Week 5: From Justinian to Heraclius. By Vanessa Purnama and David Sefton. 

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Table of Contents. Genre and Context of the Chronographia. Which qualities of leadership does Theophanes emphasise in his portrayal of Heraclius? What were his weaknesses? What does Theophanes’ account tell us about the ways in which foreign diplomacy was conducted in the seventh century AD? Postscript: Modern Scholars’ Critique of Theopanes. 

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Genre and Context of the Chronographia. Which qualities of leadership does Theophanes emphasise in his portrayal of Heraclius?  What were his weaknesses? What does Theophanes’ account tell us about the ways in which foreign diplomacy was conducted in the seventh century AD?
 Postscript: Modern Scholars’ Critique of Theopanes

Genre of the Chronographia.. Chronicle Sequential Narrative Highlights major political, military and religious events. Compilation and Consolidation of earlier sources. Universal History Broad Scope Religious Framework. 

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Chronicle Sequential Narrative Highlights major political, military and religious events. Compilation and Consolidation of earlier sources. Universal History Broad Scope Religious Framework

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Context of the Chronographia.. Historical Byzantine Empire in Turmoil Written during a time of military conflict, religious controversies and internal political strife. Reflects on the challenges faced by the Empire during this period Iconoclast Controversy Divided the Byzantine Empire greatly over the veneration of religious icons. Theophanes himself was a strong supporter of icon veneration and his portrayal of emperors is influenced by this stance.. 

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Historical Byzantine Empire in Turmoil Written during a time of military conflict, religious controversies and internal political strife. Reflects on the challenges faced by the Empire during this period Iconoclast Controversy Divided the Byzantine Empire greatly over the veneration of religious icons. Theophanes himself was a strong supporter of icon veneration and his portrayal of emperors is influenced by this stance.

Religious Monastic Perspectives Theophanes, being a monk, was heavily influenced by his religious background He presents historical events as rewards or punishments from God, based on a ruler or person’s piety. Byzantine Historiographical Tradition Combined historical narrative with religious and moral commentary Less concerned with critical historical analysis Purpose and Audience Likely intended for a Byzantine Christian audience, emphasising the importance of Christian values through a record of history.

Which qualities of leadership does Theophanes emphasise in his portrayal of Heraclius?. 

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Which qualities of leadership does Theophanes emphasise in his portrayal of Heraclius?

[image] Herakleios exhorted his army with these words: 'Let us be aware,
O brethren, that Ilthe Persian army, as it wanders through difficult
country,lJ'1 is exhausting and debilitating its horses. As for us, let us
hasten with all speed against Chosroes so that, falling upon him
confusion.' The troops, how-

Proficient in bolstering his troops’ morale Good at exploiting enemies’ weaknesses 


 Exhibits bravery and courage, especially when contrasted to the Persian Emperor, Chosroes. Eventually defeated the Persians after 6 years

[image] rays that they worshipped as a god.llw Thc emperor feigned that his
men had turned to flight and the Persians broke their ranks to pur-
sue them, as they thought, without restraint. But thc Romans turned
round and routed them valiantly, they killed many men and others
they drove to the mountain and pushed them into precipices and
inaccessible places and destroyed all of them. And in those

[image] Chosrocs abandoned the town and his army and took to flight.

[image] Emperor Heraclius at the Battle of Nineveh AD 627 x post r paperfolks r MedievalHistory

[image] So the emperor took up his army and straight away madc tor thc
heart Of Persia, burning the towns and villages. And there happened

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2. Religious Piety Believes God to be the reason for his success His military campaigns are done in God’s name Religious response to his enemies (Mercy) Venerated Christ whilst on campaign

[image] IIMay we win the crown of martyrdom so that we may be praised in

[image] Chosroes;3• and after making with him a permanent peace, he
handed back to him all the imprisoned Christians and the captives
held in every part of Persia together with the patriarch Zacharias and
the precious and life-giving Cross that had been taken from
Jerusalem by Sarbarazas, when the latter captured Jerusalem.35

[image] tives whom, in his compassionate heart, he pitied and liberated.
granted them proper care and repose so that all of them prayed with
tears in their eyes that "he should become the saviour even of Persia
and slav Chosroes, the destroyer of the world.lle

[image] encamped in the mansions of lesdem;10 he rested both his army and
his horses and celebrated the feast of Christ's Nativity in that place.

What were his weaknesses?. 1. Ineffective management of government in peacetime Failure to address ongoing religious disputes and controversies Lack of a succession plan. 

