Justinian
Topic: The Roman Empire · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
Justinian was the eastern Roman emperor who ruled from 527 to 565 CE from Constantinople. His reign was the high point of the eastern empire, which stayed united and wealthy while the west broke apart. He tried to win back lost western lands. He also had to face the great plague of the 540s.
Example
In 533 CE Justinian's armies took North Africa back from the Vandals. He then fought a long war to win back Italy from the Ostrogoths. It ruined the land and opened the way for the Lombards to invade in 568. Egypt alone paid him over 2.5 million solidi (Roman gold coins), about 35,000 pounds of gold, in taxes each year.
Don't confuse with
- Constantine: he founded Constantinople in 324 and brought in the gold solidus. Justinian ruled from that city about two centuries later.
Related concepts
- Diocletian
- Constantine
- Edict of Milan 313
- Christianisation of the Roman Empire
- Constantinople
- Post-Roman kingdoms
- Byzantine empire
- Late antiquity
- Prophet Muhammad
- Hijra