Justinian

Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinians, better known as Justinian was born in 483 AD (Byzantine). He was brought from his original home in Macedonia to Constantinople at a young age where he would receive a thorough education in law, theology and history (Byzantine). As he grew older he became involved in military and politics serving as his Justin I close confidant and the head of the military (Justinian). When Justin I became old and senile Justinian served as the de facto ruler until officially declared as the emperor of the Byzantine Empire in 527 AD (Byzantine).

Justinian is widely considered the last great emperor of the Roman Empire mainly because he was the last to believe in its restoration. From the beginning of his reign he sent his military on conquests to retake its lost territories. Justinian sent his armies against the Vandals in North Africa, the Visigoths in Spain and the Ostrogoths in Italy (Justinian). The Vandals proved the easiest of the bunch surrendering in 534 AD, however the war against the Visigoths and Ostrogoths raged on until 563 AD destroying most of the city of Rome (Justinian). Justinian was considered successful in conquest though; he re-established the Mediterranean as a Roman lake by recapturing all of its surrounding territories (Justinian). This success was short lived however. Maintaining this vast empire was simply too difficult. The empires armies were stretched too thin and the economy was nose-diving. Shortly after Justinian’s death in 565 AD, his successor Justin II lost Italy to the Lombard’s (Justinian).

This emperor is not only considered great for his conquest to restore the Roman Empire. He was also very involved in Roman law and extensive building programs in both the east and Italy (Byzantine). Justinian reformed nearly all of the Byzantines law with the creation of the Code of Justinian. The code consisted of three parts (Fader). The first was a compilation of over 2000 roman books containing laws...