WI Justinian killed during Nika Riots?

In 532 there was turmoil in Constantinople following the arrest of some people from the Blues and Greens factions under the accusation of murder after a chariot race...
Some Senators used these protest as a pretext to overthrow Justinian... And they proclaimed Anastasius I nephew Hypatius as Emperor...
In OTL after a terrible week Justinian prevailed leaving 30000 dead in Constantinople, Hypatius was publicly executed in the Hippodrome and the conspiring Senators were deposed and banished from Constantinople for life...
WI Justinian was killed during the Riots? (lets say when he tried to talk to the crowds at Hippodrome someone throws a spear to him) could Hypatius then claim the throne? Or some other greedy General would have usurped power? How this affects Roman History?

So there won't be a reconquest of the west. North Africa still might be in, but Italy could be considered too hard. Wouldn't have to be too bad for the empire.

Hypatius could well have become Emperor, but he was, IIRC, personally weak and lacking in judgement, and would have been nothing more than a stop-gap measure. You could, of course, eventually end up with a brilliant young general by the name of Belisarius on the throne...

I agree with the Bellisarius solution in case of Justinian's murder... But could he had survived the plots from other power hungry Generals? (Mundus is an example) or Senators and officials like John the Kappadocian and Tribonianus?

No CORPVS IVRIS CIVILIS.

Later emperors will not be able to create such a work, as Berytos and its Latin-using law school is going to be destroyed soon (by an earthquake IIRC).

Wow.

This is going to massively affect the legal development in Europe and its colonies.

Such a horror scenario will quite possibly delay the economic boom in the late Middle Ages / early Renaissance, as modern long-range commerce with its complicated legal constructs got a massive boost from the adaption of the more advanced Roman Law IRL.

We might end up with some inferior legal system like the Anglo-American one.

Actually Corpus Iuris Civillis was the work of Tribonianus and John the Kappadocian... Maybe they could continue their legal reform under Hypatius or Bellisarius... If they werent executed by the new Emperor for collaborating with Justinian...

The CIC was a pet project of Justinian; I doubt that any successor would invest the needed resources.

Even if another emperor was willing to do so, there is an unavoidable delay. This delay may well prevent said project, as Triboninan died in 542 and Berytos was leveled in 551.

Creating the CIC always looked somewhat like an ASB to me: Quickly done just before it became impossible under to a monarch giving high priority to this project while facing several massive difficulties on ...

Originally posted by Don_Giorgio

Actually Corpus Iuris Civillis was the work of Tribonianus and John the Kappadocian... Maybe they could continue their legal reform under Hypatius or Bellisarius... If they werent executed by the new Emperor for collaborating with Justinian...

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While Hypatius would have executed them, Belisarius had no such reason - at least not for collaborating with Justinian, since Belisarius himself was one of his most trusted men. Besides, Belisarius would have taken the crown as more or less legitimate successor of Justinian, foully murdered by the rebels.

Or negotiate a peace treaty with Persia and starts the Reconquista as planned by Justinian...

I dont think Belissarius would have risked to attack Persians with the Vandals and Goths fooling around in the West...

I was referring to the Vandals in North Africa and the Visigoths in Spain... He could use Theoderic's forces in Italy as back up troops if he launched a war against Vandals and Visigoths...

Vandals had a navy that acted as pirates in the Mediterranean... harassing merchant vessels... Spain would have been conquered only for the glory of Belissarius...

Don_Giorgio said:

In 532 there was turmoil in Constantinople following the arrest of some people from the Blues and Greens factions under the accusation of murder after a chariot race...
Some Senators used these protest as a pretext to overthrow Justinian... And they proclaimed Anastasius I nephew Hypatius as Emperor...
In OTL after a terrible week Justinian prevailed leaving 30000 dead in Constantinople, Hypatius was publicly executed in the Hippodrome and the conspiring Senators were deposed and banished from Constantinople for life...
WI Justinian was killed during the Riots? (lets say when he tried to talk to the crowds at Hippodrome someone throws a spear to him) could Hypatius then claim the throne? Or some other greedy General would have usurped power? How this affects Roman History?

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Hypatius and his brother Pompeius had been dismissed (both protesting) from the Palace on Saturday evening and Justinian had made his personl appeal to the mob on Sunday morning. So it was not a matter of either of them seizing the throne (neither of them nor Probus who had earlier fled the city before the mob could crown him and who then burnt down his house in their frustration wanted to be Emperor).

Once Justinian was dead as your POD suggests, Hypatius would accept, not seize, the tiara. It seems clear the Scholarians and Excubitors had been bribed by the rebel senators and so they would declare for Hypatius and would certainly be more than a match for the retainers of Belisarius and Mundus particularly with the Blues and Greens and the crowds of rebelious country folk in the City supportig them and the new emperor.

Hypatius would attempt to gain the support of both Belisarius and Mundus, if only to give himself a balance against the Guards and the other forces who had engineered therebellion. I do not doubt they would both accept the new situation unhesitatingly since there was no old dynasty to remain loyal to. There is no evidence that Justinian's nephews were held up as successrs.

Hypatius I think would make a good emperor if not a great one. His would not be a reconquest of the west, except perhaps the Vandals. Even so the defeat of the Vandal kingdom by Belisarius was an astonishingly close run thing.

As for the Digest, Hypatius and the new regieme would have no reason to stop the work since it was of such an obvious benefit to the empire.

What if Belisarius or another general takes advantage of the situation to found his own dominion in Italy and North Africa?

They would be easily crashed by ERE troops... or by wandering Barbarians....

Don_Giorgio said:

They would be easily crashed by ERE troops... or by wandering Barbarians....

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I wouldn't be so sure about that. Look at 468. Then, of course, there's Justianian's conquest of Italy, which was a protracted, messy affair - and that was with Belisarius and Narses as generals and political stability at home.

No Justinian=Huge turmoil in Constantinople... Persians and Vandals might have used the chaos to invade simultaneously...

Not that much time... At least for the Persians... By Justinian's era they had regain their former strength...

After Justinian's fall Constantinople would have resisted only with Belissarius as Emperor i guess... But he has to get rid of the Factions first... Greens might have caused him troubles...