Justinian I

"Justinian" redirects here. For the later emperor also called Justinian, see Justinian II. For his uncle and adoptive father, see Justin I.

Justinian I
Detail of a contemporary portrait mosaic of Justinian dressed in a royal purple chlamys and jeweled stemma in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, AD 547
Byzantine emperor
Reign	1 April 527 – 14 November 565
Coronation	1 April 527
Predecessor	Justin I
Successor	Justin II
Co-emperor	Justin I (until 1 August 527)
Born	Petrus Sabbatius 482 Tauresium, Dardania, Eastern Roman Empire
Died	14 November 565 (aged 83) Constantinople, Eastern Roman Empire
Burial	Church of the Holy Apostles
Spouse	Theodora (m. 525; d. 548)
Names Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus Regnal name Imperator Caesar Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus Augustus
Dynasty	Justinian dynasty
Father	Sabbatius (biological) Justin I (adoptive)
Mother	Vigilantia
Religion	Chalcedonian Christianity

Justinian I (/dʒʌˈstɪniən/ just-IN-ee-ən; Latin: Iūstīniānus, Classical Latin pronunciation: [juːstiːniˈaːnʊs]; ‹See Tfd›Greek: Ἰουστινιανός, translit. Ioustinianós, Byzantine Greek pronunciation: [i.ustini.aˈnos]; 482 – 14 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Roman emperor from 527 to 565.

His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized renovatio imperii, or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was expressed by the partial recovery of the territories of the defunct Western Roman Empire. 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 Tzani, a people on the east coast of the Black Sea that had never been under Roman rule before. 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, and historians have often characterized him as a workaholic who worked tirelessly to expand the Byzantine Empire. 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 Continental Europe and is still the basis of civil law in many modern states. His reign also marked a blossoming of Byzantine culture, and his building program yielded works such as the Hagia Sophia.

Life

Justinian was born in Tauresium, Dardania, probably in 482. A native speaker of Latin (possibly the last Roman emperor to be one), he came from a peasant family thought to have been of either of Illyro-Roman or Thraco-Roman origin. The name Iustinianus, which he took later, is indicative of adoption by his uncle Justin. During his reign, he founded Justiniana Prima not far from his birthplace. His mother was Vigilantia, the sister of Justin. Justin, who was commander of one of the imperial guard units (the Excubitors) before he became emperor, adopted Justinian, brought him to Constantinople, and ensured the boy's education. As a result, Justinian was well educated in jurisprudence, theology, and Roman history. Justinian served as a candidatus, one of 40 men selected from the scholae palatinae to serve as the emperor's personal bodyguard. The chronicler John Malalas, who lived during the reign of Justinian, describes his appearance as short, fair-skinned, curly-haired, round-faced, and handsome. Another contemporary historian, Procopius, compares Justinian's appearance to that of tyrannical Emperor Domitian, although this is probably slander.

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. 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 and Justin), Justinian was appointed consul and commander of the army of the east. Justinian remained Justin's close confidant, and in 525 was granted the titles of nobilissimus and caesar (heir-apparent). He was crowned co-emperor on 1 April 527, 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. 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 passed a law lifting restrictions on marriages with ex-actresses. 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 prodigiously talented generals, Belisarius and Narses.

The ancient town of Tauresium, the birthplace of Justinian I, located in today's North Macedonia. Parts of the town had been destroyed during Justinian's life.

Mosaic of Theodora, Justinian's wife

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 548 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, became even more devoted to religion during the later years of his life. He died on 14 November 565, 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 Latin States of the Fourth Crusade.

Reign

Legislative activities

Main article: Corpus Juris Civilis

The Carmagnola, an imperial porphyry head in Venice perhaps representing Justinian

Justinian achieved lasting fame through 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, 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 (laws) and the other rules were expressed or published: proper laws, senatorial 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), 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.

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.

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 discontinued the regular appointment of Consuls in 541.

In Constantinople, under Justinian, hospitals were built and free medical care provided to the many poor residents of the city. In addition, public baths were free for all residents and 20 state bakeries provided free bread to those who needed it. According to one study, “The empire’s social welfare programs ensured that no one went hungry.”

