Myakes was an excubitor, or imperial palace guardsman, assigned to watch the young Justinian II, and subsequently bonded with him. He was sent into exile with the emperor to Kherson, on the Black Sea, and followed the emperor as he traveled from land to land until he regained his throne. Myakes reluctantly helped carry out the tasks of revenge Justinian sought to carry out on everyone the emperor had thought done him wrong. When Justinian was deposed for a final time, Myakes was blinded and imprisoned in an abbey. Twenty years after Justinian's death, the old soldier had the emperor's autobiography read to him by fellow inmate Brother Elpidios.
Literary Comment[]
Myakes appears only once in the historical record. His relationship to Justinian and his fate are inventions of Harry Turtledove.
