Justinian stands tall among the Byzantine rulers, as the 'sleepless emperor' whose religious fervour and legislative zeal saw him rebuild the eastern Roman empire from the ground up... until the 'four horsemen of the apocalypse' arrived and threatened it all. Peter Sarris talks to Kev Lochun about how the conniving and ruthless Justinian claimed power, how an angry sports fans nearly brought him down, and why he's best-known for having a plague named after him. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices