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Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized renovatio imperii, or .J. F. Haldon, Byzantium in the seventh century (Cambridge, 2003), 17–19. This ambition was expressed by the partial recovery of the territories of the defunct Western Roman Empire.On the western Roman Empire, see now H. Börm, Westrom (Stuttgart 2013). His general, Belisarius, swiftly conquered the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa. Subsequently, Belisarius, Narses, and other generals conquered the Ostrogothic Kingdom, restoring Dalmatia, Sicily, Italy, and Rome to the empire after more than half a century of rule by the Ostrogoths. The praetorian prefect Liberius reclaimed the south of the Iberian Peninsula, establishing the province of Spania. These campaigns re-established Roman control over the western Mediterranean, increasing the Empire's annual revenue by over a million solidi. During his reign, Justinian also subdued the Zan people, a people on the east coast of the Black Sea that had never been under Roman rule before.Evans, J. A. S., The Age of Justinian: the circumstances of imperial power. pp. 93–94 He engaged the Sasanian Empire in the east during Kavad I's reign, and later again during Khosrow I's reign; this second conflict was partially initiated due to his ambitions in the west.
Justinian is regarded as one of the most prominent and influential Roman emperors. One of the most enduring aspects of his legacy was the uniform rewriting of Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis, which was first applied throughout the Eastern Mediterannean and is still the basis of civil law in many modern states.John Henry Merryman and Rogelio Pérez-Perdomo, The Civil Law Tradition: An Introduction to the Legal Systems of Europe and Latin America, 3rd ed. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007), pp. 9–11 . His reign also marked a blossoming of Byzantine culture, and his building program yielded works such as the Hagia Sophia.
When Emperor Anastasius died in 518, Justin was proclaimed the new emperor with significant help from Justinian. Justinian showed a lot of ambition, and several sources claim that he was functioning as virtual regent long before Justin made him associate emperor, although there is no conclusive evidence of this.Moorhead (1994), pp. 21–22, with a reference to Procopius, Secret History 8.3. As Justin became senile near the end of his reign, Justinian became the de facto ruler. Following the general Vitalian's assassination in 520 (orchestrated by Justinian or Justin),Justinian: Procopius, Secret History 6.28 and Victor of Tunnuna, Chronicle 523; Justin: Evagrius, Ecclesiastical History 4.3 Justinian was appointed consul and commander of the army of the east.This post seems to have been titular head; there is no evidence that Justinian had any military experience. See A.D. Lee, "The Empire at War", in Michael Maas (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian (Cambridge 2005), pp. 113–133 (pp. 113–114). Justinian remained Justin's close confidant, and in 525 was granted the titles of nobilissimus and caesar (heir-apparent).Victor of Tunnuna ( 570), Chronica s.a. 525 . He was crowned co-emperor on 1 April 527,Marcellinus Comes 527 ; Chronicon Paschale ; Theophanes Confessor . and became sole ruler after Justin's death on 1 August 527.
As a ruler, Justinian showed great energy. He was known as "the emperor who never sleeps" for his work habits. Nevertheless, he seems to have been amiable and easy to approach.See Procopius, Secret history, ch. 13. Around 525, he married his mistress, Theodora, in Constantinople. She was by profession an actress and some twenty years his junior. In earlier times, Justinian could not have married her owing to her class, but his uncle, Emperor Justin I, had lifted restrictions on marriages with ex-actresses.M. Meier, Justinian, p. 57.P. N. Ure, Justinian and his age, p. 200. Though the marriage caused a scandal, Theodora would become very influential in the politics of the Empire. Other talented individuals included Tribonian, his legal adviser; Peter the Patrician, the diplomat and long-time head of the palace bureaucracy; Justinian's finance ministers John the Cappadocian and Peter Barsymes, who managed to collect taxes more efficiently than any before, thereby funding Justinian's wars; and finally, his generals, Belisarius and Narses, responsible for the re-conquest of North Africa and Italy.
Justinian's rule was not universally popular; early in his reign he nearly lost his throne during the Nika riots, and a conspiracy against the emperor's life by dissatisfied entrepreneurs was discovered as late as 562. Justinian was struck by the plague in the early 540s but recovered. Theodora died in 548Robert Browning, Justinian and Theodora (1987), 129; James Allan Evans, The Empress Theodora: Partner of Justinian (2002), 104 at a relatively young age, possibly of cancer; Justinian outlived her by nearly twenty years. Justinian, who had always had a keen interest in theological matters and actively participated in debates on Christian doctrine,Theological treatises authored by Justinian can be found in Migne's Patrologia Graeca, Vol. 86. became even more devoted to religion during the later years of his life. He died on 14 November 565, Chronicon Paschale ; John of Ephesus III 5.13. ; Theophanes Confessor ; John Malalas 18.1 . childless. He was succeeded by Justin II, who was the son of his sister Vigilantia and married to Sophia, the niece of Theodora. Justinian's body was entombed in a specially built mausoleum in the Church of the Holy Apostles until it was desecrated and robbed during the pillage of the city in 1204 by the Frankokratia of the Fourth Crusade.
Justinian remains well-known for his judicial reforms, particularly through the complete revision of all Roman law, something that had not previously been attempted. The total of Justinian's legislation is known today as the Corpus juris civilis. It consists of the Codex Justinianeus, the Digesta or Pandectae, the Institutiones, and the Novellae.
Early in his reign, Justinian had appointed the quaestor Tribonian to oversee this task. The first draft of the Codex Justinianeus, a codification of imperial constitutions from the 2nd century onward, was issued on 7 April 529. (The final version appeared in 534.) It was followed by the Digesta (or Pandectae), a compilation of older legal texts, in 533, and by the Institutiones, a textbook explaining the principles of law. The Novellae, a collection of new laws issued during Justinian's reign, supplements the Corpus. As opposed to the rest of the corpus, the Novellae appeared in Greek language, the common language of the Eastern Empire.
The Corpus forms the basis of Latin jurisprudence (including ecclesiastical Canon Law) and, for historians, provides a valuable insight into the concerns and activities of the later Roman Empire. As a collection it gathers together the many sources in which the leges and the other rules were expressed or published: proper laws, Byzantine Senate consults (senatusconsulta), imperial decrees, case law, and jurists' opinions and interpretations (responsa prudentium). Tribonian's code ensured the survival of Roman law. It formed the basis of later Byzantine law, as expressed in the Basilika of Basil I and Leo VI the Wise. The only western province where the Justinianic code was introduced was Italy (after the conquest by the so-called Pragmatic Sanction of 554),Kunkel, W. (translated by J. M. Kelly) An introduction to Roman legal and constitutional history. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1966; 168 from where it was to pass to Western Europe in the 12th century and become the basis of much Continental European law code, which was eventually spread by European empires to the Americas and beyond in the Age of Discovery. It eventually passed to Eastern Europe where it appeared in Slavic editions, and it also passed on to Russia. It remains influential to this day.
His legislations restricted avenues of divorce, including divorce by mutual consent. The latter was overturned by his immediate successor, Justin II.Sarris, P. (2017). Emperor Justinian. In J. Witte, Jr & G. Hauk (Eds.), Christianity and Family Law: An Introduction (Law and Christianity, pp. 85-99). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108233255.008; Novellae Constitutiones 140.
He passed laws to protect prostitutes from exploitation and women from being forced into prostitution. Rapists were treated severely. Further, by his policies: women charged with major crimes should be guarded by other women to prevent sexual abuse; if a woman was widowed, her dowry should be returned; and a husband could not take on a major debt without his wife giving her consent twice.Garland (1999), pp. 16–17
Family legislation also revealed a greater concern for the interests of children. This was particularly so with respect to children born out of wedlock. The law under Justinian also reveals a striking interest in child neglect issues. Justinian protected the rights of children whose parents remarried and produced more offspring, or who simply separated and abandoned their offspring, forcing them to beg.
