Creadores de imperios (XI) | Justiniano el Grande · La March

El tema que voy a desarrollar hoy es Justiniano el Grande, un personaje definido como el último emperador romano o el primer emperador bizantino. Es lo mismo, pero no es lo mismo. Para no alargar la cuestión, recordemos que en el año 476 de nuestra era —como comentó el profesor Castellanos en su conferencia— se produce la destitución del último emperador romano de Occidente, Rómulo Augusto, y el envío de las enseñas imperiales al emperador de Oriente, Zenón. Esto ha servido para pensar que cae el Imperio Romano de Occidente. De hecho, es la caída del Imperio Romano de Occidente. Desde un punto de vista teórico, era la reunificación del Imperio. Claro, realmente el Imperio no existe en Occidente porque ha desaparecido el emperador, pero sí existe el Imperio porque todos los reyes —lo veremos en un mapa— de esos estados, a veces germánicos, que sustituyen al Imperio, siguen siendo formalmente súbditos del emperador; siguen acuñando moneda a nombre del emperador. Ellos son simplemente reyes que gobiernan partes del Imperio en nombre del emperador legítimo, el emperador de Oriente, el emperador de Constantinopla. En la práctica, esto no es así. Sabemos que la disolución de la autoridad imperial en Occidente lleva una serie de problemas en los que no es éste el lugar ni el momento de entrar.

Los años que suceden a la caída del Imperio de Occidente son problemáticos, tanto para Oriente como para Occidente —evidentemente más para Occidente, donde estos nuevos reinos van haciéndose hueco, consolidando sus estructuras— pero también para el Imperio de Oriente. Roma —la nueva Roma, Constantinopla— ha perdido una parte importante del territorio. No lo tomen al pie de la letra; el territorio nacional no es territorio nacional en sentido estricto. Pero para los romanos de Oriente, que son romanos y seguirán siendo romanos, tengan en cuenta una cosa: hasta el último aliento del Imperio que llamamos bizantino, al que llamamos emperador de Bizancio, su nombre oficial seguía siendo Basileus Rhomaion, rey de los Romanos. En ningún momento los emperadores bizantinos —a los que nosotros llamamos bizantinos, a los que vimos de Occidente llamamos bizantinos— dejaron de considerarse y de asumir como nombre propio de su cargo el de rey de los Romanos. Ellos eran los romanos, aunque Romano estuviera en sus manos decirlo. Esto es algo que no podemos perder nunca de vista. Igual que hablar de Bizancio: es verdad que los propios bizantinos hablaban de Bizancio, pero el nombre oficial de la ciudad era Constantinopla, o si prefieren, Nueva Roma. Bizancio era el nombre de la ciudad donde se fundó Constantinopla.

Como digo, el Imperio, doliente, tuvo sus dificultades en las que no vamos a entrar para irnos aproximando al momento clave: el reinado del emperador Justino. Un militar recio de la zona de los Balcanes, latino parlante, aunque gobernará desde Constantinopla. Como ya veremos, posiblemente es Justiniano el último emperador romano y el primer emperador bizantino. En su reinado se va a producir este tránsito que tiene que ver con la lengua, con el papel del emperador en relación con los súbditos, etcétera. Ya lo veremos. Justino es un militar que lleva a cabo una serie de campañas para restaurar su autoridad. No piensen que con la caída del Imperio Romano de Occidente cesan las dificultades; los pueblos siguen moviéndose —tanto los pueblos germanos como los pueblos de las estepas, como los siempre temibles persas en las fronteras orientales—. No acaban las dificultades, y algunos emperadores, con más éxito que con otros, consiguen mantener la situación. Justino es un emperador que no reina muchos años, pero hace algo fundamental: adopta a su sobrino, un joven balcánico, nacido en la aldea de Taurisio, junto a la fortaleza de Bitola, en lo que hoy es Macedonia del Norte —lo que hasta hace unos pocos años era Yugoslavia—. Estas zonas montañosas, de gente recia, habían salvado al Imperio. De toda esta zona de los Balcanes proceden emperadores como Justino, como Constantino. Estas gentes, ilirias, dardanias —probablemente los antepasados de Justiniano— eran gente forjada en las montañas, que constituyeron la espina dorsal del ejército imperial romano y garantizaron su supervivencia.

Justino, una vez emperador en circunstancias poco claras —en las que seguramente contribuyó su sobrino Justiniano, que ya estaba con él en Roma— se trae a su sobrino a Constantinopla. Justino no tuvo hijos, así que trae a su sobrino, el hijo de su hermana. Justiniano, de jovencito, es educado en Constantinopla, en escuelas. Justiniano era latino parlante, pero allí aprende griego, la literatura griega, la lengua griega. Sabemos que Justiniano se desenvolvía perfectamente en latín y griego, aunque casi sin duda su lengua materna era el latín. Ahí empieza a colaborar con su tío, que le adopta y de ahí lleva el nombre de Justiniano. Cuando un romano adoptaba a otro, el individuo asumía el nombre de su padre con la terminación -anus: Octaviano, por ejemplo. Justiniano, porque era hijo adoptivo de Justino. Su nombre era Flavius Petrus Sabbatius, y su nombre latino es adoptado, como digo. A la muerte de Anastasio, Justino asume el poder —de forma poco clara o muy clara— y deja de lado a buena parte de los familiares del emperador anterior. Quizá no podamos hablar de un golpe de estado, pero la buena posición de Justino dentro de la guardia imperial hace que, al morir Anastasio, él sea quien controla el Imperio —quizá con la ayuda de Justiniano, que ya empezaba a intrigar en política—. El ascenso de Justiniano, una vez que su tío es emperador, es muy rápido. En 519 es nombrado conde, magister militum, jefe supremo del ejército, cónsul —cargo honorífico—, patricio —rango senatorial—. En 525 es nombrado César; como el Augusto era el emperador reinante y el sucesor recibía el título de César, era evidente que Justiniano iba a ser el heredero de su tío. En 527, pocos meses antes del fallecimiento de Justino, es nombrado Augusto. Justino ya se encuentra mal, y para que su sobrino asuma plenos poderes, le da el título de Augusto, convirtiéndose en emperador. Cargo en el que está cuatro meses, porque su tío muere cuatro meses después. Esta sería la rápida biografía de Justino antes de iniciar su mandato, pero no podemos seguir adelante sin hablar de Teodora.

