“Govern
it dom beyond the Danube.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
Possibly the battle
to Africa till A. D. 409, after Attalus had assumed was fought by his army when deserted by their
the purple. Heraclian rendered good service to leader. Sabinus, son-in-law of Heraclian, filed to
Honorius during the invasion of Italy by Alaric, Constantinople; but, being sent back after a time,
and the usurpation of Attalus. (ALARICUS ; ATwas condemned to banishment.
TALUS. ) He secured the most important posts on The name of Heraclian does not appear in the
the African coast by suitable guards, and laid an Fasti Consulares, an edict of Honorius having de-
embargo on the ships which carried corn from his pro- clared the consulship defiled by him, and abolished
vince to Rome, thereby producing a famine in that his name and memory; but it is probable that
city. Attalus, misled by prophecies or jealous of the Prosper Tiro is correct in making him colleague
Visigothic soldiers, who were his chief military sup (or intended colleague) of Lucianus or Lucius, who
port, sent Constans, without any troops, to supersede appears in the Fasti as sole consul for A. D. 413.
Heraclian, counting apparently either on the sub- (Zosim. v. 37, vi. 7—11; Sozomen, H. E. ix. 8;
mission of the latter or the revolt of the provincials. Philostorg. H. E. xii. 6; Oros. vii. 29, 42; Idatius,
He was disappointed: Constans was killed ; and Chron. and Fasti; Marcellin. Chron. ; Prosper
those whom Attalus sent with a sum of money to Aquit. Chron. ; Prosper Tiro, Chron. ; Olympiod.
support him appear to have fallen into the hands of apud Phot. Bill. Cod. 80 ; Cod. Theod. 9. tit. 40.
Heraclian, who sent to Honorius at Ravenna a sea- $ 21; 15. tit. 14. $ 13; 16. tit. 5. $ 51 ; Gothofred.
sonable pecuniary supply, derived probably from Prosop. Cod. Theodos. ; Tillemont, Hist. des Emp.
the captured treasure. Alaric, who saw the im- vol. v. ; Gibbon, c. 30, 31. ) (J. C. M. ]
portance of obtaining Africa, proposed to send HERACLIA'NUS ('Hpakdelavós), bishop of
Drumas or Druma with the Visigoths, whom he Chalcedon, an ecclesiastical writer of uncertain
commanded, to attack Heraclian, but Attalus would date. He wrote a work against the Manichaeans,
not consent, and Alaric, dissatisfied with Attalus, in twenty books, Kata Manxaiw ev Bubalors K'.
compelled him to resign the purple (A. D. 410). The Photius, from whom alone we learn any thing of
military force of Heraclian appears to have been the work and its author, describes it as written in
trifling, if we may judge from the force which a concise and elevated, yet perspicuous, style. It
Alaric would have sent against him, and which was addressed to one Achillius ('Axixios), at
consisted of only about 500 men. But he had whose request it was written ; and was designed
probably secured the fidelity of the provincials, by to refute the so-called Gospel (evayyé dcov) of the
the wise measure of toleration to the Donaties, Manichaeans, and the rigárteios Bíblus, and the
which Honorius (at the suggestion, as Baronius Onpaupol, works of note among the members of
thinks, of Heraclian) granted about this time, a. D. that sect. (Phot. Bibl. Codd. 85, 231; Cave, Hist.
410. When the danger was over, the persecuting Litt. vol. i. p. 551, ed. Oxon. 1740-13; Fabric.
spirit revived, and a later edict of the same year, Bibl. Gr. vol. x. p. 705. )
(J. C. M. ]
addressed to Heraclian, recalled the liberty which HERACLIA'NUS ('Hpakdelavós), a physician
had been granted.
of Alexandria, under whom Galen studied anatomy,
The important services of Heraclian secured for about A. D. 156. (Galen, Comment. in Hippocr.
him the honour of the consulship. It is probable “ De Nat. Hom. " ii. 6, vol. xv. p. 136. ) (W. A. G. )
that he was only consul designatus for the year HERACLIUS, the son of Hiero, was a noble
413, and that he never exercised the functions of and opulent citizen of Syracuse. Heraclius, before
the office. He appears to have received the notice the praetorship of C. Verres, in B. c. 73–71, one
of his appointment in the earlier part of 412; and of the wealthiest, became, through his exactions.
the same year, elated with pride, and instigated, as and oppression, one of the poorest men in Sicily.
we gather from Orosius, by Sabinus, an intriguing (Cic. in Verr. ii. 14. ) The family, at least the
and unquiet man, whom he had raised from some namesakes of Heraclius, suffered equally from
post in his household to be his son-in-law, he re- Verres. Another Heraclius of Syracuse he stripped
volted against Honorius, and assumed the purple. of his property (iv. 61). Heraclius of Segesta he
His first step was to stop the corn ships, as in the put to death (v. 43); and Heraclius of Amestratus
revolt of Attalus ; his second, to collect ships and (iii. 39), and another of Centuripini, appeared in
troops for the invasion of Italy. An edict of Ho- evidence against him in B. c. 70(ii
. 27). (W. B. D. )
norius, dated from Ravenna, Non. Jul. , A. D. 412, HERA CLIUS ('Hpákelos), a cynic philoso-
denounces sentence of death against him and his fol-pher, against whom the emperor Julian composed
lowers, as public enemies, and enables us to fix the an harangue. Suidas calls him Heracleitus ('Hpá-
date of his revolt. Gothofredus would, indeed, cor- KAEITOS). (Julian, Orat. vii. ; Suidas, s. v. 'lovas-
## p. 403 (#419) ############################################
HERACLIUS.
403
HERACLIUS.
