Justinian (general)

Justinian (* around 525 ; † 582 ) was a late antique Eastern Roman general. He was the son of Germanus , a cousin of Emperor Justinian I , and was considered an experienced military man.

Justinian, together with his brother Justin , commanded troops in the Illyricum during the second half of the Gothic War in 552 . After the death of Emperor Justinian I, he became Patricius and later served under the new Emperor Justin II (who was probably responsible for the death of Justinian's brother Justin) as magister militum per Orientem against the Persians in the east . In 575 (or 576) he achieved a great victory at Melitene : The Sassanid king Chosrau I was only able to escape with little difficulty, while most of the Persian army was destroyed. It was one of the greatest Roman victories over the Persians, yet the war continued. At the end of 577, the future emperor Maurikios took over the supreme command of Justinian's army and continued his good performance.

Some time later Justinian was involved in a court intrigue: Sophia , the wife of Justin II, did not want to give up all power to Tiberios I and his wife Ino and therefore conspired with Justinian. However, after the plot was discovered, Justinian was pardoned.

literature

• John B. Bury : History of the Later Roman Empire. From the Death of Theodosius I. to the Death of Justinian. Volume 2. Unabridged and unaltered Republication of the 1st edition. Dover, New York NY 1958 (Other reprints as well).
• Arnold HM Jones, John R. Martindale, John Morris: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire . Volume 3: John R. Martindale: AD 527-641. Volume A: Abandanes - 'Iyād ibn Ghanm. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1992, ISBN 0-521-20160-8 , pp. 744-747.
• Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 3: Faber Felix - Juwayni, Al- . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2012, ISBN 978-2-503-53243-1 , p. 416.