Callinicus, Exarch of Italy

Callinicus was the Roman exarch of Italy from roughly 596 to 602/603, governing the peninsula from the imperial capital at Ravenna on behalf of the emperor in Constantinople. As exarch he held supreme military and civil authority over Roman Italy at the height of its struggle with the Lombards, and he corresponds repeatedly with Pope Gregory the Great, who congratulates him on victories over the Lombards (notably at Istria) and presses him on church discipline, the schism of the Three Chapters, and the treatment of captives. His tenure ended in disgrace around 602-603 amid the upheaval following the usurpation of the emperor Phocas, after which he was recalled and replaced by Smaragdus. He is known chiefly through Gregory's Register of letters, which makes him one of the best-documented Italian officials of the late sixth century.