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WINNER OF THE LONDON HELLENIC PRIZE 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2024
A Sunday Times, BBC History Magazine, and Evening Standard Book of the Year
‘Majestic, sparkling’ Peter Frankopan
‘Superb and gripping’ Simon Sebag Montefiore
‘Effortlessly erudite’ Rory Stewart
‘Masterful’ Anita Anand
‘Spectacularly good’ Dominic Sandbrook
The definitive story of the Roman Emperor who shaped modern times.
This groundbreaking biography gives us an intimate insight into Justinian, a man who, from the humblest beginnings, rose to become ruler of much of the known world achieving an almost god-like status. An emperor who infused even the most mundane tasks with spiritual significance. A gifted administrator obsessed with detail. A middle-aged lover who fell for a dancing girl, ruling with empress Theodora by his side for over twenty years. A brilliant military strategist who was never on the frontline. The challenges he faced – climate change, battles over culture and identity, the first recorded global pandemic – and many of the solutions he found still resonate with us today. His legacy remains all around us. In this tour de force, Sarris shows us that in all his complexity and contradictions Justinian was, in many ways, a very modern emperor.
