displayed instead of a
flag (693). At first victory inclined to the Romans; but, most of the Slavs
having been induced by promises to go over, they were routed; and Justinian on
reaching the district where the Slavs were settled masacred all whom he could
find with their wives and children. The first result of the defeat was the loss
of Armenia; and in 694 Mahomet with the Slavs again invaded the Empire and
carried off many captives, while an attempt of the Romans to invade Syria from
Germanicea led to another disastrous overthrow, which forced them to abandon
that city, and in 695 Yahya raided the country S.W. of Melitene.
The ex-patriarch Theodore by accepting the new order
of things had escaped condemnation at the synod, and after Constantine's death
induced the new Emperor to deprive George and restore him to the see (Feb./Mar.
686). As his restoration would be likely to rouse the pope's suspicions,
Justinian laid the synodal Acts before the patriarchs of Constantinople and
Antioch, the pope's responsalis, such bishops as were in the city, the chief
civil and military officials, and the heads of the civic factions, obtained
their confirmation of them (686), and announced the fact to Pope John V with an
assurance of his intention to maintain the authority of the synod (17 Feb.
687).
Trullan Council [688-695
But the mental attitude of East and West differed so
much, and through their different surroundings their practices had become so
divergent, that concord could not long be maintained. Neither the fifth nor the
sixth synod had passed canons; and therefore, though the Arab invasions had in
many ways introduced new conditions which needed regulation, there were no
canons of general obligation later than those of Chalcedon. Accordingly at the
end of 691 a synod was held in the Domed Hall for the purpose of making canons
only. This synod, generally known as the Trullan from its place of meeting, or
the Quinisext because it completed the task of the fifth and sixth synods,
called itself oecumenical: it was attended by the patriarchs Paul of
Constantinople (Jan. 688—Aug. 694) and George of Antioch, and titular
patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem; and, though the papal legates did not
formally take part in it, Basil of Gortyna claimed to represent the Roman
Church. The assembly drew up a list of existing canons which were to be held
binding, regularised the practice that had grown up with regard to the Eastern
patriarchates by enacting that a bishop should suffer no detriment because he
was prevented by barbarian incursions from going to his see, laid down rules dealing
with the monastic life, the receiving of the eucharist, and the taking of
orders, and condemned some surviving heathen observances and some practices
prevailing in outlying parts of the Empire such as Armenia and Africa. If it
had done no more, little would have been heard of it; but in the following
points it offended the Church of Rome. It accepted all the apostolic canons,
whereas the Roman Church received fifty only, and it laid special stress on the
sixty-fifth, which forbade the Roman practice of fasting on Saturdays in Lent;
following Acts xv. 29, it forbade the eating of flesh that contained blood; it
forbade the representation of Christ as a lamb in pictures; above all it gave
the patriarch of Constantinople equal rights with the pope, and in regard to
the question of clerical celibacy, on which the Eastern and Western customs
differed, it not only condemned the practice of compelling men to separate from
their wives on taking higher orders, but declared such separation, except under
special circumstances, to be unlawful. On the other hand it condemned marriage
after ordination to the sub-diaconate and forbade the ordination of men who had
been married twice. These regulations were described as a compromise; but in
reality they differed little from a confirmation of the Eastern practice, with
a prohibition of irregularities. Papal legates were present in Constantinople,
and were afterwards induced to sign the Acts; but Pope Sergius disowned them,
and, when urged to sign himself, refused. Justinian at last ordered him to be arrested
and brought to Constantinople; but the army of Italy supported the pope, and it
was only by his intercession that the imperial commissioner escaped with his
life (695).
