Justinian I was a Byzantine emperor who reigned from 527 to 565. Born around 482 in Tauresium, he rose from a peasant background to become a powerful ruler after being adopted by his uncle, Emperor Justin I. His ambitious reign focused on the *renovatio imperii*, an attempt to reclaim lost Western Roman territories, which resulted in the recovery of parts of Italy, North Africa, and southern Spain. A dedicated legislator and writer, he is most famously remembered for his massive legal reforms and his extensive building projects throughout the empire.