The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the dynasty of Heraclius between 610 and 711 AD. The Heraclians presided over a period of foreign invasions like the last Byzantine-Sasanian War and the Muslim conquests, which marked a major changing point in the history of the Empire and the end of its hegemony in the continent. Heraclius, the founder of his dynasty, was of Armenian and Cappadocian (Greek) origin. At the beginning of the dynasty, the Empire's culture was still Roman as it would control most of the Mediterranean and a major late antique urban civilization. However, this Roman culture and the empire as a whole began to suffer from successive invasions, most notably coming from the Rashidun Caliphate in the Middle East which resulted in extensive territorial losses, financial collapse and plagues that depopulated the cities, while religious controversies and rebellions further weakened the Empire.