At the beginning of his reign Justinian was necessarily
in the hands of others; and, as he afterwards devoted his restless energies
almost entirely to foreign and ecclesiastical affairs, the civil administration
continued to be conducted by ministers who, as is natural in men who know that
their power is precarious, had little scruple about the means adopted to extort
money. Of these the most obnoxious were the two finance-ministers, the
treasurer, Stephen, a Persian eunuch, who is said to have flogged the Emperor’s
mother, Anastasia, during his absence, and the public logothete Theodotus, an
ex-monk, who used to hang men up over fires for purposes of extortion. Such
abuses were promoted by the fact that Justinian, as in other matters, so in the
love of building followed the model of his namesake, and for these operations
large sums were needed; and his unpopularity was increased by the conduct of
Stephen, who, acting as superintendent of the works, had the workmen and their
overseers tortured or stoned if they did not satisfy him. Further, on one
occasion, in spite of the opposition of the patriarch Callinicus, the Emperor
pulled down a church to gain room for building, and so made the clergy of the
capital his enemies. Again, whereas in earlier times prisons had generally been
used to keep persons in custody for a short time, it now became the practice to
detain men for long periods in the praetorium by way of punishment; and, though
this may often have been a mitigation, the novelty roused hostility, and the
existence of many disaffected persons in one place constituted a danger which
brought about the Emperor's fall.
Among the prisoners was Leontius, who commanded in
Armenia in 687. One night towards the end of 695, after he had been in prison
three years, he was suddenly released, named general of Hellas (as this theme
is not otherwise known at this time, it was perhaps a temporary commission),
supplied with a military train sufficient to fill three cutters, and told to
start immediately. Unable to believe in the Emperor's sincerity, he consulted
two of his friends, Paul, a monk and astrologer, and Gregory the archimandrite,
an ex-military officer, who urged him to strike a blow at once, assuring him of success. Leontius and his small following then went to
the praetorium and knocked at the gate, saying that the Emperor was there. The
praefect hastily opened the gate and was seized, beaten, and bound hand and
foot; and the prisoners, of whom many were soldiers, were released and armed.
The whole force then went to the Forum, where Leontius raised the cry, “All
Christians to St Sophia!” and sent messengers to do the same all over the city,
while a report was spread that Justinian had given orders for a massacre
(perhaps of the Blue faction), and that the life of the patriarch was in
danger. A great crowd, especially of the Blues, collected in the baptistery of
the cathedral, while Leontius with a few followers went to the patriarch and
compelled him to come to the baptistery, where he gave his sanction to the
rising by the words, “This is the day that the Lord hath made”, which the crowd
answered by the formula of imprecation, “May the bones of Justinian be dug up!”
They then rushed to the circus, to which at daybreak the Emperor, deserted by
all, was brought. The people demanded his immediate decapitation but
Leontius was content with cutting off his nose and tongue (not so completely as
to prevent him from speaking) and banishing him to Cherson. The multitude then
seized Stephen and Theodotus, dragged them by ropes along the main street till
they were dead, and burnt their bodies. The Blues proclaimed Leontius emperor,
and he was crowned by the patriarch.
As the Arabs were preparing to reconquer Africa, there
was little fighting in Asia Minor during Leontius’ reign. In 697 the Caliph’s son, Walid, invaded the Empire from Melitene, and the
patrician Sergius, who commanded in Lazica, betrayed that country to the Arabs.
Further invasions were prevented by a plague and famine; and in 698 the Romans
entered the district of Antioch and gained an unimportant victory.
In 697 Leontius sent the whole fleet under John the
patrician to recover Africa, which had for the second time fallen into the
hands of the Arabs; and John, having expelled the enemy from Carthage and the
other fortified towns on the coast, reported his success to the Emperor and
remained in Carthage for the winter. But early in 698, when a larger armament
arrived from the east, he was unable to withstand it, and, abandoning his
conquests, returned for reinforcements. When he reached Crete however, the crews
renounced their allegiance and proclaimed Apsimar, drungarius (vice-admiral) of
the Cibyrrhaeots, emperor under the imperial name of Tiberius. They then sailed
to Constantinople, which was suffering from plague, and after a short
resistance the besiegers were admitted through the gate of Blachernae at the
N.W. corner by the treachery of the custodians, and plundered the capital like
a conquered city. Leontius was deprived of his nose and sent to a monastery,
and his friends and officers were flogged and banished and their property was
confiscated (end of 698).
