MAIIRICITTS, one of the greatest of the Byzantine emperors, was descended of an ancient Roman family, and was b. at Arabissus, in Cappadocia, about 539 A.D., and executed Nov. 27, 602. During the reigns of Justin II. and Tiberius, Mauricius served in the army, and in 578 was appointed by the latter emperor to the command of the army against the Persians, in which office he gained the universal esteem of his soldiers, not withstanding the severity of his discipline, and surpassed the emperor's hopes by hum bling to the earth the most dangerous enemy of the eastern empire. In 582 lie obtained the rare honor of a triumph at Constantinople, and in August of the same year succeeded Tiberius on the throne. Immediately after his accession, the Persians invaded the Byzantine territories; an army was sent to repel them, and the war between the empires soon became general; a fierce contest of eight years' duration, which, chiefly owing to the internal convulsions that distracted Persia, resulted in favor of the Byzantines. The king of Persia, Kliusru Il. driven from his throne, fled to Therapolis, whence he sent to Maurichis a letter beseeching shelter and aid. The emperor's generous nature was not proof against such an appeal: an army was immediately assembled, to which the loyal Persians flocked from all quarters; and in 591, Khusru WaS restored to his throne, giving up to 3lauricius, in evidence of his gratitude, the fortresses of Dara and Martyropolis, the bulwarks of Mesopotamia. Some time after these events, a war broke
out with the Avars; and after two years of bloody conflict, with little gain to either side, the Byzantines suffered a severe defeat, and 12,000 veterans were taken prisoners. Mauricius refused to ransom them, and they were consequently put to death. Mau Heins's conduct has been satisfactorily accounted for (see Gibbon's Decline and Fall), but it excited a deep and lasting resentment amongst the people and the army; aud in 602, when the emperor ordered his troops to take up their winter-quarters on the north (or Avarian) side of the Danube, they broke out into open revolt, elected Phocas for their chief, and marching upon Constantinople, raised Min to the throne. Mauricius, with all his family and many of his friends, was put to death. He was a general of rare ability, and little inferior as a ruler.