Valentinus to the Rescue

Constantine's arrangement and gift of money to Valentinus for the army, to support Constantine's son in the line of succession, was almost prescient. Constantine died three months after becoming emperor, leaving his step-brother Heraclonas in charge.

Valentinus and troops from Asia Minor went on the march. When they reached the strait across from Constantinople, Heraclonas wisely confirmed his nephew Constans II as co-emperor. This was in September of 641, and Constans was ten years old to Heraclonas' 17 years. (The illustration is a gold solidus with Constans' image.)

Of course, it was Heraclonas' mother, Martina, who had guided her son and tried to contradict the authority of Constantine. The known adversarial relationship Marina had with the son of her husband's first marriage led to rumors that she had poisoned Constantine.

In November of 641, Valentinus and the army crossed to Constantinople, arrested Martina, Heraclonas, and Martina's other sons David and Marinos. The sons were castrated and their noses were cut off, Martina's tongue was slit; all were exiled to Rhodes. After this, they all fall out of the public record.

Constans was too young not to be guided by a regency council. During his reign, Byantines withdrew from Egypt, and the Rashidun Caliphate attempted to expand into the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. Constans took a different approach to Monothelitism than his father, preferring not to take sides. His Typos of Constans of 648 was an edict forbidding the topic to be debated. This, of course, solved nothing and satisfied no one. (His son, Constantine IV, would call the Sixth Ecumenical Council that would settle the matter officially.)

There was a serious hiccup in his reign early on, however, brought about by the man who saved him originally. Tomorrow we'll talk about how Valentinus thought maybe he should be emperor. See you then.