During Justinian’s reign, the Byzantine Empire

expanded to Northern Africa, southern Spain and Italy.

Justinian wanted to reconquer the Glorious Roman
Empire
Justinian took over a great part of the Mediterranean
Basin. This was important because:

This was important because:

1- He could control trade: The Mediterranean Basin
was a very important place of trade between Europe
and the Oriental territories
2- He could protect his territories from external
invasions through the Mediterranean (military power)
3- He could benefit from resources in the
Mediterranean Basin (minerals, textiles, food)
4- The expansion of territories also could allow
Justinian to expand Christianity

Justinian a Christian Emperor

[GLUE Figures 1 and 2 in your notebook]
Figures 1 and 2 show that Emperor Justinian and his
wife Empress Theodora were Christian.

In figure 1 we can see:

1- The halo over Justinian’s head, a symbol of divinity
2- The Bible in one of the clergymen’s hands
3- The bowl in Emperor Justinian’s hands, used for
offerings or for holy water.
4- The cross in Bishop Maximianus’s hands
5- The censer in one of the clergymen’s hands (used to
spread incense)
6- The shield in one of the military’s hands. The letters
X and P on the shield are the first two letters of the
word “Christ” in greek (XPISTOS).

This mosaic also shows us that Justinian was the

absolute ruler and that he controlled the military, the
religious men and the men of law. It shows the
hierarchy, because Justinian is in the middle, he has a
crown and is dressed in a more sumptuous way than
the rest. In figure 1, the letter A represents Emperor
Justinian with his halo and his crown. Letter B
represents the men of law, letter C represents the
clergymen, and letter D represents the military men.
The letter E represents the shield with the X and the P
on it (first letters of Christ in greek), signifying that the
army was a Christian army.

In figure 2 we can see that Empress Theodora is

considered a Christian Empress because she has the
halo over her head, and she is holding a bowl of
offerings (probably a grail).
Justinian the Legislator
[glue at home text 1 in French]

[copy at home] Text 1. Justinian – Legislator – Excerpt from the

Institutiones, 533

« The Emperor Caesar, Flavius, Justinian, pious, glorious and

triumphant, always Augustus, greetings. In order for the State to be
well governed in times of peace, his imperial Majesty must rely on
the laws. I gathered the laws of ancient emperors in one code that
bears my name : the Justinian Code. I also asked to gather and
summarize all the decisions of justice of the ancient roman courts :
they form the Digestae ; every situation is presented in a simple and
clear way. From today on, in order to dispense justice, it is
mandatory to use the Justinian Code and the Digestae
Given in Constantinople, excerpt from the Institutiones, November
21st 533
[Note : The new laws are written in greek, which becomes the
Empire’s language after 534.]

Roman Influence
Greek influence

Map N°2 : Constantinople – Capital of the Empire

[Glue on your notebook after you copy the translation of text 1]
[write three columnts with the Greek, Roman and Christian heritage
in Constantinople

Christian Roman Greek Influence

Influence Influence
Justinian a Christian Emperor
[Figures 1 and 2 on page 2]