Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

94 4. the successors of justinian
over-enthusiastic amateur observer of military preparations. Whatever the
truth, Justin’s patience snapped and he dismissed Marcian, but this coincided
with the appearance of a Persian relief army led in person by Khusro,
who had been believed to be close to death. Khusro’s preparations and rapid
march up the Euphrates surprised the Romans, who may have expected
some warning from their Arab allies, but the Ghassanid leader al-Mundhir
claimed to have been insulted, or even betrayed, by Justin and had withdrawn
from the conflict. Part of the Persian army ravaged Syria and sacked
Apamea, while Khusro’s contingent invested Dara. After six months the city
fell, and the great bastion of the Roman frontier was in Persian hands for
the first time. 18 Justin’s sanity may already have shown signs of instability, if
there is truth in Theophanes’ story about the row with his son-in-law
Baduarius, but the loss of Dara, capping a sequence of disasters, finally
turned his mind. In desperation, the empress Sophia sent the physician
Zacharias to Persia to negotiate, on the grounds that it would demean
Khusro to fight a defenceless woman: at a cost of 45,000 solidi a one-year
truce was arranged to permit more substantive negotiations, though the
Persians insisted that fighting could continue in Armenia, where they
wanted to restore control. 19
ii. tiberius
1. Succession
Justin’s failure to regain his sanity during 574 forced the proclamation of an
imperial colleague. Sophia, keen to remain influential, identified the comes
excubitorum Tiberius as a loyal aide to Justin who would also serve her interests.
Rumour held that she saw him as a replacement spouse, apparently
unaware that Tiberius was married with children, but our source, John of
Ephesus, was basically hostile to Sophia and the story might have been generated
by jealousy at Tiberius’ newly-imperial family and by Sophia’s reluctance
to be ousted from the comforts and opportunities of the palace.
Whatever her intentions, Tiberius was proclaimed Caesar on 6 December
when Justin, in a brief moment of lucidity, gave a simple but moving
speech that encapsulated his ideas about imperial rule and the supremacy
of God. For almost four years Tiberius functioned as junior but operative
colleague to Justin, until the latter’s death on 4 October 578, when Tiberius
succeeded as Augustus. Sophia was still loath to relinquish her power: John
of Ephesus records ructions between the imperial women inside the
palace, while Gregory of Tours preserves stories about attempts by Sophia
to have Justinian, the cousin of Justin, proclaimed – even if the precise
18 Whitby, Maurice 254–8. 19 Theophanes 246.11–27; Menander fr. 18; Whitby, Maurice 258–9.
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