Early Life
Constantine was an Assyrian by birth, fluent in the Greek language and immersed in Eastern rituals and practices. By his upbringing, he would have been "fully at ease in the oriental milieu of the early-eight-century Byzantine court".
Before his selection as pope, he had visited Constantinople twice. He was one of the Roman legates to the Third Council of Constantinople there in 680/681. He also delivered a combative letter from Pope Leo II to Constantine IV in 682. He met and developed a rapport with Prince Justinian, the heir apparent to the Byzantine throne, on both occasions.
Read more about this topic: Pope Constantine
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