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Maurice protected the young man, who would later become Khosrau II. He used Byzantine forces to restore the young Persian to his father’s throne. Maurice had transformed the situation in the east, a grateful Khosrau II conceded territories and fortresses to the Byzantines and even was adopted by Maurice. Many Persian nobles were unhappy at this and believed that their Empire was merely a dependency of the hated Christians. Maurice then turned his attention to the Balkans and confronted the Avars and the Slavs who had stealthily occupied large swathes of Imperial territory. He began to campaign in the Balkans and recaptured key cities and fortresses. He inflicted several defeats on the Slavs and the Avars by using cavalry and ambushes to great effect.<ref>Treagold, p 217</ref>
The Emperor was very cautious, and this reduced the effectiveness of the Slavs guerrilla tactics. Maurice also raided deep into Avar and Slav territory, and this kept these groups on the defensive. He even campaigned beyond the Danube, the first Emperor to do so in a century. By 595 Maurice had neutralized the Avar and the Slav threat and also defeated the Gepids. Despite his many victories, the Emperor was neither popular with his soldiers nor his subjects.<ref>Norwich, p 134 </ref>. The Emperor was very much concerned with the finances of the Empire, and he refused to ‘buy’ the support of his soldiers and the general population. He was perceived as being mean-spirited and hated for his oppressive taxes. These taxes were necessary given the precarious state of the Imperial finances.
Moreover, Maurice neglected the internal affairs of the cities. The ‘Blues’ and the ‘Greens’ factions were divided by their loyalty to rival chariot teams in the Hippodrome.<ref> Norwich, p 89</ref>. They had been powerful street gangs, and in the past had even defied the great Justinian. The absence of Maurice, on campaigns, meant that the Blues and the Greens began to renew their old conflict and many cities became lawless. The Emperor drove his soldiers hard and did not spare them, in peace or war. In 602 AD, the army was driven to mutiny.
Maurice had refused to pay a ransom for some Byzantine troops that had been captured by the Avars, who subsequently killed them. In the bitterly cold winter of 602, he ordered his army to camp beyond the Danube and would not let them retire to their winter quarters. The military mutinied and proclaimed a general, Phocas as Emperor because they had not been paid. Maurice was forced to abdicate, and he was later beheaded after being forced to watch the torture and death of his sons.<ref>Norwich, p 137</ref>.
==== The Persian-Byzantine War ====
