Meet Justinian, The Emperor Who Destroyed Rome.
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Please make a video about Benito Mussolini and your thoghts about him
Gods bless you
@@samburdge9948 who are you talking to
And now you have officially carried it too far, Buddy.
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"Justinian was evil and destroyed rome"
- Some historian who openly hated Justinian, even before the reconquest
Es que es increíble...
We should keep in mind that our source for all this, Procopius, was an adviser to Belisarius who hated Justinian's guts. So it's not so surprising that in his account every decision of Belisarius is an act of perfect genius and virtue, while all his failures are attributed to Justinian's incompetence.
Yeah
He didn't like Belisarius either. He repeatedly called him a cuck and stated that he was pussy-whipped by his wife Antonina, whom he also despised.
Yeah but still, Justinian destroyed the population of Italy, destroyed the national treasure... He has done even good things, but in my opinion very overrated
The population of Italy had been already destroyed by the invading Germans, the only people Justinian destroyed were the Germans who weren’t native Italians anyway
@@riccardolaporta7084 That is the price of ambition.If you succeed you are a great genius,if you fail you are an greedy idiot.
The Nika riot wasn't just a riot, it was an attempted coup. Augustus himself would have done the same.
Most emperors(and modern heads of the state) would surely suppressed such revolt with violance.Moreover especially high death toll in Nika riots was from large part due to crowd encloded in the Hippodrome,people trampled on each other in panic which almost certainly killed more people than soldiers themselves.
The revisionists never ask what he was supposed to do as alternative. If not for Justina then Justinian would have fled. So blame Justina.
What? Who is Justina? It's Theodora
This dude just pissed of the entire Byzantophile community
No, just people who seek the truth.
the secret truth of the secret history 😂
Justinian: "Now that Rome is ours again, nothing will stop us from restoring the Roman Empire to its full glory!" 😎
Plagues, Franks and Sassanid: *Awaken begins to play*
Considering all the problems that Justinian had to face, he was great.
ME:- Nukes sassanids and Frankish barabari
@@Tzimiskes3506 He was great at losing yes.
He was too good and got nerfed, even then he held on.
A tad harsh I'd say. Justinian definitely had a knack of picking good people for the job. John the Cappadocian and Trebonian were great picks as much as Belisarius was. Justinian's law reforms alone earn him a shot at "the great". Let's not forget the Hagia Sophia as well which alone was a powerful diplomatic tool that future emperors used to wow foreign envoys and project what we would today call "soft power". He survived the plague as well which for contemporaries would be seen as a divine sign, further boosting his "great" credentials. I think the fact that he listened to his wife a lot may have something to do with his treatment of Belisarius. There's a theory that Belisarius' wife Antonina was an agent of Theodora and kept tabs on him. It could be that Theodora was always warning Justinian to be careful of Belisarius, since it wasn't unknown in recent roman history at that point for generals to declare themselves emperor. I think the fact that Justinian never assassinated Belisarius on trumped up charges (again, not an uncommon thing for emperors to do) shows he truly did trust him. Finally, I think the plague more than anything else, is what leads some people to say "Justinian overstretched the empire's manpower". A third of the empire's population was killed by plague and the climate change caused by the dimming of the sun's rays. That plague and climate event of 536 is something that hurt the empire for centuries hereafter, and together with manzikert and the 1204 sack stands as one of the huge hits the empire took that it never fully recovered from.
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I agree. Justinian might not have been perfect but he was an exceptional Roman Emperor. Chances are had the plague not happened Italy may have remained under Roman control for much longer.
@@MichaelWilliams-bw6he Exactly, it could have been the case that even with the Persian invasion, Belisarius could've been dispatched to the east and Narses + hefty reinforcements could've continued the consolidation in Italy. Not to mention the economic powerhubs of Egypt, Asia and Thrace would have helped the empire bounce back from the Persian invasion much faster, without the need for Maurice and Heraclius to do the epic hail mary hard carry later on.
Linking Manzikert and Giustinian with the pest is a Loooooooong stretch!!! Heraclius, Basilius II and Nikephors Phocas would a lot to say about that.
To be honest, Justinian happened to have a capable wife and some really good generals and administrators, but he was a total disaster into administering the resources he had (and he had a lot of those!).
Just imagine the "genius" of someone determined to invade Italy at all cost (551AD) in the face of a terrible plague running rampant since 536AD!!!
Imagine the hubris of someone willing to destroy completely a stable and relatively friendly country (Italy) just for the sake of personal glory, and losing it less the 10 years later while never actually establishing control over it, while plundering it to the ground to just get back a small part of what he had wasted in it.
Imagine the "foresight" of someone inviting the Avars and the Lombard to crush the stable reign of the Gepids just outside of his own borders.
Imagine someone who was outplayed and trolled by Cosraw all its life, wasting tons of resources trying to put things back together, while the Persian were earning massive amounts of gold from the Byzantine treasure.
Justinian, all if life aimed at goals just outside it's reach and threw everything at things that were never actually possible to hold.
Actually I've heard from Greek friends that Theodora and Belisarius where lovers, and she chose her wife for him because she would keep her secret. And that it was jealous courtiers who constantly poisoned Justinian against Belisarius, and those courtiers may or may not have known of the affair.
Imo, Justinian's policies were still enough to call him great.
Knowing he wasn't a general himself, he delegated military powers to generals like Belisarius. He was a civil emperor, not a military emperor.
The zealous Christianization was inevitable at the time, so someone was bound to be this brutal. It just so happened to be Justinian.
