Armenia in the period of Justinian

Abstract

During the reign of Justinian I (527–565), Byzantine Armenia underwent intense centralization and reorganization. Justinian abolished local satrapal autonomy in Western Armenia in 536, establishing a four-province system (First, Second, Third, and Fourth Armenia) under direct Imperial control to boost revenue and military integration. The hereditary, administrative, and military functions of local Armenian satraps were abolished. In 538, Armenian nobles revolted against the high taxes and loss of autonomy, but the rebellion was suppressed, and leaders were forced to flee to Persia. The period of Justinian was a turning point that transformed Western Armenia from an autonomous borderland into a structured, taxed, and militarized province of the Byzantine Empire. Adontz’s seminal work, Armenia in the Period of Justinian, is the definitive analysis of these political and feudal (naxarar) structures during this era