Directory

602 CE

A civil war breaks out and Phocas enters Constantinople. Maurice is captured trying to escape; he is forced to witness the slaughter of his five sons and all his supporters, and is then executed (beheaded) after a 20-year reign. His wife, Constantina, and his three daughters are spared, and sent to a monastery. Phocas is proclaimed the new emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Augustine of Canterbury meets with the Welsh bishops at Aust near Chepstow. He accuses them of not adopting the Roman Christian way of dating Easter, and persuades them to accept the teaching of baptism (according to the Roman Rite). 602 Surb Karapet Monastery earthquake. It affected the Surb Karapet Monastery, located in the district of Taron.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Third Chinese domination of Vietnam: The Early Lý dynasty ends; Hậu Lý Nam Đế, last ruler of Vąn Xuân (North Vietnam), abdicates the throne and becomes a vassal of the Sui dynasty.source

Conflict & Security

  • Byzantine–Persian War: King Khosrau II launches an offensive against Constantinople, to avenge Maurice's death, his "friend and father", and tries to reconquer Byzantine territory. Narses, governor of Upper Mesopotamia, rebels against Phocas at the city of Edessa and requests aid from the Persians. Khosrau sends an expeditionary force to Armenia and crosses the Euphrates.source
  • Khosrau II annexes the Lakhmid kingdom (Southern Iraq), and puts king Nu'man III to death.source
  • Emperor Maurice succeeds in winning over the Avars to Byzantine rule, but his campaigns against the Avars, Lombards, Persians and Slavs drain the imperial treasury, requiring an increase in taxes. He orders the troops to stay for winter beyond the Danube, but a mutiny breaks out under Phocas. He brings the Byzantine forces back over the Danube and marches on to Constantinople.source
  • Spring – Witteric is appointed commander-in-chief of the Visigoth army, and receives orders from King Liuva II to expel the Byzantines from Hispania.source

Religion & Belief

  • November 27 – A civil war breaks out and Phocas enters Constantinople. Maurice is captured trying to escape; he is forced to witness the slaughter of his five sons and all his supporters, and is then executed (beheaded) after a 20-year reign. His wife, Constantina, and his three daughters are spared, and sent to a monastery. Phocas is proclaimed the new emperor of the Byzantine Empire.source
  • Augustine of Canterbury meets with the Welsh bishops at Aust near Chepstow. He accuses them of not adopting the Roman Christian way of dating Easter, and persuades them to accept the teaching of baptism (according to the Roman Rite).source

Climate & Environment

  • 602 Surb Karapet Monastery earthquake. It affected the Surb Karapet Monastery, located in the district of Taron.source

Births

  • Theodore of Tarsus, archbishop of Canterbury (d. 690)source
  • Xuanzang, Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler (d. 664)source
  • Li Chunfeng, Chinese mathematician and historian (d. 670)source
  • Zhiyan, Chinese (Buddhist) patriarch (d. 668)source
  • Adaloald, king of the Lombards (d. 626)source
  • Liu Rengui, general and official of the Tang dynasty (d. 685)source
  • Muawiyah bin Abi-Sufyan, Caliph of Syria (d. 680)source
  • Muawiyah I, founder of the Umayyad Caliphate (d. 680)source

Deaths

  • September 10 – Dugu Qieluo, empress of the Chinese Sui dynasty (b. 544)source
  • November 27 – Maurice, Byzantine emperor (b. 539)source
  • Theodosius, Byzantine co-emperorsource
  • Peter, Byzantine general (curopalates)source
  • Bayan I, ruler (khagan) of the Avarssource
  • Lady Xian, Chinese general (b. 512)source
  • Ariulf, Lombard duke of Spoletosource
  • Nu'man III, king of the Lakhmid kingdomsource
  • Comentiolus, Byzantine general (magister militum)source