The legal code was not mentioned. Still influences modern western law to this day.
Suppressing the Nika riots was a necessary evil. It had already gotten out of control.
The eternal peace. It didn't work, but Justinian clearly wanted to maintain peaceful relations instead of killing each other.
The conquest of the Vandals worked perfectly.
Numerous natural disasters: the plague, the year 536, etc. They crippled the Roman war effort in Italy, and more energetic kings became a thorn in the side.
While not prudent, recalling Belisarius did make some sense. After all, the the west there was always the problem of rebellious generals. He saw Belisarius as too powerful.
Justinian was not perfect, and made plenty of mistakes, but I still personally consider him to be Great.
My thoughts exactly. Well done.
"Knowing he wasn't a general himself, he delegated military powers to generals like Belisarius."
Except he undermined him at every possible turn.
"The zealous Christianization was inevitable at the time, so someone was bound to be this brutal. It just so happened to be Justinian."
It was so inevitable that it didn't happen for more than 200 years with Christian emperors. It was Justinian who CHOSE to do it rather than keep thing as they always were.
"Suppressing the Nika riots was a necessary evil. It had already gotten out of control."
He could have abdicated, which is what most emperors afterwards did in similar situations.
"Numerous natural disasters: the plague, the year 536, etc. They crippled the Roman war effort in Italy, and more energetic kings became a thorn in the side."
Yet even after all this he still insisted on expansionist wars of conquest rather than focusing on keeping what he had.
"While not prudent, recalling Belisarius did make some sense. After all, the the west there was always the problem of rebellious generals. He saw Belisarius as too powerful."
No, he was jealous of his popularity and undermined his greatest asset. If Belisarius wanted to organize a coup or a rebellion, he could have done long before it.
@@TheCowardRobertFord
"Except he undermined him at every possible turn.
"
Right. That's why he gave him full control of the forces in Africa, gave him a triumph (which no non-Emperor had been given since Augustus), defended Belisarius whenever Narses or John questioned his command and pardoned him multiple times despite having good reasons to arrest him (which I might add, most Emperors would have done under the same circumstances).
"It was so inevitable that it didn't happen for more than 200 years with Christian emperors. It was Justinian who CHOSE to do it rather than keep thing as they always were."
Theodosian Prosecutions no real I guess.
"Yet even after all this he still insisted on expansionist wars of conquest rather than focusing on keeping what he had."
This is not true. Justinian pretty much left Italy alone when the plague was at its worst, which is probably part of the reason he only gave Belisarius a token force to defend it. Narses' successful reconquest of Italy in the 550's happened after the plague had simmered down, there were subsequent waves, but they were not as widespread as the initial one.
"No, he was jealous of his popularity and undermined his greatest asset."
There is little to no evidence of this.
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The Codex Justinianus. So much tax revenue per every city -- and if the population had been halved by the Plague, just as much was due!
For the people at the time, Justinian was probably something straight out of a legend alongside Belisarius with how successful his campaigns were, especially when during his reign, there were people who were young when the empire fell, and still remembered everything, telling their children and grandchildren about it, so it should be no surprise that the entire generation told their birthright was invaded and stolen from them (Despite Rome conquering all that land over 1000 years prior) were more than willing to fulfill a duty as "Roman Byzantines". Justinian also did many things for his people, despite how many resources he had ordered used that never truly recovered. Law, economy, military, education, all part of the endless list of reforms he administered while simultaneously restoring as much of Rome as he could throughout his life. It took Augustus all the way to Trajan to fully expand the empire to its highest extent, and this guy managed to rule all of what he had in what, 40 years? Justinian was Great in many ways, just not as a Christian, in my opinion.
Why not as a christian tho? Justinian was known to be a great theologian and is said he enganged in extensive theological debates with the most prominent minds of the church at the time. He is also reported to fast during weekends
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I mean it depends on what you choose to give credence to but most apparently he, or his minister, was widely hated but rarely did people express hostility directly to the emperor even probably in private.
Justinian was brilliant in understanding his faith, but having to go to the lengths of kidnapping Pope Vigilius and force him to sign a council, outright intolerance to other religions and persecuting them to the point of alienation and the destruction of their important works of history, art, and culture, ordering his best general to murder thousands of Byzantine civilians for rioting, and a few other things, doesn't scream "Great Christian" to me.
He was a good Christian! He had a good soul🙏
I heavily disagree with this video. Thumbs down. Firstly, Belisarius was Justinian’s friend. The reasons following are why he was not treated disfavorably.
Justinian removed Narses on Belisarius’ recommendation.
Some reinforcements were sent to Belisauris during the Italian campaign (that's how Narses arrived in the first place).
Belisarius disobeyed orders by not accepting Justinian’s proposed treaty with the Ostrogoths. Especially when a quick peace was needed. Reason for distrust, yet no reprisals.
Briefly accepted imperium (the western throne) although as a ruse. Reason for distrust, yet no reprisals.
His betrayal of the Ostrogoths was not forgotten and because of this determined resistance continued. Belisarius, as the best commander, was needed desperately in the East, and that is why he had to leave Italy. Not as a punishment.
They were just more spare troops and resources available for the Narses campaign.
Recalled Belisarius out of retirement to defend the Balkans in 559. (Omitted mention in the video).
Correctly acquitted him after a trial in 562, if Justinian was truly jealous that would have been the perfect time to execute him. (Omitted mention in the video).
