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byzantine empire and justinian essay
world history chapter 11 byzantine
world history chapter 11 byzantine
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Emperor Justinian is identified as one of the greatest Caesars to ever rule in Europe during his reign from 527-565, during this he succeeded in reviving Roman Authority throughout his growing Byzantium Empire . As Emperor of the Byzantium Empire in the sixth and seventh century he conquered many parts of Europe restoring the control of the Roman Authority once again if only for a while . This essay will point out the extent in which Justinian succeeded Roman Authority. Although many depictions that can be argued, closer examination can be shown that through huge military successes, Architectural activities that changed the Empires value and enhanced Constantinople as the centre of the Christian World, and the legal work of the ‘Code of Justinian’ helped Justinian to revive Roman Authority. In the seventh century saw the collapse of the Byzantium Empire, which was defeated and taken over by the Ottoman-Turk Empire from the East of Constantinople. This Essay will access the reasons for decline of such a powerful empire, hit with the ‘Justinian Plague’ and eventually deteriorating after Justinian death . This saw the end to any last element of any Roman Authority in Europe.
Military Triumphs
During Justinian’s reign he was able to conquer and take over many parts of Europe expanding his Byzantium Empire, which was a huge start in reviving Roman Authority. He took back a huge amount of territory that was once belonged to the Roman Empire before Barbarian invasions in fourth and fifth century in Western Europe including Northern Africa and Italy. Justinians vast war against the Persians to the East of Constantinople was a problem for Justinian but after several battles a peace was arranged with fairly equal terms. Justinian then de...
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Justinian’s rule was one of a successful vision in which he revived Roman Authority through the Byzantium Empire through different campaigns to ‘take back’ what was once Roman territory in the 5th Century. By doing this and the ‘freak’ loss from the Plague and the damage to the Economical and Military perspective the Byzantium Empire was no longer economically able to defend their states and eventually fell when Constantinople was gained by the Ottoman-Turks. The extent in which Justinian revived the Roman Authority during his rule was astronomical and presented him with the depiction as one of the greatest Caesars during the Medieval timeframe. But through the events that took place to gain Roman Authority, the losses of financial power and population diminished and Byzantium rapidly declined after Justinian’s death and the Roman Authority was forever lost.
Because of the rule of Harun-al Rashid, major uprisings began due to his attempts at controlling the local rulers, and civil war broke out. This divided and weakened the Abbasid caliphate. The decisions that led to these massive problems seemed not to be bad or unwise, they seemed too assuming. Trying to control the local rulers presumed their loyalty in him and splitting the empire between his two sons presumed they could get along and not become power-hungry. Justinian shared the same ambition. He tried to extend his empire back to its former glory. He stretched out the empire too far. Justinian did not protect the capital and th...
Luttwak, Edward. The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire: from the First Century A.D. to the Third. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1979. Print.
The imperial expansion of Rome or in simpler terms the development of the Roman Empire can be associated with the second century BC. Over a relatively short period of time, Rome immensely expanded its territory at a rapid rate. Although the victories in the Second Punic War satisfied Rome, they also motivated them to expend further into their neighbour’s territories and eventually conquer Greece and the North African coast. The Roman Empire became colossal and unstoppable within a blink of a century. Robin Waterfield’s new translation of Plutarch’s original work Roman Lives clarifies the reasons behind this sudden need to grow. The necessity in increase of the common wealth, the lack of available land for the Roman citizen, the safety precaution of having foreign allies and most importantly the constant need in being the most influential empire are among some of the reasons Plutarch provided. The lives of Cato the Elder, Aemilius Paullius, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus demonstrate specific cases of how these factors affected Rome and caused it to expand its borders. All explanations are valid however, when one looks at the larger picture it becomes clear that the prosperity of the Roman society is in the root of them all.
Justinian was one of the most influential rulers of Byzantium. When he came into power in 527 AD, he inherited a civilization in disarray. Justinian had a positive impact on the Byzantine Empire. Most notably, he introduced an improved set of laws and conquered many surrounding nations, nearly restoring the former glory of the Roman Empire. In addition to these contributions, Justinian also made advances with the Christian Church and Byzantine architecture.
In Titus Livius’, The Early History of Rome, Livy takes on the task of documenting Rome’s early history and some of the famous individuals who help contribute to the ‘greatness’ of Rome. Livy dedicates an entire portion of his writing to describe the reigns of the first seven kings of Rome; all who influence the formation and governance of Rome in some way. However, of the seven kings in early Roman history, King Romulus and King Numa Pompilius achieved godlike worship and high esteem from their fellow Romans. While both highly important and respected figures in Rome’s history, the personalities and achievements of King Romulus and King Numa Pompilius are complete opposites of one another. Despite the differences found in each king and of their rule over Rome, both Romulus and Numa Pompilius have a tremendous influence in the prosperity and expansion of Rome in its early days.
