T I B 





T 1 B 



tin- civil and military officers, and of the clergy under the 



pmiilt -:ic\ "I Hi*' patriarch Eutvchiu>. liy whom T 



was crowned" with the imperial UMJML In this a.v,cinbl> 



nperor Justin addressed to his future successor the 

 following remarkable speech Theophvhetua, ni. 11), 

 which Gibbon translates thus: You MOoU tin- ensigns 

 of supreme power. Yon are alxiut to rccci\c them, not 

 from my hand, but from the hand of God. Honour tin-in, 

 and from them you will derive honour. Respect the 

 empress your motlicr you arc now her son befon 

 were her servant. Delight not in blood, abstain from 

 revenge, avoid those actions by which I have incurred tin- 

 public hatred, and consult the experience rather than the 

 example of your predecessor. As a man, I have sinned ; 

 as a sinner, even in this life I have been severely punished : 

 but these servant* , his ministers', who have abused my 

 confidence and inflamed my pas-ion, will appear with me 

 before the tribunal of Christ. I have been dazzled by the 

 splendour of the diadem : be thon wise and u'> 



iiber what you have been, remember what you are." 

 To this speech of a dying sinner, Tiberius answered : 

 ' If von consent, I live ; if you command, I die : may the 

 God of heaven and earth infuse into your heart whatever 

 I have neglected or forgotten." 



The burden of government devolved upon Tiberius, 

 whose authority was never checked by Justin. The war 

 with Persia prevented Tiberius from expelling the I.ongo- 

 bards from Italy ; but he sent there all the troops he could 

 dispose of, and succeeded in maintaining the imperial 

 authority in the Exarchate of Ravenna, on the Lignrian 

 coast, in the fortified places in the Cottian Alps, in Rome, 

 in Naples, and in the greater part of Campania and of 

 Lucama. He saved Rome and pope Pelagius II. from 

 the Longobards by sending a fleet laden with provisions 

 (775). Some years later he concluded an alliance with 

 the Franki>h king Chilperic, who checked the Longobards 

 in the north of Italy, and Tiberius succeeded in bribing 

 several of the thirty Longobardian dukes, who, after the 

 murder of king Clepho .".7;>-.~>7l and during the. minority 

 of Antharis, imitated in Italy the Thirty Tyrants of Athens. 

 The daughter of king Alboin and Rosamond, who had fled 

 from Italy, was then living at the court of Constantinople. 

 The most important event in the reigns of Justin and 

 Tiberius was the war with Persia. Klurew. the kin<; of 

 Persia, had made extensive conquest.- in Asia Minor during 

 the reign of Justin. In 575 Tiberius concluded a partial 

 truce for three years with him, on condition that hostilities 

 should cease except on the frontiers of Armenia, where 

 the war was still carried on. These frontier* being easily 

 defended on account of the great, number of defiles in the 

 Armenian mountains. Tiberius levied a strong army while 

 Khosrew lost time in forcing passages or in besieging 

 small fortified places. For several centuries the Eastern 

 empire had not seen such an army as was then raised by 

 Tiberius. A hundred and fifty thousand men, among 

 whom were many Teutonic and Slavonic barbarians. 

 crossed the Bosporus in 570, under the command of Jus- 

 tinian, and advanced to the relief of Theodosiopolis, tin- 

 key of Armenia. Theodore, the Byzantine general, 

 defended the fortress against the whole army of Khosrew. 

 At the approach of Justinian the Persian king left the 

 siege ana advanced to meet the Greeks. The encounter 

 took place near Melitene (in the district of Melitem- 

 in Armenia Minor). The Persians were routed, and 

 many of them were drowned in their retreat across 

 the Euphrates; twenty-four elephants, loaded with the 

 treasures of Khosrew and the spoil of his camp, were sent 

 to Constantinople. Justinian then advanced as far as the 



in Gulf, and a peace was about to be concluded in 

 "77 : but Khosrew broke off the negotiations on account 

 of a victor}- which his general Tamchosroes (Tam-khosrew) 

 unexpectedly obtained over Justinian by surprising 

 him in Armenia. Tiberius now recalled Justinian, and 

 appointed in his place Mauritius, who was afterwards 

 emperor. Mauritius restored the old Roman precaution 

 of never passing the night except in a fortified ramp ; In- 

 advanced to meet the Persians, who had broken tin- truce 

 "t 575, and attacked the empire on the sidi 

 PoUn , , The Persians retired at the approach of 

 Mauritius, who took up his winter-quarters in Mesopo- 

 tamia 577 



On the 28th of September, 578, Tiberius became sole 

 emperor by the solemn abdication of Justin, who died on 



the 5th of October next. After tl, 

 when the new emperor appeared in the Hippodii-me. Un- 

 people became impatient to we the empress. The widow 

 of Justin, who was in the Hippodrome, expected to lu- 

 lled to the people as empress; but she was soon 

 undeceived by the sight of Anastasia, who suddenly ap- 

 peared at the side of Tiberius. In revenge, Sophia formed 

 a plot against Tiberius, and persuaded Justinian, the 

 r commander in the Persian war. to put himself at 

 the head of the conspiracy. Tiberius however was informed 

 of this design. Justinian was arrested, and the emperor 



:doning him made him for ever his faithful li 

 Sophia was deprived of her imperial pension and pa.. 

 and slu- died in neglect and obscurity. 



