Maurice's reign was troubled by almost constant warfare. After he became emperor, he brought thewar with Sasanian Persia to avictorious conclusion. The empire's eastern border in theSouth Caucasus was vastly expanded and, for the first time in nearly two centuries, the Romans were no longer obliged to pay the Persians thousands of pounds of gold annually for peace.
Afterward, Mauricecampaigned extensively in theBalkans against theAvars—pushing them back across theDanube by 599. He also conducted campaigns across the Danube, the first Roman emperor to do so in over two centuries. In the west, he established two large semi-autonomous provinces calledexarchates, ruled byexarchs, or viceroys of the emperor. In Italy Maurice established theExarchate of Italy in 584, the first real effort by the empire to halt the advance of theLombards. With the creation of theExarchate of Africa in 591 he further solidified the power of Constantinople in the westernMediterranean.
Maurice's successes on battlefields and in foreign policy were counterbalanced by mounting financial difficulties of the empire. Maurice responded with several unpopular measures which alienated both the army and the general populace. In 602, dissatisfied soldiers elected an officer namedPhocas, who usurped the throne and ordered the execution of Maurice and his six sons. This event would prove a disaster for the empire, sparking atwenty-six-year war with a resurgent Sassanid Persia which would leave both empires devastated prior to theArab conquests.
Maurice's reign is a relatively well-documented era oflate antiquity, in particular by the historianTheophylact Simocatta. TheStrategikon, amanual of war which influenced European and Middle Eastern military traditions for well over a millennium, is traditionally attributed to Maurice.
Maurice was born inArabissus inCappadocia in 539. His father wasPaul. He had one brother,Peter, and two sisters, Theoctista and Gordia, the latter of whom was later the wife of the generalPhilippicus.[5] He is recorded to have been a native Greek speaker, unlike the previous emperors sinceAnastasius I Dicorus.[6] Contemporary Eastern Roman sources call him a localCappadocian.[5][7]Paul the Deacon, a late 8th-centuryLombard writer, calls him the first emperor "from the race of the Greeks".[8][9]Evagrius, writing under Maurice's reign, declared he traced his lines toOld Rome, which could be either truth or a flattery.[5] Legends from much later times call himArmenian (in reference to the territories of laterCilician Armenia),[10] but the historicity of this claim is opposed by the historianAnthony Kaldellis.[c]
In late 577, despite a complete lack of military experience, Maurice was named asmagister militum perOrientem, effectively commander-in-chief of the Roman army in the east. He succeeded GeneralJustinian in theongoing war againstSassanid Persia. At about the same time he was raised to the rank ofpatrikios, the empire's senior honorific title, which was limited to a small number of holders.[13]
In 578, a truce in Mesopotamia came to an end and the main focus of the war shifted to that front. After Persian raids in Mesopotamia, Maurice mounted attacks on both sides of the Tigris, captured the fortress of Aphumon and sackedSingara. Sassanid emperor Khosrow sought peace in 579, but died before an agreement could be reached and his successorHormizd IV (r. 579–590) broke off the negotiations.[14] In 580, Byzantium's Arab allies the Ghassanids scored a victory over the Lakhmids, Arab allies of the Sassanids, while Byzantine raids again penetrated east of the Tigris. Around this time the futureKhosrow II was put in charge of the situation in Armenia, where he succeeded in convincing most of the rebel leaders to return to Sassanid allegiance, although Iberia remained loyal to the Byzantines.[15]
The following year an ambitious campaign by Maurice, supported by Ghassanid forces underal-Mundhir III, targetedCtesiphon, the Sassanid capital. The combined force moved south along the riverEuphrates accompanied by a fleet of ships. The army stormed the fortress of Anatha and moved on until it reached the region ofBeth Aramaye in centralMesopotamia, near Ctesiphon. There they found the bridge over the Euphrates destroyed by the Persians.[16]
