Part III
The Roman Emperor Who Lost His Nose
A timeline of Justinian II - The Magnificent Rhinotmetos
Part III: Long Exile & The Struggle Back - Restoration, Triumph and Reflection
"Upon overcoming the Lion and the Asp, he set about other matters with much enthusiasm", George of Thessalonica, Roman Historian*
696 Leontius instructs the governor of Cherson to keep an eye on Justinian, and sends funds to pay for any extra security that may be needed. Justinian has been living in a monastic house for travellers since his arrival when he was wracked by fever because of his wounds. As the ship left Constantinople, he had glared over the stern of it, and vehemently vowed that he would return and punish those who had overthrown him.
The wound to his tongue, although painful, heals fairly rapidly, and it does not affect him at all. The injury to his nose festers for a while, but it too heals up, leaving pink scars where it once was.
Although upset at what has happened to him, he firmly believes he will return to Constantinople in the future, and after a short while, he goes back to being his normal talkative self. He views Leontius as an upstart who due to his inbuilt incompetence will not last long on the throne, giving him a chance to come back. For him, Leontius is a bad joke of an usurper, and Justinian still considers himself as the rightful and reigning Emperor, despite his situation.
Life is not easy for him though. With no money, he has to rely on a couple of supporters to help him get back on his feet. Totally unaccustomed to taking care of himself after a lifetime of luxury, it takes a while for him to adjust to his new surroundings. However, he adapts remarkably rapidly, illustrating his determination and resourcefulness which are entirely characteristic of him.
697 After a large assault, Carthage falls to the Arabs. Leontius despatches a naval expedition to reclaim it. John the Patrician, commanding admiral of the Emperor's forces, manages to retake the harbour and most of the city, however, Arab reinforcements arrive and drive him out of the city and back to Crete. Leontius’ reaction to the events falls short of being effective, however and he starts to blame everyone except himself for these failings.
698 Fearful of Leontius' anger, the soldiers rebel against John, depose him from command, and raise the
drungarios (admiral) Apsimarus to the purple. The fleet arrives back in Constantinople, and the soldiers besiege the city, which is experiencing an outbreak of plague. Some detachments from the field armies and even some from the imperial guard regiments join up with him. Furthermore, Leontius bungles the defence of the city and in the end the city gates are thrown open by disaffected soldiers who know an incompetent Emperor when they see one. Leontius is predictably dethroned and captured, having his nose cut off, and sent off to a monastery. Apsimarus ascends the throne and takes the more Roman-sounding name of Tiberius III. He reluctantly give up on Carthage with the result that North Africa is lost to the Romans. He instead concentrates his efforts on the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate in the lands to the east.
Justinian receives news of Leontius' overthrow and mutilation, deriving some grim satisfaction from the irony of the events, and not surprised at all that Leontius managed to get himself thrown out after a relatively short period. However, he is less pleased that Apsimarus has taken the throne for himself. By now, he has some more followers, however he is reminded that because of his mutilation, he is seen as ineligible for the throne by nearly everyone else, and that Apsimarus can hardly be blamed for not recalling him. Justinian sees things differently of course, and this just makes him vow harder to return and reclaim what is his.
699 With the help of his brother Heraclius who is a general in the army, Tiberius sets about strengthening the land and sea defences of Anatolia with considerable energy. He has plans for the east, and does not wish to waste any time in his preparations.
700 With his reorganisations and dispositions complete, Tiberius launches aggressive offensives at Arab-held Syria and into Armenia. He is quite successful in Armenia, and goes on to regain parts of it.
701 Tiberius wins some more victories against the Arabs, and he goes on to invade Syria, pushing the Arabs back. However, a number of his gains in Armenia prove to be short-lived as the forces of the Caliph fight back.
Justinian reflects upon the story of Job, and how similar his situation is. His faith is as strong as ever, even though the news reaching him is that Tiberius is proving to be quite an effective Emperor.
In September, Pope St. Sergius I dies after a reign of nearly 14 years. Two months later, his replacement is elected and takes the name John VI.
702 Justinian continues to languish in Cherson, still determined to return, but waiting for the right time. It is possible he experienced some kind of primitive plastic surgery by an Indian doctor to repair his nose at this time. This gives him even more hope, and he begins to think more intensively about regaining his throne. He begins to draw the attention of Tiberius, but continues to keep a low profile despite the urgings of his supporters. An abbot named Cyrus arrives in Cherson, motivated by a premonition he had about Justinian becoming Emperor again. He feels it is so important that he has left his position as head of a monastery in Amastris, and intends to devote himself selflessly and completely to Justinian’s cause.
703 Arab reprisal raids in Cilicia are repulsed by Tiberius and he orders a closer watch on the exiled Emperor, who feels that things are becoming more dangerous for him in Cherson. His supporters continue urging him to make a move. Deciding the time is right, he proclaims his intent to return, and the local authorities decide to deal with him by sending him back to Constantinople for punishment. However, Justinian manages to escape before they can lay their hands on him, and heads north with a few followers into the Khazar steppes.
