constants II

Constans II(641-668)

constans

Constans II had been baptized Heraklios and reigned officially as Constantine. "Constans" is a diminutive nickname established itself in Byzantine texts and in historiography.

Constans was also the bearer of one of the most characteristic Byzantine epithets: He was known as "Pogonatos" which means "the bearded". Considering that all emperors after Phocas head a beard, one would assume that his beard must have been a really exceptional one. It ain't so.

The reason for taking the bearded title is quite different : Constans was 11 years old when he became king. Some years later, when the first facial hair appeared, his people saluted the event and, apparently in a playful and affectionate spirit, started to refer to him as "the bearded one".

In fact, he was referred as Constantine Pogonatos and not Constans Pogonatos. All this name-dropping is confusing and probably that is why until the 1990s, historians believed that his son, Constantine IV, was the "Pogonatos". Today it is known that Constans II was the real Pogonatos.