Emperor Justin II - A Concise Biography

Justin was the nephew of the Emperor Justinian: the son of Justinians sister Vigilantia. As a member of the imperial family, he received a thorough education and enjoyed considerable benefits not available to lesser citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire. His powerful position may be why he was possessed of extreme self-confidence that could be, and often was, viewed as arrogance. Justins Rise to the Throne Justinian had no children of his own, and so it was expected that one of the sons and grandsons of the emperors siblings would inherit the crown. Justin, like several of his cousins, had a bevy of supporters both within and without the palace milieu. By the time Justinian neared the end of his life only one other contender had any real chance of succeeding the emperor: the son of Justins cousin Germanus, also named Justin. This other Justin, a man of considerable military ability, is considered by some historians to have been a better candidate for the position of ruler. Unfortunately for him, the emperors nostalgic remembrance of his late wife Theodora may have harmed his chances. The emperor is well known to have relied heavily on his wifes guidance, and Theodoras influence can be clearly seen in some of the laws Justinian passed. It is possible that her personal dislike of Germanus prevented her husband from forming any serious attachment to Germanus children, Justin included. Furthermore, the future emperor Justin II was married to Theodoras niece Sophia. Therefore, it is likely Justinian had warmer feelings for the man who would succeed him. And, indeed, the emperor named his nephew Justin to the office of cura palatii. This office had usually been held by an individual with the rank of spectabilis, who saw to the general daily business matters at the palace, but after Justin was nominated, the title was usually bestowed upon members of the imperial family or, occasionally, foreign princes. Furthermore, when Justinian died, the other Justin was guarding the Danube frontier in his role as Master of the Soldiers in Illyricum. The future emperor was in Constantinople, ready to take advantage of any opportunity.   That opportunity came with Justinians unexpected death. Justin IIs Coronation Justinian may have been aware of his mortality, but he made no provision for a successor. He died suddenly on the night of November 14/15, 565, having never officially named who was to take up his crown. This did not stop Justins supporters from maneuvering him onto the throne. Though Justinian probably died in his sleep, the chamberlain Callinicus claimed that the emperor had designated the son of Vigilantia as his heir with his dying breath.   In the early morning hours of November 15, the chamberlain and a group of senators who had been wakened from their slumber rushed to Justins palace, where they were met by Justin and his mother. Callinicus related the emperors dying wish and, though he made a show of reluctance, Justin quickly assented to the request of the senators to take up the crown. Escorted by the senators, Justin and Sophia made their way to the Great Palace, where the Excubitors blocked the doors and the patriarch crowned Justin. Before the rest of the city even knew Justinian was dead, they had a new emperor. In the morning, Justin appeared in the imperial box at the Hippodrome, where he addressed the people. The next day he crowned his wife Augusta. And, in a matter of weeks, the other Justin was assassinated. Though most people of the day blamed Sophia, there seems no doubt that the new emperor himself was behind the murder. Justin then set about working to gain the support of the populace. Justin IIs Domestic Policies Justinian had left the empire in financial difficulty. Justin paid his predecessors debts, remitted overdue taxes, and cut back on expenditures. He also restored the consulship that had lapsed in 541. All this helped the local economy, which garnered Justin high marks from the nobility and general populace alike.   But things were not all rosy in Constantinople. In the second year of Justins reign a conspiracy took place, possibly motivated by the political murder of the other Justin. The senators Aetherios and Addaios evidently plotted to poison the new emperor. Aetherios confessed, naming Addaeus as his accomplice, and both were executed. Things ran considerably smoother after that. Justin IIs Approach to Religion The Acacian Schism that had split the Church in the late fifth and early sixth centuries had not ended with an abolishment of the heretical philosophy that triggered the split. Monophysite churches had grown and become entrenched in the Eastern Roman Empire. Theodora had been a firm Monophysite, and as Justinian aged he had grown more and more inclined toward the heretical philosophy.   Initially, Justin showed a fairly liberal religious tolerance. He had Monophysite churchmen released from prison and allowed exiled bishops to come home. Justin apparently wanted to unite the disparate monophysite factions and, ultimately, reunite the heretical sect with the orthodox viewpoint (as expressed at the Council of Chalcedon). Unfortunately, every attempt he made to facilitate concord was met with refusal from intransigent Monophysite extremists. Eventually his tolerance turned to stubbornness of his own, and he instituted a policy of persecution that lasted as long as he was in control of the empire.   