Teodora es una figura extraordinaria que merecería, no digo una conferencia, quizá un ciclo entero de conferencias. Tenemos la ventaja y el inconveniente de que Procopio —alto dignatario de la corte de Constantinopla, ayudante del propio Belisario— escribió obras fundamentales. Vamos a usar muchos datos de Procopio, que decidió escribir una auténtica historia de cotilleos: *Historia Secreta*, que no se publicó. Seguramente la conocía gente, se la enseñaba a sus amigos, pero permaneció oculta. Es una historia de chismes —a lo mejor no todos son chismes— absolutamente denigratoria hacia la familia imperial, hacia todo el que se movía. Creo que Procopio no habla bien de nadie: todos eran corruptos, salvajes, asesinos, criminales. Él, naturalmente, nos da una cantidad de datos tremenda, y buena parte se refieren a Teodora, persona a la que Procopio desprecia y odia profundamente. Gracias a Procopio sabemos —aunque hay que dudar de que sea verdad, quizá carga las tintas— que habría sido prostituta desde muy pequeñita. Los detalles que cuenta de Teodora no son reproducibles: pornografía pura. Las cosas que cuenta, con pelos y señales, valga la expresión. Les he puesto algunas de las cosas más ligeras que dice Procopio sobre Teodora. Una persona de la que el emperador se enamora locamente, antes de ser emperador; una persona fascinante, libre, que hacía lo que le daba la gana. De esta figura se enamora Justiniano y termina casándose con ella. Había leyes que prohibían que alguien con rango senatorial —Justiniano era patricio— pudiera casarse con alguien que hubiera ejercido la prostitución, pero obliga a su tío Justino a cambiar la ley para poder casarse con ella. Matrimonio legítimo que permite que muchos otros sigan ese mismo camino. Las cosas que dice Procopio son tremendas: la acusa de todo, pero es muy interesante este dato: aparentemente siempre estaban en desacuerdo, manifestaban posturas distintas, pero según Procopio, estaban en el fondo de acuerdo, incluso en el campo religioso. Justiniano era totalmente partidario de la ortodoxia de Calcedonia, mientras que Teodora apoyaba a los enemigos de Calcedonia —los monofisitas—. Tenían concepciones distintas sobre la naturaleza de Cristo, pero no les impidió actuar de común acuerdo. Procopio lo presenta como un ardid para engañar a los súbditos: unos tenían el apoyo aparente del emperador, otros el apoyo aparente de la emperatriz, pero no se movía nada en el Imperio sin que ellos lo supieran y hubieran previamente debatido o resuelto sobre el asunto. Puede ser verdad o no —ya hemos dicho que las cosas de Procopio son sospechosas—, pero es interesante que sabemos que hay quienes buscan el apoyo del emperador frente al hostigamiento de la emperatriz, y viceversa. Belisario, por ejemplo, utiliza a su esposa para que vaya a Constantinopla y se entreviste con Teodora para mediar con su marido. Según Procopio, era algo perfectamente decidido entre ambos: una manera de que los que se enfrentaban a Justiniano tuvieran un resquicio. Pensarían que si recurrían a Teodora, les iba a escuchar y les iba a servir de mediador con su marido. Puede que sea cierto, y si es así, demuestra una inteligencia política extraordinaria. Una manera de resolver tensiones que existieron siempre, utilizando la figura de la emperatriz. Procopio termina dándonos una descripción de la emperatriz: de bellas facciones, agraciada, de corta estatura, blanquecina de piel, con una mirada siempre enérgica y sostenida. Teodora es fundamental para entender el reinado de Justiniano. Murió bastante tiempo antes que él, y relativamente joven, con lo cual la última parte del gobierno de Justiniano no contó con su apoyo, pero sí en los momentos iniciales.

Una vez que Justiniano se hace con el poder, una de las primeras medidas que toma —prácticamente a la vez que otras medidas de carácter militar— es fundamental: la compilación del derecho romano. Sus tres grandes obras: el Codex Iustinianus (Código de Justiniano), las Digesta, y las Institutiones (Instituciones), son las tres obras claves del derecho romano. Todavía se estudian en las facultades de derecho. Aunque se utilicen fuentes anteriores, el derecho romano que ha llegado hasta nosotros es el que codifica Justiniano. Dos años después de subir al trono, ordena a sus jurisconsultos que revisen y compilen toda la legislación existente, que eviten duplicidades, que deroguen las contradictorias. Revisa y compila la obra de los juristas romanos, no sólo la ley. Justiniano sabía que una cosa es la ley y otra la jurisprudencia —cómo hay que interpretar la ley—. Justiniano recopila las Digesta y crea un manual para futuros juristas; recopila las normas principales que cualquier estudiante de derecho tiene que saber. El derecho es fundamental para Justiniano, como para cualquier romano. En los últimos decenios, eso se había ido perdiendo por las guerras, conflictos y problemas sucesorios. Justiniano quiere cambiar eso inmediatamente. A pesar de lo que se dice de Justiniano —el propio Procopio—, es verdad que quiere dotar a su reinado de un trasfondo jurídico importante. Estamos en un mundo cristiano; es un emperador cristiano, la ayuda de Dios está siempre detrás. El derecho se vincula a Dios, pero hay que utilizar tradiciones precristianas. La labor de Justiniano es de auténtica compilación: unir las dos tradiciones, la romana con la cristiana. Es algo fundamental, no solo en este aspecto, sino en buena parte de su reinado. Este sería el primer elemento importante, porque a pesar de todo lo que Justiniano hace —o dicen que hace—, el derecho para él es fundamental. Además de las compilaciones, están las Novellae, los decretos y edictos que Justiniano emite —cientos y cientos de nuevas leyes—. Esta es la base del derecho, pero él también es fuente de derecho. La colección de Novellae es enorme, y Justiniano se pasa la vida emitiendo leyes, edictos, decretos. Su función en este sentido es extraordinaria.

