Gordon Patterson - Medieval History: 500 to 1450 CE Essentials

In 527 C.E. Justinian became the Eastern emperor. Justinian and his controversial wife, the steely Theodora, reigned until 565 C.E. Under Justinians dynamic rule the Eastern Empire recaptured much of the West. Internal difficulties, however, clouded the early years of Justinians rule. What started as a riot in 532 C.E. in Constantinople proved to be a major test of his staying power. Sparked by the brutal suppression of a riot by the urban prefect, the Nika riot Nika! ( Let us conquer! or Let us win! ) being the rallying cry shouted during the chariot racesmarked a rare instance when the citys two main factions, the Greens and the Blues (normally sharply partisan in cheering on their respective charioteers), came together to oppose the autocratic emperor. Swept up in the exuberance of the mob, the rioters soon were in full revolt. They freed their leaders from prison, called for the ouster of government officials, and proclaimed a new emperor, all the while cutting a path of destruction that included burning the Senate House to the ground. The uprising was crushed when a young and gifted general, Belisarius, leader of Justinians army, corralled the rebels in the Hippodrome and massacred 30,000.

BARBARIC INVASIONS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, c. 400 C.E.

Justinians Campaigns and Accomplishments. The Nika insurrection, which had posed a grave threat to Justinians life, not to mention his rule, in the end strengthened his hand to such an extent that he was able to launch a campaign to regain the Western provinces. Justinian chose Belisarius, fresh from his impressively swift and decisive victory, and Narsus to lead the push to dislodge the Ostrogoths from Italy, the Vandals from North Africa, and the Visigoths from Spain. The first step in Justinians war against the Germanic tribes was to secure a peace along the eastern frontier with the Sassanid (Persian) Empire. Justinians armies were successful in their early campaigns. Belisarius defeated the Vandals in North Africa (535 C.E.), Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia. The Visigoths were ousted from their hold on much of Spain (554 C.E.) and Belisarius succeeded in capturing most of Italy (553 C.E.). The campaigns drained the Empire. Disaster came when the plague broke out in 542 C.E. Simultaneously, Slavs and Avars attacked the Empire from the North and the Sassanids broke their accord, waging war in the East. Justinian did not have the resources needed to hold on to his gains. His reign ended with him in control of a shrunken Eastern Empire.

Justinian failed to maintain control of the Western provinces. His Western campaign was the last effort by an Eastern emperor to reunite the Empire. Military disappointments aside, he still left a legacy of accomplishments.

Architecture. Justinian used the devastation occasioned by the Nika revolt as an opportunity to rebuild Constantinople. In 537 C.E. workers completed construction of the Church of Santa Sophia (Holy Wisdom). Santa Sophia was an architectural triumph. Richly appointed, it still stands, serving as an Islamic museum. The dome of the church is 100 feet in diameter and rises 184 feet. Upon the churchs completion, Justinian reportedly exclaimed, O Solomon, I have vanquished you!

Codification of the Law. At the beginning of his reign Justinian appointed a commission to collect and codify the empires laws (528 534 C.E.). The commissions work became the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Laws). The Corpus was divided into four parts: a Code (and ultimately the Codex Constitutionum ), which streamlined laws that dated back to Hadrians time; the Institutes, a textbook on legal procedure and principles; the Digest, a summary of legal opinions; and the Novels, which comprised new ordinances decreed by Justinian himself from 534 to 565, following revision of the Codex. The significance of the Corpus juris Civilis was twofold. First, it helped Justinian and his successors centralize power and create an efficient bureaucratic mechanism to administer the Empire. Second, the Corpus juris Civilis became the model on which most of the European states based their legal systems after the twelfth century.