Gregoria
Encyclopedia
Gregoria was the Empress consort of Constantine III of the Byzantine Empire
.
, a first cousin of Heraclius
. Her father had played a part in the revolt which elevated Heraclius to the throne. Niketas led an overland invasion of Roman Egypt in 608. He fought against the local representatives of Phocas
and seems to have secured control of it by 610.
On 5 October 610, Heraclius succeeded Phocas as the Emperor. Niketas was rewarded with the social rank of patrician and the military position of Comes
Excubitorum, commander of the Excubitors
. He seems to have remained in control of Egypt and took part in the defense against the invasion of Khosrau II
of the Sassanid Empire
. Egypt was lost to Khosrau in 618 but Niketas survived. Niketas was then appointed Exarch
of the Exarchate of Africa
. His term started in 619 and lasted to his death in 628/629.
Her paternal grandfather was Gregorius, brother to Heraclius the Elder
. Heraclius had been appointed Exarch of Africa by Maurice
and lived to support the revolt of his son. But not to its conclusion. Gregorius seems to have served under the command of his brother but the extent of his role is unknown.
The further ancestry of the two brothers is uncertain. Cyril Mango
in Deux études sur Byzance et la Perse Sassanide (1985) speculated they were descendants of Heraclius of Edessa
, a general under Leo I
and Zeno
. He was appointed Comes rei militaris prior to 468. He assisted the Kingdom of Egrisi
against the invasions of Peroz I
of the Sassanids and Vakhtang I of Iberia but had to withdraw when his supply support proved insufficient.
Heraclius of Edessa and Marcellinus led troops from Roman Egypt against Geiseric of the Vandals
in 468. Their forces had successfully captured Sardinia
and a number of cities in Tripolitania
. They were marching to Carthage
, the capital of the Vandals, when the main Roman force under Basiliscus
was ambushed and defeated by Geiseric. One half of the Roman fleet was burned, sunk, or captured, and the other half followed the fugitive Basiliscus. The whole expedition had failed. Heraclius effected his retreat through the desert into Tripolitania, holding the position for two years until recalled; Marcellinus retired to Sicily
.
According to Theophanes, Heraclius of Edessa sided with Leo I against his magister militum
Aspar
in 471. The conflict ended with the deaths of both Aspar and his son Ardabur
by order of Leo. In 474, Heraclius served as magister militum per Thracias(Master of the Soldiers of Thrace
) when he was captured in battle by Theodoric Strabo
, a Goth
chieftain formerly loyal to Aspar. He was executed by Theodoric despite the payment of a ransom for him by Zeno.
Heraclius of Edessa is mentioned as son of Florus by Theophanes the Confessor
. Theophanes identifies Florus as a consul but his name does not appear in consul lists. The explanation may be an honorary consulship. Another explanation suggested by Ernest Stein in Histoire du Bas-Empire (1951) was that Florus was another name for Flavius Florentius, a Roman Consul in 429.
. Constantine was crowned co-emperor by his father on 22 January 613.
Their marriage took place in 629/630. The groom was about seventeen years old. Gregoria was likely of equivalent age. She had arrived to Constantinople
from the Western Pentapolis in Cyrenaica
. Since Cyrenaica was in the territory of her father Niketas, Gregoria is assumed to have been brought up under his supervision instead of that of her father-in-law. She was the junior Empress with Martina as the senior one.
Gregoria and her husband had at least two sons. Constans II
was born on 7 November 630. According to Theophanes, a second son was named Theodosius. He was executed by Constans in 659/660. A genealogical theory also adds a daughter to the list of children. The daughter is given as Manyanh, a purported granddaughter of Heraclius and wife of Yazdgerd III
.
Heraclius died on 11 February 641. Constantine III became senior Emperor with his paternal half-brother Heraklonas
as his co-ruler. Constantine died of tuberculosis
between April and May of the same year. A revolt in favor of Constans resulted in the deposition of Heraklonas by September. Her role in the new regime under her son is not mentioned in Byzantine sources.
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Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
.
Family
Gregoria was a daughter of NiketasNicetas (cousin of Heraclius)
Nicetas was the cousin of Emperor Heraclius, helping him the wars against Phocas and the Persians in the Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602–628. He helped Heraclius revolt against Phocas by conquering Egypt in 610. At Egypt, Nicetas established a power base because of his friendship with Patriarch John...
