The madness of the Emperor Justin II.

Flavius Iustinus Iunior Augustus was born in Constantinopolis in 520 CE to Vigilantia and Dulcissimus. Not much is know of his early childhood but it can be assumed that he received a first rate education, was well versed in both Latin and Greek, and was raised as an Orthodox Christian. As the nephew to the childless Emperor Justinian, Justin quickly rose through the ranks and by the time Justinian died in 565 he had attained the rank of Curopalates. The Curopalates was in charge of the Imperial palace and also controlled who could see the Emperor, thus it was one of the most powerful positions in the Empire. Justin II built up alliances during his tenure as the Curopalates that seemed to have payed off; when Justinian died the only witness had said that the old Emperor named Justin to be his successor. The "Byzantine" senate declared him to be the rightful Emperor and Justin reluctantly refused as was the custom, then accepted the offer. His first acts as Emperor were to remit many unpopular taxes that Justinian had levied, promise religious tolerance to all peoples, and host games in the Hippodrome. Had Justin died within a year or two he may have gone down in history like Emperor Titus, a popular Emperor who died way too early. Unfortunately the first few years of Justin's reign would be his best.


Justin II ceased all payments to barbarian tribes in the west and helped destroy the gepid kingdom. This may have seemed smart but the gepids were the only thing holding back the lombards and avars, without them the avars began raiding the balkans and the lombards migrated into Italy. The Imperial presence in Italy was unable to halt the migration of germans into northern Italy and by 574 most of northern Italy, except some coastal towns, had been captured by the barbarians. Justin sent a small expedition to Italy under his son in-law that was defeated and scattered. Instead of sending a large army to squash the germans Justin did the next best thing, he started a war with perisa! This decision to start a war on peaceful front while Italy was getting ravaged has stumped historians since Edward Gibbons day. It makes absolutely no sense what so ever and cost many lives in both Italy and on the eastern front. Justin's war with persia would drain the empire of much needed cash and soldiers that were needed elsewhere. The fact that it lasted 19 years and took both Emperors Tiberius II and Maurice most of their respective reigns to fix Justin's screw ups should not be glossed over. The war against the persians initially went well until Justin fired the commanding general before his replacement could arrive. To make things worse, a large persian army was marching toward the now leaderless Roman army. The troops scattered back to Roman territory and the persians attacked and sacked the now defenseless city of Dara.


The fall of Dara and his realization of his part in it drove Justin mad.
He is said to have snapped and bitten his nearby attendants and ordered loud organ music to be played to soothe his frenzied mind from the voices he reportedly heard. His condition rapidly deteriorated overtime and bars had to be attached to palace windows to prevent him from jumping out of them. Attendants had to roll him around the palace on a cart to keep him happy. It was even rumored that Justin had eaten two of his attendants, but many sources just say that he had just mauled them badly. In one of his rare lucid moments he appointed his general Tiberius Constantine to be his heir and gave him the rank of Caesar. His speech to Tiberius has survived: You behold the ensigns of supreme power. You are about to receive them, not from my hand, but from the hand of God. Honor them, and from them you will derive honor. Respect the empress your mother: you are now her son; before, you were her servant. Delight not in blood; abstain from revenge; avoid those actions by which I have incurred the public hatred; and consult the experience, rather than the example, of your predecessor. As a man, I have sinned; as a sinner, even in this life, I have been severely punished: but these servants (and he pointed to his ministers), who have abused my confidence, and inflamed my passions, will appear with me before the tribunal of Christ. I have been dazzled by the splendor of the diadem: be thou wise and modest; remember what you have been, remember what you are. You see around us your slaves, and your children: with the authority, assume the tenderness, of a parent. Love your people like yourself; cultivate the affections, maintain the discipline, of the army; protect the fortunes of the rich, relieve the necessities of the poor.

Justin lived for four more years and died in 578, he was 58 years old and had ruled the Empire to the best of his ability. Unfortunately his ability was not nearly good enough to run the Eastern Roman Empire.

I feel bad for Justin, but he should rightfully bear most of the responsibility for the disasters of the next century due to his idiotic idea to start a war with persia for no tangible reason.

