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The great cities were abandoned as Italy fell into a long period of decline. The impoverishment of Italy and the drain on the empire made it impossible for the Byzantines to hold their gains. Only three years after the death of Justinian in 565, the mainland Italian territories fell into the hands of the Germanic Lombards.
Emperor Justinian reconquered many former territories of the Western Roman Empire, including Italia, Dalmatia, Africa, and southern Hispania. In addition to the other conquests, the Empire established a presence in Visigothic Hispania , when the usurper Athanagild requested assistance in his rebellion against King Agila I .
The Justinian dynasty began with the accession of its namesake Justin I to the throne. Justin I was born in a village, Bederiana, in the 450s AD. [1] Like many country youths, he went to Constantinople and enlisted in the army, where, due to his physical abilities, he became a part of the Excubitors, the palace guards. [2]
Justinian depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna. Justinian I, who assumed the throne in 527, oversaw a period of Byzantine expansion into former Roman territories. Justinian, the son of an Illyro-Roman peasant, may already have exerted effective control during the reign of his uncle, Justin I (518–527).
Justinian took advantage of political instability in Italy to attempt the reconquest of lost western territories. The Vandal Kingdom in North Africa was subjugated in 534 by the general Belisarius, who then invaded Italy; the Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed in 554. [34] In the 540s, however, Justinian began to suffer reversals on multiple fronts.
Justinian then demanded Hilderic's release to Constantinople, threatening war otherwise. Gelimer was unwilling to surrender a rival claimant to Justinian, who could use him to stir up trouble in his kingdom, and probably expected war to come either way, according to J.B. Bury. He consequently refused Justinian's demand on the grounds that this ...
Byzantine Africa around 600. Byzantine rule in North Africa spanned around 175 years. It began in the years 533/534 with the reconquest of territory formerly belonging to the Western Roman Empire by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire under Justinian I and ended during the reign of Justinian II with the conquest of Carthage (698) and the last Byzantine outposts, especially Septem (708/711 ...
Jealous subordinates now contacted Justinian and claimed Belisarius wanted to rebel. [Note 14] Belisarius was presented with a choice by Justinian: he could either continue governing the new territory as its official governor or return to Constantinople and get a triumph. If he wanted to rebel he was sure to choose the governorship, but instead ...