:
avós ; Fabric. Bill. Gr. vol. ii. p. 626, iii. p. 519, | lation followed their example ; and whatever might
vi. p. 727. )
(J. C. M. ] have been the secret designs of Crispus, he had no
HERA'CLIUS ('Hpáxhelos), a Roman emperor chance of prevailing upon the people while a con-
of the East, reigned from a. D. 610 to 641. The queror filled their souls with admiration and grati-
character of this extraordinary man is a problem ; tude. No enmity, however, arose between Hera-
his reign, signalised by both splendid victories and clius and Crispus, who was rewarded with riches
awful defeats, is the last epoch of ancient Roman and honours, and entrusted with the supreme com-
grandeur: he crushed Persia, the hereditary enemy mand against the Persians. Nicetas, of course,
of Rome, and be vainly opposed his sword to the arrived long after the downfal of the eyrant ; but
rise and progress of another enemy, whose followers as he could not traverse so many provinces without
achieved their prophet's prediction, the extermina- preparing the people for the revolution, he received
tion of the Roman empire in the East.
his share, likewise, in the favours of the new cm-
Heraclius was the son of Heraclius the elder, peror, with whom he continued to live in the most
exarch or governor-general of Africa, who was intimate friendship.
renowned for his victories over the Persians, and The Eastern empire was then in a miscrabile
who was descended from another Heraclius, of condition. Torn to pieces by political factions,
Edessa, who wrested the province of Tripolitana attacked and ravaged in all quarters by barbarous
from the Vandals during the reign of the emperor and implacable enemies, its ruin was imminent,
Leo the Great. Heraclius the younger, the sub- and a great monarch only could prevent its down-
ject of this notice, was born in Cappadocia, about fal. Heraclius was a great man, and yet he accom-
A. D. 575. We know little of his earlier life, but plished nothing. He had certainly great defects :
we must suppose that he showed himself worthy of his love of pleasure was unbounded, but his virtues
his ancestors, since in A. D. 610, his father destined were still greater; yet we search in vain for a
him to put an end to the insupportable tyranny of single powerful exertion to extricate himself and
the emperor Phocas. This prince, the assassin of his subjects from their awful position. This seems
the emperor Mauritius, whose throne he had strange and wholly unaccountable ; but when we
usurped, committed such unheard-of cruelties, and call to mind his heroic exploits in a subsequent part
misgoverned the empire in so frightful a manner, of his reign, we have every reason for believing
that conspiracies were formed in all the provinces that he could not act vigorously on account of the
to deprive him of his ill-gotten crown. The prin- circumstances in which he was placed, and there-
cipal conspirator was Crispus, the son-in-law of fore we are not justified in condemning his inac-
Phocas, who urged Heraclius the elder to join him tivity.
in the undertaking. During two years the prudent The following was the state of the empire: the
exarch declined rising in open rebellion, but he European provinces between the Bosporus and the
manifested his hostile intentions by prohibiting the Danube were laid waste by the Bulgarians, Slavo-
export of corn from Africa and Egypt into Constan- nians, and especially the Avars, who, in 619,
tinople, thus creating discontent among the inhabit overran and plundered all the country as far as
ants of the capital, who depended almost entirely Constantinople. Heraclius tried all the means
upon the harvests of Africa. He then withheld within his power to persuade them to retreat ; and
from the imperial treasury the revenue of his pro- having at last found their king disposed to return
vince, and at last promised open assistance to Cris- to his native wildernesses, he went into his camp,
pus, who had offered him the imperial crown. which was pitched in the neighbourhood of Con-
This, however, the exarch declined, alleging his stantinople, for the purpose of concluding a definite
advanced age. In his stead he sent his son Hera- truce through a personal interview. The barbariau
clius with a fleet, and Nicetas, the son of his brother, having pledged his word to refrain from all hos-
and bis lieutenant, Gregorius or Gregoras, with an tilities, the gates of Constantinople were left open,
army, with which they were to proceed through and a motley crowd of soldiers, citizens, and
Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor. They started women left the town to witness the interview. No
from Carthage in the autumn of A. D. 610. There is sooner had Heraclius entered the camp of the
a strange story that the one who should first arrive Avars, than he was suddenly surrounded by their
at Constantinople should be emperor. But a fleet horsemen, who sabred his escort, and would have
requires only twelve days or a fortnight to sail made him a prisoner but for the swiftness of his
from Africa to the Bosporus, and do army can
horse. He succeeded in reaching the town, but
march from Carthage to Constantinople in less than the immense crowd of spectators were less fortu-
three months. When Heraclius with his fleet nate. Many of them were unmercifully slain,
appeared off Constantinople, Crispus rose in revolt; others trampled down by the horses, and such was
Heraclius forced the entrance of the Golden Horn; the flight and the eagerness of the pursuit, that
and the emperor, abandoned by his mercenaries, the gates were closed before the last of the fugi-
hid himself in his palace. The ignominious death, tives were in safety, as there was the greatest
which Phocas suffered from the infuriated mob, is danger lest the pursuers should enter the town
related in the life of that emperor [Phocas]. | together with the flying Greeks, and make them-
When Phocas was conducted before Heraclius, selves masters of the capital. The barbarian then
“Is it thus, wretch,” exclaimed the victor, “ that withdrew, with 250,000 prisoners, into his king-
thou misgovernest the empire? ”.
“Govern it dom beyond the Danube. As the part of Illyri-
better," was the sturdy answer; and Heraclius, in cum between the Haemus, the Danube, the Adriatic
a fit of vulgar passion, knocked the royal captive sea, and the frontier of Italy was laid waste and
down with his fist, and trampled upon him with his most of its inhabitants slain or carried off, Heraclius
feet.
allotted it to the Servians and Croates, with a view
Constantinople was then agitated by two fac- of making them serve as a barrier against the
tions, the blue and the green. The green saluted Avars, and those nations have ever since continued
Heraclius as emperor; the greater part of the popu- to live in that part of Europe. In Italy the ex-
DD 2
## p. 404 (#420) ############################################
404
HERACLIUS.
HERACLIUS.
