Justinian I and Justinian II

[Octavia]

Hello all. This is the first time I posted a topic in this part of the forum. I was wondering what the emperor Justinian was like? What do historians say about him? Was he a good emperor? Bad? Poor judgement?

Thanks for helping me with this.

Octavia

[Octavia]

Hello all. I was just wondering who the emperors Justin I and Just II are? Were they good or bad emperors? I know Justin II was the uncle of Justinian I think.

Thanks for helping me with all this if you all can.

Octavia

[Honorius]

justinian I was resposnsible for reconquering italy north africa and southern spain.. some say he was a great emperor .. in my opinion he really wasnt that great considering he put the treasury to death..

 

justinian II i dont really know that much about him except that he got exiled to the crimea and managed to retake the throne even with the abscence of his nose.. which he replaced with a silver one.. other then that i dont remember much but i think he was a violent emperor in terms of replying to those who had exiled him

 

there is info about Justin I and II in the byzantine emperor list..

[sonic]

Try reading Procopius' 'Histories' and 'Secret History' (both available in paperback!). This gives a description of Justinian - although you need to remember that Procopius doesn't like him and so gives a very warped impression! In fact, a very, very warped impression!! I recommend that you avoid the 'Secret History' if you are easily shocked!!

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

The reign of Justinian was a turning-point in Late Antiquity. It is the period when paganism finally lost its long struggle to survive, and when the schism in Christianity between the Monophysite east and the Chalcedonian west became insurmountable. From a military viewpoint, it marked the last time that the Roman Empire could go on the offensive with hope of success. Africa and Italy were recovered, and a foothold was established in Spain. When Justinian died, the frontiers were still intact although the Balkans had been devastated by a series of raids and the Italian economy was in ruins. His extensive building program has left us the most celebrated example of Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture that still survives: Hagia Sophia in modern Istanbul. His reign was a period when classical culture was in sharp decline and yet it had a last flowering, with historians such as Procopius and Agathias working within the tradition inherited from Herodotus and Thucydides, and poets such as Paul the Silentiary who wrote some of the most sensuous poems that the classical tradition has ever produced. The Codex Justinianus, the Institutes and the Digest of Roman jurisprudence, all commissioned by Justinian, are monuments to the past achievements of Roman legal heritage. Justinian's reign sums up the past. It also provides a matrix for the future. In particular, there was the bubonic plague, which appeared in Constantinople in 542, for the first time in Europe, and then travelled round the empire in search of victims, returning to the capital for a new crop in 558. The plague ended a period of economic growth and initiated one of overstrained resources.

 

 

 

take a look HERE for a brief history of Justinian.

[Divi Filius]

Justinians military campaigns are now largely considered to be wasteful ones since they came at the cost of weakening the given provinces. The Italian Wars entirely devastated the peninsula and within just a few years, everything Justinian gained over a 20 year period was lost in barely 5 to Lombards. In Africa the wars weakened a system that was kept relatively in tact by the Germanic Vandals who conquered the region. This left the province ripe for the Islamic conquest.

 

Within the empire itself the enlarged bureaucracy alienated a large part of the more educated classes, who saw the offices as devoid of significance. The push for orthodoxy and the oppression of the various eastern Christian groups altogether alienated almost entirely.

 

Justinian may be credit with a lot of good things, but over all, I think the romantic image of him as an emperor who pushed to restore the full empire overshadows the mistakes of his reign. The empire simply could not hold such a vast empire anymore with the resources at hand. Many argue that today, perhaps Africa might have given an even stronger fight(though it did last far longer then others, but mostly due to the Berber resistance than anything else) against the Islamic push. In accomplishing what he did accomplish, Justinian worked to weaken his empire more then anything else.

[sonic]

Within the empire itself the enlarged bureaucracy alienated a large part of the more educated classes, who saw the offices as devoid of significance. The push for orthodoxy and the oppression of the various eastern Christian groups altogether alienated almost entirely.

 

Actually, the problem for Justinian was that he attempted to streamline the bureaucracy, forcing many of the middle- to upper-classes out of work. They joined the circus factions and were a cause of the 'Nika Riots'. Justinian can (possibly) be blamed for the faults in the 'reconquest', but he can't be blamed for the vast size of the civil service!!

Edited December 24, 2007 by sonic

[Nephele]

Try reading Procopius' 'Histories' and 'Secret History' (both available in paperback!).

 

 

Octavia, you may already know about Talking Books for the blind, but if you're not signed up, check with your local public library. Talking Books can be borrowed and mailed directly to your home for free.

 

A librarian at your local public library can find out for you if Procopius' works have been made available in audio format.

 

-- Nephele

[Belisarius Ryan]

I would recommend reading Justinian's Flea by William Rosen. It discusses the plague's effect on Europe and the Eastern Empire, but it also offers a nice account of the emperor's life. Rosen blames the plague for Justinian's failure to recapture all of the Western provinces. He basically says that Europe and the Eastern Empire would've taken very different paths had the plague not occured.

[Emperor Goblinus]

I believe that Justinian II was the last Roman emperor to actually visit the city of Rome as its emperor (not as a foreigner in later centuries), and that he stripped the city of much of its metal to pay for his wars against the Muslims, creating even more Italian animosity against Byzantine rule. When he did confront the Muslims at sea, he failed miserably, and barely escaped with his life. I also think that he was the first Byzantine emperor to actually put the face of Jesus on the Byzantine coins.

Justinian I may have hurt the empire by expanding the borders of the empire too far, but a great deal of good things came out of his reign, while Justinian II seems to be to have been a total failure.

[Ioannes_Ahenobarbus]

For a great review of both reigns, check Warren Treadgold's "A History of BYzantine State and Society." A great read with abundant information.