, a first cousin of Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
. Her father had played a part in the revolt which elevated Heraclius to the throne. Niketas led an overland invasion of Roman Egypt in 608. He fought against the local representatives of Phocas
Phocas
Phocas was Byzantine Emperor from 602 to 610. He usurped the throne from the Emperor Maurice, and was himself overthrown by Heraclius after losing a civil war.-Origins:...
and seems to have secured control of it by 610.
On 5 October 610, Heraclius succeeded Phocas as the Emperor. Niketas was rewarded with the social rank of patrician and the military position of Comes
Comes
Comes , plural comites , is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus, especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. The word comes derives from com- "with" +...
Excubitorum, commander of the Excubitors
Excubitors
The Excubitors were founded in circa 460 AD as the imperial guards of the early Byzantine emperors. Their commanders soon acquired great influence and provided a series of emperors in the 6th century...
. He seems to have remained in control of Egypt and took part in the defense against the invasion of Khosrau II
Khosrau II
250px|thumb|Khosrau II 250px|thumb|Khosrau II 250px|thumb|Khosrau II (Khosrow II, Chosroes II, or Xosrov II in classical sources, sometimes called Parvez, "the Ever Victorious" – (in Persian: خسرو پرویز), was the twenty-second Sassanid King of Persia, reigning from 590 to 628...
of the Sassanid Empire
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
. Egypt was lost to Khosrau in 618 but Niketas survived. Niketas was then appointed Exarch
Exarch
In the Byzantine Empire, an exarch was governor with extended authority of a province at some remove from the capital Constantinople. The prevailing situation frequently involved him in military operations....
of the Exarchate of Africa
Exarchate of Africa
The Exarchate of Africa or of Carthage, after its capital, was the name of an administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire encompassing its possessions on the Western Mediterranean, ruled by an exarch, or viceroy...
. His term started in 619 and lasted to his death in 628/629.
Her paternal grandfather was Gregorius, brother to Heraclius the Elder
Heraclius the Elder
Heraclius the Elder was an East Roman general and the father of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius . Of Armenian origin, the elder Heraclius distinguished himself in the wars against the Sassanid Persians in the 580s. Ca. 600, he was appointed as the Exarch of Africa. In 608, he rebelled with his son...
. Heraclius had been appointed Exarch of Africa by Maurice
Maurice (emperor)
Maurice was Byzantine Emperor from 582 to 602.A prominent general in his youth, Maurice fought with success against the Sassanid Persians...
and lived to support the revolt of his son. But not to its conclusion. Gregorius seems to have served under the command of his brother but the extent of his role is unknown.
The further ancestry of the two brothers is uncertain. Cyril Mango
Cyril Mango
Cyril Alexander Mango is a British scholar in the history, art, and architecture of the Byzantine Empire. He is a former King's College London and Oxford professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature. He is the brother of Andrew Mango.One of his major works The Mosaics of St...
in Deux études sur Byzance et la Perse Sassanide (1985) speculated they were descendants of Heraclius of Edessa
Heraclius of Edessa
Heraclius of Edessa was an Eastern Roman Empire general who took part in the failed campaign against the Vandals in 468.- Biography :...
, a general under Leo I
Leo I (emperor)
Leo I was Byzantine Emperor from 457 to 474. A native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace, he was known as Leo the Thracian ....
and Zeno
Zeno (emperor)
Zeno , originally named Tarasis, was Byzantine Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues...
. He was appointed Comes rei militaris prior to 468. He assisted the Kingdom of Egrisi
Egrisi
Lazica or Egrisi in Georgian |Georgia]], named after the Laz tribe, which at some time dominated the local ruling élite.The kingdom flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It covered part of the territory of the former kingdom Colchis and subjugated the territory of modern...
against the invasions of Peroz I
Peroz I
Peroz I Peroz I Peroz I (also Pirooz; Peirozes (Priscus, fr. 33); Perozes (Procopius, De Bello Pers. I. 3 and Agathias iv. 27; the modern form of the name is Perooz, Piruz, or the Arabized Ferooz, Firuz; Persian: پیروز "the Victor"), was the seventeenth Sassanid King of Persia, who ruled from 457...
of the Sassanids and Vakhtang I of Iberia but had to withdraw when his supply support proved insufficient.
Heraclius of Edessa and Marcellinus led troops from Roman Egypt against Geiseric of the Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
in 468. Their forces had successfully captured Sardinia
History of Sardinia
Archaeological evidence of prehistoric human settlement on Sardinia island is present in the form of the nuraghe which dot the land. The recorded history of Sardinia begins with its contacts with the various people who sought to dominate western Mediterranean trade in Classical Antiquity: the...
and a number of cities in Tripolitania
Tripolitania
Tripolitania or Tripolitana is a historic region and former province of Libya.Tripolitania was a separate Italian colony from 1927 to 1934...
