Justinian and the early days of the Slavs : remarks on Florin Curta’s theory

Carried out by Florin Curta in his work The Making of the Slavs and repeated in subsequent publications, the entire reconstruction of the historical situation in the Balkans under the rule of Justinian I does not reflect the reality of the period. Overestimating the role of barbarian invasions and the lack of a critical analysis of thed scription presented in the 4thbook of De Aedificiis by Procopius of Caesarea resulted in an artificial depiction of the situation on the imperial territories in the first half of the 6thcentury. Drawing on an episode connected with Chilbudius’s expeditions to the north bank of the Danube and an excerpt from Justinian’s 11thNovella devoted to Aquis, Curta „discovered” Justinian’s political activities that the ruler never actually undertook, i.e. the aggressive policy towards barbarians or burdening bishops with land security responsibilities. The analysis of historical sources present in Curta’s works is merely a tool since it is used only to prove the thesis that the beginnings of the Slavs by the Danube were an outcome of Justinian’s building activities