Tiberius II Constantine

Infobox Monarch
name =Tiberius II Constantine
title =Emperor of the Byzantine Empire


caption =Tiberius II Constantine, wearing consular robes
reign =574 – 582
full name =Flavius Tiberius Constantinus Augustus
predecessor =Justin II
successor =Maurice
consort =Ino Anastasia
issue =Constantina
dynasty =Justinian Dynasty
date of birth =c. 520
date of death =August 14, 582|

Flavius Tiberius Constantinus Augustus or Tiberius II Constantine (c. 520 - August 14, 582) was a Byzantine emperor (574 - 582) of the Justinian Dynasty.

The historian C. W. Previté-Orton states that Tiberius "was really the first of the Greek Emperors, and with him Byzantine becomes the fittest name for the Eastern Empire, which was still Roman in tradition." [C.W. Previte-Orton, "The shorter Cambridge medieval history" (Cambridge: University Press, 1952), p. 202.] During his reign, Tiberius II Constantine gave away 7,200 pounds of gold each year for four years.J. Norwich, "Byzantium: The Early Centuries", 272]

He was a friend of Justin II, who appointed Tiberius "comes" of the excubitors. He took control of the empire when Justin II went insane in 574, and to increase his popularity, he immediately began spending money that Justin had reserved in his treasury

Justin II, Tiberius's predecessor, had been made infirm by disease; the faculties of his mind were impaired and he subsequently lost the use of his feet. Confined to his palace, he became a stranger to the complaints of the people and the vices of the government. Conscious of his infirmity, he honorably chose to seek a successor to the Imperial throne. On the advice of his wife Sophia, he handed the diadem to one of his Excubitors, Tiberius. While Justin was still alive, Tiberius' general Maurice fought and defeated the Persians in Armenia. When Tiberius became full emperor upon Justin's death in 578, he extended his military activities into the remnants of the Western Empire, where he made peace with the Visigoths in Spain and defeated the Berbers in North Africa. May have been the Emperor Lucius Tiberius of Arthurian legend, sending envoys to former Roman provinces after a long period without Imperial presence. Meanwhile, the Slavs began to migrate into the Balkans in 579; unfortunately, Tiberius needed the army to defend against Persian invasions, and was unable to stop the Slavic migrations.

In 582, Tiberius fell ill, and Maurice was named his heir. Maurice became emperor when Tiberius died in August - poisoned, it was rumored.

Notes

Primary Sources

* Edward Walford, translator (1846) "The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius: A History of the Church from AD 431 to AD 594", Reprinted 2008. Evolution Publishing, ISBN 978-1-889758-88-6. [http://www.evolpub.com/CRE/CREseries.html#CRE5]

External links