The Court of Justinian and Byzantine Christianity

Lecture 22

T

he emperor Justinian I (b. 483–d. 565) can be considered as pivotal
a figure in the history of the Roman Empire as Constantine, both
as the last of the “Roman” emperors and as the shaper of the
Byzantine Empire. A man of astonishing energy and vision, he accomplished
magnificent things in his effort to restore the Roman Empire to its former
glory. Although his efforts fell short because of various adverse forces,
his accomplishments were sufficient to secure a form of civilization that
endured for another 1,000 years and, during the years of European “dark
ages,” represented to visitors and admirers a vision of ancient beauty and
new possibility.

The Life of Justinian
• Justinian is rightly called “great” because his long life and distinctive
gifts enabled him to shape both the present and the future.

•    We have unusually good information on his life because of

Procopius of Caesarea, a secretary to Justinian’s general Belisarius.

o Procopius’s History of the Wars is an eyewitness account

of both eastern and western conquests, as he accompanied

the general.

o His On the Buildings enumerates the great building projects

of the emperor. And the Secret History is a not-always-

flattering account of the life and times of the court, including

an unfavorable portrait of Justinian’s consort, Theodora, and a

riveting account of the ravages of the plague in 541–543.

•    Born in Dalmatia (on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea) in 483,

Justinian’s path to power came through his uncle and adoptive

father, who became the emperor Justin in 518.

o Justinian functioned as a counselor and even co-ruler with

Justin between 518 and his own installation as emperor in 527.