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263 XXXI Heraclius Heraclius (r. as Eastern emperor 610–642) led a successful rebellion against the usurper, Phocas, and was proclaimed emperor in 610. He defeated the Persian armies, which, after conquering Egypt and Syria, were camping opposite Constantinople. From 619 to 626 most of his military operations were conducted against the Avars, who had invaded the Byzantine Empire. In 627, however , he returned to the conflict with Persia and personally led his armies against those of the Persian King Chosroes II (Cosdras for our author) to a victory that led to the overthrow of Chosroes by his son, Kavadh II, who executed his father and made peace with the Byzantine emperor. In 629 Heraclius was given a hero’s welcome for bringing the True Cross from Jerusalem to Constantinople. For many years afterwards, September 14—the day on which he did this—was celebrated in the church as the “Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.” the Book now tells us that Heraclius held the Empire. He won great honor for the Romans and also saved his soul at the same time. While he served as the Roman ruler, the devil advised a heathen king named Cosdras to have a heaven of brass constructed over his land [as] he very much wanted to be a god himself. On the inside he had the sun and moon painted. On the outside it was covered with carbuncles, its clouds were made of lead and tiny stars were made out of well-carved, precious stones. In between were nine balconies for choirs [to sing accompanied by music made by] rain descending through pipes. Now the Book goes on to tell us how powerful he was among the heathens. He brought the Christians grave suffering. He rode off to Jerusalem with an army and took the Holy Cross—the one on which God himself was martyred—away with him. 264 Chapter Thirty-one He also intended to break up the Holy Sepulcher, although he was never able to touch it, since one of God’s angels guarded it himself. He thoroughly ravaged the city with his army, leaving very little of it that had any use or value. Great lamentations arose, but the survivors all called upon heaven, taking the great calamity to God in prayer. When the Romans heard that Jerusalem had been sacked—Owî!— what cries of despair rose throughout all the city of Rome. Heraclius had great love for God. From heaven a fear-inspiring voice spoke to him: “I will tell you, King, what you should do. Hurry straight to Jerusalem, where you must fight a mighty battle with that King Cosdras. You shall win back the Holy Cross that he robbed from God. The ruling God in heaven commands that you do this.” That mighty lord, Heraclius, dallied there no longer. Because of the great and pressing need he ordered a military expedition into the heathens’ land. He took the green and white flag in his own hand. He was a very bold hero, as would be shown one day soon after that. When he first saw his enemies riding at a great distance, he shouted to the Romans, “Grasp your weapons firmly! I am convinced that today the devil wants to take a vast army with him to hell. Here today you will see both life and death. If we are threatened with destruction, I feel that he who commanded us to set out on this expedition will not let us down.” The king strode to higher ground and asked for silence. “Hail, you eager heroes! I will tell you a parable. It is about a people called the Hebrews, and you should see it as an example to follow: God showed them a wonderful land, since he found them in need, and he told them to forget their sorrows in it after they had taken it away from his enemies. The Hebrews had no knowledge of the land, and they sent two scouts ahead of them so that they should bring back a report of what the interior of the land was like. When the scouts returned they brought with them a huge wine-grape hanging from a staff. The whole army marveled at this. The scouts also reported that in this country there were three crops of grain in a single year and there were crops of cane like pipes with honey in them. They would be able to see and hear all kinds of...

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