Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

tiberius 95
details must be untrue, since Justinian was already dead, they illustrate the
widespread perception of tensions in the imperial family. Tiberius’ declaration
that he would regard Sophia as a mother might have been a politely
calculated insult. Later Syriac tradition described Tiberius as the first Greek
emperor, which may simply reflect the fact that after a succession of
emperors from Latin-speaking Illyricum (Anastasius from Dyrrachium, the
family of Justin from Bederiacum) Tiberius as a Thracian was probably a
native Greek-speaker, as the Cappadocian Maurice would also have been. 20
2. The Persian war
Tiberius, who must already have been influential in the councils of the
‘interregnum’, acted decisively to stabilize the Roman position. Ambassadors
were despatched to Khusro to announce his proclamation and extend
the truce, while large numbers of Germanic tribesmen in the Balkans were
recruited to replenish Roman ranks. Both initiatives succeeded: the envoys
Trajan and Zacharias secured a prolongation of the true for three years,
although Armenia was still excluded (contrary to Tiberius’ hopes), while
the recruits were formed into a corps called Tiberiani, 15,000 strong, and
allocated to the new eastern commander, the patrician Justinian, son of
Germanus, another of Justin’s cousins. To mark his accession Tiberius
announced in April 575 the remission of one year’s monetary taxes, to be
spread in instalments over four years, but payments in kind were maintained
and specific mention was made of military needs in Osrhoene and
Mesopotamia. 21
In 575 there was probably little major action on the eastern front, but in
576 Khusro attempted to combine aggression in Armenia with discussion
of a permanent peace: with a large army that included elephants, he reasserted
Persian authority in Persarmenia but then failed to capture
Theodosiopolis. Negotiations began while Khusro pushed west towards
Sebaste and then Caesarea in Cappadocia, but Roman forces harassed his
unwieldy army into retreat and after a confrontation near Melitene the
Persian royal baggage was captured; there were severe Persian losses, either
in set battle, as the Romans claimed, or during a disorganized flight over the
Euphrates. Khusro retired across Arzanene, having to cut a path for his elephant
through the Hakkari mountains. These failures, coupled with energetic
Roman ravaging that reached as far as the Caspian Sea, stimulated
Persian interest in negotiations, with the Romans arguing for peace on equal
terms and the exchange of Dara for Persarmenia and Iberia. In 577, however,
Persian confidence revived when Tamkhusro defeated Justinian in
20 John Eph. HE iii.5–10;Greg.Tur.Hist. v.30; Gregory Barhebraeus ix p. 81 (Budge).
21 Nov. 163.
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