Editing Justin II (section)

== Succession and death ==
[[File:20 Nummi – Half Follis - Justin II with Sophia - Carthage.jpg|thumb|right|Justin II and Sophia depicted on a Nummi coin]]
After 572, Justin was reported to have fits of insanity. [[John of Ephesus]], whose Monophysite sect suffered persecutions under Justin, offered a vivid description of Justin's madness, in which he behaved like a wild animal, was wheeled about on a mobile throne and required organ music to be played day and night.<ref>[[John of Ephesus]], [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/ephesus_3_book3.htm ''Ecclesiastical History'', Part 3, Book 3]</ref>

Despite moments of clarity, Justin was no longer able to govern. Eastern Roman sources report that Tiberius, the commander of the Excubitors, directed the government from this point, alongside Sophia.<ref>Evagrius, Ecclesiastical History, 5.11; Menander Protector 18</ref> In 574, about a year after his incapacitation, Justin elevated Tiberius as ''[[Caesar (title)|caesar]]'' at Sophia's suggestion and adopted him as his son.<ref name="gibbon">Gibbon, Edward, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', Chapter XLV, Part II</ref> On 7 December, according to [[Theophylact Simocatta]], Justin remained sufficiently clear-minded to make an eloquent speech as he passed the crown:<ref>[[Theophylact Simocatta]] III.11: "This was spoken on the seventh of December, on the sixth day, in the ninth indiction."</ref><ref>[[John of Ephesus]], [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/ephesus_6_book5.htm 3.5].</ref>

{{blockquote|text=You behold the ensigns of supreme power. You are about to receive them, not from my hand, but from the hand of God. Honor them, and from them you will derive honor. Respect the empress your mother: you are now her son; before, you were her servant. Delight not in blood; abstain from revenge; avoid those actions by which I have incurred the public hatred; and consult the experience, rather than the example, of your predecessor. As a man, I have sinned; as a sinner, even in this life, I have been severely punished: but these servants (and he pointed to his ministers), who have abused my confidence, and inflamed my passions, will appear with me before the tribunal of Christ. I have been dazzled by the splendor of the diadem: be thou wise and modest; remember what you have been, remember what you are. You see around us your slaves, and your children: with the authority, assume the tenderness, of a parent. Love your people like yourself; cultivate the affections, maintain the discipline, of the army; protect the fortunes of the rich, relieve the necessities of the poor.<ref name="gibbon"/>}}

Four years later, on 26 September 578, he elevated Tiberius as ''Augustus''. Justin died only nine days later, on 5 October 578.<ref>''[[Chronicon Paschale]]'' [[iarchive:chronicon-p/page/138/mode/1up|578]]; [[John of Ephesus]], [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/ephesus_6_book5.htm 3.5].</ref>