Most strangely, there is no mention of Belisarius’ triumph after the Vandalic War. Even though it was really uncommon to give an outsider of the imperial family such an honour.
Btw, in 9:15 of the video, there is the symbol of the Palaiologos eagle in the background. Which is deeply anachronistic. Very disappointing to see that. Do better research, please.
No mention that Justinian gave the privilege of a triumph to belisarius? Yes he had to walk instead of being pulled by horses but that is an honor few men ever recieved unless you were an emperor or part of the royal family.
Lots of emphasis of jealousy and perhaps there was a tad but Justinian knew his strengths Similar to Augustus hence why he had his second man agrippa. Different side of the same coin.
I think there's plenty of fair criticisms to be made against Justinian, but this video has...issues.
-I commented this in another video, but Justinian did not close the "1,000 year old" Academy of Athens, the academy Justinian closed was just shy of 100 years old, it was not the original academy at all (the original was destroyed in the Roman Conquest of Greece and never repaired).
-Anti Pagan policies are pretty bad in the modern lens, but every other Emperor at the time was issuing these types of edicts. It does not make Justinian uniquely terrrible.
-Calling Belisarius "one of the best generals in history" is dubuious at best considering his record in Italy was extremely mixed with several notable losses and a few poor decisions.
-I think it's a bit dishonest to blame Belisarius' manpower issues on "jealousy". Context clues tell us Justinian trusted Belisarius, but giving a Roman general full control over a massive army, especially a general who scores many great victories, had always been a recipe for disaster. Maurice did the opposite and gave his generals too much power, and we know how that went. With Narses this wasn't an issue because he was a eunuch and couldn't become Emperor, it wasn't a matter of "jealousy".
Good points.
Belisarius waa a good general. He was a good tactician and did a lot with the number of soldiers he had. Many at times his own personal house guards. He is ranked one of the best generals after all. But i see your point.
Even Julian the Apostate barred Christian teachers from teaching the classsics.
@@Tzimiskes3506
I'm not saying Belisarius wasn't good, he certainly was, but he's far from "one of the best generals in history", infact he probably doesn't even reach my top 10 I think.
I don't think it's remotely accurate to compare him to Alexander the Great, Khalid ibn al Walid or Napoleon.
So Belisarius was good, maybe even great. But he wasn't one of the best of all time.
@@marvelfannumber1 he actually is one of the best in the top 10.
And i thinks every general would fail against Napolean.
Khalid did win victories but most of them against weakened empires. Both the Romans and the Sassanids were exhausted and couldn't take anymore.
Theodosius the Great was probably worse in terms of pagan persecution.
Greats:
Constantine: earned it
Justinian: earned it
Theodosius: WTF you doing mate?!
I like how you pretend the Romans crushed paganism while ignoring the fact that all the pagan Germanic successor states occupying former Roman territories they had no control over converted to Christianity and crushed paganism
Honestly, my opinion of Justinian began to rapidly decline when I learned about the way he excluded and persecuted the Syrians and Egyptians for the sake of "heresy".
The old roman empire managed to survive with multiple different pantheons of Gods, but the Christian one apparently could not even tolerate minor disagreements in theology.
thats what happens when you have a monoistic religion. The Christians shed blood over small theological differences for a millenia, and thankfully they've nowdays ended that, however if you look at Islam you can see how theological difference has lead to massive conflicts in Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan for example.
Yes, these days Islam is in a mess. They are in what I call the Islamic Dark Age.
Honestly baffles me how old Rome could take two different gods say their the same and people would just accept it but the technicality of the relationship between God and Jesus can cause such a controversy it practically helps tear an empire apart. Even Constantine probably initially syncretized sol Invictus and Yahweh.
Meh, the Romans persecuted the Jews and the early Christians.
All societies persecute those who disagree with the mainstream views of that society. The same thing goes on today.
@@Mike-md7op true but overall the track record is remarkably better. Even persecution wasn't a constant phenomenon to that they take the side of a bunch of sheep herders riding camels.
Theodosius ‘the great’. Lost territory to the goths and relied on them. But Julian who was pretty competent is to be condemned.🤷♀️
> Invades Persia for no concrete reason
> Does not bring enough siege weapons to take the capital
> Kinda forgot to put his armour on
> Gets shanked, his army gets rekt and stranded in enemy territory
> His successor has to try and clean up the mess by ceding important territory to buy passage home
> His attempts to roll back the advance of Christianity, like Cnut attempting to command the tides, are undone as soon as he's dead
> Did not have the guts to sire an heir because he was a prude
> The definition of an overglorified footnote
"Pretty competent" is being generous to the idol of fedora tippers everywhere. Give me Constantius II or Valentinian the Great anyday, at least they left the empire strong when they carked it.
I would interpret Justinian’s actions as trying to balance power, rather than jealousy. It wouldn’t be hard to look over history and see the consequences of allowing power to be concentrated too heavily in the hands of any single individual. The fact that we still talk about Bellisarius as a great general and that we still marvel at his achievements gives credence to the view that he did represent an existential threat to Justinian. It must have been hard for Justinian to continue trusting someone who had the potential to challenge him, yet despite this for a long time we can see he did. So whilst it may have been the wrong decision to kill him, I don’t think it was necessarily evil. I’d love to understand better exactly what the events were that led to Justinian making his decision. It was clearly quite a complex relationship.
