Three years later, he declared that the pope did not have authority over the Archbishop of Ravenna, since Ravenna was the city of Constans' representative, the Exarch. The Exarchate of Ravenna was an administrative district that owed allegiance to Constantinople. It was the Exarch Theodore I Calliopas in 652 who arrested Pope Martin on Constans' orders, dragging him from the Lateran and putting him on a ship to Constantinople for trial, for daring to get involved in Constans' decree about Monothelitism.
Although much of what I have reported about Constans seems self-serving, he did undertake some larger issues. Concerned about delays of traffic on the Silk Road, he sent emissaries to China to discuss with Emperor Taizong of Tang China how to better manage the tribal conflicts in the Turkic Khaganate that were causing disruption. Chinese histories talk of the meetings in which Constans II sent gifts such as red and green gems (see the illustration).
Very few Byzantine emperors seemed to die of old age, however, and at the age of 37 Constans was assassinated by his chamberlain while taking a bath. His 18-year-old son became Emperor Constantine IV. Constantine was willing to manage the issue of monothelitism, and had better luck than his father against the encroaching Arabs. I'll tell you about him tomorrow, as well as his first challenge, a usurper pushed into place by the Sicilian bishops.
