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Text | Historic Exploration
Edit | Historic Exploration
Justinian was one of the most prominent emperors in the history of the Byzantine Empire, who came from a military background, studied extensively and trained for many years, and ascended the throne at the age Xi of 45.
At this time, he was in the prime of life, and he was already a ruler with rich experience in governing the country, clear goals, and clever means.
However, a shrewd and powerful emperor and his ambitions alone were not enough to create a great unified empire.
Justinian was in dire need of a capable cadre to help him realize his ambitions and political ambitions to expand his territory, and the emergence of Belisarius followed this historical trend.
1. The needs of the political environment of the empire
First, Justinian's political stance led him to choose Belisarius as his guest of honor.
Rapid stabilization of state power and consolidation of one's own rule have always been the top priorities of new emperors. Unlike the previous emperor Anastasias, who came out of the upper echelons and relied on the power of the Senate and the great aristocracy, Justinian and Justinian came from a mediocre background,
And Justinian's succession to the throne was, to a certain extent, taking advantage of the gap between the Byzantine nobles for the throne at that time, and taking the opportunity to ascend to the throne. This practice has long aroused the dissatisfaction of the aristocracy, especially the big nobles.
Therefore, at the beginning of Justinian's accession to the throne, the old nobles of the Anastasia dynasty were still powerful, and his two nephews, Probus and Ipatio, were in power, and many of the remaining high-ranking official positions were also held by the senators of the previous dynasty.
During Justinian's reign, he did not choose to compromise with the great aristocracy of the Senate, but adopted strong repressive measures.
In order to firmly grasp the power and further eliminate the influence of Anastasiaus, Justinian weakened the power of the senators by recalling, transferring, and exile, and at the same time boldly recruited a large number of talents from civilian backgrounds.
It is likely that he borrowed from the Persian tradition, whereby the emperor appointed middle- and lower-ranking officials through his own power were usually of high ability but low social status, with a simple political background, and few entanglements with the great nobility and senators in the court.
They relied on the Emperor's gifts and will, and were generally very loyal. Justinian gradually replaced the political power left by his predecessors by installing a large number of such officials, and Belisarius was one of them.
Like Chessinian, he was of Thracian origin, and became Justinian's bodyguard before he ascended the throne.
Belisarius's loyalty and talent were favored by the emperor, and he became one of the best generals of the Byzantine Empire.
In addition to Belisarius, Justinian's wife, Theodora, also came from a lower class of society, her father was responsible for the care of animals in the Colosseum, and she herself was a geisha for a long time.
Justinian did not hesitate to repeal the ancient Roman decree in order to legally marry Theodora, and made Justinian empress immediately after her death. She ruled with Justinian for many years and was second only to the emperor in influence.
John from Cappadocia did not have a high education, but he distinguished himself, and for a long time he was Justinian's most relied upon civil servant, taking full charge of the empire's taxes and serving as consul.
Second, after the rebellion of Vitalian and Justinian's purge of Anastasia's remaining political power, the number of talents available to the upper echelons of the Byzantine Empire was greatly reduced, and it became necessary to promote talented people to fill vacant positions.
Belisarius, Justinian's personal bodyguard, had been his right-hand man before he ascended the throne. According to Procobius, when Justinian was co-emperor, he sent Belissarius to conquer Pesamentia.
Despite his youth, Belisarius' military genius was revealed in this campaign, where he managed to plunder most of Pessamenia and capture many Armenian soldiers.
Although historical sources do not clearly indicate whether the main person in charge of this expedition was Belisarius, it is clear that his excellent performance attracted the attention of the emperor, who praised him afterwards.
There is reason to believe that the success of the Battle of Pessamenia was of great significance for Belisarius to be so quickly appointed as a senior military general of the Empire.
Just a month after becoming co-emperor, Justinian ascended to the throne and immediately promoted Belisarius to be the commander of the garrison at the fortress of Dara in the eastern part of the empire.
2. The needs of the Empire's defense
The dire state of the Empire's defense was another important reason why Belisarius was chosen by Justinian. In the early days of his accession to the throne, the external environment of the empire was relatively stable. However, with the apparent stability, the empire faces a number of potential threats.
Geographically, the Byzantine Empire was located at the center of the intersection of East and West, and there were various hostile forces around the empire.
From the east, the vast Sassanid Persian Empire was the greatest threat to the Byzantines, and the Byzantine Empire and the Persian Empire were like "the eyes of the world."
In the first year of the Common Era, the first war between the two countries began, which began a long imperial war for supremacy, which continued intermittently until the rise of the Arab Empire in the century.
The Persian Empire far surpassed other opponents of the Byzantine Empire at the same time in terms of military attack power, military technology, strategy and tactics, so the Byzantine Empire was the most heavily deployed on its eastern defense line and had the most border fortifications.
Although there had been no large-scale war against Persia for more than two decades, between the border wars of AD and the accession to the throne of Justinian, potential threats and skirmishes along the border were perennial.
After Justinian's accession to the throne, the conflict between the Byzantine Empire and the Persian Empire intensified, and the two countries engaged in seven confrontations of varying scales.
''In order to effectively defend long borders, the empire had to keep a considerable number of troops, either as mobile troops to patrol the frontier or as a permanent garrison to guard the frontier.
The emperor had to spend a lot of money and manpower on this, and sent a large number of generals to garrison the frontier. The constant wars in some important fortresses and in the border areas that were often harassed were a major test of the military quality of the defending generals.
The most important areas in the southeastern part of the empire were Egypt and Palestine, which were not only the breadbasket of the empire, but also the main gathering area of the Unitarian forces.
