What was the significance of Justinian after the fall of Rome?

Answer 1

The term fall of Rome refers to the fall of the western part of the Roman Empire which was brought down by the Germanic peoples who invaded most of its lands. The eastern part of the Roman Empire was not affected by these invasions and continued to exist for nearly 1,000 years. Historians use the term Byzantine Empire to indicate the eastern part of the empire after the fall of the western part.

The emperor Justinian I (or the Great) was one of the most important Byzantine emperors. His reign is seen as a distinct period of Byzantine history by historians. It was a period of conquest, splendour, great prosperity, important public works, administrative and religious reforms and imperial unity.

Justinian I wanted to 'restore' the Roman Empire by reconquering the lands lost by the western part of the Roman Empire as a result of the Germanic invasions. He succeeded in defeating the Vandals in Africa, retaking this area, the Ostrogoths, retaking Italy, Sicily and Dalmatia (on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea) and the Visigoths in Spain, retaking southern Spain. This was a major achievement and gave him control of the western Mediterranean. The large state revenues the conquests generated (they increased by 20%) helped him with an ambitious programme of church building and public works. He rebuilt the damaged Church of the Holy Apostles and the Hagia Sophia church in Constantinople, which were both badly damaged, and built the church of San Vitale in Ravenna (the centre of Byzantine rule in Italy). He built underground cisterns to secure the water supply for Constantinople, including the massive Basilica Cistern (453 by 212 feet and 30 ft. high). He built a dam is south-western Turkey to prevent floods and the Sangiarius bridge in north-western Turkey to secure a supply route to the east for the army. He built border fortifications from Africa to the East. Justinian restored towns damaged by an earthquake and built a new city, Justiniana Prima, as the new capital of the province of Illyria. He built a massive granary on an island near Constantinople to make the grain traffic form Egypt more efficient. He also established diplomatic relations with Ethiopia to bypass the land Silk Road through Persia because there were wars with Persia and managed to establish a local production of silk.

Justinian I was one of the most important emperors in the history the Orthodox Church, the official church of the empire. He was described as a nursing father of the church. He put the church on a more solid footing and redefined its structure. He wanted to protect its purity and persecuted dissident Christian sects. He secured the rights of the church and the clergy and protected and expanded the monastic orders. He granted the monks the right to inherit property from private individuals and to receive annual gifts for the state and banned the confiscation of monastic property. He gave the canons of the church legal force and issued laws regarding the administration of church property, the elections, rights and obligations of the clergy, the conduct of service and episcopal jurisdiction. Justinian also persecuted dissident Christian doctrines. He rebuilt the famous Hagia Sophia Church in Constantinople and built the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, the capital of the Byzantine possessions in Italy.

Justinian I took measures to tackle corruption in the provinces and made tax collection more efficient by increasing its professionalization. Justinian's rule was quite despotic. He regulated everything in administration, law and religion tightly. It was said that the church could do nothing contrary to his will. He started the byzantine tradition of the emperor being in charge of the church.

Justinian I commissioned the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) which was dubbed Justinian code in the 16th century. This was a comprehensive compendium and revision of four centuries of Roman law. This collection of books was rediscovered in a library in Pisa in 1070. It had a big impact. Bologna University (established in 1088) was the first university in Europe and its major appeal was its faculty of law, which had four professors who specialised in studying interpreting this work. It attracted student all over Europe. The Corpus Juris Civilis became the plank of the development an emerging class of professional lawyers. It became the foundation of the law in the Italian city-states of the time and was used as the foundation of the law of the Holy Roman Empire.