by Eric Leatherwood

Created on: January 01, 2009

Justinian was a Eastern Roman Emperor who ruled from 527 ad until his death in 565 ad. He was nicknamed Emperor who never sleep because he has such rigorous work habits .He was born in the province of Taurersium, August 9, 482 . He was adopted by his uncle, Justin. He changed his name from Uprauda to Justinian. In 518 ad, Emperor Anastasius died and Justin became emperor. When Justin's reign seemed like it was coming to an end, Justinian became the de facto ruler and was appointed consul and commander of the army. Then in 527, Justin made Justinian Associate Emperor. Oddly enough, Justin died on August 1,527 and Justinian became the sole sovereign. He married Theodora who was courtesan. She proved to be intelligent, street smart, and a good judge of character. He hired Cappadician and Peter Barsymes as his finance ministers. Lastly, he hired Belisarias as his general.

Justinian had a plan to restore the Roman Empire during his reign. He had several wars and a riot during that period. One of his first wars was the war in Italy. The war in Italy started when its queen was imprisoned and then executed by rebels. Belisarius invaded Sicily with 7,500 and advanced into Italy. The city Theodahad was razed by the Ostogothic army. The army then besieged Rome without being able to take the city. Belisarius took the city after refusing a peace offer. The war costs the empire 300,000 pounds of gold.
Shortly after their war in Italy, he started his conquest of North Africa in 533. Justinian started his conquest by attacking the Vandals who at that time ruled North Africa. So his general Belisarius went with a fleet of 92 dromons which escorted 500 transport ships. His army was well over 15,000 men and a large number of barbarian troops. When they attacked the Vandals, the Vandals were caught off-guard and Belisarius captured Carthage. Its king fled to Mount Pappua, but surrendered during the spring. The king was taken to Constantinople were he would be executed. Many strongholds and kingdoms were captured by Belisarius. The region of North Africa was now completely controlled by Justinian .The conquest of North America costs Justinian 100,000 gold.

From 540 to 562, Justinian engaged war with the Sassanid Empire. The war started when Justinian sent Belisarius to "liberate" the Persians and killed Ostrogothic ambassadors. Then Gothic King Khosrau broke a peace treaty by attacking Roman territory in 540. First he attacked Beroea, then he attacked Antioch and besieged Daras. Later

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