John ( gr, Ἰωάννης, Iōannēs), referred to as John the Tyrant and sometimes given the nickname Stotzas the Younger (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Stutias Iunior'') after his predecessor,

Stotzas Stotzas ( Greek: Στότζας), also Stutias, Theophanes writes him Tzotzas (Τζότζας), was an East Roman (Byzantine) soldier and leader of a military rebellion in the Praetorian prefecture of Africa in the 530s. Stotzas attempted to establ ...

, was a Berber military leader and briefly King of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom following the death of his predecessor. Given his name, ''Ioannes'', John was probably, like Stotzas, of Eastern Roman descent and only briefly commanded his army against 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 ...

. After the defeat of Stotzas, John was chosen by the combined Berber-Eastern Roman rebel army and he supported the Vandal restoration attempt of ''dux Numidiae''

Guntarith Guntarith (Vandalic: ''Gontharis''; died 546), sometimes referred to as Guntharic, was an Eastern Roman military officer and rebel of Vandalic descent. Life After the conquest of the Vandal Kingdom by Belisarius in 533/534, the Eastern Roman E ...

, who seized the province of

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

in spring 546 and killed the imperial governor Aerobindus in

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, 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 cla ...

. When Guntarith began to consolidate his regime with purges and mass executions, the ''strategos''

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

managed to have Guntarith assassinated just five weeks after the rebellion began. John, who had taken refuge in a church, was arrested by Artabanes and sent in chains to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, where he was said to have been crucified.

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* * {{s-end 546 deaths 6th-century Byzantine people Byzantine rebels Mauro-Roman Kingdom Monarchs of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom