Justinian's Code: An Invention that matches no other

Monday, February 16, 2009

One of the most important reasons that people should come and visit Byzantium is that it embraces to an unwavering government which is aided by laws freshly brewed directly from the old Roman Empire. A set of laws most significant in the Byzantine Empire is the Justinian’s Code, a collection that strongly embodies the strength and stability of Byzantium’s government. The Justinian’s Code was instituted by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 527 and was commissioned by Tribonian, his legal minister with the aid of several scholars. In 529, Tribonians group was able to finish gathering the 12 books of law in just 14 months, thus creating the “Code”, a name used to describe the creation of the first committee. Afterwards, a second committee followed constructing more than 9,000 extract and addition, making them into 50 books collectively known as the “Digest”. Last but not the least, came the “Institutes”, an especially conjured set of laws made for students so that they may allow the knowledge of the Justinian’s Code to flow into them like a continuous fountain of wisdom. The diverse set of laws gathered in the Justinian’s Code is uniquely different from the feudal laws mainly because the type of government and law in Byzantium does not focus of feudalistic practices. Rather than a government having a lord and a vassal exchange loyalty and land, the Byzantine Empire has a bureaucratic administration where there is an emperor wielding absolute power and varying people beneath him doing different functions of the empire. Also, the empire has the Justinian’s Code separated into three law divisions, such as the natural law, national law, and the civil law. These differences among the government and jurisdiction between the Western Feudal Europe and the Eastern Byzantine Empire arose because both parties had different kinds of people, who had different ways of thinking what would be best for the all.
Even with those differences, people must not consider them as obstacles, but rather encouragement because by accepting the distinction of the two cultures a person will realize that there is a world out there with such a special form of management far from being feudal. Instead of following the lords and vassals making homage and sharing fiefs, or the knights and nobles saying oaths of loyalty, come and see the type of political life people have in Byzantium under its government and the Justinian’s Code. Bibliography
Jenkins, Romilly J. H. "Byzantine Empire." Encyclopedia Americana. 2009. Grolier Online. 13 Feb. 2009 .

Bourne, Frank. "Justinian Code." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2009. Grolier Online. 14 Feb. 2009 .

Frey, Wendy. History Alive: The Medieval World and Beyond. Pab Alto, CA:
Teacher's Curriculum Institute, 2005.

First Picture - http://www.lexscripta.com/graphix/advocate/justinian.jpg

Second Picture - http://orias.berkeley.edu/summer2004/summer2004JustinianCode.htm

Third Picture - http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Diptych_Barberini_Louvre_OA9063_whole.jpg/300px-Diptych_Barberini_Louvre_OA9063_whole.jpg