Emperor
Justinian I
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At its height, the Byzantine Empire
was ruled by Justinian I (r. 527-565).
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Justinian was the son of prosperous
peasants from Macedonia.
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As a young
man in the
court of his
uncle,
Emperor
Justin I,
Justinian
was a very
conscientious
student.
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Justinian’s
enthusiasm for
knowledge and
hard work
continued
throughout his
entire life.
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Justinian was
44 years-old
when he was
crowned
emperor of
the Byzantine
Empire in A.D.
527.
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[Image source: http://courses.washington.edu/drama416/images/byzantine/byzantine2.jpg]
Over the
objections of
his court,
Justinian
married an
ambitious
circus
prostitute by
the name of
Theodora.
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[Image source:
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Theodora
proved to be
a capable
empress,
actively
assisting
Justinian in
running the
government.
Concerned with
improving the
social standing of
women, Theodora
persuaded her
husband to issue a
decree giving a wife
the right to own
land equal in value
to the wealth she
brought to the
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marriage.
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Empress Theodora also managed
to promote other social changes:
• women gained the right to sue
for divorce
• prohibition against forced
prostitution
• death penalty in cases of rape
Theodora’s determination inspired
Justinian to be a more resolute ruler.
[Image source: http://courses.washington.edu/drama416/images/byzantine/byzantine1.jpg]
Political factions derived their names
from the colours worn by charioteers.
The Greens
represented
Monophysitism
and the lower
class.
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Monophysitism
is the belief
that Jesus
Christ was
divine.
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The Blues
represented
orthodoxy
and the
upper class.
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In A.D. 532 a revolt erupted among
the spectators at a chariot race.
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The Nika
Revolt
resulted
from
anger
over
excessive
taxation.
[Image source:
http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE10CX.HTM
When Empress
Theodora
refused to
evacuate the
capital, Emperor
Justinian I
decided to
remain and fight
the rebels.
The Byzantine
generals Narses
and Belisarius
ultimately led
the Imperial
Guard in
fighting the
rebels.
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Eventually 30,000 subjects would perish
during the suppression of the rebellion.
The Sassanian Empire of Persia
threatened to conquer the eastern
provinces of the Byzantine Empire .
Although the Byzantines managed to
rally their forces and repel the
invaders, Justinian had to agree to
pay tribute in exchange for peace.
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With his eastern flank temporarily
secure, Justinian turned his attention
to restoring the Roman empire.
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Under the
leadership of
the General
Belisarius, the
Byzantine
armies were
strengthened
and
reorganized.
Belisarius then sailed to North Africa
with a fleet of 500 ships. Feigning an
attack near Egypt, he sailed on to
land farther west along the coast.
Between A.D. 533 and A.D. 555, the
Byzantines fought a series of wars against the
Vandals of North Africa, the Ostrogoths in
Italy, and Visigoths in southern Spain.
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A Visigoth Christ
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The Byzantines succeeded in
conquering these Germanic groups
and extended their rule in the west.
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The wars of re-conquest exhausted
Byzantium’s resources, leaving it
vulnerable to attacks in the East by
an expanding Persian Empire.
[Image source: http://www.anastos.nd.edu/images/byz9a.jpg]
The success of the Roman campaign
allowed Justinian to send Belisarius
to the East in order to suppress
several eastern barbarian uprisings.
Remember:
loot, pillage,
THEN burn!
Within a generation of Justinian’s
death, the empire lost many of its
outlying territories.
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Emperor
Justinian I
appointed a
commission of
ten scholars to
codify the
empire’s
Roman laws.
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Under the
distinguished
jurist
Tribonian, the
commission
took six years
to collect and
organize the
Byzantine
legal code.
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http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/lawgivers/images/tribonian.jpg]
Justinian’s legal
reforms
• reduced the bulky old codes into
one easy to read codex
• created a book of legal precedents
• standardized legal training in the
empire
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This work
preserved
Rome’s legal
heritage and
became the
basis for most
European
legal systems.
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Justinian was very aggressive in
the construction of roads, . . .
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fortresses, . . .
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aqueducts, . . .
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. . . and monasteries.
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Justinian’s most famous project was the
church of Hagia Sophia in Constantiople.
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Hagia Sophia
means “Holy
Wisdom”.
[Image source:
http://www.byzantina.com/images/6_4d_hagia_sophia.jpg]