Mediaeval European History – Lecture 5
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After the "collapse” of the Roman Empire, there remained rulers in the east in
Constantinople who still called themselves “Roman emperors,” and only
viewed it as a loss of Western territory.
Why did the Eastern Roman Empire remain?
o East was more populated
o Deeper-rooted civilization
o More prosperous cities
o Peasants were freer and more prosperous
o More dynamic economy
o The east was generally a stronger unit, politically and economically.
Constantinople was a very strategically located city, surrounded by water,
and well-protected from it’s enemies (Germanic tribes in the north and
Persians in the East.)
The eastern part of the empire was also better governed, and the government
was wealthier.
o While the Western emperors had been facing tax revolts, the Eastern
emperors had been stocking their treasuries.
Constantinople was well defended as well, by wall built by both Constantine
and Theodosius.
502 AD, Persia declared war on Eastern Empire
Soon after, the Slavs threatened to empire from the North, while the Bulgars
threatened it from the North-East.
To keep his enemies out, Emperor Anastasius built another wall, 30 miles
West of Constantinople.
o This wall protected the city, but also had the effect of isolating
Constantinople from the Western territories, causing the empire’s
capital to lose touch with the West and eventually become more
“Eastern.”
Anastasius died in 518, leaving no heirs.
Following in the tradition of the Roman Empire, the army chose a successor,
proclaiming their commander, Justin, as emperor.
Justin was already an old man at the time, however, and soon had to choose
an heir himself.
He focused on his favorite nephew, Justinian, and established him as coemperor to groom him for the role.
520 AD, Justinian fell in love with and “actress” named Theodora (At the
time, “actress” was synonymous with “prostitute”).
Theodora had met Justinian because she had been living with a roommate
who was a spy for the Roman empire, and through the roommate they were
introduced.
Constantine had forbid it in Roman law for any member of the royal family
to marry and “actress.”
Justinian went to his uncle the emperor to ask him to amend this law.
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Justin decreed that actresses who had permanently changed their ways
would be cleansed of all sins and would be permitted to marry anyone.
Theodora had actually left the “stage” much earlier and had converted to
Christianity. It was her past that had prevented her and Justinian from
marrying.
524 AD, Justinian and Theodora were married in Constantinople.
Theodora acted as unofficial co-emperor, helping Justinian rule when his
uncle died.
Justinian is considered a crucial transitional emperor, between the old type
of western-style Roman emperor, and the Eastern-style Byzantine emperors.
o For example, he and his court spoke Latin, but was the last of the
emperors to do so, before Greek began to be spoken more
prevalently.
Also, one of his first acts as emperor was to refine Roman laws, and collected
them into one body of law.
The Justinian legal code was the first of it’s kind for the empire, and it was
Justinian’s legacy to his successors.
However, Justinian introduced a new legal preset, which said that he as
emperor was not only a secular ruler, but also the representative of God (the
Christian God).
o In this way, Justinian molded the rule of the Byzantine emperors to
come.
o His political decisions now had the authority of God behind them, and
he was able to make pronouncements on Christian doctrine.
o Justinian outlawed other religions, and adherents to the old Greek and
Roman religions had no choice but to leave the empire.
 This possibly resulted in a loss of professional knowledge/skill
for the empire.
Justinian was a very determined, ambitious, and restless person.
o It’s said he often went without sleep and food
o He had vast plans for the empire.
He wanted to reclaim lost Roman territory in the West, and to rebuild
Constantinople to reflect his rule as emperor.
The money required for his ambitions, however, meant heavy taxes.
Constantinople was wracked with gang warfare, but the raise in taxes
actually united the gangs against the emperor.
542 AD, the gangs rioted throughout the city in protest, demanding the
emperor reduce taxes and punish tax officials. Justinian refused.
Known as the “Nike” revolt, named after the Greek goddess of victory.
Justinian shut himself in the palace in a panic, with plans to a flee the city.
Theodora, however, refused to abandon the city, and Justinian, shameful at
his own cowardly actions, agreed to stay and defend the city.
He formed a plan and quashed the Nike revolt, winning back control of the
city.
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Large areas of the city had been destroyed by the rioting gangs, and required
rebuilding, a task that Justinian had wanted to achieve in the first place.
Built the Hagia Sophia, the church that was to be the “centerpiece” of
Christianity in the empire.
o The Hagia Sophia was extremely opulent, filled with treasures and
relics.
o It took 10, 000 workers to build.
o The master builder was also a skill mathematician, who worked out
the groundbreaking engineering that makes it an architectural marvel.
o It wasn’t built as a Western-style church, but rather was defined by an
Eastern style architecture, the style that would define the future
Byzantine empire.
Justinian also turned his attention Westward to reconquer territory.
He had managed to establish a truce with the Persian Empire, which gave
him time to target the West.
He first targeted the Vandals in the South, and in 533 he was able to capture
the Vandal capital, Carthage.
He dispatched an army to Italy in 535, where they conquered Sicily, Naples
and Rome by 536.
By 540, Justinian had captured most of the Italian peninsula, as well as
Southern Spain. In 540, however, the so-called “Eternal Peace” truce that had
been made with Persia ended.
o Justinian had agreed as terms of the truce to pay Persia each year, but
when the costs of war emptied the Empire’s treasuries, Justinian
defaulted on the payment, and Persia declared war.
In 548, Theodora died.
Justinian was back on the defensive again, and his success turned out to be
fleeting.