Editing Justinian I (section)

===Military activities===
[[File:Gurlitt Justinian column.jpg|thumb|upright|Reconstruction of the [[Column of Justinian]], after Cornelius Gurlitt, 1912. The column was erected in the [[Augustaeum]] in Constantinople in 543 in honour of his military victories.]]

Justinian's reign was marked by the recovery of large stretches of land around the Western Mediterranean basin that had slipped out of imperial control in the 5th century.<ref>For an account of Justinian's wars, see Moorhead (1994), pp. 22–24, 63–98, and 101–109.</ref> Although he never personally took part in military campaigns, he boasted of his successes in the prefaces to his laws and had them commemorated in art.<ref>See A. D. Lee, "The Empire at War", in Michael Maas (ed.), ''The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian'' (Cambridge 2005), pp. 113–33 (pp. 113–114). For Justinian's own views, see the texts of ''Codex Iustinianus'' 1.27.1 and ''Novellae'' 8.10.2 and 30.11.2.</ref> The re-conquests were in large part carried out by his general Belisarius.{{efn|Justinian himself took the field only once, during a campaign against the Huns in 559, when he was already an old man. This enterprise was largely symbolic and although no battle was fought, the emperor held a triumphal entry in the capital afterwards. (See Browning, R. ''Justinian and Theodora.'' London 1971, 193.)}}

====War with the Sassanid Empire, 527–532====
{{Main|Iberian War}}
From his uncle, Justinian inherited ongoing hostilities with the [[Sassanid Empire]].<ref>See Geoffrey Greatrex, "Byzantium and the East in the Sixth Century" in Michael Maas (ed.). ''Age of Justinian'' (2005), pp. 477–509.</ref> In 530 the Persian forces suffered a double defeat at [[Battle of Dara|Dara]] and [[Battle of Satala (530)|Satala]], but the next year saw the defeat of Roman forces under Belisarius near [[Battle of Callinicum|Callinicum]].<ref name="gold"/> Justinian then tried to make alliance with the [[Axumites]] of Ethiopia and the [[Himyarites]] of Yemen against the Persians, but this failed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Sidney |title=Events in Arabia in the 6th Century A.D. |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |date=1954 |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=425–468 |jstor=608617 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00086791 |s2cid=163004552 }}</ref> When king [[Kavadh I of Persia]] died (September 531), Justinian concluded an "[[Eternal Peace (532)|Eternal Peace]]" (which cost him 11,000 pounds of gold)<ref name="gold">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', p. 195.</ref> with his successor [[Khosrau I]] (532). Having thus secured his eastern frontier, Justinian turned his attention to the West, where [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] kingdoms had been established in the territories of the former [[Western Roman Empire]].<ref name="Procopius-Dewing">Procopius, ''De Bellus'' III.9.5. Translated by H.B. Dewing, ''Procopius'' (Cambridge: Loeb Classical Library, 1979), vol. 2 p. 85</ref>

====Conquest of North Africa, 533–534====
{{Main|Vandalic War}}

The first of the western kingdoms Justinian attacked was that of the [[Vandals]] in [[North Africa]]. King [[Hilderic]], who had maintained good relations with Justinian and the North African [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] clergy, had been overthrown by his cousin [[Gelimer]] in 530 AD. Imprisoned, the deposed king appealed to Justinian. Justinian protested Gelimer's actions, demanding that Gelimer return the kingdom to Hilderic. Gelimer replied, in effect, that Justinian had no authority to make these demands. Angered at this response, Justinian quickly concluded [[Iberian War|his ongoing war]] with the [[Sassanian Empire]] and prepared an expedition against the Vandals in 533.<ref name="Procopius-Dewing" />

In 533, Belisarius sailed to Africa with a fleet of 92 [[dromon]]s, escorting 500 transports carrying an army of about 15,000 men, as well as a number of barbarian troops. They landed at [[Caput Vada|Caput Vada (modern Ras Kaboudia)]] in modern [[Tunisia]]. They defeated the Vandals, who were caught completely off guard, at [[Ad Decimum]] on 14 September 533 and [[Battle of Tricamarum|Tricamarum]] in December; Belisarius took [[Carthage]]. King [[Gelimer]] fled to Mount Pappua in [[Numidia]], but surrendered the next spring. He was taken to Constantinople, where he was paraded in a [[Roman triumph|triumph]]. [[Sardinia]] and [[Corsica]], the [[Balearic Islands]], and the stronghold [[Ceuta|Septem Fratres]] near [[Mons Calpe]] (later named [[Gibraltar]]) were recovered in the same campaign.<ref>Moorhead (1994), p. 68.</ref>

