Justinian's Great Achievements Of The Bryzantine Empire

The ruler of the eastern roman empire known as Justinian, he was a very active emperor, as a result of this he had many great achievements. Some of Justinian’s most recognized achievements was, he conquered many areas of territory, he made his own code of law called the Justinian code, he also built the Hagia Sophia which was the biggest church of that time. The bryzantine empire lasted so long because of its location and geography. The bryzantine empire influenced later civilizations through religion which was Christianity and architecture.

Justinian conquered many areas and cities such as Italy, much of the coast of north Africa, and some of Spain, Justinian wanted to conquer as many places as possible because he wanted to rebuild and conquer

the roman empire which earlier fell to barbaric tribes “during his reign he fought continual wars to recapture the lands that have been lost” (midievaleurope.mrdonn.org). Justinian took all the laws passed by roman legislative and edicts from emperors and other laws and used that as a foundation for the byzantine law, he wanted to make sure his laws were fair and everyone be treated the same. He got together all of his judges and lawyers and they wrote down all of his laws and they were called the Justinian Code. Since none of the laws were written down from past years, he wanted to write all them down especially the set of laws called the “twelve tablets”. Justinian’s Codes were later used as foundations for many other countries.
Justinian built a massive church called the Hagia Sophia, it was his proudest and most known advancements as emperor.

The Hagia Sophia was the biggest church in Europe at that time. The church was a symbol that the Bryzantine Empire was the strongest, Wealthiest, and most beautiful city in Europe. The church was so big that when traders were sailing they could see the church from the water. Justinian donated a lot of money towards education of art in hope that art prospers. Most of the art they had during that time was mosaics; much of bryzantine art was used to make religious statues and figures.

The reason the bryzantine empire was able to survive for so long was mainly because of its geography. It was very hard to attack the bryzantine empire from the sea because “they controlled most areas around the medditerean sea”(prezi.com). The climate and terrain were very dry during the summer and wet during the winter, these conditions were very easily suitable for human life and agriculture. It was very tough for other countries to attack them because the capitol Constantinople was a peninsula and it was easily defended because it extended out into the

water.

The Byzantine Empire influenced later civilizations through religion, architecture, and knowledge.

Christianity was the main religion of the Byzantine Empire since the beginning. Byzantine missionaries spread Christianity to Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia and Christianity is still there religion to this day. Many churches use some the same architecture styles as Byzantines used to build their churches. Most languages has a conjunction of a different language in its language. “Greek is one language, and not a series of distinct languages.” Since there was a writing system they were able to write everything down and put them in libraries, people from other countries took these books and studied them to gain knowledge and too help them make their country better. Overall, the Byzantine Empire has had a wide-ranging influence over eastern and even western Mediterranean culture: modern Greece, the Orthodox Church, and ancient Greek learning.

In conclusion, we see that Justinian had many great achievements like his conquering of many countries and his code of laws. His laws were foundations for other countries laws and he made a huge impact on the Byzantine Empire and the countries surrounding it. The byzantine empire was able to last for so long was because of its geography of the empire and because the byzantine empire controlled most of the medditerean sea. The Byzantines also influenced later civilizations through architect and

religion.