You did my boy Justian dirty
good thaing that most of them all lies
Yep. I think he's been reading too much Procopius
I hate this title but I know this man over extended the empire but still he tried his best and did what he thought was right
He didn't overextended the empire plague and climate change did all the work
Belisarious should've been the Western Emperor and Justinian should've realized it was the only way, give him all the troops and resources and told him "go all the way to Britain".
If he did that, there wouldn't be a sufficient force in the east to handle the Sassanids and other invaders constantly rushing in. Although Anastasias left Justin and Justinian a shit ton of wealth, Justinian could only afford so many mercenaries while declaring a great conquest with very high spirited Germanic warriors defending their new territories while a plague loomed over the horizon. In another timeline, this could have been the case, should Belisarius have been anything like Emperor Maurice, as much as I'd like to think he was.
@@altairiel6335 Yes he would've had to give him enough but not too much ofc.
Also Belisarius would've become the leader of the germanics who offered him the crown.
You know the Empire fell because Rome failed to fully integrate the Germans. If a half-roman half-german general could've become emperor by marrying into the royal line, the West wouldn't have fallen.
There were half-romans that their German ancestry was 3 or 4 generations and they were still not fully assimilated, not really considered 100% roman, even though citizenship was extended in the past to vassal peoples.
What are you even saying. My God
Just a few important points:
1. The Platonic Academy in Athens that was closed by Justinian was not the original one, which had in fact been destroyed 500 years before. The one that ceased to exist in the 6th century had been established only in the previous century. It's also important to note that Justinian was evidently not particularly bothered by Neoplatonism; in fact, schools of that philosophy continued to exist, with Imperial funding, in Constantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria.
2. As far as I can see, there was no general destruction of Pagan art and books in any part of the empire during Justinian's reign. In his Chronographia, Ioannis Malalas only mentions one instance of Pagan book burning, in Antioch; this example was, however, quite tame, as only texts that were being used by particular groups of Pagans were burned. The claim also seems very inconsistent with the fact that Constantinople continued to be renowned after Justinian's death for the wealth of classical art that graced its many streets and public buildings. I don't think one can draw the inference that a "significant" amount of Pagan art and knowledge was destroyed in Justinian's reign.
Justinian to me is definitely the second overrated Roman Emperor, but still a competent one, he would not have lasted so long as Emperor otherwise. What really created the biggest problems at the time was the plague which was out of anyone's control. I would not call Justinian "Great" but I can see why people call him that.
He was a great ‘systems man’ he built the shortest smoothest pipeline to power they ever had at least civilly.
@@henripentant1120 considering the problems he faced especially after he himself fell to the plague, he did do good.
You should learn about his ideology before commenting about him
I'm very glad to see this neutral, middle-line perspective. It's best, imo, to view Justinian neither as a flawless god among men nor as an inept source of pure evil who doomed the empire. The truth of the matter is that he did many great things while having many great flaws. Just like many other rulers out there. There's no need to lean 100% to one of the two binary sides.
Justinian wasnt lucky in the first place, he wasnt incompetent, just at the wrong time. He was lucky that Belisarius was loyal to him and probably Belisarius knew if he did some kind of Coup, the whole kingdom would fall into a civil war and would be destroyed forever. Ancient people werent stupid, a shocker, I know. But was he incompetent? Nope, not a chance. His achievements were big for the time and if you think what he did for the empire economicly is already something great.
There have 'greats' who have held up like Charlemagne or Alfred the great. But mostly the title refers to what they dared to attempt and what people thought of the state they brought their kingdoms to.
8:00Justinian could only send ten thousand troops because most of the troops were on the Persian border

Yes, youre right. He sayed that justinian was in war with all regions. I think he had that in mind.
I ever wondered how stupid he was, trying to conquer new lands while a brutal war is going on in the east.
In fact he reduced the troop streangth and started new wars. Its so stupid!
@@chris-lk4ml The Persians declared war out of nowhere it is not his fault

@@chris-lk4ml and Heraclius fighting against the sassanids and then it's his fault that the Rashiduns took territory right?
@@chris-lk4ml you can't just dismiss everything. You would've done the same if you were in his situation especially with the plague. Oh let me guess, Justinian caused the plague too right?
Justinian was over ambitious instead in focusing on his lands he allowed his dream to guide him to unnecessary expansions when their were more pressing threats
Love your channel! Thanks for the content.
He was trolled by Cosroe I (probably the better ruler of the two) all his life, treated Belisarius as a tool to use and out away at will, humiliating him on a regular base, destroyed a stable and relatively wealthy Italy and left only ruins in its path.
Justinian law codex is the only legacy that survived him, with Hagia Sofia.
The Persians undeniably had good leaders. I mean, they survived from rome through ww2. It was only when they crossed the British who manipulated the child Kermit Roosevelt and even the Brits tried to pull back but Kermit had a chip on his shoulder.
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Imo Belisarius probably gets more credit and well-treatment from posterity than he was personally due but was badly used like many at court were badly used-it’s kind of what they signed on for. The code was already being rendered irrelevant in his lifetime and was replaced gradually in the next century anyway. It has influenced us in the modern west probably more than the Romans that came after him, again imo.
Italy was already in shambles before Justinian invaded. The city of Rome was already a ghost town with a population in the low tens of thousands. Its monuments were already being treated as stone quarries and being burnt for lime.
The idea that the Ostrogoths just took over for the Roman Emperors and everything was more or less the same is simply not supported by the available evidence.
Detroit still has a City Council and Mayor, but it has also lost two thirds of its population and is riddled with vacant lots and abandoned, decaying buildings.