The new Emperor, as a sailor, gave special attention
to the defence of the Empire on the sea side, restoring the sea-wall of
Constantinople, and settling the Mardaites on the Pamphylian coast. He further
repeopled Cyprus by sending back the inhabitants whom Justinian had removed
(699). Military operations also were conducted with considerable success, which
must be ascribed to an innovation which Tiberius immediately after his
accession introduced by appointing his brother Heraclius, who as a general
shewed himself not unworthy of his name, commander-in-chief of all the Asiatic
themes, and charging him with the custody of the Cappadocian frontier. In 701
the Romans made a successful raid as far as Samosata, and in 704 Heraclius
killed or captured the whole of an Arab force which was besieging Sisium in
Cilicia. On the other hand Walid raided Roman territory in 699, his brother
Abdallah took Theodosiopolis in 700, in 703 Mopsuestia was occupied and Armenia
Quarta betrayed to the Arabs, and in 705 the Caliph's son, Maslama, took two
fortresses, and a Roman army was defeated in Armenia.
Meanwhile Justinian was living in Cherson, a place
which, while acknowledging the supremacy of the Emperor, was not governed by
any imperial official, and enjoyed a large measure of republican freedom. Here
he made no secret of his intention to seek restoration, and the citizens,
fearing the Emperor's vengeance, determined either to kill him or to send him
to Constantinople. He had however friends in the town, who informed him of
their purpose, and, fleeing to Dora, in the southeast of the Crimea, he asked
to be allowed to visit the Khan of the Chazars, who ruled in the neighbourhood.
The Khan granted the request, received him with honour, and gave him his sister
in marriage, to whom in memory of the wife of
Justinian I he gave the name of Theodora. He then settled at Phanagoria.
Tiberius in alarm promised the Khan many gifts if he
sent him either Justinian himself or his head; and the Khan, agreeing to this,
sent him a guard under pretence of protection, while instructing his
representative at Phanagoria and the governor of Bosporus to kill him as soon
as orders should be received. Of this Theodora was informed by a slave of the
Khan and told Justinian, who sent for the two officials separately and
strangled them. Sending Theodora back to her brother, he embarked on a
fishing-boat and sailed to Symbolum near Cherson, where he took his friends
from the city on board, one of whom bore the Georgian name of Varaz Bakur. He
then asked the aid of the Bulgarian ruler, Tervel, promising him liberal gifts
and his daughter in marriage. To this he agreed; and, accompanied by Tervel
himself and an army of Bulgarians and Slays, Justinian advanced to
Constantinople (705). Here the citizens received him with insults; but after
three days he found an entrance with a few followers by an aqueduct, and the
defenders, thinking the walls were undermined, were seized with panic and made
no resistance. Tiberius fled across the Propontis to Apollonia, but was
arrested and brought back, while Heraclius was seized in Thrace and hanged on
the walls with his chief officers. Tervel was invited into the city, seated by
Justinian's side as Caesar, and dismissed with abundance of presents, while
Varaz Bakur was made a proto-patrician and Count of Obsequium. Tiberius and
Leontius were exhibited in chains all over the city, and then brought into the
circus, where Justinian sat with a foot on the neck of each, while the people,
playing on the names “Leontius” and “Apsimar”, cried, “Thou hast trodden upon
the asp and the basilisk (kinglet), and upon the lion and the dragon hast thou
trampled”. They were then taken to the amphitheatre and beheaded. Of the rest
of Justinian’s enemies some were thrown into the sea in sacks, and others
invited to a banquet and, when it was over, arrested and hanged or beheaded;
but Theodosius the son of Tiberius was spared, and afterwards became celebrated
as bishop of Ephesus. Callinicus was blinded and banished to Rome, and Cyrus, a
monk of Amastris, made patriarch (706). On the other hand 6000 Arab prisoners
were released and sent home. As soon as his throne was secure, Justinian
fetched his wife, who had in the meantime borne him a son, whom he named
Tiberius and crowned as his colleague.
