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[[Image:Justinian.jpg|right|thumb|St Justinian, Emperor of Rome and Byzantium in the sixth century.]]The holy and right-believing Emperor '''Justinian I''' (May 11, 483–November 13/14, 565), was Eastern Roman Emperor from August 1, 527, until his death. His wife was the Empress [[Theodora (wife of Justinian)|Theodora]]. Besides being one of the most important rulers of Late Antiquity and a major figure in the history of the Byzantine state, Justinian was also a great champion of Orthodoxy, a builder of churches and a Church writer. During his reign Byzantium won glory with military victories in Persia, Africa, and Italy, as a result of which paganism was decisively routed among the Germanic Vandals and Visigoth tribes. He is also known as "The the last Roman Emperoremperor" and was the emperor who reconquered the city of Rome from the Ostrogoths. The Church celebrates his [[feast day]] on [[November 14]].
==Life==
Justinian's full name was Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus. He is said to be of Slavic descent, probably born in a small village called Tauresium in Illyricum, near Scupi (present day Skopje, Macedonia), on [[May 11]], 483, to Vigilantia. His mother Vigilantia was the sister of the highly esteemed General Justin, who rose from the ranks of the army to become emperor. His uncle adopted him and ensured the boy's education. Justinian was superbly well educated in jurisprudence, theology and Roman history. His military career featured rapid advancement, and a great future opened up for him when, in 518, Justin became emperor. Justinian was appointed consul in 521, and later as commander of the army of the east. He was functioning as virtual regent long before Justin made him associate emperor on [[April 1]], 527.
Four months later, Justinian became the sole sovereign upon Justin I's death. His administration had world-wide impact, constituting a distinct epoch in the history of the Byzantine Empire and the Orthodox Church. He was a man of unusual capacity for work (sometimes called the "Emperor Who Never Sleepsemperor who never sleeps"), and possessed a temperate, affable, and lively character; , but he was also unscrupulous and crafty when it served him. He was the last emperor to attempt to restore the Roman Empire to the territories it enjoyed under Theodosius I.
He surrounded himself with men and women of extraordinary talent, "new men" culled not from the aristocratic ranks, but those appointed based on merit. In 523 he married [[Theodora (wife of Justinian)|Theodora]], who was by profession a courtesan (or actress or circus performer, according which source one believes) about 20 years his junior. According to the historian Procopius, notorious for his slanderous dislike of Theodorathe royal couple, Justinian is said to have met her at a show where she and a trained goose performed ''Leda and the Swan'', a play that managed to mock Greek mythology and Christian morality at the same time. Justinian would have, in earlier times, been unable to marry her because of her class, but his uncle Emperor Justin I had passed a law allowing intermarriage between social classes. Theodora would become very influential in the politics of the Empireempire, and later emperors would follow Justinian's precedent and marry outside of the aristocratic class. The marriage was a source of scandal, but Theodora would prove to be very intelligent, "street smart," a good judge of character, and Justinian's greatest supporter.
Theodora died in 548; Justinian outlived her for almost twenty years, dying on November 13 or 14, 565.
==Legal and military accomplishments==
Justinian achieved lasting influence for his judicial reforms, notably the summation of all Roman law, something that had never been done before. Justinian commissioned quaestor Tribonian to the task, and he issued the first draft of the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' on [[April 7]], 529, in three parts: ''Digesta'' (or ''Digest'' or ''Pandectae''), ''Institutiones''(or ''Institutes''), and the ''Codex''. The ''Corpus'' forms the basis of Latin jurisprudence (including ecclesiastical [[Canons of the Orthodox Church|canon law]]: "''ecclesia vivit lege romana''", "the Church lives under Roman law"). Tribonian's law code It ensured the survival of Roman Law, which would pass to the West in the 12th century and later to Eastern Europe, including Russia. It remains influential to this day.
[[Image:Byzantium550.png|left|thumb|The expanse of the Byzantine Empire in 550 under Justinian.]]As far as military campaigns, Justinian was generally successful; he was the last Byzantine emperor to have control over Rome and parts of the West. Like his Roman predecessors and Byzantine successors, Justinian initially engaged in war against Sassanid Persia in the Roman-Persian Wars. However, his primary military ambitions focused on the western Mediterranean, where his general Belisarius spearheaded the reconquest of parts of the territory of the old Roman Empire. Belisarius gained this task as a reward after successfully putting down the Nika riots in Constantinople, because of which Justinian considered fleeing the capital but remained in the city only on the advice of Theodora(according to Procopius). In 533 Belisarius reconquered North Africa from the Vandals, then advanced into Sicily and Italy, recapturing Rome (536) and the Ostrogoth Ostrogothic capital at Ravenna (540) in what has become known as the Gothic War.
==Justinian and Orthodoxy==
[[Image:OrthodoxCross.jpg|right|thumb|Justinian was a fervent supporter of Orthodoxy.]]Justinian viewed himself as the new [[Constantine the Great]]. He believed in a Mediterranean-wide Christian order politically, religiously and economically, united and ruled from Constantinople under a single Christian emperor. To this end he directed his great wars and his colossal activity in reconquering the western provinces from the Germanic tribes.
Perhaps the most noteworthy event occurred in 529 when the teaching Academy of in Athens (famous for being founded centuries earlier by Plato of Athens ) was placed under state control by order of Justinian, effectively strangling this training-school for Hellenism. [[Paganism]] was actively suppressed. The worship of Ammon at Augila in the Libyan desert was abolished, and so were the remnants of the worship of Isis on the island of Philae, in Egypt, and unrepentant Manicheans were executed in Constantinople. Justinian frequently sent out [[missionary|missionaries]] and [[convert]]ed numerous tribes. In Asia Minor alone, John, [[Bishop]] of Ephesus, converted 70,000 pagans.
Justinian also took a very firm stance in his support of Orthodoxy; he fought different [[heresy|heresies]] throughout his rule. At the beginning of his reign, he promulgated by law belief in the [[Holy Trinity]] and the [[Incarnation]], and subsequently declared that he would deprive all disturbers of orthodoxy due process of law. He made the [[Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed]] the sole symbol of the Church and accorded legal force to the canons of the four [[Ecumenical Councils]]. At the command of the sovereign, the [[Fifth Ecumenical Council]] was convened in the year 553, censuring the teachings of Origen and affirming the definitions of the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council]] at Chalcedon. He also attempted to secure religious unity within the Empire through his (unsuccessful) dialogues with the non-Chalcedonians. He appointed Theodora, a convert from [[Monophysitism]], as his special envoy to deal with those who rejected Chalcedon. Besides Monophysitism, other ecclesiastical tensions had begun to emerge between the East and the West; the "Three Chapters" controversy brought all of these to a head (cf. external links).