Emperor Justin II AV Semissis


Justin II. 565-578. AV Semissis (18mm, 2.16 g, 6h). Constantinople mint. Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Victory seated right on trophy, inscribing shield set on knee; star to left, reversed staurogram to lower right; CONOB. DOC 12; MIBE 10; SB 352. Good VF.

The Imperial palace in Constantinople. This thing was huge!

A mosaic in Ravenna of a saint that was reportedly modeled after Tiberius Constantine.


To give you an idea of what the organ music would have sounded like.


Sources
http://www.roman-emperors.org/justinii.htm

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

As always, a VERY nice coin and a wonderful write-up....

It seems a bit odd to pity those who held the 'purple' but it rarely seems to have turned out well for those who desired or accepted the pinnacle of power...

 

@Mikey Zee I honestly wonder what the hell he suffered from. If anyone here is a psychologist please comment on what his condition might have been.

 

Nice gold, congrats. I just have a humble bronze.


Justin II & Sophia (565 - 578 A.D.)
Æ Follis
O: D N VSTI NVS P P AV, nimbate figures of Justin and Sophia seated facing on double throne, holding globus cruciger and cruciform scepter, respectively.
R: Large M; A/N/N/O to left, Chi-Rho above, (date) to right; B//CON
Constantinople Mint, Year 10
29mm
14g
DOC I 38; SB 360

 

Well done. Nice write up, very nice coin!

I cannot pity any of the Emperors, and am generally revolted by many of them... they gladly accepted the mantel... only for the ego of power.

 

Nice writeup! This is the type of information and presentation that greatly enhances my interest in certain coins.

As for the medical nature of his illness, in general, "hearing voices" is a classical symptom of schizophrenia, although the age of onset (later in his life) is not typical. Who knows what exactly was going on though, and there's no way to know the accuracy of the written histories of his behavior.

 

@TIF
If we took the historical account at face value, do you think he would have had Schizophrenia or something worse?

 

I'm not a psychiatrist but based on the presented story it is possible that he had paranoid schizophrenia despite the apparently relatively late onset. Maybe earlier symptoms just weren't documented.

There are a host of environmental poisons which could have played a role (and of which I am not very knowledgable), and there are probably other psych diagnosis possibilities. Paranoid schizophrenia probably tops the list though. Perhaps a coin collecting psychiatrist will weigh in, if we have any on CoinTalk.

 

Interesting write-up. Knew that he was not the greatest Byzantine Emperor but had no idea that it was to this magnitude.

Here's a Justin II AR half siliqua from the Carthage mint:

 

WOW!
Here is one from his great predecessor also minted at Carthage.

Justinian I AD 527-565, AR Siliqua (15mm, 1.23 g) Carthage
DN IVSTINIANVS PP AG; draped, cuir. and diademed bust r.
VOT/MVLT/HTI in wreath; CONOS in ex
Sear 253; very fine, toned

 

Hello. I have this monogram, thought to be struck under Justin II. As for the psychological issue, as a newbie I can simply guess he was suffering from some form of high depressive mania, after a very shocking frustration.

 

Interesting.

 

Cool thread and I appreciated the organ music. My first thought when they started playing was if they could play Smoke on the Water!

 

First they need to smoke on the water to play smoke on the water so we all could enjoy smoke on the water while we smoke on the water.

 

Great write up MM.

 

+1

 

Lovely coin and great write-up.
M.M. does it again!
Thank-you.

 

Pretty cool coin and writing. Have heard of some strange things of Justinian II. Here is another Justinian II coin.

 

my first byzantine coins, a Justinian I and Justin ii half follis...





great write up MM..i'm also NOT a psychologist...AT ALL....but TIF's thoughts were the first thing that came to my mind as well for what may have been the problem.

 

Justin II and Sophia
AE follis
Nicomedia, AD 596/579
31.2 mm 14.52 gm
Obv: D N IVSTI NVS P P AVG, Justin, on left, holding globus cruciger, and Sophia, on right, holding cruciform scepter.
Rev: Large M, surmounted by cross, officina B below; ANNO at left, u (regnal year 5) at right, NIKO in ex.
SB 369; DOC 94a; MIBE 46a