Heraclius

Heraclius is known only as a recipient of six letters from Isidore of Pelusium, the ascetic and biblical commentator active in the eastern Nile Delta in the early-to-mid 5th century. The letters' addresses style him variously as subdeacon, deacon, and most often bishop, and several admonish him sharply on the right exercise of authority: that those who rule willing subjects through virtue rather than necessity are truly free from suspicion, that greater office brings greater accountability, and that power used for retaliation rather than benefit invites ruin. Other letters press him to read John Chrysostom rather than dismiss him, to curb greed and be content with sufficiency, and to help free a man from prison out of piety rather than for money. Beyond his correspondence with Isidore he is otherwise unattested, and even his rank is uncertain given the inconsistent honorifics.