[[File:Medallion of Justinian I.jpg|thumb|A golden medallion celebrating the reconquest of [[Africa]], AD 534]]

In this war, the contemporary [[Procopius]] remarks that Africa was so entirely depopulated that a person might travel several days without meeting a human being, and he adds, "it is no exaggeration to say, that in the course of the war 5,000,000 perished by the sword, and famine, and pestilence."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mavor |first=William Fordyce |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uaCgjEAmUfEC&pg=RA1-PA81 |title=Universal History, Ancient and Modern: From the Earliest Records of Time, to the General Peace of 1801 |date=1802 |publisher=R. Phillips |pages=81 |language=en |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407083159/https://books.google.com/books?id=uaCgjEAmUfEC&pg=RA1-PA81 |url-status=live }}</ref> An [[Praetorian prefecture of Africa|African prefecture]], centred in Carthage, was established in April 534,<ref>Moorhead (1994), p. 70.</ref> but it would teeter on the brink of collapse during the next 15 years, amidst warfare with the [[Moors]] and military mutinies. By the mid-540s, under a succession of Byzantine generals, the region was disrupted under civil war, plague and military campaigning.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Merrills |first=Andy |date=2021 |title=The Men Who Would Be King: Moorish Political Hierarchies and Imperial Policy in By |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09503110.2020.1833575 |journal=Al-Masāq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean  |volume=33 |pages=16 |doi=10.1080/09503110.2020.1833575 |via=Taylor & Francis online|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The area was not completely pacified until 548,<ref>{{cite book | last = Procopius | title = De Bello Vandalico | chapter = II.XXVIII}}</ref> but remained peaceful thereafter and enjoyed a measure of prosperity. The recovery of Africa cost the empire about 100,000 pounds of gold.<ref name="tulane.edu">{{cite web | url = http://www.tulane.edu/~august/H303/handouts/Finances.htm | title = Early Medieval and Byzantine Civilization: Constantine to Crusades | publisher = Tulane | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080309095541/http://www.tulane.edu/~august/H303/handouts/Finances.htm | archive-date = 9 March 2008 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

====War in Italy, first phase, 535–540====
{{Main|Gothic War (535–554)}}
[[File:Empèri Bizantin - Rèine de Justinian.png|thumb|Justinian's conquests]]

As in Africa, dynastic struggles in [[Ostrogothic Italy]] provided an opportunity for intervention. The young king [[Athalaric]] had died on 2 October 534, and a usurper, [[Theodahad]], had imprisoned queen [[Amalasuintha]], Theodoric's daughter and mother of Athalaric, on the island of Martana in [[Lake Bolsena]], where he had her assassinated in 535. Thereupon Belisarius, with 7,500 men,<ref name="Norw">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', 215</ref> invaded Sicily (535) and advanced into Italy, sacking [[Naples]] and capturing Rome on 9 December 536. By that time Theodahad had been deposed by the Ostrogothic army, who had elected [[Vitigis]] as their new king. He gathered a large army and besieged Rome from February 537 to March 538 without being able to retake the city.{{sfn|Rosen|2007|pp=153–155}}

Justinian sent another general, [[Narses]], to Italy, but tensions between Narses and Belisarius hampered the progress of the campaign. [[Milan]] was taken, but was soon recaptured and razed by the Ostrogoths. Justinian recalled Narses in 539. By then the military situation had turned in favour of the Romans, and in 540 Belisarius [[Siege of Ravenna (539–540)|reached]] the Ostrogothic capital [[Ravenna]]. There he was offered the title of Western Roman Emperor by the Ostrogoths at the same time that envoys of Justinian were arriving to negotiate a peace that would leave the region north of the [[Po River]] in Gothic hands. Belisarius feigned acceptance of the offer, entered the city in May 540, and reclaimed it for the Empire.<ref>Moorhead (1994), pp. 84–86.</ref> Then, having been recalled by Justinian, Belisarius returned to Constantinople, taking the captured [[Vitigis]] and his wife [[Matasuntha]] with him.<ref name="AbbottLay1900">{{cite book|author1=John Stevens Cabot Abbott|author2=Wilfred C. Lay|title=Italy|url=https://archive.org/details/italy00laygoog|year=1900|publisher=P. F. Collier|page=[https://archive.org/details/italy00laygoog/page/n424 424]}}</ref>

====War with the Sassanid Empire, 540–562====
{{main|Lazic War}}
[[File:Roman-Persian Frontier, 565 AD.png|thumb|alt=Map showing Roman-Persian frontier in 565 AD|Map of the Byzantine–Sasanian frontier in 565. In 541, the small but strategic region of [[Lazica]] on the eastern shore of the Black Sea became the new battlefield of the [[Roman–Persian Wars]].]]