In response to Maurice's advance, Sassanid generalAdarmahan was ordered to operate in northern Mesopotamia, threatening the Roman army's supply line.[17] Adarmahan pillagedOsrhoene, and was successful in capturing its capital,Edessa. He then marched his army towardCallinicum on the Euphrates. With the possibility of a march to Ctesiphon gone Maurice was forced to retreat. The retreat was arduous for the tired army, and Maurice and al-Mundhir exchanged recriminations for the expedition's failure. However, they cooperated in forcing Adarmahan to withdraw, and defeated him atCallinicum.[18]
The mutual recriminations were not laid to rest by this. Despite his successes, al-Mundhir was accused by Maurice of treason during the preceding campaign. Maurice claimed that al-Mundhir had revealed the Byzantine plan to the Persians, who then proceeded to destroy the bridge over the Euphrates. The chronicler John of Ephesus explicitly calls this assertion a lie, as the Byzantine intentions must have been plain to the Persian commanders.[19][20]
Both Maurice and al-Mundhir wrote letters to Emperor Tiberius, who tried to reconcile them. Maurice visited Constantinople himself, where he was able to persuade Tiberius of al-Mundhir's guilt.[19] The charge of treason is almost universally dismissed by modern historians;Irfan Shahîd says that it probably had more to do with Maurice's dislike of the veteran and militarily successful Arab ruler. This was compounded by the Byzantines' habitual distrust of the "barbarian" and supposedly innately traitorous Arabs, as well as by al-Mundhir's staunchly Monophysite faith.[21] Al-Mundhir was arrested the following year on suspicion of treachery, triggering war between Byzantines and Ghassanids and marking the beginning of the end of the Ghassanid kingdom.[22]
Gold medallion of Maurice circa 583, from a girdle found in Karavas, near Kyrenia, Cyprus.
In June of 582 Maurice scored a decisive victory against Adarmahan nearConstantina. Adarmahan barely escaped the field, while his co-commanderTamkhosrau was killed.[23][24] In the same month Emperor Tiberius was struck down by an illness which shortly thereafter killed him. In this state Tiberius initially named two heirs, each of whom was to marry one of his daughters. Maurice was betrothed toConstantina, andGermanus, related to emperorJustinian I, was married to Charito. Some historians believe that the plan was to divide the empire in two, with Maurice receiving the eastern provinces and Germanus the western.[25]
On 5 August, Tiberius was on his deathbed and civilian, military and ecclesiastical dignitaries awaited the appointment of his successor. He then chose Maurice and named himCaesar, after which he adopted the name "Tiberius".John of Nikiû andTheophanes the Confessor write that Germanus was proclaimedcaesar at the same time. However, on 11 August 582, only Maurice is recorded asCaesar in the subscription of a law of Tiberius.[26] According to John of Nikiû, Germanus was Tiberius' favored candidate for the throne but declined out of humility.[27] Maurice wascrowned emperor soon after, on 13 August.[28][29] Tiberius had reportedly prepared a speech on the matter but at this point was too weak to speak. Thequaestor sacri palatii (the senior judicial official of the empire) read it for him. The speech proclaimed Maurice asAugustus and sole successor to the throne. On 14 August 582 Tiberius died. Maurice became sole emperor, marrying Constantina in the autumn.[30]
Shortly after his ascension the advantage he had gained at the Battle of Constantina was lost when his successor asmagister militum of the east,John Mystacon, was defeated at the River Nymphios byKardarigan.[31] The situation was difficult:[32] Maurice ruled a bankrupt Empire;[33] it was at war with Persia; he was paying extremely high tribute to theAvars, 80,000 goldsolidi a year;[34] and the Balkan provinces were being thoroughly devastated by theSlavs.[35]
Maurice had to continue the war against the Persians. In 586 his troops defeated them at theBattle of Solachon south ofDara. In 588, a mutiny by unpaid Roman troops against their new commander,Priscus, seemed to offer the Sassanids a chance for a breakthrough, but the mutineers themselves repulsed the ensuing Persian offensive.[36] Later in the year they secured amajor victory beforeMartyropolis. The Sassanid commander,Maruzas, was killed, several of the Persian leaders were captured along with 3,000 other prisoners, and only a thousand men survived to reach refuge at Nisibis. The Romans secured much booty, including the Persian battle standards, and sent them, along with Maruzas' head, to Maurice in Constantinople.
