“An exceptional, well written, exhaustively researched, and detailed biography” of the controversial Roman emperor—from the author of Constantius II (Midwest Book Review). Justinian II became Roman emperor at a time when the Empire was beset by external enemies. His forces gained success against the Arabs and Bulgars but his religious and social policies fueled internal opposition which resulted in him being deposed and mutilated (his nose was cut off) in 695. After a decade in exile, during which he strangled two would-be assassins with his bare hands, he regained power through a coup d’etat with the backing of the erstwhile Bulgar enemy (an alliance sealed by the marriage of his daughter, Anastasia). His second reign was seemingly harsher and again beset by both external and internal threats and dissension over doctrinal matters. An energetic and active ruler, his reign saw developments in various areas, including numismatics, administration, finance and architecture, but he was deposed a second time in 711 and beheaded. Drawing on all the available evidence and the most recent research, Peter Crawford makes a long-overdue re-assessment of Justinian’s colorful but troubled career and asks if he fully deserves his poor reputation.

From one of the nation's leading Byzantine scholars comes a fictional look at the vicious reign of Justinian II, Emperor of the Romans in the seventh century and one of history's most desperate and brutal rulers. "Electrifying...An artfully styled narrative and painstaking attention to historical detail vivify this mesmerizing account of one of history's most remarkable rulers." --Booklist At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

714 AD - Finally exiled in Bulgaria, Anastasia, former basilissa of the Romans, jealously guards an heirloom. An handwritten manuscript, penned by none other than her late son, basileus Justinian II, also known as the Rhinotmetus. In those posthumous pages is recounted the tumultuous existence of an emperor who rose to power when he was very young, and was able to hold it for most of his life. Between those lines is traced an honest and uncensored portrait of one of the cruelest and most hated regents of imperial history, best known for his terrifying reprisals. The many moments of glory will be followed by others extremely dark, made of treachery, vengeance, massacres and conspiracies. This until the moment in which everything will collapse, sanctioning the end of the Eraclian dynasty, which which had undisputedly ruled over the Eastern Roman Empire for over a century.

The eastern half of the Roman Empire, economically the stronger, did not "fall" but continued almost intact, safe in the new capital of Constantinople. This empire is the subject of John Barker Jr.'s book and the central focus of his examination of questions of continuity and change.