Vamos a abrir un pequeño apartado sobre las guerras. Son complejísimas, y no vamos a seguirlas todas. Voy a insistir en las principales guerras que Justiniano libra en las distintas fronteras del Imperio. Primero contra Persia. El mundo persa —antes partos, luego sasánidas— es un mundo en expansión hacia Occidente. Una vez que controlan Asia Central, el Mediterráneo es el punto de referencia, y la política sasánida no es distinta de la de otros reyes persas. El conflicto viene con Roma, que controla desde el Éufrates hasta Occidente, con fluctuaciones. Aquí vemos el mapa. Estamos en la línea del Éufrates; esas son fortalezas romanas. Los persas atacan, y en 527 se desata la primera gran guerra persa de Justiniano, al frente del Dux Belisario —luego le ascenderán—. Procopio es el consejero, con lo cual conoce de primera mano las guerras. La descripción que nos hace es espectacular; Procopio era griego, tenía como referente a Tucídides, y la historia de las guerras que nos cuenta tiene muchos resabios de Tucídides. No llega a la altura de Tucídides, pero conocía muy bien cómo describir una guerra. Los datos que nos da son de un valor extraordinario. La guerra prosigue; Belisario es ascendido. Dara es un punto clave, un gran fuerte que controla la frontera con los persas. Belisario se vio obligado a luchar en Callinicum; es derrotado, pero muere el emperador Cavade, y nombran a Cosroes I como sucesor. Como la guerra no va bien para los persas, se firma una paz eterna —que durará menos de diez años— en la cual Roma paga enormes cantidades de oro —unos 3600 kilos— a Cosroes. La política de Justiniano no podía hacer otra cosa: a los persas no se los podía derrotar. Los romanos eran plenamente conscientes. El Imperio persa está ahí, y va a seguir estando ahí. Lo que hay que hacer es convivir, y si eso implica pagar, Justiniano tiene que pagarlo, mientras se rearma o lleva a cabo otras empresas. Esto se le va a echar en cara; Procopio dice que Justiniano roba para pagar a los bárbaros, pero es una política realista. Persia va a seguir estando ahí hasta que el Islam se expanda. En este momento, Justiniano sabe lo que puede hacer y prefiere aceptar la paz, aunque le cueste dinero, para dedicarse a otras actividades. La guerra contra los persas es interminable; no hay gloria ahí, porque no se va a ganar. En estos primeros años, puedes controlar una fortaleza, pero tienes que retirarte. Donde sí había posibilidades de conseguir prestigio era en Occidente.

Este es el Occidente en época de Justiniano. El Imperio Romano de Oriente está amenazado por los pueblos del norte de Eurasia, por los mismos pueblos que luego se asientan en zonas del Imperio que todavía están fuera. Pero con una parte fundamental del Imperio: Italia, la Galia, Hispania, África, bajo las manos de reinos germánicos. Formalmente, estos reinos aceptaban la autoridad del emperador, pero no son, en la práctica, súbditos del emperador. Justiniano piensa que aquí tiene posibilidades de conseguir victorias, y se va a demostrar que son ciertas. En una campaña relámpago, empieza por atacar a los vándalos. Los vándalos se habían asentado en el norte de África, en Cartago, y llevaban a cabo acciones contra Italia. Había romanos que estaban pidiendo ayuda al emperador. Empieza con los vándalos. Prepara una expedición dirigida por Belisario; desembarca en Cartago, derrota a los vándalos y conquista Cartago en pocos meses. Los vándalos eran terribles; la conquista de África por Genserico había sido un paseo militar. Sin embargo, la campaña fue rapidísima. Al año siguiente toma Regio —donde está el tesoro de los vándalos—, Córcega y Cerdeña. Aprovecha para tomar Ceuta; el estrecho es fundamental; sigue habiendo comercio con el Atlántico. La campaña es rápida y sorprendente. El auge de Belisario es extraordinario. El rey vándalo, Gelimer, es llevado a Roma. Procopio nos describe la llegada de Gelimer en el hipódromo de Constantinopla: una ceremonia impresionante, un triunfo. Hacía siglos que no se celebraba un triunfo en Roma. El hipódromo de Constantinopla se convierte en la sede de este triunfo, y se está queriendo revivir el mundo romano. El triunfo lo lleva a cabo Belisario, pero queda claro que Belisario no es más que un súbdito del emperador. El acto final es interesante: Gelimer es depuesto de la púrpura, le obligan a caer de bruces en reverencia al emperador Justiniano, y también a Belisario. Es un triunfo de Belisario, pero el triunfo en último término es del emperador. Esto debió de ser un espectáculo inusitado. Justiniano retoma la administración imperial romana: el sistema de gobierno tardorromano con el prefecto del pretorio para África, con las provincias divididas entre consulares y presidenciales, con el mando militar, etcétera. África es reincorporada al Imperio, y recupera el modelo político administrativo habitual de una provincia romana. Justiniano no quiere ocupar ese territorio, quiere restaurar la autoridad imperial en un territorio que le ha sido arrebatado.

