oral
force. The physical sufferings of Heraclius in his last years were also
looked upon as retribution for his sin.

Martina's influence upon her aged husband in his declining years was
unbounded. Full of ambition and intrigue, she induced him upon his
deathbed to declare her son Heracleonas joint heir with Constantine,
hoping thus herself to wield imperial power. "When Martina first
appeared on the throne with the name and attributes of royalty, she was
checked by a firm, though respectful opposition; and the dying embers of
freedom were kindled by the breath of superstitious prejudice. 'We
reverence,' exclaimed the voice of a citizen, 'we reverence the mother
of our princes; but to those princes alone our obedience is due; and
Constantine, the elder emperor, is of an age to sustain in his own hand
the weight of the sceptre. Your sex is excluded by nature from the toils
of government. How could you combat, how could you answer, the
barbarians who, with hostile or friendly intentions, may approach the
royal city? May Heaven avert from the Roman Republic this national
disgrace which would provoke the patience of the slaves of Persia!'
Martina descended from the throne with indignation and sought a refuge
in the female apartment of the palace."

But, though deprived of the outward prerogatives of supreme power, she
determined all the more to wield the sceptre through the power of her
son. The reign of Constantine III. lasted only one hundred and three
days, and at the early age of thirty he expired. The belief was
prevalent that poison was the means used by his inhuman stepmother to
bring him to his untimely end. Martina at once caused her son to
proclaim himself sole emperor. But the public abhorrence of the
incestuous widow of Heraclius was only increased by this deed, for
Constantine had left a son, Constans, the natural heir. Both Senate and
populace rose in indignation, and compelled Heracleonas to comply with
their demand that Constans be made his colleague. His submission saved
him for only a year. In 642 he was deposed by the Senate, and he and his
mother Martina were sent into exile. So violent was the popular rage
that the tongue of the mother and the nose of the son were slit--the
first instance of the barbarous Oriental custom being applied to members
of the royal house.

Martina was always looked upon by the devout of her age as "the accursed
thing." She had by intrigue won the hand of her widowed uncle,