>Was he /ourguy/?

No Anon
> Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus

>Because of the ravages of invasion and constant warring, the Byzantine state was virtually bankrupt upon Maurice’s succession. The lack of funds caused him to undertake extensive cost-cutting, which caused him to acquire a perhaps undeserved reputation for greed among the general populace, soldiers and mercenaries.

>A prominent general in his youth, Maurice fought with success against the Sassanid Persians. Once he became Emperor, he brought the war with Sasanian Persia to a victorious conclusion: the Empire's eastern border in the Caucasus was vastly expanded and for the first time in nearly two centuries the Romans were no longer obliged to pay the Persians thousands of pounds of gold annually for peace.

>Maurice campaigned extensively in the Balkans against the Avars – pushing them back across the Danube by 599. He also conducted campaigns across the Danube, the first Roman Emperor to do so in over two centuries. In the West, he established two large semi-autonomous provinces called exarchates, ruled by exarchs, or viceroys, of the emperor.

>In 593 A.D, fed up with the perfidious Avars, Maurice undertook an offensive campaign across the Danube against them. When he realised the increasing cost of maintaining this army and the campaign, he ordered that they winter on the far side of the Danube.

>The worn out Byzantine soldiers revolted against this decision. An officer named Phocas used the mutiny to seize power in Constantinople. Maurice attempted to flee, but he was intercepted and beheaded, along with his three sons. His wife and daughters survived by entering a monastery.

>Mauritius Tiberius was a capable and efficient ruler; if he appeared to be acting in a spend-thrift way, it was only because the Byzantines simply didn’t have the money to spend. He worked hard to delay or even stop the crumbling of Justinian’s Empire and attempted to pilot the Empire through one of its worst stages of instability.

>>2451570
>Maurice was murdered on 27 November 602 (some say 23 November). It is said that the deposed emperor was forced to watch his six sons executed before he was beheaded himself. Empress Constantina and her three daughters were spared and sent to a monastery. The Persian King Khosrau II used this coup and the murder of his patron as an excuse for a renewed war against the Empire.

Was it 3 or 6?

Heavy stuff

>Maurice's marriage was fertile and produced nine known children:

>Theodosius (4 August 583/585 – after 27 November 602). According to John of Ephesus, he was the first heir born to a reigning emperor since the reign of Theodosius II (408–450).[12] He was appointed Caesar in 587 and co-emperor on 26 March 590.
>Tiberius (died 27 November 602).
>Petrus (died 27 November 602).
>Paulus (died 27 November 602).
>Justin (died 27 November 602).
>Justinian (died 27 November 602).
>Anastasia (died c. 605).
>Theoctista (died c. 605).
>Cleopatra (died c. 605).

The demise of Maurice was a turning point in history. The resulting war against Persia weakened both empires, enabling the Slavs to permanently settle the Balkans and paving the way for Arab/Muslim expansion. English historian A.H.M. Jones characterizes the death of Maurice as the end of the era of Classical Antiquity, as the turmoil that shattered the Empire in the next four decades permanently and thoroughly changed society and politics.