A map of the Mediterranean shows the Eastern Roman Empire in 527 and the territories Justinian added up to 565. It accompanies the feature on Justinian and Belisarius in Historia National Geographic.
This map accompanies the article The Dream of Rome's Rebirth, published in issue 272 of Historia National Geographic (August 2026). It sets out the stage for the recuperatio imperii romani, Justinian's plan to recover the lands of the former Western Roman Empire, which were then held by "barbarian" dynasties.
The legend distinguishes the Eastern Roman Empire at Justinian's accession (527) from the territories conquered between 527 and 565. Over the relief of the Mediterranean, the map also marks patriarchates, the dioceses of the Prefecture of the East, the areas where Monophysitism and Nestorianism spread, and the zone disputed with the Sasanian Empire.
Zooming in, you can read the prefectures of Italy, Africa and the East, along with provinces such as Pontus, Cappadocia, Epirus, Dalmatia, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. Cities such as Constantinople, Rome, Ravenna, Naples, Carthage and Alexandria are labelled, as are the peoples bordering the empire: Lombards, Avars, Slavs, Vascones and Berbers.
The magazine text follows the career of Justinian's general Belisarius, from the Persian frontier at Dara to the campaigns in Carthage and Italy.
Published in Historia National Geographic no. 272, 2026-8
