Justin and Tiberius - Eastern Roman Empire

On the night of November 14th 565, the death of the childless Justinian was rapidly reported by the only one witness. The latter, a high official named Callinicus, claimed that the great emperor had designated his nephew Justin as successor; the senators backed this claim. Justin had prominent allies in the palace. With the support of the commander of the imperial guard Tiberius and the patriarch of Constantinople John Scholasticus, Justin II was acclaimed Augustus.
⏰ Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
0:50 - Justin II
7:49 - Uneasy Regency
11:09 - Tiberius II
16:20 - Conclusion
🤝 Support
You can support me and donate a Follis or more on Patreon :
/ ancientsight
🎵 Music
www.epidemicsound.com/
Forever to Run - Howard Harper-Barnes
Defending the Keep - John Bjork
There Are No Heroes - Philip Ayers
Birth of a Knight - Max Anson
The Great War - Jon Bjork
Heroes on Horses - Wendel Scherer
Last Words - Jon Bjork
Last Hero Standing - Dream Cave
Deconstructing the Empire - Christian Andersen
📚 Main sources
- Hugh Elton, The Roman Empire of Late Antiquity; 2016
- Morisson Cécile, Le Monde Byzantin I - L'empire rome d'Orient (330-641): puf; 2012
- Peter Heather, Rome Resurgent - War and Empire in the age of Justinian : Oxford
🌐 Internet sources
- Wikipedia fr eng, 2022
- Roman Emperors : www.roman-emperors.org/
- Byzantine Battles : byzantium.gr/battles.html
- Historical Map Animators, KZbin

[@flaviusjconstantius]

I like how it took over 500 years for the Romans to have another emperor named Tiberius

[@nazeem8680]

Top 3 most dangerous jobs in Eastern Roman Empire: 3: Danube Borderguard 2: Silkworm smuggler 1: Governor of Africa

[@iexist3919]

This is truly the calm before the storm that was the 7th Century

[@danielchequer5842]

Just as every emperor post 476 feels like a build up to Justinian, every emperor post Justinian feels like a build up to Heraclius

[@MonsieurBananes]

It’s a shame this channel isn’t more well known, the videos are great ❤️

[@Georgios1821]

You are so underrated keep up the great job. God bless you from Greece.🇬🇷

[@ancientsight]

Thanks a lot, you guys really have a colorfull history

[@Georgios1821]

@@ancientsight A 5,000 year long history from Pelasgian Greece to Modern Greece. Your channel is great I a cannot wait for the next video. Keep up the great work.

[@sidern6009]

I'm a huge fan of your job dude

[@ancientsight]

Glad you like it bro

[@youvebeengreeked]

_"Make yovr reign my finest epitaph."_ *The final words of Emperor Tiberivs II to Mavrice*

[@OptimusMaximusNero]

Justin's wife: "I know my husband has been under a lot of stress lately, but he's not crazy at all." Tiberius II: "Really? He has made a horse consul, ordered the army to stab the sea, burned Byzantium while playing the lyre, forced his subjects to listen to him recite endless poems, ordered to kill everyone who had the same name as him, used servants as archery targets, entered a gladiatorial fight disguised as Hercules, dressed as a woman and ordered to be called Queen. AND IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, HE JUST SH*T IN MY PEANUT BARREL!!!" Justin's Wife: "We all have difficult days sometimes, you know?"

[@sergioacevedo2254]

Stabbing the sea, you say?? Would you by any chance...be interested in a military alliance with Emperor Caligula against these diabolical waters, so that we may send our legions to stab the water to death together, and put the sea in its place!? Burning the capital city whilst playing the lyre you say, AND a poet??? Emperor Nero would like to contract you as his personal pyromaniac and poet to show the world what true artists can do to change humanity for the better.

[@caiawlodarski5339]

"He did ?" "No, but are we just going to wait around until he does ?"

[@PakBallandSami]

“I shall always be consistent and never change my ways so long as I am in my senses; but for the sake of precedent the Senate should beware of binding itself to support the acts of any man, since he might through some mischance suffer a change” --Tiberius

[@contoon1563]

Great video, not many videos on Justin II and Tiberius II so good work

[@casio6651]

Wow, you dig up some bloody obscure information for these videos. Impressive dedication. 👍

[@cjclark2002]

Well done, high quality engaging content my friend.

