One day a great change came for both uncle and nephew. The emperor
died; and the people chose Justin to succeed him. He took the title
of Jus-ti'nus I, and so the young scholar, who had once been a
poor shepherd boy, was now nephew of an emperor.
[Illustration: THE COURT OF JUSTINIAN THE GREAT]
After some years Justinus was advised by his nobles to take the
young man, who had adopted the name of Justinian, to help him in
ruling the empire. Justinus agreed to this proposal, for he was
now old and in feeble health, and not able himself to attend to
the important affairs of government. He therefore called the great
lords of his court together and in their presence he placed a crown
on the head of his nephew, who thus became joint emperor with his
uncle. The uncle died only a few months after, and then Justinian
was declared emperor. This was in the year 527. Justinian reigned
for nearly forty years and did so many important things that he
was afterwards called Justinian the Great.
He had many wars during his reign, but he himself did not take
part in them. He was not experienced as a soldier, for he had spent
most of his time in study. He was fortunate enough, however, to
have two great generals to lead his armies. One of them was named
Belisarius and the other Narses.
Belisarius was one of the greatest soldiers that ever lived. He
gained wonderful victories for Justinian, and conquered some of
the old Roman provinces that had been lost for many years.
The victories of these two generals largely helped to make the
reign of Justinian remarkable in history. Many years before he
ascended the throne the Vandals, as you have read, conquered the
northern part of Africa and established a kingdom there with Carthage
as its capital. The Vandal king in the time of Justinian was named
Gel'i-mer, and he lived in Carthage.
Justinian resolved to make war on this king in order to recover
Northern Africa and make it again a part of the Empire. So Belisarius
was sent to Africa with an army of thirty-five thousand men and
five thousand horses, that were carried on a fleet of six hundred
ships. It took this fleet three months to make the voyage from
Constantinople to Africa. The same voyage may now be made in a very
few days. But in the time of Belisarius there were no steamships,
and nothing was known of the power of steam for moving machinery.
The ships or galleys were sailing vessels; and when there was no
wind they could make no progress except by rowing.
When Belisarius reached Africa he left five men as a guard in each
vessel, and with the body of his army he marched for some days
along the coast. The people received him in a friendly way, for
they had grown tired of the rule of the Vandals, and preferred
to be under the government of the Romans.
About ten miles from Carthage he met a large army led by the brother
of Gelimer. A battle immediately took place, and the Vandals were
utterly defeated. Gelimer's brother was killed, and the king himself,
who had followed with another army and joined the fight, was also
defeated and fled from the field. Belisarius then proceeded to
Carthage and took possession of the city.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE AT CARTHAGE]
Soon afterwards Gelimer collected another army and fought the Romans
in another battle, twenty miles from Carthage; but Belisarius again
defeated him and the Vandal king again fled. This was the end of
the Vandal king in Africa. In a short time Gelimer gave himself
up to Belisarius, who took him to Constantinople. Justinian set
apart an estate for him to live upon, and the conquered king passed
the rest of his life in peaceful retirement.
After conquering the Vandals Justinian resolved to conquer Italy,
which was then held by the Ostrogoths. A large army was got together
and put under the command of Belisarius and Narses, who immediately
set out for Italy. When they arrived there they marched straight
to Rome, and after some fighting took possession of the city. But
in a few months, Vit'i-ges, king of the Goths, appeared with an
army before the gates and challenged Belisarius and Narses to come
out and fight.
The Roman generals, however, were not then ready to fight, and so
the Ostrogoth king laid siege to the city, thinking that he would
compel the Romans to surrender.
But instead of having any thought of surrender, Belisarius was
preparing his men for fight, and when they were ready he attacked
Vitiges and defeated him. Vitiges retired to Ravenna, and Belisarius
quickly followed, and made such an assault on the city that it
was compelled to surrender. The Ostrogoth army was captured, and
Vitiges was taken to Constantinople a prisoner.
Belisarius and Narses then went to Northern Italy, and, after a long
war, conquered all the tribes there. Thus the power of Justinian
was established throughout the whole country, and the city of Rome
was again under the dominion of a Roman emperor.
[Illustration: BELISARIUS BESIEGES RAVENNA]
While his brave generals were winning these victories for the Empire,
Justinian himself was busy in making improvements of various kinds
at the capital. He erected great public buildings, which were not
only useful but ornamental to the city. The most remarkable of
them was the very magnificent cathedral of St. So-phi'a, for a
long time the grandest church structure in the world. The great
temple still exists in all its beauty and grandeur, but is now
used as a Mohammedan mosque.
But the most important thing that Justinian did--the work for which
he is most celebrated--was the improving and collecting of the
laws. He made many excellent new laws and reformed many of the old
laws, so that he became famous as one of the greatest of the world's
legislators. For a long time the Roman laws had been difficult to
understand. There was a vast number of them, and different writers
differed widely as to what the laws really were and what they meant.
Justinian employed a great lawyer, named Trib-o'ni-an, to collect
and simplify the principal laws. The collection which he made was
called the CODE OF JUSTINIAN. It still exists, and is the model
according to which most of the countries of Europe have made their
laws.
Justinian also did a great deal of good by establishing a number
of manufactures in Constantinople. It was he who first brought
silk-worms into Europe.
To the last year of his life Justinian was strong and active and
a hard worker. He often worked or studied all day and all night
without eating or sleeping. He died in 565 at the age of eighty-three
years.