The eldest son ofConstans II andFausta, daughter of patricianValentinus,[10] Constantine IV had been named a co-emperor with his father in 654, almost certainly inEaster (13 April).[11] His year of birth is unknown,[12] but often given asc. 650.[13][c] He became emperor in September 668, when news arrived at Constantinople thatConstans II had been assassinated inSicily.[14]
Mosaic of Constantine IV with his family and imperial figures. The upper legend reads:constantinus maior imperator - heraclii et tiberii imperator.[d]
The first task before the new Emperor was the suppression of the military revolt in Sicily underMezezius which had led to his father's death.[15] Within seven months of his accession, Constantine IV had dealt with the insurgency with the support ofPope Vitalian,[16] but this success was overshadowed by troubles in the east.
As early as 668 theCaliphMuawiyah I received an invitation fromSaborios, the commander of the troops inArmenia, to help overthrow the Emperor at Constantinople.[17] He sent an army under his sonYazid against theByzantine Empire. Yazid reachedChalcedon and took the important Byzantine centerAmorion.[18] While the city was quickly recovered, theArabs next attackedCarthage and Sicily in 669.[19] In 670 the Arabs capturedCyzicus and set up a base from which to launch further attacks into the heart of the Empire.[20] Their fleet capturedSmyrna and other coastal cities in 672.[21] Also, in 672, the Arabs sent a large fleet to attackConstantinople by sea.[21] While Constantine was distracted by this, theSlavslaid siege toThessalonica.[20]
Modern scholarship has re-evaluated the first Arab siege of Constantinople, which has traditionally been dated to 674–678. Recent research suggests that the events more likely occurred between 667 and 669.[22]
In 663, Emperor Constans II relocated the imperial residence toSyracuse, transferring a significant portion of the Byzantine military toSicily.[23] This move weakened the defenses of Constantinople and left the capital more exposed to Arab attacks. Arab raids intoAnatolia had already begun byc. 662 – c. 663, shortly afterMuʿāwiya I consolidated his control over the Caliphate following a period of internal conflict. One of these expeditions, led byBusr ibn Abī Artāt, reportedly reached the outskirts of Constantinople and plundered nearby settlements.
During this period, the Byzantine military was unable to repel the incursions effectively. The situation encouraged Saborios, the commander of theArmeniac Theme, to rebel against imperial authority with Arab support. AlthoughSaborios died before his plans were realized, Muʿāwiya proceeded with a large-scale campaign intended to pressure the Byzantine Empire.
The combined forces blockaded Constantinople but did not attempt a major assault during the winter of 667. Instead, they carried out limited raids in the surrounding countryside. By spring of 668, the siege intensified, lasting through early summer. However, shortages of supplies and an outbreak of disease (reportedlysmallpox) caused severe losses among the Arab troops. Yazīd eventually lifted the siege and withdrew. The remaining forces established a base atCyzicus, from which they continued smaller operations in the region untilc. 669 – c. 670, when they finally returned toSyria.
Succession Crisis and the usurpation of Mizizios (668)
The aftermath of the first Arab siege of Constantinople (667–669) coincided with a period of instability within the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constans II had established his residence in Syracuse several years earlier, leaving the capital under the authority of his son, Constantine IV. When news of the Arab withdrawals from Constantinople failed to reach Sicily, partly due to the continued naval blockade, rumors of the capital's fall spread rapidly.
On 15 July 668, Constans II was assassinated in Syracuse, reportedly by members of his entourage. Following his death, a group of conspirators proclaimedMizizios, a high-ranking officer in Sicily, as emperor.[23] However, Mizizios gained little support beyond parts of the local army.Pope Vitalian withheld recognition of his rule, and the imperial navy, commanded by the local officer Severus, remained faithful to Constantine. The fleet soon sailed back to Constantinople, restoring naval control of the legitimate emperor.
By the end of 668, Constantine IV had reasserted his authority in the capital. Possession of the fleet allowed him to defend the city and to neutralize renewed Arab naval threats. To secure the western provinces, he sent his younger brothers and co-emperors to Sicily with additional forces, dividing military responsibilities among them.[25]
Meanwhile,Muʿāwiyah ibn Ḥudayj al-Kindī, governor ofEgypt, launched an expedition against Sicily in an attempt to exploit theByzantine succession crisis. The Arab fleet conducted brief raids on the island, but when Constantine’s forces arrived, reportedly with around six hundred ships, the Arabs withdrew without battle. Constantine landed at Syracuse, captured Mizizios, and ordered his execution. The remaining rebels were sent in chains to Constantinople.[23]
In the aftermath of his father’s assassination, Constantine IV faced a severe economic crisis. The relocation of the imperial treasury to Syracuse, combined with losses in Syria and Anatolia, had depleted supplies of precious metals. To stabilize the currency, Constantine reintroduced the heavier copperfollis design originally issued underJustinian I, quadrupling its weight and restoring its intrinsic value. This reform also served to undermine any coinage issued by the usurper Mizizios.