1
1
)
1
archate was exposed to the attacks of the Lombards / was in the neighbourhood with 40,000 reteran
and some Slavonian tribes : the latter conquered soldiers. Thence the emperor marched into the
Istria, where they still continue to dwell. In Caucasian countries, destroying some of the most
Spain and on the opposite coast of Africa, part of famous temples of the Magi, on his way through
the Greek dominions was conquered by the West- Albania (Dághestán), along the Caspian Sea. His
Gothic king, Sisibut, in 616, and the remaining motive in approaching the Caucasus was probably
part by king Suinthila, in 624. These calamities, to put himself into communication with Ziebei,
however, were trifling in comparison with those the khan of the Khazars, with whom he after-
inflicted upon the empire by the inroads and con- wards concluded a very advantageous alliance. The
quests of the Persians. The war which broke out Khazars were masters of the steppes north of the
in A. D. 603 between the emperor Phocas and the Caucasus as far as the Don and the Ural. Joined
Persian king Chosroës or Khosrew II. , was still by the Colchians and other Caucasian nations, he
raging, and to the conquest of Mesopotamia and directed his attacks against the northern part of
parts of Arminia, the king added, in the beginning Media, and he penetrated probably as far, and
of the reign of Heraclius, all Syria and Palaestine. perhaps beyond, the present Persian capital, Ispa-
Sarbar, the Persian general, conquered and pillaged han. He then returned to the Caucasus, but
Jerusalem in A. D. 615, and sent the holy lance, as before taking up his winter-quarters, he was
his noblest trophy, to his master at Ctesiphon. In attacked by the main army of the Persians com-
A. D. 616, Sarbar took and plundered Alexandria, manded by Chosroës in person, who, however,
conquered Egypt, and penetrated as far as Abys- suffered a total defeat. Ilaving been informed
sinia ; the export of corn from Egypt to Constan- that Chosroës meditated another expedition against
tinople was interrupted, and famine soon began to Constantinople, which would be commanded by
increase the sufferings of the capital. Having been Sarbar, Heraclius descended, in 625, into Mesopo-
urged by a Greek officer to abandon Egypt as a tamia, and from thence went into Cilicia in order
country of which the Persians could only keep to fall upon the rear of the Persians, if Sarbar
transient possession, the proud victor pointed out a should venture to penetrate into Asia Minor with
lofty column in Alexandria, and said, “I shall a Greek army at his back. In order to drive the
leave Egypt after you have swallowed that co- emperor before him, Sarbar attacked him on the
lumn ! ” During this year, another Persian army river Sarus, now Síhún. A terrible conflict took
!
overran Asia Minor, laid siege to Chalcedon, oppo- place ; the Persians were routed with great slaughter,
site Constantinople, and took it, in A. D. 616. and Heraclius gained the entire devotion of his
The Greeks, however, reconquered it a few years soldiers, not only for having led them to a decisive
afterwards. Heraclius made an attempt to enter victory, but also for the most splendid proofs of
into negotiations with Chosroës, but his ambassa- personal courage: on the bridge of the Sarus he
dors were thrown into prison, where they were slew a giant-like Persian, whom nobody dared to
afterwards put to death. It seems that Heraclius meet in single combat. Sarbar hurried into Persia,
remained unshaken in the midst of all these tem- and Heraclius once more marched into Pontus.
pests: he kept his eye upon Persia; he organised During this year Chosroës concluded an alliance
and increased his means, and when at last the time with the Avars: they had been on friendly terms
was come when he thought himself able to keep with the emperor since the year 620, but they now
the field, he took the command of his troops in listened to the proposals of the Persian, and in
person, against the persuasion of bis courtiers, and 626 they descended into Thrace, laying siege to
astonished the world by a series of campaigns Constantinople, while Sarbar with a powerful army
worthy of comparison with those of the most con- advanced from Persia, and took up his former
summate generals of all times. “ Since the days quarters on the Asiatic shore of the Bosporus.
of Scipio and Hannibal,” says Gibbon, “no bolder Heraclius was then encamped on the lower Halys.
enterprise has been attempted than that which Every body expected he would fly to the relief of
Heraclius achieved for the deliverance of the his capital ; but he did just the contrary. He
empire. "
despatched his son Theodore with an army against
Heraclius spent a whole year in disciplining a Sais, the lieutenant of Chosroës, who invaded
host of Greeks and barbarians into a compact Mesopotamia, and he himself, with the main body,
army. In 622 he embarked them on vessels lying took up a position in the Caucasus, taking no notice
in the Bosporus, and made sail for Cilicia. He of Sarbar and the Avars. His plan was admirable,
pitched his camp in the plain of Issus, and occupied and crowned with complete success. In the Cau-
the Pylae Ciliciae and the other passes of the casus he was joined by the khan Ziebel, with whom
Taurus and Anti-Taurus that lead into the plain he had just concluded an offensive and defensive
round the corner of the gulf of Iskénderun, between alliance, and who now hastened to his assistance
Mount Taurus and Mount Amanus. He was soon with a powerful army of Khazars. The khan with
surrounded by a Persian army, but defeated it in a his main army invaded Media ; Heraclius, with
decisive battle, and, in spite of repeated attacks, his Greeks and 50,000 Khazarian auxiliaries, at-
fought his way across the Taurus and Anti-Taurus tacked Assyria ; and Constantinople stood firmly
into the province of Pontus. There his army took against its assailants. As neither of the besiegers
up its winter-quarters. He himself returned to had ships, they could not effect a junction, and thus
Constantinople, and in the spring of 623 sailed with the Avars withdrew, after having sustained several
another army, small but select, to Trebizond. This severe defeats, and Sarbar amused himself with
campaign and those of the following years led to besieging Chalcedon, thus running the risk of being
great results: the campaign of 624, however, is cut off from Persia : for in the following year, 627,
full of obscurities. Heraclius crossed Armenia, Heraclius made an irresistible attack against the very
and soon was in sight of Gandzaca, now Tauris, heart of the Persian empire. He crossed the Great
which yielded to him after a short siege, Chosroës Zab, and encamped on the ruins of Nineveh. Rha-
being unable or unwilling to defend it, although he zates, the Persian general, took up a fortified position
3
## p. 405 (#421) ############################################
HERACLIUS.
405
HERAS.
