Was Justinian’s attempt to restore the Roman Empire successful?

An analysis of the results of the foreign policy pursued by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I gives the right to assert that the attempt to restore the Roman Empire within its former limits was partially, but realized. Foreign policy actions made it possible to return all the lost lands after the fall of Rome and expand the territory of the Byzantine Empire almost twice: in North Africa, Justinian’s army managed to conquer the German kingdom of the Vandals and Alans, and successful military operations against the Ostrogoths gave the empire power over Italy. In addition, the result of the wars with the Visigoth kingdom was the expansion of the Byzantine possessions in Spain. It was during the time of Justinian that Byzantium reached its greatest prosperity and its most significant proportions. This allowed the Byzantine emperor to almost completely restore the borders of the former Roman Empire.

However, such achievements were costly for the internal political state of the state. Paradoxically, but it was the greatest triumph – victories in numerous wars and the expansion of the empire’s territory – that became one of the reasons for the subsequent decline of Byzantium. As a result of the wars, the treasury was rapidly depleted. The imperial administration attempted to compensate for the latter by levying large, heavy taxes for the population, which, as a result, caused deep indignation, which resulted in uprisings and riots. As time has shown, in his aspirations to restore the Roman Empire, Justinian depleted its resources, not taking into account the historical realities that formed in Europe in the VI century. As a result, the Byzantine Empire, weakened from within by numerous conspiracies and rebellions, was not ready to repel the threat of an invasion of new, more dangerous, barbarians.