Justinian I, 527-565: The Last Great Palace Emperor

[@DES1GN3R007]

i can still appreciate the powerpoint format of learning history as long as the narrator is concise and has a good voice. you are one of the few.

[@9012Ferdinand]

Good research and simple presentation will always be superior to the opposite. Unless you're a populist i guess

[@djangodjango2375]

Justinian did catch the plague, that's why his reign is called the reign of Justinian and Theodora, she kept control and ruled as empress until Justinian recovered from the plague and took back the drivers seat.

[@OneOnOne1162]

Django Django That's what I was thinking.

[@bahaigpt]

yup

[@SleekMinister]

They did inject 100 men with snot and blood from flu victims in 1918, and none of them got sick.

[@dev00008]

@@SleekMinister wtf

[@alanpennie8013]

Justinian and Theodora were effectively co - augusti. So there partnership was an intriguing twist on an old idea.

[@CirageNoir]

It's funny to think as Justinian being a fan of « the Blues » as someone would be, I don't know, a fan of Arsenal or the Chicago Bulls.

[@michaelfisher7170]

I've read, but I don't know how accurate it is, that the blues represented the senatorial class and other elites, while the greens were more the common folk.

[@NoirFan01]

My 1st thought was blues music

[@Oscuros]

@@michaelfisher7170 Really? I've read several times that they were factions that went on to be the Catholics and the Orthodox Christians, you know the Orthodox colour is blue and the Catholic colour is green? A total coincidence, not really. You seem to have the Optimates faction and the Plebian faction of Rome mixed up with the former charioteering factions. They rioted about many things, including about the divine nature of Christ and if he was entirely divine, as the Catholics still believe or a man who becomes divine after the "metamorphosis" in Easter. I still don't get why particularly Americans like to make stuff up like that, like the Blues and Greens were like the Optimates and Plebians in the Roman Republic when they are not and never were. The chariots by this stage in Roman and Byzantine history was the main sport people watched worldwide, with hippodromes being built in most big cities by then. It had it in common with the older arenas for gladiatorial combat that people could bet and gamble on the races, meaning they were wildly popular. Therefore the analogy with football in the OP is valid, but not the one with handegg, because literally no one cares about American Handegg outside of America or even watches it. Down here on planet Earth, we all mostly watch actual football where it's illegal to touch the ball with your hands unless you are the goalie, hence "football" and not handegg. America bet on the wrong side in the old football debate when Rugby had to split off and suck it as not being "football" anymore, so the rest of planet Earth watches rugby as the proper version of handegg, which is also a man's game, where people are not covered in padding, the game is not constantly stopping and starting and the game is not divided into Quarters so they can pack even more adverts in.

[@michaelfisher7170]

@@Oscuros lol. I'd love to take your argument seriously, but in the end you just boiled it down to "Americans suck before My European superiority." Um.....the Green Blue divide in fifth and sixth century Constantinople has nothing....NOTHING to do with your 21st century biases vis a vis Catholic and Orthodox, this was CENTURIES before the Schism. You are right that the factions argued about everything. You're wrong in your prejudiced Euro centric mindset that Americans don't get history. OH! BUT WE DO! Dumbarton Oaks..an American institution, CHILD, world renowned for its Byzantine scholarship. So tell you what, go watch your pretentious, boring version of "football" and riot when after seven hours your team loses to their team 2-1. Oh, and take your Eurotrash snobbery with you. Kid.

[@logicalphallusy2364]

8:22 Theodora was *NOT* older than Justinian. Also, that Bearded figure in the mosaic is only just assumed to be Belisarius, but there is zero evidence that it actually is him. It is actually more likely that it is not him, because that bearded figure is dressed like a Senator. If Belisarius is depicted in that mosaic at all, its far more likely he would be one of the military dudes depicted off to the side.

[@luciano9755]

The guy at Justinian's left was a general and he was dressed the same as Belisarius.

[@paprskomet]

