527-565: Justinian revived the ancient Roman Empire, recovering much of Italy, Africa, and Spain. This expanded the Byzantine Empire to its greatest size under Justinian's rule. However, the wars exhausted the treasury and weakened defenses. Justinian's greatest achievements were rebuilding the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, and creating the Corpus Juris Civilis (Justinian's Code), which formed the basis of law for many centuries. He ruled as an autocrat with absolute power, even over the church, aided by his wife Theodora, a powerful and influential woman. After Justinian, the Byzantine Empire continued to serve as a buffer between Europe and invading forces from Persia

1. The Age of Justinian
Social Studies for 9th EBG
Teacher: Mauricio Torres

2. Introduction
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527 – 565: The Byzantine Empire reached its greatest size under the emperor
Justinian.
He was determined to revive the ancient glory of Rome by recovering the provinces
that had been lost to barbarians.
• He brilliantly fought and recovered much of Italy, Africa and southern Spain.
• This wars exhausted his treasury and also weakened his eastern flank.
His successors lost all the lands he had recovered.

3. Justinian´s Life and Personality
• Life and Traits:
• Born around 482
• The last Roman
Emperor to speak Latin
as a first language.
• Justinian was well
educated in
jurisprudence, theology
and Roman history.
• Short, fair skinned, curly
haired, round faced and
handsome.
• His reign:
• He was Byzantine
Emperor from 527 to
565.
• He was known as "the
Emperor who never
sleeps" because he
hardly gives up on
task, on account of his
work habits.
Nevertheless, he seems
to have been amiable
and easy to approach.

4. Hagia Sophia
• His longest lasting achievement was the
construction of Hagia Sophia (“Holy
Wisdom”).
• This was made to restore the old Roman
glory through a program to beautify
Constantinople.
• Hagia Sophia was a great church with an
enormous giant dome. Its interiors glowed
with colored marble and embroidered silk
curtains.
• When it was completed, Justinian marveled
at it an evoked Solomon´s Temple:
“Solomon, I have surpassed you!”.

5. 3D Representation of the Original Hagia Sophia

6. Code of Laws
•
Even though Hagia Sophia was a gigantic
achievement, his biggest accomplishment was his
“code” of laws.
• He set up a commission to collect, revise and
organize all the laws from ancient Rome. Some
old laws that were obsolete were discarded and
others improved.
• The final result of this endeavour was the
Corpus Juris Civilis, also known as the “Body of
Civil Law”.
• Today we call it Justinian’s Code.
• In later years, it was adopted all over Europe
and it is a basis for international law today!

7. ABSOLUTE POWER
• With the law, Justinian united and ruled
the empire under his control.
• He ruled as an autocrat, or sole ruler
with complete authority.
• His power stretched so far that he even
ruled over the Church. He was called
Christ’s co-ruler on Earth.
• His right-hand “man” was his
wife, Theodora.
• She was a shrewd politician, who served
alongside with Justinian and even
pursued her own policies.

8. Theodora
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Theodora is perhaps the most influential and powerful woman
in the Roman Empire's history.
She was born around 500 AD, but no one knows the exact
location.
• Her father was a bear trainer and her mother was a dancer!
Despite resistance due to her low class, she married Justinian.
Theodora proved herself a worthy and able leader during the
Nika riots; where she convinced her husband not to abandon
the throne.
She carefully supervised the magistrates, much more so than
previous emperors, possibly to reduce bureaucratic corruption.
Theodora participated in Justinian's legal and spiritual
reforms, and her involvement in the increase of the rights of
women was substantial.

9. Changing Fortunes
•
After Justinian, the empire’s fortune rose and fell.
• Persians, Slavs, Vikings, Mongols and Turks attacked the empire, but
they were not successful.
• This way, the empire served as a buffer state.
• a country lying between two rival or potentially hostile greater
powers, which by its existence is thought to prevent conflict
between them.

10. Arab Threat
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In the 600 and 700s the Arabs invaded and threatened the Byzantine
Empire.
• Constantinople itself was attacked, but the empire held on to their
heartland and their territories in the Balkans and Asia Minor.
Their strength came from a central government and strong economy.
• Peasants were the backbone of the economy: they worked the
land, served as soldiers and they would also pay taxes.
While Western Europe crumbled, Byzantium flourished!

11. Ask Yourself
• Recall:
• What does Hagia Sophia mean?
• What was Justinian’s Code?
• What is an autocrat?
• Analyze:
• Why did Byzantium serve as a buffer state between Europe
and the Arabs?
• Which of Justinian’s accomplishments had the longest
lasting effect on humanity? Why?
• Evaluate:
• In what conditions did the Byzantine empire flourish?

12. Bibliography
• Ellis, E. G., & Esler, A. (2009). World History. (P.
Hall, Ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, US:
Pearson Education INC.
• Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History
(Teacher´s Edition) (1st Edition ed.). (H. McDougal,
Ed.) Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishing Company.
• Images taken from Google.