Flavius Mar. Petrus Theodorus Valentinus Rusticius Boraides Germanus Iustinus, simply and commonly known as Justin (, ; ), was an Eastern Roman aristocrat and general. A member of the Justinian Dynasty and nephew of Emperor Justinian I (), he was appointed as one of the last Roman consuls in 540, before going on to assume senior military commands in the Balkans and in Lazica. He fought against the Slavs, the Sassanid Persians and supervised the Byzantine Empire's first contacts with the Avars. At the time of Justinian's death, he was seen as a probable successor, but was beaten to the throne by his cousin, Justin II (), who exiled him to Egypt, where he was murdered.
Biography
Early life and campaigns
Justin was born around 525, the eldest son of Germanus and his wife Passara. Germanus was a cousin of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I () and thus a member of the wider Justinian dynasty and cousin to Justinian's successor, Emperor Justin II (). In 540, he was named ordinary consul at a very young age; he is illustrated as beardless in his consular diptych, and is still mentioned as a "young man" by Procopius nine years later. At this point, he already held the title of vir illustris and the honorary office of comes domesticorum. In the same year, he accompanied his father to the East against the Sassanid Persians, but saw no action. In 549, he was instrumental in the revelation of the plot to overthrow Emperor Justinian by the Armenian general Artabanes and his associates. The conspirators intended to assassinate Emperor Justinian and his favourite general Belisarius, and raise Germanus to the Byzantine throne. Notified of their intentions, Justin informed his father, who then told Marcellus, the Count of the Excubitors, leading to the plotters' arrest.
In 550, together with his younger brother Justinian, he joined their father in his expedition against Ostrogoth Italy, but Germanus died suddenly in the autumn of 550, before the army had left the Balkans, where it was assembling. After this, Justinian and Germanus's son-in-law, John, led the army towards Salona (modern Split, Croatia), where the eunuch Narses assumed command in late 551. In early 551, Justin was attached to a force under the eunuch Scholasticus that campaigned against a Slavic raid in the eastern Balkans. The Byzantines were initially defeated near Adrianople but went on to score a victory, after which the Slavs left Byzantine lands. In early 552, Justin and Justinian were placed at the head of another expedition against a Slavic raid against Illyricum, but their forces were too small to confront the raiders directly. Instead, the brothers had to content themselves with harassing them. Shortly after, they were ordered north to assist the Lombards against the Gepids along with Aratius, Suartuas, and Amalafridas, but the Byzantines were detained from advancing too far north by the need to suppress religious strife in the city of Ulpiana.
High command in Lazica and the Danube
In 554, now experienced in military affairs, Justin was sent east to Lazica to join the Byzantine forces under Bessas, Buzes, and Martin. His first encounter with the Persians was unsuccessful. Along with Bessas, Justin and his troops were encamped at the plain of Chytropolia, near the strategically important fortress of Telephis, which was held by Martin. The Persian general Mihr-Mihroe, however, succeeded in dislodging Martin from Telephis. Martin withdrew to join the other two generals at Chytropolia, but there again the Byzantine army, too slow to take up position, was forced to flee in disarray before the advancing Persians, retreating along the Phasis river to the fortified island of Nesos (Νήσος, Greek for "island"). Bessas was dismissed from high command as magister militum per Armeniam after this debacle, and succeeded by Martin with Justin as his second in command. Justin was ignorant of Martin's intention to assassinate their ally, the Lazic king Gubazes II; when he learned of the deed, he was shocked, but did not reprimand Martin because he believed – wrongly – that the murder had been carried out at the orders of Emperor Justinian.