near the junction of the Little Zab and the Tigris. religion. In spite of this insult the emperor con-
There be was attacked and routed by the emperor, descended to conclude a treaty of friendship with
in the month of December, 627, and an immense the prophet. A small town, however, on the frontier
booty remained in the hands of the victors. A of Syria was plundered by some Arabs, and this
few days afterwards Heraclius took Dastagerd or trifling circumstance was the signal of a general war,
Artemita, not far from Ctesiphon, which was the which Mohammed feared all the less as the Greek
favourite residence of Chosroës, and the numerous empire was exhausted through the long wars with
palaces of the king in the neighbourhood of that the Persiang. The war was continued by Moham-
town were likewise taken and plundered. The med's successors, Abubekr and Omar; and before
booty was so great as to baffle description, though Heraclius died, Syria, Palaestine, and Jerusalem,
we must not believe the Arabic historians when Mesopotamia and Egypt, were annexed to the
they say that in the treasury of Dastagerd the dominion of the Khalifs. Heraclius did not com-
king used annually to deposit the greater part of mand his armies, as he had done with so much
the income of the empire, which amounted to two success against Chosroës, but spent his days in
hundred millions of pounds sterling, and that the pleasures and theological controversies in his palace
Greek emperor found in the treasury a thousand at Constantinople. The motives of his inactivity are
chests full of diamonds and other precious stones. unknown to us, and we are inclined to nscribe the
Chosroës fled to Seleuceia, and thence into the in- misfortunes of the last ten years of his reign to
terior of Persia. The only army left to him was bodily sufferings and debility, the consequence of
that of Sarbar, and he sent messengers to Chalce his numerous campaigns and of the
many wounds
don to urge his immediate return. The messengers which he had received in his daring exploits, rather
were intercepted, but Heraclius ordered them to be than to some mental derangement, or to that sort
released, taking care, however, to substitute an- of character which has been given him by modem
other letter for that written by the king, in which historians, who represent him as possessing a mix-
it was said that the king was victorious on all ture of energy and laziness of such an extraordinary
sides, and that Sarbar might continue the siege of description as to be bardly consistent with the
Chalcedon.
organisation of the human mind. So long as there
The protracted absence of Sarbar in such a is no positive evidence of the most unequivocal
critical moment was certain proof of high treason character, no man, and still less a great man,
in the eyes of the Persian king, and a confident ought to be declared either a madman or a fool.
officer was despatched into the camp of Chalcedon, Heraclius died on the 11th of March (February),
bearing an order to the second in command, direct- A. D. 641, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
ing him to kill Sarbar. The despatch fell into Heraclius, called Constantine III. , whom he had
Sarbar's hands: he inserted after his name those | by his first wife, Eudoxia : he left another son,
of four hundred of the principal officers, who seeing Heracleonas, by his second wife, Martina. A
their lives in danger, agreed with the proposition colossal statue of Heraclius was shown at Barletto
of their commander to conclude a separate peace in Apulia so late as the end of the fifteenth cen-
with the Greeks. Deprived of his only army and tury. (Theophan. p. 250, &c. , ed. Paris ; Nicephor.
his best general, Chosroës was unable to oppose p. 4, &c. , ed. Paris ; Cedrenus, p. 407, ed. Paris ;
resistance to a new attack of Heraclius upon the Chronicon Alexandrinum; Zonar. vol. i. p. 82,
heart of Persia. He filed to the East, abandoning &c. , ed. Paris; Manasses, p. 75, &c. ; Glycas, p.
the West to the victorious Greeks ; but the loyalty 270, &c. , ed. Paris. )
[W. P. )
of his subjects ceased with his victories, and HERACLIUS II. (CONSTANTINUS III. )
Chosroës became the victim of a rebellion headed HE'RACON ('Hpákwv), an officer in the service
by his own son, Siroes, by whom he was put to of Alexander, who, together with Cleander and
death in the month of February, A. D. 628. In the Sitalces, succeeded to the command of the army in
following month of March a peace was concluded Media, which had previously been under the orders
between Heraclius and Siroes, in consequence of of Parmenion, when the latter was put to death by
which the ancient limits of the two empires were order of Alexander, B. C. 330. In common with
restored, and the holy cross was given back to many others of the Macedonian governors, he per-
the Christians. It was presented to the holy se mitted himself many excesses during the absence
pulcbre by Heraclius himself in A. D. 629. Pre- of Alexander in the remote provinces of the East:
vious to this, however, the emperor celebrated his among others he plundered a temple at Susa, noted
victories by a triumphal entrance into Constan- for its wealth, on which charge he was put to death
tinople: the blessings of his subjects followed him by Alexander after his return from India, B. C.
wherever he went, and his fame spread over the 325. (Arrian, Anab. vi. 27. 88 8, 12 ; Curt.
world from Europe to the remotest corners of India. x. 1. )
(E. H. B. )
Ambassadors from that country, from the Frankish HÉRA'GORAS ('Hpayopas), a Greek historian
king, Dagobert, and many other eastern and west of uncertain date. A work of his, called Meyapıké,
eru princes, came to Constantinople to congratulate is quoted by Eudocia (p. 440), and by the scholiast
the emperor on his having overthrown the here-
on Apollonius Rhodius (i. 211), who calls him
ditary enemy of the Roman empire.
Hesagoras.
[E. E. )
The glory acquired by Heraclius was of short HÈRAS (*Hpas), a physician of Cappadocia,
duration. The provinces reconquered from the who lived after Heracleides of Tarentum (Galen,
Persians he was deprived of for ever by the Arabs. De Compos. Medicam. sec. Gen. v. 6, vol. xiii. p.
Our space does not allow us to give more than a 812), and before Andromachus (Galen, De Com-
short sketch of the long and bloody war tbat gave pos. Medicam. sec. Loc. vi. 9, vol. xii. p. 989), and
a new religion and a new master to the East. therefore probably in the first century B. C.
On his way to Jerusalem in A. D. 629, Heraclius wrote some works on pharmacy, which are rery
received at Édessa an ambassador of Mohammed, frequently quoted by Galen, but of which nothing
who summoned the emperor to adopt the new but a few fragments remain. His prescriptions and
He
DD 3
## p. 406 (#422) ############################################
406
HERDONIUS.
HERENNIA GENS.
99
kom. 44
as reizes
be
11:33
HERES
skete
3
quoted also by other ancient medical writers, and and Herdonius and nearly all his followers were
he may perhaps be the physician mentioned by slain, after a desperate and protracted resistance.
Martial (Epigr. vi. 78. 3). See C. G. Kühn, (Liv. iii. 15—19; Dionys. x. 14-17. ) The ex-
Additam. ad Elench. Medic. Vet. a J. A. Fabric. ploit of Herdonius, although much misrepresented
in “ Bibl. Gracca ” exhibitum.
[W. A. G. ) | by both Livy and Dionysius, and probably by the
HE'RCULES. [HERACLES. ]
annalists whom they consulted, throws considerable
HERCUʼLIUS ('Epkoúdws), praefectus prae- light on the political history of Rome in the first
torio Illyrici, A. D. 408—412, is probably the century of the republic. It is amply narrated by
Herculius to whom one of the letters of Chrysostom Niebuhr (Hist. of Rome, vol. ii. pp. 293–296),
is addressed. It is in answer to a letter from and analysed by Arnold (llist. of Rome, vol. i.
to Africa till A. D. 409, after Attalus had assumed was fought by his army when deserted by their
the purple. Heraclian rendered good service to leader. Sabinus, son-in-law of Heraclian, filed to
Honorius during the invasion of Italy by Alaric, Constantinople; but, being sent back after a time,
and the usurpation of Attalus. (ALARICUS ; ATwas condemned to banishment.
