Praejecta or Praiecta (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Πραιέκτα) was sister to

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 ...

Justin II Justin II (; ; died 5 October 578) was Eastern Roman emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the niece of Justinian's wife Theodora. Justin II inherited a greatly enlarged but overextended empir ...

and a niece to

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).

Biography

Praejecta was a daughter of Vigilantia and Dulcidio (or Dulcissimus), respectively the sister and brother-in-law of Emperor Justinian. She was also a sister of the later Byzantine emperor

(r. 565–578) and the '' patricius'' Marcellus. She was initially married to the '' patricius'' Areobindus, a senator of noble birth. In 545, as the situation in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

had gotten out of control following the death of

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

and his replacement by his incompetent nephew Sergius, Areobindus, although having no prior military experience, was dispatched there with a small force. Areobindus was placed as joint commander with Sergius, but the two generals did not agree, with predictably disastrous results for the Byzantine imperial effort: the imperial forces were severely defeated at Thacia, although they managed to kill the rebel

Stotzas Stotzas (Greek language, Greek: Στότζας), also Stutias, Theophanes writes him Tzotzas (Τζότζας), was an Byzantine Empire, East Roman (Byzantine) soldier and leader of a military rebellion in the Praetorian prefecture of Africa in the 5 ...

. Following this, Sergius was relieved and Areobindus was installed in his stead.. Soon, however, (March 546) he was murdered in a military mutiny led by Guntharic, the ''dux Numidiae''. Praejecta and her sister-in-law had been sent to safety to a fortified

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

, but when Guntharic took over the city, they were removed from there. Guntharic, who probably intended to marry Praejecta, kept her under house arrest but treated her well. After Guntharic's assassination by the

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Artabanes in May and the restoration of Byzantine imperial rule, Praejecta rewarded him with a large sum of money and became engaged to him. Once she was back at Constantinople, Artabanes followed, but Empress Theodora discovered that he was already married and forbade the union. Artabanes was enraged by this affair, and it contributed to his involvement in the failed

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

to overthrow Emperor Justinian in late 548. Praejecta was instead married off to

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, son of Pompeius and grandson of Hypatius, a marriage which took place sometime in 546–548..

References

Citations

Sources

* * {{refend, 2 Justinian dynasty 6th-century Byzantine people 6th-century Byzantine women