Lots of minor historians believe Justinian was a demon. Mostly based upon Procopius's Secret Histories book.
I think people should have more unique names rather than just “The Great”. Justinian should be called the Conqueror rather than the great. Constantine could be called Constantine the Pious or something like that. Theodosius would be Theodosius the Enforcer or the Zealous because of what he did to the pagans.
I think calling Justinian as The Conqueror wouldn't sound good cause it makes it look like his campaigns were new territory beeing added and not former ones beeing retaken
@@danielchequer5842 or the reconquerer
Sometimes they do have multiple epithets it’s just used where there might be reference to the other constantines or justinian(s?) when talking historically.
Sometimes they do have multiple epithets it’s just used where there might be reference to the other constantines or justinian(s?) when talking historically.
@@henripentant1120 That is indeed the case. It is known that Constantine the Great had another epitath during his lifetime: Constantine the Bull-necked bc he was such a strong man
Can't wait for the Theodosius episode
The One who singlehandedly, together with his son Honorius, contributed the most to kill the Western Roman Empire
@@jonathangalloni2808, especially with his shilling for barbarians.
Theodosius the Cringe... to think his father was such a chad, Theodosius the Elder didn't deserve such shitty kids and grand kids.
Please people for the love of god read a book!!!!!!
@@jonathangalloni2808 yeah Theodosius could really do a lot after the defeat at Adrianople.
Justinian restored the empire it was only shortly after he died that Alboin destroyed Italy
Looking back at all the instances where popular generals deposed their emperors, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Justinian would be wary of Belisariuse's position. Actually, he'd be a fool if he didn't. Sure, Belisarius turned out to be loyal untill the very end, but we only know this with the benefit of hindsight. And since you also mention Narses, we should remember that he was an enuch -- thus he wasn't eligible to become Emperor, so Justinian had far less to fear from him.
Justinian's worst mistake IMHO is that he bit off more than he could chew. Had he just focused on internal reforms as well as regaining and solidifying his control over North Africa, the Eastern Rome could have remained a major power for much longer.
A Majorian fan, and a Justinian hater? Can't ask for a more based man.
Bravo! I, personally, have been unable to see Justinian as anything but the most pampered arrogant little shit, but that's just based on what I have learned...
8:58 This could have been a defining moment in Roman history. The fact Belisaurius stayed loyal to his emperor showed he could have made for a great emperor. Justinian did not deserve such a great general.
It might have been enough of a strong precedent to push the Greco-Romans into the 18th century. After that its all based on how they handle their Ottoman neighbors and the growing maritime empires of Western Europe.
Yes he did
He absolutely did he was an excellent emperor
Great generals do not make great emperors. Justinian was a brilliant man.
@@bradley6357 Ha-ha-ha-ha, the Persians, this emperor, and they made him pay tribute to the Persians
What about his legal code, building projects? Also wouldn't the Goths also be responsible for some of the destruction of Italy as they retreated from the Roman Reconquista?
Insightful video, thank you. Also, clever of you to link donations to rank.
Well made video. Good job 👍
"Justinian really showed his evil side " - sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
Never a truer sentence, sometimes you have to do the right or best thing even at the expense of others.. it is what it is
@@Ellis-zr1qdyea the dude in the video acts as if Justinian was the only ruler to use violence
I think it was more his overpowering wife then Justinian himself. He always struck me as a “whom ever had his ear at that time controlled the empire at that time” type person. He went out of his way to spend every dime he could get his hands on yet rarely spent any on the very army and general that kept him in power and reconquered a large part of the western lands.
The armies paid themselves via conquest. He should've devoted more attention to military affairs, sure, but the plague of his name was the ultimate source of ruination for his dreams.
I will push back on the library and learning always being in the East. Alexandria’s library was a shell of itself by the time of the end but Caesar and Augustus essentially recreated it in Rome at an even more grand scale according to some researchers.
You’ve been paying too much attention to Procopius!
Justinian reminded me of Hannibal, the blunders in their operation is not their own doing but just a right wave of circumstances in which mis - fortunes stack up and now cannot even be prevent by their own greatness.
Fantastic stuff! Please follow up w more on your answers Re education at the end 😁
When I think of Justinian, I immediately think of the Plague...
I think this is one of most interesting channels about history on TH-cam. I have one question: in "Gratias tibi ago, amici" tibi refers to only one person, doesn't it, whereas "amici" is plural? Should it not be therefore "Gratias vobis ago, amici"?
Great video thanks
Surprised no mention of how much money Anastasius left for him to burn
Great video as always! 😄 I think that Justinian probably disfavored Belisarius because he felt threatened by the successful general, especially given that Justinian himself was probably not very popular with the people. He was probably afraid that Belisarius would break off and form a rival state in Italy or Africa and threaten Justinian. He perhaps knew that Narses, an imperial eunuch, wouldn’t have as easy a time establishing himself and so trusted him more.
Justinian was definitely a clever, cautious man, but by trying to prevent some problems he inadvertently created others. 👍🏻
Clever is a good word.
Yes, He just wanted to be safe and cautious all the time and because he know what was happened to other emperors before him who got betrayed by their generals
@@rajasekharathuluru6561 No, this general lost against the Persians, and this made the Emperor, the general, resign because of his failure
I enjoyed your well-constructed hit piece.
Wonderful video on a very melancholy subject. I've been a Hellenist since discovering classical Greek myths in the 4th grade. And as such I've avoided late Roman history as it is such a downer. Until now, thanks to your channel.
