Emperor Justinian I - In Five Minutes

you when emperor justinian the first succeeded his uncle justin in 527 c ii the roman empire was a shadow of its former self upon the death of Theodosius ii in 395 it had been permanently divided between east and west by 476 overwhelmed by repeated incursions the western portion had completely collapsed various barbarian kingdoms had arisen in its place including the Ostrogoths in italy the Visigoths in spain the vandals in North Africa and the Franks in northern Gaul among others the Hellenized remainder was known thereafter as Byzantium and further east the sasanian 's constituted an ever-present threat although intermittent warfare with Persia persisted for most of Justinian reign these wars although costly yielded few significant territorial adjustments otherwise Justinian's early focus was domestic upon his accession he ordered a complete consolidation and revision of Roman law the resulting corpus juris civilus commonly known as Justinian's code consisted of a complete legal code a digest of writings by important jurists a conceptual study of imperial law and a series of new enactments by Justinian himself despite this early accomplishment events in the capital threatened to force Justinian from the throne like Rome Constantinople was a city of Seven Hills straddling Europe and Asia where the Bosphorus joins the Sea of Marmara the city was endowed with strong walls and an enviable strategic position nevertheless prompted by widespread discontent with Justinian's ministers rioting in the Hippodrome spiraled into general unrest that shook the capital to its core known as the Nike riots there were the most severe civil disturbance in its history Justinian himself nearly fled and abandoned his throne but was prompted to hold firm by his formidable Empress consort Theodora he ultimately suppress the rebellion but only after widespread devastation in the city in its aftermath he initiated a grand building program renovating the palace of black ni and rebuilding the famed hyah Sophia Cathedral which still stands today in the foreign policy arena Justinian was determined to restore Imperial rule to the West taking advantage of civil strife among the vandals he deployed general Belisarius to North Africa where he promptly defeated King Gelimer at ad decima min 533 by 534 the Vandal Kingdom and North Africa had disintegrated and Byzantine rule was restored with Byzantine fortunes on the rise Justinian men launched a two-pronged invasion of Italy in 535 inaugurating the Gothic wars early successes saw the Byzantines recapture Dalmatia and much of Italy's south of the Po River but most of these gains proved ephemeral and the empire was drawn into two decades of volatile warfare on the peninsula as the conflict progressed a brutal epidemic arrived from the east dubbed the plague of Justinian it killed up to 1/4 of the Empire's population and returned in recurrent waves through 750 together with the Gothic war the plague imposed a mounting strain on Imperial finances undeterred Justinian dispatched expeditionary forces to Italy and 551 and Spain in 552 the latter quickly recalled Spain southeast and Byzantine victories ATAG and I and Mons lactarius permanently Brokaw stir Gothic power in Italy paving the way for a full reconquest thereafter the Ostrogoths ceased to play a major role in regional affairs Buttrey conquered Italy including its principal cities Rome and Ravenna had been dramatically depopulated at this point the Franks who had been steadily extending their influence in Western Europe invaded Italy in 553 alongside their alemannic allies however the Byzantines under Narcisse annihilated the combined force at the Battle of volt earnest in 554 cementing the Empire's hold on Italy together with the recovery of Spain and North Africa this brought the Empire to its greatest territorial extent since the collapse of the West a century earlier for this reason when he died in 565 Justinian the great was celebrated for his quest to restore the Roman Empire to its previous grandeur nevertheless his reconquest left Byzantium dangerously overstretched and ill-prepared to manage growing threats like the lombards and Pannonia the Avars to the north and the rising arab tribes to the southeast within a century of Justinian's death the lombards would invade Italy the Avars would continually ravage the Balkans the Visigoths would retake southern Spain and the Arab Caliphate would overrun Egypt and Syria leading many to question whether Byzantium short-lived dominion over a depopulated West was a wise investment of Imperial resources whether prudent or not Justinian's foreign policy would earned him lasting fame as a committed steward of the Roman legacy

Channel: In Five Minutes

Views: 6,779

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Keywords: Justinian, Justinian's Reconquest, Byzantine Empire, Gothic Wars, Theodora, Justinian I

Id: EbsxAsmNwzU

Length: 5min 18sec (318 seconds)

Published: Fri May 08 2020