In 590, twoParthian brothers,Vistahm andVinduyih, overthrew KingHormizd IV and made the latter's son, PrinceKhosrow II, the new king. The former Persian commander-in-chief,Bahram Chobin,who had rebelled against Hormizd IV, claimed the throne for himself and defeated Khosrow. Khosrow and the two Parthians fled to the Eastern Roman court. Although the Senate unanimously advised against it, Maurice helped Khosrow regain his throne with an army of 35,000 men. In 591 the combined Byzantine-Persian army under generalsJohn Mystacon andNarses defeated Bahram Chobin's forces nearGanzak at theBattle of the Blarathon. The victory was decisive; Maurice finally brought the war to a successful conclusion with the re-accession of Khosrow.[37][38]
Subsequently, Khosrow was adopted by the emperor in order to seal their alliance. The adoption was made through a rite ofadoptio per arma, which ordinarily assumed the Christian character of its partakers.[39] However, the chief Byzantine bishops, "despite their best attempts", failed to convert Khosrow.[39] Khosrow rewarded Maurice by ceding to the empire westernArmenia up to the lakesVan andSevan, including the large cities ofMartyropolis,Tigranokert,Manzikert,Ani, andYerevan. Maurice's treaty brought a new status-quo to the east territorially. Byzantium was enlarged to an extent never before achieved by the empire. During the new "perpetual peace" millions of solidi were saved by the remission of tribute to the Persians.[40]
TheAvars arrived in theCarpathian Basin in 568. Almost immediately they launched an attack onSirmium, the keystone to the Roman defences on theDanube, but were repulsed. They then sent 10,000Kotrigur Huns to invade the Roman province ofDalmatia.[41] There followed a period of consolidation, during which the Romans paid them 80,000 gold solidi a year. In 579, his treasury empty, Tiberius II stopped the payments.[42]
In 584, the Slavs threatened the capital and in 586 the Avars besiegedThessalonica, while the Slavs went as far as thePeloponnese.[44] After his victory on the eastern frontier in 591, Maurice was free to focus on theBalkans. He launched several campaigns against the Slavs and Avars. In 592 his troops retookSingidunum (modern Belgrade) from the Avars. His commander-in-chiefPriscus defeated the Slavs, Avars andGepids south of the Danube in 593. The same year he crossed the Danube into modern-dayWallachia to continue his series of victories. In 594, Maurice replaced Priscus with his rather inexperienced brother Peter, who, despite initial failures, scored another victory in Wallachia. Priscus, now in command of another army further upstream, defeated the Avars again in 595. The latter now only dared to attack peripherally, inDalmatia two years later. In the same year the Byzantines concluded a peace treaty with the Avar leaderBayan I, which allowed the Romans to send expeditions intoWallachia.[45]
In 598, Maurice broke the treaty to permit a retaliation campaign inside the Avar homeland. In 599 and 601 the Roman forces wreaked havoc amongst the Avars and Gepids. In 602, the Slavs suffered a crushing defeat in Wallachia. The Roman troops were now able to hold the Danube line again. Meanwhile, Maurice was making plans for repopulating devastated areas in the Balkans by using Armenian settlers. Maurice also planned to lead further campaigns against the Avar Khaganate, so as to either destroy them or force them into submission.[46][47]
In the west, Maurice organised the threatened imperial dominions inItaly into theExarchate of Italy. The Late Roman administrative system provided for a clear distinction between civil and military offices, primarily to lessen the possibility of rebellion by over-powerful provincial governors. In 584, Maurice created the office of exarch, which combined the supreme civil authority of apraetorian prefect and the military authority of amagister militum and enjoyed considerable autonomy from Constantinople. The Exarchate was successful in slowing the Lombard advance in Italy. In 591, he created asecond Exarchate inNorth Africa, along similar lines.[48]
In 597, an ailing Maurice wrote his last will, in which he described his ideas of governing the empire. His eldest son,Theodosius, would rule the eastern provinces fromConstantinople; his second son, Tiberius, would rule the western exarchates fromRome. Some historians believe he intended for his younger sons to rule from Alexandria, Carthage, and Antioch. His intent was to maintain the unity of the empire; this idea bears a strong resemblance to theTetrarchy of Diocletian. However, Maurice's violent death prevented these plans from coming to fruition.[48]
