Mutilation was a common method of punishment for criminals in the Byzantine Empire, but it also had a role in the empire's political life. By blinding a rival, one would not only restrict his mobility
Depiction of the blinding of Leo Phokas the Elder after his unsuccessful rebellion against Romanos Lekapenos, from the Madrid Skylitzes chronicle
Justinian II
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Justinian II, nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed", was the last Byzantine emperor of the Heraclian dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711. Like his namesake predecessor, Justinian I, Justi
Political mutilation in Byzantine culture
…emperor also had to be unblemished; any mutilation, especially facial wounds, would disqualify an individual from taking the throne. An exception was Justinian II (ὁ Ῥινότμητος, "the slit-nosed"), who had his nose cut off when he was overthrown in 695 but was able to become emperor again in 705. Blinding as a…
Justinian II Solidus
Mutilation of Justinian II on the orders of Leontius in 695, miniature from a 15th century French manuscript.
Justinian and his son Tiberius, whom he crowned co-emperor in 706.
Justinian's II punitive squad robs Ravenna after the arrest of archbishop Felix in 709 as imagined in an artistic depiction from 1929.