There is only one thing in your text which is correct and that is the fact we cant know with certainity if it is Belisarius or not.In rest you are wrong. Firstly-he is not dressed as "Senator" but as Patricius.Persons in the rank of Patricius(which Belisarius held)in this point of time wore white chlamys decorated by large purple colored tablion(for example only Emperor,empress and those with the rank of Caesar were allowed to wore purple cloak decorated with golden tablion and so on).Moreover Senators would be expected to wore toga at scene like this.Theodosian code prohibits senators to wore paludamentum or chlamys in palace context and we also know that senators at this very time still wore toga for ceremonial and formal occassions(Theodosian code requires them to do so apart from senators being mentioned wearing it at ceremony even in directly 6th century source too). Even less likely is your certainly erroneous identification of possible Belisarius as one of those soldiers.Firstly-if he was one of them he would certainly by at least depicted with face notably different from those other soldiers but they are all in fact depicted with quite generic faces.As Patrician and a man of importance it is also unlikely he would be depicted in such clothing and so far from the emperor.There were mosaics in Constantinople with Belisarius presenting captured kings to Justinian for example which was also reminiscent of scene that happened in real life with captured king of the Vandas whom Belisarius presented to Justinian in Great Hippodrome during triumph. Those soldiers are moreover not just some soldiers but those of Imperial guard which means they are either members of Candidati, Excubitores, Scholae palatinae or Domestici protectores. From those mentioned Sholarians are most likely option.They are all decorated with torques around neck which was their standard symbol of rank. These palace soldiers exactly of this look are known from many other depictions starting with 4th century And they are always common soldiers not high ranked officers of guard not to mention of regular field army which Belisarius ať that time was.Sholarii were always in close attendance of Emperor wherewer He went-as we are told by Romans themselves. Possibility that bearded man might indeed be Belisarius is even more suggested by existence of Barberiny ivory where Triumphal Emperor is presented with symbolic victory from bearded general having the very same hairstyle as presumable Belisarius on Ravenna mosaic. Although identity of Emperor is not securely known, Justinian is the most likely candidate from several reasons and in that case also possibility of general being actually Belisarius. We also have fragment of bearded Magister militum from 6th century,perhaps depictions of Belisarius.

[@Ohmalarky57]

It was probably Procopius

[@kirby28645]

12:59 That made me laugh a lot harder than it should have

[@JoaquinArguelles]

This is an amazing video. Thank you.

[@artman40]

Was Rome something like Italy's Detroit during that time and full of ruins?

[@ThersitestheHistorian]

Maybe not quite that bad, but it was well on its way by the 6th Century. Once the aqueducts were rendered inoperable, then Rome shrank to maybe 50,000 people.

[@jokester3076]

Rome was recovering under the Ostrogoths and Italy was thriving, The Byzantine reconquest was devastating and destructive to the country.

[@Rtgaming-je2zs]

@@jokester3076 Any sacrifice is worth it for the LIGHT OF THE EMPIRE!

[@decimusausoniusmagnus5719]

@@jokester3076 Barbarian lies

[@thoroughbred2741]

THEODORIC WAS A SODDOMITE

[@stayrospaparunas3062]

34:47 from my life, didn't regret it..life is small enjoy her ppl n remember for all this knowledge u must pay a fortune 30 years before,thx Thersites!!!

[@Kuudere-Kun]

The Academy that ceases sometime in the 6th Century was the original Academy Plato founded, there is continuity there, that Academy like other Classical Academies was destroyed by Sulla when he burned Athens to the ground in 86 BC.

[@bushrakayani]

Fascinating

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

"Fan of the Blues" - omg I didn't realize what you were saying at first and I thought that was a joke. Like - Leadbelly blues, not racing blues. lmao I honestly laughed out loud when I first saw that. Also - yeah, I wonder who it could be if not Narses.

[@Kuudere-Kun]

Theodora was a Miaphysite not Monophysite. There is a lot of documentation of the word Eunuch being used of men who were not literally Castrated but simply almost completely incapable of being sexually aroused by women. The Born Eunuchs Jesus refereed to.

[@cv4809]

Gays?

[@Kuudere-Kun]

@@cv4809 Yes, Male Homosexuals would be included that, but also Asexuals.

[@andrew2715]

Miaphysite is a form of Monophysite, that’s like saying a shape is a square and not a rectangle.

[@Kuudere-Kun]

@@andrew2715 That's not how people whoa re Miaphysite see it.

[@Kuudere-Kun]

@@andrew2715 Monophysite is a derogatory slur, like the K word.

[@julmcconnell]

Theodora was much younger than Justinian.

[@joeshmoe8345]

Really great thanks

[@ekszentrik]

Lenin said "There are decades where nothing happens, and weeks where decades happen." Well, with this emperor it's the same: there were decades were rulers did nothing, and rulers that ruled for a dozen rulers.

[@wolfumz]

I love the story of Theodora

[@matthewgoodman7588]

Oh shit, you're at OSU? Oregonians unite!

[@ThersitestheHistorian]

Ohio, actually.

[@JamesThomas-pj2lx]

... given the slant of some of your commentary and your accent, you sure you live in the buckeye state? ;)

[@wood7206]

8:20 wasn't Theodora younger than Justinian? (Theodora being born in 500AD and Justinian in 482AD) I could be wrong though.

