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The Last Roman. Among those associated with the epithet, perhaps most deserving is Justinian the Great (c. 482- 565 AD), leader of the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman) Empire for nearly four fateful decades in mid 6th century AD.
When Anastasius I died in 518 AD, the commander of his palace guards, Justin I, ascended to the throne. Justin was nearly seventy at the time, and he judiciously surrounded himself with trusted advisors, including his nephew, Flavius Petrus Sabbatius, whom he adopted as a son and invested with the cognomen Justinian. As Justin’s health declined, Justinian took on more responsibility. When Justin died in 527 AD, Justinian’s de facto rule became official.
For his Augusta, Justinian chose Theodora, a professional courtesan some twenty years his junior. While legal under a recent law enacted by Justin (perhaps at Justinian’s insistence), the union between such disparate classes was viewed as scandalous. Even so, Theodora played an active role in the Empire’s politics, for example, promoting the passage of many laws improving women’s rights. She strongly supported her husband, most notably during the Nika riots in 532 AD, wherein an unruly stadium of chariot racing fans turned into a violent mob demanding Imperial regime change. Justinian wanted to flee Constantinople, whereas Theodora advised staying and carrying our a military crack down instead. At her prompting, Justinian’s generals extinguished the uprising, killing many thousands in the process.
Justinian dedicated much of his reign towards reviving the glorious past, specifically, re-conquering the lost western provinces of the historical Roman Empire. The primary motivation for his
renovatio imperii was not personal ambition or increasing the Empire’s wealth and influence: it was considered a divine duty. As a Chalcedonian Christian, Justinian promoted the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan creed, and early in his reign suppressed those with opposing views. Over time, he became more sympathetic, particularly towards those known as the Monophysites. Although Germanic kings served as Constantinople’s viceroys in the west, they were largely Arians, a form of Christianity by now considered heretical by the established Roman Church.
Before embarking on the western campaigns, Justinian first stabilized his eastern borders, by purchasing an “eternal” peace from the Sassanid Empire in 532 AD for the hefty price tag of 11,000 pounds of gold (although eight years later, the Sassanids threatened again, earning another, annual amity bonus). The gold tribute was paid mainly in the form of gold solidi, such as this one struck in Constantinople, probably between 527 and 538 AD. The obverse bust of Justinian, along with the reverse’s motif of an angel holding a jeweled cross and a cross-topped globe, all comprise design elements typical for the period.
Having temporarily secured the east with gold payments, Justinian set loose his formidable generals, notably Belisarius and Narses, against the west. The Byzantine Empire’s armies invaded the Vandal, Ostrogothic, and Visigothic kingdoms in mid 6th century AD in a series of bitter wars that resulted in recovery of many territories of the former Western Roman Empire. Byzantine forces also reclaimed most of southern Iberia, establishing the province of Spania.
All these successes came at a very high cost. Even beyond these military expenditures, Justinian also spent liberally on construction projects, most famously the church of Hagia Sophia (a structure that served as the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity for centuries, and still stands today). It helped that Justinian’s predecessors created a substantial surplus (reportedly as high as 400,000 pounds of gold) in the imperial treasury. Even so, Justinian required even more funds. He aggressively pursued taxation, a move understandably resented among the Empire’s subjects, particularly in the western territories.
As significant as these religious, military, and economic developments were, Justintian faced even more important and difficult ones: natural disasters. Besides the usual floods and earthquakes (of which there were a disproportionately high incidence during Justinian’s reign), the worst problem by far was disease. Although the Empire had been struck by contagions previously, this instance was particularly sinister. This time, it was the highly communicable and deadly bubonic plague that swept in several waves over an increasingly connected and susceptible human population. Justinian himself contracted the disease, and recovered. Many millions more were not so fortunate. The daily death toll at the height of the pandemic in Constantinople alone was many thousands; ultimately, 40% of the city’s population met their demise at what became known as the Justinian Plague. Although the Empire survived, the pandemic marked the end a brief new age of splendor, and return to unending territorial decline.
When Justinian died in 565 AD, he left behind a complex legacy for contemplation. Justinian used the Latin language, and was the last Roman Emperor to do so, since he phased out its use as the official language. He enacted many legal reforms, in their totality known as the Corpus Juris Civilis, to this day a basis of civil law in many modern states. He carried out ambitious building projects, such as the still extant church of Hagia Sophia. Of particular note was Justinian’s substantial progress towards reconstituting the Roman Empire to its former glory. In the process, however, he eliminated several sophisticated and highly Romanized barbarian kingdoms that, left as viceroys, were perhaps already on their way towards re-establishing the dominance of Roman traditions in the west. Left standing (more strongly than before) were other barbarians such as the Burgundians, who overran Italy shortly after Justinian’s death. Justinian’s expenditures weakened his Byzantine Empire and strengthened the Persians. Not surprisingly, the latter also renewed their contest against Constantinople after Justinian’s death, leaving both Byzantines and Persians alike unprepared for the oncoming tide of Islamic conquests.
The Last Roman’s eventful reign set the course not only for the Empire, but also much of his contemporary - and, by extension, our own modern - world.
Coin Details: BYZANTINE EMPIRE, Justinian I, AV Solidus (4.44 g), Struck 527-538 AD, Constantinople mint, NGC Grade: Ch MS, Strike: 4/5, Surface: 5/5, Obverse: Helmeted and cuirassed bust facing, holding cross on globe and shield, D N IVSTINI-ANVS P P AVG, Reverse: Angel standing facing, holding jeweled cross and cross on globe; star in right field; mintmark CONOB in exergue, VICTORI-A AVGGG and officina letter, References: DOC I 8d; MIB I 6.