Eleutherius was Exarch of Ravenna (615–619). A eunuch, he succeeded John I Lemigius

John I Lemigius

John I Lemigius was Exarch of Ravenna .John was made Exarch of Ravenna in 611, to replace Smaragdus. He seems to have avoided war with the Lombards throughout his reign. In 615 he was killed with a number of officials...

 as exarch.

Early in his reign, nearly the entire exarchate was unstable. In Ravenna

Ravenna

Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...

, there was obvious discontent with the Byzantines

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

; in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, a certain John of Conza, separated the city from the exarch's control. Eleutherius arrived in Ravenna and immediately put to death "all who had been implicated in the death of Exarch John and the judges of the State." Then, after making a courtesy visit to Pope Deusdedit, Eleutherius marched on Naples, and captured that city, killing the rebel John and his supporters. However, soon after the Lombards

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 threatened war. Eleutherius was able to sue for peace, promising a yearly tribute.

Finding the situation in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 to be unsatisfactory and taking advantage of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius'

Heraclius

Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...

 preoccupation with the Sassanids, Eleutherius proclaimed himself emperor in 619, with the intent of setting up his capital in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. On the way to the next year, while still deciding how to convince Pope Boniface V

Pope Boniface V

Pope Boniface V was pope from 619 to 625.He was consecrated as pope on December 23, 619. He did much for the Christianising of England and enacted the decree by which churches became places of refuge for criminals....

 to grant him a crown, he was murdered by his soldiers at the fortress of Luceoli, and his head was sent to Heraclius.