TALUS. ) He secured the most important posts on The name of Heraclian does not appear in the
the African coast by suitable guards, and laid an Fasti Consulares, an edict of Honorius having de-
embargo on the ships which carried corn from his pro- clared the consulship defiled by him, and abolished
vince to Rome, thereby producing a famine in that his name and memory; but it is probable that
city. Attalus, misled by prophecies or jealous of the Prosper Tiro is correct in making him colleague
Visigothic soldiers, who were his chief military sup (or intended colleague) of Lucianus or Lucius, who
port, sent Constans, without any troops, to supersede appears in the Fasti as sole consul for A. D. 413.
Heraclian, counting apparently either on the sub- (Zosim. v. 37, vi. 7—11; Sozomen, H. E. ix. 8;
mission of the latter or the revolt of the provincials. Philostorg. H. E. xii. 6; Oros. vii. 29, 42; Idatius,
He was disappointed: Constans was killed ; and Chron. and Fasti; Marcellin. Chron. ; Prosper
those whom Attalus sent with a sum of money to Aquit. Chron. ; Prosper Tiro, Chron. ; Olympiod.
support him appear to have fallen into the hands of apud Phot. Bill. Cod. 80 ; Cod. Theod. 9. tit. 40.
Heraclian, who sent to Honorius at Ravenna a sea- $ 21; 15. tit. 14. $ 13; 16. tit. 5. $ 51 ; Gothofred.
sonable pecuniary supply, derived probably from Prosop. Cod. Theodos. ; Tillemont, Hist. des Emp.
the captured treasure. Alaric, who saw the im- vol. v. ; Gibbon, c. 30, 31. ) (J. C. M. ]
portance of obtaining Africa, proposed to send HERACLIA'NUS ('Hpakdelavós), bishop of
Drumas or Druma with the Visigoths, whom he Chalcedon, an ecclesiastical writer of uncertain
commanded, to attack Heraclian, but Attalus would date. He wrote a work against the Manichaeans,
not consent, and Alaric, dissatisfied with Attalus, in twenty books, Kata Manxaiw ev Bubalors K'.
compelled him to resign the purple (A. D. 410). The Photius, from whom alone we learn any thing of
military force of Heraclian appears to have been the work and its author, describes it as written in
trifling, if we may judge from the force which a concise and elevated, yet perspicuous, style. It
Alaric would have sent against him, and which was addressed to one Achillius ('Axixios), at
consisted of only about 500 men. But he had whose request it was written ; and was designed
probably secured the fidelity of the provincials, by to refute the so-called Gospel (evayyé dcov) of the
the wise measure of toleration to the Donaties, Manichaeans, and the rigárteios Bíblus, and the
which Honorius (at the suggestion, as Baronius Onpaupol, works of note among the members of
thinks, of Heraclian) granted about this time, a. D. that sect. (Phot. Bibl. Codd. 85, 231; Cave, Hist.
410. When the danger was over, the persecuting Litt. vol. i. p. 551, ed. Oxon. 1740-13; Fabric.
spirit revived, and a later edict of the same year, Bibl. Gr. vol. x. p. 705. )
(J. C. M. ]
addressed to Heraclian, recalled the liberty which HERACLIA'NUS ('Hpakdelavós), a physician
had been granted.
of Alexandria, under whom Galen studied anatomy,
The important services of Heraclian secured for about A. D. 156. (Galen, Comment. in Hippocr.
him the honour of the consulship. It is probable “ De Nat. Hom. " ii. 6, vol. xv. p. 136. ) (W. A. G. )
that he was only consul designatus for the year HERACLIUS, the son of Hiero, was a noble
413, and that he never exercised the functions of and opulent citizen of Syracuse. Heraclius, before
the office. He appears to have received the notice the praetorship of C. Verres, in B. c. 73–71, one
of his appointment in the earlier part of 412; and of the wealthiest, became, through his exactions.
the same year, elated with pride, and instigated, as and oppression, one of the poorest men in Sicily.
we gather from Orosius, by Sabinus, an intriguing (Cic. in Verr. ii. 14. ) The family, at least the
and unquiet man, whom he had raised from some namesakes of Heraclius, suffered equally from
post in his household to be his son-in-law, he re- Verres. Another Heraclius of Syracuse he stripped
volted against Honorius, and assumed the purple. of his property (iv. 61). Heraclius of Segesta he
His first step was to stop the corn ships, as in the put to death (v. 43); and Heraclius of Amestratus
revolt of Attalus ; his second, to collect ships and (iii. 39), and another of Centuripini, appeared in
troops for the invasion of Italy. An edict of Ho- evidence against him in B. c. 70(ii
. 27). (W. B. D. )
norius, dated from Ravenna, Non. Jul. , A. D. 412, HERA CLIUS ('Hpákelos), a cynic philoso-
denounces sentence of death against him and his fol-pher, against whom the emperor Julian composed
lowers, as public enemies, and enables us to fix the an harangue. Suidas calls him Heracleitus ('Hpá-
date of his revolt. Gothofredus would, indeed, cor- KAEITOS). (Julian, Orat. vii. ; Suidas, s. v. 'lovas-
## p. 403 (#419) ############################################
HERACLIUS.
403
HERACLIUS.
