John the Hunchback or John ''Gibbo'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

: Ίωάννης ό Κυρτός, la, Flavius Ioannes qui est Gibbus; ''

floruit ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

'' 492–499) 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 Constantinopl ...

Biography

John was a native of

Selymbria Selymbria ( gr, Σηλυμβρία),Demosthenes, '' de Rhod. lib.'', p. 198, ed. Reiske. or Selybria (Σηλυβρία), or Selybrie (Σηλυβρίη), was a town of ancient Thrace on the Propontis, 22 Roman miles east from Perinthus, and 44 Rom ...

, modern

Silivri Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a city and a district in Istanbul Province along the Sea of Marmara in Turkey, outside the urban core of Istanbul, containing many holiday and weekend homes for residents of the city. The ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Between 492 and 499, he was ''

magister militum praesentalis (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

''. In this capacity he was one of two generals of Emperor Anastasius I (r. 491–518) 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 ...

of 492–497, along with

John the Scythian John the Scythian ( la, Iohannes Scytha, el, ; ''floruit'' 482–498) was a general and a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire who fought against the usurper Leontius (484–488) and in the Isaurian War (492–497). Biography John was an of ...

. In 492 he was one of the commanders of the Roman army at 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''; 450 ...

, while the following year he won an overwhelming victory against the Isaurians, after having freed the army of

Diogenianus Diogenianus ( el, Διογενειανός, Διογενιανός) was a Greek grammarian from Heraclea in Pontus (or in Caria) who flourished during the reign of Hadrian. He was the author of an alphabetical lexicon, chiefly of poetical words, ...

at Claudiopolis. In 498, the year after the victory over the Isaurians, it was John who captured the last enemy leaders,

Longinus of Selinus Longinus of Selinus (Greek: Λογγίνος, Latin: ''Longinus Selinuntius'') (born early 5th century, died 498) was one of the Isaurian leaders in the Isaurian War of 492–497. Biography Little is known about the life of Longinus except that ...

and Indes, and sent them to the Emperor. Anastasius was very pleased with the victory, and amply rewarded his victorious generals: John the Scythian was made consul for 498, while John the Hunchback held the

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

''sine collegis'' in 499. According to a story passed down by

Procopius of Caesarea Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gener ...

(''Anecdotes'', VI.5-9), John sentenced the officer

Justin Justin may refer to: People * Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin * Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...

to death during the Isaurian War, but following a dream, decided to spare his life. After the death of Anastasius, Justin ascended the throne and ruled until his death in 527.

Bibliography

* Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Fl. Ioannes qui et Gibbus 93", ''

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, 1980, , pp. 617–618. {{DEFAULTSORT:John The Hunchback 5th-century Byzantine people 5th-century Roman consuls Imperial Roman consuls Magistri militum Byzantine generals