Justin I

Justin I (c.435 - August 1, 527), Eastern Roman Emperor (518-527) rose through the ranks of the army of the Byzantine Empire and ultimately became its emperor in spite of the fact he was illiterate and probably more than 80 years old at the time of accession. His reign is significant for the founding of a dynasty that included his eminent nephew Justinian I and laws that de-emphasized the influence of the old Byzantine nobility.

Justin was born in the Roman province of Illyricum of humble stock sometime around 435. As a teenager, he and two companions fled from an invasion of the Huns in 447, taking refuge in Constantinople. Justin soon joined the army, and because of his ability, rose through the ranks to become a general and commander of the palace guard under the emperor Anastasius I more than a half-century later. Thanks to his position (he commanded the only troops in the city) and gifts of money, Justin was able to secure election as emperor in 518.

A career soldier with little knowledge of statecraft, Justin wisely surrounded himself with trusted advisors. The most prominent of these men, of course, was his nephew Flavius Petrus Sabbatius, whom he adopted as his son and invested with the name Justinian. It is common now to say that Justinian ruled the empire in his uncle's name during this time, thanks to the accounts of the historian Procopius, but there is much evidence to the contrary. In fact, Justinian wasn't named as successor until less than a year before Justin's death.

In 525, Justin repealed a law that effectively prohibited a member of the senatorial class from marrying a woman from a lower class of society, including the theatre, which was considered scandalous at the time. This edict paved the way for Justinian to marry Theodora, a former mime actress, and eventually resulted in a major blurring of the old class distinctions at the Imperial court.

The latter years of his reign were marked by strife between the empire and the Ostrogoths and Persians. In 526, Justin's health began to decline and he formally named Justinian as co-emperor and his successor on April 1, 527. On August 1 of that year, Justin died and was succeeded by Justinian.

The town of Anazarbus was re-named Justinopolis in 525, in his honour.

This is a list of Byzantine Emperors.

Note: It is difficult to determine when exactly the Roman Empire ends and the Byzantine Empire begins; Diocletian split the Roman Empire into eastern and western halves for administrative purposes in 284. Candidates for the "first" Byzantine emperor include Constantine I (the first Christian emperor, who moved the capital to Constantinople), Valens (the Battle of Adrianople (378) provides one of the traditional cut-off events to mark the start of the medieval period), Arcadius (treating Theodosius I as the last emperor of a single Roman Empire), and Zeno I (as the last western emperor Romulus Augustus was deposed during his reign). Others date the beginning of the Empire even as late as Heraclius (who replaced the traditional Roman imperial title of "Augustus" with "Basileus", the Greek word for "Emperor", and discontinued the use of Latin by making Greek the official language). Numismatists note the monetary reforms of Anastasius I in 498, which used the Greek numbering system. Of course, the Byzantines themselves continued to think of their empire as "Roman" for over a millennium.


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Justin I

Constantinian dynasty

Non-dynastic

Valentinian-Theodosian dynasty

Dynasty of Leo

Justinian dynasty

Non-dynastic

Heraclian dynasty

Non-dynastic

Isaurian dynasty

Non-dynastic

Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty

Macedonian dynasty

Non-dynastic

Ducaian-Comnenan dynasty

Angelan dynasty

Lascaran dynasty (in exile in the Empire of Nicaea during the time of the Latin Empire)

Palaeologan Dynasty (restored at Constantinople)