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Part IV



706 Caliph Al-Walid I begins the Great Mosque of Damascus. He buys the former Christian church that is there, demolishes it and sets to work creating the world’s largest and most magnificent mosque. During excavations, the head of John the Baptist is reportedly found. He requests the assistance of Justinian to decorate the mosque, and 200 skilled Roman craftsmen are sent. A shrine to John the Baptist is incorporated into the building.

The Emperor rewards those stalwart followers who had accompanied him from Cherson. Barisbakourios is made strategos of the Opsikon Theme, a relatively safe assignment, and a good opportunity to illustrate his potential skills. His brother Stephen is made a parakoimomenos. Myakes is now commander of the excubitores (Palace Guard lit. 'The Watchmen'). Theophilos of Doros is also made a parakoimomenos. Moropaulos wants nothing more than a larger fishing boat, which he is duly awarded, but is also granted parakoimomenos as a courtesy title. Leo, already a spatharios, has recently displayed guile and organisational skills, and Justinian puts him in charge of the city’s intelligence network. Cyrus the Abbot has already received his reward, becoming Patriarch.

The Emperor reaches his decision about what to do with Leontius, Apsimarus and Heraclius. First of all, he decides to summon Leontius to his presence. The bedraggled usurper presents a sorry sight as he is led into the throne room, his beard and hair matted with dirt, the centre of his face dominated by the black hole where his large nose was, and his monk’s robes filthy and torn as he prostrates himself on the floor. At first, he does not recognise the figure seated on the throne. Justinian asks him to stand, and Leontius gasps in amazement as he realises who it is.

“How can this be? Your nose was struck from your body!”, he splutters. The Emperor suppresses a smile, and just replies that things have changed somewhat. Leontius seems worried at his fate, “I did not kill you, what plans do you have for me?”.

Justinian observes him and replies, “God has punished you for your sins, and appropriately I must say.”, gesturing to Leontius’ nose, or rather lack of one. The Emperor pauses for a moment, and then tells Leontius that he has no wish to punish him further, but that he will remain in a monastery, to contemplate God’s wisdom and mercy. However, as a sign of generosity, Leontius will be moved to a better monastery where he can live more comfortably, and not suffer the indignity of filthy and torn robes and such a sorry appearance. The former usurper’s face shows expressions of relief as he thanks the Emperor and is led from the chamber. (OTL, he was dragged through the streets, pelted with all manner of objects, and had Justinian’s boot planted on his neck whilst the Emperor watched the races at the Hippodrome, before finally having his head struck from his body).

Having dealt with Leontius, Apsimarus is brought in. In contrast to Leontius, he still strikes an impressive figure, unbowed and defiant. He looks Justinian straight in the eye. The Emperor asks him why he did not recall him after overthrowing Leontius.

“You had no nose, how could you rule? Besides, with such pressing problems, you’ll admit the Empire needing saving after three years of Leontius, and I didn’t too badly with it either whilst on the throne.”.

This time, the Emperor could not resist a smile. “I cannot argue with your appraisal of Leontius, there at least we have agreement…and…. you gave the miscalled Commander of the Faithful a hard time, there is no doubt. However, later you tried to have me killed.”. Apsimarus shifts a little uncomfortably at this, but replies that anyone else would have done the same with a person they viewed as too much of a potential threat, to which Justinian nods.

“All being fair, after attempting to kill me, would it not be wise of me to have you killed?”, queries the Emperor scanning Apsimarus’ face for signs of fear. The former usurper displays little, and draws himself up, saying the Emperor may do with him what he wishes. Justinian is impressed by this bravery, confirming his plans for Apsimarus. “Although you have sinned against me, I have decided to be merciful. You are a good commander of men, and it would be wasteful to send you to God’s Judgement just yet. You will become a military advisor to me. Perhaps my mercy is foolish, but God will decide my fate, as he decides yours.”.

Apsimarus’ expression goes from surprise to astonishment to outright incredulousness. “You would trust me??”, his voice quavering slightly with surprise as the Emperor watches him with some amusement.

“In time, perhaps I will, but until then you will be watched carefully. You have a second chance. Prove yourself to me, and at least you won’t have to spend the rest of your days in a dungeon. You may of course betray me, but God will no doubt punish you dearly for has he not favoured my return in the face of impossible odds?”.

Apsimarus looks down at the floor, the truth of the Emperor’s words hitting him….thinking to himself how a man with such trials could have unseated him. Yet it had been done. Apsimarus considers that God must have had a hand in kicking him off his throne and allowing Justinian back since there was no other way he could rationalise it to himself. “Very well Emperor, it is God’s will. I will not disappoint you.”. And with that, Justinian smiles broadly and in a not unfriendly manner as Apsimarus is escorted to his new apartments. (OTL, Apsimarus suffered the same ordeals and final punishment as Leontius: Justinian’s feet getting a good rest that day with both of them planted on their necks at the same time)

Myakes seems edgy, telling the Emperor that he might be being reckless by being too merciful. Justinian responds that his mercy is divined by God, and reminding Myakes of his words during the storm, although he notes Myakes' caution, and asks him never to be afraid to state his opinion since such observations can be useful. Besides, his plans require capable people if they are to be carried out well. Myakes agrees the point in his usual gruff manner. (OTL historical note: In Roman history, there are instances where former usurpers have been treated leniently, for example, Basil II kept on Bardas Sclerus as an advisor, and awarded him the title of kouropalates (Marshal of the Imperial Court) despite the former’s attempts to overthrow him and declaring himself Emperor.)

