Justinian I : an icon af all times

Assessment

Justinian was a man of large views and great ambitions, of wonderful activity of mind, tireless energy, and an unusual grasp of detail. In attempting to restore the Byzantine Empire to the territorial extent of the Old Roman Empire, Justinian's aims were those of nearly every Byzantine emperor, even though such plans were generally doomed to failure. It should not be forgotten that Justinian renewed Byzantine rule and Hellenic influence in parts of Italy for several centuries and that, for more than a half century, sound government was given to North Africa, from which came salvation for Constantinople in the person of Heraclius in 610. Justinian's legal work and the magnificent Great Church (as Hagia Sophia was called) have won him unending fame, and the literature, poetry, and philosophical achievements of his contemporaries bear witness to the outstanding quality of 6th-century civilization in the Eastern Roman Empire.