Justinian II Executes Rivals in Hippodrome Chaos

Emperor Justinian II dragged his two predecessors into the Hippodrome of Constantinople in 706, forced them to lie prostrate beneath his feet while he watched the chariot races, then had them publicly executed before a crowd of thousands. The spectacle was the culmination of one of the most extraordinary comeback stories in Byzantine history — and one of the most disturbing reigns in an empire not short on violent rulers. Justinian II had first ruled the Byzantine Empire from 685 to 695, combining genuine administrative talent with erratic cruelty that alienated nearly everyone. A military revolt deposed him, and the usurper Leontios ordered Justinian’s nose cut off (rhinotomy being the preferred Byzantine alternative to execution, since a mutilated man was considered unfit to rule). Justinian was exiled to Crimea. Leontios himself was overthrown three years later by Tiberios III. A man without a nose was supposed to accept his fate. Justinian refused. He spent a decade in exile, married a Khazar princess, then allied with the Bulgar khan Tervel. In 705, he returned to Constantinople with a Bulgar army, sneaked into the city through an unused aqueduct, and reclaimed the throne. He wore a golden prosthetic nose for the rest of his reign. His second reign was defined by vengeance. Leontios and Tiberios III were hunted down, paraded through the streets, and subjected to the Hippodrome humiliation before their execution. Justinian then turned on the aristocracy and military commanders who had supported his overthrow, executing hundreds. He launched punitive campaigns against the cities of Ravenna and Cherson that had sheltered his enemies, reportedly massacring civilians. Justinian II’s brutality eventually consumed him: a second revolt in 711 succeeded where the first had merely maimed, and he was killed along with his young son, ending the Heraclian dynasty and proving that even in Byzantium, revenge has diminishing returns.