The New Rome

One of Justinian’s greatest goals was to reestablish the great Roman Empire. He believed that it was his mission from God to bring strength and power back to the empire that God had established, and used to spread Christianity throughout the world.

Using the strength of his armies, Justinian engaged in a series of wars that would last for decades, and that would spread the territory of Byzantium outward eventually taking in most of what was originally Roman territory.

However, the many years of war had a disastrous effect on the Byzantines. Their treasuries had been exhausted, meaning that they could not afford to defend their new territory. Within a few decades of Justinian’s death, most of the new territories had been lost.