_), son of Hormizd IV.,
grandson of Chosroes I., 590-628. He was raised to the throne by the
magnates who had rebelled against Hormizd IV. in 590, and soon after his
father was blinded and killed. But at the same time the general Bahram
Chobin had proclaimed himself king, and Chosroes II. was not able to
maintain himself. The war with the Romans, which had begun in 571, had
not yet come to an end. Chosroes fled to Syria, and persuaded the
emperor Maurice (q.v.) to send help. Many leading men and part of the
troops acknowledged Chosroes, and in 591 he was brought back to
Ctesiphon. Bahram Chobin was beaten and fled to the Turks, among whom he
was murdered. Peace with Rome was then concluded. Maurice made no use of
his advantage; he merely restored the former frontier and abolished the
subsidies which had formerly been paid to the Persians. Chosroes II. was
much inferior to his grandfather. He was haughty and cruel, rapacious
and given to luxury; he was neither a general nor an administrator. At
the beginning of his reign he favoured the Christians; but when in 602
Maurice had been murdered by Phocas, he began war with Rome to avenge
his death. His armies plundered Syria and Asia Minor, and in 608
advanced to Chalcedon. In 613 and 614 Damascus and Jerusalem were taken
by the general Shahrbaraz, and the Holy Cross was carried away in
triumph. Soon after, even Egypt was conquered. The Romans could offer
but little resistance, as they were torn by internal dissensions, and
pressed by the Avars and Slavs. At last, in 622, the emperor Heraclius
(who had succeeded Phocas in 610) was able to take the field. In 624 he
advanced into northern Media, where he destroyed the great fire-temple
of Gandzak (Gazaca); in 626 he fought in Lazistan (Colchis), while
Shahrbaraz advanced to Chalcedon, and tried in vain, united with the
Avars, to conquer Constantinople. In 627 Heraclius defeated the Persian
army at Nineveh and advanced towards Ctesiphon. Chosroes fled from his
favourite residence, Dastagerd (near Bagdad), without offering
resistance, and as his despotism and indolence had roused opposition
everywhere, his eldest son, Kavadh II., whom he had imprisoned, was set
free by some of the leading men and proclaimed king. Four days
afterwards, Chosroes was murdered in his palace (February 628).
Meanwhile, Heraclius returned in triumph to Constantinople, in 629 the
Cross was given back to him and Egypt evacuated, while the Persian
empire, f