Editing Heraclius (section)

=== Byzantine counter-offensive and resurgence ===
On 4 April 622, Heraclius left Constantinople, entrusting the city to Sergius and general [[Bonus (patrician)|Bonus]] as regents of his son. He assembled his forces in Asia Minor, probably in [[Bithynia]], and, after he revived their broken morale, he launched a new counter-offensive, which took on the character of a holy war; an [[acheiropoietos]] image of Christ was carried as a military standard.{{sfn|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=198}}{{sfn|Theophanes|1997|pp=303.12–304.13}}{{sfn|Cameron|1979|p=23}}{{sfn|Grabar|1984|p=37}}

[[File:Cherub plaque Louvre MRR245.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.36|[[Cherub]] and Heraclius receiving the submission of Khosrow II; plaque from a cross ([[Champlevé]] [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]] over gilt copper, 1160–1170, [[Paris]], [[Louvre]]). This is an [[allegory]] as Khosrow never submitted in person.|alt=Medieval style portrait of [[Cherub]] and Heraclius receiving the submission of Khosrow II; plaque from a cross ([[Champlevé]] [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]] over gilt copper).]]

The Roman army proceeded to Armenia, inflicted a defeat on an army led by a Persian-allied Arab chief, and then won a victory over the Persians under Shahrbaraz.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=294}} Heraclius would stay on campaign for several years.{{sfn|Theophanes|1997|pp=304.25–306.7}}{{sfn|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|p=199}} On 25 March 624,<ref>''[[Chronicon Paschale]]'' [https://archive.org/details/chronicon-p/page/166 624].</ref> he again left Constantinople with his wife, [[Martina (empress)|Martina]], and his two children; after he celebrated [[Easter]] in Nicomedia on 15 April, he campaigned in the Caucasus, winning a series of victories in Armenia against Khosrow and his generals Shahrbaraz, Shahin, and [[Shahraplakan]].{{sfn|Theophanes|1997|pp=307.19–308.25}}{{sfn|Greatrex|Lieu|2002|pp=202–205}} In the same year the [[Visigoths]] succeeded in recapturing [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]], capital of the western Byzantine province of [[Spania]], resulting in the loss of one of the few minor provinces that had been conquered by the armies of [[Justinian&nbsp;I]].{{sfn|Hitchner|1991|loc=[https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0916?rskey=hEJqvS&result=901 "Cartagena"]|p=384}} In 626 the Avars and Slavs supported by a Persian army commanded by Shahrbaraz, [[Siege of Constantinople (626)|besieged Constantinople]], but the siege ended in failure (the victory was attributed to the icons of the Virgin which were led in procession by Sergius about the walls of the city),{{sfn|Cameron|1979|pp=5–6, 20–22}} while a second Persian army under Shahin suffered another crushing defeat at the hands of Heraclius's brother Theodore.
[[File:43-manasses-chronicle.jpg|thumb|Heraclius (center) venerating the icon of Mary before campaigning against the Persians. Scene from the 12th century [[Manasses Chronicle]].]]
With the Persian war effort disintegrating, Heraclius was able to bring the [[Gokturks]] of the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]], under [[Ziebel]], who [[Perso-Turkic war of 627–629|invaded Persian Transcaucasia]]. Heraclius exploited divisions within the Persian Empire, keeping Shahrbaraz neutral by convincing him that Khosrow had grown jealous of him and had ordered his execution. Late in 627 he launched a winter offensive into Mesopotamia, where, despite the desertion of his Turkish allies, he defeated the Persians under [[Rhahzadh]] at the [[Battle of Nineveh (627)|Battle of Nineveh]].{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=298}} Continuing south along the Tigris he sacked Khosrow's great palace at [[Dastagird]] and was only prevented from attacking Ctesiphon by the destruction of the bridges on the Nahrawan Canal. Discredited by this series of disasters, Khosrow was overthrown and killed in a coup led by his son [[Kavad II]], who at once sued for peace, agreeing to withdraw from all occupied territories.{{sfn|Baynes|1912|p=288}} In 629 Heraclius restored the [[True Cross]] to [[Jerusalem]] in a majestic ceremony.{{sfn|Speck|1984|p=178}}{{sfn|Baynes|1912|p=288}}{{sfn|Haldon|1997|p=46}}

Heraclius took for himself the ancient Persian title of "[[King of Kings]]" after his victory. Later on, starting in 629, he styled himself as ''[[Basileus]]'', the Greek word for "sovereign", and that title was used by the Byzantine emperors for the next 800 years. The reason Heraclius chose this title over previous Roman terms such as [[Augustus (honorific)|''Augustus'']] has been attributed by some scholars to his [[Armenians|Armenian]] origins.{{sfn|Kouymjian|1983|pp=635–642}}

Heraclius's defeat of the Persians ended a war that had been going on intermittently for almost 400 years and led to instability in the Persian Empire. [[Kavad II]] died only months after assuming the throne, plunging Persia into several years of dynastic turmoil and civil war. [[Ardashir III]], Heraclius's ally [[Shahrbaraz]], and Khosrow's daughters [[Boran]] and [[Azarmidokht]] all succeeded to the throne within months of each other. Only when [[Yazdegerd III]], a grandson of Khosrow II, succeeded to the throne in 632 was there stability. But by then the Sasanid Empire was severely disorganised, having been weakened by [[Sasanian civil war of 628–632|years of war and civil strife]] over the succession to the throne.{{sfn|Kaegi|2003|p=227}}{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uLARyWXlhDYC&pg=PA121 121]}}
The war had been devastating, and left the Byzantines in a much-weakened state. Within a few years both empires were overwhelmed by the onslaught of the Arabs,{{sfn|Foss|1975|pp=746–747}} ultimately leading to the [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Arab conquest of Persia]] and the [[Fall of the Sasanian Empire|fall of the Sasanian dynasty]] in 651.{{sfn|Milani|2004|p=15}}