Nika riots

Main article: Nika riots

The Barberini Ivory, thought to portray either Justinian or Anastasius I

Justinian's habit of choosing efficient but unpopular advisers nearly cost him his throne early in his reign. In January 532, partisans of the chariot racing factions in Constantinople, normally rivals, united against Justinian in a revolt that has become known as the Nika riots. They forced him to dismiss Tribonian and two of his other ministers, and then attempted to overthrow Justinian himself and replace him with the senator Hypatius, who was a nephew of the late emperor Anastasius. While the crowd was rioting in the streets, Justinian considered fleeing the capital by sea, but eventually decided to stay, apparently on the prompting of his wife Theodora, who refused to leave. In the next two days, he ordered the brutal suppression of the riots by his generals Belisarius and Mundus. Procopius relates that 30,000 unarmed civilians were killed in the Hippodrome. On Theodora's insistence, and apparently against his own judgment, Justinian had Anastasius' nephews executed.

The destruction that took place during the revolt provided Justinian with an opportunity to tie his name to a series of splendid new buildings, most notably the architectural innovation of the domed Hagia Sophia.

Military activities

Reconstruction of the Column of Justinian, after Cornelius Gurlitt, 1912. The column was erected in the Augustaeum in Constantinople in 543 in honour of his military victories.

One of the most spectacular features of Justinian's reign was the recovery of large stretches of land around the Western Mediterranean basin that had slipped out of Imperial control in the 5th century. As a Christian Roman emperor, Justinian considered it his divine duty to restore the Roman Empire to its ancient boundaries. Although he never personally took part in military campaigns, he boasted of his successes in the prefaces to his laws and had them commemorated in art. The re-conquests were in large part carried out by his general Belisarius.

War with the Sassanid Empire, 527–532

Main article: Iberian War

From his uncle, Justinian inherited ongoing hostilities with the Sassanid Empire. In 530 the Persian forces suffered a double defeat at Dara and Satala, but the next year saw the defeat of Roman forces under Belisarius near Callinicum. Justinian then tried to make alliance with the Axumites of Ethiopia and the Himyarites of Yemen against the Persians, but this failed. When king Kavadh I of Persia died (September 531), Justinian concluded an "Eternal Peace" (which cost him 11,000 pounds of gold) with his successor Khosrau I (532). Having thus secured his eastern frontier, Justinian turned his attention to the West, where Germanic kingdoms had been established in the territories of the former Western Roman Empire.

Conquest of North Africa, 533–534

Main article: Vandalic War

The first of the western kingdoms Justinian attacked was that of the Vandals in North Africa. King Hilderic, who had maintained good relations with Justinian and the North African Catholic clergy, had been overthrown by his cousin Gelimer in 530 AD. Imprisoned, the deposed king appealed to Justinian. Justinian protested Gelimer's actions, demanding that Gelimer return the kingdom to Hilderic. Gelimer replied, in effect, that Justinian had no authority to make these demands. Angered at this response, Justinian quickly concluded his ongoing war with the Sassanian Empire and prepared an expedition against the Vandals in 533.

In 533, Belisarius sailed to Africa with a fleet of 92 dromons, escorting 500 transports carrying an army of about 15,000 men, as well as a number of barbarian troops. They landed at Caput Vada (modern Ras Kaboudia) 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 triumph. Sardinia and Corsica, the Balearic Islands, and the stronghold Septem Fratres near Mons Calpe (later named Gibraltar) were recovered in the same campaign.

A golden medallion celebrating the reconquest of Africa, AD 534

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, 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.

War in Italy, first phase, 535–540

Main article: Gothic War (535–554)

Justinian's conquests

As in Africa, dynastic struggles in Ostrogothic Italy provided an opportunity for intervention. The young king Athalaric had died on 2 October 534, and a usurper, Theodahad, had imprisoned queen Amalasuintha, Theodoric's daughter and mother of Athalaric, on the island of Martana in Lake Bolsena, where he had her assassinated in 535. Thereupon Belisarius, with 7,500 men, invaded Sicily (535) and advanced into Italy, sacking Naples and capturing Rome on 9 December 536. By that time Theodahad had been deposed by the Ostrogothic army, who had elected Vitigis as their new king. He gathered a large army and besieged Rome from February 537 to March 538 without being able to retake the city.

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. Then, having been recalled by Justinian, Belisarius returned to Constantinople, taking the captured Vitigis and his wife Matasuntha with him.

War with the Sassanid Empire, 540–562

Main article: Lazic War

Map of the Byzantine–Sasanian frontier in 565. In 541, the small but strategic region of Lazica on the eastern shore of the Black Sea became the new battlefield of the Roman–Persian Wars.

