4. Justinian II lost his empire… and his nose.
When he ascended to the throne, Justinian II inherited a vast – and, more importantly, stable – empire. He ruled over millions of people and enjoyed untold wealth. However, when he died, Justinian II was alone and unloved. What’s more, the Byzantine Empire was on its knees and he would be the last Emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty. For all his ambition, he was a poor leader and, in the spaces of just a few short decades, he went from having it all to having nothing at all.
Born in the year 668, Justinian II came to power following the death of his father, Constantine IV, in 685. Lacking the people skills or wily political nous of his father, he soon became increasingly unpopular. So much so in fact that, in 695, his political opponents forced him out of power. Famously, they cut off his nose (for it was decreed that no physically deformed man could ever serve as Emperor) and sent him into exile. Justinian II then spent a further decade living, and plotting, in the east. In 705, he made his triumphant return and reclaimed his throne. Had he learned the lessons of his disastrous first reign? Not a chance.
In fact, Justinian was even more brutal and dictatorial the second time around. Unsurprisingly, the people soon turned against him. This time, however, they were not so forgiving. So low had Justinian’s stock fallen that not even his army stood by him. His bodyguards abandoned him, too. He was arrested in December of 711. Humiliatingly, he was taken outside of the main city walls and executed like a common criminal. What’s more, his head was chopped off and sent to his enemies – an undignified ending for a man who once had the world at his feet.