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The early religious policies of Justin II

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Averil Cameron
Averil Cameron*
Affiliation:
University of London King’s College
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Extract

On 14 November AD 565, Justinian died and his nephew Justin was raised to the throne in a well managed senatorial coup. He was already of middle age and had spent the latter part of his life building up useful connections at court which served him well when the critical moment came: his rival, cousin and homonym was far more glamorous, being a military man, but he was not on the spot and Justin was easily able to have him removed. We are told that the murder was engineered by Justin’s empress, Sophia, the niece of Theodora, a lady who emerges as a figure as powerful and in many ways more interesting than her aunt. From the first the reign was a partnership; Sophia is shown in a novel way together with her husband on Justin’s coins, and is named with him in the headings to decrees preserved on papyri. So Justin at least acquiesced in her prominence, even if he did not like it, and it was natural for poets and historians to give as much attention to the empress as to the emperor. When the loss of the Mesopotamian border fortress of Dara to the Persians in 573 drove Justin out of his wits Sophia very naturally took control, even though nominally the government had to be put into the hands of a man (Tiberius, appointed caesar in AD 574 and augustus in 578); yet her influence had been strong from the beginning, and we shall see that if it is right to see her driving force behind the harsh persecutions of monophysites in the 570s, we must also seek her initiative in the religious policy of the late 560s.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Church History , Volume 13: The Orthodox Churches and the West , 1976 , pp. 51 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 1976

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References

1 Evagrius, , HE ed Bidez, J. and Parmentier, L. (London 1898) bk V cap 1Google Scholar; Victor of Tunnuna, Chronicle, ed Mommsen, Th., Chronica Minora II, MGH AA 11 (1894) a. 567 (sic)Google Scholar; Corippus, , In landem Iustini, ed Partsch, , MGH AA, 11 (1892), bk 1 line 1 seqGoogle Scholar.

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3 Joh Biclar, a. 568 (?). See my article, ‘The Empress Sophia’, B 45 (1975) pp 5-21.

4 See Corippus, [Flavius Cresconius, In laudem Iustini minoris, ed with commentary and translation by Cameron, Averil] (London 1976) note on Pan Anast 23Google Scholar.

5 The only two detailed studies are Groh, [K.], [Geschichte des oströmischen Kaisers Justin II nebst den Quellen], Diss. Halle (Leipzig 1889)Google Scholar and Stein, [E.], [Studien zur Geschichte des byzantinischen Reiches, vornehmlich unter den Kaisern Justinus II und Tiberius Constantinus] (Stuttgart 1919)Google Scholar.

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7 Stein p 1.

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9 Ibid p 320.

10 Ibid p 319.

11 Ibid pp 321-2. See Evagrius HE bk V cap 4; Nicephorus Callisto, HE bk XVII cap 35 (PG 146) col 308; John of Ephesus, HE, trans Smith, R. Payne (Oxford 1860) bk I caps 19 seqGoogle Scholar; Michael the Syrian, [Chronicle], ed Chabot, J-B., I-III (Paris 1899-1905) bk X cap 4Google Scholar.

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15 Ibid. For the edict see n 11 above and pp 62-5 below.

16 Below p 62.

17 Joh Biclar a 567 (?).

18 The execution of Aetherius and Addaeus was in October: Eustratius, Vita Eutychii, PG 86, col 2361; Evagrius HE bk V cap 3; Joh Biclar a. 568 (?); Theophanes, , [Chronographia], ed de Boor, (Leipzig 1883-5) 1 P 242 Google Scholar. See Cameron, note on Corippus In laudem Listini bk I lines 60-1.

19 Michael the Syrian bk X cap 1; Joh Biclar a. 567 (?); Venantius Fortunatus, Appendix Carminum 2, lines 39-46, ed F. Leo, MGH AA, IV. 1 (1881).

20 See Cameron, note on Corippus, In laudem Iustini, bk II line 160. John Scholasticus is John of Ephesus’s chief villain: see especially HE bk II cap 17.

21 “John of Ephesus HE bk II cap 29; on Samaritans see Justin’s Novel 144 (a. 572).

22 In landem lustini minoris. See note 4 above.

23 Cameron, intro, (i). See also Cameron, [Averil] ‘Notes [on the Sophiae, the Sophianae and the Harbour of Sophia’], B 37 (1967) pp 15 seqGoogle Scholar.

24 Bk IV lines 264-325.

25 Bk IV lines 290-311.

26 Bk IV lines 292-4: ‘internis oculis illic pia cernitur esse indivisa manens patris genitique potestas spiritus et sanctus . . .’ Internis oculis (line 292) proves that lines 293-311 refer to the symbolism of the church and not to a real mosaic decoration—so Heisenberg, A., ‘Die alten Mosaiken der Apostelkirche und der Hagia Sophia’, ##živia. Hommage international à l’université nationale de Grèce (Athens 1912) pp 121 seq, 143 seqGoogle Scholar.

