Search Results: Heraclius

Heraclius (Herakleios) was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 610 to 641 CE. He crushed the Persian empire and returned the looted True Cross to Jerusalem, but the second half of his reign was beset by intrigues and ecclesiastical controversies...

A 15th century CE painting depicting Byzantine emperor Heraclius (r. 610-641 CE) returning the True Cross of Christianity to Jerusalem. (By Miguel Ximenez, Museum of Zaragoza, Spain)

Gold nomisma coin depicting Byzantine emperor Heraclius (r. 610-641 CE) and his son Constantine III. Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.

Byzantine coins often show Christian symbols and an image of the Emperor. Here, Emperor Heraclius and his sons wear crowns and crosses. A cross also appear on the back. Gold solidus coins, minted in Constantinople, issued by the Byzantine...

Khosrow II (aka Kosrau II, r. 590-628) was the last powerful shahanshah (king of kings) of the Sassanian Empire. Grandson of Kosrau I (r. 531-579) and near-conqueror of the Byzantine Empire in the Byzantine-Sassanian War of 602-628, Khosrow...

Solidus depicting Heraclius, who reigned from 610 CE to 641 CE. Discovered in Qasr-i Abu Nasr (Iran), it is made of gold and measures 1.9 cm. (Metropolitan Museum, New York)

Yazdegerd III (r. 632-651) was the last monarch of the Sassanian Empire (224-651), ruling – or attempting to rule – amidst the chaos of its final decline and fall to the invading Muslim Arabs. He was the son of the prince Shahriyar (d. 628...

Constans II (aka Konstans II) was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 641 to 668 CE. Sometimes known as Constans Pogonatos (“the Bearded”), he came to the throne by a series of unlikely events and his empire was immediately challenged almost...

Boran (r. 630, 631-632) and Azarmiduxt (r. 630-631) were the only queens of the Sassanian Empire who ruled with the power of absolute monarchs. Daughters of Shahanshah (king of kings) Khosrow II (r. 590-628), Boran and Azarmiduxt, tried to...

Although both the Byzantines and the Armenians were Christian, the types of Christianity they professed had important differences that led to a lack of recognition and tensions between the two groups and a considerable part of their relationship...