Justinian also improved the rights of slaves. Slaves were given the right to plead personally for their freedom, and a master killing his slave would be classified as murder. Justinian acknowledged that slavery was an unnatural state of human existence and not a feature of natural law. The Justinian law retained the principle that a slave was an item of property, but it did not state that a slave was devoid of personality.Tim Clarkson, Junius Rodriguez, The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery Volume 1 pg 386-387
He passed legislations directed against the Christian "heretics", pagans, Jews and Samaritans, forbidding them from holding public office, destroying their places of worship and restricting the ownership of property.Michael Maas (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian (Cambridge 2005), pp. 330-331, p. 517
Justinian discontinued the regular appointment of Roman consul in 541.Vasiliev (1952), p. I 192.
The damage caused by the riots was extensive. The rioters destroyed governmental buildings, state archives, hospices, hospitals and charitable institutions. The patients of the Hospice of Samson were all killed during the riots and the fires caused by the rioters reached as far as the Baths of Zeuxippus, which contained famous statues and monuments.Sarris, Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint, 2023, Chapter 6 The destruction that took place during the revolt provided Justinian with an opportunity to carry out his building program in Constantinople, most notably the architectural innovation of the domed Hagia Sophia.
In 533, Belisarius sailed to Africa with a fleet of 92 , escorting 500 transports carrying an army of about 15,000 men, as well as a number of barbarian troops. They landed at Caput Vada in modern Tunisia. They defeated the Vandals, who were caught completely off guard, at Ad Decimum on 14 September 533 and Tricamarum in December; Belisarius took Carthage. King Gelimer fled to Mount Pappua in Numidia, but surrendered the next spring. He was taken to Constantinople, where he was paraded in a Roman triumph. Sardinia and Corsica, the Balearic Islands, and the stronghold Ceuta near Mons Calpe (later named Gibraltar) were recovered in the same campaign.Moorhead (1994), p. 68.
In this war, the contemporary Procopius remarks that Africa was so entirely depopulated that a person might travel several days without meeting a human being, and he adds, "it is no exaggeration to say, that in the course of the war 5,000,000 perished by the sword, and famine, and pestilence." An African prefecture, centred in Carthage, was established in April 534,Moorhead (1994), p. 70. but it would teeter on the brink of collapse during the next 15 years, amidst warfare with the Moors and military mutinies. By the mid-540s, under a succession of Byzantine generals, the region was disrupted under civil war, plague and military campaigning. The area was not completely pacified until 548, but remained peaceful thereafter and enjoyed a measure of prosperity. The recovery of Africa cost the empire about 100,000 pounds of gold.
Justinian sent another general, Narses, to Italy, but tensions between Narses and Belisarius hampered the progress of the campaign. Milan was taken, but was soon recaptured and razed by the Ostrogoths. Justinian recalled Narses in 539. By then the military situation had turned in favour of the Romans, and in 540 Belisarius reached the Ostrogothic capital Ravenna. There he was offered the title of Western Roman Emperor by the Ostrogoths at the same time that envoys of Justinian were arriving to negotiate a peace that would leave the region north of the Po River in Gothic hands. Belisarius feigned acceptance of the offer, entered the city in May 540, and reclaimed it for the Empire.Moorhead (1994), pp. 84–86. Then, having been recalled by Justinian, Belisarius returned to Constantinople, taking the captured Vitigis and his wife Matasuntha with him.
