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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ValiantKnight, post: 2851458, member: 44210&quot;]Wrong choice of words, given my lack of through knowledge on Phocas, ok, but what he did to Maurice&#039;s family was pretty low (I know he wasn&#039;t the only ruler that murdered his predecessor and their relatives), and his mismanagement of the entire situation can indeed make him considered to be a bad ruler, one that needed to be removed from power before things got worse.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;I was not aware of this possibility. I am not well-versed in the literature nor do I really have the time to be so.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>But he was the emperor, and his generals were operating in his name. While they didn&#039;t cause the Arabs to explode out of Arabia, nor the decades of war that just occurred, they had a duty to stop them, and in that regard they failed. Little blame can be put on the Byzantines for making conditions ripe for the Arab conquest, however, IMO. I mostly put it on Phocas and Khosrau II, even though they didn&#039;t mean for it to happen. No war caused by these two, the two empires would probably have beaten back the Arabs. I am aware that conditions were perfect for their rise.</p><p><br /></p><p>Again, with my comment about his reputation I was just repeating the quote I read, and this doesn&#039;t necessarily reflect my thoughts. I&#039;m sure some out there though who have an opinion on this matter believe Heraclius himself really dropped the ball, so in this way it is true that his reputation (not the reputation itself) has been negatively affected.</p><p><br /></p><p>Again, I have not studied really in-depth all of the history of this era. I just rely on the couple of books I&#039;ve read, the internet, and an Islamic history class I took a few years back, so please try not to criticize me and my knowledge too harshly.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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