Editing Maurice (emperor) (section)

==Overthrow and death==
In the autumn of 602, Maurice decreed that the army should stay for winter beyond the [[Danube]] in [[Sclaveni]] territory, seeking to capitalize the earlier campaign successes by maintaining pressure on the foreign enemies.{{sfn|Whitby|1988|pp=165}} The exhausted troops mutinied against the emperor, demanding permission to return to winter quarters. However, Maurice repeatedly ordered his troops to start a new offensive.{{efn|Per the [[Strategikon of Maurice|''Strategikon'']], winter was considered to be the best time to campaign against the Slavs, as the bare forests provided minimal protection for ambushes, snows would reveal the enemies' tracks, and frozen rivers could be crossed easily by Roman soldiers.{{sfn|Whitby|Whitby|1986|pp=217, 219}}}} Enraged, the army proclaimed [[Phocas]] their leader and marched to Constantinople. They demanded that Maurice abdicate and proclaim as successor either his son Theodosius or [[Germanus (patricius)|Germanus]],{{efn|Though not conclusive, many historians equate him with [[Germanus (Caesar)|Germanus]], the son-in-law of Tiberius II who became ''caesar'' alongside Maurice but refused the throne.<ref>{{harvnb|Martindale|1992|p=529}}; {{harvnb|Whitby|1988|pp=7, 25}}; {{harvnb|Martindale|1992|pp=531, 1293}}; {{harvnb|Howard-Johnston|2021|p=14}}</ref> He has also been sometimes identified with the identically named posthumous son ({{born in|550/551}}) of the ''[[magister militum]]'' [[Germanus (cousin of Justinian I)|Germanus]] ({{died in|550}}) and [[Mataswintha]],{{sfn|Martindale|1992|p=528}}{{sfn|Whitby|1988|p=7}} or an unnamed son of the general [[Justinian (magister militum per Orientem)|Justinian]], the second son of the ''magister militum'' Germanus.{{sfn|Stephenson|2022|p=223}}}} Theodosius' father-in-law. In response, Maurice enlisted the [[Chariot racing#Byzantine racing factions|circus factions]] and general [[Comentiolus]] to defend the [[Walls of Constantinople|Theodosian Walls]]. On 21 November, Germanus was accused of treason by Maurice and he sought sanctuary in [[Hagia Sophia]]. As riots against Maurice erupted in Constantinople, the emperor, taking his family with him, left the city on a warship heading to [[Nicomedia]] in the middle of the night of 22 November.{{sfn|Whitby|Whitby|1986|pp=218–224}}  Theodosius was put ashore with direction to seek support from the Persians, though sources claim that he never reached his destination.{{sfn|Howard-Johnston|2021|pp=16–18}} According to Theophylact, Germanus made an attempt for the throne but when it failed, he paid homage to Phocas, who had emerged as the heavy favorite.{{sfn|Whitby|Whitby|1986|pp=224}} 

On 23 November 602, Phocas was crowned emperor in Hebdomon and two days later, entered Constantinople with unanimous support.{{sfn|Whitby|1988|p=26}}<ref>''Chronicon Pascale'' 602</ref> His troops captured Maurice and his remaining family, and brought them to the [[Harbor of Eutropius]] at Chalcedon.{{sfn|Norwich|1988|pp=275–278}} Maurice was murdered at the harbor of Eutropius on 27 November 602.{{sfn|Martindale|1992|p=860. Some sources give 23 November, but, as the ''[[Chronicon Paschale]]'' [https://archive.org/details/chronicon-p/page/142/mode/1up (O.345)] points out, this was the date of Phocas' coronation.}} The deposed emperor was forced to watch his five younger sons executed before he was beheaded himself.{{sfn|Norwich|1988|p=278}} There is debate over whether Theodosius [[Theodosius (son of Maurice)#Theory of survival and pseudo-Theodosius|managed to escape]]. The Persian king Khosrow II used this coup and the murder of his patron as an excuse for a renewed war against the empire.{{sfn|Norwich|1988|pp=275–278}}

Empress Constantina and her three daughters were temporarily spared and sent to a monastery. A few years later, Constantina and her daughters were all executed at the harbor of Eutropius when she and Germanus were found guilty of plotting against Phocas. The entire family of Maurice and Constantina was buried at the monastery of St. Mamas or Nea Metanoia that had been founded by Maurice's sister Gordia.{{sfn|Garland|1999}}