Justinian and Theodora came to the throne as Emperor and Empress in 527 after the death of Justinian’s uncle. The reign of Justinian and Theodora is significant in the Rome history because the two made an impact during their rule. According to Gascoigne, Emperor Justinian was able to restore much of the former glory of the Western empire. Emperor Justinian made reforms in the administrative and legal system of his kingdom. The Emperor was interested in seeing churches emphasize the imperial dignity of Christianity.
As highlighted above, Emperor Justinian had an energetic program of reform at the beginning of his reign. Other than in the administrative and legal system, Justinian made reforms in the tax collection sector. Not everyone was pleased with how Justinian was ruling his kingdom. For instance, Justinian became unpopular in the kingdom because he was tackling corruption and improving tax revenue. According to Gascoigne, the unpopularity of Emperor Justinian is seen in the Nika revolt of 532. However, to date, Justinian is remembered for tidying up the law in Rome.
As stated in Gascoigne, at the beginning of his reign, Justinian appointed a ten-man commission. The commission was tasked with gathering all the statues of past administrations hence provide a clear version of the constitution. The commission completed their task and in 529 the resulting Codex Constitutionum was published. Codex Constitutionum is a collection of legal opinions. In 530, Justinian organized a team of sixteen people and asked them to assemble the opinions of the jurists. The team of sixteen completed their task and published Digesta in 533. Digesta modified some conclusions of Codex hence a revised version of Codex was issued in 534. The Codex of 534 was referred to as the code of law during Justinian reign.
According to Gascoigne, Theodora the Empress played an equal role with Justinian in running the empire. Theodora influenced Justinian in a positive manner. Theodora was always by the side of Justinian as his partner because her intelligence assisted in advancing the empire. Theodora took an active role in decision making within the empire. She is remembered as a worthy and able leader due to her significant contributions during the Nika revolt of 532. During the Nika revolt, two political parties started a riot setting most of the public buildings on fire and declared a new Emperor (Thenagain.info).
Justinian and his officials were not able to control the crowd and were ready to flee the empire. Theodora spoke up and gave Justinian and his officials courage and determination to fight for their empire. It is because of Theodora’s speech that Justinian and his officials attacked the two political parties killing more than 30,000 rebels and emerging victorious. Thenagain.info states that many people agree that Theodora saved Justinian’s empire during the Nika revolt. Justinian and Theodora also struggled with the east against Persian until a peace agreement was reached. The eastern frontier greatly inspired Justinian. Justinian had interests to recover the Roman Empire from heretical barbarians in the west. With the assistance of General Belisarius, Justinian was successful in his mission to recover the west.
According to Thenagain.info, Justinian and Theodora transformed the city of Constantinople throughout their lives. Constantinople was recognized as one on the wonderful cities during the reign of Justinian and Theodora. As a way of restoring the Romans way of life, Justinian and Theodora built more than 25 churches. Hagia Sophia was the most significant church. Justinian and Theodora built watercourse to improve water supply in their empire and also constructed bridges. Theodora was considered a pioneer of women’s liberation movement and this helped to elevate the status of women in Byzantine Empire.
Works Cited
Gascoigne, Bamber. "History of the Byzantine Empire". Historyworld.net. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.
Thenagain.info. "Empress Theodora". Web. 3 Mar. 2016.