Belisarius arrived in the East in 541, but after some success, was again recalled to Constantinople in 542. The reasons for his withdrawal are not known, but it may have been instigated by rumours of his disloyalty reaching the court.Procopius mentions this event both in the Wars and in the Secret History, but gives two entirely different explanations for it. The evidence is briefly discussed in Moorhead (1994), pp. 97–98. The outbreak of the plague coupled with a rebellion in Persia brought Khosrow I's offensives to a halt. Exploiting this, Justinian ordered all the forces in the East to invade Persian Armenia, but the 30,000-strong Byzantine force was defeated by a small force at Anglon.J. Norwich, Byzantium: The Early Centuries, 235 The next year, Khosrau unsuccessfully besieged the major city of Edessa. Both parties made little headway, and in 545 a truce was agreed upon for the southern part of the Roman-Persian frontier. After that, the Lazic War in the North continued for several years: the Lazic king switched to the Byzantine side, and in 549 Justinian sent Dagisthaeus to recapture Petra, but he faced heavy resistance and the siege was relieved by Sasanian reinforcements. Justinian replaced him with Bessas, who was under a cloud after the loss of Rome in 546, but he managed to capture and dismantle Petra in 551. The war continued for several years until a second truce in 557, followed by a fifty years' peace in 562. Under its terms, the Persians agreed to abandon Lazica in exchange for an annual tribute of 400 or 500 pounds of gold (30,000 solidi) to be paid by the Romans.Moorhead ((1994), p. 164) gives the lower, Greatrex ((2005), p. 489) the higher figure.
Finally, Justinian dispatched a force of approximately 35,000 men (2,000 men were detached and sent to invade southern Visigothic Hispania) under the command of Narses.J. Norwich, Byzantium: The Early Centuries, 251 The army reached Ravenna in June 552 and defeated the Ostrogoths decisively within a month at the battle of Busta Gallorum in the Apennines, where Totila was slain. After a second battle at Mons Lactarius in October that year, the resistance of the Ostrogoths was finally broken. In 554, a large-scale Franks invasion was defeated at Casilinum, and Italy was secured for the empire, though it would take Narses several years to reduce the remaining Gothic strongholds. At the end of the war, Italy was garrisoned with an army of 16,000 men.J. Norwich, Byzantium: The Early Centuries, 233 The recovery of Italy cost the empire about 300,000 pounds of gold. Procopius estimated 15,000,000 Goths died.
During Justinian's reign, the Balkans suffered from several incursions by the Turkic peoples and Slavic peoples who lived north of the Danube. Here, Justinian resorted mainly to a combination of diplomacy and a system of defensive works. In 559 a particularly dangerous invasion of Slavic peoples and Kutrigurs under their khan Zabergan threatened Constantinople, but they were repulsed by the aged general Belisarius.
The final victory in Italy and the conquest of Africa and the coast of southern Hispania significantly enlarged the area of Byzantine influence and eliminated all naval threats to the empire, which in 555 reached its territorial zenith. Despite losing much of Italy soon after Justinian's death, the empire retained several important cities, including Rome, Naples, and Ravenna, leaving the Lombards as a regional threat. The newly founded province of Spania kept the Visigoths as a threat to Hispania alone and not to the western Mediterranean and Africa.
Events of the later years of his reign showed that Constantinople itself was not safe from barbarian incursions from the north, and even the relatively benevolent historian Menander Protector felt the need to attribute the Emperor's failure to protect the capital to the weakness of his body in his old age.W. Pohl, "Justinian and the Barbarian Kingdoms", in Maas (2005), pp. 448–476; 472 Some historians view that in his efforts to renew the Roman Empire, Justinian dangerously stretched its resources while failing to take into account the changed realities of 6th-century Europe.See Haldon (2003), pp. 17–19.
