Tiberius

Who is Tiberius?

Tiberius was a son of Maurice, Byzantine emperor and his wife Constantina. He was executed by new emperor Phocas.

Theophylact Simocatta reports that Tiberius would have played a significant role in the succession of his father. The will of Maurice would have declared him a co-emperor and ruler of his own areas of the Byzantine Empire. Said areas were old Rome, Italia and the islands of the Tyrrhenian Sea. John Bagnell Bury points that the will was devised in the 15th year of Maurice's reign on the occasion of a severe illness. Reports on its contents came from the early reign of Heraclius, almost a decade following the death of Maurice and his sons. "He assigned New Rome and "the East" to his eldest son Theodosius; Old Rome, Italy, and the western islands to his second son Tiberius; while the remaining provinces were to be divided among his other sons, and Domitian of Melitene was appointed their guardian." Bury considered it likely that one of the younger sons would have received Illyricum, another would have inherited Africa. Maurice's plans for division of the empire were derailed by Phocas' revolution. .