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Having been appointed Exarch of Africa by the Emperor Maurice Tiberius, Heraclius the Elder was venerated at Carthage where he had established ties with the local elite and enjoyed a safe and strong position. His son and namesake Heraclius the Younger married into the local African elite, his first wife Eudocia being the daughter of a local landowner. Although not as wealthy an area of the Empire as Egypt, Africa was able to stand alone in self sufficiency whilst also being a provider of grain and revenues to Constantinople, a position that further strengthened the Heraclii's position for the events of AD 608.
Maurice was murdered by disaffected soldiers after they had rebelled against him and proclaimed their fellow soldier Phocas to be Emperor in 602, the culmination of a long struggle with the finances of the Empire, for which he had imposed high taxes and intended to introduce reforms to reduce expenditure on the maintenance of the army. The change of regime at first being welcomed due to the lowering of taxes, Phocas' methods of ensuring loyalty and keeping control of the government by killing thousands of dissenters [a claim we ought to take with caution as no contemporary histories remain], coupled with the disintegrating stability of the Eastern provinces where the Sasanian Persian king Khosrau II was preparing an invasion, led to increasing hostility towards him.
In opposition to the tyranny of Phocas, Heraclius the elder and the younger were proclaimed Consuls, perhaps by the Senate at Carthage (a body which had no power to do so), and began issuing coinage depicting themselves in consular robes only, as we see on this very rare solidus, as they did not hold the imperial title at that time. Gaining support from Egypt, Syria, Cyprus and Sicily, Heraclius the Younger sailed to Constantinople, arriving in October 610, and the revolt culminated in a coup where he was crowned and saw to the execution of his predecessor, establishing a dynasty which would last a century, ending with the execution of Justinian II in 711.
Maurice was murdered by disaffected soldiers after they had rebelled against him and proclaimed their fellow soldier Phocas to be Emperor in 602, the culmination of a long struggle with the finances of the Empire, for which he had imposed high taxes and intended to introduce reforms to reduce expenditure on the maintenance of the army. The change of regime at first being welcomed due to the lowering of taxes, Phocas' methods of ensuring loyalty and keeping control of the government by killing thousands of dissenters [a claim we ought to take with caution as no contemporary histories remain], coupled with the disintegrating stability of the Eastern provinces where the Sasanian Persian king Khosrau II was preparing an invasion, led to increasing hostility towards him.
In opposition to the tyranny of Phocas, Heraclius the elder and the younger were proclaimed Consuls, perhaps by the Senate at Carthage (a body which had no power to do so), and began issuing coinage depicting themselves in consular robes only, as we see on this very rare solidus, as they did not hold the imperial title at that time. Gaining support from Egypt, Syria, Cyprus and Sicily, Heraclius the Younger sailed to Constantinople, arriving in October 610, and the revolt culminated in a coup where he was crowned and saw to the execution of his predecessor, establishing a dynasty which would last a century, ending with the execution of Justinian II in 711.