What was the significance of Justinian Code?

It stated that there is a unity between church and state and that anyone that was not a connect to Christianity was declared a non-citizen. It also put up laws against certain pagan practices. Jews could not testify against a christian, they could not hold public offices. There civil and religious rights restricted and they couldn't speak Hebrew, which is important in many of there prayers. These laws would have a oppressive impact on Jews for hundreds of years to follow. Justinian gave orders to collect legal materials of various kinds into several new codes, spurred on by the revival of interest in the study of Roman law in the Middle Ages. This revived Roman law, in turn, became the foundation of law in all civil law jurisdictions. The provisions of the Corpus Juris Civilis also influenced the Canon Law of the church since it was said that ecclesia vivit lege romana the church lives under Roman law. Justinian's law resulted the Corpus juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) called the Justinian Code. It consists of 4 parts: 1 Codex (a collection of Imperial statutes) 2 Digest (writings and interpretations of Roman jurists) 3Institutes (a textbook for students) 4Novels (the laws enacted after the publication of the Codex) Suspended during the Middle Ages (500-1350) it was kept alive in Cannon law of the Church. It forms the basis of modern civil law in Europe and in other non-English-speaking countries, as well as in the state of Louisiana. Describe the significance of Justinian's reign? What was his legacy? The reign of Justinian marked the final end of the Roman empire; the establishment of the new, Byzantine empire; the beginning of Western Europe's unique position within the civilizations of the Old World; and made possible the spread of Islam and the rise of the Franks. Justinian rebuilt Constantinople, as well as bridges, aqueducts and many churches. The Justinian Code was a code of laws that served as the foundation of international law that is still used today.

Justinian is important because he recreate the Roman Empire in his Byzantine Empire. he also rebuilt Constantinople He built aqueducts, bridges, and more than 25 churches including the great Hagia Sophia, a church of Holy wisdom hagia Sophia is known to be considered an architectural wonders of the world.

Byzantine Empire Origins When the Roman Empire was declining, the emperor decided to divide the empire in half because he thought that it would make it easier to govern. Later on, while civil war ravaged the western half of the Empire, the eastern half of the empire was pretty stable and so Emperor Constantine decided to create a new capital at the former Greek city of Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). When the western half of the Roman Empire fell in 476, the Eastern half survived and thrived. This Eastern half of the Roman Empire later became known as the Byzantine Empire. Christianity Since the Byzantine Empire had once been part of the Roman Empire its peoples were also Christians. However in 1054, there was a dispute over the worship of icons. The Christian authorities in the Byzantine disagreed with Rome and did not believe that it was proper to worship icons. As a result the first split in Christianity occurred, with the West continuing to practice Catholicism and the Byzantines practicing Eastern Orthodox. Later divisions of Christianity would come about with the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the 1500s. Significance The Byzantine Empire served two very important historical functions: 1. Preservation of Roman and Greek Culture - When the Roman Empire in the West collapsed in 476, many libraries and places of learning were destroyed in the chaos and much of the knowledge that had been gained under the Greek and Roman civilizations was lost. However the eastern half of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine, survived. As a result the Byzantine served to preserve much of the Greek and Roman advancements for Western Europe. Most significant was the preservation of Roman law by Emperor Justinian, the Byzantine's greatest emperor. Justinian codified and deciphered the Roman law codes and also expanded upon the existing codes. As a result, these law codes were preserved and have become the basis for the legal systems of many Western countries, like the US. 2. Cultural Diffusion - Not only did the Byzantine help preserve Roman and Greek culture and Christianity but the Empire also spread these ideas to other parts of the world. During the Crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries, Western Europeans making their way to the holy land had to first pass through the Byzantine Empire. As a result they brought many of those ancient Greek and Roman accomplishments back to Western Europe. Two missionaries from the Byzantine Empire, named Cyril and Methodius, traveled into Central and Eastern Europe to spread the ideas of Christianity to the Slavic people. However, Cyril and Methodius could not teach the Slavs to read the Bible since they had no written

language. As a result the two missionaries created an alphabet that eventually formed the basis for the Cyrillic alphabet, which many peoples in Central and Eastern Europe still use. The Byzantine Empire finally collapsed in 1453 due to invasions by the Ottomans, but fortunately by that time it had served its important function as a bridge to the past and to the achievements of the Muslims. Relation to Persians During his Western wars, Justinian had bought peace with the Persians through regular payments of gold. This sort of policy is almost always a mistake, and Justinian's adoption of it was a disaster. While the Byzantines poured out money, men and materiel in their Western wars, the Persians sat back and allowed Byzantine bullion to swell their treasury. The Eastern empire was steadily drained of coinage and its economy began to falter. The government had to become more and more aggressive in collecting taxes from a economically exhausted people, and the oppressed taxpayers - who saw no benefits coming from the emperor's Western conquests - became deeply resentful. The Persians recognized that the Eastern empire had been badly weakened by the Gothic Wars, and attacked the empire soon after Justinian's death in 565, before the empire had had a chance to recover from its exertions. The Persians managed to devastate and/or occupy much of the Byzantine empire until the emperor Heraclius turned the tide of battle against them. In a brilliant action, he took what troops he could gather and, leaving the Persians besieging Constantinople, he went by sea to Syria and marched overland to capture the virtually undefended Persian capitals of Persepolis and Ctesiphon. By 632, the Byzantines were triumphant, but both the Persian and Byzantine peoples and economies were exhausted and were quite unready to fight the confident and dedicated Muslim armies who soon appeared on their frontiers. The Sassanid Persian Empire The Sassanid Persian Empire was a constant thorn in the side of the Roman and later the Byzantine Empire for centuries. Succeeding the Parthian Empire in 224, the Sassanid era lasted till 651 when it fell to the Muslims. At the height of its power, Sassanid territories stretched from south-western Pakistan to Turkey. Naturally, the Romans and the Byzantines could not ignore the might and influence of such a large empire. In their diplomatic relations, they had to regard the Sassanids as equals