La conquista de Italia va a ser más complicada. La guerra se inicia con el pretexto de la ocupación de Sicilia por los ostrogodos. Conflictos entre la familia gobernante, entre la reina Amalasunta y su hijo Atalarico. Amalasunta es pro-romana; Atalarico, los godos. Amalasunta, para evitar problemas, se casa con Teodato, nieto de Teodorico el Grande. Teodato mata a Amalasunta. Es un *casus belli* maravilloso: Amalasunta, pro-romana y amiga del emperador, ha sido asesinada. Hay que hacer la guerra. La guerra es muy larga, con varias fases. Roma es asediada durante cerca de un año. Las informaciones que tenemos son espeluznantes: el sufrimiento de una ciudad asediada, con escenas de comerse a los seres vivos. Es una guerra de una dureza extraordinaria que parece que no tiene fin. Belisario es retirado de la guerra; interviene otro general, que consigue hacerse con el control de Rávena. La captura de Vitiges hace que los ostrogodos nombren como rey a Totila, que lleva una política inteligente de atracción de la población romana. Belisario tiene que regresar; nuevo sitio de Roma. Totila entra en Roma, negocia con Belisario, y Roma es saqueada. Belisario, como no consigue tropas suficientes, envía a su esposa Antonina a Constantinopla para que se entreviste con la emperatriz Teodora —que en ese momento ha muerto o muere en el camino—. Belisario es llamado a Constantinopla, recibido con honores, pero sin cargos relevantes. Roma vuelve a caer. Es una guerra muy complicada, muy difícil. Al final, Justiniano consigue vencerla. En esta idea de restauración, promulga una Constitutio Pragmatica, donde lo primero que le preocupa es que las leyes, el código, sean aplicados a Italia. Hace una reestructuración política militar; Rávena sigue siendo la capital del territorio. Pero lo que más le preocupa es que se restablezca el derecho romano en Italia. No se olvida de Roma; determina que todas las obras públicas se sigan haciendo en Roma. Roma es un símbolo. La Constitutio Pragmatica es interesante porque nos muestra el trasfondo ideológico que Justiniano quiere aplicar al Imperio.

La guerra persa se reanuda. El interés principal de los persas se centra en la zona que les daría acceso al Mar Negro, y de ahí a Constantinopla. La guerra se inicia con un saqueo brutal de Antioquía, y distintas campañas. El control de la Cízica hubiera permitido a los persas acceder al Mar Negro. La guerra tiene muchos elementos; campañas contra campañas, victorias y derrotas. Procopio nos cuenta todo, desde las grandes batallas hasta las pequeñas acciones de frontera. Después de bastantes años, se vuelve a firmar una paz, con pagos en oro. Cosroes se compromete a evitar el paso de las poblaciones hunas. Estas poblaciones están continuamente viniendo, y son un problema. Muchas de esas tropas son utilizadas por los romanos y los bárbaros como tropas auxiliares. Cosroes se compromete a controlar estas poblaciones para evitar que pasen a Anatolia. Aprovechando la coyuntura, Justiniano envía a Liberius, que aprovecha los conflictos entre los visigodos. Los bizantinos se enteran de que uno de los reyes, Atanagildo, llama a los bizantinos para que le apoyen. Los bizantinos le apoyan, pero se quedan con buena parte de la franja costera de la península ibérica. No van a recuperar toda Hispania —la llamarán España—. Cartagena será la gran capital bizantina de la península ibérica. Es un mundo muy poco conocido. Aprovechando estos conflictos, Justiniano se hace con el control de la costa de Hispania, que le permite mantener las relaciones comerciales con las Baleares, con el norte de África, etcétera. Aunque la campaña de Hispania no le haya permitido conquistar todo el territorio, es importante porque le permite que casi todo el Mediterráneo vuelva a estar bajo su poder. Hay muchas otras guerras: invasiones de pueblos eslavos en los Balcanes —el germen del futuro reino de los búlgaros—, conflictos en Arabia y el norte de África. Las guerras no van a acabar nunca en el Imperio, pero las grandes guerras son la guerra contra los persas, la conquista de África, la conquista de Italia y la de la península ibérica.

Conocemos relativamente bien el sistema militar. Este es un resumen. Cuando reconquista África, Justiniano establece el modelo militar con los grandes magistri militum, los duques, etcétera. Tropas comitatenses, tropas limitanei. Es un ejército tradicional, con tropas federadas. Un nuevo modelo militar que se va estableciendo. Justiniano retoma el modelo romano, con un ejército que es muy difícil calcular. Sabemos, al menos sobre el papel, el número de tropas que tiene cada unidad. Sabemos cuántas unidades hay: tropas comitatenses, tropas limitanei, cargos militares. Esto nos da unas cifras para una población de en torno a 26 millones en 540: 374.000 soldados —145.000 del ejército regular y 229.000 de tropas a tiempo parcial—. Las tropas limitanei son tropas a tiempo parcial. Justiniano recorta mucho los salarios militares, salvo cuando le interesa. Esto nos da un panorama de tropas de calidad (150.000 soldados) y tropas de menor calidad, pero necesarias.

229 million, 379 million. Why this difference? Because the plague, which we will discuss, occurred in between. 6 million, 7 million died; perhaps 3 million, we don't know. If the empire had 27 million inhabitants, it's very difficult to know for sure. But we do have more or less accurate data on military deployment: 150,000 quality soldiers. For an empire, is that a lot or a little? There were fewer people then than now, evidently. Let me give you a modern comparison: a country with a large military deployment today, like Greece, currently has 177,000 soldiers. Just Greece has 177,000 soldiers right now. Justinian's empire was sustained by 150,000 quality soldiers. There were fewer people on both sides, but these are still significant numbers. That was one of the great problems, always, of the Roman army: it was very expensive to maintain. This led to the need to use federate troops, barbarians, during the decline. The empire had to subcontract its defense to barbarians to defend it from other barbarians. And as we've seen, this proved fatal, because the federates ended up usurping the power delegated to them by the emperor and seizing the territory.

