Germanus

Who is Germanus?

Germanus was a Caesar of the Byzantine Empire. He married Charito, a daughter of Tiberius II Constantine and Ino Anastasia.

According to The Emperor Maurice and His Historian: Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan warfare by Michael Whitby, Germanus was a patrician and governor of the praetorian prefecture of Africa. He was chosen by the dying Tiberius II as a viable heir for his throne in 582. "In a dual ceremony on 5 August Germanus ... and Maurice were elevated to the rank of Caesar and betrothed to Tiberius' two daughters, Charito and Constantina.".

Whitby regards the arrangement as indicating Tiberius' plans to have two co-rulers as successors. He suggests that the dying emperor might have even been trying to reintroduce the concept of a Western and Eastern Roman Emperor, with Germanus and Maurice chosen for their respective connections to the western and eastern provinces of the Empire. Whitby identifies this Germanus with a similarly named son born to Germanus and Matasuntha.

According to a statement in Jordanes' Getica, the senior Germanus was a descendant of the noble Roman clan of the Anicii.