Justin IIs Foreign Relations Justinian had pursued a variety of methods to build, maintain and preserve Byzantine lands, and had managed to acquire territory in Italy and southern Europe that had been part of the old Roman Empire. Justin was determined to destroy the enemies of the empire and was unwilling to compromise. Not long after he achieved the throne he received emissaries from the Avars and refused them the subsidies his uncle had granted them. He then formed an alliance with the Western Turks of Central Asia, with whom he fought against the Avars and possibly the Persians, as well. Justins war with the Avars did not go well, and he was forced to grant them even greater tribute than they had initially been promised. The treaty Justin signed with them angered his Turkish allies, who turned on him and attacked Byzantine territory in the Crimea. Justin also invaded Persia as part of an alliance with Persian-controlled Armenia, but this too did not go well; the Persians not only beat back the Byzantine forces, they invaded Byzantine territory and captured several important cities. In November of 573, the city of Dara fell to the Persians, and at this point Justin went insane. The Madness of Emperor Justin II Beset by temporary fits of insanity, during which Justin evidently attempted to bite anyone who came near, the emperor could not help but be aware of his military failures. He evidently ordered organ music to be played constantly to soothe his fragile nerves. During one of his more lucid moments, his wife Sophia convinced him that he needed a colleague to take over his duties.   It was Sophia who chose Tiberius, a military leader whose reputation outshone the disasters of his times. Justin adopted him as his son and appointed him Caesar. The last four years of Justins life were spent in seclusion and relative tranquility, and upon his death he was succeeded as emperor by Tiberius. The text of this document is copyright  ©2013-2015 Melissa Snell. You may download or print this document for personal or school use, as long as the URL below is included. Permission is  not  granted to reproduce this document on another website. For publication permission,  please  contact  Melissa Snell.

Booker T. Washington Vs. Theu.s. B. Dubois The...

Booker T. Washington vs W.E.B. Dubois: the discussion of conformity At the early turn of the 20th Century United States, there was a large debate about how the average American viewed African Americans or Negroes. As a result, white consensus geared toward putting Africans in a type of caste system, where they would consider below whites, women, and immigrants. By this point, most African Americans were just conforming to this way of life and did not seek to change this. While this occurred, many intellectual black men sought to change how society treated African Americans. At the forefront of the respected intellectual was W.E.B. Dubois who sought to shake the foundation of caste and the Harvard professor by the name of Booker T. Washington who wanted to fight within the caste system. Both men had the right idea and the same end goal, which being the enhanced rights of blacks, but by how this would be different. The point of view that has a more grounded argument is W.E.B. Dubois; as seen in how Dubois talks on the basis of fighting the disenfranchisement of political power of African-Americans, against forfeiting civil rights and working toward the equality of a higher education for Negroes. On the surface, Booker T. Washington had a solid plan of moving toward equality by coping with the shadow of the looming social caste imposed on Negroes. This in turn would not spark conflict from the white community and allow for an opportunity for the black community, but would

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Police use Taser on 10-year-old at school career day, lawsuit alleges By  Ron Recinto  |  The Lookout  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  11 hrs ago An Albuquerque, N. M. , police officer stunned a 10-year-old boy with a Taser after he refused to wash the officer’s car. We will write a custom essay sample on Adderall – Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now Officer Christopher Webb was visiting the boy’s elementary school for a career day on May 4 when the incident occurred. During the presentation, Webb asked a group of students if they wanted to wash his patrol car. When the boy, identified as R. D. jokingly refused, Webb pointed the stun gun at him and said, â€Å"Let me show you what happens to people who do not listen to the police. † Then R. D. , who weighs about 100 pounds, was hit in the chest with two barbs and 50,000 volts of electricity. Webb  told the Albuquerque Journal  the Taser was accidentally discharged. The boy blacked out. The officer removed the barbs, which left marks that â€Å"looked like cigarette burns† on R. D. ‘s