Heraclius

Heraclius was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641 and came to power during a severe military and political crisis. He reorganised the imperial war effort against the Sasanian Persians after they captured much of the eastern empire, including Jerusalem and Egypt.

Heraclius eventually carried the war deep into Persian territory and recovered the lost provinces, but the victory was short-lived. Within a few years Arab Muslim armies defeated Byzantine forces and conquered Syria, Palestine and Egypt, transforming the strategic position of the empire.

Nick Holmes’ The End of Antiquity follows Khosrow II’s conquests, Heraclius’s counter-offensive and the destruction caused by a war that moved repeatedly across Anatolia, the Levant, Egypt and Mesopotamia.