John the Scythian ( la, Iohannes Scytha, el, ; ''floruit'' 482–498) was a general and a politician of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

who fought against the usurper

Leontius Leontius ( el, Λεόντιος, Leóntios; – 15 February 706), was Byzantine emperor from 695 to 698. Little is known of his early life, other than that he was born in Isauria in Asia Minor. He was given the title of ''patrikios'', and ma ...

(484–488) and in the

Isaurian War The Isaurian War was a conflict that lasted from 492 to 497 and that was fought between the army of the Eastern Roman Empire and the rebels of Isauria. At the end of the war, Eastern Emperor Anastasius I regained control of the Isauria region and t ...

(492–497).

Biography

John was an officer of the

East Roman army The Eastern Roman army refers to the army of the eastern section of the Roman Empire, from the empire's definitive split in 395 AD to the army's reorganization by themes after the permanent loss of Syria, Palestine and Egypt to the Arabs in the ...

. In 482 he was sent to Illyricum together with Moschianus to fight the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

of Theodoric the Amal. In 483, the Emperor

Zeno Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

decided to get rid of his ''

magister militum per Orientem Magister is Latin for "master" or "teacher". It may refer to: Positions and titles * Magister degree, an academic degree * Magister equitum, or Master of the Horse * Magister militum, a master of the soldiers * Magister officiorum (''master of of ...

'' ("Commander in Chief of the East") Illus, replacing him with John. In 484, Illus rebelled and put forward the civil officer

as emperor. John and Theodoric, with a large army, defeated Illus and Leontius near

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

in September of that year. The two rebels fled to IsauriaNote that both Zeno and Illus were of Isaurian origin. and holed up in the fortress of

Papurius Papurius or Papyrius was a fortress in Cilicia Campestris, near Tarsus. It was in this fortress that the usurper Marcian was held prisoner after his failed revolt in 479, and where Leontius and his general and king-maker Illus were besieged be ...

. John laid siege to the fortress; towards the end of 484, he captured and killed Trocundus, Illus' brother, who had gone out to seek reinforcements. The siege lasted until 488, when the fortress fell to treachery and both Illus and Leontius were put to death. During the reign of Emperor Anastasius I, John fought in the

(492–497), obtaining the joint command of the army with

John the Hunchback John the Hunchback or John ''Gibbo'' (Greek: Ίωάννης ό Κυρτός, la, Flavius Ioannes qui est Gibbus; ''floruit'' 492–499) was a general and a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire. Biography John was a native of Selymbria, moder ...

. He was one of Roman commanders in the

battle of Cotyaeum The Battle of Cotyaeum (modern Kütahya) of 492 CE was a major engagement is the Isaurian War fought in Phrygia Epictetus. The future Byzantine emperor Justin I Justin I ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, ''Ioustînos''; 45 ...

of 492, while in 497 defeated the Isaurians, capturing and killing their leaders

Longinus of Cardala Longinus of Cardala or Longinus the Bald ( el, , la, Longinus Calvus; died in 497) was a high-ranking Eastern Roman official and rebel leader from Isauria. Biography Longinus was one of several Isaurians who occupied offices in the imperial c ...

and Athenodorus, and sending their heads to Constantinople. Anastasius was very pleased with the victory and honoured his generals. John the Scythian was appointed consul for 498, while John the Hunchback was given the consulship for 499.

Notes

Bibliography

* Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Ioannes Scytha 34", ''

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

'', Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1992, , pp. 602–603. {{DEFAULTSORT:John The Scythian 5th-century Byzantine people 5th-century Roman consuls Imperial Roman consuls Magistri militum Scythian people Byzantine generals