Justinians Reconquest

To some degree I disagree:  I don't think Justinian had an overarching plan to reconquer the West.  His reconquest of Africa from the Vandals was born out of chance, and it was this that was the spark for the further attempts at conquest.  I do agree that luck was against him, but only after the defeat of the Vandals.  That was the greatest slice of luck in his - or possibly any Roman emperor's reign.

The impression I get is that Justinian saw reconquest as a duty, both as a 'Roman' and as a Christian. He was a reformer, a man who made sweeping cuts to the administration of the empire removing many elite men, clearly unafraid of the reactions others would exhibit in response to his directives. Indeed, his reign saw the old senatorial order replaced by a three tier system of status that required service to progress. None of this was luck - just hard headed decisiveness. Such a man would not rely on luck to re-establish the old Roman world surely?

I agree with most of what you are saying.  I don't think he relied on luck.  I think the Vandal kingdom losing its way at that specific time and having Belisarius at hand was lucky.