Maurice's efforts to consolidate the empire slowly but steadily succeeded, especially after the peace with Persia. His initial popularity apparently declined during his reign, mostly because of his fiscal policies. In 588 he announced a cut in military wages by a quarter, leading to a serious mutiny by troops on the Persian front. He refused to pay a small ransom in 599 or 600 to free 12,000 Byzantine soldiers taken prisoner by the Avars and the prisoners were killed.[51]
Maurice's marriage produced nine known children:[12][52]
Theodosius (4 August 583/585 – after 27 November 602). According to John of Ephesus, he was the first son born to a reigning emperor since the birth ofTheodosius II in 401.[30] He was appointed Caesar in 587 and co-emperor on 26 March 590.[53]
A daughter,Miriam/Maria, is recorded by the 12th-century chroniclerMichael the Syrian and other eastern sources as married toKhosrow II but not in any Byzantine Greek ones; she is probably legendary.[54]
His brotherPetrus (c. 550 – 602) became thecuropalates and was killed at the same time as Maurice. Petrus married Anastasia Aerobinda (born c. 570), daughter of Areobindus (born c. 550), and had female issue.[55] Maurice's nephewDomitian of Melitene was probably a son of Petrus.[56]
In the autumn of 602, Maurice decreed that the army should stay for winter beyond theDanube inSclaveni territory, seeking to capitalize the earlier campaign successes by maintaining pressure on the foreign enemies.[57] The exhausted troops mutinied against the emperor, demanding permission to return to winter quarters. However, Maurice repeatedly ordered his troops to start a new offensive.[d] Enraged, the army proclaimedPhocas their leader and marched to Constantinople. They demanded that Maurice abdicate and proclaim as successor either his son Theodosius orGermanus,[e] Theodosius' father-in-law. In response, Maurice enlisted thecircus factions and generalComentiolus to defend theTheodosian Walls. On 21 November, Germanus was accused of treason by Maurice and he sought sanctuary inHagia Sophia. As riots against Maurice erupted in Constantinople, the emperor, taking his family with him, left the city on a warship heading toNicomedia in the middle of the night of 22 November.[63] Theodosius was put ashore with direction to seek support from the Persians, though sources claim that he never reached his destination.[64] According to Theophylact, Germanus made an attempt for the throne but when it failed, he paid homage to Phocas, who had emerged as the heavy favorite.[65]
On 23 November 602, Phocas was crowned emperor in Hebdomon and two days later, entered Constantinople with unanimous support.[66][67] His troops captured Maurice and his remaining family, and brought them to theHarbor of Eutropius at Chalcedon.[51] Maurice was murdered at the harbor of Eutropius on 27 November 602.[68] The deposed emperor was forced to watch his five younger sons executed before he was beheaded himself.[69] There is debate over whether Theodosiusmanaged to escape. The Persian king Khosrow II used this coup and the murder of his patron as an excuse for a renewed war against the empire.[51]
Empress Constantina and her three daughters were temporarily spared and sent to a monastery. A few years later, Constantina and her daughters were all executed at the harbor of Eutropius when she and Germanus were found guilty of plotting against Phocas. The entire family of Maurice and Constantina was buried at the monastery of St. Mamas or Nea Metanoia that had been founded by Maurice's sister Gordia.[30]
In ancient sources, Maurice is seen as an able emperor and commander-in-chief, though the description of him by Theophylact may exaggerate these traits. He possessed insight, public spirit, and courage.[citation needed] He was successful in military efforts against the Persians, Avars and Slavs, and in diplomacy with Khosrow II. His administrative reforms were the basis for the later introduction ofthemes as military districts.[48]
Maurice is traditionally named as author of the military treatiseStrategikon. Some historians now believe theStrategikon is the work of his brother or another general in his court, however.[70][71]
HistorianC. W. Previté-Orton believes his greatest weakness was his inability to judge how unpopular his decisions were.[f] According toAnthony Kaldellis, his failure to keep the public opinion on his side cost him his life, which was a turning point in the fortunes of the empire.[73] The war against Persia which it caused weakened both empires, enabling the Slavs to permanently settle the Balkans and paving the way for theArab-Muslim expansion.