:
avós ; Fabric. Bill. Gr. vol. ii. p. 626, iii. p. 519, | lation followed their example ; and whatever might
vi. p. 727. )
(J. C. M. ] have been the secret designs of Crispus, he had no
HERA'CLIUS ('Hpáxhelos), a Roman emperor chance of prevailing upon the people while a con-
of the East, reigned from a. D. 610 to 641. The queror filled their souls with admiration and grati-
character of this extraordinary man is a problem ; tude. No enmity, however, arose between Hera-
his reign, signalised by both splendid victories and clius and Crispus, who was rewarded with riches
awful defeats, is the last epoch of ancient Roman and honours, and entrusted with the supreme com-
grandeur: he crushed Persia, the hereditary enemy mand against the Persians. Nicetas, of course,
of Rome, and be vainly opposed his sword to the arrived long after the downfal of the eyrant ; but
rise and progress of another enemy, whose followers as he could not traverse so many provinces without
achieved their prophet's prediction, the extermina- preparing the people for the revolution, he received
tion of the Roman empire in the East.
his share, likewise, in the favours of the new cm-
Heraclius was the son of Heraclius the elder, peror, with whom he continued to live in the most
exarch or governor-general of Africa, who was intimate friendship.
renowned for his victories over the Persians, and The Eastern empire was then in a miscrabile
who was descended from another Heraclius, of condition. Torn to pieces by political factions,
Edessa, who wrested the province of Tripolitana attacked and ravaged in all quarters by barbarous
from the Vandals during the reign of the emperor and implacable enemies, its ruin was imminent,
Leo the Great. Heraclius the younger, the sub- and a great monarch only could prevent its down-
ject of this notice, was born in Cappadocia, about fal. Heraclius was a great man, and yet he accom-
A. D. 575. We know little of his earlier life, but plished nothing. He had certainly great defects :
we must suppose that he showed himself worthy of his love of pleasure was unbounded, but his virtues
his ancestors, since in A. D. 610, his father destined were still greater; yet we search in vain for a
him to put an end to the insupportable tyranny of single powerful exertion to extricate himself and
the emperor Phocas. This prince, the assassin of his subjects from their awful position. This seems
the emperor Mauritius, whose throne he had strange and wholly unaccountable ; but when we
usurped, committed such unheard-of cruelties, and call to mind his heroic exploits in a subsequent part
misgoverned the empire in so frightful a manner, of his reign, we have every reason for believing
that conspiracies were formed in all the provinces that he could not act vigorously on account of the
to deprive him of his ill-gotten crown. The prin- circumstances in which he was placed, and there-
cipal conspirator was Crispus, the son-in-law of fore we are not justified in condemning his inac-
Phocas, who urged Heraclius the elder to join him tivity.
in the undertaking. During two years the prudent The following was the state of the empire: the
exarch declined rising in open rebellion, but he European provinces between the Bosporus and the
manifested his hostile intentions by prohibiting the Danube were laid waste by the Bulgarians, Slavo-
export of corn from Africa and Egypt into Constan- nians, and especially the Avars, who, in 619,
tinople, thus creating discontent among the inhabit overran and plundered all the country as far as
ants of the capital, who depended almost entirely Constantinople. Heraclius tried all the means
upon the harvests of Africa. He then withheld within his power to persuade them to retreat ; and
from the imperial treasury the revenue of his pro- having at last found their king disposed to return
vince, and at last promised open assistance to Cris- to his native wildernesses, he went into his camp,
pus, who had offered him the imperial crown. which was pitched in the neighbourhood of Con-
This, however, the exarch declined, alleging his stantinople, for the purpose of concluding a definite
advanced age. In his stead he sent his son Hera- truce through a personal interview. The barbariau
clius with a fleet, and Nicetas, the son of his brother, having pledged his word to refrain from all hos-
and bis lieutenant, Gregorius or Gregoras, with an tilities, the gates of Constantinople were left open,
army, with which they were to proceed through and a motley crowd of soldiers, citizens, and
Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor. They started women left the town to witness the interview. No
from Carthage in the autumn of A. D. 610. There is sooner had Heraclius entered the camp of the
a strange story that the one who should first arrive Avars, than he was suddenly surrounded by their
at Constantinople should be emperor. But a fleet horsemen, who sabred his escort, and would have
requires only twelve days or a fortnight to sail made him a prisoner but for the swiftness of his
from Africa to the Bosporus, and do army can
horse. He succeeded in reaching the town, but
march from Carthage to Constantinople in less than the immense crowd of spectators were less fortu-
three months. When Heraclius with his fleet nate. Many of them were unmercifully slain,
appeared off Constantinople, Crispus rose in revolt; others trampled down by the horses, and such was
Heraclius forced the entrance of the Golden Horn; the flight and the eagerness of the pursuit, that
and the emperor, abandoned by his mercenaries, the gates were closed before the last of the fugi-
hid himself in his palace. The ignominious death, tives were in safety, as there was the greatest
which Phocas suffered from the infuriated mob, is danger lest the pursuers should enter the town
related in the life of that emperor [Phocas]. | together with the flying Greeks, and make them-
When Phocas was conducted before Heraclius, selves masters of the capital. The barbarian then
“Is it thus, wretch,” exclaimed the victor, “ that withdrew, with 250,000 prisoners, into his king-
thou misgovernest the empire? ”.
“Govern it dom beyond the Danube. As the part of Illyri-
better," was the sturdy answer; and Heraclius, in cum between the Haemus, the Danube, the Adriatic
a fit of vulgar passion, knocked the royal captive sea, and the frontier of Italy was laid waste and
down with his fist, and trampled upon him with his most of its inhabitants slain or carried off, Heraclius
feet.
allotted it to the Servians and Croates, with a view
Constantinople was then agitated by two fac- of making them serve as a barrier against the
tions, the blue and the green. The green saluted Avars, and those nations have ever since continued
Heraclius as emperor; the greater part of the popu- to live in that part of Europe. In Italy the ex-
DD 2
## p. 404 (#420) ############################################
404
HERACLIUS.
HERACLIUS.
