Johannes Cottistis

Johannes Cottistis († 537 in Dara-Anastasiopolis ) was a late antique usurper and rebel against the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian .

Contemporary history background

The place Dara in Mesopotamia was massively expanded by Emperor Anastasius as a fortress against the nearby Sassanid border town of Nisibis from 505 and was further strengthened by Justinian after the Battle of Dara (530). Since then, the city has played a key role in the Eastern Roman defense against the Persians and subsequently remained heavily contested between the two great powers. Although some of the imperial soldiers had been withdrawn after 532, Dara was still one of the largest troop concentrations in the Roman Orient in 537.

rebellion

In 537 the infantry officer Johannes Cottistis, about whom nothing else is known, seized power in Dara and was proclaimed emperor by the troops. However, it found little popular support. The uprising, apparently unnoticed by the Persians, with whom there was peace at the time, was put down after only four days by loyal imperial troops led by Anastasius, a respected citizen of the city, and Bishop Mamas.

The anonymous sequel to the Chronicle of Marcellinus Comes comments only succinctly on the events: In Oriente quoque Ioannes Cottistis, arripiens tyrannidem, antequam adversi aliquid temptaret, Daras extinctus est. Prokopios is a little more detailed: The usurper ( tyrannos ) Johannes was only supported by a small part of the soldiers anyway, holed up in a palace and was then overpowered in a coup. The palace was burned down, Johannes was first imprisoned, but then killed by a single soldier in the dungeon.

The rapid collapse of the usurpation was apparently mainly due to the lack of support for the rebel from many soldiers, the bishop of the city and the local upper class. The course of the episode is a sign that Justinian enjoyed such great prestige after the successes of the past few years that even a potentially threatening uprising like that of John collapsed in a very short time.

swell

• Marcellinus Comes , Chronicon , Additamentum a. 537, 4. ( online here )
• Prokopios of Caesarea , Bella I, 26, 5-12

literature

• Geoffrey B. Greatrex , Samuel NC Lieu: The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars. Part II AD 363-630. A narrative sourcebook . Routledge, London / New York 2002, ISBN 0-415-14687-9 , p. 101.
• John Robert Martindale: Ioannes 24. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 3A, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1992, ISBN 0-521-20160-8 , pp. 639-640.
• Berthold Rubin : The Age of Justinian. Volume 1. De Gruyter, Berlin 1960, p. 322 f.