Martinus

Martinus or Marinus (; died possibly in 641) was of the Byzantine Empire from to 641. Martinus was the fifth son of Emperor Heraclius and Empress Martina, who was Heraclius' second wife and niece. Martinus was elevated to , a junior imperial title that placed him on the line of succession, at some point between 638 and 640 by his father. Heraclius died on 11 February 641, leaving the Byzantine Empire to Martinus's half-brother Constantine III and his elder full brother Heraclonas; Constantine III soon died of tuberculosis, although some of his partisans alleged that Martina poisoned him. One such partisan, Valentinus, led troops to Chalcedon, across the Bosporus strait from the imperial capital, Constantinople, to force Martina to install Constans II, the son of Constantine III, as co-emperor. Valentinus seized Constantinople and forced Martina to install Constans II in September or October 641, and deposed Martina, Heraclonas, and Martinus. Martinus was mutilated and exiled to Rhodes. He died soon after, possibly during or immediately after the mutilations. Life Martinus was born to Byzantine Emperor Heraclius and Empress Martina, Heraclius's niece and second wife, at an unknown date; he was likely named after his mother. Prior to taking the throne in 610, Heraclius had been married to Fabia Eudokia, with whom he had had a daughter, Eudoxia Epiphania, and a son, Constantine III. After she died in 612, to further secure the succession, Heraclius remarried, wedding his niece Martina in either 613 or 623, with the latter date considered more likely. Although this marriage was very unpopular and offended the clergy, it was very fruitful. The number and order of Heraclius's children by Martina is unsure, with sources estimating nine, ten, or eleven children. Their first two sons were disabled and therefore unable to inherit, but Heraclonas was born healthy in 626, David Tiberius in 630, and Martinus at some later time. Constantine III was raised to co-emperor in 613 (aged 9 months), and Heraclonas in 638 (aged 12 years).