A career civil servant, he came to the throne at the age of 61 after being chosen by Ariadne, the wife of his predecessor, Zeno.

[3] The resulting stable government, reinvigorated monetary economy and sizeable budget surplus allowed the empire to pursue more ambitious policies under his successors, most notably Justinian I.

In the weeks following Zeno's death, crowds gathered in Constantinople chanting "Give the Empire an Orthodox emperor!

It is noteworthy that Ariadne chose Anastasius over Zeno's brother Longinus,[4] who was arguably the more logical choice; this upset the Isaurians.

[21][22][23] He gained popular favour by a judicious remission of taxation, in particular by abolishing the hated tax on receipts, which was mostly paid by the poor.

[24][25] His reforms improved the empire's tax base and pulled it from financial depression and bleak morale.

The Battle of Cotyaeum in 492 broke the back of the revolt, but guerrilla warfare continued in the Isaurian Mountains for several years.

Anastasius afterward built the strong fortress of Daras, which was named Anastasiopolis, to hold the Persians at Nisibis in check.

To protect Constantinople and its vicinity against them, Anastasius built the Anastasian Wall, extending from the Propontis to the Black Sea.

However, he had the right to promulgate edicts, appoint Romans to the consulship and civil offices, and hold military authority over the prefecture.

Partly thanks to the former magister militum Gundobad,[30] he teamed up with Clovis to overthrow the Gothic hegemony in the West.

The threat of an invasion by the Roman army had prevented Theodoric from intervening in the battle on time to support the Visigoths in 507.

Anastasius had sent an expedition force of 8,000 soldiers for this attack, but the Roman intervention was not aimed at conquest,[33][34] since it did not seek a confrontation with Theodoric's army and limited itself only to the looting of some cities in the south.

[24] Yet, in 512, perhaps emboldened after his military success against the Persians, Anastasius deposed the Metropolitan of Chalcedon and replaced him with a Monophysite.

[4] The following year, the general Vitalian started a rebellion, quickly defeated an imperial army and marched on Constantinople.

[4] These changes to imperial policy seem to have worked well; taxpayers often paid smaller tax bills than they had before, while government revenue increased.

This claim is strengthened by the growth in influence of families that often held high level positions in the government, such as the Apiones from Egypt.

[3] Anastasius I also gave official positions to his close friend General Celer, his brother-in-law, his brother, his nephews, and his grand-nephews.

[3] The complex monetary system of the early Byzantine Empire, which suffered a partial collapse in the mid-5th century, was revived by Anastasius in 498.

China might seem an unlikely trading partner, but the Romans and the Chinese were probably able to do business via Central Asian merchants travelling along the Silk Roads.