HGA GR.

B_ 25/09/2023

HOMEWORK CORRECTION

Instructions:
1- Look at figure 1 (Mosaic of Justinian – Basileus), Map 1 (The Byzantine empire at the times of Justinian),
Text 1 (Justinian Legislator) and Map 2 (Constantinople, capital of the Empire).
2- On a Draft piece of paper, write the Christian, roman, and greek influences you can find.
3- Write a paragraph of 10 lines minimum explaining why the Byzantine Empire was a meeting point of greek,
Christian and roman influence.
Bring the DRAFT paper to class along with the paragraph // Copy the vocabulary in green and the lesson
summary (see today's lesson attached

Homework Figures, Texts and Maps

Figure 1 – Mosaic of Justinian Basileus Map 1 – The Byzantine Empire at the times of Justinian

Text 1 – Justinian Legislator

« 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.]

Map 2 – Constantinople, capital of the Empire

DRAFT

Christian Influence Roman Influence Greek Influence

Fig.1 1-Halo over Justinian’s
Mosaic of Justinian head
2-Bowl for holy water or
offerings
3-The Bible
4-The censer
5-Bishop Maximianus
6-The XP on the soldier’s
shield (first two letters of
Christ in greek)
Map 1 - The territories conquered by
Byzantine Empire
Text 1 - Justinian presents himself
Justinian Legislator
Map 2 9 Churches + the most
Constantinople important one : Hagia
Sophia
The presence of the men of
law next to Justinian (letter
B)
Justinian once belonged to
the ancient Roman Empire
as the Emperor Caesar,
Flavius, Augustus. He takes
over the names of ancient
roman emperors.
The Digestae is a
compilation of the ancient
roman laws (« gathered the
laws of ancient roman
emperors / decisions of
ancient roman courts)
1-The Walls built by ancient
roman emperors
(Constantine, Theodosius),
2-the Imperial Palace, 3-the
Senate,
4-the forums,
5-the aqueduct,
6-the hippodrome
The XP on the shield are the
first two letters of Christ in
greek (Christos)
The Eastern roman Empire
was settled on greek
territories, which included
the Greek capital Athens
In the Justinian code, the
Novellae or new laws
written during Justinian’s
reign, were written in greek
(greek language became the
official language in 534),
whereas the ancient roman
laws were written in latin
1-The Acropolis
2-The ports
TEXT

The Byzantine Empire, also known as the « New Rome », was a meeting point of greek, Christian and roman influences.
Emperor Justinian, the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, wanted to re-establish the glorious Western Roman Empire. We
can see numerous roman influences in these documents. For example, Map 2 shows that the territories Justinian conquered
once belonged to the Western Roman Empire. The text number 1 shows us how important the Ancient Roman laws were for
Justinian. He presented himself using names of Roman Emperors and he gathered the Ancient Roman Laws in the Digestae
and used them during his reign. Also, the numerous roman buildings in Constantinople are a proof of the roman influence in
the Byzantine Empire. On map 2 we can see the different roman buildings in Constantinople : the walls, the senate, the
forums, the imperial palace, the aqueduct, the hippodrome.

The Byzantine Empire was a Christian Empire, and Justinian saw himself as the representative of God on Earth. In figure
one, we can see different elements that show that the Byzantine Empire was a Christian Empire : the Halo over Justinian’s
head, Bowl for holy water or offerings, the Bible, the censer, the presence of Bishop Maximianus, and the XP on the soldier’s
shield (first two letters of Christ in greek). Also, as we can see on Map 2,the city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine
Empire, had many christian churches (at least 9), amongst which we can find the most important one, the Hagia Sophia.

We can find evidence of Greek heritage in the Byzantine Empire as well. For example, on figure 1, the Mosaic of Justinian, a
soldier is holding a shield with two greek letters on it : XP which are the first two letters of the greek word Christ (Christos).
Also, the new laws written during Justinian’s reign (the Novellae), were written in greek, as we can see on Text 1. The greek
language became the official language of the Byzantine Empire in 534. The city of Constantinople also had buildings of
greek influence, such as the Greek Acropolis.