ERACLIO I, IMPERATORE DI BISANZIO

Heraclius I, Emperor of Byzantium. – Reigned from 610 to 641. He was crowned by the Byzantine patriarch Sergius. In 614 he undertook a counteroffensive against the Persians, who had devastated Jerusalem and carried off the Cross. The campaign, however, was unsuccessful. He achieved success in the years 622–624. He penetrated into Cappadocia, then into Armenia, and thence into Media. But even this time he had to retreat. Finally, in 627 Heraclius entered Persia again in triumph and defeated Cosroe II definitively; the latter, slain by his own men, was succeeded by Kawād. The latter was forced to accept the peace proposed by Heraclius, who imposed the freedom of Christian worship and the restoration of the wood of the Cross. Heraclius himself brought it back triumphantly to Jerusalem, an event commemorated by the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (14 Sept.). Heraclius supported the religious policy of the patriarchs Sergius of Constantinople and Cyrus of Alexandria in favor of Monotheletism, with the aim of finding a compromise between the Orthodox and the Monophysites.