Justinian the Great (482-14 November 565) was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 527 to 565, succeeding Justin I of Byzantium and preceding Justin II of Byzantium. The last Roman ruler of Byzantium (his son was a Greek), he nearly restored the might of Rome by fighting against various barbarian tribes, such as the Ostrogoths, Vandals, Visigoths, and Lombards.
Biography[]
Justinian was from an Illyrian peasant family, but he was later adopted by his uncle Emperor Justin I of Byzantium. When Emperor Anastasius I of Byzantium died in 518, Justinian's uncle succeeded him, and Justin named Justinian as co-emperor in 527. Later that year, Emperor Justin died, and Justinian became the sole ruler.
Reign[]
Justinian in 533 AD
He became famous for his codification of Roman law and his ambitious project, the renovatio imperii ("renewal of the empire"). With the gifted generals Belisarius and Narses at his command, he forced the Sassanid Empire to agree to an inconclusive peace in 531 after the Battle of Dara and the indecisive Battle of Callinicum. In 533 he dispatched Belisarius to reconquer North Africa, and he conquered the Vandal Kingdom there, swiftly capturing Carthage after the Battle of Ad Decimum. In 535 he sent Belisarius and Narses to seize Italy, the Italian homeland, from the Ostrogoths, and in 536 they took Rome. However, in the following years the balance of power in Italy shook back and forth through a gruelling series of pitched battles and sieges. In 553, the Ostrogoths were conclusively defeated at the Battle of Mons Lactarius and in 554 the Ostrogoths, Franks, and Alemanni were defeated at the Battle of the Volturnus. At the time of his death in 565, Justinian had reconquered Dalmatia, Italy (including Sicily), North Africa, and southern Spain, as well as subduing the Tzani of Crimea.