Emperor Justinian: Builder of the Byzantine Legend

* Hammurabi produced the law codes called “Code of Hammurabi” in order to acquire order and welfare. As Hammurabi state in his prologue, “Right and Justice I established in the land, for the good of the people.” (prologue, Hammurabi’s Code)

Justinian had a sincere wish to restore the glory of ancient Rome and improve the empire but the means to which he attempted to accomplish this were devastating to his people. With the increase in his

The Byzantine Empire and Western Europe originally were part of the Roman Empire, but by the middle Ages(medieval times), they were very different, even though they did share some common traits, but by the 300's, the Byzantine Empire had far surpassed Western Europe in trade and economics and political unity, while both empires were having arguments over religion.

The Roman Empire was a marvelous civilization stretching from the far ends of the Mediterranean Sea to the nutrient rich soils of the Fertile Crescent and all the way north to what is now known as the United Kingdom. In fact, the empire was so expansive that there was a need for organized law; and so with each emperor there came new constitutions and decrees for the Roman people to follow. The Theodosian Code was just one of the many juristic materials that helped define Roman law and keep legal clarity until the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 C.E.1This paper will define the contents of The Theodosian Code; show how the size and organization of the Roman Empire had an effect on the document; and examine how religion had influenced

Throughout the world, laws brought a sense of purpose and order into empires through many centuries. Two groups of laws that brought major purpose to empires were Justinian’s Code and Hammurabi’s Code. Although they may differ in different aspects of life they are connected in political, economic, and social forms in the ancient world.

Justinian I Justinian had a very significant role in world history. There are many things that are overlooked when speaking of Justinian. For instance, Justinian was a great architect. Many times we overlook the little characteristics of Justinian and we focus on the code of Justinian.

Justinian was born around, 482, He was the Byzantine emperor, after his uncle. He ruled from 527 to 565, making a great impact on the Eastern Roman Empire. His first priority was to strengthen the empire, and return it to its prior ancient glory. Outstandingly, he was able to restore the city, Constantinople, after multiple important religious buildings, were burned down, and destroyed, during approximately January, 11 – 19, 532.

Justinian’s code is a set of laws that was originally influenced by the twelve tables, and was used in Ancient Rome. The law code was created by Justinian himself, which was based of the original law, but he made it more proper.

The first part was called the Codex Jastinianu which gathered together every imperial edict from the preceding four centuries. Laws later issued by Justinian and his successors were added to the volume and were called Novellae, or “New Items”. The Codex Justinianus served as a kind of handbook to emphasize and justify the absolute authority of the emperor. The second part of the Corpus iuris cicilis was the Digest. The Digest contained all the legal judgments issued by Roman jurists in criminal and civil cases.

The Byzantine Empire, though often forgotten among better-known empires, such as the Roman Empire, ran for nearly one thousand years, occupying the eastern half of what once was the Roman Empire. It engaged in trade, expansion, and decades of warfare. It also gave women a better status then men, valued and preserved Greek history, and eventually fell to the Ottomans.

Since the Western and Eastern Empires were split up due to the fact that they were too hard to rule together there was a city called Constantinople. Constantinople was the Eastern Empire's capital. One of the emperor’s in this city was Justinian. It’s debatable whether Justinian was a good emperor, or bad. Justinian greatly influenced Constantinople in positive and negative ways.

Justinian’s Code was originated in the Byzantine Empire, In 529 AD to 534 AD Justinian’s Code was part of Corpus Juris Civilis which a collection of fundamental works though Justinian didn’t create it he founded it and gave it the name “Justinian’s Code”. Justinian was the Emperor of Eastern Roman Byzantine in Constantinople. Justinian became emperor in 526 he then thought that the inherited Roman Tables needed to be organized. The finalization of the reorganization was in 529 AD though it

In Constantinople, during the height of the Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian succeeded in building or restoring over thirty churches in the Orthodox faith throughout the Byzantine Empire. His most notable achievement described

Then Justinian comes, being one of the greatest, if maybe the greatest of the Byzantine emperors. The author highlights,

Justinian and Theodora ruled the Byzantine Empire from 527 to 565 AD, in their time they influenced not only the art of the era, but also the architecture and the church. Byzantine was an extremely diverse culture. It included members from groups around the entire known world at the time and this region brought them together (Brooks). This diversity did lead to conflict once Justinian became emperor due to his intolerance for what he considered paganistic rituals. This lead him to end the Academy and for him or even go so far so to put in place measures that limited the Semitic lifestyle. Theodora was one of the most powerful empresses of the Byzantine era and was wife of Justinian. In her youth she was a prostitute and dancer and this translated into her adulthood as her fighting for women’s rights. Justinian claimed to be a “Christian Emperor” and accomplished many achievements with both the church and with law. The goal of their reign was to restore Rome to its previous vigor through their influence in the culture that was portrayed through mosaics and churches. While they did not achieve the full life of Rome again, they did influence it and bring it out of the darkness that it was beginning to fall into.