ABSTRACT
ON the day following Theodoric’s death (526) the Imperial throne was ascended by Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus, or Justinian, who was to overthrow his work. The man who dreamt of restoring the Roman Empire in all its extent, of reviving its splendour, was of humble origin. He was born of a family of Illyrian peasants near Uskub, on the confines of Macedonia and Albania, that is, in the part of the “ Illyrian ” provinces where Latin was spoken.2 The chances of a military career made his uncle Justin an Emperor. An illiterate old soldier, Justin had reached the important post of chief of the Imperial Guard (comes excubitorum) when the Emperor Anastasius died in 518. The claimants were the deceased’s nephew and Vitalian, grandson of the Aspar who had ruled the Empire in the preceding century. Justin disappointed their hopes and took possession of the throne. It is said that he had received a large sum of money from the Grand Chamberlain, the eunuch Amantius, to buy the soldiers’ and people’s support for one of his creatures, and that Justin used the money to further his own ambition. However that may be, there is nothing extraordinary in Justin’s career. Since the third century, the Imperial throne had been almost the regular culmination of a military career; the Imperial power seems to be the highest grade in the army.8 This was the democratic element in the life of the Roman and Byzantine world. A similar career would have been impossible in the barbarian kingdoms, where the king was considered to be descended from the gods.
