Justin I

Justin I (

He was noted for his strongly orthodox Christian views. This facilitated the ending of the Acacian schism between the churches of Rome and Constantinople, resulting in good relations between Justin and the papacy. Throughout his reign, he stressed the religious nature of his office and passed edicts against various Christian groups seen at the time as non-Orthodox. In foreign affairs, he used religion as an instrument of state. He endeavoured to cultivate client states on the borders of the Empire, and avoided any significant warfare until late in his reign.

Early career

Justin was a peasant and possibly a

During the night of 8–9 July 518, Anastasius died and his silentarii, a senior servant, summoned Justin and Celer to his deathbed. Celer was the magister officiorum (master of offices) and commander of the palace regiments of the Scholae Palatinae, a force of parade-ground display troops. By morning the event had been announced throughout the capital, Constantinople. The high officials, including John of Cappadocia, the recently appointed Patriarch of Constantinople, were summoned to the Great Palace for the election of a new emperor. Meanwhile, the people gathered in the Hippodrome of Constantinople and awaited the proclamation of the name of the new emperor.^[22]

Anastasius had died childless but had a host of known relatives.^[24] This extensive family included several viable candidates for the throne.^[22] His brother Paulus had served as consul in 496.^[25] According to John Malalas, the praepositus sacri cubiculi (grand chamberlain), Amantius, had intended to have Theocritus, commander of an elite guard unit, elected to the throne.^[26] Theocritus and Amantius were relying on their control of a large military force and on buying the support of the other officials. Amantius was said to have given a substantial sum of money to Justin in order to buy his support. However, Justin controlled a smaller, but higher-quality group of soldiers, and used the money to buy support for himself. He was elected as the new emperor by the council and was proclaimed emperor in the Hippodrome as Justin I.^[22]

His wife became his empress consort under the name Euphemia. The name was probably chosen for reasons of respectability.

Justin cemented his position by assassinating potential opponents, especially anti-Chalcedonian supporters of Anastasius. Both Amantius and Theocritus were executed nine days after the election.[22] A career soldier with little knowledge of statecraft, Justin surrounded himself with trusted advisors. The most prominent of these was his nephew Flavius Petrus Sabbatius, whom he adopted as his son and invested with the name Iustinianus (Justinian).^[28]

Foreign affairs

Justin endeavoured to cultivate client states on the borders of the Empire, and avoided any significant warfare until late in his reign.^[29]

In 497 Anastasius had agreed with

Justin's reign is noteworthy for the resolution of the Acacian schism between the eastern and western branches of the Christian church. On ascending the throne Justin invited Pope Hormisdas to Constantinople for negotiations. Justinian sent a similar, but separate, invitation; said to have been closer to a summons. Hormisdas promptly despatched a delegation to Constantinople with instructions to state the orthodox position rather than to negotiate. Carrying out a policy developed by his nephew Justinian, the future emperor, Justin endorsed Rome's view on the question of the dual nature of Christ. On 28 March 519, in the cathedral of Constantinople in the presence of a great throng of people, a reluctant Patriarch John II accepted the formula of Pope Hormisdas and the end of the schism was concluded in a solemn ceremony.^[31]

For the first three years of his reign Justin persecuted the Monophysites, even serving soldiers. Thereafter he adopted a more pragmatic approach. In 523 Justin issued a strict edict against Arianism. Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths and ruler of Italy, was an Arian himself, as were most Ostrogoths. He despatched Pope John I, Pope Hormisdas' successor, to Constantinople with firm instructions to obtain a policy reversal. John received an exceptionally warm welcome; the population of Constantinople applauded him, Justin laid on celebrations, prostrated himself at the Pope's feet and insisted on being re-crowned by the Pope's hands. John did not succeed in having the edict overturned, it seems that he did not press the matter. On his return to Italy an enraged Theodoric had him flung into prison, where he shortly died.^[31][36][37]

Again encouraged by Justinian, Justin increasingly expressed his position as emperor as a religious one. He claimed that "we have been elected to the empire by favour of the indivisible Trinity.^[38][39] Edicts were endorsed with "We continuously commit ourselves to all plans and actions in the name of Jesus Christ".^[40] In either 519 or 522 Justin abandoned the tradition of depicting pagan symbols on the reverse of his coins and seals. "During the reign, the characteristic identifying the reverse female figure as Victory, a high girdle below the breasts, was substituted by a tunic, therefore identifying the figure as an angel."^[29] This was a very public and widespread restatement of the Empire as a Christian state.^[29]