With regard to the long term consequences of Justinian's conquests, the provinces of Italy, North Africa and Spain were one of the wealthiest provinces of the Roman Empire, and thus it would not be unreasonable to assume that those provinces would make a substantial contribution to the empire's coffers given that these provinces were highly taxable. Peter Sarris suggests that Justinian's efforts were hampered by the plague and as a result it made reconquering the West harder and costlier.Sarris, Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint, 2023, Chapter 16 According to some historians, despite the scale of destruction caused by the conquests, North Africa and Southern Italy generally paid for themselves and yielded substantial profit for the empire. The conquests in the West also expanded Byzantine influence over the papacy and added a source of Germanic warriors for recruitment in the army.Heather, Rome Resurgent: War and Empire in the Age of Justinian, 2018, Chapters 10 - 11Whittow, The Making of Orthodox Byzantium, pg 38-40Treadgold, A History of Byzantine State and Society, 1997, pp. 216-217
Justin reversed this trend and confirmed the Chalcedonian doctrine, openly condemning the Miaphysites. Justinian, who continued this policy, tried to impose religious unity on his subjects by forcing them to accept doctrinal compromises that might appeal to all parties, a policy that proved unsuccessful as he satisfied none of them.
The empress Theodora, herself a Miaphysite, sympathized with the Miaphysites and was accused of being constant source of pro-Miaphysite intrigues at the court in Constantinople in the earlier years. In the course of his reign, Justinian, who had a genuine interest in matters of theology, authored a small number of theological treatises.Treatises written by Justinian can be found in Migne's Patrologia Graeca, Vol. 86.
Throughout his reign Justinian promoted Archangel Michael as imperial archistratēgos, forwarding the cult of Michael directly and indirectly through his inclusion in imperial oaths, liturgical commemorations and imperial iconography, and building churches in his honour. In doing this Justinian reinforced his own legitimacy by placing Michael as his imperial protector.
Both the Codex and the Novellae contain many enactments regarding donations, foundations, and the administration of ecclesiastical property; election and rights of bishops, priests and abbots; monastic life, residential obligations of the clergy, conduct of divine service, episcopal jurisdiction, etc. Justinian also rebuilt the Church of Hagia Sophia (which cost 20,000 pounds of gold),P. Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians, 283 the original site having been destroyed during the Nika riots. The new Hagia Sophia, with its numerous chapels and shrines, gilded octagonal dome, and , became the Eastern Roman Empire's space of identification.
This new-found unity between East and West did not, however, solve the ongoing disputes in the east. Justinian's policies switched between attempts to force Miaphysites to accept the Chalcedonian creed by persecuting their bishops and monks – thereby embittering their sympathizers in Egypt and other provinces – and attempts at a compromise that would win over the Miaphysites without surrendering the Chalcedonian faith. Such an approach was supported by the Empress Theodora, who favoured the Miaphysites unreservedly. In the condemnation of the Three Chapters, three theologians that had opposed Miaphysitism before and after the Council of Chalcedon, Justinian tried to win over the opposition. At the Fifth Ecumenical Council, most of the Eastern church yielded to the Emperor's demands, and Pope Vigilius, who was forcibly brought to Constantinople and besieged at a chapel, finally also gave his assent. However, the condemnation was received unfavourably in the west, where it led to new (albeit temporal) schism, and failed to reach its goal in the east, as the Miaphysites remained unsatisfied – all the more bitter for him because during his last years he took an even greater interest in theological matters.
The original Platonic Academy had been destroyed by the Roman dictator Sulla in 86 BC. Several centuries later, in 410 AD, a Neoplatonic Academy was established that had no institutional continuity with Plato's Academy, and which served as a center for Neoplatonism and mysticism. It persisted until 529 AD when it was finally closed by Justinian I. Other schools in Constantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria, which were the centers of Justinian's empire, continued.Lindberg, David C. "The Beginnings of Western Science", p. 70
In Asia Minor alone, John of Ephesus was reported to have christianization 70,000 pagans, which was probably an exaggerated number.François Nau, in Revue de l'orient chretien, ii., 1897, 482. Other peoples also accepted Christianity: the Heruli,Procopius, Bellum Gothicum, ii. 14; Evagrius, Hist. eccl., iv. 20 the Huns dwelling near the Don,Procopius, iv. 4; Evagrius, iv. 23. the Abkhaz people,Procopius, iv. 3; Evagrius, iv. 22. and the Tzanni in Caucasus.Procopius, Bellum Persicum, i. 15.
