Heraclius (Latin: Flavius Heraclius Augustus, Greek: F????? ?????e???, c.

575 ruary 11, 641) was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.[A 1] He was responsible for abandoning the use of Latin in favor of the Ancient Greek language in official documents, further Hellenising the empire. His rise to pow er began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Afri ca, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas. Heraclius' reign was marked by several military campaigns. The year Heraclius ca me to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers. Heraclius immediat ely took charge of the war against the Sassanids. The first battles of the campa ign ended in defeat for the Romans; the Persian army fought their way to the Bos phorus. However, because Constantinople was protected by impenetrable walls and a strong navy, Heraclius was able to avoid total defeat. Soon after, he initiate d reforms to rebuild and strengthen the military. Heraclius drove the Persians o ut of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh. The Persian king Khosrau II was assassinated s oon after and peace was restored to the two deeply strained empires. However, soon after his victory he faced a new threat, the Muslim invasions. Eme rging from the Arabian Peninsula, the Muslims quickly conquered the collapsing P ersian empire. In 634 the Muslims invaded Roman Syria, defeating Heraclius' brot her Theodore. Within a short period of time the Arabs would conquer Syria, Mesop otamia, Armenia, and Egypt.

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In religious matters, Heraclius is remembered as the driving force in converting the peoples migrating to the Balkan Peninsula. At his request, Pope John IV (64 0 642) sent Christian teachers and missionaries to the Dalmatia, newly Croatian pr ovinces settled by Porga and his clan, who practiced Slavic paganism. He tried t o repair the schism in the Christian church in regard to the Monophysites by pro moting a compromise doctrine called Monothelitism, but this philosophy was rejec ted as heretical by both sides of the dispute. He was the first Emperor to engag e the Muslims; in the Islamic tradition he is portrayed as an ideal ruler who co rresponded with Muhammad, was a true believer of Islam, and viewed Muhammad as t he true prophet, the messenger of God.[4]