To centralize and simplify his administration Justinian chose ruthless ministers. The most prominent was John the Cappadocian, a poorly educated but determined man who had no respect for the privileged. The fifth century had seen a growth in the number of large aristocratic estates and their owners had manipulated the taxation systems in their favour, often by acquiring the privilege of supervising the collection of taxes themselves! John set to work to destroy these tax exemptions they enjoyed and the cosy relationship many of them had established with the civil service. Bishops were further empowered by being allowed to report cases of corruption to the capital while provincial governors were ordered to stand up to the local magnates. Those who continued to defy John could even be subjected to the humiliating ordeal of being flogged. Meanwhile the civil service was slimmed down and, in breach of the traditions established by Constantine, some civil and military posts were combined.
Not surprisingly John’s rigour aroused discontent among the professional classes. In 532 they found growing support among the population of Constantinople, who were unsettled by food shortages. Violence from the rival Blue and Green teams in the hippodrome night have been contained by encouraging each faction to focus their traditional hostility towards each other, but a bungled attempt by the authorities at hanging one Green and one Blue supporter led to the factions combining against the government (with cries of ‘Nika, victory). There was widespread rioting and the crowds, whose political perspectives remained highly conventional, attempted to install a rival emperor. Justinian wavered. He dismissed John the Cappadocian and Tribonian and appeared in the imperial box to take the blame, all without avail. He would have fled the city if the empress Theodora had not stiffened his resolve with her famous statement that a winding sheet of imperial purple was as good as any other. It was the generals, Belisarius and Narses among them, who now came to the fore. The hippodrome was stormed and an appalling massacre, of perhaps some 30,000 of the city population, was carried out only a few yards from the imperial palace. Justinian was saved.
No emperor of imperial Rome had ever treated the people of his capital in such a ruthless way and the experience must have been a sobering one. How it related to Justinian’s decision to launch his expedition to Africa in 533 is not clear. Although his personal knowledge of military affairs was limited, Justinian was no stranger to war. The first years of his reign had been marked by a series of campaigns along the Persian frontiers from Lazica in the north to Arabia in the south. At the same time he had conducted a defence of the Danube borders and engaged in conflicts with the Huns along the Black Sea coast. The empire had been able to sustain the cost and now the ambition of regaining the west and ‘rescuing’ orthodox Christians from the persecutions of Arians became more prominent. Already in 532-3 an ‘Endless Peace’ had been made with the new Persian leader, Khrusro. Underwritten by a large payment of tribute it left Justinian free to move westwards. The Nika riots may have strengthened his determination, either by giving him a sense of omnipotence or by providing him with a reason for rebuilding his popularity with the masses. Whatever the motives, campaigns to Africa and Italy were now set in hand.
World History
