Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/329

This page needs to be proofread.

The venerable Justin, for he was now long past three score, did not decline; the Senate bowed to the nomination of the guards, and the former herdsman took his place in line with the successors of Augustus.^[1]

The Emperor Justin was a rude soldier, devoid of administrative capacity except in relation to military affairs, and so illiterate that he could only append his sign-manual to a document by passing his pen through the openings in a

[Footnote: that Anastasius died early in the morning on July 9, and that Justin was

elevated on the same day. Some give Justin the credit of having betrayed the cause of the eunuch by his astuteness, but it appears rather that his greatness was thrust upon him; Jn. Malala, xvii; Evagrius, iv, 12; Zonaras, xiv, 51, etc.]

↑ The official record of the election by Peter Magister (loc. supra cit.) has been preserved. It was Justin's own duty to announce publicly that the throne was vacant. The Circus was immediately filled and, as there was no known claimant to the succession, a wild scene ensued. First one of Justin's subordinates was set up on a shield by a company of the guards, but the Blues, disapproving, made a rush and dispersed the throng. Then a patrician general was seized on by a body of the Scholars, but the Excubitors attacked them and were dragging the unlucky officer away to lynch him when he was rescued by the Candidate Justinian, who was watching the tumult. Upon this the crowd scurried round Justinian himself, but he declined the dangerous distinction, being doubtless aware that a decisive election was maturing behind the scenes among responsible representatives. Still, however, the attempts to create an emperor went on, until at last the doors of the Cathisma were thrown open and Justin appeared, supported by the Patriarch, the Senate, and the chief military officers. All then perceived that an emperor had been chosen by legitimate methods, and both factions with the rest of the populace applauded the new monarch in the usual way: "Justin Augustus, may you be victorious! Reign as you have lived!" etc. It will be observed that Justin did not ascend the throne as the emperor of the Blues or the Greens, but that both Demes joined in their acquiescence. This apparently was always the case unless some party usurper, such as Phocas, managed to seize the reins of power; see Theophanes, an. 6094.

[1] The official record of the election by Peter Magister (loc. supra cit.) has been preserved. It was Justin's own duty to announce publicly that the throne was vacant. The Circus was immediately filled and, as there was no known claimant to the succession, a wild scene ensued. First one of Justin's subordinates was set up on a shield by a company of the guards, but the Blues, disapproving, made a rush and dispersed the throng. Then a patrician general was seized on by a body of the Scholars, but the Excubitors attacked them and were dragging the unlucky officer away to lynch him when he was rescued by the Candidate Justinian, who was watching the tumult. Upon this the crowd scurried round Justinian himself, but he declined the dangerous distinction, being doubtless aware that a decisive election was maturing behind the scenes among responsible representatives. Still, however, the attempts to create an emperor went on, until at last the doors of the Cathisma were thrown open and Justin appeared, supported by the Patriarch, the Senate, and the chief military officers. All then perceived that an emperor had been chosen by legitimate methods, and both factions with the rest of the populace applauded the new monarch in the usual way: "Justin Augustus, may you be victorious! Reign as you have lived!" etc. It will be observed that Justin did not ascend the throne as the emperor of the Blues or the Greens, but that both Demes joined in their acquiescence. This apparently was always the case unless some party usurper, such as Phocas, managed to seize the reins of power; see Theophanes, an. 6094.

[1]