Tiberius II Constantine - Early Career and The Avar War of 570

Early Career and The Avar War of 570

Born in Thrace in the mid sixth century Tiberius was appointed to the post of Notarius where sometime after 552 he was introduced by the Patriarch Eutychius to the future emperor Justin with whom he became firm friends. Under Justin’s patronage, Tiberius was promoted to the position of Comes excubitorum, which he held from approximately 565 through to 574. He was present during Justin’s Imperial accession on November 14, 565, and also attended the Emperor’s inauguration as Consul on January 1, 566.

During the prelude to the Avar War in 569, Justin, who had ceased making payments to the Avars that had been implemented by his predecessor Justinian, appointed Tiberius to the post of Magister utriusque militiae with instructions to deal with Avars and their demands. After a series of negotiations, Tiberius agreed to allow the Avars to settle on Roman territory in the Balkans in exchange for male hostages taken from various Avar chiefs. Justin, however, rejected this agreement, insisting on taking hostages from the family of the Avar Khan himself. This condition was rejected by the Avars, and so Tiberius mobilized for war; in 570 he defeated an Avar army in Thrace and returned to Constantinople. However, while attempting to follow up this victory, either in late 570 or early 571, Tiberius was defeated in a subsequent battle, where he narrowly escaped death as the army was fleeing the battlefield. Agreeing to a truce, Tiberius provided an escort to the Avar envoys to discuss the terms of a treaty with Justin. On their return, the Avar envoys were attacked and robbed by local tribesmen, prompting them to appeal to Tiberius for help. He tracked down the group responsible and returned the stolen goods.

In 574, the emperor Justin had a mental breakdown, forcing the empress Sophia to turn to Tiberius to step into the role of managing an empire that was fighting the Persians to the east as well as dealing with the internal crisis of the plague. To achieve a measure of breathing space, Tiberius and Sophia agreed to a one year truce with the Persians, at the cost of 45,000 nomismata. On December 7, 574, Justin II, in one of his more lucid moments, had Tiberius proclaimed Caesar and adopted him as his own son. Tiberius added the name Constantine to his own. Although his position was now official, he was still subordinate to Justin. Sophia was determined to remain in control, and kept Tiberius tightly controlled, a situation that was only reversed once Justin died in 578.