Belisarius had been recalled in the face of renewed hostilities by the [[Sassanid Empire|Persians]]. Following a revolt against the Empire in [[Marzpanate Period|Armenia]] in the late 530s and possibly motivated by the pleas of Ostrogothic ambassadors, King [[Khosrau I]] broke the "Eternal Peace" and invaded Roman territory in the spring of 540.<ref>See for this section Moorhead (1994), pp. 89 ff., Greatrex (2005), p. 488 ff., and especially H. Börm, "Der Perserkönig im Imperium Romanum", in ''Chiron'' 36, 2006, pp. 299 ff.</ref> He first sacked [[Aleppo|Beroea]] and then [[Antioch]] (allowing the garrison of 6,000 men to leave the city),<ref name="gold2">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', 229</ref> besieged [[Daras]], and then went on to attack the Byzantine base in the small but strategically significant satellite kingdom of [[Lazic War|Lazica]] near the Black Sea as requested by its discontented king [[Gubazes II of Lazica|Gubazes]], exacting tribute from the towns he passed along his way. He forced Justinian I to pay him 5,000 pounds of gold, plus 500 pounds of gold more each year.<ref name="gold2"/>

Belisarius arrived in the East in 541, but after some success, was again recalled to Constantinople in 542. The reasons for his withdrawal are not known, but it may have been instigated by rumours of his disloyalty reaching the court.<ref>Procopius mentions this event both in the ''Wars'' and in the ''Secret History'', but gives two entirely different explanations for it. The evidence is briefly discussed in Moorhead (1994), pp. 97–98.</ref> 
The outbreak of the plague coupled with a rebellion in Persia brought Khosrow I's offensives to a halt. Exploiting this, Justinian ordered all the forces in the East to invade Persian Armenia, but the 30,000-strong Byzantine force was defeated by a small force at [[Battle of Anglon|Anglon]].<ref name="Nor2">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', 235</ref> The next year, Khosrau unsuccessfully [[Siege of Edessa (544)|besieged]] the major city of [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]]. Both parties made little headway, and in 545 a truce was agreed upon for the southern part of the Roman-Persian frontier. After that, the [[Lazic War]] in the North continued for several years: the Lazic king switched to the Byzantine side, and in 549 Justinian sent [[Dagisthaeus]] to [[Siege of Petra (549)|recapture Petra]], but he faced heavy resistance and the siege was relieved by Sasanian reinforcements. Justinian replaced him with [[Bessas (magister militum)|Bessas]], who was under a cloud after the loss of Rome in 546, but he managed to [[Siege of Petra (550–551)|capture and dismantle Petra]] in 551. The war continued for several years until a second truce in 557, followed by a [[Fifty-Year Peace Treaty|fifty years' peace]] in 562. Under its terms, the Persians agreed to abandon Lazica in exchange for an annual tribute of 400 or 500 pounds of gold (30,000 ''solidi'') to be paid by the Romans.<ref>Moorhead ((1994), p. 164) gives the lower, Greatrex ((2005), p. 489) the higher figure.</ref>

====War in Italy, second phase, 541–554====
[[File:Spanish Visigothic gold tremisses in the name of emperor Justinian I with cross on breast 7th century.jpg|thumb|[[Visigothic Kingdom|Spanish Visigothic]] gold [[Tremissis]] in the name of emperor Justinian I, 7th century. The [[Christian cross]] on the breast defines the Visigothic attribution. [[British Museum]].]]

While military efforts were directed to the East, the situation in Italy took a turn for the worse. Under their respective kings [[Ildibad]] and [[Eraric]] (both murdered in 541) and especially [[Totila]], the Ostrogoths made quick gains. After a [[Battle of Faventia|victory]] at [[Faenza]] in 542, they reconquered the major cities of Southern Italy and soon held almost the entire Italian Peninsula. Belisarius was sent back to Italy late in 544 but lacked sufficient troops and supplies. Making no headway, he was relieved of his command in 548. Belisarius succeeded in defeating a Gothic fleet of 200 ships.<ref>{{Cite book |last=D’Amato |first=Raffaele |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9aRWDgAAQBAJ |title=Imperial Roman Warships 193–565 AD |date=23 February 2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-1827-0 |pages=44 |language=en}}</ref> During this period the city of Rome changed hands three more times, first [[Sack of Rome (546)|taken and depopulated]] by the Ostrogoths in December 546, then reconquered by the Byzantines in 547, and then again by the Goths in January 550. Totila also plundered [[Sicily]] and attacked Greek coastlines.{{sfn|Bury|1958|pp=233–238}}

