eugyppius

Now back to our history. After some succession squabbling, including very possibly the poisoning of Heraclius's eldest son Constantine, it's the grandson Constans II who finally gets to be sole emperor. He is only 11 years old. He will rule until 668.

At first, the Arabs continue their advance through North Africa. The Romans retake Alexandria briefly, but lose it again, this time for good, in 646. Armenia is now under threat. Arabs are raiding into Cappadocia. They lay seige to Caesarea .

From AD 650, the Arabs begin to challenge the Byzantines at sea as well, an ominous new development. Their fleet lays waste to Rhodes in 654, pillages Crete, etc.

In 655 Constans decides to put a stop to this, and it's the almost the end of his reign. He's with the Roman fleet as it confronts the Arabs near Phoinike. There ensues the Battle of the Masts.

Constans is decisively defeated, indeed almost killed. Hundreds of his ships are sunk, the Roman navy is totally devastated.

The only thing that saves the Byzantines at this point, is internal Arab dissension. From 656 they embark upon their own civil war (as all of you doubtless know). Byzantium gets a break until the 660s.

In 660, Constans forces his younger brother, Theodosius into a monastery. Shortly thereafter he has him murdered. The point is to clear a path to the throne for his own sons, Constantine, Heraclius and Tiberius.

Killing Theodosius seems to have been bad for his popularity. He was also notorious for other brutalities, which we'll discuss in more detail when we get to talking about the Monophysite Question. The point is, he's not beloved in Constantinople anymore.

He decides he's going to move his government to the West. Maurice had proposed this earlier, and Heraclius - as we've seen upthread - contemplated it too. Nobody totally knows why the idea of this westward move keeps recurring.

Part of the reason, is that the emperors hope that in the west they'll enjoy greater security, and be in a better position to manage campaigns against the Arabs in North Africa and the Lombards in Italy.

Anyway, Constans shows up in Italy, but his battles with the Lombards are inconclusive and he runs out of money.

Eventually Constans goes to Sicily, where the enormous expense of the imperial household alienates and enrages everybody. He is assassinated while taking a bath by his eunuch chamberlain, probably in September 668.

Next thread, probably tomorrow: We'll start with some maps, to survey the extent of territorial loss Byzantium experienced in this period. Then we'll cover the reigns of Constantine IV and Justinian II.

If you want to read about all of this in vastly more detail, I recommend you try to get access to Andreas Nikolaos Stratos, Byzantium in the Seventh Century, a five-volume magnum opus in translation that is both highly readable and very reliable.