Justin II (Latin: Iustinus; Ancient Greek: Ἰουστῖνος, romanised: Ioustînos; died 4 October 578) was Eastern Roman emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the niece of Justinian's wife Theodora.
Justin II inherited a greatly enlarged but overextended empire, with far fewer resources at his disposal compared to Justinian I. He ended the payment of tributes and adopted a hardline stance against the empire's neighbours, which resulted in both the rekindling of war with the Sassanid Empire in 572, and the initiation of the Byzantine-Lombard wars in 568, which by its end in 750 cost the Romans much of their territory in Italy. His war against the Persians was generally unsuccessful, and his later reign was marked by severe mental illness. He was the last person to rule the entire Italian peninsula until Napoleon.
He was a son of Vigilantia and Dulcidio (sometimes rendered as Dulcissimus), respectively the sister and brother-in-law of Justinian. His siblings included Marcellus and Praejecta. With Sophia he had a daughter Arabia and possibly a son, Justus, who died young. He also had a niece named Helena.
Justin's early years are largely obscure. A thirteenth-century chronicle suggests 511 as Justin's birth date, but its reliability is not known with certainty. Historian Ernst Stein assumes he was born by 520 at the latest, as his contemporary Corippus compliments his "excellent" age at his accession in 565. At some point, he married Sophia, possibly in the 540s.
During Justinian's reign, he served in the position of curopalates at the court. He is first attested in the contemporary sources from 552 and 553 as being part of the embassy to Pope Vigilius during the Three-Chapter Controversy.
In 559, he was sent by Justinian to escort the Kutrigur raiders retreating across the Danube. In 562 and 563, he was in charge of dissipating the urban riots caused by the Blues and Greens in Constantinople.
Over time, he built a network of supporters in the court. In the early 560s, his wife Sophia and his supporters were said to have pleaded with Justinian to name him Caesar, albeit unsuccessfully. Historian Sihong Lin writes that early on, Justin was seen as an "energetic, even well-liked individual."
Justinian I died childless on 14 November 565. Callinicus, the praepositus sacri cubiculi, seems to have been the only witness to his dying moments, and claimed that Justinian had designated Justin, his nephew, as his heir in a deathbed decision. This sidelined another relative and candidate for the throne, also named Justin, who was son of Germanus, cousin of Justinian. Modern historians suspect Callinicus may have fabricated the last words of Justinian to secure the succession for his political ally. As historian Robert Browning observed: "Did Justinian really bring himself in the end to make a choice, or did Callinicus make it for him? Only Callinicus knew."
In any case, Callinicus started alerting those most interested in the succession, originally various members of the Senate. Then they jointly informed Justin and Sophia, offering the throne. Justin accepted after the traditional token show of reluctance, and with his wife Sophia, he was escorted to the Great Palace of Constantinople. The Excubitors blocked the palace entrances during the night, and early in the morning, John Scholasticus, Patriarch of Constantinople, crowned the new Augustus. Only then was the death of Justinian and the succession of Justin publicly announced in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Justin's coronation was written in detail by Corippus in his panegyric In laudem lustini Augusti minoris (In praise of Justin the Younger).
Both the Patriarch and Tiberius, commander of the Excubitors, had been recently appointed, with Justin having played a part in their respective appointments, in his role as Justinian's curopalates. It is thus seen that they were willing to elevate their patron and ally to the throne.
Justin's first address to the senate contained criticisms of Justinian: "Let the world rejoice that whatever was not done or put into practice because of our father's old age has been corrected in the time of Justin." In the speech, he vowed to repay debts, restore the emptied treasury and promised not to confiscate senatorial properties.
In the early days of his reign, Justin took a sharp about-turn from his uncle's policies. He repaid the treasury's debts and took a more reconciliatory stance toward the senatorial class. On 1 January 566, he became a consul, thereby reviving a post Justinian had discontinued since 541. Justin and Sophia initially promised to make peace with Justin's cousin and rival to the throne, Justin (son of Germanus), but had him assassinated in Alexandria not long after. According to a hostile source, the imperial couple kicked his severed head.
In 566 he reversed Justinian's ban on divorce by mutual consent, arguing that it resulted in spouses hating each other.
Mankind has nothing more admirable than marriage: from it stem children and successive generations, the peopling of villages and cities, and society's best bond. Hence, it is our prayer that marriage should be so successful for those contracting it as never to be the work of an unlucky daemon, and that married couples should not split up without just cause for their marriage to be dissolved. But as it is difficult for this to be maintained for all mankind – in such a large population, it is outside the realms of possibility that some unreasonable enmities should not supervene – we have thought it appropriate to devise some remedy for this, in particular where the consequences of pettiness have escalated so far as to engender real, irreconcilable hatred between the partners.
Administration and financial policy
After Justin paid off the debts, he burned the bonds of the treasury. He additionally remitted his subjects' tax arrears back to 560. The contemporary John of Ephesus notes a rumour that his successor Tiberius II discovered piles of money Justin and Sophia gathered, possibly meaning that his reign generated a surplus.
He conceded greater control to the provincial elites. In 569, he allowed them to nominate their own governors, and if the nominees pleased the court, eliminated their appointment fees, resulting in decreased imperial oversight of the provinces.
He discontinued Justinian's practice of buying off potential enemies. Immediately after his accession, Justin halted the payment of subsidies to the Avars, ending a truce that had existed since 558. This move upset the delicate balance of power in the Pannonian Basin, since the Avar elites were forced to seek new sources of wealth to maintain their position and client networks. At first, this was agreeable for the Romans, since the Avars decided to raid the Franks instead of going into the Roman territory. But after the Avars and the neighbouring tribe of the Lombards had combined to destroy the Gepids, from whom Justin had obtained the Danube fortress of Sirmium and the Gepid treasury, Avar pressure caused the Lombards to migrate West, and in 568 they invaded Italy under their king Alboin. They quickly overran the Po Valley, and within a few years acquired a vast share of the Italian Peninsula. The Avars themselves crossed the Danube in 573 or 574, when the Empire's attention was distracted by troubles on the Persian frontier. They were only placated by the payment of a subsidy of 80,000 solidi by Justin's successor Tiberius.