A quarrel broke out between Knt \ chins, the patriarch, 

 and Gregorius, the apocrisiarius of Constantinople, who 

 could not agree on the state of the soul after death. The 

 Greeks were then the most disputatious people in the 

 world about religious matters, and their disputes often 

 led to serious trouble. The emperor accordingly under- 

 took to settle this dispute. Adhering to the opinion of 

 Gregcrius, he convinced the patriarch that he was wrong, 

 and he persuaded him to burn a book which h 

 written on the corporeal nature of the soul after death. 



Khosrew died in 57!!. after a reign of forty-eight \ 

 He had entered into negotiations with the Greeks, but his 

 successor, Hormisdas (.Onnuz). broke them oft' and re- 

 commenced the war. Hormisdas was defeated by Mauri- 

 tius and his lieutenant, Narses, a great captain, who must 

 not. be confounded with Narses. the victor of the Ostro- 

 Goths. They overran Persia in one campaign 

 in 5SO they routed the army of Hormisdas in a blood . 

 tie on the banks of the Euphrates, and took up their winter- 

 quarters in Mesopotamia. At the same time the Greeks 

 obtained great advantages in Africa. Gasinul, king of the 

 MauritaiiL or Berbers, had defeated and killed three ( 

 generals, Theodore, Theociiatea, and Amabilis. But in 

 580 he was defeated by the exarch Geimadius, and put 

 to death. Tiberius was less fortunate in Europe, the Avars 

 having surprised and taken the town of Sirmium. Hut in 

 the following year 5s 1 Mauritius destroyed the Persian 

 army in the plain of Constantine, and their general, Tain- 

 Khosrcw, lust his life. Mauritius had a triumph in Con- 

 stantinople, and on the 5th of August he was crr;i;,-d 

 i by Tiberius, who was then worn out by illness, and 

 who had no male i ue. Alter having given his daughter. 

 Constantina, in marriage to Mauritius. Tiberius died on 

 the 14th of August. 5Si and, since the time of the 

 Theodosius, no emperor's death caused regret so mm 

 It i.-. a remarkable circumstance in the reign of this em- 

 peror, that he was always provided with money without 

 oppressing the people by taxation ; and yet his liberality 

 wa> so great that the people used to say that he had aii 

 inexhaustible treasure. But all the.se resources did not 

 enable him to save Italy, which may be accounted for 

 thus: During the invasions of Italy and other parts ot the 

 Roman empire by the barbarians, many rich men s;i\cd 

 great quantities of gold and silver, which they carried to 

 Constantinople, then the only sale place in Europe. This 

 city being the centre of the arts, and the commerce and 

 industry of the East being very cxtcn>i\e, e\en the money 

 which fell into the hands of the barbarians gradually found 

 its way into the Greek empire, where the barbarians pur- 

 chased all those articles which they had not skill < i 

 to fabricate themselves. This view is corroborated 1-y the 

 fact, that notwithstanding the immense tribute, which the 

 Greek emperors often paid to the barbarians, thciv 

 always a want of coin in the barbarian kingdoms. On the 

 other hand, the Greeks having lost their martial habits, the 

 emperors were obliged to recruit their armies among the 

 barbarians. These people however were as ready to fight 

 against the emperors as for 1 1 icin ; audit would ha\ 

 dangered the existence of the empire if too large a num- 

 ber hod been engaged in its service. Tin: pre- 

 ferred bribing the l.ongobardian dukes to laising a large 

 army of barbarians, who would probably have joined the 

 Longobards as soon as they had got their pay. 



(Cedrenus ; Theophanes ; Thcophylaclu- : Xonara* ; 

 Gregorius Turoncnsis; Paulus Diaconus; Gibbon, Decline 

 and Full ; I,e Beau, Ilntnin' tin 



TIBE'RIUS AI.!-:\A\PI-:R. prefecl of Kgypt , was the 

 son of Tiberius Alexander who was alabareha of Alex- 

 andria, and the brother of Philo Judams, the well-known 



