Byzantine Emperors: Justinian II "The Slit Nosed" part one: His First Reign 685-695

 

Justinian II was the son of Emperor Constantine IV and succeeded to the Imperial throne on his father's death in 685. Early in Justinian's reign, Arab envoys were sent to him by their ruler Abd Al Malik who sought peace with the Byzantines. As part of the agreement, Justinian put a halt to attacks on Lebanon. In return, Al Malik offered Justinian payment as well as giving him horses and slaves. Justinian was only 16 or 17 when he became Emperor and he could, at times, be prone to youthful rashness and he was accused of acting before taking the advice of perhaps more experienced men around him.

In a campaign of 688 to 689, Justinian conquered the Slavs, albeit some came over to the Byzantines side without resistance, and resettled those captured in Anatolia where they would provide a significant boost to Justinian's army. Selecting from the Slavic men available, Justinian picked 30,000 men for a "special army". His confidence boosted by this, Justinian then threatened to renew aggression against the Arabs, thereby revoking the peace that had been agreed only a few years earlier..

Having been accused of reneging on the peace agreement, the Arabs came to the Emperor and attempted to persuade him that it had not been their intention to do so but Justinian was having none of it. By this point, he had made up his mind and was ready for battle. In the conflict, Justinian appeared to be gaining the upper hand. That was until the Arabs bribed the general of Justinian's new Slavic army and he deserted the Byzantines along with 1000s of his men. Furious at this dramatic turn of events, Justinian unleashed his wrath on the remaining Slavs and massacred not only the fighting men but their wives and children also.

In 695, Justinian made a Eunuch named Stephen The Persian one of his advisers. This would appear to have been not an overly popular decision as Stephen was accused of being bloodthirsty and cruel. Among his crimes,  Stephen is said to have had innocent men stoned to death and is even said to have been incredibly vicious to the Emperor's mother Anastasia and he had her whipped brutally. Of course, this was done whilst Justinian was away from Constantinople. Stephen wasn't Justinian's only unpopular appointment. Another, that of a man named Theodotos who was placed in charge of the Public finances, would prove to be equally controversial. Heavy-handed enforcement of taxation in Constantinople led to the confiscation of property from wealthy and influential people in the city and even imprisonment and executions. It's fair to say that the driving force behind this approach was pure greed on the emperor's part. As a direct result, Justinian's reputation began to suitably suffer.

It was hardly surprising then that Justinian's deposition was not far away. Being a Roman Emperor in either East or the West could be a very dangerous game, especially if you played fast and loose which is exactly what Justinian had done. His deposition was brought about by one of his generals, Leontius, who became Emperor in his stead. Leontius had spent several years in prison and on his release, he was urged to take the imperial throne. The coup was successful and Justinian was overthrown. However, he made one mistake. Instead of dispatching Justinian, i.e executing him, Leontius merely had the now former emperor mutilated. Justinian's tongue was cut and his nose slit, earning him his rather unpleasant nickname. This, it was assumed, would render Justinian unfit to rule again and he was sent off into exile. As for Stephen The Persian and Theodotos, they too had a brutal punishment lying in store for them; they were burned alive. So Leontius was now emperor but this was not the end of Justinian and he would return...