Finally, Heraclius, brother to Apsimarus, is brought in unaware that his sibling has already been there. Like his brother, he stands up proud after first prostrating himself. Justinian casts his gaze over him and gains some idea of why this man is so capable of beating the Arabs. It is something he does not intend to waste. “What do you have to say for yourself?”, says the Emperor in a matter-of-fact way.

With only a trace of pride, Heraclius replies, “Only what any brother would do for his own flesh and blood. Stay by his side and fight his cause. Would you have done any different?”. Justinian considers that, wondering what he might have done if his own brother was still alive. Appreciating the sentiment, however and satisfied with Heraclius’ frankness and dignity, he decides what he has in mind is right.

“Perfectly natural as you say. You will then have a chance to fight beside him again, General Heraclius.”, the Emperor says with conviction, watching as the formerly unperturbed man’s mouth falls open in astonishment, whilst his turns upwards in the hint of a smile. “You are to give the followers of the false Prophet more trouble in the future. As well as other enemies of the Empire.”.

Heraclius may be surprised, but he takes it in his stride. “I would be happy to Emperor. I did not expect such magnanimity from you. I gauge from your words that my brother has also benefitted from your leniency?”. Justinian replies in the affirmative and states what he has offered Apsimarus. Heraclius is relieved, but cautious, and asks why he is so lenient. Justinian of course tells him because God means it to be so, and would Heraclius beg to differ with God’s will? Of course, Heraclius will not, and having expecting at the very least to be exiled to some remote monastery, and at worst losing his head, is more than satisfied with the outcome. “You have my loyalty Emperor, and that’s a promise. I’ll give the enemies of the Empire including those followers of the miscalled Commander of the Faithful hell, as God wills it.”.

As he is escorted out, Justinian once again smiles, and quietly says, “I have no doubt you will, as it is the Will of God that gives us all a second chance.”. Myakes is seen to shift slightly once more, but keeps his mouth shut this time, an almost imperceptible look of satisfied smugness on his face.

Justinian decides to grant amnesty to other officials who had served the two usurpers, however, he feels it is prudent to take precautions to have them watched carefully by Leo's agents. (OTL, he murdered the lot by various inventive and painful means)

After the storms stop, in springtime, his wife arrives back from the Khazar lands by ship, bearing her son with her accompanied by the eunuch Theophylactus, who had welcomed Justinian on his return to the Blachernae Palace, which had gone mostly unused by both Leontius and Apsimarus. Suspecting some servants and officials to be loyal to Justinian, but not being able to prove it, the usurpers had sent them to the empty palace, reckoning they could do no harm. At the Harbour of Phosperion on the Golden Horn side of the city, the ships dock, and Justinian walks out onto the quay to greet his wife, who proudly presents him with his son, Tiberius. He takes his son in his arms and holds him, and those around him see that his joy is evident, the little child gurgling and giggling as his father, the Emperor of the Romans, holds him. The Dowager Empress Anastasia arrives on the scene, and Justinian presents his son to her. She is also besotted with him, and exchanges words with Theodora. If his mother shows any signs of discomfort at his barbarian wife, they are not apparent. In fact, later on they will prove to get along well, Theodora quickly mastering Greek, having already learnt some whilst living with Justinian.

Not long after this, he parades his wife and son through the streets of the city to Hagia Sophia to the cheers of the crowd. Many had turned out for the sheer curiosity of seeing the barbarian bride and halfling son, but having been used to the news by now, the crowd seems to be less shocked than before. With his family being received relatively well, and with Patriarch Cyrus officiating, Justinian crowns his son as co-emperor to the acclamations of the crowd with his own hands, and then places the crown on his wife’s head, making her Augusta.

Initial reports from Rome indicate that Pope John VII is in favour of recognising those decrees of the Quinisextum that he has no problems with. Further correspondence is entered into about the remaining ones.

Justinian has little need to worry about his western border, Tervel keeping his word, although there are occasional raids from Slavs and Bulgars not under his control. These are however dealt with by the forces of the Theme of Hellas.

Later in the year, the Emperor decides to organise a tour to his Eastern border. He wishes to personally assess the state of the defences there. He has in mind a line of fortresses to keep the Arabs at bay should they decide to attack the Empire when he eventually moves on them in North Africa. But that is not the only thing in his mind. Recently he has been thinking about Italy, and with the lucrative tribute being received from the Caliph, he imagines the possibilities that can be achieved before dealing with the Arabs, and of course a secure eastern border to protect against any surprises is a good insurance policy. However, he also wishes to see how his improvements in the theme system are going, and perhaps made a little apprehensive by what happened last time he was at the border with Leontius, feels that he should personally oversee matters there. Leaving Patriarch Cyrus in charge in Constantinople, he travels east with Myakes.



Justinian has been very merciful here, however, just as he had total confidence that God sanctioned everything vengeful he did in OTL, making him safe from everything, with the POD, and the perceived actions of God, he believes the same except in terms of mercy instead of revenge: that by being merciful, he is carrying out God's will, and is also in the hands of God. I think this is a reasonable assumption of his character after that event, and also is not without precedent in Roman history as referenced in my note above.

There is only one year in this chapter, but as there was a lot to write about, I felt that it would be acceptable for it to warrant it's own one. Also, I wanted to inject some dialogue into the text so that we can get a better feel for the characters, their thoughts and reactions.

And may I apologise for the delay in posting this chapter. I have been rather busy (real life has a bad habit of intervening), and as always, I wanted to fine-tune aspects of it before putting it here.


I hope you continue to enjoy the timeline.


Sargon