Editing Justin II (section)

===Early reign===
[[File:Justin II Solidus Alexandria.jpg|thumb|280x280px|Solidus minted in Alexandria, Egypt {{circa|570}}]]

In the early days of his reign, Justin took a sharp about-turn from his uncle's policies.{{sfn|Lin|2021|p=142}} He repaid the treasury's debts and took a more reconciliatory stance toward the [[Byzantine senate|senatorial class]]. On 1 January 566, he became a [[Roman consul|consul]], thereby reviving a post Justinian had discontinued since 541. Justin and Sophia initially promised to make peace with Justin's cousin and rival to the throne, [[Justin (consul 540)|Justin]] (son of [[Germanus (cousin of Justinian I)|Germanus]]), but had him assassinated in Alexandria not long after. According to a hostile source, the imperial couple kicked his severed head.<ref>[[Evagrius Scholasticus]], ''Ecclesiastical History'' 5.2</ref>
[[File:39-manasses-chronicle.jpg|thumb|280x280px|Justin II ordering the arrest of [[Justin (consul 540)|Justin the Consul]]. Scene from the 12th century [[Constantine Manasses|Manasses Chronicle.]]]]
In 566 he reversed Justinian's ban on divorce by mutual consent, declaring that it resulted in spouses hating each other.<ref>Sarris, P. (2017). Emperor Justinian. In J. Witte, Jr & G. Hauk (Eds.), Christianity and Family Law: An Introduction (Law and Christianity, pp. 85-99). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108233255.008</ref> Under the pretext of not understanding the fragile human nature:
{{blockquote|Mankind has nothing more admirable than marriage: from it stem children and successive generations, the peopling of villages and cities, and society's best bond. Hence, it is our prayer that marriage should be so successful for those contracting it as never to be the work of an unlucky daemon, and that married couples should not split up without just cause for their marriage to be dissolved. But as it is difficult for this to be maintained for all mankind – in such a large population, it is outside the realms of possibility that some unreasonable enmities should not supervene – we have thought it appropriate to devise some remedy for this, in particular where the consequences of pettiness have escalated so far as to engender real, irreconcilable hatred between the partners.<ref>[[Novellae Constitutiones]] 140.</ref>}}