Justinian's army was probably not much larger than the army that existed in the time of Constantine, but many things happened between Constantine and Justinian. Even so, with that relatively small army—but within the range of what the Roman army had been—Justinian managed to maintain the eastern borders at great expense and recover much of the West, and maintain it. His successors would lose territories, but Justinian maintained them throughout his reign, which in that sense would be a success. We know the statistics from the names of Roman and barbarian officials appearing in the army. Romans predominated, the great difference from the Western Roman army. In the Western Roman army, barbarians probably ended up predominating. Romans versus Romans; that ultimately led, as we know, to figures who were Roman but raised by Attila, like the famous Orestes, who put Romulus Augustulus on the throne, eventually making their own policies. The percentage of Roman officers and generals in the empire remained stable, except for a slight increase in mid-to-high-ranking positions during Justinian's final period. This could also be a documentation problem. He maintained a reasonably Roman army supported by non-Roman troops, barbarians of different types, but this was probably one of the causes that allowed him to carry out his military policy.

Let's leave the wars now; there's little time left to talk about the social and political problems, which I've divided into three main ones. One, a specific issue that was resolved quickly: discontent in Constantinople. The urban plebeians, already in Rome and in the Roman era, were very volatile. Any problem with grain distribution, any action by the emperor or his officials or magistrates that displeased them, could lead to conflict. Remember the uprising against Theodosius the Great in Thessalonica, which he resolved in the same way Justinian would: by killing thousands of people. This wasn't new at this time. It was also influenced by the factions of the hippodrome. Four teams competed in the hippodrome, each with its colors: blues, greens, whites, and reds. In practice, the blues and greens were the most important. It seems they were like rival branches, and people fought like Real Madrid fans with Barcelona fans, or Sevilla fans with Betis fans—sometimes to a greater extent than now. We are sometimes rightly scandalized when we read in the press about these fans, about Liverpool fans... but it's scandalous; it's something to be scandalized about, but it was very frequent in antiquity. If your team lost in the hippodrome, there were riots. They were very organized, armed groups—a bit like the fans of some clubs today, sometimes sponsored by the clubs themselves. This is how we know. These people had weapons, a tremendous organization, and the connivance of the emperor. The emperor was a blue; the emperor sided with the blues; everyone knew it. This aggravated the situation. It wasn't just conflicts because of lack of wheat or an unpopular decision; these groups capitalized on this. Initially, they were fans of the hippodrome races, but they also had a political agenda.

In the year 532, due to a series of circumstances, an uprising occurred in which the blues and greens agreed, which is more dangerous logically because if they kill each other, the emperor is on the sidelines; he just has to send someone to collect the dead and that's it. But now they have united, united under the cry of "Nika! Victory! Victory!" against the emperor. They take a relative of Anastasius and place him as emperor; it takes on political overtones. Here, Theodora, according to the accounts, takes the reins. The entire imperial court is besieged in the palace; a good part of the imperial guard doesn't know what to do, or does nothing, because they think the other side will win. So they don't want to face the future emperor. The imperial guard doesn't make decisions; the imperial court is thinking of fleeing. Theodora says that she's not leaving, that she's staying, that the imperial purple, in the worst-case scenario, is an excellent shroud; she prefers to die as empress than to flee. This, evidently, according to the accounts, decided the men. It may be a cliché that it's the woman who behaves as men are supposed to behave, but ultimately they stay there. With the not very numerous troops they have, led by Mundus and Belisarius, they enter from both sides of the hippodrome and carry out a massacre estimated at 30,000 dead. From that moment on, Justinian ceased to have problems with the population of Constantinople. It was a matter resolved suddenly and brutally. Justinian, no longer the defender of the right, the defender of the law, had no qualms about doing this.

Justinian also suffered a terrible plague; we've seen the figures before: 7 million, 3 million, we don't know; many people died. It was a terrible plague, possibly bubonic plague, but we're not sure. We know there were boils, inflammations in the groin. Procopius, as we've said, a great reader of Thucydides, uses this plague to write his own version of Thucydides' account of the Athenian plague of 429. He shows his literary skills and gives us a description. From the data we can see the evolution of the plague. It affected the entire empire and caused tremendous damage. The emperor himself was affected, although he was cured by Saints Cosmas and Damian. We see them in this marvelous painting by Fra Angelico: Saints Cosmas and Damian, the holy physicians, the anarchists, as the Greeks call them, curing Justinian. The world was practically paralyzed for a year; the plague lasted longer, like all plagues, recurring. The major outbreaks were in 541 and 542, but there were still outbreaks years later. During that period, the world was somewhat paralyzed. Mortality must have been tremendous, brutal. There were prophylactic measures, but they didn't really know where it came from. They thought it came from Egypt, but they didn't know. We know that the bubonic plague is spread by rats and their parasites, but the mortality was tremendous.

