Geography

Justinian ruled the Byzantine empire, whose capital was in Constantinople. Constantinople is on a peninsula. This area is very good for many things; two of the most important things are, trade and defense. Constantinople was surrounded by water and was right in contact with it's many surrounding countries. It became a trade mecca. It had great defense, because it was easy to protect. Much of it was surrounded by water so they knew when invaders were coming. Justinian controlled most of the land surrounding the Mediterranean sea. Also under Justinian's reign, the Byzantine Empire lost land in Syria to the Muslims. (Elizabeth Ellis + Anthony Esler) Justinian also lost land in the Lazic war and the first and second Persian wars. (J.B. Bury) Justinian did many great things with the land of Constantinople, which is still a body of land today.