[@toomuchswag2die885]

thanks for the videos

[@wiseide2559]

Great video, I love the information and detail you went into especially with Tiberius!

[@dansmith4077]

Great video thanks

[@trajanaugustus3501]

You are amazing bro, one of the best channel’s on the History of Ancient and Medieval Rome, thank you for the good content

[@ancientsight]

Thank you for your comment man

[@harryjackson3867]

Hope you get way more subs soon

[@drinci]

Your videos are amazing man, the music the visuals it gives me chills sometimes. You are really underrated and I'm sure that your channel will be popular one day, the quality is just superb.

[@ancientsight]

Thanks you ! And if you like the music, check out the description, all credits are here. You will find some really nice artists.

[@foreverraining1522]

No it's not. Stop lying to him. His voice and accent are subpar and so are his animations.

[@drinci]

@@foreverraining1522 why?

[@stepanpytlik4021]

Extremely underrated channel.

[@Georgios1821]

Nice job

[@mrsansiverius2083]

Just discovered your channel, seems great

[@marcoslce7161]

Comment for référencement. Keep it on man

[@ruufusdeleon1264]

This is when the Romans needed Heraclius; before everything really started to fall apart.

[@giannisgiannopoulos791]

Always a pleasure watching your work. Can't wait for the next episode with the patriot, soldier/Emperor Maurice! Thank you.

[@ancientsight]

History really is made up of many colorfull characters and events, Maurice is definitely one of them.

[@avaragejavacoder]

Great Video. Underrated channel Sadly. By the way Have you changed your microphone?

[@ancientsight]

Yes, I tried out another mic I have, It is pretty much the same quality. However, it does not sound the same, so do you prefer this one or the other ?

[@avaragejavacoder]

@@ancientsight actually both of them are good. But i was used to listen the previous videos that's why i noticed difference when i started the video. First i think there was another narrator.

[@ancientsight]

That's funny to note. Another thing is that I spoke louder and further away from the mic this time

[@dropkick69able]

Good stuff

[@iados5757]

Your videos are amazing you should be more popular

[@Matthew_080]

I think that you are the best 🙂

[@ancientsight]

Thanks a lot for the kind words

[@TheMoorluck]

Shame Justinian pushed the empire and one of the great what ifs is what if he had more money or more time to reestablish the Italian provinces, or what if the sassanids never started that war that doomed both their empires

[@giniusmklo8161]

So much underrated channel

[@superyoshi_13]

Oh hell nah this is where it all starts to go downhill, shoutout to Tiberius II he's a g

[@matthewmiller6987]

Truly is sad the byzantines were in continual decline for nearly a millenium with only short lived restorations (basil and alexius come to mind)

[@Michael_the_Drunkard]

@@matthewmiller6987 "continuous decline" absolute nonsense! What Basil, Nicephorus, Alexius I, Michael III, Leo III, Cosntantine V, John Tzimisces achieved wasn't a small recovery.

[@Michael_the_Drunkard]

Maurice and Heraclius were better.

[@matthewmiller6987]

@@Michael_the_Drunkard it merely extended the downfall and retook lost territories they showed the decline for a time but it was never a reversal, and the only lasting restoration was the one under the Macedonian dynasty

[@causantinthescot]

@@Michael_the_Drunkard The Eastern Romans managed to hold Anatolia for over 400 years.

[@dshock85]

and what the hell happened to the mints? Rome was producing coins with amazing portraits and now every eastern roman coin looks like its adorned with aliens

[@mikhailturkhan7686]

Yeah, even 5th century solidi of Constantinople look far better. I guess the taste changed to a more flat representation. 7th century solidi are more uneven.

