Germanus (Caesar)

Germanus was a Caesar of the Byzantine Empire. He married Charito, a daughter of Tiberius II Constantine and Ino Anastasia.

For other people with the same name, see Germanus.

According to Michael Whitby, Germanus was a patrician and governor of the praetorian prefecture of Africa. He was chosen by the dying Tiberius II as a viable heir for his throne in 582. "In a dual ceremony on 5 August Germanus ... and Maurice were elevated to the rank of Caesar and betrothed to Tiberius' two daughters, Charito and Constantina."[1]

Whitby regards the arrangement as indicating Tiberius' plans to have two co-rulers as successors. He suggests that the dying emperor might have even been trying to reintroduce the concept of a Western and Eastern Roman Emperor, with Germanus and Maurice chosen for their respective connections to the western and eastern provinces of the Empire. Whitby identifies this Germanus with a similarly named son born to Germanus (d. 550) and Matasuntha.[1]

According to a statement in Jordanes' Getica, the senior Germanus was a descendant of the noble Roman clan of the Anicii. The exact nature of his connection, however, if it is anything more than a literary device to indicate noble descent, is unclear. Theodor Mommsen hypothesized that his mother could have been a daughter of Anicia Juliana.[2] Matasuntha was a daughter of Eutharic and Amalasuintha. She was a sister of Athalaric, King of the Ostrogoths. Their maternal grandparents were Theodoric the Great and Audofleda.Tours]] which also records Byzantine events. He depicts Maurice as hand-picked to be heir, first by dowager empress Sophia and then by Tiberius II.[1]

Germanus disappears from sources following his marriage. He may have resurfaced as the patricius Germanus mentioned in the 7th century, whose daughter married Maurice's eldest son Theodosius. Once again, the identification is uncertain.[3]

References
  1. Whitby (1988), p. 7
  2. Bury (1958), p. 255
  3. Lynda Garland, "Constantina, Wife of Maurice". 1999 article

Sources
  • Bury, John Bagnell (1958), History of the Later Roman Empire: From the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian, Volume 2, Courier Dover Publications, ISBN 978-0-486-20399-7
  • Charles, Robert H. (2007) [1916]. The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text. Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. ISBN 9781889758879.
  • Whitby, Michael (1988), The Emperor Maurice and his historian: Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan warfare, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-822945-3
  • Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
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