His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized renovatio imperii , or "restoration of the Empire". Subsequently, Belisarius, Narses , and other generals conquered the Ostrogothic Kingdom , restoring Dalmatia , Sicily , Italy , and Rome to the empire after more than half a century of rule by the Ostrogoths. The praetorian prefect Liberius reclaimed the south of the Iberian Peninsula , establishing the province of Spania. These campaigns re-established Roman control over the western Mediterranean, increasing the Empire's annual revenue by over a million solidi.
Justinian is regarded as one of the most prominent and influential Roman emperors, and historians have often characterized him as a workaholic who worked tirelessly to expand the Byzantine Empire. Justinian was born in Tauresium , Dardania , [ 11 ] [ 12 ] probably in The name Iustinianus , which he took later, is indicative of adoption by his uncle Justin.
During his reign, he founded Justiniana Prima not far from his birthplace. Justin, who was commander of one of the imperial guard units the Excubitors before he became emperor, [ 24 ] adopted Justinian, brought him to Constantinople , and ensured the boy's education. When Emperor Anastasius died in , Justin was proclaimed the new emperor with significant help from Justinian.
As a ruler, Justinian showed great energy. He was known as "the emperor who never sleeps" for his work habits. Nevertheless, he seems to have been amiable and easy to approach. She was by profession an actress and some twenty years his junior. In earlier times, Justinian could not have married her owing to her class, but his uncle, Emperor Justin I, had passed a law lifting restrictions on marriages with ex-actresses. Other talented individuals included Tribonian , his legal adviser; [ 36 ] Peter the Patrician , the diplomat and long-time head of the palace bureaucracy; [ 37 ] Justinian's finance ministers John the Cappadocian and Peter Barsymes , who managed to collect taxes more efficiently than any before, thereby funding Justinian's wars; [ 37 ] and finally, his generals, Belisarius and Narses , responsible for the re-conquest of North Africa and Italy.
Justinian's rule was not universally popular; early in his reign he nearly lost his throne during the Nika riots , and a conspiracy against the emperor's life by dissatisfied entrepreneurs was discovered as late as Theodora died in [ 40 ] at a relatively young age, possibly of cancer; Justinian outlived her by nearly twenty years.
