This article is about the year 610. Events By place Byzantine Empire October 4—Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows East Roman Emperor Phocas and becomes Emperor. His first major act is to change the official language of the East Roman Empire from Latin to Greek (already the language of the vast majority of the population). Because of this, after AD 610 the East Roman Empire is customarily referred to as the Byzantine Empire (the term Byzantine is a modern… (More on 610)