16,951
edits
Changes
m
links
[[Image:Justinian.jpg|right|thumb|St Justinian, Emperor of Rome and Byzantium in the sixth century.]]The holy and right-believing Emperor '''Justinian I''' ([[May 11]], 483–[[November 13]]/14, 565), was Eastern Roman Emperor from [[August 1]], 527, until his death. His wife was the Empress [[Theodora (wife of Justinian)|Theodora]]. Besides being one of the most important rulers of Late Antiquity and a major figure in the history of the Byzantine state, Justinian was also a great champion of Orthodoxy, a builder of churches [[church]]es and a Church writer. During his reign Byzantium won glory with military victories in Persia, Africa, and Italy, as a result of which paganism was decisively routed among the Germanic Vandals and Visigoth tribes. He is also known as "the last Roman emperor" and was the emperor who reconquered the city of Rome from the Ostrogoths. The Church celebrates his [[feast day]] on [[November 14]].
He surrounded himself with men and women of extraordinary talent, "new men" culled not from the aristocratic ranks, but appointed based on merit. In 523 he married [[Theodora (wife of Justinian)|Theodora]], who was by profession a courtesan (or actress or circus performer, according which source one believes) about 20 years his junior. According to the historian Procopius, notorious for his slanderous dislike of the royal couple, Justinian is said to have met her at a show where she and a trained goose performed ''Leda and the Swan'', a play that managed to mock Greek mythology and Christian morality at the same time. Justinian would have, in earlier times, been unable to marry her because of her class, but his uncle Emperor Justin I had passed a law allowing intermarriage between social classes. Theodora would become very influential in the politics of the empire, and later emperors would follow Justinian's precedent and marry outside of the aristocratic class. The marriage was a source of scandal, but Theodora would prove to be very intelligent, "street smart," a good judge of character, and Justinian's greatest supporter.
Theodora died in 548; Justinian outlived her for almost twenty years, dying on [[November 13 ]] or 14, 565.
==Legal and military accomplishments==
However, Justinian is often criticized by secular sources as a despot. Even some dissent occurs in Orthodox [[Holy Tradition]]. For example, the [[hagiography]] of St. [[Eutychius of Constantinople|Eutychius]] paints a more complicated portrait of the Emperor:
:"After the death of the holy [[Patriarch]] Menas, the [[Apostle Peter]] appeared in a vision to the emperor Justinian and, pointing his hand at Eutychius, said, 'Let him be made your [[bishop]].' At the very beginning of his patriarchal service, St Eutychius [not Justinian himself] convened the [[Fifth Ecumenical Council]] (553), at which the [[Church Fathers|Fathers]] condemned the heresies cropping up and anathematized them. However, after several years a new heresy arose in the Church: Aphthartodocetism [asartodoketai] or "imperishability" which taught that the flesh of Christ...[was] not capable of suffering. St Eutychius vigorously denounced this heresy, but the emperor ''Justinian'' himself inclined toward it, and turned his wrath upon the saint. By order of the emperor, soldiers seized the saint in the church, removed his patriarchal vestments, and sent him into exile to an Amasean monastery (565)."<sup>[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=101008]</sup>
However, Father Asterios Gerostergios in his book ''Justinian the Great: The Emperor and Saint'', refutes the assertion that Justinian succumbed in his last years to the heresy of aphthartodocetism. It is commonly accepted that, after a lengthy reign in which Justinian spared no effort to try to bring the Monophysites back into the fold of the Orthodox Church, people were weary of the aged emperor. Thus, it is commonly asserted that Justinian adhered to the aphthartodocetist heresy, which was essentially an extreme form of Monophysitism, and deposed Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople for his supposed refusal to conform to this teaching.
