Justinian I

According to his contemporary Procopius, Justinian was born in the hamlet of Tauresium in the province of Dardania, near the fortress of Bederiana, and close by the city of Justiniana Prima that he later founded. Later scholarship places his birth around 482. Tauresium is most commonly identified with the archaeological site of Gradište, by the village of Taor about 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Skopje, in what is now North Macedonia, with Bederiana placed at nearby Bader. This identification was first advanced by Arthur Evans and later confirmed by excavations directed by the archaeologist Kiro Ristov. By contrast, the prevailing identification of Justiniana Prima remains the site of Caričin Grad, which is located near Naissus (modern Niš) in Serbia, a location supported by the site's correspondence to Procopius' description and by lead seals of its archbishop. The considerable distance between the two sites, which is at odds with Procopius' statement that Justinian built the city close to his birthplace, has prompted scholarly debate about the place of his birthplace.

A native speaker of Latin (among the last Eastern Roman emperors to be one), he came from a peasant family thought to have been of either of Thraco-Roman or Illyro-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, with receding hairline and greying hair and beard. Another contemporary historian, Procopius, describing him in similar terms, compares Justinian's appearance to that of Emperor Domitian, although this may be an allusion to one of the most despised men in Roman history.

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 or 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 prostitute 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. Though the marriage caused a scandal, Theodora would become very influential in the politics of the Empire. It was said that Theodora matched Justinian's great energy and intelligence, thereby making their partnership an effective one. 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 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.

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, 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.

His legislations restricted avenues of divorce, including divorce by mutual consent. The latter was overturned by his immediate successor, Justin II.

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 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 personhood.

He made laws against male homosexual acts, claiming they “cause earthquakes and famine” and arguing that they were a form of “atheism.” He enacted the law retrospectively, and a person could be convicted on the testimony of a single witness. Those convicted had their genitals cut off and were paraded through the streets.

Furthermore he passed legislation directed against philosophers, astrologers, heretics, pagans, Manicheans, Jews and Samaritans, forbidding them from holding public office, destroying their places of worship and restricting the ownership of property.

Justinian discontinued the regular appointment of Consuls in 541. Also, he was the first emperor to claim in a law that, by God’s authority, he was the incarnation of the law and therefore above it.

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. Justinian had Anastasius' nephews executed.

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. 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.

Justinian's reign was marked by the recovery of large stretches of land around the Western Mediterranean basin that had slipped out of imperial control in the 5th century. 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.

From his uncle, Justinian inherited ongoing hostilities with the Sasanian 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. To counter the growing influence of the Persians in the Arabian Peninsula, Justinian occupied the Tiran Island and established a client network across the coast of Western Arabia, Central Arabia, and attempted to bring Himyar (the South Arabian kingdom) and Aksum (the Ethiopian kingdom) under his sway. However, his attempts to make alliances with the Axumites of Ethiopia and the Himyarites of Yemen against the Persians failed. When the Sasanian emperor Kavad I died in 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 peoples had established kingdoms in the territories of the former Western Roman Empire.

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. 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 Sasanians 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 (now Ras Kaboudia, now in Chebba in 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 of Septem Fratres (now Ceuta) near the Rock of Gibraltar (Latin Mons Calpe) were recovered in the same campaign.

In this war, the contemporary Procopius remarks that the coastal region of North Africa known in Latin as '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." However, JAS Evans casts doubt on Procopius' claims, and asserts that there was a large building program following the conquest, and despite periods of unrest, Africa was generally flourishing. A praetorian prefecture of Africa, 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 Mauri 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.

As in Africa, dynastic struggles in the Amal dynasty ruling the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and the northern Balkans 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 Vitiges 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 (Mediolanum) 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 laid siege to the capital of Ravenna. There he was offered the title of Western Roman Emperor by the Ostrogoths at the same time envoys of Justinian were arriving to negotiate a peace that would leave the region north of the Po 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 Vitiges and his queen Mataswintha with him.

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 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 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.

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.

Procopius provides some of the primary sources for the history of Justinian's reign, although his works show a growing disillusionment and bitterness toward Justinian and his empress Theodora. While he glorified Justinian's architectural achievements in his panegyric (Buildings) and offered a more reserved account in his historical work (Wars), Procopius also wrote a hostile text, Anecdota (the so-called Secret History), in which Justinian is portrayed as cruel, corrupt, incompetent, and even demonic. The chronicle of John Malalas is another widely used source, offering a summary of the events of Justinian's reign; it generally reflects a more neutral to favorable perspective, emphasizing Justinian’s building activity, legislation, and piety.

Justinian is widely regarded as a saint by Eastern Christians. In various Eastern Orthodox Churches, such as the Orthodox Church in America, Justinian and his empress Theodora are commemorated on the anniversary of his death, 14 November.

In Eastern Churches that use the Julian calendar, the commemoration falls on 27 November. The Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Lutheran Church–Canada also commemorate Justinian on 14 November.

Poetry

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 perfect ruler who was a defender of the Christian faith, a great lawgiver 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.

In the early 560s, Paul the Silentiary wrote a poem that praised the emperor and the Hagia Sophia.

Books

Justinian is a chief protagonist of Belisarius in Empire in Apocalypse by Robert Bruton (Legend Books 2023), though the emperor's jealousy and envy of Belisarius eventually prompted him to undermine his best general.

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.

Justinian is featured in Stella Duffy's historical novel, Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore which was published in 2010. Justinian and Theodora are portrayed as having a loving and effective partnership.

Valerius II, a major character in Guy Gavriel Kay's book Sailing to Sarantium, was modelled on Justinian. He is portrayed as a powerful ruler, who worked for the good of his empire.

Films

In the 1968 West German–Italian historical drama film The Last Roman (Kampf um Rom) Justinian is played by Orson Welles.

In the 1985 Soviet film Primary Russia, Justinian is played by Innokenty Smoktunovsky.

Others

Justinian occasionally appears in the comic strip Prince Valiant, usually as a nemesis of the title character.