Heraclius had set out to recover much of the part of his Empire lost to the Persians and had attempted to bridge the controversy with Monophysitism, which was particularly strong in Syria and Egypt, by proposing a moderate theological position that had as good support in the tradition as any other.
Heraclius havde sat sig for at genoprette meget af den del af hans imperium, der var tabt til perserne, og havde forsøgt at bygge bro over kontroversen med monofysitisme, som var særlig stærk i Syrien og Egypten, ved at foreslå en moderat teologisk position, der havde så god støtte i traditionen som enhver anden.