Justinian oversaw the expansion of the Byzantine Empire into former Roman territories. To do that, he had to pay 440,000 pieces of golds to the Sassinids, to secure the Eastern frontier so he could focus on the West. It was called the “eternal peace” treaty of 534. Justinian survived the deadly Nika Riots, which resulted in the death of 30,000 rioters. The win over the rioters cemented Justinian’s power.
As for the conquering, it started in 533, when Justinian sent a small army to try to retake North Africa from the vandals. The victory was very easy. In 535, he took Sicily and in 540 he took Naples and Rome. The Ostrogoths retook Rome in 546, but the Byzantines retook it in 552. On the eastern front, the Roman-Persian Wars lasted until 561 when Justinian agreed to a 50 year peace. In the mid-550s Justinian had won major victories in most theatre, except the Balkans, because of the Slavs.
During this time the Sassanians (based in current day Iran), were in a second golden era. Khosrau I was incredibly celebrated and was famous for his government reforms and review tax system. He also stopped the feudal system and replaced it with a system of government funded knights which were paid and equipped by the government. That gave Khosrau a stronger economy
Justinian was also extremely famous for his legislative work because he oversaw the revision of the ancient Roman legal code, and replacing it with Corpus Juris Civilis (which is now commonly known as ‘Justinian’s Code’. Justinian’s Code is still used today as a benchmark for legislative laws. He is totally better than his bitch wife, Theodora.
In the 6th century, Christian philosophy came to dominate Greco-Roman culture and came to create the Hagia Sophia, a church to replace the older one destroyed in the Nika riots. The Hagia Sophia is still considered one of the major architectural monuments of history. By the end of the 6th century and into the 7th, the empire was struck with the Plague of Justinian, which devastate the population, economy, and the power of the Byzantines.
Social Studies for Fun 