Later years

Mosaics of Justinian I and his wife Theodora, Basilica of San Vitale, 547

The later years of the reign of Justin were marked by increased tension with the Empire's neighbours, especially the Ostrogoths, and the Sassanids. In 526 Antioch was destroyed by an

During his uncle's reign Justinian successively occupied the positions of

Footnotes

1. ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris 1980.
2. Zacharias of Mytilene VIII, 1.
3. ^ John Malalas XVII,1; Evagrius Scholasticus IV,1; Chronicon Paschale 518.
4. ^ Constantine VII (c. 956), De Ceremoniis, I 93.
5. ^ Walsh, Robert (1839). Constantinople and the Scenery of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. British Library: Fisher, Son & Co. p. xxix.
6. ISBN 0-486-20399-9
   .
7. ^ Joannes Zonaras (c. 1140), Epitome, XIV 5.
8. ^ ^{a b} Cameron 2000, p. 63.
9. ^ Binns 1996.
10. ^ Browning 2003, p. 23.
11. ^ Mócsy 2014, p. 350.
12. ^ ^{a b} Russu 1976, p. 73.
13. ^ Procopius 1927, p. 73.
14. ^ Croke 2001, p. 75.
15. ^ Evans 1996, p. 96.
16. ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris 1980, pp. 645–49, 1165.
17. ^ Procopius, Secret History, Chapter 6, trans. Kaldellis, pp. 28-30
18. ^ ^{a b} Chapman 1971, p. 210.
19. ^ Smith & Anthon 1895, p. 677.
20. ^ Jones 1986, p. 658.
21. ^ ^{a b c} "Roman Emperors – DIR Euphemia". www.roman-emperors.org. Archived from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
22. ^ ^{a b c d} "Roman Emperors – DIR Justinian". www.roman-emperors.org. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2006.
23. ISBN 978-0-87099-179-0
    .
24. ^ Bowersock & Grabar 1999, pp. 300–01.
25. ^ Croke 2001, p. 89.
26. ^ "Rodolphe Guilland, "Les Eunuques dans l'Empire Byzantin" (English)". www.well.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
27. ^ "Greatmartyr Euphemia the All-praised". ocafs.oca.org. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
28. ^ Mitchell 2007, pp. 124–25.
29. ^ ^{a b c} noahm. "Justin I (518–527) – Dumbarton Oaks". www.doaks.org. Archived from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
30. ^ Vasiliev 1950, pp. 321–28.
31. ^ ^{a b c d} "Roman Emperors – DIR Justinian". www.roman-emperors.org. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
32. ^ ^{a b c d} Haas, Christopher (Spring 2008). "Mountain Constantines: The Christianization of Aksum and Iberi" (PDF). Project Muse. pp. 121–22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
33. ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris 1980, p. 1207.
34. ^ Greatrex & Lieu 2002, pp. 79–80.
35. ^ Greatrex & Lieu 2002, pp. 181–82.
36. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope St. John I" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
37. ^ Meyendorff 1989, p. 222.
38. ^ Ostrogorsky 1957, p. 64.
39. ^ Mitchell 2007, pp. 124–25, 293–94.
40. ^ Mitchell 2007, p. 294.
41. S2CID 162788360.^{[permanent dead link}
    ]
42. ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris 1980, p. 395.
43. ^ Sbeinati, M.R.; Darawcheh, R. & Mouty, M. (2005). "The historical earthquakes of Syria: an analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D" (PDF). Annals of Geophysics. 48 (3): 347–435. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
44. ^ Haury J, Wirth G. Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia. Lipsiae et Berolini: Teubner, 1962.
45. ^ John Malalas, Book 17–18; Chronicon Paschale 527; Theophanes the Confessor AM 6019.
46. ^ Hogarth 1911, p. 944.

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Iustinus I.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Justin I.".

• De Imperatoribus Romanis Evans, James Allan, "Justin I (518–527 A.D.)"
• Gibbon, Edward, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 4, chapter xl.
• Encyclopædia Britannica Justin I

Justin I Justinian Dynasty Born: c. 450 Died: 1 August 527
Regnal titles
Preceded by Anastasius I	Byzantine emperor 518–527 with Justinian I (527)	Succeeded by Justinian I
Political offices
Preceded by Anastasius Paulus Probus Moschianus Probus Magnus (alone)	Roman consul 519 with Eutharic	Succeeded by Rusticius, Vitalianus
Preceded by Anicius Maximus (alone)	Roman consul II 524 with Venantius Opilio	Succeeded by Probus, Theodorus Philoxenus Soterichus Philoxenus