. They were marching to Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
, the capital of the Vandals, when the main Roman force under Basiliscus
Basiliscus
Basiliscus was Eastern Roman Emperor from 475 to 476. A member of the House of Leo, he came to power when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople by a revolt....
was ambushed and defeated by Geiseric. One half of the Roman fleet was burned, sunk, or captured, and the other half followed the fugitive Basiliscus. The whole expedition had failed. Heraclius effected his retreat through the desert into Tripolitania, holding the position for two years until recalled; Marcellinus retired to Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
.
According to Theophanes, Heraclius of Edessa sided with Leo I against his magister militum
Magister militum
Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...
Aspar
Aspar
Flavius Ardabur Aspar was an Alan patrician and magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire. Aspar's family exerted a great influence on the Eastern Roman Emperors for half a century, from the 420s to his death in 471, over Theodosius II, Marcian and Leo I, who, in the end, had him killed.Alans...
in 471. The conflict ended with the deaths of both Aspar and his son Ardabur
Ardabur
Ardabur was the son of Flavius Ardabur Aspar, Master of Horse and Magister Militum of the Eastern Roman Empire in the fifth century. Ardabur apparently often served under his famous father during his campaigns. In 466 Ardabur was accused of a treasonous plot, probably by his father's political...
by order of Leo. In 474, Heraclius served as magister militum per Thracias(Master of the Soldiers of Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
) when he was captured in battle by Theodoric Strabo
Theodoric Strabo
Theodoric Strabo was an Ostrogoth chieftain who was involved in the politics of the Byzantine Empire during the reigns of Byzantine Emperors Leo I, Zeno and Basiliscus...
, a Goth
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
chieftain formerly loyal to Aspar. He was executed by Theodoric despite the payment of a ransom for him by Zeno.
Heraclius of Edessa is mentioned as son of Florus by Theophanes the Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor
Saint Theophanes Confessor was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He is venerated on March 12 in the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church .-Biography:Theophanes was born in Constantinople of wealthy and noble iconodule parents: Isaac,...
. Theophanes identifies Florus as a consul but his name does not appear in consul lists. The explanation may be an honorary consulship. Another explanation suggested by Ernest Stein in Histoire du Bas-Empire (1951) was that Florus was another name for Flavius Florentius, a Roman Consul in 429.
Empress
Gregoria was betrothed to her second cousin Constantine III, only known son of Heraclius and his first wife EudokiaEudokia (empress)
Eudokia or Eudocia , originally named Fabia, was a Byzantine lady who became the first empress-consort of Heraclius from 610 to her death in 612.- Family :...
. Constantine was crowned co-emperor by his father on 22 January 613.
Their marriage took place in 629/630. The groom was about seventeen years old. Gregoria was likely of equivalent age. She had arrived to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
from the Western Pentapolis in Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
. Since Cyrenaica was in the territory of her father Niketas, Gregoria is assumed to have been brought up under his supervision instead of that of her father-in-law. She was the junior Empress with Martina as the senior one.
Gregoria and her husband had at least two sons. Constans II
Constans II
Constans 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....
was born on 7 November 630. According to Theophanes, a second son was named Theodosius. He was executed by Constans in 659/660. A genealogical theory also adds a daughter to the list of children. The daughter is given as Manyanh, a purported granddaughter of Heraclius and wife of Yazdgerd III
Yazdgerd III
Yazdegerd III or Yazdgerd III was the twenty-ninth and last king of the Sassanid dynasty of Iran and a grandson of Khosrau II . His father was Shahryar, whose mother was Miriam, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Maurice...
.
Heraclius died on 11 February 641. Constantine III became senior Emperor with his paternal half-brother Heraklonas
Heraklonas
Constantinus Heraclius , known in English as Heraklonas, Heraclonas, or Heracleonas , was the son of Heraclius and his niece Martina, and was Byzantine Emperor briefly between February and September 641....
as his co-ruler. Constantine died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
between April and May of the same year. A revolt in favor of Constans resulted in the deposition of Heraklonas by September. Her role in the new regime under her son is not mentioned in Byzantine sources.
External links
- The pages of "Heraclius" dealing with Niketas and Egypt
- The page of "The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire", vol. 2 dealing with Heraclius of Edessa
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