chest, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit claims Webb acted in a â€Å"reckless manner. † R. D. , who now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, has â€Å"woken up in the middle of the night holding his chest, afraid he is never going to wake up again. Webb was suspended for three days without pay, the Albuquerque Journal reports. He did not return calls from the newspaper seeking a comment. * My personal opinion on this is that this cop, however the situation he might have found himself, had no right to tell that little boy that. He might have been just joking but after that little incident kids are going to be afraid of cops. Which is a growing issue since everyone puts a bad image on cops. For example a little kid does something wrong and his mother tells him I’m going to tell the cops to come and get you. They grow up thinking cops are bad when in reality they’re there to help us. How are those kids going to feel about cops now? These types of reckless people are the ones who affect the image of a good organization. * This is world related in that these types of incidents†¦well I suppose I already answered that in my first answer and this has really been all over the world people are scared of the police when they shouldn’t be. * This relates to me because I remember how my parents would tell me things that if I was bad the police would take me to jail. Obviously this was never true but I thought for the longest time that cops were bad but I grew out of it. The man who sued his wife for birthing an ugly baby By  The Week’s Editorial Staff  |  The Week  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  16 hrs ago Apparently in  China, bad genes are grounds for divorce — and six-figure fines The story starts out conventionally enough:  Feng, a resident of  northern China, met and married a beautiful woman, and they had a baby girl. Feng was â€Å"so sure of his own good looks, so crushed by the wrinkly ugly mess that was handed to him in a swaddle, that he decided to sue his wife because the awful looking baby was totally her fault, He won. the wife came clean on her little secret: Before they had met, she had undergone about $100,000 worth of cosmetic surgery in South Korea. â€Å"Our daughter was incredibly ugly, to the point where it horrified me. A judge agreed, and ordered the wife to fork over $120,000. The wife obviously has to pay a huge amount of money, and got publicly humiliated in the process, but at least she’s free of an obviously odious husband. * My personal opinion about this article is that if looks is all he cared about then be glad that you are getting a divorce. But it’s too bad that she had to go through all of this to find out what a total self-absorbed jerk her husband is. * This relates to the world in the sense that it’s been proved that beauty all over the world has been taken a bit too far. People go to extremes to look beautiful or what is now a day’s considered beautiful. They put high standards and expectations on beauty and end up disappointed on the reality. All the magazines and posters and any propaganda shows a fake image of what the people look like. * This relates to me because well not to me but I knew a couple who broke up because the girl really let go of herself and the guy broke up with her. Sad but true, if someone likes you they’re going to like you the way you are. http://news. yahoo. com/man-sued-wife-birthing-ugly-baby-110500995. html SCIENTISTS IN WALES HAVE BEEN SEWING KITTENS’ EYES SHUT By  Matt Shea It seems that Cardiff University have been going to extreme lengths to rebuff the old stereotype that the Welsh love  animals more than the Scottish love violence. Their tactic? Conducting a series of experiments in which they sew kitten’s eyes shut from birth. It turns out that they weren’t just doing it for a bit of horribly sadistic fun (who knew? ). Instead,  the research is being used to develop a cure for amblyopic—or lazy eye—which impairs the vision of the world’s population and is really distracting when you’re trying to have a conversation with someone who has it. Hello, you monster. What exactly is the goal of this gruesome experiment? Lazy eye affects two to four percent of all children and leads to extremely poor vision, or even clinical blindness in one eye. To date, no treatment is available to restore normal vision in an amblyopic eye after the age of around eight years old, which is the end of the critical period of visual brain development. * Is there not a way to deprive their sight without sewing their eyes shut? No. The research was done under anesthetic without causing undue distress or discomfort, to the same standard as it would be done by vets, who frequently carry out the same procedure as therapy for eye conditions in cats and dogs. * What happens to the kittens afterwards? As required by the terms of the Home Office license, the cats were humanely killed at the end of the experiment. By  Matt Shea 15 hours agoTags:  Kittens,  cats,  Cardiff University,  eyes,  eyes sewn shut,  Amblyopia http://www. vice. com/read/scientists-at-cardiff-university-have-been-sewing-kittens-eyes-shut? utm_source=vicefbus How to cite Adderall – Essay, Essays