Heraclius

An Illustration depicting Emperor Heraclius

Heraclius I (full name: Imperator Caesar Flavius Heraclius Augustus;^[1] AD 575 - February 11, 641) was an Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire who reigned from AD 610 to AD 641. As Roman Emperor, his rule is remembered for the Muslim Conquest of Roman Syria, most of Roman Egypt and the near collapse of the Sassanid Persian Empire. He was an energetic ruler, winning the Sassanid-Roman War of 602-628 despite how unfavorable the odds were for the Romans. During the conflict, he recovered the True Cross from the Sassanids who seized it from Jerusalem. However, his victories against the Persians would be tragically undone by the unexpected invasion of Syria and Egypt by the Muslim Rashidun Caliphate six years after the end of the decades long war between Sassanid Persia and Rome.

References[edit]

Theophanes, & Turtledove, H. (2011). The Chronicle of Theophanes: Anni mundi, 6095-6305 (A.D. 602-813). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.