Editing Justinian I (section)

===Legislative activities===
{{main|Corpus Juris Civilis}}
[[File:Porphyry head of Justinian I (cropped).jpg|thumb|The ''[[Carmagnola (Venice)|Carmagnola]]'', an imperial [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry]] head in Venice perhaps representing Justinian<ref>{{cite web|author=Yuri Marano|website=Last Statues of Antiquity (LSA Database), University of Oxford|title=Discussion: Porphyry head of emperor ('Justinian'). From Constantinople (now in Venice). Early sixth century.|url=http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk/database/discussion.php?id=826|date=2012|access-date=5 April 2020|archive-date=24 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524222921/http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk/database/discussion.php?id=826|url-status=live}}</ref>
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Justinian remains well-known for his judicial reforms, particularly through the complete revision of all [[Roman law]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Department |first=Reference |title=GW Law Library: Library Guides: Roman Law Research: Corpus Juris Civilis |url=https://law.gwu.libguides.com/romanlaw/corpusjuriscivilis |access-date=20 October 2024 |website=law.gwu.libguides.com |language=en}}</ref> something that had not previously been attempted. The total of Justinian's legislation is known today as the {{Lang|la|[[Corpus juris civilis]]}}. It consists of the ''[[Codex Justinianeus]],'' the ''Digesta'' or ''[[Pandectae]]'', the ''[[Institutes of Justinian|Institutiones]]'', and the ''[[Novellae Constitutiones|Novellae]]''.

Early in his reign, Justinian had appointed the ''[[quaestor sacri palatii|quaestor]]'' [[Tribonian]] to oversee this task. The first draft of the ''[[Codex Justinianeus]]'', a codification of imperial constitutions from the 2nd century onward, was issued on 7 April 529. (The final version appeared in 534.) It was followed by the ''Digesta'' (or ''[[Pandectae]]''), a compilation of older legal texts, in 533, and by the ''[[Institutes of Justinian|Institutiones]]'', a textbook explaining the principles of law. The ''[[Novellae Constitutiones|Novellae]]'', a collection of new laws issued during Justinian's reign, supplements the ''Corpus''. As opposed to the rest of the corpus, the ''Novellae'' appeared in [[Greek language|Greek]], the common language of the Eastern Empire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnston |first=David |title=Roman Law in Context |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0521639611 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |pages=24}}</ref>

The ''Corpus'' forms the basis of Latin jurisprudence (including ecclesiastical [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Canon Law]]) and, for historians, provides a valuable insight into the concerns and activities of the later Roman Empire. As a collection it gathers together the many sources in which the ''leges'' (laws) and the other rules were expressed or published: proper laws, [[Byzantine Senate|senatorial]] consults (''senatusconsulta''), imperial decrees, [[case law]], and jurists' opinions and interpretations (''responsa prudentium'').
Tribonian's code ensured the survival of Roman law. It formed the basis of later Byzantine law, as expressed in the ''[[Basilika]]'' of [[Basil I]] and [[Leo VI the Wise]]. The only western province where the Justinianic code was introduced was Italy (after the conquest by the so-called [[Pragmatic Sanction of Justinian I|Pragmatic Sanction of 554]]),<ref>Kunkel, W. (translated by J. M. Kelly) ''An introduction to Roman legal and constitutional history''. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1966; 168</ref> from where it was to pass to [[Western Europe]] in the 12th century and become the basis of much Continental European law code, which was eventually spread by European empires to the [[Americas]] and beyond in the [[Age of Discovery]]. It eventually passed to [[Eastern Europe]] where it appeared in Slavic editions, and it also passed on to [[Russia]].<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=3001333 |title=Russia and the Roman Law |journal=American Slavic and East European Review |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=1–13 |author=Darrell P. Hammer |publisher=JSTOR |year=1957 |doi=10.2307/3001333 }}</ref> It remains influential to this day.

His legislations restricted avenues of divorce, including divorce by mutual consent. The latter was overturned by his immediate successor, [[Justin II]].<ref>Sarris, P. (2017). Emperor Justinian. In J. Witte, Jr & G. Hauk (Eds.), Christianity and Family Law: An Introduction (Law and Christianity, pp. 85-99). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108233255.008; [[Novellae Constitutiones]] 140.</ref>

He passed laws to protect prostitutes from exploitation and women from being [[forced prostitution|forced into prostitution]]. Rapists were treated severely. Further, by his policies: women charged with major crimes should be guarded by other women to prevent sexual abuse; if a woman was widowed, her dowry should be returned; and a husband could not take on a major debt without his wife giving her consent twice.<ref>Garland (1999), pp.&nbsp;16–17</ref>

Family legislation also revealed a greater concern for the interests of children. This was particularly so with respect to children born out of wedlock. The law under Justinian also reveals a striking interest in child neglect issues. Justinian protected the rights of children whose parents remarried and produced more offspring, or who simply separated and abandoned their offspring, forcing them to beg.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarris |first=Peter |title=Christianity and Family Law |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-23325-5 |editor-last=Witte |editor-first=J. |chapter=Emperor Justinian |doi=10.1017/9781108233255.008 |editor-last2=Hauk |editor-first2=G.}}</ref>

He passed legislations directed against the Christian "heretics", pagans, Jews and Samaritans, forbidding them from holding public office, destroying their places of worship and restricting the ownership of property.<ref>Michael Maas (ed.), ''The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian'' (Cambridge 2005), pp. 330-331, p. 517</ref>

Justinian discontinued the regular appointment of [[Roman consul|Consuls]] in 541.<ref>Vasiliev (1952), p. I 192.</ref>

In Constantinople, under Justinian, hospitals were built and free medical care provided to the many poor residents of the city. In addition, public baths were free for all residents and 20 state bakeries provided free bread to those who needed it.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}