Justinian

Not a great deal is known about Justinian's early life. His mother Vigilantia was the sister of the Excubitor (Imperial bodyguard). Justin adopted his nephew and brought him to Constantinople to guarantee his education. During Justin's reign, Justinian acted as a close confidant and advisor; he became Consul in 521 CE and thereafter commander of the Eastern army. In 525 CE he married Theodora, a woman from a poor background and possibly a courtesan. (credit to: http://www.ancient.eu/Justinian_I/ )

This was when Justianian was born, he was born in Tauresium

Reconquered much of old Western Roman Empire (north Africa & western Mediterranean)Byzantine Empire was both a Greek and Christian state (Latin replaced as the official language)

On Justin I’s death on August 1, 527, Justinian succeeded him as sole emperor.
(credit to: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Justinian-I )

When Justinian was crowned in 527, he named as co-regent his young wife Theodora. She was 15 years his junior and his opposite in nearly every way. She was social, witty, supremely self-confident, and never lost her head in a crisis. He adored her, and she was his most important adviser.When she became a Christian, she gave up her former life for spinning wool. In 522, she met Justinian, who was so enamored with her, he changed the law so that actresses could marry into high society. The following year, he married her. (credit to: http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/rulers/justinian-i-and-theodora-i.html)

Justinian's wife had great influence over him, because she was the exact opposite of him, she thought out the plans he made, and if she said "No, we will lose" then he didn't enact the plans.

this was the code of laws Justinian made himself, along with all of the laws ancient Rome had made.

Alternative Titles: Ayasofya, Great Church, Hagia Sofia

Related Topics
· Justinian I
· Turkey
· Istanbul
· Byzantine art
· cathedral
· architecture
· church

Hagia Sophia, Turkish Ayasofya, Latin Sancta Sophia, also called Church of the Holy Wisdom or Church of the Divine Wisdom, cathedral built at Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in the 6th century ce (532–537) under the direction of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. By general consensus, it is the most important Byzantine structure and one of the world’s great monuments.

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Hagia Sophia, Istanbul.

Richard T. Nowitz/Corbis

The Hagia Sophia combines a longitudinal basilica and a centralized building in a wholly original manner, with a huge 105-foot (32-metre) main dome supported on pendentives and two semidomes, one on either side of the longitudinal axis. The Hagia Sophia was built in the remarkably short time of about six years, being completed in 537 ce. Unusual for the period in which it was built, the names of the building’s architects—Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus—are well known. (credit to: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hagia-Sophia)