Boraides (, d. 548) was a cousin of the

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

(r. 527–565), better known for his role in ending the

Nika riots The Nika riots (), Nika revolt or Nika sedition took place against Byzantine emperor Justinian I in Constantinople over the course of a week in 532 AD. They are often regarded as the most violent riots in the city's history, with nearly half of ...

of 532. The primary source about him is

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

.Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 245–246

Life

Boraides was a brother of

Germanus Germanus or Germanos (Greek) may refer to: People * Lucius Trebius Germanus, governor of Roman Britain around 126 * Germanus (died c. 290), possibly apocryphal martyr-saint tortured at the Pula Arena * Germanus (d. 305 AD), Spanish martyr-saint ...

and Justus. They were reportedly cousins of

, though the exact relation is uncertain. They were nephews of

Justin I Justin I (; ; 450 – 1 August 527), also called Justin the Thracian (; ), was Roman emperor from 518 to 527. Born to a peasant family, he rose through the ranks of the army to become commander of the imperial guard and when Emperor Anastasi ...

(r. 518–527), though often erroneously stated to be nephews of Justinian himself.Martindale & Morris (1980), p. 505Kazhdan (1991), p. 846 On the last day of the

, Boraides and Justus were responsible for capturing Hypatius, whom the populace had declared emperor, and his brother

Pompeius Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

. Procopius reports: "Then indeed from both sides the partisans of Hypatius were assailed with might and main and destroyed. When the rout had become complete and there had already been great slaughter of the populace, Boraides and

Justus Justus (died on 10 November between 627 and 631) was the fourth archbishop of Canterbury. Pope Gregory the Great sent Justus from Italy to England on a mission to Christianise the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism; he probably a ...

, nephews of the Emperor Justinian, without anyone daring to lift a hand against them, dragged Hypatius down from the throne, and, leading him in, handed him over together with Pompeius to the emperor." Boraides died in 548, survived by a wife and daughter. His will left most of his estate to his brother Germanus and nephews

Justin Justin may refer to: People and fictional characters * Justin (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Justin (historian), Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527) ...

and

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

. His daughter would only inherit the minimum required by the law. However Justinian I championed the cause of the daughter, and arranged the inheritance to favour her. This was perceived as a slight by Germanus, who for a time became alienated from Justinian. As a consequence, Germanus was approached by the disaffected Armenians

Artabanes Artabanes (, Armenian: ''Artawan'', from Parthian ''Artawân'', ''fl.'' 538–554) was an Eastern Roman (Byzantine) general of Armenian origin who served under Justinian I (r. 527–565). Initially a rebel against Byzantine authority, he fled to ...

and Arsaces, who tried to persuade him to participate in a coup against Justinian. Germanus however revealed the plot to the ''

comes excubitorum The Excubitors ( or , , i.e. 'sentinels'; transcribed into Greek language, Greek as , ) were founded in as an imperial guard-unit by the Byzantine emperor Leo I the Thracian. The 300-strong force, originally recruited from among the warlike moun ...

'' Marcellus, who in turn revealed it to Justinian.Bury (1958), pp. 67–68

References

Sources

* * * * * {{citation , last=Procopius of Caesarea , last2=Dewing , first2=Henry Bronson , title=History of the wars. vol. 1, Books I-II , year=1914 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , isbn=0-674-99054-4 , url-access=registration , url=https://archive.org/details/procopius00proc_0 548 deaths 6th-century Byzantine people Justinian dynasty Year of birth unknown