Rome was a major power because it always made certain its own military prowess was preeminent. There have been many ideas presented as to the fall of the Roman Empire. Many believe that Rome declined morally and the violence and decadence of the societal norms led to the demise. Gibbons has been credited with the theory of the influence and transference of Christianity over the Roman system of Gods and Goddesses that perpetrated the fall. Another theory lays the blame at the feet of the Emperor, that the happiness of the people and the functioning of the government was directly correlated with the personal merit and management skills of the reigning authority. This 10 page paper argues that the imperialistic tendencies of Rome over time and the pre-eminence of military expansionism in the latter stages, was the deciding feature of the "fall". Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Politically, the fall of the Roman Empire as from 410 C.E is regarded as one of the largest and pivotal events in the history of the world. As from the time Edward Gibbon finished his works in 1788 on the Decline and Fall of the Roman empire, there has been large debates on the cause of the of the fall of the roman empire. However, it should be noted that despite the roman empire might have fallen politically, their culture and heritage still persisted in the west through the mid ages and in altered methods the culture still exist in the modern periods. However, a large number of causes attributed to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. This paper will look into the major causes of the decline of the Roman Empire and the periods in which the Roman Empire came to decline and completely fall politically.
Constantine succeeded Diocletian as ruler of both empires after going to war with the Western Empire’s ruler Maximian due to the fact that they both wanted to be the ruler of the entirety of the Roman Empire. As the ruler of both the Western and Eastern empires, Constantine set out to make the Eastern Empire the dominant one. One aspect of the plan was to give it a stronger capital, so he recreated Byzantium, turning it into Constantinople. The new capital was easier to defend because of its location in a little peninsula surrounded by water . Constantine’s new capital flourished rapidly, becoming richer than Rome itself. With the flourishing of Constantinople came the flourishing of the Eastern Empire itself. From Constantine, to Justinian I, the Eastern Empire managed to keep itself on its feet. This is due in part to the fact that they were so strong enough that invaders went to the Western Empir...
During the turn from ancient to medieval, there were multiple vital points that pivoted the shifts between the two periods. Starting out with an imperial anarchy, where emperors seem to come as fast as they go, to the romanization of Christianity and the upbringing methods of this in the Roman society. Diocletian’s attempts at reconstructing and renewing the empire and Constantine with the Christianization of the Roman empire were closer to the middle of the shift, while the German tribes turning into the German Kingdoms in the western part of the empire were closer to the end. Finally, Justinian’s reassertion of Roman influence closed out the shift, moving from ancient to medieval times. For the most part, the three main components to all of these events that happened between this shift were the tardy Roman civilization, the new religion of Christianity along with the Germans and the combination of these three.
Ironically, the Byzantine Empire soon lost most of it territories after Justinian’s death and although the byzantine still last until 1435 conquered by the Ottoman Empire, but none of the following emperor had a great achievement like Justinian. In other words, Justinian did not revive the Roman empire in the Byzantine Empire, also as the person being Characterize in the book the secret history, “crafty, hypocritical, secretive by temperament, two-faced…” he is a designated emperor to deal with another empire with lies and strengthen his own empire regardless his own citizens happiness. Nevertheless, his legacy is that at the end of his domination of the Eastern Roman Empire was undoubtedly the main power of the Mediterranean, but at the
Emperor Justinian had two big ambitions in his reign. Since he was heir to the Roman Emperors he wanted to restore territorial boundaries. He also viewed himself as the Christian Emperor, and sought out to defend the faith. Justinian saw his role to bring about religious unification or Orthodoxy within
then won a civil war to establish himself as the sole ruler of the Roman World. He ended the
For nearly half a millennium, the Roman Empire dominated Europe and the Mediterranean and was the most successful empire the Western World had yet known. To maintain their power, Rome utilized a sophisticated form of empire building that revolved around law, military strategy, and infrastructure. With the collapse of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D., Western Europe was left in a chaotic upheaval, which conveniently was solved by using the Roman society as a model. The legacy of the Roman Empire greatly influenced and shaped the Barbarian Kingdoms, Charlemagne’s Empire and the literature and arts of the Renaissance.
Diocletian brought ambitious reforms to the war struck Roman Empire, including the military, the economy, and the government. He was Rome’s last chance. For a while it seems as though the Roman Empire would survive for a another millennium, but the Roman government collapsed as a result of a lack of leadership and supervision. “Diocletian created a system called the tetrarchy: it consisted of two senior Augusti who ruled the Roman Empire jointly, each assisted by one of two Caesars, or junior partners. The system was designed so that the Caesars would gain experience ruling, and when the Augusti stepped down or died, the Caesars would replace them, creating a smooth system of succession.” (Primary Source #1, 7). This system allowed a better distribution of power and a more efficient and practical running of such an expansive empire. Without guidance, the new Augusti selected their Caesars unwisely. After Diocletian retired, his successors desperately needed his help. So, he made a last ditch attempt and rearranged the tetrarchy, making promotions, demotions, and firings.“This compromise satisfied no one. [...] The tetrarchy ended in more civil war, which Diocletian had sought to avoid. In the end, Constantine emerged victorious over all his rivals and became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. The tetrarchy was dead.” (Primary Source #1, 6). In
Perhaps no other event was as influential to the rise of papacy in Rome as the decline of the Roman empire. With the decline of the empire, the church became the last refuge of stability. Without the protection of the empire, Rome was subject to poverty, disrepair, and attack from enemies.1 The rise of the papacy was a response to this situation. It was further cemented by the leadership of such men as Leo I and Gregory I, the latter sometimes referred to as the father of the medieval papacy.2 Finally, the granting of lands and authority to the bishop of Rome greatly increased the power of the Roman church.3