Will I love Justinian?

The author was uniquely placed to publish this novel in 1998 as seventeen years earlier he had published a partial English translation of the main source: The Chronicle of the ninth-century Byzantine monk Theophanes. He uses his intimate knowledge of the chronicle to recount events from the historical record and to slip in entirely plausible but fictional ones. Along the way, he creates Justinian as a saturnine yet curiously sympathetic character as, minus his nose, he plots his revenge on those who overthrew, mutilated and exiled him.

This work of historical fiction attracted me to the study of the Byzantine Empire.

I read it as a first-year university student and was astonished at its story of intrigue, mutilation, and murder in a medieval, Christian Roman Empire. Fans of medieval fantasy such as George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series might be drawn to this riveting and dramatic tale.

This story of the life of the volcanic and unpredictable emperor Justinian II (r. 685-695 and 705-711 A.D.) welcomed me to the Byzantine world, and perhaps it will do the same for you!