eugyppius

Also, we will leave religious matters out of it as much as possible. That will be its own thread. Also the Avars, will be a minimal focus here. Persia and Arabia are the big story of the years from 602 to 668.

In Part I we mainly talked about Justinian. From him we must skip forward a few emperors, to Maurice. He is acclaimed in AD 582, and attempts to hold Justinian's restored empire in the West together, while also maintaining secure borders in the East.

This is a hard thing to do. Ultimately, Maurice fails. Financing for these massive military projects is insufficient. It seems that while Justinian was able to restore some basic jurisdiction over the western empire, the old taxation system was never brought fully back online.

So Maurice is faced with the problem of defending just as much territory, but with vastly less funds. He has to cut pay to the armies. The armies mutiny. He manages to save the situation. Then he tries to do the same thing again in 602 and is overthrown.

Chosroes takes Phocas's usurpation as grounds to invade the eastern empire. The pretence is that he is defending or avenging Maurice, his old benefactor. This opens a 25-year war, from AD 602-627, in which the Persians very nearly overrun all of Byzantium.

This is the beginning of the Disaster of the 7th Century I mentioned last time – a disaster directly equivalent to the barbarian invasions that toppled the western Empire, but far for sudden and drastic.

Throughout this period, Phocas mostly fails to mount any effective resistance. By 608, there are plans in the works to get rid of him, masterminded by the exarch at Carthage. Heraclius, the exarch's son, sails to Constantinople, executes Phocas, and is acclaimed in his place.