Callinicus (exarch)

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Callinicus or Kallinikos (Καλλίνικος in Greek) was the exarch of Ravenna (597 – 602 or 603). He is called Gallicinus by some historians because the great Lombard historian Paul the Deacon calls him Gallicini patricii [1], which in English is the patrician Gallicinus [2].

The first few years of his administration were marked by relatively good fortune. In 598 an armistice between the Byzantines and the Lombards was made, and in the following year a formal peace of two years' time was recognized, where the Lombards were acknowledged as sovereign rulers of their holdings. Around the year 602, Callinicus attempted to renew the peace, at the same time kidnapping the Lombard king Agilulf's daughter and her husband in order to gain greater negotiating leverage. Instead, Agilulf invaded Imperial Italy, destroying Padua and capturing Monselice. Shortly afterwards Callinicus died and was succeeded by Smaragdus.