Belisarius had been recalled in the face of renewed hostilities by the Persians. Following a revolt against the Empire in Armenia in the late 530s and possibly motivated by the pleas of Ostrogothic ambassadors, King Khosrau I broke the "Eternal Peace" and invaded Roman territory in the spring of 540. He first sacked Beroea and then Antioch (allowing the garrison of 6,000 men to leave the city), besieged Daras, and then went on to attack the Byzantine base in the small but strategically significant satellite kingdom of Lazica near the Black Sea as requested by its discontented king Gubazes, exacting tribute from the towns he passed along his way. He forced Justinian I to pay him 5,000 pounds of gold, plus 500 pounds of gold more each year.

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. 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. 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.

War in Italy, second phase, 541–554

Spanish Visigothic gold Tremissis in the name of emperor Justinian I, 7th century. The Christian cross on the breast defines the Visigothic attribution. British Museum.

While military efforts were directed to the East, the situation in Italy took a turn for the worse. Under their respective kings Ildibad and Eraric (both murdered in 541) and especially Totila, the Ostrogoths made quick gains. After a victory at Faenza in 542, they reconquered the major cities of Southern Italy and soon held almost the entire Italian Peninsula. Belisarius was sent back to Italy late in 544 but lacked sufficient troops and supplies. Making no headway, he was relieved of his command in 548. Belisarius succeeded in defeating a Gothic fleet of 200 ships. During this period the city of Rome changed hands three more times, first taken and depopulated by the Ostrogoths in December 546, then reconquered by the Byzantines in 547, and then again by the Goths in January 550. Totila also plundered Sicily and attacked Greek coastlines.

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. 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 Frankish 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. The recovery of Italy cost the empire about 300,000 pounds of gold. Procopius estimated 15,000,000 Goths died.

Other campaigns

Emperor Justinian reconquered many former territories of the Western Roman Empire, including Italia, Dalmatia, Africa, and southern Hispania.

In addition to the other conquests, the Empire established a presence in Visigothic Hispania, when the usurper Athanagild requested assistance in his rebellion against King Agila I. In 552, Justinian dispatched a force of 2,000 men; according to the historian Jordanes, this army was led by the octogenarian Liberius. The Byzantines took Cartagena and other cities on the southeastern coast and founded the new province of Spania before being checked by their former ally Athanagild, who had by now become king. This campaign marked the apogee of Byzantine expansion.

During Justinian's reign, the Balkans suffered from several incursions by the Turkic 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 Sklavinoi and Kutrigurs under their khan Zabergan threatened Constantinople, but they were repulsed by the aged general Belisarius.

Results

Justinian's ambition to restore the Roman Empire to its former glory was only partly realized, with the only noteworthy sustainable conquests in Africa. In the West, the brilliant early military successes of the 530s were followed by years of stagnation. The dragging war with the Goths was a disaster for Italy, even though its long-lasting effects may have been less severe than is sometimes thought. The heavy taxes that the administration imposed upon Italian population were deeply resented.

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. 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.

Religious activities

A mosaic showing Justinian with the bishop of Ravenna (Italy), bodyguards, and courtiers

Justinian saw the orthodoxy of his empire threatened by diverging religious currents, especially monophysitism, which had many adherents in the eastern provinces of Syria and Egypt. Monophysite doctrine, which maintains that Jesus Christ had one divine nature rather than a synthesis of divine and human nature, had been condemned as a heresy by the Council of Chalcedon in 451, and the tolerant policies towards Monophysitism of Zeno and Anastasius I had been a source of tension in the relationship with the bishops of Rome.

Justin reversed this trend and confirmed the Chalcedonian doctrine, openly condemning the Monophysites. 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.

Near the end of his life, Justinian became ever more inclined towards the Monophysite doctrine, especially in the form of Aphthartodocetism, but he died before being able to issue any legislation. The empress Theodora sympathized with the Monophysites and is said to have been a constant source of pro-Monophysite 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.

Religious policy

Our Lady of Saidnaya Monastery, in present-day Syria, is traditionally held to have been founded by Justinian.