The worship of Amun at the oasis of Awjila in the desert was abolished,Procopius, De Aedificiis, vi. 2. and so were the remnants of the worship of Isis on the island of Philae, at the first cataract of the Nile.Procopius, Bellum Persicum, i. 19. The Presbyter Julian DCB, iii. 482 and the Bishop LonginusJohn of Ephesus, Hist. eccl., iv. 5 sqq. conducted a mission among the , and Justinian attempted to strengthen Christianity in Yemen by dispatching a bishop from Egypt.Procopius, Bellum Persicum, i. 20; Malalas, ed. Niebuhr, Bonn, 1831, pp. 433 sqq.
The civil rights of Jews were restricted Cod., I., v. 12 and their religious privileges threatened.Procopius, Historia Arcana, 28; Justinian also interfered in the internal affairs of the synagogue Nov., cxlvi., 8 February 553 and encouraged the Jews to use the Greek Septuagint in their synagogues in Constantinople.
The Emperor faced significant opposition from the , who resisted conversion to Christianity and were repeatedly in insurrection. He persecuted them with rigorous edicts, for example, in 529, he banned them from having wills, an intentional act of humiliation. (2026). 9781529365399, Basic Books. ISBN 9781529365399 However, he could not prevent reprisals towards Christians from taking place in Samaria toward the close of his reign.
The Manicheans too suffered persecution, experiencing both exile and threat of capital punishment. Cod., I., v. 12. In Constantinople, c.450, a number of Manicheans, after strict inquisition, were executed by burning.
Another prominent church in the capital, the Church of the Holy Apostles, which had been in a very poor state near the end of the 5th century, was likewise rebuilt.Vasiliev (1952), p. 189 The Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, later renamed Little Hagia Sophia, was also built between 532 and 536 by the imperial couple. Works of embellishment were not confined to churches alone: excavations at the site of the Great Palace of Constantinople have yielded several high-quality mosaics dating from Justinian's reign, and a column topped by a bronze statue of Justinian on horseback and dressed in a military costume was erected in the Augustaeum in Constantinople in 543.Brian Croke, "Justinian's Constantinople", in Michael Maas (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian (Cambridge 2005), pp. 60–86 (p. 66) Rivalry with other, more established patrons from the Constantinopolitan and exiled Roman aristocracy might have enforced Justinian's building activities in the capital as a means of strengthening his dynasty's prestige.See Croke (2005), pp. 364 ff., and Moorhead (1994).
Justinian also strengthened the borders of the Empire from Africa to the East through the construction of fortifications and ensured Constantinople of its water supply through construction of underground cisterns (see Basilica Cistern). To prevent floods from damaging the strategically important border town Dara, Dara Dam was built. During his reign the large Sangarius Bridge was built in Bithynia, securing a major military supply route to the east. Furthermore, Justinian restored cities damaged by earthquake or war and built a new city near his place of birth called Justiniana Prima, which was intended to replace Thessalonica as the political and religious centre of Illyricum.
In Justinian's reign, and partly under his patronage, Byzantine culture produced noteworthy historians, including Procopius and Agathias, and poets such as Paul the Silentiary and Romanus the Melodist flourished. On the other hand, centres of learning such as the Neoplatonic Academy in Athens and the famous Law School of BerytusFollowing a terrible earthquake in 551, the school at Berytus was transferred to Sidon and had no further significance after that date. (Vasiliev (1952), p. 147) lost their importance during his reign.
Silk was an important luxury product, which was imported and then processed in the empire. In order to protect the manufacture of silk products, Justinian granted a monopoly to the imperial factories in 541.Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity (London 1971), pp. 157–158 In order to bypass the Persian landroute, Justinian established friendly relations with the Abyssinians, whom he wanted to act as trade mediators by transporting Indian silk to the empire; the Abyssinians, however, were unable to compete with the Persian merchants in India.Vasiliev (1952), p. 167 Then, in the early 550s, two monks succeeded in smuggling eggs of silk worms from Central Asia back to Constantinople,See Moorhead (1994), p. 167; Procopius, Wars, 8.17.1–8 and silk became an indigenous product.