[@sebastianjuara]

i love you dude

[@hiskakun2276]

Tiberius was wasting too much money 😢

[@sergioacevedo2254]

I fail to see how breaking a 50-year long peace with the persians would have had a good risk/reward ratio. It was an entire front with a major power that was legally guaranteed to be safe, and had been so for half a century. Especially in a precarious time like this, you want to minimize the amount of enemies that you have to deal with at any given moment, concentrate on dividing and conquering, and once the situation is more stable with problems like Africa and Italia, would moving on to something else seem to make more sense. The only down side that I can see in this situation for not attacking the persians was possibily being seen as weak by everyone, which could be a catalyst for internal conflicts. Where your hostile neighbours could then take advantage of the situation and all attack at once. But it's not like I know all of the variables that went into play here, anyways, haha.

[@ancientsight]

Justin was 4 dimensions ahead of us all, we just can't get it

[@dshock85]

watching this is depressing after the Justinian video....

[@justinsaletnik6656]

I'm obsessed

[@solow6600]

Great content, thank you! Quite interesting that bad decisions (supporting gepids instead of lombards and then, even worse, withdrawing support), led to avar hegemony in the region and forced lombards to invade Italy. Worst possible outcome. Bad emperors in my opinion, both fiscally and strategically.

[@vincentguy4870]

Glad to see more... but less happy to have publicity.

[@avaragejavacoder]

I think you should show commanders as coin until they become emperor.

[@ancientsight]

That is a pretty good idea, I will try this out

[@RaidenTheRipper950]

Next episodes are gonna be so depressive

[@powersell8589]

nah maurice is next and then heraclius after them it goes really downhill

[@vincentguy4870]

Nothing has changed, Invasion, war, Taxes, climate catastrophe, epidemic...

[@Michael_the_Drunkard]

@@powersell8589 only until the siege of Constantinople of 717. After that a recovery would occur.

[@powersell8589]

@@vincentguy4870 At this point all of that has been happening for over 600 years in Rome.

[@powersell8589]

@ali they mostly viewed them the same as they did with the persians like an actual civilization,empire not like the west which they viewed as barbaric after the western empire fell

[@matthewmiller6987]

And here starts the long drawn out almost 1000 year decline

[@Michael_the_Drunkard]

There is no 1000 year decline. The Macedonian, Phrygian, Syrian and Comnenian dynasty disproves this myth.

[@matthewmiller6987]

@@Michael_the_Drunkard they never took new territories only retook lost ones they slowed the decline but weak rulers were far more common than strong ones and the strong ones had to try to undo all the bad things the bad emperors did, think Micheal the 7th and alexius the first

[@antiaircraftgun7653]

​​@@matthewmiller6987 Just because they don't occupy the lost lands doesn't mean they fall. Following this path, Germany has fallen since the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, because it has never regained Northern Italy and Switzerland. The empire died only after the Second Palaeologios' Civil War, when it had almost no labor left. Possibly died in 1204.

[@matthewmiller6987]

@@antiaircraftgun7653 sure just ignore the nazis Germany was far stronger under their leader ship and to even call the hre Germany is kinda weird, it had Germans as leaders and all but Austria can say the same, and every revival attempt reconquered old territory just to have a terrible emperor lose it all and then a good emperor come somewhat close to restoring the lost land and rinse and repeat

[@iDeathMaximuMII]

​​​​@@matthewmiller6987You contradicted yourself. That is the story of almost any nation. They lose huge lands, but what they have left, they dominate In the 10th-11th centuries, the Roman's were THE STRONGEST nation in Europe. Could field Armies that the Franks, Bulgarians, Bavarians & English could only dream of Just because they didn't go off reconquering Egypt, Syria & Mesopotamia doesn't mean it was a 1,000 year decline

[@Intelligenkeit]

why did they do that? if this story is accurate, instead of fighting against the persians and losing almost all the battles and gaining nothing and losing so much money, why are they not taking back the capital? like their capital is surrounded by another force and they try to invade persia and fail all the time and keep trying, i dont get it

[@ancientsight]

If by "the capital" you mean Rome, I would say that the west had become less valuable over the centuries. At this point, Rome and Italy were more of a symbol. The east was consistent and of a more direct importance.

[@ElliotCarson]

The last latin emperors

[@rickyyacine4818]

U had two jobs justin don't support gpied and don't start a war with presia 50 years peace bro why 😢😢