(orange, possessing
Anatolia,
North Africa, and much of Italy) in 650, showing the
Rashidun Caliphate (green, possessing Egypt,
the Levant, and much of
the Middle East), after the loss of Egypt and other territories to Muslim conquest Under Constans, the Byzantines completely withdrew from
Egypt in 642, and the third
Rashidun caliph
Uthman () launched numerous attacks on the islands of the
Mediterranean and
Aegean Seas. A Byzantine fleet under the admiral
Manuel occupied
Alexandria again in 645, and the Alexandrians hailed him as a liberator, since the caliphate levied heavier taxes and showed less respect for their religion. However, Manuel squandered his time and popularity in plundering the countryside, and eventually the Arab army managed to force him to embark for home. The situation was complicated by the violent opposition to
Monothelitism by the clergy in the west and the related rebellion of the
Exarch of Carthage,
Gregory the Patrician. The latter fell in
battle against the army of caliph Uthman, and the region remained a vassal state under the Caliphate until the
First Fitna broke out and imperial rule was restored. under the orders of emperor Constans II, miniature from the 12th century
Manasses Chronicle Constans attempted to steer a middle line in the church dispute between Orthodoxy and Monothelitism by refusing to persecute either and prohibiting further discussion of the natures of
Jesus Christ by decree in 648 (the
Typos of Constans). Naturally, this live-and-let-live compromise satisfied few passionate participants in the dispute. Meanwhile, the advance of the Rashidun Caliphate continued unabated. In 647 they entered
Armenia and
Cappadocia and sacked
Caesarea Mazaca. In the same year, they raided Africa and killed Gregory. In 648, the Arabs raided into
Phrygia, and in 649 they launched their first maritime expedition against
Crete. A major Arab offensive into
Cilicia and
Isauria in 650–651 forced the Emperor to enter into negotiations with Caliph Uthman's governor of
Syria,
Mu'awiya I (), who later reigned as the first
Umayyad caliph. The truce that followed allowed a short respite and made it possible for Constans to hold the western portions of Armenia. In 654, however, Mu'awiya renewed his raids by sea, plundering
Rhodes. Constans led a fleet to attack the Muslims at
Phoinike (off
Lycia) in 655 at the
Battle of the Masts, but he was defeated: 500 Byzantine ships were destroyed in the battle, and the Emperor himself was almost killed. The sea battle was so devastating that the emperor escaped only by trading clothes with one of his men. According to chronicler
Theophanes the Confessor, before the battle Constans dreamed of being at
Thessalonica: this dream predicted his defeat because "Thessalonika" is similar to the phrase
thes allo niken ("gave victory to another (the enemy)" in Greek). Caliph Uthman was preparing to attack
Constantinople, but he did not carry out the plan, as the
First Fitna broke out in 656. In 658, with the eastern frontier under less pressure, Constans defeated the
Slavs in the
Balkans, temporarily reasserting some notion of Byzantine rule over them and
resettled some of them in Anatolia ( or 667). In 659 he campaigned far to the east, taking advantage of a rebellion against the Caliphate in
Media. The same year he concluded peace with the Arabs. Now Constans could turn to church matters once again.
Pope Martin I had condemned both
Monothelitism and Constans' attempt to halt debates over it in the
Lateran Council of 649. The Emperor ordered the
Exarch of Ravenna to arrest the Pope. Exarch
Olympius excused himself from this task, but his successor,
Theodore I Calliopas, carried it out in 653. Pope Martin was brought to Constantinople and condemned as a criminal, ultimately being exiled to
Cherson, where he died in 655. Constans grew increasingly fearful that his younger brother, Theodosius, could oust him from the throne; he therefore obliged Theodosius to take holy orders and later had him killed in 660. Constans' sons Constantine, Heraclius, and Tiberius had been associated on the throne since the 650s. However, having attracted the hatred of the citizens of Constantinople, Constans decided to leave the capital and to move to
Syracuse in
Sicily. On his way, he stopped in Macedonia and fought the Slavs at Thessalonica with success. Then, in the winter of 662–663, he made his camp at Athens. From there, in 663, he continued to Italy. He launched an assault against the
Lombard Duchy of Benevento, which then encompassed most of
Southern Italy. Taking advantage of the fact that Lombard king
Grimoald I of Benevento was engaged against Frankish forces from
Neustria, Constans disembarked at
Taranto and besieged
Lucera and
Benevento. However, the latter resisted and Constans withdrew to
Naples. During the journey from Benevento to Naples, Constans II was defeated by Mitolas, Count of Capua, near Pugna. Constans ordered
Saburrus, the commander of his army, to attack the Lombards again, but
he was defeated by the Beneventani at Forino, between
Avellino and
Salerno. In 663 Constans visited
Rome for twelve days—the first emperor since the fall of the
Western Roman Empire in 476 and, along with
John V Palaiologos, one of only two Eastern Roman emperors since the division of the Roman empire in 395 to set foot in Rome—and was received with great honor by
Pope Vitalian (657–672). Although on friendly terms with Vitalian, he stripped buildings (including the
Pantheon) of their ornaments and bronze to be carried back to Constantinople, and in 666 declared the Pope to have no jurisdiction over the
Archbishop of Ravenna, since that city was the seat of the Exarch, his immediate representative. His subsequent moves in
Calabria and
Sardinia were marked by further strippings and request of tributes that enraged his Italian subjects. According to
Warren Treadgold, the first
themes were created between 659 and 661, during the reign of Constans II. However,
John Haldon states that this idea is not supported by a "a shred of evidence", although redistribution of the armies across the Anatolian provinces did take place, and likely resulted in administrative changes. == Death and succession ==