When his son was born in 669, Constantine named himJustinian II, signaling a deliberate association with the earlierJustinian dynasty and its ideals ofrenovatio imperii. The emperor’s coinage reforms and imperial imagery reinforced this ideological link. During his reign, the Byzantines gradually regained the initiative against Arab forces, conducting counteroffensives into Egypt and Syria that helped end fifteen years of continuous raids. The death of Muʿāwiya I in 680 marked the close of this turbulent era.[22]
With the temporary passing of the Arab threat, Constantine turned his attention to the Church, which was torn betweenMonothelitism and Orthodoxy.[26] In November 680 Constantine convened theSixth Ecumenical Council (also known as the Third Council of Constantinople).[20] Constantine presided in person during the formal aspects of the proceedings (the first eleven sittings and then the eighteenth), surrounded by his court officials, but he took no active role in the theological discussions.[27] The Council reaffirmed the Orthodox doctrines of theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451.[citation needed] This solved the controversy overmonothelitism; conveniently for the Empire, most monothelites were now under the control of theUmayyadCaliphate.[20] The council closed in September 681.[28]
Constantine IV convenes the 3rd Council of Constantinople, miniature from the 12th centuryManasses Chronicle.
Due to the ongoing conflicts with the Arabs during the 670s, Constantine had been forced to conclude treaties in the west with theLombards, who had capturedBrindisi andTaranto.[13] Also in 680, theBulgars under KhanAsparukh crossed theDanube into nominally Imperial territory and began to subjugate the local communities and Slavic tribes.[20] In 680, Constantine IV led a combined land and sea operation against the invaders and besieged their fortified camp inDobruja.[29] Suffering from bad health, the Emperor had to leave the army, which panicked andwas defeated by the Bulgars.[30] In 681, Constantine was forced to acknowledge theBulgar state inMoesia and to pay tribute/protection money to avoid further inroads into ByzantineThrace.[26] Consequently, Constantine created theTheme of Thrace.[13]
Khan Asparukh crosses the Danube and settles in Moesia, byNikolai Pavlovich (ca. 19th century).
His brothersHeraclius andTiberius had been crowned with him asaugusti during the reign of their father,[12] and this was confirmed by the demand of the populace,[31] but in late 681 Constantine had themmutilated by slitting their noses so they would be considered ineligible to rule.[20] Some argue that he then associatedJustinian II to the throne,[13] but all contemporary evidence indicates that he became emperor only after Constantine's death on 10 July 685.[12][e]
Constantine IV was portrayed byIossif Surchadzhiev in the 1981 Bulgarian movieAszparuh, directed by Ludmil Staikov.
Constantine IV is the subject of the song "Imperator" ("Emperor"), released by the Bulgarian heavy metal bandEpizod in their 2012 albumMoyata molitva ("My prayer").
^Constantine and his wife used at least two seals on which his name was rendered asConstantinos Constantos.[1][2] The name Constantus may have been apatronym, as some modern day historians translateConstantinus Constantus as "Constantine, son ofConstans".[3] At least two documents refer to him as "AutokratorPhlabios Konstantinos" (Αὐτοκράτωρ Φλάβιος Κωνσταντῖνος), following the old imperial formula.[4]
^The nickname appears prominently in older scholarship, following the chronicles ofSymeon Logothete,Kedrenos andZonaras. This confusion arises from the convoluted nomenclature of the Heraclians:Heraclius (r. 610–641) named his sonsHeraclius ("Heraclonas") andHeraclius Constantine ("Constantine III"), who had in turn a son also named Heraclius Constantine ("Constans II"). The emperorConstantine VII (r. 945–959), despite having access to all official documents, uses the name "Constantine Pogonatus" to both Constans II and Constantine IV in different occasions, apparently confusing them.[9]
^The mosaic must have been made shortly before Heraclius and Tiberius' deposition in 681.Justinian II (far left) is depicted as being slightly taller than them, but this is impossible given that he was at least a decade younger.
^"Constantine's death is usually placed in September 685 on the ground that the sources attribute to him a reign of 17 years... Since such a figure can be taken only as a round number, there is no objection to accepting the date 10 July given theCatalogus."[14]
^Academia Republicii Populare Romîne; Academia Republicii Socialiste România, eds. (1981).Revue roumaine d'histoire: Volume 20. Editions de l'Académie de la République socialiste de Roumanie. p. 626.
^abcJankowiak, Marek (2013). "The First Arab Siege of Constantinople".Travaux et Mémoires.17:237–322.
^abcPrigent, Vivien (2010). ""La Sicile de Constant II: l'apport des sources sigillographiques"".In la Sicile de Byzance à l'slam, Neff, A. - Prigent, V. (Eds), Paris:157–187.
^Morony, Micheal (trnsl) (1987).The History of al-Tabarī. 18, Between Civil Wars: the caliphate of Muʿāwiyah. Albany: The State University of New York Press. pp. 48–49 AH.ISBN0-87395-933-7.
^Palmer, Andrew (introduction, translation, annotation) (1993).The Seventh Century in West-Syrian Chronicles. Liverpool: The Liverpool University Press. pp. 194 ff.ISBN0853232385.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Settipani, Christian (2006).Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs: les princes caucasiens et l'empire du VIe au IXe siècle. Paris: De Boccard.
Zuckerman, C. (1995). "A Gothia in the Hellespont in the Early Eighth Century".Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies.19 (1):234–242.doi:10.1179/030701395790836649.S2CID162205022.
Jankowiak, M. (2013). "The First Arab Siege of Constantinople",Travaux et Mémoires 17, 237-322.
