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Admin moved page How did the wars of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, change history? to How did the wars of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, change history
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[[File: Justinian I.png|200px|thumbthumbnail|left|Justinian I from a mosaic in Ravenna]]
There is a growing appreciation of the importance of the Byzantines in the history and development of Europe and the Middle East. It comprised the Eastern half of the Roman Empire and its inhabitants regarded themselves as Romans. One of the greatest figures in the history of this Empire is the Emperor Justinian (483-565). He is regularly known as Justinian the Great and is even a saint in the Greek Orthodox Church. Justinian was a man of remarkable ability and vision and he sought to restore the Roman Empire, to its former glory and extent. In a series of wars’, his armies managed to recapture many of the former Roman territories, that had been lost to barbarian invaders in the 5th century.
====The Background====
[[File: Justinian 2.jpg|200px|thumbthumbnail|left|Belisarius from a mosaic]]
The Roman Empire had been divided by the Emperor Theodosius I into an Eastern and Western state. The two parts of the Roman Word were very different from the east, mainly Greek-speaking, wealthier and urban, while the west, was mainly Latin speaking and increasingly impoverished. The Western Empire was much weaker than the East and after the collapse of the Rhine frontier in 410 AD it was slowly occupied by various Germanic tribes who created states in the former Imperial provinces.
====The reign of Justinian and his wars of conquests====
[[File: Justinian 3.jpg|200px|thumbthumbnail|left|A gold coin of Justinian I]]
Justinian was born in Illyria and his uncle Justin had become commander of the Imperial bodyguard and had been crowned Emperor in 518 AD. Justinian became a trusted advisor to his childless uncle whom he succeeded in 527 AD. He married a former courtesan Theodora, and this was very controversial and made the Emperor unpopular in some circles.<ref><i>Procopius, The Secret History</i>, translated by Anthony Kaldellis (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2010), p 15. </ref> He was a capable administrator, and he ordered the codification of the law code which was very progressive for the time. Justinian was also a great builder, and his greatest achievement was the magnificent Hagia Sophia. The Emperor was a committed Christian, and he closed the ‘pagan’ academy founded by Plato during his reign.
====The Restoration of the Roman Empire====
Justinian believed that his efforts to reconquer the territories of the former Western Roman Empire was an almost religious duty. He was determined as a Christian Emperor to restore the Roman Empire as he believed that it was ordained by God to achieve the ultimate Christianization of the world .<ref>Evans, p 87</ref>. He was himself a Latin speaker and was born shortly after the Fall of the Roman Empire. His campaigns in Italy, Spain and North Africa looked to have at least partially restored the Empire, of Augustus and Marcus Aurelius. <ref>George, p 201</ref>
While impressive, his conquests proved fleeting. Most of Italy was lost in the reign of his successor Justin I. The Lombards, a German tribe, occupied most of Italy by the 570 AD and only the extreme south of Italy and Sicily remained in Byzantine hands. The territories that were taken in the south-west of Spain were lost to the Visigoths within 50 years. While the new North African province was to prosper for another century and it was eventually captured by the Muslims and became part of the Umayyad Empire. The conquests of Justinian were mostly ephemeral and apart from some possession in Italy, and he failed in his efforts to restore the Roman Empire, to its former extent and power. This failure was mainly because caused by his aims did not consider inability to understand the new political realities of the 6th century AD in the Mediterraneanregion.
====Overextending of the Empire====
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Many historians have criticized Justinian for his efforts to re-conquer the old western provinces of Rome. It has been widely argued that he placed an intolerable strain on the military and financial resources of the Byzantine Empire. He imposed very heavy taxation on his realm at a time when it was suffering from depopulation due to plague and natural disasters, such as earthquakes. This undoubtedly weakened the rulers who followed him because Justinian’s wars exhausted the state and its people. His successors such as Justin II were not able to hold onto his conquests.
The conquests of Justinian left a paradoxically legacy in that they gravely undermined the Byzantine Empire. Yet the conquests of Justinian helped his heirs to fight off a multitude of enemies and allowed the Eastern Roman Empire, to enjoy a renaissance in the 9th and 10th centuries A.D.
====Justinian and the end of the World of Late Antiquity====
Justinian wanted to revive the Roman Empire, which he saw as essential for the future of Christianity. He stamped out any practices deemed to be pagan, for example in his reign the last pagan communities were suppressed or converted. However, his policy of Christianization meant that classical learning and philosophy all but disappeared and that education came increasingly under the purview of the Church. His conquests were to end the last vestiges of the Classical World in the Mediterranean, which emphasised reason, secular values, and an urban culture. The wars he fought to secure Italy and Rome were devastating. Here classical culture, continued to flourish, urban living, a state apparatus, and the study of classical subjects had continued even during the rule of the Ostrogoths, preserved by the old Roman aristocracy.
His conquests were to end the last vestiges of the Classical World in the Mediterranean, which emphasized reason, secular values, and urban culture. The wars he fought to secure Italy and Rome were devastating. Here classical culture continued to flourish, urban living, a state apparatus, and the study of classical subjects had continued even during the rule of the Ostrogoths, preserved by the old Roman aristocracy. The reconquest of Italy left it depopulated and a wasteland and destroyed the last relics of the ancient world. Then the need for evermore taxes for his never-ending wars led to a growing centralization of power in the Imperial Court in the Byzantine territories. This resulted in the end of the autonomy that had been enjoyed by the cities for centuries . <ref>Brown, Peter The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150–750 (London, Fontana, 1989), p 17</ref>. The high taxes and the loss of autonomy meant that many urban centres centers declined, which had long been important in preserving the culture and ideals of the classical world. Justinian’s attempts to revive the Roman Empire led to the demise of the society and culture of Late Antiquity and helped to usher in the Medieval World.<ref>Brown, p 67</ref>
====Conclusion====
Justinian is widely seen as the ‘Last Roman’ because of his efforts to restore that Empire. His many wars were largely successful, and he did reconquer many areas of the old Western Roman Empire. However, the majority of these were soon lost. The costs of his wars were enormous, and they placed a great strain on the Christian Empire. They attempt to revive Rome, weakened the Byzantines and resulted in a very serious political-economic and military crisis. Paradoxically, the provinces added by Belisarius, proved to be invaluable to the Christian Empire in its life and death struggles with the Arabs. Then there is the fact that the conquests in the west by the Eastern Roman Empire, was an important stage in the transition from the Late Classical World to the Medieval era in the Mediterranean.
====Further Reading====
====References====
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[[Category:Wikis]] [[Category:European History]] [[Category:Byzantine History]] [[Category:History of the Middle Ages]]
