John was an officer of the
East Roman army. In 482, he was sent to
Illyricum together with
Moschianus to fight the
Ostrogoths of
Theodoric the Amal. In 483, the Emperor
Zeno decided to get rid of his
magister militum per Orientem ("Commander in Chief of the East")
Illus, replacing him with John. In 484, Illus rebelled and put forward the civil officer
Leontius as emperor. John and Theodoric, with a large army, defeated Illus and Leontius near
Antioch in September of that year. The two rebels fled to
Isauria and holed up in the fortress of
Papurius. John laid siege to the fortress; towards the end of 484, he captured and killed
Trocundus, Illus' brother, who had gone out to seek reinforcements. The siege lasted until 488, when the fortress fell to treachery and both Illus and Leontius were put to death. During the reign of Emperor
Anastasius I, John fought in the
Isaurian War (492–497), obtaining a joint command of the army with
John the Hunchback. He was one of Roman commanders in the
battle of Cotyaeum of 492, while in 497 defeated the
Isaurians, capturing and killing their leaders
Longinus of Cardala and
Athenodorus, and sending their heads to Constantinople. Anastasius was very pleased with the victory and honored his generals. John the Scythian was appointed consul for 498, while John the Hunchback was given the consulship for 499. == Notes ==