[@accusateurpublic1262]

Theodora born circa 497 - died 06/28548 Jusitinian born 483 - died 11/14/565 Obviously, she's was younger and there's no dispute in the comment!

[@boychildnew1]

Enjoyed it, thanks. But the idea that we only had physical coins then and no other form of exchange or debt is almost definitely wrong. David Graeber's book, Debt, goes into this. He indicates that physical coins were often very rare in many times in history and generally not the main way economic exchange happened.

[@Justin-dl7hb]

Saint of really expensive wars xd lol

[@ThersitestheHistorian]

Accurate.

[@Justin-dl7hb]

Reminds me of George Bush for some reason...

[@ThersitestheHistorian]

Same here. It defies belief that W is being rehabilitated by the Democrats right now.

[@MoveInSilence23]

@@ThersitestheHistorian Well Dubya ain't 45. Plus Dubz has said a few things in opposition to 45.

[@MoveInSilence23]

@@Justin-dl7hb Basiliscus reminds me of Mitt Romney lol

[@filipsacirovic1776]

Where did you find that Justinian didn't catch the plague? The generally accepted position is that he did.

[@gilgalbiblewheel6313]

There are verses missing from the LXX, for example in the beginning of the genealogies of 1Chronicles.

[@marandagillespie9702]

I want to know what Justinian did to try and save these people,did he try and stop the plege

[@donttakeitpersonal8704]

Hi, you said after the gothic wars the Pope was the boss in Rome but I think the Duke of Rome was the boss? What do you think? I read about different Duchies which were part of the exarchate ravenna.

[@ryanquin2290]

How seriously can we take Procopius' Secret History?

[@ThersitestheHistorian]

Not very seriously, The Secret History is a hit piece against Justinian and Theodora. That being said, ancient historians don't have a lot to work with in terms of sources, so we can't afford to discard or completely discount any source.

[@ryanquin2290]

@@ThersitestheHistorian I figured as much. There's just no real way to tell. Thanks for the quick response. Love the vids.

[@carterghill]

Question about the bows: do you have a legitimate source that claims they are composite? I keep seeing the word used in history videos, but I feel like people just keep saying composite bow because that's what other people say. Is it really a classification of bow to historians? I ask because I used to be a bowman myself. Types of bow, as we understand it in learning about archery from a non-historical perspective, are the long bow, the re-curve bow, and the compound bow. I assume people are referring to re-curve when they talk about composite bows, the bows that bend forward at the top and bottom. But, I also feel like they're confusing composite with the term compound, which would just be wrong. The compound bow wasn't invented until very recently in history. Maybe composite is just a term for re-curve I wasn't aware of?

[@thoroughbred2741]

BASED JUSTINIAN

[@eho6380]

Theodora was Miaphysite not Monophysite wich is a total other Christology.

[@alanpennie8013]

It's a difference indiscernible to most people.

[@andrew2715]

Miaphysitism is a form of Monophysitism. A new compound divine-human nature is as heretical as the divine nature replacing the human nature from the Orthodox perspective.

[@nilesmouser6670]

Facial hair on Eunuchs depends entirely upon the age at which they are mutilated. Nothing wrong with criticizing art though, even if it is through an anachronistic lens.

[@billythemountainbear]

Rome's population collapsed from 410 to 550 or so, not about the year 300.

[@stayrospaparunas3062]

Well the father of Theodora had the circus,Her father had a big bear n made tricks,thats the ppl call her the daughter of the bear man..etc,oh when Justinian didn't like the Monophysites n decide to kill them like erratic, Theodora changed his mind.

[@johnmonkus4600]

Heraclius was the last Roman emperor. He was ceremoniously crowned at the Imperial palace on the Palantine hill in Rome and he was the first Byzantine, for he changed the official language to Greek.

[@MadMamluk88]

I wouldn’t say he changed the language of the Eastern empire to Greek, that change would come later during or around the time of Heraclius.

[@Gorboduc]

His reign also marks the end of the Roman senate.

[@AutomatedPersonnelUnit_3947]

Justinian also chose not to have Mecca and Medina destroyed.

[@histguy101]

Did Mecca even exist during the reign of Justinian? I think Nabatea Arabia was still a Roman province during this time.

[@AutomatedPersonnelUnit_3947]

@@histguy101 Not that part of Arabia, Mecca and Medina were beyond the Roman Frontier. But in Hindsight...you never know

[@AutomatedPersonnelUnit_3947]

@@histguy101 Besides the Early Muslim Hordes easily took over the Persian Parthian Empire, wiping out the Magi and Zoroastrians forever.

[@jackssmirkingrevenge9365]

pity

[@eho6380]

Yeah, because he wasn't interested in invading a dessert just like Persia and The Axumite Empire.

