The Campaigns of Justinian the Great

Part of his effort to rebuild the Roman Empire included the seizing of lands that once belonged to the Roman Empire. This Emperor was glorified for his adherence to orthodoxy and his zeal for the Christian faith. God granted him many victories through his general Belisarius and afterward his general Narses. According to St. Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, "Justinian the Elder, while he was Catholic, most happily conquered, so that Italy, Africa and many other provinces were restored to the Roman Empire" (On the Church, Bk. IV). Though Bellarmine cites Evagrius Scholasticus who is in error on the status of this Holy Emperor at death, we can see that God blesses his saints and the rulers who faithfully serve him, but of those who reject the will of God, God shall smite and stall.

"Saint Justinian's thoughts hearkened back to the time of Saints Constantine I and Theodosius I, when the Empire stretched from the British Isles to the Euphrates: '[H]e believed the Roman Empire to be one and indivisible, the political manifestation of Christendom." (Thornton, 251) It was an affront to the Will of God that these lands should fall into the hands of the barbarians and the heretics. There was also a sense of thinking in the Byzantine mindset that the lands never actually ceased to belong to the Roman Empire but were only merely occupied by vassals of the Roman Empire that could be rightfully seized once more should the Empire will it. According to Evagrius Scholasticus, the Vandal king Huneric was viciously persecuting Christians. Huneric was a fierce supporter of Arianism. The Arians, as recorded by St. Gregory of Tours, subjected Christians to tortures more heavy than the Pagan Emperors of old. Disturbed by this, Justinian ordered Belisarius to seize the territory of the Vandals and bring it back under the authority of the Empire. And in 533, the Patrician Belisarius began a campaign through Africa which would subdue nearly the entirety of Northern Africa underneath the Roman Empire.

The Emperor Justinian began his campaign in Italy after discoursing with the Gothic Queen Amalasuntha, who, ruling on behalf of her son Atlaric, had granted passage for the Emperor's armies through Italy as he campaigned against the Vandals. However, Atlaric began to wither away from a disease and Theodatus seized the throne of the Goths in Italy and began a reign contrary to the wishes of Amalasuntha (Procopius, History of the Wars). Belisarius was able to compel the Franks into taking up arms against the Goths in Italy as the Goths had embraced Arianism and were persecuting Christians. As mentioned, Childebert, Lothar, and Theudebert were enraged at Theodatus for having killed their cousin. So it was easy for Belisarius to persuade these men to wage a war against the Gothic King. Belisarius was able to take Italy under his control very easily. However, Theudebert wanted to regain control of Italy for Frankish rule and his general Buccelin would drive out Belisarius, winning many campaigns against him (History of the Franks, Bk. III, ch. 32). Justinian would demote Belisarius and replace the Patrician with the general Narses. Narses would be pushed back by Buccelin, but after long heated battles against the Frankish general, Narses would eventually kill Buccelin. That was the turning point, and in 555 A.D., Narses would have the whole of Italy subjected under the Roman Empire (Bk. IV, ch. 9).

Justinian's campaigns against the Vandals would also stretch all the way into Spain. His goal was to remove the tyrant Agila who was persecuting the Christians. Spain, unlike Africa, was under the rule of both the orthodox faithful and the heretics. During Justinian's campaigns against Agila, he seized the entirety of Spain under his control. But when Athanagild assassinated Agila, Athanagild had to also seize back territory for Spain that was wrongly conquered and subdued by the Imperial Army.

These great military accomplishments of Justinian the Great through his general Belisarius and his general Narses has earned him a reputation as a rebuilder of the Roman Empire. Justinian was elevated to the Throne when the Empire was at its weakest, ravaged by barbarians and heretics on all sides. Justinian's campaigns asserted the dominance of Christian orthodoxy in the Roman Empire, freed Christians abroad from the persecutions they suffered under heretic kings, and re-established Roman dominance over the Mediterranean. Because Justinian was building up the Empire for the purpose of the Kingdom of God on Earth, he was blessed with many victories and many territorial gains. From out of nowhere, Justinian revived an Empire that found itself near death.

St. Justinian, pray for us!