About this episode

The episode discusses the early reign of Emperor Justinian II, highlighting the challenges he faced and the eventual violent end to his rule.

Justinian II becomes emperor at sixteen. Even allowing for the hostility of our sources the reign is not all plain sailing. I'm joined by Professor David Parnell to work through the first half of one of Byzantium's most extraordinary reigns. Part one takes us from his accession to the moment the city loses patience and terminates the reign violently. David and I are left scratching our heads as to why this story has never had its own Netflix series. We started with the empire Justinian inheri...

People in this episode

Host: Russell Hogg

Guest: Professor David Parnell

Topics covered

• Byzantine history
• Emperor Justinian II
• political intrigue
• historical analysis
• empire succession

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Netflix

Places: Byzantium

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