Heraclius (Fidem Pacis)

Heraclius the Great, sometimes known as Heraclius I or Heraclius the Convert, was Roman Emperor from 610 to 641 AD. He is renowned in history for being the first emperor to convert to Islam, and for being the driving force behind its adoption by the Empire as a whole and ultimately by the rest of Europe.

Heraclius was born to an Armenian family from Cappadocia. His father was a skilled general and later Exarch of Africa, and Heraclius too rose quickly through the ranks after joining the army. In 608 AD both Heraclii renounced their loyalty to Emperor Phocas, who had usurped the throne from Maurice six years earlier, and in 610 the younger Heraclius seized Constantinople by stealth and was acclaimed Emperor by the people and the senate.

The most immediate task was to settle the war against the Persians who, during the crisis, had captured Mesopotamia and Syria. Over the next 15 years the Persian Emperor, Khusrau, also conquered Egypt and the Holy Land and penetrated far enough into Anatolia to lay siege to Constantinople itself in 626. However, the failure of the siege fatally weakened the Persian army, allowing Rome to reconquer all the lost territories by the year 628.

The next few years were spent rebuilding and reorganising. In 630 Heraclius received a letter from the Patriarch of Alexandria informing him of the success of Islam among the Arabs, and barely a month later he received another letter from the Propher Muhammad himself. This second message emphasised Islam's strict monotheism and invited the emperor to convert - intriguing him enough that, two years later, he himself journeyed to Arabia to witness Muhammad's teachings for himself.