Heraklios 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitM/L VII
Dates662 (taq) / 681 (tpq)
PmbZ No.2556
Variant NamesHeraclius
LocationsConstantinople;
Constantinople (residence)
TitlesEmperor (office)
Textual SourcesBar Hebraeus, Chronographia, tr. E. A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Abu 'l-Faraj (London, 1932; repr. Amsterdam, 1976) (history);
Liber Pontificalis, ed. L. Duchesne, Le liber pontificalis. Texte, introduction et commentaire, 2 vols. (Paris, 1886-92); re-issued with 3rd vol. by C. Vogel, (Paris, 1955-57) (chronicle);
Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, La chronique de Michel le Syrien (Paris, 1899-1904) (chronicle);
Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle);
Zonaras = Ioannis Zonarae Epitome Historiarum, libri XIII-XVIII, ed. Th. Büttner-Wobst, (Bonn, 1897) (history)

Heraklios 1 was son of the emperor Constans II (Konstans 1) and brother of Konstantinos 2 (Constantine IV) and Tiberios 1: Theoph. AM 6153 (καὶ τοὺς τρεῖς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ, Κωνσταντῖνον, Ἡράκλειον καὶ Τιβέριον), Theoph. AM 6160 (ἀκούσας δὲ Κωνσταντῖνος τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς ἀποβίωσιν ... βασιλεύει τῶν Ῥωμαίων μετὰ Τιβερίου καὶ Ἡρακλείου, τῶν ἰδίων ἀδελφῶν), Theoph. AM 6173 (ἀπώσατο Κωνσταντῖνος τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ τῆς βασιλείας, Ἡράκλειον καὶ Τιβέριον), Zon. XIV 19. 31 (καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ - τρεῖς δ'ἦσαν, Κωνσταντῖνος, Ἡράκλειος καὶ Τιβέριος), Lib. Pont. 81. 3. Cf. also Phausta 1. Heraklios 1 and his brothers were prevented by the inhabitants from leaving Constantinople in 661/662 in order to join their father when Constans II (Konstans 1), already in the West, planned to transfer the seat of government back to Rome: Theoph. AM 6153, cf. Theoph. AM 6160, Zon. XIV 19. 31-33. The three brothers are said to have ruled together after their father's death: Theoph. AM 6160 (βασιλεύει τῶν Ῥωμαίων μετὰ Τιβερίου καὶ Ἡρακλείου, τῶν ἰδίων ἀδελφῶν), Theoph. AM 6161 (ἐβασίλευσε Κωνσταντῖνος σὺν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτοῦ). At the start of their brother Konstantinos 2's reign Heraklios 1 and Tiberios 1 were not crowned and had no title (οἱ δὲ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ οὐδεμίαν ἀξίαν εἶχον); after troops from the East asked that all three should be crowned, Konstantinos 2 mutilated his brothers and had their noses cut off: Theoph. AM 6161 (ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐρρινοκόπησεν), Zon. XIV 20. 5-8, and cf. Mango and Scott, Theophanes, p. 500, n. 1. Heraklios 1 and Tiberios 1 were driven from the throne by Konstantinos 2 in 681/682: Theoph. AM 6173. According to the Liber Pontificalis he was an Augustus in 678: Lib. Pont. 81. 3 ("divalem iussionem piissimorum principum Constantini, Heraclii et Tiberii Augustorum"). Son of the emperor Constans (Konstans 1) and brother of Konstantios (sic, = Konstantinos 2) and Tiberios 1; he and his brothers were made autokrators at Constantinople by their father after Konstans 1 had gone to Sicily: Bar Hebr., p. 99, Mich. Syr. II 451. In the year 981 Sel. (669/670) he and Tiberios 1 were appointed co-emperors by Konstantinos 2 and their images were put on the coinage: Bar Hebr., p. 101, Mich. Syr. II 454. After the birth of Ioustinianos 1, the son of Konstantinos 2, they were dismissed; they were brought before the senate and when they refused to abandon their imperial position were exiled: Bar Hebr., pp. 101-102, Mich. Syr. II 455-456. He and Tiberios 1 refused to accept the heresy of Maximos 10 which had been rejected by their father, Konstans 1: Mich. Syr. 452.

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