27 Bk IV lines 348 seq; see Cameron, notes ad loc.

28 Bk IV lines 285-90, esp 287: Sophianarum splendentia tecta novarum. For the palace see Cameron, ‘Notes’.

29 Bk IV lines 264-73. The name of the church foretold the accession of Justin and Sophia —line 273, ‘sceptri fuerant ea signa futuri’.

30 Appendix carminum. 2 Ad Iustimim et Sophiam Augustos.

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35 Compare Vita Radegundis, bk II cap 16 ‘pro totius patriae salute et eius regni stabilitate’.

36 Gregory, HF bk IV cap 40. For the date (? 571) see Stein, p 34 n 18; Goffart, [W.], [‘Byzantine Policy in the West under Tiberius II and Maurice’], Traditio 13 (1957) P 77 seqCrossRefGoogle Scholar.

37 Venantius, App[endix] carm[inum] 1, De excidio Thoringae.

38 Bezzola, , pp 55 seq. Compare Procopius, [De] B[ello] G[othico], ed Haury-Wirth, (Leipzig 1963)Google Scholar bk IV cap 25, Venantius, App carm 1, lines 97 seq.

39 Gregory, HF bk IX cap 40; Vita Radegundis bk II cap 16. For the reliquary see SirConway, M., ‘St. Radegund’s Reliquary at Poitiers’, The Antiquaries’ Journal 3 (London 1923) pp 1-12Google Scholar. Mâle, [E.], [Le Fin du paganisme en Gaule et les plus anciennes basiliques chrétiennes] (Paris 1950) pp 294-5Google Scholar.

40 Mâle, p 295.

41 Gregory, HF bk IX caps 40-3.

42 Ibid bk IX cap 40.

43 App carm 2. For the hymns see Szöverffy, J., ‘Venantius Fortunatus and the earliest hymns to the Holy Cross’, Classical Folia 20 (New York 1966) pp 107-22Google Scholar.

44 Carm II I-6. Bks I-VIII were published by Venantius in 576 or soon after—Meyer p 24. For the holy cross see Prinz pp 157 seq; John of Ephesus HE bk II cap 29.

45 Lines 1-50, 51-100.

46 App carm 2. 1-8; Corippus. In laudem Iustini bk IV lines 293-7.

47 Michael the Syrian bk X cap 1.

48 Meyer pp 9 seq; Koebner pp 39 seq.

49 Gregory HF bk IV cap 40.

50 Aigran, first edition p 102. Radegund sent Reovalis back to Constantinople with thanks for Justin—presumably Venantius’ poem (Vita Radegundis bk II cap 17).

51 Gregory HF bk IX cap 40.

52 Ibid bk X cap 31.

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54 Procopius BG bk I cap 5.

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56 Agathias Hist I. 2-7.

57 Cameron ‘Agathias’, pp 136 seq. On the orthodoxy of the Franks compare Agathias, Hist 1.2, p 17.7 f. Bonn.

58 Joh Biclar, a. 576; Agnellus, , liber pontificalis, ed Holder-Egger, , MGHS RL (1878) p 51 Google Scholar, Paulus Diaconus, HL bk II cap 32; see Goffart p 80. The Byzantine army, under Justin’s son-in-law Baduarius, was totally defeated.

59 Goubert, P., Byzance avant l’Islam II.1: Byzance et les Francs (Paris 1956) p 9 Google Scholar. See however Goffart pp 74 seq, Stein pp 16-7.

60 M. Manitius, ‘Zu spätlateinischen Dichtern’, ZOG (1886) pp 250 seq.

61 For the Iust, see Cameron intro, (x).

62 It would have lost its relevance very quickly; compare the loss of the many panegyrics honouring Justinian.

63 Iust bk II lines 52-69. For Sophia and the Virgin see also Michael the Syrian bk X cap 7.

64 See Cameron comm. ad loc.

65 I hope to investigate this elsewhere, as part of a general study of Mariological developments in the later sixth century.

66 So Koebner pp 143 seq; Tardi, D., Fortunat (Paris 1927) pp 167 seqGoogle Scholar; S. Blomgren, Studia Fortunatiana 2, De carmine in laudem Sanctae Mariae composito Venantio Fortunato recte attribuendo, Uppsala Universitets Årsskrift 1934. 2, Diss. Uppsala (1934) (full treatment with bibliography to date). Most arguments adduced so far have been linguistic;, a different approach may also prove helpful.

67 Michael the Syrian, bk X cap I.

68 The patriarch Eutychius—Vita Eutychii, PG 86 col 2349; Scholasticus, John—Vita S. Symeoni Innioris, ed Van den Ven, P., Subsidia Hagiographica 32.1 (Brussels 1962) caps 202 seqGoogle Scholar.

