Gregoria (; fl. 641) was the Byzantine empress as the wife of Constantine III. She participated in the minority

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

government of her son,

Constans II Constans II (; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), also called "the Bearded" (), was the Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last attested emperor to serve as Roman consul, consul, in 642, although the office continued to exist unti ...

, in 641–650.

Lynda Garland Lynda Garland (born 13 October 1955) is a scholar and professor at the University of Queensland. Her research focuses on female images in the Late Antiquity period and Byzantine Society. Biography Professor Lynda Garland is currently the Hono ...

, ''Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527-1204''

Life

She was a daughter of Niketas, a first cousin of

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

'', Vol. 3 who had led an overland invasion of

Roman Egypt Roman Egypt was an imperial province of the Roman Empire from 30 BC to AD 642. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai. It was bordered by the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica to the west and Judaea, ...

in 608 in the revolt which elevated Heraclius to the throne. Niketas fought against the representatives of

Phocas Phocas (; ; 5475 October 610) was Eastern Roman emperor from 602 to 610. Initially a middle-ranking officer in the East Roman army, Roman army, Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers in their disputes with the cour ...

in Egypt and seems to have secured control of the province by 610.Walter Emil Kaegi, ''Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium'' (2003) On 5 October 610, Heraclius succeeded Phocas as the emperor. Niketas was rewarded with the social rank of patrician and the military position of ''

Comes Excubitorum The Excubitors ( or , , i.e. 'sentinels'; transcribed into Greek language, Greek as , ) were founded in as an imperial guard-unit by the Byzantine emperor Leo I the Thracian. The 300-strong force, originally recruited from among the warlike moun ...

'', commander of the

Excubitors The Excubitors ( or , , i.e. 'sentinels'; transcribed into Greek as , ) were founded in as an imperial guard-unit by the Byzantine emperor Leo I the Thracian. The 300-strong force, originally recruited from among the warlike mountain tribe of ...

. He seems to have remained in control of Egypt and took part in the defense against the invasion of

Khosrau II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; and ''Khosrau''), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 ...

of the

Sassanid Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

. Egypt was lost to Khosrau in 618 but Niketas survived. Niketas was then appointed

Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'') was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, ...

of the

Exarchate of Africa The Exarchate of Africa was a division of the Byzantine Empire around Carthage that encompassed its possessions on the Western Mediterranean. Ruled by an exarch (viceroy), it was established by the Emperor Maurice in 591 and survived until t ...

. His term started in 619 and lasted to his death in 628/629. Her paternal grandfather was Gregorius, brother to

Heraclius the Elder Heraclius the Elder (; died 610) was a Byzantine Roman general and the father of Byzantine Roman emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641). Heraclius the Elder distinguished himself in the war against the Sassanid Persians in the 580s. As a subordinate ...

. Heraclius had been appointed Exarch of Africa by Maurice and lived to support the revolt of his son. But not to its conclusion. Gregorius seems to have served under the command of his brother but the extent of his role is unknown.

Empress

Gregoria was betrothed to her second cousin Constantine III, only known son of Heraclius and his first wife Eudokia. Constantine was crowned co-emperor by his father on 22 January 613. Their marriage took place in 629/630. The groom was about seventeen years old. Gregoria was likely of equivalent age. She had arrived to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

from the Western Pentapolis in

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika (, , after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, als ...

. Since Cyrenaica was in the territory of her father Niketas, Gregoria is assumed to have been brought up under his supervision instead of that of her father-in-law.Lynda Garland
Gregoria, Wife of Heraclius Constantine
/ref> She was the junior Empress with Martina as the senior one. Gregoria and her husband had at least two sons.

was born on 7 November 630. According to Theophanes, a second son was named Theodosius. He was executed by Constans in 659/660. Heraclius died on 11 February 641. Constantine III became senior emperor with his paternal half-brother

Heraklonas Heraclius (; 626 – 642), known by the diminutive Heraclonas or Heracleonas (), and sometimes called Heraclius II, was briefly Byzantine emperor in 641. Heraclonas was the son of Heraclius and his niece Martina. His father had stipulated in ...

as his co-ruler. Constantine died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

between April and May of the same year. A revolt in favor of Constans resulted in the deposition of Heraklonas by September. Her son was a minor until 650, and Gregoria was most likely regent during his minority, but her acts as regent is not mentioned in Byzantine sources.

References

External links

The pages of "Heraclius" dealing with Niketas and EgyptThe page of "The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire", vol. 2 dealing with Heraclius of Edessa
{{Roman empresses, state=collapsed 7th-century births 7th-century deaths Heraclian dynasty 7th-century Byzantine empresses 7th-century women regents Mothers of Byzantine emperors Byzantine regents 7th-century regents