Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

the last decade (c. 554,65) 85
few years before is probably reflected in the protocol for such a diplomatic
visit still extant in the tenth-century Book of Ceremonies and taken from the
records of Peter the Patrician himself. 129
Like Agathias, Menander Protector describes Justinian in these years as
tired and growing feeble with age. 130 But he had not given up his passion
for theology, and one of his last actions was to depose the patriarch
Eutychius of Constantinople when the latter refused to support the
emperor’s desire for all bishops to subscribe to a decree confirming the
incorruptibility of the body of Christ; Anastasius of Antioch, who also
refused and convened a synod against the emperor’s decree at Antioch, was
also threatened with deposition. 131 For the first time Justinian had clearly
departed from the traditions of Chalcedon. Naturally, also, the move to
depose Eutychius was exploited by the latter’s personal enemies. 132 The
patriarch went into exile at Amasea and was replaced by John Scholasticus,
a canon lawyer and apocrisarius from Antioch, who was soon to prove highly
influential in bringing about the succession of Justin II.
Justinian died on 14 November 565, allegedly expressing on his deathbed
his wish for his nephew Justin to succeed him and his promise to those
of his associates who supported Justin that they would be rewarded and his
enemies punished. 133 The emperor lay in state in the palace, his bier covered
by a magnificent pall on which he was depicted in the symbolism of victory,
trampling the defeated Gelimer beneath his feet, flanked by the
personifications of Africa and Rome and by rows of conquered kings and
vanquished peoples. 134
129 Cameron (1987).
130 Menander fr. 5 Blockley; Corippus, In laudem Iustini ii.260–3; cf. Agathias, Hist. v.14: ‘in his declining
years when old age came upon him he seemed to have wearied of vigorous policies’ (trans. Frendo).
131 Evagr. HE iv 39–40; Eustratius, V. Eutych., PG lxxxvi.3.2313–24 (both very hostile to Justinian);
Theoph. Chron. 240.24–241.5. 132 Stein, Bas-Empire ii.685–8.
133 Corippus, In laudem Iustini iv.339–50, with notes of Cameron ad loc. and pp. 126, 130–1.
134 Corippus, In laudem Iustini i.276–90, with notes; cf. iii.1–27 for the funeral. The triumphal scene
here described is classic, see McCormick, Eternal Victory; the pall has perished, but many embroidered
or woven textiles with figural decoration survive from the period.
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