The Reign of Justinian I.

Justinian was born Petrus Sabbatius, in 483 A.D. Justinian was adopted by his uncle, Justin, during early childhood. Justin was at the time an Imperial Guard, and later became a Roman Emperor. He brought Justinian to Constantinople, providing him with a formal education and entrance to the political world. When Justin became emperor of Rome, Justinian stayed close and was a valued consul. Later, during the end of his rule, Justinian became commander of eastern armies and even began to make large scale decisions for Rome as a whole. When Justin died, Justinian became the official ruler of Rome in or around 527 A.D.

As emperor, Justinian always put first the concerns of Rome, and for this reason was quite successful and liked in during his career. He was said to be very direct, yet easy to approach. His success as an emperor however, had many contributing factors, including, surrounding himself with keen and intelligent individuals. One key factor was his wife, Theodora, who became a very helpful aid as she was an extremely smart individual. She was 20 years younger than he and also in a different social class, which under normal circumstances marriage between the two wouldn’t be allowed however the previous emperor Justin made a law which allowed for marriages such as these. Other individuals who offered great aid were Tribonian, a legal adviser, and a diplomat by the name of Peter.

Justinian conquered back much of the Roman Empire which was lost before the Byzantium era, and also created many new sets of laws, which was called the Corpus Juris Civilis. He incorporated Christianity into his rulings which allowed for Christianity to flourish in Rome. Around the time of 540 A.D. a terrible outbreak of the bubonic plague ended what was arguably one of the Roman Empires finest ruler ships.