After stopping off at Doros, Justinian reaches the court of the Khazar Khagan Ibousiros Gliabanos (Busir Glavan) who offers his sister as a bride. She subsequently converts to Orthodox Christianity, Justinian marries her with Cyrus the Abbot officiating, and she is renamed Theodora. The couple then move to Phanagoria and settle down to await events.
704 The Arabs again attack the Romans in Cilicia, but are once more defeated with heavy losses. The situation in the East is looking positive for Tiberius as the Caliphate suffers from these blows.
Justinian’s location becomes known to the authorities in Constantinople, and the Khagan is threatened then bribed by Tiberius to kill Justinian. Warned by his wife (now pregnant) who receives news of this via a servant, he kills the assassins with his own hands, and heads off in a fishing boat to Cherson to gather his supporters. They only number a handful, which is just as well since he only has a small boat. Cyrus, who has been acting as the eyes and ears of Justinian in Cherson, is unable to join them as he cannot make it out of the monastery without raising suspicion.
After gathering his followers who accompanied him to Khazaria: Barisbakourios and Stephen, brothers from Cherson, Moropaulos (Foolish Paul) the Chersonite fisherman who provides the boat, Theophilos of Doros, a supporter who had joined Justinian on his way to see the Khazar Khagan, and Myakes, Justinian's gruff, straight-speaking bodyguard and loyal supporter, they all head back across the Black Sea. On the way, the little boat is consumed by a raging storm. Fearful of being drowned, Myakes begs Justinian to promise God he will show mercy on all those who have wronged him when he gets back to Constantinople. Justinian refuses, and shakes his fist at the thunderclouds shouting, "If I have mercy on even one of them, may God drown me now!".
(POD) Justinian is thrown overboard by a large wave and flails helplessly in the heaving sea. He disappears under the angry waves; however, Myakes quickly ties a rope to himself, and dives over the side to find him. Miraculously, he finds Justinian and drags him back onto the deck of the tiny boat. Justinian is in a bad state but survives. The storm dies out very soon afterwards.
Justinian mulls over the effect of his challenge to God with Myakes' frank words echoing in his ears. "Emperor, it does not do well to challenge God. See what you got for it. Aye, he was angry with you well enough. He's given you another chance, that's what he's done. You'd better prove yourself if you don't want more of the same I'd say.".
Justinian later reaches the court of Tervel, the Bulgar Khan. Tervel agrees to help with Justinian promising him some financial considerations as well as some territory. In addition, to further secure the deal, Justinian promises him either the hand of his daughter in marriage, or if that is not possible, the title of
Caesar, second only to that of his own.
705 In Rome, Pope John VI dies, and the subsequent election results in John VII taking the throne of the Holy See.
The Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik dies peacefully, and is succeeded by his son Al-Walid I.
In the spring, Justinian, with Tervel at his side march on Constantinople with 15,000 Bulgar horsemen. On the way, they encounter a young shepherd by the name of Konon, also going by the name Leo, who offers Justinian 500 sheep for his army. Justinian is impressed with the demeanour of the young man, and immediately takes him into his service granting him the position of
spatharios (a junior officer in the Imperial Guard).
The army of Slavs and Bulgars soon appears outside of Constantinople with the two leaders at its head. After three days with the city authorities contemptuously refusing Justinian's demands that they open the gates to him, he decides to take more direct action. With a few hand-picked followers, he finds a disused aqueduct leading through the city walls. He squeezes along the water conduit, and in the early hours emerges into the city with his band of supporters. Guards approach, but rather than running away, Justinian loudly declares who he is, and a significant number of guards join with him and call his name out in support. The others flee and also shout that he is in the city, which suits him fine, since it raises up more chaos. Justinian and a growing band of troops and citizens making a lot of noise and shouting his acclamations, march on the palace. Tiberius flees so fast that he leaves the imperial regalia behind, and escapes the city on a ship from the palace's private harbour. Justinian secures the palace and settles back in.
The next day, Justinian summons the Patriarch Callinicus to his throne room. He is not happy at all with Callinicus, who has fawned after each Emperor, crowning them with effusion and being entirely self-serving in nature each time a new Emperor appears in order to protect his own hide. Furthermore, he abandoned Justinian and made possible a large part of the plot to overthrow him by lending his support to the usurper and his followers. The Emperor severely chastises him, and the Patriarch throws himself on the floor amid grovels fearing his fate. Justinian decides to strip him of his position and sends him to a monastery
(Historical Note: OTL he blinded and exiled him).
