Maurice

Maurice (582-602 CE) was a Roman Emperor in the East who was the last Emperor of the Justinian Dynasty.
He wrote the Strategikon, a manual on war which was used for the next 1,000 years.

1. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

NAME:
- Flavius Mauricius Tiberius
- Justinian Dynasty
MAURICE’ DATES OF REIGN AS EMPEROR:
- 14 August 582 CE to 27 November 602 CE.
MAURICE’ DATE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
- Born in 539 CE. Died on 27 November 602 CE.
PLACE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
- Born in Cappadocia. Executed in the Harbour of Eutropius at Chalcedon.
MAURICE’ PREDECESSOR:
- Tiberius II Constantine
MAURICE’ SUCCESSOR:
- Phocas
HEIR TO THE THRONE BECAUSE:
- He was the son-in-law and senior General of Tiberius II Constantine who proclaimed him Emperor.
WIVES AND CHILDREN:
- Constantina
  - Maria, Theodosius, Tiberius.
DIED PEACEFULLY OR ASSASSINATED:
- Executed with his five sons.
WHERE BURIED:
- Monastery of St. Mamas.
MAURICE WAS FAMOUS BECAUSE:
- He was the last Emperor of the Justinian Dynasty.
- He wrote the Strategikon, a manual of warfare used for the next 1,000 years.
EVENTS:
MONUMENTS:

He gave autonomy to the Empire by creating relatively independent administrations known as Exarchates.
He created an Exarchate of Italy, with a Praetorian Prefect and Magister Militum.
He created an Exarchate of Africa with a Praetorian Prefect and Magister Militum.
He showed tolerance to Monophysitism.

In June 582 CE, Maurice won a victory against General Adarmahan of the Sassanid Empire at Constantina in Osrhoene. But, after being proclaimed Emperor, his successor was defeated in another battle.
In 586 CE he won a victory near the fortress of Dara.
In 588 CE the Roman army captured part of a Persian army and its Standards.
In 590 CE the Persians went through a civil war.
In 591 CE, Maurice sent a combined Roman-Persian Army who successfully reinstalled Khosrau II, and a Peace Treaty was signed, ending the Persian war and ceding Western Armenia to the Roman Empire.
Maurice adopted Khosrau II, but his bishops failed to convert him from Zoroastrianism to Christianity.

In 592 CE, now that the East was calm, Maurice reoccupied Belgrade (Singidunum).
In 593 CE, he crossed the Danube into Avar territory, Wallachia, after defeating an alliance of the Slavs, Gepids and Avars. By 594 CE the Avars were on the defensive, only conducting minor raids into Dalmatia in 596 CE.
The Avars were defeated in 598. 599 and 601 CE. In 602 CE the Slavs were defeated.
The Danube became the Frontier again, and Maurice was planning to destroy the Avar Khaganate.

In c. 600 CE, when Maurice refused to pay a ransom to the Avars, who had captured c.12,000 Roman soldiers, they were killed. A protest in Constantinople, led by an officer called Phocas, was ignored.
In 602 CE, the Army on the Danube mutinied, and proclaimed Phocas as Emperor.
Riots erupted in Constantinople and Maurice was forced to flee with his family. Phocas entered Constantinople in November.
Maurice and his family were brought to the harbour of Eutropius at Chalcedon, where his five sons were executed in front of him, before being executed himself.