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1. Ineffective management of government in peacetime Failure to address ongoing religious disputes and controversies



 Lack of a succession plan

[image] while on the other he could not suffer the reproach. At this time,
then, in thc belief of doing a great deed, he published thc so.called
Edict,' which prescribed that one should conic" neither one nor two
energies in Christ, When thc sectaries of Severus had read this, they
made a mockery of the catholic Church in taverns and baths, saying:
The Chalcedonians, who formerly held the views of Nestorios,
came to their senses and returned to the truth when they united
with us in the one nature of Christ by way of the one energy. Now,
however, repenting of what was right, they have lost on both counts
bv confessing neither one nor two energies in

[image] IIAfter the death of Sergius,H Pyrros succeeded him in the sec of
Constantinople and impiously confirmed the doctrines of Sergius
and Kyros. When Herakteios had died and his son Constantine
became emperor, Pyrros along with Martina killed him by poison, 0
and Heraklonas, Martina's son, was made emperor- But the Senate
and thc City drove out Pyrros for his impiety togethcr with Martina
and her son. And so Constans, Constantine's son, became emperor,
while Paul, who was also a heretic, was ordained bishop of
Constantinople.lldto As for John, bishop of Rome, he convened a

What were his weaknesses?. 2. Misreading of the Arab Threat to Byzantine territories Demonstrates mistreatment of Arabs in his service and its impact through communication to others. Ends up losing Gaza and Hera to the Arabs. Continues to lose territory as his reign progresses.. 

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2. Misreading of the Arab Threat to Byzantine territories Demonstrates mistreatment of Arabs in his service and its impact through communication to others.   Ends up losing Gaza and Hera to the Arabs. Continues to lose territory as his reign progresses.

[image] ing to custom, the eunuch drove them away, saying, 'The emperor can
barely pay his soldiers their wages, much less these dogs!' Distressed
by this, the Arabs went over to their fellow-tribesmen, and it was they
that led them to the rich country of Gaza, which is the gateway to the
desert in the direction of Mount Sinai.B

[image] II In this year Aboubacharos sent four generals' who were conducted,
as I said earlier, by the Arabs and so came and took Hera? and the
whole territory of Gaza.3 At length, Sergius arrived with some difficulty
with a few soldiers from Caesarea in Palestine. He gave battle and was
the first to be killed along with his soldiers, who were 300.a Taking
many captives and much booty, the Arabs returned home after their
brilliant victory

Start of Heraclius’ Reign. [image] 0641. [image] 0565. 

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What does Theophanes’ account tell us about the ways in which foreign diplomacy was conducted in the seventh century AD?. 

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What does Theophanes’ account tell us about the ways in which foreign diplomacy was conducted in the seventh century AD?

[image] In this year Herakleios once again sent ambassadors' to Persia to ask
Chosroes for peace, but Chosroes dismissed them again with the
words, 'I shall not spare you until you renounce the Crucified one,
whom you call God, and worship thc sun.'2

[image] The emperor Herakleios sent ambassadors to Chosroes urging him
to cease shedding pitilessly the blood of men, to appoint levies, and
receive tribute. But the latter dismissed the ambassadors empty-
handed, without having spoken to them, for hc hoped to seize the
Roman state in its entirety.'

[image] sadors to them asking for peace. When the Chagan had agreed to con-
clude peace, the emperor went outside the Long Wall with the full

[image] imperial retinue and many costly gifts so as to meet the Chagan after
receiving from him pledges that they would make a peace settle-
ment with one another. But the barbarian, transgressing the agree-

Agreements & Settlements Provisions of Gifts

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[image] In the same year Herakleios married Martina, whom he pro-
claimed Augusta and crowned in the Augustaion. The coronation
was performed by the patriarch Sergius.2

[image] Ot thc African Rogas, Who at that tlme was a
ons an Inop e
together with Epiphaneia, the mother of Herakleios. (And when
Phokas heard that the mother Of Herakleios was in the City) as well
as his fiancée Eudokia, he apprehended them and confined them in
the imperial monastery called the New Repentance.2

[image] INOW, Herakleios had been betrothed to Eu 0 ia, aug er

Marriage: to secure alliances, strengthen ties and to foster political stability

Postscript: Moderns Scholars Critique of Theopanes. 

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Postscript: Moderns Scholars Critique of Theopanes

-	Often both an inaccurate and uncritical reliance on earlier sources -	Unbalanced by failure to utilise accounts and information outside the Byzantine word (Persian and Arab) -	Misplacement of both time and geography in reconstruction -	Strong Theological Bias ( a Religious Lense)  		- criticism of iconoclast  emperors 		- praise of  orthodoxy 		- scathing and dismissive of the rise of Islam and the Prophet Muhummad
 Sources: The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor (1997), translated and edited by Cyril Mango and Roger Scott Byzantine and near Eastern History AD 284 - 813 pp. 425-467; and 
J. Howard-Johnston, Witnesses to a World Crisis: Historians and Histories of the Middle East in the Seventh Century, Oxford, 2010,  Chapter 9, “Later Historians: Theophanes”, pp. 268-312

Week 5: From Justinian to Heraclius

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