Finally, Justinian dispatched a force of approximately 35,000 men (2,000 men were detached and sent to invade southern Visigothic Hispania) under the command of Narses.<ref name="Nor3">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', 251</ref> The army reached Ravenna in June 552 and defeated the Ostrogoths decisively within a month at the [[battle of Busta Gallorum]] in the [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]], where Totila was slain. After a second battle at [[Battle of Mons Lactarius|Mons Lactarius]] in October that year, the resistance of the Ostrogoths was finally broken. In 554, a large-scale [[Franks|Frankish]] invasion was defeated at [[Battle of Casilinum|Casilinum]], and Italy was secured for the empire, though it would take Narses several years to reduce the remaining Gothic strongholds. At the end of the war, Italy was garrisoned with an army of 16,000 men.<ref name="Nor">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', 233</ref> The recovery of Italy cost the empire about 300,000 pounds of gold.<ref name="tulane.edu"/> Procopius estimated 15,000,000 Goths died.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g1YBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA82|title=Universal history, ancient and modern|date=1 March 1802|via=Google Books|last1=Mavor|first1=William Fordyce}}</ref>

====Other campaigns====
[[File:4KJUSTINIAN.png|thumb|Emperor Justinian reconquered many former territories of the Western Roman Empire, including [[Roman Italy|Italia]], [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]], Africa, and southern [[Hispania]].]]

In addition to the other conquests, the Empire established a presence in [[Visigothic]] [[Hispania]], when the usurper [[Athanagild]] requested assistance in his rebellion against King [[Agila I]]. In 552, Justinian dispatched a force of 2,000 men; according to the historian [[Jordanes]], this army was led by the octogenarian [[Liberius (praetorian prefect)|Liberius]].<ref>''Getica'', 303</ref> The Byzantines took [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]] and other cities on the southeastern coast and founded the new province of [[Spania]] before being checked by their former ally Athanagild, who had by now become king. This campaign marked the apogee of Byzantine expansion.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

During Justinian's reign, the [[Balkans]] suffered from several incursions by the [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] and [[Slavic peoples]] who lived north of the [[Danube]]. Here, Justinian resorted mainly to a combination of diplomacy and a system of defensive works. In 559 a particularly dangerous invasion of [[Slavic peoples|Sklavinoi]] and [[Kutrigurs]] under their [[Khan (title)|khan]] [[Zabergan]] threatened Constantinople, but they were repulsed by the aged general Belisarius.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Evans|first=James Allan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/843198707|title=The Power Game in Byzantium : Antonina and the Empress Theodora.|date=2011|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4411-2040-3|location=London|pages=205–206|oclc=843198707}}</ref>

====Results====
Justinian's ambition for re-conquest was only partly realized, with the only lasting and sustainable conquest being [[Byzantine North Africa|Africa]]. In the West, the early military successes of the 530s were followed by years of stagnation. The dragging war with the Goths was a disaster for Italy, even though its long-lasting effects may have been less severe than is sometimes thought.<ref>See Lee (2005), pp. 125 ff.</ref> The heavy taxes that the administration imposed upon Italian population were deeply resented.<ref>{{cite book |last=Amory |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Amory |year=1997 |title=People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489&ndash;554 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=176 |isbn=0-521-57151-0}}</ref>

The final victory in Italy and the conquest of Africa and the coast of southern [[Hispania]] significantly enlarged the area of Byzantine influence and eliminated all naval threats to the empire, which in 555 reached its territorial zenith. Despite losing much of Italy soon after Justinian's death, the empire retained several important cities, including Rome, Naples, and Ravenna, leaving the [[Lombards]] as a regional threat. The newly founded province of Spania kept the Visigoths as a threat to Hispania alone and not to the western Mediterranean and Africa.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Events of the later years of his reign showed that Constantinople itself was not safe from barbarian incursions from the north, and even the relatively benevolent historian [[Menander Protector]] felt the need to attribute the Emperor's failure to protect the capital to the weakness of his body in his old age.<ref>W. Pohl, "Justinian and the Barbarian Kingdoms", in Maas (2005), pp. 448–476; 472</ref> Some historians view that in his efforts to renew the Roman Empire, Justinian dangerously stretched its resources while failing to take into account the changed realities of 6th-century Europe.<ref>See Haldon (2003), pp. 17–19.</ref>