As in his secular administration, despotism appeared also in the Emperor's ecclesiastical policy. He regulated everything, both in religion and in law. At the very beginning of his reign, he deemed it proper to promulgate by law the Church's belief in the Trinity and the Incarnation, and to threaten all heretics with the appropriate penalties, whereas he subsequently declared that he intended to deprive all disturbers of orthodoxy of the opportunity for such offense by due process of law. He made the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan creed the sole symbol of the Church and accorded legal force to the canons of the four ecumenical councils. The bishops in attendance at the Council of Constantinople (536) recognized that nothing could be done in the Church contrary to the emperor's will and command, while, on his side, the emperor, in the case of the Patriarch Anthimus, reinforced the ban of the Church with temporal proscription. Justinian protected the purity of the church by suppressing heretics. He neglected no opportunity to secure the rights of the Church and clergy, and to protect and extend monasticism. He granted the monks the right to inherit property from private citizens and the right to receive solemnia, or annual gifts, from the Imperial treasury or from the taxes of certain provinces and he prohibited lay confiscation of monastic estates.

Modern mosaic from Our Lady of Saidnaya Monastery depicting the Virgin Mary holding the Child Christ on her lap. On her right side stands Justinian. On her left side stands Theodora. After the Muslim conquest of the Levant, the gold background was replaced with a plain white one and the Greek text was modified into Arabic.

Although the despotic character of his measures is contrary to modern sensibilities, he was a "nursing father" of the Church. 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), the original site having been destroyed during the Nika riots. The new Hagia Sophia, with its numerous chapels and shrines, gilded octagonal dome, and mosaics, became the centre and most visible monument of Eastern Orthodoxy in Constantinople.

Religious relations with Rome

From the middle of the 5th century onward, increasingly arduous tasks confronted the emperors of the East in ecclesiastical matters. Justinian entered the arena of ecclesiastical statecraft shortly after his uncle's accession in 518, and put an end to the Acacian schism. Previous Emperors had tried to alleviate theological conflicts by declarations that deemphasized the Council of Chalcedon, which had condemned monophysitism, which had strongholds in Egypt and Syria, and by tolerating the appointment of Monophysites to church offices. The Popes reacted by severing ties with the Patriarch of Constantinople who supported these policies. Emperors Justin I (and later Justinian himself) rescinded these policies and reestablished the union between Constantinople and Rome. After this, Justinian also felt entitled to settle disputes in papal elections, as he did when he favored Vigilius and had his rival Silverius deported.

Hagia Sophia mosaic depicting the Virgin Mary holding the Child Christ on her lap. On her right side stands Justinian, offering a model of the Hagia Sophia. On her left, Constantine I presents a model of Constantinople.

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 Monophysites and Miaphysites (who were mistaken to be adherers of Monophysitism) 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 Monophysites 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 Monophysitism 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 Monophysites remained unsatisfied – all the more bitter for him because during his last years he took an even greater interest in theological matters.

Authoritarian rule

Saint Justinian the Great
Illustration of an angel showing Justinian a model of Hagia Sophia in a vision, by Herbert Cole (1912)
Emperor
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodoxy Lutheranism
Major shrine	Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople
Feast	14 November
Attributes	Imperial Vestment

Justinian's religious policy reflected the conviction that the unity of the Empire presupposed unity of faith, and it appeared to him obvious that this faith could only be the orthodoxy (Chalcedonian). Those of a different belief were subjected to persecution, which imperial legislation had effected from the time of Constantius II and which would now vigorously continue. The Codex contained two statutes that decreed the total destruction of paganism, even in private life; these provisions were zealously enforced. Contemporary sources (John Malalas, Theophanes, and John of Ephesus) tell of severe persecutions, including men in high positions.

The original Academy of Plato 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.

In Asia Minor alone, John of Ephesus was reported to have converted 70,000 pagans, which was probably an exaggerated number. Other peoples also accepted Christianity: the Heruli, the Huns dwelling near the Don, the Abasgi, and the Tzanni in Caucasia.

The worship of Amun at the oasis of Awjila in the Libyan desert was abolished, and so were the remnants of the worship of Isis on the island of Philae, at the first cataract of the Nile. The Presbyter Julian and the Bishop Longinus conducted a mission among the Nabataeans, and Justinian attempted to strengthen Christianity in Yemen by dispatching a bishop from Egypt.

The civil rights of Jews were restricted and their religious privileges threatened. Justinian also interfered in the internal affairs of the synagogue and encouraged the Jews to use the Greek Septuagint in their synagogues in Constantinople.

The Emperor faced significant opposition from the Samaritans, 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. However, he could not prevent reprisals towards Christians from taking place in Samaria toward the close of his reign.

The consistency of Justinian's policy meant that the Manicheans too suffered persecution, experiencing both exile and threat of capital punishment. In Constantinople, c.450, a number of Manicheans, after strict inquisition, were executed by burning.