Ramsey MacMullen has written some excellent books on the era if you want to dive in.
@@Gorboduc Thanks for the tip! :)
Don't be discouraged! Although certain pagan aspects were persecuted, others were so embedded in the people and fundamental to civilized life that the church not only protected but promoted them! Almost all the Byzantine patriarchs of the time were not only priests but also great philosophers and well-read scholars in the Greek classics. We also have the religious aspects, almost all the orthodox ceremonies of that time as well as today, share the same pagan practices but with a different meaning, for example in the acropolis of Athens, when the parthenon was dedicated to the virgin mary, many began to call her "Parthena" as they had done with Athena but now to refer to the Virgin, it is also worth mentioning that the pagan ritual of offering grapes, wine and bread were kept but changed in meaning. And that is just a sample of how much the classical legacy was appreciated and exploited in Byzantium:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_bureaucracy_and_aristocracy
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_law
@@seanledden4397 paganism is in the blood of every native european.
th-cam.com/video/PehCn_3kyw4/w-d-xo.html
Can you do a video on Diocletian please? As I feel he's the founder of late antiquity
He certainly paved the way of how royalty would be perceived, as lofty figures in robes being addressed by pluralist titles.
Excellent introducing of Political effectiveness of Justinian Emperor Which caused Rome s Destruction Thanks For Sharing
since you showed snipts of the movie, I´d love for you to make a video about Hypathia of Alexandria and the late Roman Egypt.
I like that idea, I actually really enjoyed that film also, but I almost jumped out of my seat and threw my popcorn when she did the planetary elliptical orbit thing at the end.....she was a very smart woman...but no no no and hell no.
As fascinating as ever. 😊
I think the further decline of the east was more of a blunder on Justinian's successors rather than him specifically. Phocas really accelerrated the Eastern Roman Empire's decline more when deposing and killing Maurice.
Pagan larp
based
I love this channel, every new video, my love grows. My history loving friends also share my opinion. You need more views!
Don't forget that he became emperor with a full treasury and died with an empty one.
great analysis
11:45 Gothic wars
13:28 Imperium Romanum
I have to strongly disagree. The timing was never better to make a play for Africa and Italy. Political windows like that don't happen often. And the cost of the two expeditions was very low for the results. But for a once in a 1000 year catastrophe of a plague, which cannot be understated or ignored, things would have been fine. And one cannot blame him for not planning for such a disaster. The two wars were well within the means of the Empire by a far margin. Those two wars cost a fraction of the failed invasion of Africa back in the 460s. The proximate causes of the rebellions and Gothic revival in Italy was 100% the Plague.
Constantine deserves the title. He managed to drag all those heretics into one room and “convince” them that he will not tolerate anymore of their bullshit bickering over nothing. Or else.
Justinian - "Making the mother of all omelettes here, Belisarius. Can't fret over every egg!"
If only Justinian supported Belisarius like Augustus did to Agrippa.
Justinian and Belisarius were loyal to each other. This guy is biased af and a liar. going based on the historian who hated Justinian is disgusting. I bet this guy is a pagan.
I think the Nika Riots changed him a lot. Not necessarily in a good way like Caesar’s death did to Augustus. But maybe even vice versa
It's amazing to me how deeply I can learn about a leader,
and yet miss so many points about how he is actually good.
I admit I am uneducated abouy Justinian, but every time I learn about him,
I only get more and more of the impression that he was an entitled monster.
As I said before, I am not educated on the subject. I'm just saying when I learn about how his rich, powerful parents died young,
and how he inherited the throne at a very young age, and how he married a prostitute who was even more self-entitled than he was,
and how he was in charge of political rule, yet favored one sports team openly and publically in a city where factions of only two teams ruled...
...I just go... "Man, what an annoying, terrible doofus and totally self-serving prick!"
I'm not saying I know what I'm talking about; there are a lot of people here very favorable to Justinian's legacy who know so much more than I do...
...All I'm saying is that it is amazing how much you can learb about a leader, and still retain what is, perhaps, the wrong impression.
Justinian was a great politician and reformer. That he made a great mistake is true, but overall he was really god at his job
Story of Belisarus reminds story of Hannibal a lot. Victorius and famous general, eventually betrayed by politicians, lost the war in the end...
Could you do a video about Odoacer?
After looking at all of Roman history, I always wonder why they never were able to create a system that insured stable political transition from one capable leader to another, since the end of the mid republic. That was ultimately their biggest weakness
Your channel is one that I always follow with interest because it deals with lesser known chapters of the Roman Empire. The final decades of that magnificent thing that that Empire had been for so long are not particularly enchanting as they remind us of what our civilization lost upon its fall.
That being said, I'm sorry that you show a frequent tendency to convey personal opinions rather than the facts - as obscure as they might be due to scanty evidence. This is not the first time that you promote a video with a catchy but terribly misleading title for... For what exactly, I'm not sure.
There are certain patterns, though. You have shown on many occasions a rather transparent disdain, or even worse, for the impact of Christianity on the Empire. It's not only rather cliché, but it's quite complacent, as fierce adversaries of anything remotely connected to Christianity are quite vocal, wherever they are found. I'm a real supporter of evidence-supported, objective history. And I can easily detect when one's personal views interfere with telling it like it is.
Granted, there have been exaggerations and mere aggrandizement of Christian emperors' deeds and realizations. For example, all the myths surrounding Constantine's "conversion" and support for Christians in the Empire need to be debunked. And the same for Justinian. But to distort the facts and say that Justinian "destroyed" the Roman Empire is low-grade hype. The truth is somewhere in the middle. He may not have been as great as his surname implied, but still, he didn't "destroy" the Empire.