Since Anastasia himself was a Unitarian, during his reign he adopted a more moderate religious policy towards the military and civilians of this faith in southern Egypt.
But Justinian, as a staunch Tsarcidonian, was at this time enforcing a strict religious policy in Egypt, especially in southern Egypt.
In the third year of Justinian's accession to the throne, religious issues caused strong discontent among the local population. The Samaritans of Judaism in Palestine revolted and were bloodily suppressed by the emperor.
Soon after, the controversy over monosexualism within the empire reached a fever pitch, and religious conflicts and rebellions made the region a ticking time bomb for the empire, ready to be suppressed by military force.
The northern part of the empire was dotted with numerous barbarian tribes. In Asia Minor, the power of the Huns was everywhere. The mighty Kutli ancients raided the north from time to time;
The Zani in the Caucasus, the Bolgars and Slavs in the Balkans, allied themselves on the frontiers, and in the northeast, the Saracens, allied with Persia, infested the borders of the empire.
Conflicts were always sudden and random, with some barbarian tribes allied with the Byzantines to rob the Persians, while others allied themselves with the Persians.
There are also tribes that fight randomly on the border and rob either side when given the right opportunity, but they rarely unite.
The power of the barbarian tribes was intertwined with the power of the Byzantines and Persians, making the local situation in this region extremely complicated.
To sum up, in order to ensure the security and stability of the empire, it is not only required that the Byzantine Empire have a complete defense system, but also that the empire has the ability to send troops to defend against the enemy or quell the rebellion at the first time, and talented, loyal and heroic generals become urgently needed.
III. The Need for Justinian's Imperial Strategy
According to Procobius, the emperor worked tirelessly to accomplish his imperial cause, never ate food, never went to bed, had to bow down to everything, and even had no children after many years of marriage to Theodora.
Justinian's imperial strategy was from the inside out, step by step.
First, under Justinian's auspices, the Byzantine Empire codified a unified legal code.
Justinian appointed the learned jurist Triponian as the main person in charge, and gathered the famous jurists of the empire to collect and sort out the system of laws and regulations issued by successive emperors.
It took more than a year to compile and promulgate in the Common Era, called the Code of Justinian.
Once promulgated, it became the only legal code in the society at that time, and the Byzantine Empire bid farewell to the disadvantages of numerous legal codes, different versions, and unclear interpretation of legal provisions, and provided a textual basis for maintaining the social order of the entire empire.
Second, he has stepped up his efforts to reform the economy.
Justinian's appointment of John of Cappadocia instituted a series of new economic policies, abolishing the tax package system that was in vogue at the time, increasing the collection of class taxes, abolishing the tax exemptions enjoyed by noble landowners, and imposing strict restrictions on ecclesiastical estates.
In foreign trade, Justinian actively sought allies, hoping to break the Persian Empire's trade monopoly on the East and get a share of the huge profits of the silk trade.
He also actively encouraged the opening of new trade routes, and a group of adventurous merchants similar to Cosmas emerged in the empire.
The foundation of Justinian's economic policy was based on increasing imperial revenues and expanding the scope of taxation, and the implementation of Justinian's new tax system and the enormous wealth accumulated by the Anastasiaus dynasty laid a solid economic foundation for his imperial strategy.
Again, Justinian canceled the religious policies of his predecessors and reaffirmed his support for the orthodox teachings of the Nicene Creed.
"The three souls of the empire are the traditional Roman law, government, and army. The second is the artistic, educational, and philosophical achievements of the people in the Hellenistic tradition. The third is Christianity".
Christianity had a huge influence on the empire, it directly controlled people's thoughts, and influenced the emperor's policy on war, administration, etc.
He then decreed that all heretical believers must renounce their respective beliefs and belong to the Tsarcidonians. At the same time, he took the initiative to make friends with the Western Church and invited the Archbishop of Rome to visit Constantinople.
Justinian's unified religious policy temporarily eliminated the social unrest caused by religious antagonism, and reflected his consistent assertion that "a unified empire under one emperor can have only one religious belief."
After a series of reforms, the Byzantine Empire was politically stable, socially stable, and financially rich, and Justinian firmly held the power of the empire.
The ultimate aim of the internal reform was to realize the most important part of its imperial strategy, the "one empire" strategy.
It wasn't long before Justinian began plotting plans for the reconquest of the Empire. The Italian provinces, centered on Rome, were at the center of Justinian's conquest strategy, and were the places he most wanted to regain in terms of religious beliefs and sentiments, as well as personal honor.
However, after years of division, the western part of the Byzantine Empire had already been occupied by the powerful and outnumbered Goths.
In order to recover the territory of the Western Roman Empire, which had fallen to barbarian rule, Justinian made a huge and elaborate plan.
However, this series of tasks must be carried out by a main executor, who must not only be trusted by the emperor, but also possess outstanding military talents.
summary
Thus, Belisarius was inactivated by Justinian and is inseparable from this era.
The political environment and the military needs of the empire during the period of Justinian became the objective conditions for him to enter the stage of history, and Justinian's imperial conquest strategy provided him with the opportunity to become famous through the ages.
bibliography
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[3] Prosperity and Conspiracy: The Byzantine Empire, edited by Times One Life Book Company in the United States, translated by Zhang Xiaobo, Prosperity and Conspiracy: The Byzantine Empire, Shandong Pictorial Publishing House, 2003.
[4] [美]汤普逊著,耿淡如译:《Middle Ages纪社会经济史》,商务印书馆,1995 edition。
[5] [美] 汤普森著,谢德风译:《历史著作史》, 商务印书馆, 1988 edition.
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