[@Steven-dt5nu]

Do you think he may have spoken Thracian?

[@mavisemberson8737]

Latin was the language he wrote in.

[@JL-XrtaMayoNoCheese]

Theodore was not a monophysite. She's a dyophysite Eastern Orthodox Saint.

[@rikurodriguesneto6043]

What a shame he never met BB King! 😥

[@vgovger4373]

Justinian and Theodora were really into bling?

[@gilgalbiblewheel6313]

The heathen priests were converted into Christian priests. Was there any conflict over their conversions?

[@cindchan]

I didn't know that eunuchs didn't grow facial hair. Make sense. I guess it was something I never really thought about.

[@gleeart]

not sure about that, testosterone takes different forms, women are hairy too, eunuchs could 'fire blanks' as well...oh and Justinian did get the plague but recovered, as the car sticker says: "one life, live it".

[@msxavier8519]

Depends on when you castrate the eunuch. If he was castrated as a kid then he would look like an fat woman. Soft skin, no facial hair, tendencies to go fat, low sex drive, soft voice and even ginecomastia sometimes. If the guy was castrated after puberty he would go fat and lose sex drive. But he would remain mostly the same. He could even have erections depending on how much testoterone he produced before.

[@Fankas2000]

Depends on when they got their balls chopped off.

[@bitcoinbeavis7742]

Bear keeper? Is that a job? Why is bear keeper considered a lower class job?

[@Gorboduc]

18:40 - I wish Melania would give that speech. :/

[@MyDreamside]

that stigma for actresses was still more or less in modern Greece . lol

[@jornhesl4707]

Roins?

[@HxH2011DRA]

I definitely think he's the last roman first Byzantine emperor

[@basiliibulgarslayer6123]

nah, thats Heraclius

[@glorioustigereye]

Never expected to see you here HXH association.

[@ΒασιλείατῶνῬωμαῖων]

Naw, the last Roman emperor was Constantine XI.

[@mavisemberson8737]

He wrote in Latin and not Greek. The Code of Justinian was written in Latin. It is the basis of many legal systems still

[@davidtownsend6092]

Yea Justinian got the plague. Theodora held it together

[@UltraViresAdInfinitum]

This guy is the last roman

[@ΒασιλείατῶνῬωμαῖων]

He was not the last Roman emperor....

[@UltraViresAdInfinitum]

@@ΒασιλείατῶνῬωμαῖων This was a bit of an equivocation on my part. He is the last emperor to be a native Latin speaker. He spoke Greek but with a Latin accent. The last one is Emperor Palaeologus ..... as it stands now.

[@daniellindsay5039]

​@@UltraViresAdInfinitumHave you heard the legend of Darth Palaeologus the Wise?

[@GoogleUserOne]

Ummm Justinian definitely had justinians plague =|

[@jiluan6758]

15:40 probably Boethius

[@HisExcellencyOfficial]

9:29 Timestamp

[@supersasquatch]

Very goodz but no mention of their role in forcing the exclusion of reincarnation in Christian beliefs

[@TheAiurica]

Machineguns are for "crowd control"? Holy crap... what sort of crowd control can you achieve with machineguns? I knew one who tried to use machineguns and assault rifles (AK-47) for "crowd control" in december 1989, in Romania. And he ended blindfolded and tied, with his back agains the wall. :P

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Well, machineguns can be used for intimidation, though it could also be "crowd control" in a non-literal sense just meaning "a lot of enemies in one place".

[@CamoflaugeDinosaue]

A squad of machine gunners can mow down a crowd, usually the very threat of it serves as effective crowd control

[@janiekrig5232]

And yet again, Theodora was younger than Justinian. She was not a 'sexual deviant' what do you even mean by that? She had been enslaved as a child. You should get your 'facts' straightened out.

[@adminholly]

This one is meme-y

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

No no no, do the Secret History. Don't be a chump.

[@dwainseppala4469]

Listen up, Thersites. Give up your academic position, put away the sheepskin, and go work with your hands and your back for a time. Afterward you might return as a pedant with a voice of appreciation for this subject matter. You speak in too much of a monotone as you elicit an accounting. Maybe join all the Theodora’s in the theater department for a while. Put a little showmanship into your efforts. Content-wise, opinions-wise, and your insights, most excellent, keep up the good work. Thank you.

[@lemonde-libere7062]

Justinian Justin Trudeautinus hihi

[@thoroughbred2741]

DO THE WOKE CLAIM YOU ARE A DEPLORABLE FOR YOUR ACCURATE DEPICTION OF HISTORY I.E. FEMALE SEXUAL DEVIANCY, NON BLACK SLAVERY, ETC.?