Gold and silver were mined in the Balkans, Anatolia, Armenia, Cyprus, Egypt and Nubia. At the start of Justinian I's reign, he had inherited a surplus 28,800,000 solidi (400,000 pounds of gold) in the imperial treasury from Anastasius I and Justin I. Under Justinian's rule, measures were taken to counter corruption in the provinces and to make tax collection more efficient. Greater administrative power was given to both the leaders of the prefectures and of the provinces, while power was taken away from the vicarius of the dioceses, of which a number were abolished. The overall trend was towards a simplification of administrative infrastructure.Haldon (2005), p. 50 According to Brown (1971), the increased professionalization of tax collection did much to destroy the traditional structures of provincial life, as it weakened the autonomy of the town councils in the Greek towns.Brown (1971), p. 157 It has been estimated that before Justinian I's reconquests the state had an annual revenue of 5,000,000 solidi in AD 530, but after his reconquests, the annual revenue was increased to 6,000,000 solidi in AD 550.
Throughout Justinian's reign, the cities and villages of the East thrived, although Antioch was struck by two earthquakes (526, 528) and sacked and evacuated by the Sassanid Empire (540). Justinian had the city rebuilt, but on a slightly smaller scale.Kenneth G. Holum, "The Classical City in the Sixth Century", in Michael Maas (ed.), Age of Justinian (2005), pp. 99–100
The empire suffered several major setbacks in the course of the 6th century. The first one was the plague, which lasted from 541 to 543 and, by decreasing the empire's population, probably created a scarcity of labor and a rising of wages.Moorhead (1994), pp. 100–101 It has been proposed that the lack of manpower also led to a significant increase in the number of "barbarians" in the Byzantine armies after the early 540s,John L. Teall, "The Barbarians in Justinian's Armies", in Speculum, vol. 40, No. 2, 1965, 294–322. The total strength of the Byzantine army under Justinian is estimated at 150,000 men (J. Norwich, Byzantium: The Early Centuries, 259). but others are skeptical of this view.A.D. Lee, "The Empire at War", in Michael Maas (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian (2005), p. 118 The protracted war in Italy and the wars with the Persians themselves laid a heavy burden on the empire's resources, and Justinian was criticized for curtailing the government-run post service, which he limited to only one eastern route of military importance.Brown (1971), p. 158; Moorhead (1994), p. 101
The historian Procopius recorded in 536 in his work on the Vandalic War "during this year a most dread portent took place. For the sun gave forth its light without brightness ... and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear". (2026). 9781594862885, Rodale. ISBN 9781594862885
The causes of these disasters are not precisely known, but volcanoes at the Rabaul caldera, Lake Ilopango, Krakatoa, or, according to a 2018 finding, in Iceland are suspected.
Seven years later in 542, a devastating outbreak of Bubonic Plague, known as the Plague of Justinian, was traditionally believed to have killed tens of millions, second only to Black Death of the 14th century. Justinian and members of his court were afflicted, with Justinian himself contracting and surviving the pestilence. The impact of this outbreak of plague has recently been disputed, since evidence for tens of millions dying is uncertain.
In July 551, the Beirut earthquake struck the eastern Mediterranean and triggered a tsunami. The combined fatalities of both events likely exceeded 30,000, with tremors felt from Antioch to Alexandria.
Procopius provides some of the primary sources for the history of Justinian's reign, but displays growing disillusionment (Justinian and the Later Roman Empire by John W. Barker) and bitterness towards Justinian and his empress Theodora. While he glorified Justinian's architectural achievements in his panegyric ( Buildings) and provided a more lukewarm account in his history ( Wars), Procopius also wrote a hostile account, Historia Arcana]] (the so-called Secret History), in which Justinian is depicted as cruel, venal, incompetent and demonic. The Syriac language chronicle of John of Ephesus, which survives partially, was used as a source for later chronicles, contributing many additional details of value. John Malalas' chronicle was another popular source that summarized the events of his reign.
