v49_0971 - COSTANTE II Semissis

CONSTANS II

(09/641-15/07/668)

Constans II, born in 630, was the son of Heraclius Constantine and the grandson of Heraclius. He was associated with power from September 641 and the beginning of his reign saw the final loss of Egypt to Islam. Constans, in the years 650-54, had to face numerous seditions and revolts, particularly in North Africa. In 654, his son Constantine IV became august. From 659, Heraclius and Tiberius are associated with power and, on coins, they appear on the reverse. It is Constantin, the eldest son of Constans who is always represented on the obverse next to his father. At the end of his reign, Constantine IV abandoned Constantinople to finally settle in Syracuse. This is where he was assassinated in 668.