Reconciliation with the Pope [706-711
One of the first objects to which the restored Emperor
turned his attention was the establishment of an understanding with Rome as to
the Trullan synod. Having learned that coercion was useless, he tried another
plan. He sent the Acts to John VII, asking him to hold a synod and confirm the
canons which he approved and disallow the rest; but John, fearing to give
offence, sent them back as he received them. His second successor, Constantine,
however consented to come to Constantinople and discuss the matter (710).
Landing seven miles from the capital, he was met and escorted into the city by
the child Tiberius and the senators and patriarch; and Justinian, who was then
at Nicaea, met him at Nicomedia, and, prostrating himself before him, kissed
his feet. A satisfactory compromise (of what nature we do not know) was made,
and the Pope returned to Rome (Oct. 711).
In the time of Tiberius the Arabs had never been able
to cross the Taurus; but with the removal of Heraclius Asia Minor was again laid open to their ravages. A raid by Hisham the
son of Abd-al-Malik in 706 produced no results: but in 707 Maslama, accompanied
by Maimun the Mardaite; advanced to Tyana (June). A rash attack by Maimun cost
him his life; and the Caliph Walid sent reinforcements under his son, Abbas.
All the winter the Arabs lay before Tyana, which was stoutly defended; and
Justinian, who had fallen out with Tervel and required the Asiatic troops in
Europe, sent an army mostly of rustics to its relief. The generals however
quarrelled, and the rabble was easily routed by the Arabs, who pressed the
siege of Tyana until it surrendered (27 Mar. 708). The inhabitants were removed
to Arab territory. Maslama then raided the country to the north-east as far as
Gazelon near Amasia, while Abbas after defeating a Roman force near Dorylaeum,
which he took, advanced to Nicomedia and Heraclea Pontica, while a small
detachment of his army entered Chrysopolis and burnt the ferry-boats. In 709
Maslama and Abbas invaded Isauria, where five fortresses were taken; but at sea
the Romans captured the admiral Khalid, whom however Justinian sent to the
Caliph, and attacked Damietta in Egypt. In 710 an unimportant raid was made by
Walid's son, Abd-al-Aziz: but in 711 Maslama took Camacha, as well as Taranta
and two other fortresses in Hexapolis, which was now annexed; and, as Sisium
was the same year occupied by Othman, the frontier was advanced to the Sarus.
On the other hand a Roman army sent to recover Lazica, where Phasis only
remained in Roman hands, after besieging Archaeopolis was compelled to retreat.
After a defeat by the Bulgarians (708) and the
restoration of peace, Justinian turned his energies to exacting vengeance from
the Chersonites, who had now accepted a Chazar governor. In 710 he collected
ships of all kinds, for the equipment of which he raised a special contribution
from all the inhabitants of the capital, and sent them to Cherson under the
patrician Stephen Asmictus, whose orders were to kill the ruling men with all
their families and establish Elijah the spatharius (military chamberlain) as
governor. With him was sent a certain Vardan, who in spite of his Armenian name
(probably derived from his mother’s family) was son of the patrician Nicephorus
of Pergamum who had commanded in Africa and Asia under Constans, and, having
been banished to Cephallenia by Tiberius and recalled by Justinian, was to be
again exiled to Cherson. The city was unable to resist, the chief magistrate,
Zoilus, and forty of his principal colleagues with their families and the Tudun
(the Chazar governor), were sent in chains to Justinian, seven others were
roasted over a fire, twenty drowned in a boat filled with stones, and the rest
beheaded. The children were however spared for slavery; and Justinian, furious
at this, ordered the fleet to return (Oct.).
Off Paphlagonia the fleet was almost destroyed by a
storm; but he threatened to send another to raze Cherson and the neighbouring
places to the ground and kill every living person in them. The citizens then
strengthened their defences and obtained the help of the Khan, while Elijah and
Vardan made common cause with them. Justinian sent 300 men under George, the
public logothete, John the praefect, and Christopher, turmarch of the
Thracesii, with orders to replace the Tudun and Zoilus in their positions, and
bring Elijah and Vardan to Constantinople (711). The citizens, pretending to
accept these terms, admitted the small force; but immediately shut the gates,
killed George and John, and handed the rest over to the Chazars, and the Tudun
having died on the way, the Chazars avenged him by killing them. The
Chersonites then proclaimed Vardan emperor, and he assumed the Greek name of
Philippicus. Justinian, more enraged than ever, had Elijah's children killed in
their mother's arms and compelled her to marry her negro cook, while he sent another fleet with powerful siege-engines under the
patrician Maurus Bessus with the orders which he had before threatened to give.
