Justin reportedly suffered from temporary fits of insanity and was unable to perform his duties as early as the fall of Dara to Khosrau I of the Sassanid Empire in November 573.

[6] According to Gregory of Tours, sole power of the empire at this point was assumed by Sophia, a niece of Theodora and empress consort of Justin II.

However, East Roman historians such as Evagrius Scholasticus and Menander Protector mention Tiberius as gaining power.

[7] Both Evagrius and Menander report that Sophia managed to conclude a three-year truce with Khosrau on her own.

[8] At this point Ino emerged as caesarissa, the second-ranking lady in the empire, and Constantina and her sister Charito became members of the imperial family.

[3] The ecclesiastic history of John of Ephesus and the chronicle of Theophanes both consider Sophia planning to marry Tiberius herself,[8] his current marriage seen as an offense to her.

According to John of Ephesus, Sophia sent Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople to Tiberius to convince him to divorce Ino, offering both herself and her adult daughter Arabia as prospective brides for the new emperor.

John of Ephesus reports the three women were secretly smuggled into Constantinople by boat, late at night.

[8] Gregory of Tours presents the marriages of Constantina and Charito as Tiberius outmaneuvering Sophia in securing the loyalties of his sons-in-law.

[12] A historical interpretation for the dual marriage was that Tiberius intended to appoint two co-emperors as his successors, possibly with a division of provinces between them.

[13] On 13 August Tiberius was already on his deathbed and civilian, military, and ecclesiastical dignitaries awaited the appointment of his successor.

He accepted their gift but then ordered it hang over the altar of the Hagia Sophia as his own tribute to the church, which according to Theophanes was taken an insult by both augustas and caused a rift in the marriage.

[16] On 22 November 21, during the mutiny of the Danubian army and the citywide riots fanned by the circus factions, Maurice, Constantina, and their children left Constantinople in a warship.

Troops loyal to Phocas captured the deposed imperial family days later and brought them to Chalcedon.

[16] The Patria of Constantinople, attributed to George Codinus, mentions Constantina was decapitated and her corpse thrown into the Bosporus; however, De Ceremoniis by Constantine VII mentions Maurice, Constantina, and their children buried at the monastery of St.

[16] The marriage was fertile and produced nine known children: A daughter Miriam/Maria is recorded by the 12th-century chronicler Michael the Syrian as married to Khosrau II, but her existence is most likely fictional as she is not mentioned by any Byzantine source.