In 695, Emperor Justinian II was dragged before jeering crowds in the Hippodrome and mutilated by the rebel Strategos of Hellas, Leontios.
After that, he was exiled across the Black Sea to Kherson, expecting to never be heard from again in Constantinople.
But, he came back.
After many years in Kherson regaining his strength and dignity, Justinian fled the isolated theme and made his way north into the Pontic steppe to seek out the Khagan of the Khazars. Upon finding his court, he struck a deal with the Khagan to help him regain his throne, and Justinian married the Khagan’s sister. Naming her Theodora in symbolic homage to his namesake, they set out to the coast of the Sea of Azov together.
Unfortunately for Justinian, the complacent Leontios no longer sat the throne. In tragic irony, the Germanic general Apsimaros had overthrown Leontios, cut off his nose, and exiled him to a monastery. Apsimaros now ruled under the proper Greek name Tiberios but he was insecure on the throne.
This caused Tiberios to send agents to the Khazar Khagan, bribing him to have Justinian killed. The Khagan accepted these overtures and sent two men to the Azov to bring Justinian back dead or alive. Justinian killed these two men and fled on a small boat with his followers, striking out for land of the Bulgar Khagan.
In a probably apocryphal story during his journey to Bulgaria, Justinian’s boat is caught in a ferocious storm and it seemed very likely that his loyal band would meet their fates. In desperation, one of Justinian’s followers urged the exiled Emperor to swear he would not seek bloody reprisal when he regained the throne. Justinian was reported to shake his fist at the heavens, crying out "If I spare a single one of them, may God drown me here". The Storm stopped soon after.
In a stunning tale, Justinian then heads an army of Slavs and Bulgars and reclaims his birthright, restoring the line of Heraklios to the throne in the face of impossible odds. What followed though was an unfortunate episode where the paranoid and revenge-thirsty Justinian indulges himself in a mass slaughter of the noble class in revenge for his deposition. Although it may be exaggerated by later accounts, it certainly gained him no friends. As a result, he and his family were killed in 711 and, after a succession of strongmen to the purple, Leo III and the Isaurian dynasty took over (starting the perhaps more unfortunate legacy of Iconoclasm within the empire.)
This all begs the question though, what if Justinian had forsook revenge on that little boat near the Dniester? What if he used magnanimous clemency upon his return to the throne and realized many of follies that led to his first deposition? Justinian was a capable and energetic ruler, as well as a proven military commander. He certainly could have been a credit to the empire, and he already had a son at the time of his death which stabilized the possible succession. What do you all think the sons of Heraklios would’ve ended up like had Justinian ruled with more sense the second time around?
If successful, some possible results would be avoiding the 20 Years Anarchy, possibly avoiding Iconoclasm altogether, a recovery of imperial authority in the Balkans perhaps, or even a reconquest of Carthage if things go that well. Lots of interesting results from this I think.
[Just as a side note, Turtledove’s Justinian is an excellent, although fictional, account of Justinian’s life. I wasn’t sure I’d like it when I picked it up but honestly it’s a great read and I’m enjoying myself immensely working through it. It really brings the drama and sense of the times to you in a more personal way (if you can bear the more erotic scenes that Turtledove seems fond of detailing...)]
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