Constantine IV (
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
: Κωνσταντίνος Δ',
Kōnstantinos IV, ), (652–685); sometimes incorrectly called
Pogonatos, "the Bearded", by confusion with his father; was Byzantine emperor from 668 to 685. He had been named a co-emperor with his father
Constans IIConstans II , also called "Constantine the Bearded" , was Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. He also was the last emperor to become consul in 642, becoming the last Roman consul in history.Constans is a diminutive nickname given to the emperor, who had been baptized Herakleios and reigned...
in 654, and became senior emperor when Constans was assassinated in 668. His mother was
FaustaFausta was the Empress consort of Constans II of the Byzantine Empire-Family:Fausta was a daughter of Valentinus, a general of Armenian origins. Her father was a descendant of the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia ....
, daughter of patrician Valentinus.
The first task before the new emperor was the suppression of the military revolt in
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
which had led to his father's death.
Constantine IV (
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
: Κωνσταντίνος Δ',
Kōnstantinos IV, ), (652–685); sometimes incorrectly called
Pogonatos, "the Bearded", by confusion with his father; was Byzantine emperor from 668 to 685. He had been named a co-emperor with his father
Constans IIConstans II , also called "Constantine the Bearded" , was Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. He also was the last emperor to become consul in 642, becoming the last Roman consul in history.Constans is a diminutive nickname given to the emperor, who had been baptized Herakleios and reigned...
in 654, and became senior emperor when Constans was assassinated in 668. His mother was
FaustaFausta was the Empress consort of Constans II of the Byzantine Empire-Family:Fausta was a daughter of Valentinus, a general of Armenian origins. Her father was a descendant of the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia ....
, daughter of patrician Valentinus.
The first task before the new emperor was the suppression of the military revolt in
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
which had led to his father's death. Within 7 months of his accession, Constantine IV had dealt with the insurgency with the support of
Pope VitalianPope Saint Vitalianus was pope from July 30, 657, until January 27, 672.He was born in Segni, Lazio, the son of one Anastasius.-Reign:After the death of Pope Eugene I, on June 2 or 3, 657, Vitalian was elected his successor, and was consecrated and enthroned on July 30.Like Eugene, Vitalian tried...
. But this success was overshadowed by troubles in the east.
As early as 668 the
CaliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
Muawiyah IMuawiyah I ; is the first Caliph in the Ummayad Dynasty. In Sunni Islam he is perceived as having two main parts to his life which are of major historical note...
sent an army under his son
YazidYazīd ibn Mu‘āwiyati ibn Abī Sufyāni , commonly known as Yazid I, was the second Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate and ruled for three years from 680 CE until his death in 683 CE. The period of Yazid's rule was a great disaster for the Muslims and his rule is still remembered by many, especially...
against the Eastern Roman Empire. Yazid reached as far as
ChalcedonChalcedon was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari . Today, in modern Turkish, Chalcedon is called Kadıköy, and is a district of Istanbul, Turkey...
and took the important Byzantine center
AmorionAmorium was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Arab sack of 838. Its ruins are located near the village of Hisarköy, Turkey....
. Although the city was quickly recovered, the
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
s next attacked
CarthageCarthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian...
and Sicily in 669. In 670 the Arabs captured
CyzicusCyzicus was an ancient town of Mysia in Anatolia, situated in Balıkesir Province on the shoreward side of the present peninsula of Kapu-Dagh , which is said to have been originally an island in the Sea of Marmara, and to have been artificially connected with the mainland in historic times.Now,...
and set up a base from which to launch further attacks into the heart of the Empire. Their fleet captured
SmyrnaSmyrna was the ancient city now in Turkey, represented by modern İzmir. Located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia and aided by its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence before the Classical Era....
and other coastal cities in 672. Finally, in 672, the Arabs sent a large fleet to attack
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
by sea. While Constantine was diverted by this, the Slavs unsuccessfully attacked
ThessalonikaThessaloniki , Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. It is honorarily called the Συμπρωτεύουσα Symprotevousa of Greece, as it was once called the συμβασιλεύουσα symvasilevousa of the Byzantine Empire...
