The Digest of Roman Law: Theft, Rapine, Damage and Insult

Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus was Roman Emperor of the East, A.D. 527–565, having first ruled jointly with his elderly uncle the Emperor Justin from 518 to 527. He had a strong sense of his imperial rank and mission. In the East he held Persia in check by a war fought in Syria and Mesopotamia, 527–532, and by further campaigns from 540 onwards. In the Balkans he dealt successfully with a succession of threats from barbarian invaders. At home, his rule was shaken in 532 by the famous 'Nike' riots, which he finally quelled in blood. It was in the West, however, that Justinian’s ambitions were made clear with his determination to reassert forcibly the majesty and control of the Empire. In campaigns fought in Africa and Italy through the great general Belisarius, he was able to largely recover the Western Empire by the year 540. Justinian's excessive financial administration resulted in the heavy indebtedness of the state. Nevertheless, as befitted his grand conception of this office, he built on a lavish scale; the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople being his greatest monument. Vexed by the Monophysite heresy, he determined to impose peace on the Church and found a formula for unity at the Council of Chalcedon. His supreme achievement, however, was the great codification of Roman law (the "Digest", "Institutes" and "Novellae"). His long reign ended in darkness, with storms gathering and the Empire ravaged by plague.