Architecture, learning, art and literature

Consular diptych displaying Justinian's full name (Constantinople 521)

Justinian was a prolific builder; the historian Procopius bears witness to his activities in this area. Under Justinian's reign, the San Vitale in Ravenna, which features two famous mosaics representing Justinian and Theodora, was completed under the sponsorship of Julius Argentarius. Most notably, he had the Hagia Sophia, originally a basilica-style church that had been burnt down during the Nika riots, splendidly rebuilt according to a completely different ground plan, under the architectural supervision of Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. On 26 December 537, according to Pseudo-Codinus, Justinian stated at the completion of this edifice: "Solomon, I have outdone thee" (in reference to the first Jewish temple). The church had a second inauguration on 24 December 562, after several reworks made by Isidore the Younger. This new cathedral, with its magnificent dome filled with mosaics, remained the centre of eastern Christianity for centuries.

The present Basilica of Saint Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria, is believed to be the fifth structure to be constructed on the site and was built during the reign of Emperor Justinian I.

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. 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. 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.

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, an advanced arch 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 Berytus lost their importance during his reign.

Economy and administration

Further information: Byzantine silk

Gold coin of Justinian I (527–565) excavated in India probably in the south, an example of Indo-Roman trade during the period

As was the case under Justinian's predecessors, the Empire's economic health rested primarily on agriculture. In addition, long-distance trade flourished, reaching as far north as Cornwall where tin was exchanged for Roman wheat. Within the Empire, convoys sailing from Alexandria provided Constantinople with wheat and grains. Justinian made the traffic more efficient by building a large granary on the island of Tenedos for storage and further transport to Constantinople. Justinian also tried to find new routes for the eastern trade, which was suffering badly from the wars with the Persians.

One important luxury product was silk, 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. 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. Then, in the early 550s, two monks succeeded in smuggling eggs of silk worms from Central Asia back to Constantinople, and silk became an indigenous product.

Scene from daily life on a mosaic from the Great Palace of Constantinople, early 6th century

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 vicariates of the dioceses, of which a number were abolished. The overall trend was towards a simplification of administrative infrastructure. 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. 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 Persians (540). Justinian had the city rebuilt, but on a slightly smaller scale.

Despite all these measures, 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 decimating the Empire's population, probably created a scarcity of labor and a rising of wages. The lack of manpower also led to a significant increase in the number of "barbarians" in the Byzantine armies after the early 540s. 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.

Natural disasters

Main articles: 551 Beirut earthquake, Extreme weather events of 535–536, and Plague of Justinian

An older Justinian; mosaic in Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna (possibly a modified portrait of Theodoric)

During the 530s, it seemed to many that God had abandoned the Christian Roman Empire. There were noxious fumes in the air and the Sun, while still providing daylight, refused to give much heat. The extreme weather events of 535–536 led to a famine such as had not been recorded before, affecting both Europe and the Middle East. These events may have been caused by an atmospheric dust veil resulting from a large volcanic eruption.

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".

The causes of these disasters are not precisely known, but volcanoes at the Rabaul caldera, Lake Ilopango, Krakatoa, or, according to a recent finding, in Iceland are suspected.

Seven years later in 542, a devastating outbreak of Bubonic Plague, known as the Plague of Justinian and second only to Black Death of the 14th century, killed tens of millions. Justinian and members of his court, physically unaffected by the previous 535–536 famine, 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 eastern Mediterranean was rocked by the 551 Beirut earthquake, which triggered a tsunami. The combined fatalities of both events likely exceeded 30,000, with tremors felt from Antioch to Alexandria.

Cultural depictions

Justinian was one of the first Roman Emperors to be depicted holding the cross-surmounted orb on the obverse of a coin.

Emperor Justinian in Council (1886), by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant, prior to restoration in 2020

Presentation of the pandects to Emperor Justinian (design for a mural in the Court building in Kassel, 1891) by Hermann Knackfuss

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"), 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. 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.

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.

Historical sources

Procopius provides the primary source for the history of Justinian's reign, but his opinion is tainted by a feeling of betrayal when Justinian became more pragmatic and less idealistic (Justinian and the Later Roman Empire by John W. Barker). He became very bitter towards Justinian and his empress, Theodora. 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.

See also

• Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, rebuilt by Justinian
• International Roman Law Moot Court

References

• This article incorporates text from the Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.