His court still usedLatin alongsideGreek, as did the army and administration.[74][75] HistorianA. H. M. Jones characterises the death of Maurice as the end of the era ofClassical Antiquity, as the turmoil that shattered the empire over the next four decades permanently and thoroughly changed society and politics.[76][better source needed]
The first legendary accounts of Maurice's life are recorded in the ninth century, in the work of the Byzantine historianTheophanes the Confessor. According to his chronicleChronographia, the death of the imperial family is due to divine intervention: Christ asked the emperor to choose between a long reign or death and acceptance in the kingdom of heaven. Maurice preferred the second choice.[77]
The same story has been recorded in a shortSyriac hagiography on the life of the emperor. It is ofEast Syrian origin.[78][79] This was later sanctified by the Eastern Orthodox Church.[g] According to the Syriac author, the emperor asked in prayer to receive a punishment in this world and a "perfect reward" in the kingdom of heaven. The choice was offered by an angel.[81][full citation needed] Anthony Alcock has published an English translation.[82]
According to another legend in the same text, Maurice prevented a nurse from substituting one of his sons so as to save at least one of the heirs of the empire.[83]
It has been proposed that the name of the Albanian folk heroMuji derives from that of Emperor Maurice (Murik, Muji). Similarly, the name of the folk hero's wife, Ajkuna (or Kuna), corresponds to that of the Empress Aelia Constantina, the wife of Maurice, if we take into account the laws of phonetic evolution of the Albanian language since Late Antiquity. Though this proposition remains a matter of debate.[84]
^The full imperial titulature of Maurice, attested in a letter toChildebert II, wasImperatorCaesarFlavius Mauricius Tiberius fidelis in Christo mansuetus maximus beneficus pacificus Alamannicus Gothicus [Francicus Germanicus] Anticus Alanicus Vandalicus Erulicus Gepidicus Afric[an]us pius felix inclitus victor ac triumfator semperAugustus ("Emperor Caesar Flavius Maurice Tiberius, faithful in Christ, mild, majestic, bountiful, peaceable;victor over theAlamanni,Goths, [Franks and Germans,] theAntae,Vandals,Heruls,Gepids,in Africa; pious, fortunate, renowned, victorious and triumphant, ever august").[3][4]
^Kaldellis notes that Maurice's Armenian ancestry is not mentioned by any of the contemporary sources nor the Armenian historianPseudo-Sebeos, and that the names of his extended family are not Armenian.[11]
^Per theStrategikon, winter was considered to be the best time to campaign against the Slavs, as the bare forests provided minimal protection for ambushes, snows would reveal the enemies' tracks, and frozen rivers could be crossed easily by Roman soldiers.[58]
^Though not conclusive, many historians equate him withGermanus, the son-in-law of Tiberius II who becamecaesar alongside Maurice but refused the throne.[59] He has also been sometimes identified with the identically named posthumous son (b. 550/551) of themagister militumGermanus (d. 550) andMataswintha,[60][61] or an unnamed son of the generalJustinian, the second son of themagister militum Germanus.[62]
^He writes, "his fault was too much faith in his own excellent judgment without regard to the disagreement and unpopularity which he provoked by decisions in themselves right and wise. He was a better judge of policy than of men."[72]
^Commemorated on 28 November according to the Typikon of the Great Church and on 28 August, according to the Palestinian-Georgian Synaxarion.[80]
^Geary, Patrick (2015).Readings in Medieval History, Fifth Edition. University of Toronto Press. p. 186.ISBN978-1442634411.Given the seventeenth of June, in the nineteenth year of the reign of our most religious lord,Mauritius Tiberius Augustus, the eighteenth year of the consulship of our said lord, and the fourth indiction.
^Roger Shaler Bagnall;Klaas Anthony Worp (2004).Chronological Systems of Byzantine Egypt (2nd ed.). Brill. p. 261.ISBN978-9004136540.The formula is Oxyrhynchite, but our one Mephite and one Arsinoite document also show it. In Oxyrhynchos, Νέος is consistently absent up to 588, with the names in the orderTiberius Mauricius; after that one findsMauricius Novus Tiberius in almost all examples.
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