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Up for auction is a Byzantine pentanummium coin of Justin II from 565-578 AD
ID# 446h (UK)
MINT: Constantinople
OBVERSE; NONE
- Monogram of Justin II
REVERSE; NONE
- Large Є, gamma to right.
Reference: SBV 363
Justin II
565-578
Justin the second, as was the case with Justinian himself, is a lucky nephew who is chosen as successor immediately after his uncle's death by members of the army and palace guard. The new emperor set about to gain the favor of the people by enacting a number of popular reforms. These, unfortunately, were to have relatively little long term effect as new threats appeared on the horizon almost at once. The fateful decision to stop paying off one band of barbarians, the Avars, degenerates into a domino effect that results in the rapid loss of possessions in Italy, Africa and the toehold in Spain. Meanwhile trouble flares up east as well and the armies are unable to deal effectively with so many fronts. Which is to say, ironically, that peace could only be secured by new annual tributes. Only this time, of course, minus the previous territories.
After years of disappointing news Justin is heartbroken and mentally ill. When it has become evident that he is no longer capable of his duties his wife Sophia nominates Tiberius as successor, a capable commander who had been until then the Master of the Guards, so that the emperor could retire.