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Domitian of Melitene
Domitian (Latin: Domitianus, Greek: Δομιτιανός; c. 550 – 602) was the nephew of the Roman emperor Maurice and the archbishop of Melitene in Roman Armenia from around 580 until his death. He was renowned as a diplomat and is regarded as a saint by the Chalcedonian churches for enforcing orthodoxy in the northeast of the empire. He unsuccessfully tried to convert the Persian king Khosrow II to Christianity when he helped restore him to his throne in 590–591. In the monophysite tradition, however, he is remembered for his brutal persecutions.
Domitian is the subject of a short biography in the Synaxarion of Constantinople and another, probably sourced from the Synaxarion, in the 11th-century Menologion of Basil II. These were written centuries after his death and their reliability is suspect. According to the Synaxarion, he was thirty years old when he became bishop, and this fact may be accurate. This would place his birth around 550. He was certainly young at the time of his appointment.
According to the Chronicle of 1234 and Michael the Syrian, Domitian was the son of Maurice's brother Peter. John of Nikiu says the same in one passage, but elsewhere contradicts himself by making him Maurice's cousin, the son of his paternal uncle. Many other sources—e.g. Evagrius Scholasticus, Theophylact Simocatta, Nicephorus Callistus—describe him as a relative without specifying further. The Synaxarion names his father as Theodore and his mother as Ecdicia, describing them as pious and wealthy. No brother of Maurice named Theodore is otherwise known, and it may be accepted that his father was Peter.
According to the Synaxarion, Domitian received both a secular and a biblical education. He befriended the future Pope Gregory the Great when the latter was an apocrisiarius in Constantinople between 579 and 585. They apparently studied the Bible together. According to the Synaxarion, Domitian married, but his wife died not long after their marriage. Thereupon he renounced the world. He became renowned for his combination of sagacity and asceticism.
According to John of Ephesus's Historia Ecclesiastica, Maurice arranged his election as bishop of Melitene about two years before he succeeded to the imperial throne, while he was still just magister militum per Orientem (578–582). This would be around 580. The bishops of Melitene were metropolitans of their province, but Domitian was the first to be accorded the rank of archbishop. Although in administrative terms, Melitene was a part of Armenia, it was often considered to belong to Cappadocia. To honour Domitian, Maurice raised the rank of his province from Armenia Tertia to Armenia Prima.
John of Ephesus says that Domitian moved to Constantinople soon after Maurice's accession. He became one of Maurice's closest and most trusted advisors in the wars against the Persians and against the Avars and Slavs. The monophysite John, who died before Domitian's persecution of the monophysites, considered him wise. In religion, John says he was "thoroughly imbued with the opinions of" the Council of Chalcedon and Leo's Tome. He reportedly gave the gifts he received from the emperor to the poor.
Domitian mainly resided in Constantinople in the periods 582–585 and 591–598. According to the Synaxarion, Maurice sent him on several missions to various pagan tribes. In 587 or 588, King Childebert II of Austrasia wrote to him seeking a peace treaty with the Romans. This letter is preserved in the collection known as the Epistulae Austrasicae.
In the testament that Maurice had drawn up in 596 or 597, which was only discovered in the reign of Heraclius, Domitian was named guardian of the emperor's children.
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Domitian of Melitene
Domitian (Latin: Domitianus, Greek: Δομιτιανός; c. 550 – 602) was the nephew of the Roman emperor Maurice and the archbishop of Melitene in Roman Armenia from around 580 until his death. He was renowned as a diplomat and is regarded as a saint by the Chalcedonian churches for enforcing orthodoxy in the northeast of the empire. He unsuccessfully tried to convert the Persian king Khosrow II to Christianity when he helped restore him to his throne in 590–591. In the monophysite tradition, however, he is remembered for his brutal persecutions.
Domitian is the subject of a short biography in the Synaxarion of Constantinople and another, probably sourced from the Synaxarion, in the 11th-century Menologion of Basil II. These were written centuries after his death and their reliability is suspect. According to the Synaxarion, he was thirty years old when he became bishop, and this fact may be accurate. This would place his birth around 550. He was certainly young at the time of his appointment.
According to the Chronicle of 1234 and Michael the Syrian, Domitian was the son of Maurice's brother Peter. John of Nikiu says the same in one passage, but elsewhere contradicts himself by making him Maurice's cousin, the son of his paternal uncle. Many other sources—e.g. Evagrius Scholasticus, Theophylact Simocatta, Nicephorus Callistus—describe him as a relative without specifying further. The Synaxarion names his father as Theodore and his mother as Ecdicia, describing them as pious and wealthy. No brother of Maurice named Theodore is otherwise known, and it may be accepted that his father was Peter.
According to the Synaxarion, Domitian received both a secular and a biblical education. He befriended the future Pope Gregory the Great when the latter was an apocrisiarius in Constantinople between 579 and 585. They apparently studied the Bible together. According to the Synaxarion, Domitian married, but his wife died not long after their marriage. Thereupon he renounced the world. He became renowned for his combination of sagacity and asceticism.
According to John of Ephesus's Historia Ecclesiastica, Maurice arranged his election as bishop of Melitene about two years before he succeeded to the imperial throne, while he was still just magister militum per Orientem (578–582). This would be around 580. The bishops of Melitene were metropolitans of their province, but Domitian was the first to be accorded the rank of archbishop. Although in administrative terms, Melitene was a part of Armenia, it was often considered to belong to Cappadocia. To honour Domitian, Maurice raised the rank of his province from Armenia Tertia to Armenia Prima.
John of Ephesus says that Domitian moved to Constantinople soon after Maurice's accession. He became one of Maurice's closest and most trusted advisors in the wars against the Persians and against the Avars and Slavs. The monophysite John, who died before Domitian's persecution of the monophysites, considered him wise. In religion, John says he was "thoroughly imbued with the opinions of" the Council of Chalcedon and Leo's Tome. He reportedly gave the gifts he received from the emperor to the poor.
Domitian mainly resided in Constantinople in the periods 582–585 and 591–598. According to the Synaxarion, Maurice sent him on several missions to various pagan tribes. In 587 or 588, King Childebert II of Austrasia wrote to him seeking a peace treaty with the Romans. This letter is preserved in the collection known as the Epistulae Austrasicae.
In the testament that Maurice had drawn up in 596 or 597, which was only discovered in the reign of Heraclius, Domitian was named guardian of the emperor's children.