In 710, Emperor Justinian II demanded in a "iussio" that Pope Constantine appear before him in Constantinople. The imperial mandate made it "obvious that the relentless emperor meant to settle once and for all the issue of Rome's acceptance of the Trullan decrees". Unlike his predecessors, Constantine neither delayed nor made excuses to avoid appearing in the imperial city; in fact, he "identified with Byzantium as perhaps no Roman pontiff before him ever had". Prior to Constantine's departure, Justinian had blinded Archbishop Felix of Ravenna for plotting to overthrow him, an act that had improved the papal-Byzantine rapport. However, Constantine's primary motivation for the trip was to forestall a rift between Rome and Constantinople over the Trullan decrees.