1
1
)
1
archate was exposed to the attacks of the Lombards / was in the neighbourhood with 40,000 reteran
and some Slavonian tribes : the latter conquered soldiers. Thence the emperor marched into the
Istria, where they still continue to dwell. In Caucasian countries, destroying some of the most
Spain and on the opposite coast of Africa, part of famous temples of the Magi, on his way through
the Greek dominions was conquered by the West- Albania (Dághestán), along the Caspian Sea. His
Gothic king, Sisibut, in 616, and the remaining motive in approaching the Caucasus was probably
part by king Suinthila, in 624. These calamities, to put himself into communication with Ziebei,
however, were trifling in comparison with those the khan of the Khazars, with whom he after-
inflicted upon the empire by the inroads and con- wards concluded a very advantageous alliance. The
quests of the Persians. The war which broke out Khazars were masters of the steppes north of the
in A. D. 603 between the emperor Phocas and the Caucasus as far as the Don and the Ural. Joined
Persian king Chosroës or Khosrew II. , was still by the Colchians and other Caucasian nations, he
raging, and to the conquest of Mesopotamia and directed his attacks against the northern part of
parts of Arminia, the king added, in the beginning Media, and he penetrated probably as far, and
of the reign of Heraclius, all Syria and Palaestine. perhaps beyond, the present Persian capital, Ispa-
Sarbar, the Persian general, conquered and pillaged han. He then returned to the Caucasus, but
Jerusalem in A. D. 615, and sent the holy lance, as before taking up his winter-quarters, he was
his noblest trophy, to his master at Ctesiphon. In attacked by the main army of the Persians com-
A. D. 616, Sarbar took and plundered Alexandria, manded by Chosroës in person, who, however,
conquered Egypt, and penetrated as far as Abys- suffered a total defeat. Ilaving been informed
sinia ; the export of corn from Egypt to Constan- that Chosroës meditated another expedition against
tinople was interrupted, and famine soon began to Constantinople, which would be commanded by
increase the sufferings of the capital. Having been Sarbar, Heraclius descended, in 625, into Mesopo-
urged by a Greek officer to abandon Egypt as a tamia, and from thence went into Cilicia in order
country of which the Persians could only keep to fall upon the rear of the Persians, if Sarbar
transient possession, the proud victor pointed out a should venture to penetrate into Asia Minor with
lofty column in Alexandria, and said, “I shall a Greek army at his back. In order to drive the
leave Egypt after you have swallowed that co- emperor before him, Sarbar attacked him on the
lumn ! ” During this year, another Persian army river Sarus, now Síhún. A terrible conflict took
!
overran Asia Minor, laid siege to Chalcedon, oppo- place ; the Persians were routed with great slaughter,
site Constantinople, and took it, in A. D. 616. and Heraclius gained the entire devotion of his
The Greeks, however, reconquered it a few years soldiers, not only for having led them to a decisive
afterwards. Heraclius made an attempt to enter victory, but also for the most splendid proofs of
into negotiations with Chosroës, but his ambassa- personal courage: on the bridge of the Sarus he
dors were thrown into prison, where they were slew a giant-like Persian, whom nobody dared to
afterwards put to death. It seems that Heraclius meet in single combat. Sarbar hurried into Persia,
remained unshaken in the midst of all these tem- and Heraclius once more marched into Pontus.
pests: he kept his eye upon Persia; he organised During this year Chosroës concluded an alliance
and increased his means, and when at last the time with the Avars: they had been on friendly terms
was come when he thought himself able to keep with the emperor since the year 620, but they now
the field, he took the command of his troops in listened to the proposals of the Persian, and in
person, against the persuasion of bis courtiers, and 626 they descended into Thrace, laying siege to
astonished the world by a series of campaigns Constantinople, while Sarbar with a powerful army
worthy of comparison with those of the most con- advanced from Persia, and took up his former
summate generals of all times. “ Since the days quarters on the Asiatic shore of the Bosporus.
of Scipio and Hannibal,” says Gibbon, “no bolder Heraclius was then encamped on the lower Halys.
enterprise has been attempted than that which Every body expected he would fly to the relief of
Heraclius achieved for the deliverance of the his capital ; but he did just the contrary. He
empire. "
despatched his son Theodore with an army against
Heraclius spent a whole year in disciplining a Sais, the lieutenant of Chosroës, who invaded
host of Greeks and barbarians into a compact Mesopotamia, and he himself, with the main body,
army. In 622 he embarked them on vessels lying took up a position in the Caucasus, taking no notice
in the Bosporus, and made sail for Cilicia. He of Sarbar and the Avars. His plan was admirable,
pitched his camp in the plain of Issus, and occupied and crowned with complete success. In the Cau-
the Pylae Ciliciae and the other passes of the casus he was joined by the khan Ziebel, with whom
Taurus and Anti-Taurus that lead into the plain he had just concluded an offensive and defensive
round the corner of the gulf of Iskénderun, between alliance, and who now hastened to his assistance
Mount Taurus and Mount Amanus. He was soon with a powerful army of Khazars. The khan with
surrounded by a Persian army, but defeated it in a his main army invaded Media ; Heraclius, with
decisive battle, and, in spite of repeated attacks, his Greeks and 50,000 Khazarian auxiliaries, at-
fought his way across the Taurus and Anti-Taurus tacked Assyria ; and Constantinople stood firmly
into the province of Pontus. There his army took against its assailants. As neither of the besiegers
up its winter-quarters. He himself returned to had ships, they could not effect a junction, and thus
Constantinople, and in the spring of 623 sailed with the Avars withdrew, after having sustained several
another army, small but select, to Trebizond. This severe defeats, and Sarbar amused himself with
campaign and those of the following years led to besieging Chalcedon, thus running the risk of being
great results: the campaign of 624, however, is cut off from Persia : for in the following year, 627,
full of obscurities. Heraclius crossed Armenia, Heraclius made an irresistible attack against the very
and soon was in sight of Gandzaca, now Tauris, heart of the Persian empire. He crossed the Great
which yielded to him after a short siege, Chosroës Zab, and encamped on the ruins of Nineveh. Rha-
being unable or unwilling to defend it, although he zates, the Persian general, took up a fortified position
3
## p. 405 (#421) ############################################
HERACLIUS.
405
HERAS.
