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'''Constantine of Rome''' was the [[Archbishop]] and [[Pope]] of the [[Church of Rome]] from 708 to 715. One of the last popes of the Byzantine Papacy, Constantine was the last pope to visit Constantinople until [[Paul VIof Rome| of RomePope Pope Paul VI]] made a visit in 1967.
==Life==
Constantine was born in the year 664. He was an Assyrian by birth, born in the old Roman province of Syria. He was fluent in the Greek language and familiar in the rituals and practices of the East. Little else is known of his youth. Before becoming the Pope of Rome, he had visited [[Constantinople]] twice. The first time he was one of the Roman legates to the [[Sixth Ecumenical Council]] in 680/681. Then in 682, he delivered a letter from [[Leo II of Rome|Pope Leo II]] to emperor [[Constantine the New|Constantine IV]]. During these visits, Constantine met and developed a rapport with [[Justinian II|Prince Justinian]], the heir apparent to the Byzantine throne.
Constantine was elected to the papacy on [[March 25]], 708, succeeding Pope [[Sisinnius of Rome|Sininnius]], who may have been his brother. Sisinnius, a Syrian, had been pope for only twenty days.<ref>*Williams, George L. 2004. ''Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of the Popes''. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-2071-5. p. 10.</ref> Constantine was one of the popes of Greek origin during the period called the [[Byzantine Papacy]], during which Rome was ruled by the Eastern Empire and the bishops of Rome required the approval of the emperor for consecration as pope.
The principal issue before the papacy at the time of Constantine's election were the rejections by Popes Sergius I and [[John VII of Rome|John VII]] of the canons of the [[Quinisext Council]] that had been convened under emperor [[Justinian II]] in 692. [[Pope John VII]] had been sent the canons for approval but instead sent them back.
In 710, Justinian II demanded that Constantine appear before him in Constantinople to settle once and for all the issue of the acceptance by Rome of the Quinisext decrees. Constantine neither delayed nor made excuses to avoid appearing in the imperial city as did his predecessors. Prior to Constantine's departure from Rome, Justinian had Archbishop Felix of Ravenna blinded for plotting to overthrow him, an act that had improved the rapport between the emperor and pope. However, Constantine's main motivation for the trip was to "forestall" a rift between Rome and Constantinople over the Quinisext decrees. Also, accompanying him to Constantinople was Constantine's successor Pope Gregory II as a [[deacon]].
Constantine departed Rome on [[October 5]], 710. Included in the party of thirteen travelers were eleven of Eastern extraction, two bishops, three priests, and all the ranking members of the papal chancellery and household. Among these were the future Pope [[Pope Gregory II of Rome|Gregory II]], then a [[deacon]], and another Latin [[subdeacon]] Julian. Constantine specifically chose attendants who were "cut from similar cloth" as he, and likely to be sympathetic to the East.
The party traveled through Naples, Sicily, Gallipoli in southern Italy, and Otranto where they wintered over, to continue in the spring. In Naples, Constantine crossed paths with the Exarch of [[Ravenna]], John III Rizocopo, who was on his way to Rome to execute four high-ranking papal officials who had opposed Constantine's new policy of rapprochement with Constantinople. In the spring, Constantine crossed the Ionian Sea, meeting the strategos of the imperial fleet on the island of Chios before proceeding to Constantinople.
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{{succession|
before=[[Sisinnius of Rome|Sisinnius]]|
title=[[List of Popes of Rome|Pope of Rome]]|
years=708 - 715|