Another problem Justinian tried to alleviate was the lack of funds. He gave money to cities in subsequent years; we have much data on the money given to cities to build or rebuild. In some cases, he exempted them from taxes, but in others, he increased taxes because he ran out of funds. This was a key moment. Another very important problem was religious disputes. This dated back to the Council of Chalcedon, basically the fundamental problem that caused most of the schisms: the nature of the Son, the nature of Christ. Is his nature the same as the Father's, or is it a different nature? The other problem, which caused the last great schism between East and West, is the nature of the Holy Spirit. Once they resolved the nature of the Son, they had to resolve the nature of the Holy Spirit, which led to the Council of Chalcedon, the great schism that still exists between the Catholic and Orthodox worlds. There were two main tendencies: those who believed there were two natures and those who believed there was only one. The Council of Chalcedon of 451 apparently resolved the issue in favor of the dual nature and established the Nicene Creed, which remains the Catholic Creed to a large extent, with some adaptations. Of course, the defenders of the single nature, who over time would be called Monophysites (this name didn't appear until the 7th century), didn't agree. There were pro-Chalcedonian and anti-Chalcedonian bishops; some emperors persecuted one side or the other depending on their tendencies. This generated conflicts; the Church was not united. Councils attempted to resolve the problem, but failed because Justinian was convinced that an empire should have one religion, and at that time, although formally there was only one religion, Christianity, in practice there were almost two because they disagreed on a key element: the nature of the Son. Justinian wanted to encourage, to force the acceptance of his version, his vision—that of Chalcedon, the dual human and divine nature of Christ. To this end, he convened an ecumenical council, the Council of Constantinople in 553, a council with many shadows and problems where the dogma was established, the dogma of the Council of Nicaea reaffirmed, but this would cause more problems than it solved.

In some areas, pro-Chalcedonians were more controlled, but anti-Chalcedonians were more controlled in others, such as Syria. In other areas, like Egypt—a vast territory with many desert areas—the anti-Chalcedonian movement, which would later become Monophysitism, would gain tremendous momentum. In the end, this was a failure. Justinian did not manage to resolve the problem, accompanied by persecutions, changes of bishops, groups excluded not only from the Church but from the empire. Many anti-Chalcedonians took refuge on the margins of the empire; this is the origin of many churches that still exist, such as the Coptic Church. That is, Justinian, with the Council of Constantinople, which he thought would unify the empire in a single faith, achieved the opposite: he caused the Church to separate—not definitively; as I said, the great schism of the West was still many centuries away, but also evidently with an important role played by the emperor, the different political powers, etc., etc. This was a problem that probably affected Justinian. Justinian was a fervent Christian, a convinced Christian; not only that, but—and this is part of the introduction to the acts of the Council of Constantinople—the acts of the second Council of Constantinople, the fifth ecumenical council of Christendom: "We meet in this imperial city, convened here by the will of God and the mandate of the most religious emperor." The emperor is the basis, the path. And as we have seen, it is not a conference by Professor Castellanos, as Constantine is the one who creates this trend. The emperor has the capacity, arrogates to himself the capacity to decide on religious matters, because it is a matter of state; the religion of the empire, since Constantine's time, is a matter of state. Justinian is probably one of the emperors who took the most—the other emperors wouldn't be far behind, of course—but he is probably among the emperors of the initial period of Christianity in power who took the most stance, the most policy in favor of his vision. He was the one who would set the vision of the church for the bishops, especially those who were not on his side. They had two choices: follow him or suffer the reprisals the emperor wanted to inflict on them. This role of the emperor as an organizing force of the church is clearly seen, but in this case it was a failure; he did not succeed in restoring unity and contributed to further separation. He also attacked the pagans; of course, there weren't many pagans left, but there were still influential pagans, many of them in the Academy of Athens, the institution founded by Plato. They posed problems because these academics were Neoplatonists, and Neoplatonism had also played a very important role in early Christianity, to the point that some of the Fathers of the Church, like Origen, were later excommunicated because Origen's vision was clearly Neoplatonic. Neoplatonism did not fit into the new orthodoxy that Justinian was introducing, so he closed the Academy, prohibited the teaching of its teachings. They were elites, wealthy people who still held this pagan vision; they were no longer relevant; they had practically no weight in some areas of the East. It is true that the Church was still very influenced by Neoplatonic ideas, which also had to do with the problem of Monophysitism and all this, but Justinian wanted to end the last visible redoubt of paganism, which was the Academy of Athens. Therefore, he ordered its closure in 529, and these customs and ideas of the Hellenes were persecuted. Notice how paradoxical it is: "Hellenes" is still the word the Greeks use to refer to themselves. But Justinian was Roman. The Hellenes, in this case, are the pagans, the descendants of the ancient Hellenic religion, who were of course pagans. You see how words change meaning over time. Well, these poor members of the Academy—Simplicius, Damascius, Isidore—Christians thought they could go to Persia; they had heard that Khosrau I, this king, was a lover of philosophy, and it's true, he dabbled in it. As we've said, he was probably the most important king of the Sasanian Empire, and these poor fellows went to Ctesiphon thinking they would be able to discuss philosophy with the king. Of course, they realized that the monarch prided himself on being a student of philosophy, but his knowledge of the subject was totally superficial; he had read, he was interested, but evidently, he was in another world. All the poor academics returned to the empire, but it seems they got—and it's true—that in the pacts signed with Khosrau, Justinian undertook not to persecute these remnants of Neoplatonism that remained in the empire, a consequence easy to grant because there were few, but that's another problem.

In the last few minutes, I've gone over time, but I hope to be quick now. Let's talk about other aspects of Justinian's policy besides the wars, his councils—his policy of restoring the empire, his constructive policy, which is very important. Byzantium became a spectacular city. Of course, he had an advantage: the Nika revolt had destroyed much of the center of Constantinople; the rebels had burned everything in their path to demonstrate their opposition to the emperor. So the entire center of Constantinople—this is the hippodrome, evidently, the palace where the Topkapi Palace now stands—had been badly damaged. It was an opportunity, just as Nero was lucky that Rome burned down... Justinian was lucky that the center of Constantinople had been quite destroyed, so he could devote himself to his constructions. Procopius, who wrote about everything, has a book called *On Buildings*, where he gives a list of the buildings Justinian built throughout the empire, and he falls short. Procopius lists 25, but we know of 43 through epigraphy; some coincide, of course, but we know that Justinian built many more buildings than Procopius tells us. A great construction policy of many types throughout the empire; and with epigraphy, we know of inscriptions. Curiously, this is a wooden beam from the 6th century that has lasted a very long time; we know many inscriptions that show Justinian's policy. We must start, of course, with Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia had been damaged by the Nika revolt and had to be rebuilt—a new church. Hagia Sophia must not have been very large, but Justinian had the opportunity to build a great Christian temple, a great temple to highlight his power over the world and, of course, over the Church. The description given by Agathias—those of us who have been to Hagia Sophia and have gone up—is a bit exaggerated, but in a way, it reminds us... if you've been to Constantinople, it wasn't difficult to see from below where the hemisphere ended, while those who are up top would never try, even if they were exceptionally daring, to lean out and look down. Remember that during a ceremony, Hagia Sophia was filled with incense, and if we had leaned out at the inauguration of Hagia Sophia, during one of the great masses held there, from the top where the photo was taken, what we would probably see below would be people inside a cloud of incense. This explains this idea. I don't need to tell you about Hagia Sophia, one of the masterpieces of architecture, not just ancient architecture, but of all time: the idea of the great dome supported by two semi-domes and a series of arches, pendentives that support the dome—the architectural innovations that this implies. Of course, it collapsed, and they had to rebuild it. A spectacular work, both inside and outside; the buttresses are modern—modern, they are later, because they saw that, despite the calculations, it was opening up. So we have to imagine Hagia Sophia without these buttresses that support it so well. But it is probably the most representative work of all of Justinian's constructive policy. In the 10th century, a mosaic was made showing Constantine, the founder of Constantinople, and Justinian, the creator of Hagia Sophia; here, with their CVs, to give an idea of the two great kings who enriched Constantinople: the founder, Constantine, and the restorer, Justinian. In the 10th century, they saw it that way.

Smaller churches: San Sergio e Baco, a smaller circular church, also with the solution of semi-domes to support the arch, with a large inscription that runs along the entire architrave. A large statue that Justinian had built in the Forum of Augustus—our Augustus—Constantine doesn't speak, but the great center of Constantinople was the Augusteum, and Justinian established it there and built a large bronze statue. This is not preserved; this is a virtual reconstruction, a drawing made just after Constantinople fell into the hands of the Ottomans; the Ottomans immediately melted down the bronze. Today, we suspect that Justinian didn't make it entirely, but that he took advantage of a previous sculpture, perhaps of Theodosius II; he put his face on it, and it seemed like he had built it, but it's interesting, and the drawing shows it—Procopius shows it—not with weapons, not an armed emperor as was usual in the iconography of late Roman emperors, but with a cross resting on the globe through which he has procured the empire and victory in war. This idea of the orb, which would later be the symbol of the Byzantine Empire, but also the symbol of the kings—Charlemagne, other kings—this idea of the empire, not by arms, although it's a lie, because he achieved the empire by arms, but in this propaganda, the key point of Constantinople, the quality of the empire achieved thanks to God. The idea of the empire, of the orb, united under the faith of Christ. And a whole series of symbolic languages; it was an important piece. Public works: those who have been to Constantinople, now Istanbul, will have seen this splendid cistern, the Basilica Cistern; everyone is struck by the two medusas that are reused. It was Justinian; it was necessary to supply water to the city, of course. The aqueduct was also restored, and more cisterns, and not only monumental works but also public works of use to the population. Ravenna, the new capital of Italian territory, the works there are not of the magnitude of the great works of Constantinople, but we find the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, with an octagonal plan, typical of Justinian's time—a masterpiece of Byzantine art, where we find this fundamental work of mosaics and iconography: Emperor Justinian with Bishop Maximian, the bishop of Ravenna, and Empress Theodora and her court dedicated to the church. Justinian wasn't in Ravenna to consecrate the church, but the mosaic commemorating the celebration shows Justinian, evidently. As you know, it's one of the themes… here's Belisarius, possibly here's Antonina, Belisarius's wife. That is, we're looking at propaganda. Remember that Ravenna had been conquered recently in the war, and the bishop had to be reinstated. Another work of the period is Maximian's chair, still preserved, a spectacular ivory work, a masterpiece of this art, which is still Roman art, but already has many elements of what would be future Byzantine art. That is, we are in this transitional period. The mosaics of San Apollinare Nuovo, with a portrait of Justinian, give the impression that it's a portrait of Theodoric the Great, but they changed, perhaps retouched it, where they put the name of Justinian. Great works, of course: San Apollinare in Classe. The monastery called Santa Catalina on Mount Sinai—it was founded as the Monastery of the Theotokos, of the Mother of God—is still active; it has never been destroyed. It's on Mount Sinai, where the burning bush appeared to Abraham. Justinian built a monastery; there was a previous church, but he built a monastery, and the monks are still Greek Orthodox; in their prayers, they end with this phrase: "In the name of our holy and sacred founder of this holy monastery, Justinian and Empress Theodora." The Greek monks of Mount Sinai, of the Theotokos sanctuary, still invoke in their prayers the founder of the monastery. The monastery has changed over time, but since it's a monastery that has never been destroyed, it retains much of its appearance from Justinian's time, including the spectacular apse mosaic with the Transfiguration, and what appears on the beams: "For the salvation of our most blessed emperor, Justinian, and in memory and repose of the blessed Empress Theodora." That is, it's one of the few places in the Byzantine world where we can still follow the continuity of this period. The church of St. John at Ephesus is in ruins, but it allows us to understand what the church of the Holy Apostles was like. He founded a city next to the village where he was born. He was born in a village, but he founded a Justinianopolis, which has been excavated. To give it more power, he determined that the bishop who ruled that city would not be a simple metropolitan but an archbishop. A city that bore his name, founded by him, surely to give his countrymen better living conditions. It had to have an important aspect; it became a city that controlled and the capital really all the territory from… we are in Upper Macedonia; Thessaloniki, and much of northern Greece and North Macedonia came under the authority of Justinianopolis, one of Justinian's foundations. But he also promoted many cities to urban rank. For example, Drimys, a sanctuary near Miletus in ancient times; it was a village, but Justinian granted it city status; not only did he grant them city status, but he made the inhabitants of Justinianopolis exempt from any contribution; that is, a policy of recolonization, of refoundation, of social advantages and benefits—not for everyone, of course, because if some have benefits, others have to pay, but for a part of the population, this figure is very ancient, very Roman emperor, very Hellenistic king, very founder of cities, exempting them from taxes and tributes. In that sense, it is a continuity with the past. Military foundations: Dara, which we have talked about before, which is one of the elements of the conflict with the Persians; there he established a great fortress. The construction of this fortress provoked the first war with the Persians; the great cisterns are preserved, of course; it's a population that has to withstand long sieges. That is, military architecture. In North Africa, in the Muğita, here was the old Roman city, which had been abandoned, but he established a fort, a fort to protect the territory; it's a military barracks, but with spectacular fortifications, very large architectural innovations, which are a little behind what would be early medieval architecture, with an inscription made by Solomon, the magister militum who founded the fortress in the name of Justinian. Important public works: the great bridge of the Sangarius River, a river in northwestern Anatolia, which had never had a bridge at that time and which Justinian built. A great Roman emperor; Roman emperors built public works, they built bridges; that is, we're still in this dynamic. It's probably the last Roman bridge in the empire, conceived with innovations of the time; it has a series of semicircular arches, but it has a series of pointed arches, etc.; a 300-meter bridge… now no river passes through there; rivers are capricious, as you know, and a long time ago, the Sangarius River decided to change course, and there is no river under the bridge, but it's a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. All this costs money; Procopius complains that Justinian taxes his subjects, and as I said before, much of that money ends up in the hands of barbarians; perhaps that's what bothers Procopius the most, not so much that he steals—well, Justinian's tax policy is seen as an assault on the citizens; that's bad—but that he uses that money to pay barbarians. But we've seen the reason: Justinian guaranteed peace not only with the Persians but with many other peoples who roamed the empire and who, for a few sums of money, agreed not to attack. One should consider what is better: spending money on a war or allowing enemies to attack Roman territories or paying them not to attack; debatable. A literary flourishing: all these authors wrote during Justinian's time, in different fields: historians and chroniclers, travel and topography, philosophy, poetry, epic, music, hymns—a time of flourishing. This codex, preserved in Rossano, Italy, is a sixth-century San Juan Bible, from Justinian's time. Very few codices from that time are preserved, but it was a time of splendor, of flourishing. There was a lot of money; it was expensive to collect, evidently, but the emperor was generous in things that interested him. But he begins to take steps toward what is the Byzantine world. For example, he begins to demand that the new laws he issues, the Novellae, be published in Greek; they were published in Latin—the name is Latin, *novella* is a diminutive of *novus*—but at a certain point, he decides that they should be published in Greek because it's a language that can be understood by everyone. Fewer and fewer people in the East spoke Latin; as we've said, he was bilingual, but fewer and fewer people in the East understood Latin, so it had to be published in Greek. As you know, Greek would end up being the language of the Byzantine Empire; this is the period in which the change is taking place.

