- John the Cappadocian
"A different John the Cappadocian was Patriarch from 518-520. See
John of Cappadocia ."John the Cappadocian was a
praetorian prefect in theByzantine Empire under EmperorJustinian I . John was appointed to lead the first commission on Justinian's new legal code, theCorpus Juris Civilis , and became Justinian's chief legal advisor. He was also appointed Praetorian prefect of the East, giving him the power to introduce new taxes on the population. The new taxes were very unpopular, and the mob involved in theNika riots of 532 demanded that both John and thequaestor Tribonian be dismissed. Justinian did so, until the riots had been suppressed, after which he reinstated John as prefect and Tribonian as quaestor. After the riots, which had been supported by the upper-class Senators, John, who had the same lower-class background as Justinian, became even more important in political affairs. John influenced Justinian's military decisions, helping to draft the Perpetual Peace withKhosrau I of Persia and convincing Justinian not to empty the treasury with a large expedition to NorthAfrica . John worked with the emperor to reduce the size of the bureaucracy, both inConstantinople and in the provinces, developing a rudimentarymeritocracy . Justinian's wife Theodora resented the amount of power and influence held by John. In 541, Theodora accused him oftreason and had him dismissed. The bureaucracy of the empire fell back into corruption under John's successors.References
;Bibliography
* Rosen, William. "Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe", Viking Adult, 2007. ISBN 978-0670038558.
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