near the junction of the Little Zab and the Tigris. religion. In spite of this insult the emperor con-
There be was attacked and routed by the emperor, descended to conclude a treaty of friendship with
in the month of December, 627, and an immense the prophet. A small town, however, on the frontier
booty remained in the hands of the victors. A of Syria was plundered by some Arabs, and this
few days afterwards Heraclius took Dastagerd or trifling circumstance was the signal of a general war,
Artemita, not far from Ctesiphon, which was the which Mohammed feared all the less as the Greek
favourite residence of Chosroës, and the numerous empire was exhausted through the long wars with
palaces of the king in the neighbourhood of that the Persiang. The war was continued by Moham-
town were likewise taken and plundered. The med's successors, Abubekr and Omar; and before
booty was so great as to baffle description, though Heraclius died, Syria, Palaestine, and Jerusalem,
we must not believe the Arabic historians when Mesopotamia and Egypt, were annexed to the
they say that in the treasury of Dastagerd the dominion of the Khalifs. Heraclius did not com-
king used annually to deposit the greater part of mand his armies, as he had done with so much
the income of the empire, which amounted to two success against Chosroës, but spent his days in
hundred millions of pounds sterling, and that the pleasures and theological controversies in his palace
Greek emperor found in the treasury a thousand at Constantinople. The motives of his inactivity are
chests full of diamonds and other precious stones. unknown to us, and we are inclined to nscribe the
Chosroës fled to Seleuceia, and thence into the in- misfortunes of the last ten years of his reign to
terior of Persia. The only army left to him was bodily sufferings and debility, the consequence of
that of Sarbar, and he sent messengers to Chalce his numerous campaigns and of the
many wounds
don to urge his immediate return. The messengers which he had received in his daring exploits, rather
were intercepted, but Heraclius ordered them to be than to some mental derangement, or to that sort
released, taking care, however, to substitute an- of character which has been given him by modem
other letter for that written by the king, in which historians, who represent him as possessing a mix-
it was said that the king was victorious on all ture of energy and laziness of such an extraordinary
sides, and that Sarbar might continue the siege of description as to be bardly consistent with the
Chalcedon.
organisation of the human mind. So long as there
The protracted absence of Sarbar in such a is no positive evidence of the most unequivocal
critical moment was certain proof of high treason character, no man, and still less a great man,
in the eyes of the Persian king, and a confident ought to be declared either a madman or a fool.
officer was despatched into the camp of Chalcedon, Heraclius died on the 11th of March (February),
bearing an order to the second in command, direct- A. D. 641, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
ing him to kill Sarbar. The despatch fell into Heraclius, called Constantine III. , whom he had
Sarbar's hands: he inserted after his name those | by his first wife, Eudoxia : he left another son,
of four hundred of the principal officers, who seeing Heracleonas, by his second wife, Martina. A
their lives in danger, agreed with the proposition colossal statue of Heraclius was shown at Barletto
of their commander to conclude a separate peace in Apulia so late as the end of the fifteenth cen-
with the Greeks. Deprived of his only army and tury. (Theophan. p. 250, &c. , ed. Paris ; Nicephor.
his best general, Chosroës was unable to oppose p. 4, &c. , ed. Paris ; Cedrenus, p. 407, ed. Paris ;
resistance to a new attack of Heraclius upon the Chronicon Alexandrinum; Zonar. vol. i. p. 82,
heart of Persia. He filed to the East, abandoning &c. , ed. Paris; Manasses, p. 75, &c. ; Glycas, p.
the West to the victorious Greeks ; but the loyalty 270, &c. , ed. Paris. )
[W. P. )
of his subjects ceased with his victories, and HERACLIUS II. (CONSTANTINUS III. )
Chosroës became the victim of a rebellion headed HE'RACON ('Hpákwv), an officer in the service
by his own son, Siroes, by whom he was put to of Alexander, who, together with Cleander and
death in the month of February, A. D. 628. In the Sitalces, succeeded to the command of the army in
following month of March a peace was concluded Media, which had previously been under the orders
between Heraclius and Siroes, in consequence of of Parmenion, when the latter was put to death by
which the ancient limits of the two empires were order of Alexander, B. C. 330. In common with
restored, and the holy cross was given back to many others of the Macedonian governors, he per-
the Christians. It was presented to the holy se mitted himself many excesses during the absence
pulcbre by Heraclius himself in A. D. 629. Pre- of Alexander in the remote provinces of the East:
vious to this, however, the emperor celebrated his among others he plundered a temple at Susa, noted
victories by a triumphal entrance into Constan- for its wealth, on which charge he was put to death
tinople: the blessings of his subjects followed him by Alexander after his return from India, B. C.
wherever he went, and his fame spread over the 325. (Arrian, Anab. vi. 27. 88 8, 12 ; Curt.
world from Europe to the remotest corners of India. x. 1. )
(E. H. B. )
Ambassadors from that country, from the Frankish HÉRA'GORAS ('Hpayopas), a Greek historian
king, Dagobert, and many other eastern and west of uncertain date. A work of his, called Meyapıké,
eru princes, came to Constantinople to congratulate is quoted by Eudocia (p. 440), and by the scholiast
the emperor on his having overthrown the here-
on Apollonius Rhodius (i. 211), who calls him
ditary enemy of the Roman empire.
Hesagoras.
[E. E. )
The glory acquired by Heraclius was of short HÈRAS (*Hpas), a physician of Cappadocia,
duration. The provinces reconquered from the who lived after Heracleides of Tarentum (Galen,
Persians he was deprived of for ever by the Arabs. De Compos. Medicam. sec. Gen. v. 6, vol. xiii. p.
Our space does not allow us to give more than a 812), and before Andromachus (Galen, De Com-
short sketch of the long and bloody war tbat gave pos. Medicam. sec. Loc. vi. 9, vol. xii. p. 989), and
a new religion and a new master to the East. therefore probably in the first century B. C.
On his way to Jerusalem in A. D. 629, Heraclius wrote some works on pharmacy, which are rery
received at Édessa an ambassador of Mohammed, frequently quoted by Galen, but of which nothing
who summoned the emperor to adopt the new but a few fragments remain. His prescriptions and
He
DD 3
## p. 406 (#422) ############################################
406
HERDONIUS.
HERENNIA GENS.
99
kom. 44
as reizes
be
11:33
HERES
skete
3
quoted also by other ancient medical writers, and and Herdonius and nearly all his followers were
he may perhaps be the physician mentioned by slain, after a desperate and protracted resistance.
Martial (Epigr. vi. 78. 3). See C. G. Kühn, (Liv. iii. 15—19; Dionys. x. 14-17. ) The ex-
Additam. ad Elench. Medic. Vet. a J. A. Fabric. ploit of Herdonius, although much misrepresented
in “ Bibl. Gracca ” exhibitum.
[W. A. G. ) | by both Livy and Dionysius, and probably by the
HE'RCULES. [HERACLES. ]
annalists whom they consulted, throws considerable
HERCUʼLIUS ('Epkoúdws), praefectus prae- light on the political history of Rome in the first
torio Illyrici, A. D. 408—412, is probably the century of the republic. It is amply narrated by
Herculius to whom one of the letters of Chrysostom Niebuhr (Hist. of Rome, vol. ii. pp. 293–296),
is addressed. It is in answer to a letter from and analysed by Arnold (llist. of Rome, vol. i.
