Emperor Justinian I the Great of Byzantium

Pros and Cons of Justinian I the Great's reign (527-565).
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Pros:
-Codified Roman laws of the past into the "Corpus Juris Civilis" to be the official code of laws for the empire that still serves as a basis for most legal systems of countries today.
-Construction of the magnificent cathedral Hagia Sophia in only 5 years (532-537) which would be the world's largest church for about a thousand more years.
-Succeeded in recovering lost Roman provinces in the west (Italy, North Africa, Southern Spain) through his ambitious project of the "Renovatio Imperii" despite not joining it himself, but rather through his skilled generals like Belisarius and Narses.
-Invested in silk production for Byzantium- though stealing secrets from China- and sponsored evangelizations and explorations to distant parts of the world like India, Central Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
-Is a saint as well for defending the Orthodox faith against the Monophysites and for his service to the Orthodox Christian faith by growing his empire in its name.
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Cons:
-Nearly bankrupted the empire's treasury by fighting too many wars and constructing too many landmarks.
-Focused on war against barbarians in the west (Ostrogoths, Vandals, and Visigoths) too much while the threat of the Sassanid Empire in the east was closer.
-Meddled too much in the affairs of foreign kingdoms to his own advantage. Basically exploited the political instability of barbarian kingdoms to justify invading them, which is what led to his reconquests of Vandal North Africa, Ostrogoth Italy, and Southern Visigoth Spain, as well as going to war with the Sassanids over control of smaller border kingdoms.
-The plague of 542- which is no one's doing- that ruined his dreams of making an all-powerful empire. Not to mention his reign saw many natural disasters too, while he too was a victim of the 542 plague.
-No clear succession plan as he and his late wife Empress Theodora (died in 548) had no children. He was instead succeeded by his incompetent and inexperienced nephew Justin II.
-Contemporary historian of his time Procopius gives a bad image of him in his work "The Hidden History".
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Portrait of Justinian I the Great by myself using acrylic, 2021.
Based on his mosaic in the Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy.

© PCeldran 2021