HERATLIIIS, a' Byzantine emperor (610-641), of splendid but fitful genius, was descended from a line of brave ancestors, and was b. in Cappadocia about 375 A.n. His father, also named Heraclius, was exarch or gov.gen. of Africa. Regarding Heraelius's youth we know almost nothing; but when upwards of 30, he took part in a con spiracy (which proved successful) against the.emperor Phoeas, whose horrible cruelties had made him universally detested. In 610 Heraelius, at the head of a fleet, appeared at Constantinople: the citizens rose in rebellion, Phoeas was beheaded, and lleraclius saluted emperor in his stead. His fellow-conspirators were richly rewarded. The con dition of the Byzantine empire at this time was deplorable. Factions within amid the barbarians without had almost reduced it to ruin,,so that years elapsed before Herm:fins could put forth any vigorous efforts for its reorganization. His most powerful enemies in the north were the Avari, who, in 619, plundered the country to the very gates of Constantinople, nearly captured Heraclius himself, and are said to hare carried with them to their homes beyond the Danube 250.000 prisoners. The whole western empire had by this tune been seized by the,Slaves, Lombards, Visigoths, and other tribes; but by far the most alarming conquests were those made in the east by the Persian king, Chosroes II. In 615 Sarbar, the Persian general, stormed and pluildered The same fate befell Alexandria in the following year, after which all Era-pt yielded to the victorious Sarbar, who penetrated as far as Abyssinia. By stopping- the export of corn from Egypt to Constantinople, he likewise caused a severe famine in the hitter city. In the same year (616) the Persians besieged and captured Chaicedon, opposite Constantinople. Heraclius at first tried to negotiate with his enemies, but, flushed with their triumphs, they refused, and even put his ambassadors to death. Probably the emperor, who was now laying his plans for taking a magnitkent revenge on the Per AIMS, was not greatly displeased at their refusal. Having, after a laborious discipline, organized an army composed of Greeks and barbarians, lie, in 622, shipped his troops at the Bosporus, and sailed for Cilicia. Having lauded, he encamped in the plain of Issus, completely routed a Persian army dispatched against him, and forced his way through the passes of the Taurus and Anti-Tau•us, into the province of Pontes, where his soldiers wintered. In 624 he crossed Armenia, conquered several of the
Perso-Caueasian countries, and reached the Caspian sea. Here he formed an alliance with the khan of the Khazars, who ruled over the sterile regions north of the Caucasus, as far as the river Ural. By the assistance of these and other barbarians, he attacked Media, and carried his arms as far south as Ispahan. Before going into winter quarters, he again utterly defeated the main body of the Persians, commanded by Chosroes him self. In 625 Heraclius descended from the Caucasus hut° Mesopotamia, and thence proceeded into Cilicia, where a sanguinary engagement took place between hint and Sarbar; the Persians were routed with immense slaughter, and Sarbar fled to Persia. During the next two years (626-628) the glory of Ileraelius culminated. He carried the war into the heart of the Persian empire, and in Dec., 627, cut to pieces the forces of Ithazates, the Persian general, near the junction of the Little Zab and the Tigris. An immense booty fell into the hands of the victors. A few days after, Heraclius took Artemita or Dastagerd, the favorite residence of Chosroes, and here the Arabic histori ass exhaust hyperbole in attempting to state the enormous treasure which the Byzan tine emperor captured. Chosroas fled into the interior of Persia, and was soon after wards seized, imprisoned, and starred to death by orders of his son and successor, Siroes, who was glad to conclude a peace with Heraclius, by which the Persians gave up all their former conquests. The fame of Heraclius now spread over the whole world, and ambassadors came to him from the remotest kingdoms of the east and west; 'Mt a new and terrible enemy suddenly arose in the south. The Arabs, filled with the ardor of a new and fierce faith, had just set out on their career of sanguinary proselytism. The war began during the life of the prophet himself was continued by his successors, Abubekr and Omar. lieruelius no longer commanded the Byzantine forces himself, but wasted his days in his palace at Constantinople, partly in sensual pleasures, and partly in wretched theological disputations. His mighty energies were quite relaxed; and before the close of his life, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Egypt were in the hands of the caliphs. He died in 641