I'm sure the channel is not in such dire straits to feel the need to use sensationalism as a promoting tool.
I will continue to watch your videos, since I found more valuable information through it than hype. I hope you'll find other ways to sustain the interest!
I mean he still is great. He knew who to pick for the right job. He codified Roman law. Also brought silk to the empire and did all of that while conquering new territory under his trusted general.
Its most or biased dudes like this video that keep on hating and bullying the Eastern Roman Empire because of nonsense reasons that the West were the only developed ones when in reality it was the Eastern part.
Well said, although I can understand his disdain for Christianity or religion in general tbh, look how much mayhem it has caused lol.
@Leon lionhardt righttt, six, seven crusades says otherwise.
@Leon lionhardt religion has been a net negative.
Church supported science for furthering it's own interests and war efforts .
Rather than real research.
Great video. Robin Pierson in The History of Byzantium made the same point. He was a zealot and a tyrant, and jealous of his best general Belisarius. If he had never been emperor, is likely the empire would have lasted even longer, because they wouldn't waste time with the pointless conquest of the West even after the plague.
Yeah no. Right after Justinian had died, absolutely no one takes into account that another empire had been rising during his reign, which was the Rashidun Caliphate.
Just when Heraclius could have gotten momentum to keep things going after the wars had just devastated both the Roman and Sassanid empire, the Rashidun Caliphate pushed both empires back.
Hey, I just learned climate change was a part both of the rise and decline of the Roman Empire: "What was the Roman Empire's impact on the environment?"
Well, we know what they burned in the cities and mined in Spanish quarries created smog, but do you know how many more toxins the ancient human's physiology could tolerate than ours??
Weather exists, so you might as well get used to it.
Besides, no one cares about complaints of "Klam-Kla-Kanjue!!"
at this point, I think the Eastern Romans are now looking at Constantinople or Nova Roma Orientalis as the New Rome, while neglecting the old one.
Old one was neglected since the times of Diocletian
Such capable generals like Βελισσάριος are always a pain in the neck for all authorities ! You see centralized power feels comfortable only with YESMEN . Its not just Justinian in my point of view every Emperor would feel threaten by such capable General. Only the Julius Caesar perhaps was an exemption of this rule
Why do you write his name in Greek and the rest in Latin Alphabet?
he knew he could not defend it
he knew he could not put it back under a barbarian viceroy
he knew the only way left was to destroy it
"greatness springs out from taking the best decision out of a lose-lose situation"
6:35 Shouldn't it be "Gratias VOBIS ago amici"? Anyway thanks for the great vids
Thanks a lot for your generous support and for pointing that out scrot :) I really appreciate it!
I've never been more shocked by a video title in my life.
I believe it's better to save "got fewer men", not "less". Human beings are countable items :)
Very interesting interpretation! I had never really seen it this way, though i was aware of how insanely jealous he was of Belisarious.
Justinian was one of the greatest Emporers of history🙏❤️
Just wondering if there's proof of Justinian ordering the destruction of Pagan statues and art in Constantinople? Reason I ask, is that according to contemporary sources, they were still somewhat common in Constantinople in 1204 AD, when the Crusaders sacked Constantinople, and destroyed many of the pagan statues.
Always a pleasure. As i read a lot about late antiquity , we can say Justinian wasn't great in everything. But as we can't blame him for the plague or a volcanic winter , the destruction of Italy (entering de facto in the middle ages after the gothic war) seal the fate of the roman empire as a local power one century later.
I will say he didn’t leave the lower classes resilient or healthy enough for those stresses, that he earns blame for.
@@henripentant1120 how could you make the lower classes healthy when microbiology wasn't discovered yet?
Danke!
Hello Eisenpfosten :) Thank you so much for supporting my videos in such a generous way. It is highly appreciated 🤗
Great video. Just wanted to point out that the term “the Great” for Roman emperors was probably given by later Christian writers to the once that had the greatest positive impact on Christianity:
Constantine, who was the main reason for the spread of Christianity and first Christian emperor. Theodosius “the great” - who ordered the permanent closure of all pagan temples, together with many other lows he enacted against paganism. And finally Justinian “the great” , which as you mentioned wasn’t that great but was for sure great for Christians.
Who was left aside? All the true great emperors of Rome , such as Augustus, Antoninus Pius , Marcus Aurelius, etc.
love it
Curious what do you think of Procopius’s secret account. It’s pretty scathing towards him and even his wife. It’s like he was his propagandist then Justinian pissed him off then like a jilted lover went off on him and Theodora. His treatment of pagans and nearly leaving as a result of the Nika riots is a blemish. Also not sure if this is true but he treated Belasarius like crap later on. Belasarius should have taken the throne in Italy. Man was loyal and Justinian couldn’t get his head out of his ass. Justinian I’m scared of my kick ass general.
If it wasn't for the eponomous plague the Roman Empire would still exist, give the man the credit he's due lol
do a video on basil ii
I’ve never thought Justinian was anything other than a failure. He destroyed Italy and ruined Constantinople. Hagia Sophia is magnificent, but one great vanity project does not compensate for his many disasters.
Many disasters? Yes because getting back Africa was a disaster
Writing the code of Justinian was a disaster
Lmao
@@TonyFontaine1988 . Yes it was, for the majority Arian population who were oppressed.