Philippicus fled to the Chazars, and Maurus took two of the towers of the city,
but, Chazar reinforcements having arrived, was unable to do more, and, afraid
to return, declared for Philippicus and asked the Khan to send him back, which
he did on receiving security in money for his safety. The fleet then sailed for
Constantinople. Justinian's suspicions had been aroused by the delay; and,
thinking himself safer in the territory of the Obsequian theme, commanded by
Varaz Bakur, he took with him the troops of that theme, some of the Thracesii,
and 3000 Bulgarians sent by Tervel, and, having crossed the Bosporus and left
the rest in the plain of Damatrys about ten miles east of Chalcedon, proceeded
with the chief officers and the Thracesian contingent to the promontory of
Sinope, which the fleet would pass. After a time he saw it sail by, and immediately returned to Damatrys. Meanwhile
Philippicus had entered Constantinople without opposition. The Empress
Anastasia took the little Tiberius to the church of the Virgin at Blachernae,
where he sat with amulets hung round his neck, holding a column of the altar
with one hand and a piece of the cross with the other. Maurus and John Struthus
the spatharius had been sent to kill him; and, when they entered the church,
Maurus was delayed by Anastasia's entreaties, but John transferred the amulets
to his own neck, laid the piece of the cross on the altar, and carried the
child to a postern-gate of the city, and cut his throat. Varaz Bakur, thinking
Justinian's cause desperate, had left the army and fled, but he was caught and
killed. Elijah was sent with a small force against Justinian himself, whose
soldiers on a promise of immunity deserted their master, and Elijah cut off his
head and sent it to Philippicus, who sent it to Rome (end of 711).
Reign of Philippicus [711-713
The new Emperor was a ready and plausible speaker, and
had a reputation for mildness; but he was an indolent and dissolute man, who
neglected public affairs and squandered the money amassed by his predecessors.
Accordingly no better resistance was offered to the Arabs. In 712 Maslama and
his nephews, Abbas and Marwan, entered Roman territory from Melitene and took
Sebastia, Gazelon, and Amasia, whence Marwan advanced to Gangra, while Walid
ibn Hisham took Misthia in Lycaonia and carried off many of the inhabitants of
the country. In 713 Abd-al-Aziz again raided as far as Gazelon, while Yazid
invaded Isauria, and Abbas took Antioch in Pisidia and returned with numerous captives.
Meanwhile Philippicus for some unknown reason expelled the Armenians from the
Empire, and they were settled by the Arabs in Armenia Quarta and the district
of Melitene (712). In Europe also the Bulgarians advanced to the gates of
Constantinople (712).
There was however one subject on which Philippicus
showed a misplaced energy. Having been educated by Stephen, the pupil of
Macarius, he was a fervent Monothelete, and even before entering the city he
ordered the picture of the sixth synod to be removed from the palace and the
names of those condemned in it restored to the diptychs. Cyrus, who refused to
comply with his wishes, was deposed and confined in a monastery, and a more
pliant patriarch found in the deacon John (early in 712), who was supported by
two men afterwards celebrated, Germanus of Cyzicus and Andrew of Crete. Shortly
afterwards the Acts preserved in the palace were burnt, and a condemnation of
the synod and the chief Dithelete bishops was issued, while many prominent men
who refused to sign this were exiled. At Rome the document was contemptuously
rejected, the Romans retaliated by placing a picture of the six synods in St
Peter's and abandoning the public use of the Emperor’s name; and Peter, who was
sent to Rome as duke, was attacked and forced to retire (713).