69 Vita S. Symeoni Iunioris, cap 208.

70 HE bk V cap 4, translated by Frend pp 366-8. Evagrius is very hostile to Justin; compare HE bk V caps 1, 2.

71 Michael the Syrian bk X cap 4.

72 Compare Frend p 319, n 2; so Bury.

73 The edict—John of Ephesus HE bk I cap 19 seq; John was imprisoned himself—ibid bk I cap 22; bk II cap 4 seq; Michael the Syrian bk X cap 6. The sufferings of the bishops—John of Ephesus HE bk I cap 23. The circumstances of the composition of the History —John of Ephesus, HE bk II cap 50.

74 Michael the Syrian bk X cap 2.

74a But John refers to preliminary discussions’. John of Ephesus HE bk I cap 17.

75 Ibid bk I cap 3; bk III cap 1.

76 Michael the Syrian bk X cap 6.

77 Ibid bk X caps 2 and 3.

78 Ibid bk X cap 3. John of Ephesus HE bk I caps 23 seq. seems rather to suggest that this followed the second edict. The persecution was vigorous and harsh (John of Ephesus HE bk II caps 9 and 25).

79 Chabot, J. B., Chronique de Michel le Syrien, 1 (Paris 1924) p 31 Google Scholar.

80 Frend pp 321-3.

81 Ibid p 322. Dr Philip Sherrard kindly confirmed for me that in his opinion the edict as reported by Evagrius ‘left a door open’ to the monophysite position, without itself lapsing from orthodoxy. Despite his low opinion of Justin (n 70 above) Evagrius seems to have reported the edict fairly; but it is significant that he includes the pro-Chalcedonian final clause omitted by Michael the Syrian (pointed out to me by Pauline Allen).

82 Frend p 322.

83 John of Ephesus, HE bk I cap 20, trans Payne Smith.

84 John of Ephesus, HE bk I cap 19; Michael the Syrian, bk X caps 1, 2.

85 Cedrenus, , Historiarum compendium, CSHByz 37-8 (1838-9) I p 685 Google Scholar.

86 PG 86 col 3215 (letter of saint Symeon to Justin II).

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89 Theophanes, ed de Boor, p 241; Zonaras, , Epitome historiarum, CSHByz 50 (1897) bk XIV, cap 10Google Scholar.

90 Kitzinger, E., ‘The Cult of Images in the Period before Iconoclasm’, DOP 8 (1954) pp 83-150 esp 121 seqGoogle Scholar. For the early development of image worship see also N. Baynes, ‘The Icons before Iconoclasm’, BSt pp 226-39. The most subtle treatment will be found in Brown, [P.], [‘A Dark-Age Crisis: aspects of the Iconoclastic Controversy’], EHR 88 (1973) pp I seqGoogle Scholar. (see esp pp 10 seq, 17 seq, for an alternative explanation of the rise of icons).

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94 John of Ephesus, HE bk III caps 2 seq tells some lurid stories.

95 Evagrius, HE bk V cap 1; John of Ephesus, HE bk V caps 20, compare bk III caps II, 22; Gregory HF bk IV cap 40 (=Paulus Diaconus, HL bk III cap II). The financial policy was announced in Novel 148 (a. 566); compare Corippus, In laudem Iustini bk II lines 254 seq, 361 seq.

96 Stein pp 4 seq.

97 Rice, D. Talbot, The Beginnings of Christian Art (London 1957) pp 95-6 (remarks which can be supplemented very extensively)Google Scholar. Theophanes calls Justin ##φιλοκτΐστης (ed de Boor, p 241.29).

98 Compare the passages quoted in n 89.

99 See Janin, R., La Géographie ecclésiastique de l’empire byzantin I.3: Les églises et les monastères (2 ed Paris 1969) pp 169 seq, 237 seqGoogle Scholar; Jugie, M., ‘L’Église de Chalcoprateia et le culte de la ceinture de la Sainte Vierge à Constantinople’, EO 16 (1913) pp 308 seqGoogle Scholar.

100 Theophanes, ed de Boor pp 241 seq; see Cameron note on Iust IV lines 290 seq.

101 On the iconography see Mâle p 295. For the delicate task of interpreting stylistic features in this transitional period see first Kitzinger, E., ‘Byzantine Art in the Period between Justinian and Iconoclasm’, Berichte zum XI Internationalem Byzantinisten-Kongress, (Munich 1958) pp 18 seqGoogle Scholar, with the same author’s ‘Mosaic Pavements in the Greek East and the question of a “Renaissance” under Justinian’, Actes du VIe Congrès international des études byzantines, Paris 1948, 2 (Paris 1951) pp 209 seq; Weitzmann, K., ‘The Mosaic in St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 110 (Philadelphia 1966) pp 392 seqGoogle Scholar; Studies in Classical and Byzantine MSS. Illumination (Chicago 1971) pp 126-50, ‘The Classical Heritage in the Art of Constantinople’.