.
Constantinople survived the Arab siege until 678, when the Byzantines employed
Greek fireGreek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning even on water. It provided a technological advantage, and was responsible for many key Byzantine military victories, most notably the...
against the Arab fleet at the Battle of Syllaeum in
PamphyliaIn ancient geography, Pamphylia was the region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus . It was bounded on the north by Pisidia and was therefore a country of small extent, having a coast-line of only about 75 miles with a breadth of...
. This was one of the first times Greek fire was used in combat. The Arabs withdrew, and were almost simultaneously defeated on land in
LyciaLycia was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
in
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
.
With the temporary passing of the Arab threat, Constantine had to turn his attention to the Church, torn between
MonothelitismMonothelitism is a particular teaching about how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus, known as a Christological doctrine, that formally emerged in Armenia and Syria in 629 AD. Specifically, Monothelitism teaches that Jesus Christ had two natures but only one will...
and Orthodoxy. In November 680 Constantine convened the Sixth Ecumenical Council (also known as the Third Council of Constantinople), reaffirming the Orthodox doctrines of the
Council of ChalcedonThe Council of Chalcedon is considered by the Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, the Old Catholics, and various other Western Christian groups to have been the Fourth Ecumenical Council . It was held from 8 October to 1 November 451 at Chalcedon...
in 451. This solved the controversy over
monothelitismMonothelitism is a particular teaching about how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus, known as a Christological doctrine, that formally emerged in Armenia and Syria in 629 AD. Specifically, Monothelitism teaches that Jesus Christ had two natures but only one will...
; conveniently for the empire, most monothelites were now under the control of the
UmayyadThe Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four Islamic caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
CaliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
ate. The council closed in September 681.
In 680 the
BulgarsThe Bulgarians are a South Slavic people, generally associated with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language. Emigration has resulted in Bulgarian minorities or immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-Ethnogenesis:...
under
AsparukhAsparuh or Isperih was ruler of a Bulgar tribe in the second half of the 7th century and is credited with the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 680/681. He is the most famous Bulgar ruler...
crossed the
DanubeThe Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows...
into nominally imperial territory and began to subject the local communities and Slavic tribes. Constantine IV led a combined land and sea operation against the invaders and besieged their fortified camp in
DobrujaDobruja, or Dobrudja , is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast....
. Suffering from bad health, the emperor had to leave the army, which allowed itself to panic and be defeated by the Bulgars. In 681, Constantine was forced to acknowledge the
Bulgar stateBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
in
MoesiaMoesia was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River...
and to pay protection money to avoid further inroads into Byzantine
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded on the north by the Balkan Mountains, on the south by the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea and on the east by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara...
.
His brothers Heraclius and Tiberius had been crowned with him as
AugustiAugustus , Latin for "majestic," "the increaser," or "venerable", was an Ancient Roman title, which was first held by Caesar Augustus and subsequently came to be considered one of the titles of what are now known as the Roman Emperors...
at the demand of the populace, but in 681 Constantine had them mutilated so they would be ineligible to rule. At the same time he associated on the throne his own young son
Justinian IIJustinian II , known as Rinotmetos or Rhinotmetus , was the last Byzantine emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711...
. Constantine died of
dysenteryDysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the feces. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal....
in September 685.
Family
By his wife
AnastasiaAnastasia was the Empress consort of Constantine IV of the Byzantine Empire.-Empress:Anastasia enters historical record when her husband Constantine IV succeeds to the throne in 668. On September 15, 668, her father-in-law Constans II was assassinated in his bath by his chamberlain...
, Constantine IV had at least two sons:
- Justinian II
Justinian II , known as Rinotmetos or Rhinotmetus , was the last Byzantine emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711...
, who succeeded as emperor
- Heraclius