Primary sources

• Procopius, Historia Arcana.
  • The Anecdota or Secret History Archived 5 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Edited by H. B. Dewing. 7 vols. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press and London, Hutchinson, 1914–40. Greek text and English translation.
  • Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia Archived 25 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Edited by J. Haury; revised by G. Wirth. 3 vols. Leipzig: Teubner, 1962–64. Greek text.
  • The Secret History, translated by G.A. Williamson. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1966. A readable and accessible English translation of the Anecdota.
• John Malalas, Chronicle Archived 9 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine, translated by Elizabeth Jeffreys, Michael Jeffreys & Roger Scott, 1986. Byzantina Australiensia 4 (Melbourne: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies) ISBN 0-9593626-2-2
• Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, translated by Edward Walford (1846), reprinted 2008. Evolution Publishing, ISBN 978-1-889758-88-6.

Bibliography

• Barker, John W. (1966). Justinian and the Later Roman Empire. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0299039448.
• Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
• Bury, J. B. (1958). History of the later Roman Empire. Vol. 2. New York (reprint).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Bury, J. B. (2012). History of the later Roman Empire. Vol. 1. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486143385.
• Meyendorff, John (1989). Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450–680 A.D. The Church in history. Vol. 2. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88-141056-3.
• Cameron, Averil; et al. (eds.). "Justinian Era". The Cambridge Ancient History. 14 (Second ed.). Cambridge. ISBN 9780521325912.
• Cumberland Jacobsen, Torsten (2009). The Gothic War. Westholme. ISBN 9781594160844.
• Dixon, Pierson (1958). The Glittering Horn: Secret Memoirs of the Court of Justinian.
• Evans, James Allan (2005). The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-32582-3.
• Garland, Lynda (1999). Byzantine empresses: women and power in Byzantium, AD 527–1204. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781134756391.
• Maas, Michael, ed. (2005). The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139826877.
• Martindale, J.R., ed. (1980). "Fl. Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus 7". Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. pp. 645–648.
• Meier, Mischa (2003). Das andere Zeitalter Justinians. Kontingenz Erfahrung und Kontingenzbewältigung im 6. Jahrhundert n. Chr [The other age of Justinian: Experience of contingency and coping with contingency in the 6th century AD.] (in German). Gottingen. ISBN 9783666252464.
• Meier, Mischa (2004). Justinian. Herrschaft, Reich, und Religion [Justinian: Rule, Empire and Religion] (in German). Munich: CH Beck. ISBN 9783406508325.
• Moorhead, John (2013). Justinian. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781317898795.
• Rosen, William (2007). Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe. Viking Adult. ISBN 978-0-670-03855-8.
• Rubin, Berthold (1960). Das Zeitalter Iustinians. Berlin.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) – German standard work; partially obsolete, but still useful.
• Sarris, Peter (2006). Economy and society in the age of Justinian. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139459044.
• Sarris, Peter (2023). Justinian: emperor, soldier, saint. London: Basic Books. ISBN 9781529365399.
• Ure, PN (1951). Justinian and his Age. Penguin, Harmondsworth.
• Vasiliev, A. A. (1952). History of the Byzantine Empire (2nd ed.). Madison.
• Sidney Dean; Duncan B. Campbell; Ian Hughes; Ross Cowan; Raffaele D'Amato; Christopher Lillington-Martin, eds. (June–July 2010). "Justinian's fireman: Belisarius and the Byzantine empire". Ancient Warfare. IV (3).
• Turlej, Stanisław (2016). Justiniana Prima: An Underestimated Aspect of Justinian's Church Policy. Krakow: Jagiellonian University Press. ISBN 978-8323395560.

External links

• Kettenhofen, Erich (2009). "Justinian I". Archived copy. Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XV, Fasc. 3. pp. 257–262. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2018.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
• St Justinian the Emperor Archived 23 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Orthodox Icon and Synaxarion (14 November)
• The Anekdota ("Secret history") of Procopius in English translation. Archived 11 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• Lewis E 244 Infortiatum at OPenn Archived 9 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine
• The Buildings of Procopius in English translation.
• The Roman Law Library by Professor Yves Lassard and Alexandr Koptev
• Lecture series covering 12 Byzantine Rulers, including Justinian Archived 18 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine – by Lars Brownworth
• De Imperatoribus Romanis. An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors Archived 13 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Reconstruction of column of Justinian in Constantinople Archived 1 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes Archived 29 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Preface to the Digest of Emperor Justinian
• Annotated Justinian Code (University of Wyoming website)
• Mosaic of Justinian in Hagia Sophia Archived 9 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine