Justinian I (Civ4)/Civilopedia

Justinian the First, known as Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus in Latin, was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 527 until his death in 565. His four decades of rule marked the greatest expansion of the Byzantine Empire since its split with the Roman Empire and a sweeping revival in the Christian religion.
Born in a small village in modern Macedonia, Justinian had little connection to power in Constantinople as a youth. It was the rise of his uncle, Justin, a Byzantine general who succeeded the Emperor Anastasius, which drew young Justinian from the Macedonian pastures into cosmopolitan Constantinople. Justinian served his uncle as a close advisor for a decade before the passing of Emperor Justin transferred the diadem to Justinian.
With Justinian's rise to power, two other important faces rose to prominence. Belisarius, a close friend of Justinian, became the leader of Justinian's armies and proved himself as a brilliant tactician. The second face belonged to his beautiful and savvy wife, Theodora, who took on the role that Justinian himself once filled, that of the emperor's closest advisor.
One of Justinian's first actions as Emperor was to order a collection of all Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis. But not long after the first issuing of the Corpus, an uprising among two rival chariot racing factions, the Blues and the Greens, engulfed Constantinople in a wave of violence and conflagration. Enterprising powers within the city allied against Justinian, using the chaos to declare a new Emperor, Hypatius, a nephew of Anastasius. Justinian, unsure of the strength of usurpers, decided to flee the city, but his brave wife refused. Instead, Belisarius was ordered to take two divisions and quell the uprising, which he did with ruthless ability, trapping rioters in the Hippodrome and killing nearly 30,000 before the riot was finally put down.
The damage done to the city after the riots was substantial. Among the smoldering ruins lay the Hagia Sophia, Constantinople's greatest cathedral, burnt to the ground. Justinian thus began a monumental campaign to expand and restore the building. With its completion five years later, the reconstructed Hagia Sophia was christened as the world's largest cathedral, a title it would hold for a millennium. Under Justinian`s order, twenty-five cathedrals were built in Constantinople alone, with many more built outside the capital city.
The Empire thrived under Justinian. Thanks in no small part to the able command of Belisarius, Emperor Justinian's reach spread from Constantinople to Southern Spain, with North Africa and Italy all falling under the Byzantine grasp. Justinian's reign marked a high point for the Byzantine Empire, as shortly after his death, much of the land conquered in his name was lost. War with powerful Germanic tribes and neighboring Persia would cost the empire much of its hard-fought gains.