Heraclius, 610-641
- a rebellion led by Heraclius, one of the empire's best generals, led to a mob uprising in Constantinople, which led to Phocas' death - Heraclius was the founder of a new dynasty, and faced huge military problems, especially in the east with the Persians - in 614 the Persians had captured Jerusalem, in 619 Egypt
- he reorganized the army and, with a burst of patriotic and national enthusiasm, the Byzantine army destroyed Persia in 628, leaving the former Persian empire in chaos
- unfortunately, that left no strong power in place to deal with the Arabs who came boiling out of the desert on a mission to spread Islam - Damascus was captured in 635, Jerusalem in 647, all of Mesopotamia in 639 and Egypt in 642
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