A few days later, Tervel is allowed into the city. Justinian has since found out that his daughter has entered a convent in his absence and cannot marry. Therefore, he arranges a ceremony to be held where he personally crowns Tervel as Roman
Caesar. The huge crowd attending the event gasps in shock twice. Firstly, since the fact that an Emperor without a nose is ruling them is unbelievable: the convention being that an Emperor must be free of all obvious physical defects in order to be fit to rule. Secondly, as no foreigner, let alone a barbarian has been awarded such an accolade before, and Justinian having made Tervel
Caesar being something utterly unthinkable.
However, they cheer, as is the custom, and shout out slogans wishing Justinian and his new
Caesar victory, good fortune and long life. Celebratory coins are thrown into the crowd which no doubt aids their levels of enthusiasm: Cyril the Engraver having already designed and minted new ones marked at Justinian’s command with the number twenty, since in the Emperor’s reckoning, this is the twentieth year of his reign, signifying in his view that he never ceased being ruler. Loaded down with gold, silks, spices and other riches promised by Justinian, Tervel, glowing with pride, heads back to his homeland with his army.
With Tiberius still at large somewhere in Thrace, Justinian sends out spies and soldiers to look for him. The former Emperor’s brother Heraclius stops fighting the Arabs and heads back to Thrace to help his brother. The Arabs welcome the respite from fighting.
As one of his first acts, and taking advantage of the fact that Pope Sergius is no longer around to give him trouble, the Emperor sends two bishops to Pope John VII suggesting that he at least give his approval to those decrees of the
Quinisextum to which he has no objection.
A few weeks later, Apsimarus is captured in Thrace, and the support in his brother’s army melts away, until there are very few troops left loyal to him. Thus, Heraclius is also captured just three weeks after his brother. They are taken back to Constantinople where Justinian wonders what he should do with them. Previous to his epiphany in the little fishing boat, he wanted outright revenge by executing them, but now as he is on his throne once more, he has had some time to reflect upon his past actions, God’s response to his challenge, and Myakes’ words.
As he is pondering what plans he ought to carry out for them, news arrives from the court of the Khagan Ibousiros Gliabanos via ship that Theodora has given birth to a son. Justinian is overjoyed at the news, and then asks the name of the baby. The captain pauses, and then says, “Emperor, he was baptized as Tiberius.”. The entire court goes quiet, wondering how the Emperor will react to the news that his son shares the same name as one of his treacherous uncles, and the usurper he just deposed. Justinian correctly surmises that the Khagan had a hand in the naming; perhaps hedging his bets with Apsimarus with a name that would please him since at that time, Justinian was not restored to his throne. Justinian is not angry; rather he says that the name pleases him well enough, it having been the name of an Emperor in the past who was a confidant of the first Justinian.
Justinian wants his wife to come to Constantinople as soon as possible, however he is warned by the captain that the stormy season is approaching and it could be very dangerous for them to traverse the Black Sea. Justinian defers to his advice and decides to wait until the waters are safer before summoning them to the city.
Not long after this, Cyrus the Abbot arrives by ship from Cherson, barely making it due to the storms, vindicating the sea-captain’s advice to the Emperor. Justinian, grateful for his loyalty and steadfast support, immediately appoints him to the Throne of St. Andrew as his new patriarch, something he had been planning to do for a long time. As it turns out, he makes a very good choice, and Cyrus will prove to be an effective occupant of the apostle’s chair.
The year is growing to a close, and Justinian is still reflecting upon his past misdeeds and what he should do for the future. He is very busy however, dealing with matters of all kinds that have piled up since he has returned, and has yet to turn his attention as to what to do with Leontius, Apsimarus and his brother Heraclius.
With the Arabs having suffered heavily under the recent assaults in Armenia, Anatolia and Syria, Justinian uses his position of strength to secure a favourable tribute from the Caliph, with 2500 nomismata along with 2 fine-bred horses and a slave a week. The amount of nomismata is not as high as previously agreed in his first reign, but the extra horse is more valuable in its own way. To sweeten the deal for the Caliph, Justinian returns 6,000 Arab prisoners of war taken by his predecessors and congratulates Al-Walid on his accession sending him gifts of spices, jewel encrusted golden banquet items, and beautiful Roman silk products as a token of good faith.
With his eastern domains secured and stable, Justinian intensifies his already substantial moves to strengthen the theme system by ensuring the peasantry are free and refining the idea of them supplying hereditary military service in exchange for land by adding further smaller benefits. At the same time, he realises his past mistake, and makes sure the taxes on the aristocracy are fairer with some sweeteners to calm them down further due to their wariness about his benefits to the peasantry. It is all part of his plan to undo a great injury against the empire: the loss of North Africa and this is where he plans to put right the failings of Leontius.
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*Fictional future historian, born into existence due to butterflies
Comments, suggestions? You can see that Justinian has refrained from his violent suppression and is pursuing more sensible policies than in OTL. This will lead to major changes, and iconoclasm is going to be butterflied away. Is this all ultimately going to be worthwhile, or am I wasting my time since few people seem to be reading and commenting? If people really aren't bothered, then I'll stop.
Sargon