713-715] Accession of Anastasius II
An emperor without hereditary claim to respect, who
could not defend the Empire from invasion and wantonly disturbed the peace of
the Church, was not likely to reign long; but the fall of Philippicus was
eventually brought about by a plot. A portion of the Obsequian theme, which had
been the most closely attached to Justinian, had been brought to Thrace to act
against the Bulgarians, whose ravages still continued; and, trusting to the
support of these soldiers and of the Green faction, George Buraphus, Count of
Obsequian, and the patrician Theodore Myacius, who had been with Justinian at
his return from exile, made a conspiracy against the Emperor. After some games
in the circus, in which the Greens were victorious, he had given a banquet in
the baths of Zeuxippus, returned to the palace and gone to sleep, when an
officer of the Obsequian theme and his men rushed in, carried him to the robing
room of the Greens, and put out his eyes (3 June 713). The conspirators were
however not ready with a new emperor: and, as the other soldiers were not
inclined to submit to their dictation, they were unable to gain control of
affairs; and on the next day, which was Whit Sunday, Artemius, one of the chief
imperial secretaries, was chosen emperor and crowned, taking in memory of the
last civilian emperor the name of Anastasius. George and Theodore were requited
as they had served Philippicus, being blinded on 10 and 17 June respectively
and banished to Thessalonica.
The ecclesiastical policy of the late Emperor was
immediately reversed, the sixth synod being proclaimed at the coronation, and
the picture soon afterwards restored. Anastasius wrote to assure the Pope of
his orthodoxy; and John, who under Philippicus had from fear of offending
either Emperor or Pope sent no synodical to Rome, wrote to the Pope to explain
that he had always been an adherent of the synod. He therefore retained the see
till his death, when he was succeeded by Germanus (11 Aug. 715), who had also
abandoned Monotheletism.
Anastasius was a great contrast to his predecessor. A
capable man of affairs, he set himself to place the Empire in a state of
defence and appoint the best men to civil and military posts: but in the
condition to which affairs had been brought by the frenzy of Justinian and the indolence
of Philippicus a stronger ruler than this conscientious public servant was
needed. In 714 Maslama raided Galatia, Abbas took Heraclea (Cybistra) and two
other places, and his brother Bishr wintered in Roman territory. On the other
hand an Arab general was defeated and killed. In the anarchic state of the
Empire however Walid wished to send out something more than raiding
expeditions; and Anastasius, hearing reports of this, sent Daniel the praefect
on an embassy with instructions to find out what was going on; and on his
reporting that a great expedition was being prepared ordered all who were
unable to supply themselves with provisions for three years to leave
Constantinople, while he set himself to build ships, fill the granaries, repair
the walls, and provide weapons of defence.
In 715 a fleet from Egypt came, as in 655, to Phoenix
to cut wood for shipbuilding; and Anastasius chose the fastest ships and
ordered them to meet at Rhodes under a certain John, who also held the offices
of public logothete and deacon of St Sophia. Some of the Obsequian theme, whom
it was probably desired to remove from the neighbourhood of the capital, were
sent on board; and, when John gave the order to sail to Phoenix, these refused
to obey, cast off allegiance to Anastasius, and killed the admiral. Most of the
fleet then dispersed, but the mutineers sailed for Constantinople. On the way
they landed at Adramyttium, and, not wishing to be a second time defeated by
the absence of a candidate for the throne, chose a tax-collector named
Theodosius, whom, though he fled to the hills to escape, they seized and
proclaimed emperor. Anastasius, leaving Constantinople in a state of defence,
shut himself up in Nicaea, where he could watch the disaffected theme: but the
rebels rallied to their cause the whole theme with the Gotho-Greek irregulars
of Bithynia, collected merchantships of all kinds, and advanced by land and sea
to Chrysopolis (Sept.). The fighting lasted six months, after which on the
imperial fleet changing its station they crossed to Thrace and were admitted by
treachery through the gate of Blachernae. The houses were then pillaged, and
the chief officials and the patriarch arrested and sent to Anastasius, who,
thinking further resistance useless, surrendered on promise of safety and was
allowed to retire as a monk to Thessalonica (5 Mar. 716).1
Meanwhile the Arab preparations were going on with
none to hinder. Even when the civil war was ended, there was little hope of
effectual resistance from the crowned tax-gatherer and his mutinous army; and,
if the Empire was to be saved, it was necessary that the government should be
in the hands of a soldier. The Obsequian theme, though from its proximity to
the capital it had been able to make and unmake emperors, was the smallest of
the three Asiatic themes; and the other two were not likely to pay much regard
to its puppet-sovereign. The larger of these, the Anatolic, was commanded by
Leo of Germanicea, whose family had been removed to Mesembria in Thrace when
Germanicea was abandoned. When Justinian returned, Leo met him with 500 sheep
and was made a spatharius. Afterwards he was sent to urge the Alans of the
Caucasus to attack the Abasgi, who were under Arab protection, and in spite of great
difficulties he was successful: moreover, though he seemed to be cut off from
the Empire, by his courage, presence of mind, and cunning (not always
accompanied by good faith) he effected not only his own return but that of 200
stragglers from the army which had invaded Lazica. This exploit made him a
marked man, and he was chosen by Anastasius for the command of the Anatolic
theme: on that Emperor's overthrow both he and the Armenian Artavazd, who
commanded the Armeniacs, refused to recognise Theodosius.