@@richardsmith579 they deserved it. Council of nicea decided it was heresy. Arian's destroyed unity
@@richardsmith579 How is it disaster considering how many invasions, plagues and other problems he had to face? No empire lasts forever and to see that it lasted for another 1000 years is great.
I absolutely agree with you. Too many people gush over Justinian before using common sense and understanding multiple povs to see he wasn't exactly "Great"..
Justinian was a dreamer, thats good, but to achieve its dreams you must allow some flexibility, you cannot do it by doing bad decisions like removing Belisarius from the Italian campaign, its either you dream and accept the steps towards it or you forget your dream
Ah come on man, you don't really have to hate every Christian emperor just because you dislike Christianity (yes, the pro-pagan bias on your channel is that obvious, no offense), do you? I mean, would it hurt to show some respect to those who fought for the Empire even if they are Christians without claiming that they were somehow secretly pagans? Or perhaps criticize the pagan emperors that deserved very much to be criticized (especially pointing at Julian here)? Now yes, there were bad and incompetent Christian emperors for sure, but there were great ones as well. You do not get the nickname "The Great" for nothing, nor were Constantine, Justinian and Theodosius considered to be worthy to be called Great only by "selected few" as you say, but by a Roman society at large. So let's be a little bit fair here.
Do you consider Theodosius I a good emperor?
Great video, Sebastian 👏
Justinian was essentially the de facto end of pagan philosophy- homie was such a tyrant some of the last Neo-Platonic teachers noped out and moved to Persia for awhile.
I also loved the discussion regarding Greco-Roman paedeia in late antiquity.
Garth Fowden wrote a really interesting article that touched upon this subject, and the rivalries that sometimes developed between Sophists and middle-Platonic philosophers in the 3rd century.
It was necessary. It can be argued that the thousand year reign of Christ began in late antiquity and ended during the "Enlightenment" a thousand years later. The devil was released (under a disguise, of course) and the present terminal decline of the West is a result of this.
Oh not this myth again.
@@Tzimiskes3506 Well xtianity itself is based on myth .
There is no proof that a Dead Jewish guy is the son of yahweh
@@rishavkumar1250 Well Hinduism itself is based on myth.
There is no proof that Rama and Sita ever existed.
Nice red herring though, kumar. Cope harder...
@@Tzimiskes3506 lmao who told you I am hindu, I am an atheist
Oh c'mon, that's a bit harsh title.
Do Valentinian I after Theodosius since he too got the title of “The Great” since he did what any responsible Imperator should do defend the repel barbarians on the Rhine and Danube rivers
Valentinian did a better job than Theodosius, though. I think you would have thrived under him.
In 568 AD, the Lombards invaded the Italian peninsula. The Papacy needed protection from the Lombards and then turned to the Franks, and not the Romans from Constantinople.
The Franks were Christian as well you know.
You’re 200 years too early
I'll never understand the lengths people go to defend Justinian. He inherited a strong and prosperous empire, but left it nearly broke and ripe for conquests. His greatest sin being the devastation of Italy.
also in the next video you should talk about Benito Mussolini and your thoghts about him (if not then Mabey make that video in the future) please 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Aloha Sebastian! Thank you for your insightful videos! I hope you are well. I hate to think how much has been lost to intolerance in our world. What’s wrong with allowing someone to be different?
Thanks so much for watching the new video right away Hal :) And I am sorry that I uploaded it a bit later this week. But I am so glad that you still enjoyed it, despite the many dreadful events happened during the late Roman Empire. I guess we can just learn from the mistakes our humans made in the past.
I hope you are well too, and I wish you a great weekend :)
This is ABSURD. This guy has some serious personal issues.
So when MAJORIAN nearly reconquers Rome but falls short he's a HERO (no disrespect, but..)
When JUSTINIAN - The VERY Great - nearly reconquers Rome but falls short, he's....
Huh?
He is just being a devils advocate
I don't see any contradiction at all there. Maiorianus didn't destroy the Eternal City and most of the Italian peninsula, irrevocably ending classical antiquity. Whether that was the intention of Iustinianus aside, that's what his actions ultimately brought about.
For the ERE and Chalcedonian Christianity, no question about it, Iustinianus was great. How he was viewed by future generations in the ERE is proof enough of that: He's considered the last "true Roman" emperor and even considered a saint by the Greek Orthodox. His Codex is the basis of law in the United States and his theological contributions still influence the eastern Church.
For the Western Roman Empire, though, he was a disaster. There would have been more continuity with the Western Roman legacy under the Ostrogoths, who actually cared about preserving the old monuments and institutions, than what happened during and following the Gothic War.
@Claudius Justinian THE GREAT had EVERY right to reclaim the provinces that had belonged to the Roman Empire, ESPECIALLY Italy, and he did just that. His reconquests were precisely WHY Justinian THE GREAT and his potential administration was THE high water mark of the Byzantine Empire.
It's like saying the 2nd place in the olympic games is shit and not an achievement. And his conquest just wasn't gonna happen, its like God didn't want him to reconquer Rome. Everything was playing against him.
If not for belisarius and Justinian's law reforms he would not be remembered at all in my opinion, but as much as I hate to say it Justinian is somewhat great based off of the law reforms that he created, the America's founding fathers would take Justinian law reforms and expand on it and use it and it's still being used to this day at least in America.
Well, and his buildings too, which are still with us today.
He should also be remembered for his talent in picking good people for the job. Unlike his predecessors, Justinian had to face way too many problems, Enemies from the East and west, the plague etc.