Another element: we've seen Belisarius's triumph. He demands that everyone who appears before him throw themselves face down on the ground and touch the emperor's and empress's feet with their lips before getting up. This would be the Byzantine ritual until the end of the Byzantine Empire. Before the Byzantine emperor, you had to throw yourself on the ground. Justinian introduced this. Finally, dating documents always with the imperial formula: another novella in which he says that in all parts of the empire, documents must begin with "In the year x of the reign of the most holy and august emperor." This idea that the emperor is the basic figure, the only figure, is a long process that had begun in the time of the military anarchy and with Diocletian, but which now reaches its ultimate consequence. These features will be found from this moment on in Byzantium. The Byzantine world begins to be a Greek-speaking world, a world with increasingly Eastern influences, and begins to separate from the Western world. It is true that Western emperors, Charlemagne—we'll see how Charlemagne tries to replicate part of this ritual—but the Byzantine world will enter a drift that will increasingly separate it from the Western world. Justinian died on November 14, 565, at 83 or 84 years of age, after reigning, as Procopius tells us, 38 years, 7 months, and 13 days—a long reign. He gives his portrait: good chest, good nose, fair skin, curly hair, etc., etc., but always mendacious, giving the sensation that nature had removed the wickedness from the rest of humanity to deposit it in the soul of this man, and Procopius goes so far as to say, when Justinian left this life, "Before Justinian dies, if it is a man, or when he is released from it in his condition as prince of demons, Satan himself, Antichrist himself, then whoever has had the luck to survive will know the truth." That's the portrait he makes of Justinian. He is succeeded by his nephew Justin II; he had no children; Theodora probably had a daughter, but he had no children. His nephew Justin II succeeded him, and Justin II ordered his burial in the Church of the Holy Apostles. We know the details of the emperor's ritual because Agathias makes a panegyric in honor of Justin II. We don't know the church; it was destroyed to make a mosque, but we know what it was like; we know it was similar to that of St. John at Ephesus, and here is a virtual reconstruction. The question remains: How great was Justinian the Great? I'm not going to answer the question; I've given you data, arguments, hypotheses, ideas for you to judge whether Justinian the Great deserves to be called Justinian the Great. Thank you for your attention. [Applause]