715-717] Leo and the Arabs
Late in 715 Maslama, who had been appointed to lead
the expedition against Constantinople, took the fortress of the Slavs, which
commanded the passes of the Taurus, and returned to Epiphania for the winter;
and in 716 he sent his lieutenant Sulaiman in advance, intending to follow with
a larger army, while Omar was appointed to command the fleet. Sulaiman
penetrated without opposition to Amorium, which, as it had then no garrison and
was on bad terms with Leo because of his rejection of Theodosius, he expected
easily to take. The Arabs moreover knew Leo to be a likely candidate for the
crown and hoped to use him as they had used Sapor: accordingly, as Amorium did
not immediately fall, they proclaimed him emperor, and the citizens were
induced by the hope of escaping capture to do the same. Sulaiman having
promised that, if Leo came to discuss terms of peace, he would raise the siege,
Leo came with 300 men, and the Arabs surrounded him to prevent his escape; but
Leo, who as a native of a town which had only been in Roman hands for ten years
since 640 (he was probably born a subject of the Caliph), was well acquainted
with the Arab character and could perhaps speak Arabic, induced some officers
whom he was entertaining to believe that he would go and see Maslama himself,
while he conveyed a message to the citizens to hold out, and finally escaped on
the pretext of a hunting expedition. Soon afterwards the Arabs became tired of
lying before Amorium and forced Sulaiman to raise the siege; whereupon Leo
threw 800 men into the city, removed most of the women and children, and
withdrew to the mountains of Pisidia, where he was safe from attack by Maslama,
who had now entered Cappadocia and, in hope of gaining Leo's support, refrained
from plundering the country. To him Leo sent an envoy to say that he had wished
to come and see him, but treachery had deterred him from doing so. From this
envoy Maslama heard of the garrisoning of Amorium; but this made him the more
desirous of securing Leo; and he promised, if he came, to make satisfactory
terms of peace. Leo pretended to agree, but protracted negotiations till
Maslama, unable for reasons of commissariat to remain in Anatolic territory,
had reached Acroinus (Prymnessus) in the Obsequian district, and then, having
previously come to an understanding with Artavazd, to whom he promised his
daughter in marriage (which, as he had no son, implied an assurance of the
succession), started for Constantinople, while Maslama passed into Asia, where he
wintered. The fleet was however less successful, for the Romans landed in Syria
and burnt Laodicea, while the Arabs had only reached Cilicia. Meanwhile Leo
made his way to Nicomedia, where Theodosius' son, who had been made Augustus,
and some of the chief officers of the palace, fell into his power. The
Obsequians were unable to organise serious resistance, and Theodosius after consulting the Senate and the patriarch sent Germanus to
Leo, and on receiving assurance of safety abdicated. Leo made a formal entry by
the Golden Gate and was crowned by the patriarch (25 Mar. 717). Theodosius and
his son took orders and ended their days in obscurity.
CHAPTER XIV
THE EXPANSION OF THE
SLAVS
|
|
|