How Did Justinian Influence The Byzantine Empire

Justinian is widely regarded by historians as one of the greatest emperors of the Byzantine Empire. The empire’s achievements under his rule were great in scale and scope. From the reconquest of Africa to the complete overhaul of Constantinople, Justinian accomplished a great deal as Emperor. However, his governing style was not always used in the best interest of the citizens. In The Secret History, Byzantine “historian” Prokopios attacks the character and leadership of Justinian. While some historians believe that these attacks were unjustified, there is evidence that there was a clear dissension and hatred for Justinian within the Byzantine empire at the time of his rule. Prokopios accuses Justinian of ruling as a self-interested tyrant

He writes, “Whatever had been before by law, he now introduced into the government…as if he had been given the robes of an Emperor on the condition he would turn everything topsy-turvy.” Justinian was known to be abusive of his power. Some of the people of the empire simply accepted this as a cost of the growing power of the empire. However, there citizens did not take to this growing state power well. This created a great divide between those who supported Justinian and those who resented his power. In response to these divisions, Prokopios claimed that, “The country people, however, banded together and determined to take arms against the Emperor…” As described by The Secret History, Justinian was not well liked by the people of the Byzantine empire. He ignored laws and basic human rights and acted as a dictator. Prokopios maintained that Justinian was not the great emperor of the Byzantine empire, but rather he was a

In The Secret History, Prokopios attacks Justinian’s treatments of his soldiers, writing, “I must not pass over his treatment of the soldiers, over whom he appointed paymasters with instructions to hold out as much of their money as they found possible…” In addition to attacking Justinian’s treatment of his soldiers, Prokopios also attacks Justinian for is mistreatment of the food supply. He claims that, “Most of the great stores of grain that had been kept in Constantinople had rotted; but he forced each of the cities of the East to buy what was not fit for human consumption…” Both of these claims are serious character attacks on Justinian. They attempt to show that there was thought about the good of the group over the thoughts of the good of Justinian. Rather than treating those who sacrificed for the greater good of the empire, Justinian looked only to make personal gains, according to The Secret