Rome was the centre of civilization for close to 500 years, but at the end of that time, 476 AD, a German general named Odoacer came and captured the city of Rome, which ended the western Roman Empire, but the eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire continued for another thousand years. Despite this it is often overlooked in western culture, though the people in those areas are still greatly effected by this empire. After Odoacer cut off the west from them there were four emperors that didn’t do much that warrants research, but then came Justinian 1st, also known as Justinian the Great. This Justinian was, according to the history books that were written during his time, which was odd, originally a farm boy who happened to be the nephew of a soldier in the palace guard in the capitol, Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). The uncle, Justin 1st, was very good at his job and quickly rose up to be the commander of the palace guard. It was soon after this that Justinian went to see his uncle and to ask for an education, which he couldn’t get without being related to an official. His uncle didn’t have children and decided to take his nephew as his heir, so he gave Justinian the best education in Byzantium. Anastanias, who was the current emperor, fell ill and died in 518, leaving the throne to Justin. Justin lasted for nine years before his death in 527 AD but these nine years was enough for Justinian to reach high places of authority, which was simple for him, being charismatic and popular along with being close to his popular uncle, the emperor. All this made him an even better prospect for the throne, and in 527 he got it. Justinian immediately went to work on the neighbouring kingdom of Persia, whom the empire had been having land issues with for awhile, and at least three different wars had been fought over this border. Justinian, after winning several victories, made a treaty with the Persian emperor, which divvied out the towns and borders, and made Persia allow Christianity for the first time, as long as Byzantium paid an annual tax. With that problem settled he was able to send his best general, Belisarius, to deal with the troublesome Vandals that ruled North Africa. After they were defeated Justinian quickly conquered the rest of the Mediterranean. He gained all of North Africa, southern Spain, Greece, and Italy. He never claimed France, Germany, or Britain, which we can presume was annoying to him. He also improved the legal system, which had, until this time, been a mouldy old book that contained every law since the republic days of Rome, despite the fact that many laws would conflict and even be outright opposites of each other, while other laws where not even practical or practicable. So he hired 10 lawyers to sort through all of it and make actually usable and comprehensive. They did this and it became known as the Justinian Code. In addition to all this he spent a huge amount of money making monuments and public works like the Hagia Sophia. Unfortunately for the empire all this money being spent meant future generations wouldn’t be able to fund the military, and this showed when the very next emperor, Justin 2nd, lost most of these lands to the natives. It continued like this for a long time, until the Empire became a simple country. I think it’s great what Justinian tried to accomplish by taking back the west, and what he did with remaking the law code, but he didn’t have the foresight to save his money.
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