Justinian’s Code Primary Source Analysis
J ustinianwas the greatest Emperor of the ByzantineEmpire. His achievements are
numerous. He rebuilt parts of the city. He built the church of the holy wisdom called
the Hagia Sophia- a great monument to Architecture and religion. He tried to
reconquer the western half of the empire and succeeded at bringing parts of North
Africa and Italy back to the Empire while he ruled. In addition Justinian ordered a
review and reform of the Roman law codes that had been around for more than 1000
years. This law code survives and is the basis of all western law including the laws of
the United States. Justinian was a very unusual man of his time. He married for love
and gave political power to his wife Theodora. They ruled the Empire together. After
the time of Justinian there were other Empresses of the Byzantine Empire who ruled as
well as reigned. Justinian’s reign was impacted by a great plague which struck the city
in 540. His wife Theodora died in 548. Justinian died in 565 about 60 years before the
birth of Islam.
Justinian’s Code of Laws
T he code is divided into four parts: (1) The Code of Justinian, or Codex, is a compilation
of imperial laws up till that point; (2) the Digest compiled the ideas of the great Roman judges of the past; (3) the Institutes is
a law textbook for use at universities to train future lawyers and judges; and (4) the Novellae, which consisted of new laws
that were passed after the year 534.
Below are some excerpts from the code of Justinian. After each excerpt answer the questions
Justice and Law
JUSTICE is the constant and perpetual wish to render everyone his due.
J urisprudence is the knowledge of things divine and human; the science of
the just and the unjust.
he maxims of law are these: to live honesty, to hurt no one, to give
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everyone his due.
1. Paraphrase the excerpt above in your own words. What is justice?
Justice is hurting no one, being honest, & treat everyone right
he study of law is divided into two branches; that of public and that of private
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law. Public law regards the government of the Roman empire; private law, the
interest of the individuals. We are now to treat of the latter, which is composed
of three elements, and consists of precepts belonging to the natural law, to the
law of nations, and to the civil law.
2. Explain in your own words the different categories of Roman law.
It is divided into Public and Private law. Public law is the law of the Roman empire and Public law is the interest of
the people
Compare the 2 quotes below - one from Justinian and one from Thomas Jefferson.
he law of nature is that law which nature teaches to all animals. For this law
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does not belong exclusively to the human race, but belongs to all animals,
whether of the earth, the air, or the water. Hence comes the union of the male and
female, which we term matrimony; hence the procreation and bringing up of
children. We see, indeed, that all the other animals besides men are considered as
having knowledge of this law.– Justinian
e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
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are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..." –Thomas
Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence discussing natural rights.
3. The concept of natural rights/ laws is important to history. But the understanding of what it means to
have natural rights changed over time. Explain in your own words what a natural right is.
A right you should always have ie food water shelter
. The Code of Justinian has a different understanding of natural rights than Jefferson. What is the
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difference?
a\ll animals are above [eople and know this
ivil law is thus distinguished from the law of nations. Every community governed
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by laws and customs uses partly its own law, partly laws common to all mankind.
The law which a people makes for its own government belongs exclusively to that
state and is called the civil law, as being the law of the particular state. But the law
which natural reason appoints for all mankind obtains equally among all nations,
because all nations make use of it. The people of Rome, then, are governed partly by
their own laws, and partly by the laws which are common to all mankind. We will
take notice of this distinction as occasion may arise.
5. What two kinds of laws govern Romans?
their own(Roman) laws and the laws of mankind
6. What is civil law?
ll our law relates either to persons, or to things, or to actions. Let us first speak
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of persons; as it is of little purpose to know the law, if we do not know the
persons for whose sake the law was made. The chief division in the rights of
persons is this: men are all either free or slaves.
1 .Freedom, from which men are said to be free, isthe natural power of doing
what we each please, unless prevented by force or by law.
2 .Slavery is an institution of the law of nations,by which one man is made the
property of another, contrary to natural right.
he things we take from our enemies become immediately ours by the law of
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nations, so that even freemen thus become our slaves; but if they afterwards
escape from us, and return to their own people, they regain their former
condition.
7. The excerpts above relate to the concepts of freedom and slavery. According to Roman law, why is slavery legal?
Because after they take things they become theirs
9. What is the difference between freemen and slaves?
Freemen were accectpettinof the take over slaves were not
9 . Explain in your own words why the Code of Justinian is an important legacy for our own civilization. Please use
at least one quote or paraphrase one section in your answer.
