Valentine's fiasci

I'm continuing this commentary on Dionysius of TelMahre, whom I hold responsible for the 1234 / Michael-Syrus synopsis. Where yesterday I was forming the edges of Dionysius' text, this morning I'll look at its content.

The core story is a three-party dance between Titus's Syrians and David's Armenians, with ʿIyâd's Arabs playing nemesis. They were all brought together by the Byzantines, led by one Valentine. Zuqnîn weighs in on Valentine too - for AG 955, wherein he's misplaced Mar John.

Let's see if I have Dionysius' account right. Valentine is defeated by Tayyaye who attack him in Anatolia. Then these Arabs vanish. ʿIyâd has been winning battles across the Jazira. But now he's in Damascus. Valentine meanwhile survives the rout, limping home penniless... almost to become Emperor of the Romans. Forgive me - I cannot make sense of this.

ALSO 3/10: Michael Palmer smelled a rat before I did. Michael the Syrian, [447] in the church-history lower right on Chabot's edition, sketches the biography of the future patriarch Julian the Roman (r. AG 999-). Julian was actually half-Armenian, half-Syrian; Julian and/or his dad had fought under David. Palmer thought that Dionysius had cooked up the whole Titus character to excuse... I dunno, Julian's father? the Syrian culpability in an atrocity against, perhaps, a Nestorian village? Anyway if Julian had been conceived AG 952 that would give him time to earn a good monastic career (Qinnashrin) by AG 992 and be ready for the Patriarchate in time for the Chilietía, as the Greeks call it.

PseudoSebeos offers more about Valentine - he was "called Arsacides". This historian knows the Arsacids as the Parthian kings over his home Armenia. PseudoSebeos' account begins at the accession of Constantine son of Heraclius: Constantine appointed Valentine "general" and ordered him "east". That's all we hear before plots arise in Constantinople, engineered by Heraclius' widow and niece Martina, ostensibly on behalf of their incest baby Heraclonas. Valentine immediately turned back and installed Constantine's own (more-legitimate) infant son Constans as "Constantine IV". Even his Maronite allies won't call this one "Constantine" - but I'm digressing.

Constans II, as we'll call him, had himself come from consanguinity: his parents were second cousins (mother was a daughter of Niketas). Such was frowned upon in Orthodoxy, although the people considered this instance a technicality against what Heraclius and Martina had got up to. Valentine reckoned the Church might support his own ploy for the throne. Spoiler alert: it didn't work.

Byzantine politics. What fun! Anyway, we're more concerned with chronology right now. PseudoSebeos wasn't so concerned; he mostly cares about Armenia. His Byzantine sources aren't too bad, as James Howard-Johnston noted; although, Constantine III actually had lasted longer than "a few days": 11 February to 25 May AD 641.

The Syrians do better. AG 952 / 19 Tayyaye / 7 ʿUmar according to Dionysius' synopsis and Agapius ("ʿArabs") so: Theophilus. Agapius has a parallel source that Heraclius ruled 31 years so pushes Constantine III's reign to AG 953. Dionysius correctly knew that Heraclius had ruled for thirty, plus a few months. They also all know that Constantine III had entered his fourth month so have "four months". Agapius says he started in February; Theophanes in March, but Wikipedia agrees February.

Valentine's panethnic coalition might be pinned to AG 952. It's Constantine III's push to grab a quick victory, restore the Jazira, and commence his rule with a rousing start. There's still time: Zuqnîn has Dara holding out. Some, like Âmid, might have "surrendered" but considering a switch back. Tella, yeah - it's gone.

In this case Dionysius (d. AD 845) and Zuqnîn (wr. AD 775) are unfair: the Arabs would not have routed Valentine, much less taken his treasury (note for those who don't know: that's for paying the troops). Valentine never met any Arabs. Valentine instead had simply taken his treasury away - when he heard that Martina was now imperatrix, by incest and poison. He's off to save the Empire not from Arabs but from Satan's lamia on earth. Those few Arabs up there ensuring that Tella and Edessa stay sweet might have hit some deserters and boasted to Dionysius' informants they'd routed the army but we don't have to believe them.