Editing Constantine IV (section)

==Rise of Constantine IV to power, Mezezios the usurper, and the monetary reform of 668 ==
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The first Arab siege of Constantinople set in motion a number of developments. In the aftermath of the siege the victorious, albeit during the circumstances mostly rather than his prowess, Constantine emerged as leader of the city. The news of the lifting of the siege had not yet reached Suracuse due to the naval blockade of Constantinople and the fear for the worst possible scenario led a party of the emperor's closest high-ranking military office holders to unfold a plot to remove him out of, supposedly, concern for the continuation of the empire. Be that as it may, the assassination of the emperor Constans II took place on the 15th of July of 668. Upon the emperor's death that fraction of conspirators proclaimed [[Mizizios|Mezezios]] as emperor in Sicily.<ref name=":1" /> However, the rebel did not enjoy of pope Vitalian's acceptance and only one part of the army lent to him support, whereas the Byzantine navy under the command of the loyal dignitary named Severus returned to Constantinople. The arrival of the navy in Constantinople by late 668 was a salutary point for it offered to Constantine IV until then bereft of any substantial army and some ten ship to his disposal, to confront pari passu with the Arab navy which apparently desisted from besieging again Constantinople. Constantine IV with the control of the navy at his hands and Constantinople freed of the danger sent his two brothers and co-emperors to the West with a number of armies in a division of the front of the war between the three brothers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=Andrew (introduction, translation, annotation) |title=The Seventh Century in West-Syrian Chronicles |date=1993 |publisher=The Liverpool University Press |isbn=0853232385 |location=Liverpool |pages=194 ff |language=English}}</ref> Meanwhile and from another warfront the Egyptian governor Maslama b. Mukhallad sent his fleet under the command of Muʿāwiyah b. Ḥudayj al-Kindī to attack Sicily in order to undermine the efforts of Constans II to reorganise the empire's position in the West. In doing so he launched some cursory incursions to the island, but in the meantime Mezezios had solicited the help of Constantine IV and in doing so he precipitated his own demise. Upon arrival of the fleet comprising some 600 ships the Arabs avoided going in naval battle and retreated. Constantine IV upon landing on Suracuse had Mezezios arrested and decapitated while the rest of his supporters were arrested and sent back to Constantinople chained.<ref name=":1" />

In the wake of the Arab siege and his father's relocation to Suracuse where presumably the imperial treasury was also moved and possibly plundered after Constans II assassination, Constantine IV was faced with a surging economic crisis. The Arab raids of Asia Minor and the territorial losses in broader Syria meant also the loss of some important mines and shortage of precious metals for the higher value coinage. Other from devaluating the higher order issues the new emperor opted for reissuing the copper follis of Justinian which meant, the iconographic return aside, four times heavier coin. This increase in the metal's substance increased the monetary value of his copper follis and probably made redundant the solidi of Mezezios in order to strike his opponent by destabilising his currency's value. However, Constantine IV by the next year when his son's was born decided to undo his father's ecclesiastical policy and not only named his son Justinian II, but he furthered the restructuring of the rest of the monetary system to Justinian's issues in terms design and layout. The fostering of such a propaganda where he was likened himself to Justinian aimed at glossing his reign with a profound [[Renovatio imperii Romanorum|renovatio imperii]] which he essentially did as the Byzantines from 672 to 680 had gained the offensive and through a series of counterattacks to Egypt and to Syria attained to paralyse the Arab danger. This put an end to 15 years of successive raids and devastation and [[Mu'awiya I|Muʿāwiya]]'s death on 6 May of 680 sealed that end for good.<ref name=":0" />