Justinian is a major character in the 1938 novel Count Belisarius, by Robert Graves. He is depicted as a jealous and conniving Emperor obsessed with creating and maintaining his own historical legacy.
Justinian appears as a character in the 1939 time-travel novel Lest Darkness Fall, by L. Sprague de Camp.
The Glittering Horn: Secret Memoirs of the Court of Justinian was a novel written by Pierson Dixon in 1958 about the court of Justinian.
In the 1968 West German–Italian historical drama film Kampf um Rom (English language title: The Last Roman) Justinian is played by Orson Welles.
In the 1985 Soviet film Primary Russia Justinian is played by Innokenty Smoktunovsky.
Justinian is a chief protagonist of Belisarius in Empire in Apocalypse by Robert Bruton (Legend Books 2023). The emperor's jealousy and envy of Belisarius eventually prompt him to undermine his best general.
Justinian occasionally appears in the comic strip Prince Valiant, usually as a nemesis of the title character.
Justinian's Crown is a historical artifact claimed by the Byzantine Empire in the popular 2020 computer strategy game Crusader Kings 3, by Paradox Development Studio.Paradox Wiki'
Historical sources
Contemporary sources include the writings of Procopius, John Malalas, John of Ephesus, Agathias, John the Lydian, Menander Protector, Evagrius Scholasticus, Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor, Jordanes, Marcellinus Comes, Corippus and Victor of Tunnuna. The Paschal Chronicle and Theophanes the Confessor also provide accounts of his reign though written in a later period.
Veneration
Justinian is widely regarded as a saint by Orthodox Christians. In various Eastern Orthodox Churches, including the Orthodox Church in America, Justinian and his empress Theodora are commemorated on the anniversary of his death, 14 November. Some denominations translate the Julian calendar date to 27 November on the Gregorian calendar. The Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Lutheran Church–Canada also commemorate Justinian on 14 November.
Cultural depictions
In the Paradiso section of the Divine Comedy, Canto (chapter) VI, by Dante Alighieri, Justinian I is prominently featured as a spirit residing on the sphere of Mercury. The latter holds in Heaven the souls of those whose acts were righteous, yet meant to achieve fame and honor. Justinian's legacy is elaborated on, and he is portrayed as a defender of the Christian faith and the restorer of Rome to the Empire. Justinian confesses that he was partially motivated by fame rather than duty to God, which tainted the justice of his rule in spite of his proud accomplishments. In his introduction, "Cesare fui e son Iustinïano" ("Caesar I was, and am Justinian" Paradiso, Canto VI verse 10), his mortal title is contrasted with his immortal soul, to emphasize that "glory in life is ephemeral, while contributing to God's glory is eternal", according to Dorothy L. Sayers.Dorothy L. Sayers, Paradiso, notes on Canto VI. Dante also uses Justinian to criticize the factious politics of his 14th-century Italy, divided between Ghibellines and Guelphs, in contrast to the unified Italy of the Roman Empire.
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See also
Notes
Bibliography
(2001). 9780521325912 ISBN 9780521325912
(2026). 9781139826877, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139826877
Primary sources
External links
Categories: 482 Births, 565 Deaths, 6th-century Christian Saints, 6th-century Byzantine Emperors, 6th-century Eastern Roman Consuls, Characters In The Divine Comedy, Medieval Legislators, Burials At The Church Of The Holy Apostles, Gothicus Maximus, Thracian People, Illyrian People, Justinian Dynasty, Theocrats, Byzantine Royal Saints, Pre-reformation Saints Of The Lutheran Liturgical Calendar, People Of The Roman–sasanian Wars, People From Zelenikovo Municipality, Last Of The Romans, Iberian War, Lazic War, Illyrian Emperors, Adult Adoptees, Participants In The Second Council Of Constantinople
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