Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/658

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JUSTINIANI


5S0


JUSTIN


and the Second Council of Constantinople (553). In all this story Justinian appears as a persecutor of the (liurch, and takes his place, unhappily, among the semi-Monophysite tj'rants who caused the long series of quarrels and schisms that were the after-effect of Monophysitism. His ecclesiastical tyranny is the one regrettaljle side of the character of so great a man.

(4) Justinian also acquired immortal fame by the impetus he gave to the arts. If any style can ever be ascribed to one man, what we call Byzantine archi- tecture, at least in its perfect form, owes its origin to Justinian and the architects he employed. His activ- ity in building was prodigious. He covered his em- pire from Ravenna to Damascus with superb monu- ments. All later building in East and West was derived from his models; two most famous .schools, our medieval (Gothic) and the Moslem styles, are the lineal descendants of Justinian's architecture. Of his many buildings may be mentioned the two most fa- mous, the church of Our Lady (now the El-Aqsa mos- que) at Jerusalem and, by far the most splendid of all, the great church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) at Constantinople. This church especially, built by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, and con- secrated on 27 December, 5.37, remains always one of the chief monuments of architecture in the world.

Naturally these great enterprises demanded great expense. Justinian's subjects frequently complained of the heavy taxes; many people in the lands he con- quered back thought that the glory of being once more Roman citizens was bought too dearly when they realized how much they had to pay to the Roman exchequer. On the other hand, Justinian spent magnificently. In times of calamity, earthquake, and tamine, the imperial purse was opened to the sufferers with unlimited generosity.

The emperor's private life is somewhat clouded by the scandals told of his wife, Theodora. She had been a dancing-girl ; there is no doubt that she had led an immoral life before her marriage in 523. She was also a Monophysite. But most scholars now reject the scandalous account of her married life given by Proco- pius in his " Secret History". And in January, 532, at the time of the Circus revolution that nearly wrecked the state, it was Theodora's courage and presence of mind that saved the situation. For the rest, she had a hand in all her husband's policy; administration, diplomacy, church affairs, etc., felt her influence for twenty-one years. If she did not dishonour Justinian by infidelity she certainly led him into semi-Monophy- sitism (see Diehl, "Theodora, impdratrice de By- zance," Paris, 1904).

Justinian died in November, 565 (succeeded by his nephew, Justin II, 565-78) . He was undoubtedly the gi'eatest emperor after Constantine, perhaps the great- est of all the long line of Roman Csesars. Indeed one may question whether any state can show in its his- tory so magnificent a ruler. His glorious memory lasted through all the ages after him (see Dante, " Paradiso", vi,) and his portrait gleams still from the mosaic in S. Vitale at Ravenna, where he stands in his toga and diadem, surrounded by his court, with a bisliop at his side — the very type of the majesty of Christian Rome on the Bosporus.

The literature on the various sides of Justinian's activity is naturally enormous. His reign is equally important to the historian of the empire, the lawyer, theologian, and archfeolo- gist. These are a few of the most serviceable modern works only: — Gibbon (ed. Bury). The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, IV (London, 1898), xl-xliv (an excellent general ac- count, with copious bibliography in Buiy's appendix); Bury, A HiKtory of the Later Roman Empire, I (London, 1889), bk. IV, 333-482 (svipplements Gibbon); Diehl, Justinien et la civilisa- tion Itjizantine au VI' siccle (Paris, 1901); Schulze. Ge-tch. des Unteruanffa des griech.-romischen lleidentums, I (.Jena, 1887), 4:H-m: HuTTON, The Church of the Sixth Century (Ix>ndon, im7):.U>F.nn. Die [teirh.ipolilik Kaiser Ju)itinian.i(fiws!iQn,l8m); K^/F,t■llT, /)„■ IMiiliinispiililik Koinrr Justinians I. (Wiirzburg, IH'Ki): IIIKKAMIV /;;.■ oriilniiiti.irh.-n Strrilinkiilrii (Miinstcr. IHil'l). VnilU,r\,i\,hniir.i\,Uyi^gi\;-nin\>lt.iu..i:i,vl,,<l,l/:,intin.-s (Paris, liJO.'i). i iiii.l ii. Adiuan 1()KTKHciir.


Justiniani (Gidstiniani), Benedetto, theological and Biblical writer, b. at Genoa, about the year 15.50; d. at Rome, 19 Dec, 1622. He entered" the novitiate of the Society of Jesus, at Rome, in 1579. For a while he taught rhetoric in the Roman (College, and ne.xt theology at Toulouse, Messina, and Rome. For upwards of twenty years he was the head of the Roman College and regens of the Sacred Poeniten- tiaria. He filled also the office of chief preacher to the pope. Clement VIII appointed him as theologian to the celebrated Cardinal Cajetan, during the latter's legation in Poland. He is the author of two valuable Scriptural works: "In omnes B. Pauli Epistolas ex- planationes" (2 vols., Lyons, 1612 and 1613); and "In omnes Catholicas Epistolas explanationes " (Ly- ons, 1621). In these writings he first gives a para- phrase of the text, and then explains it Ijy means of a commentary. Of his other published works, the "Apologia pro libertate ecclesiastica ad Gallo- Francos" is the best-known. His folio treatise " De Gratia " was not printed, on account of the pope's general order at the time prohibiting the puljlication of writings on that difficult topic. Among liis manu- script opuscules may be mentioned the works: "De Natura brevis disputatio"; "De Sacramentis " ; "De Poenitentia " ; "De Confes.sario". His canonical work entitled "De legitima Romani Pontificis elcc- tione libri sex" exists only in MS. This is also the case with his "Epistola ad Franciscum Brandinum super aliquibus propositionibus philosophicis ", and with various volumes of liis sermons.

R. Simon, Histoire critique dcs principaux commentatcurs du N. T. (Rotterdam, 1693); Ellies Dupin, Bibliothcque des auteurs ecclcsiastiques, seventeenth century, part I (P.aris, 170S); DE Backer. Bibliotht'qiie des t'crivains de la compagnie deJi:sus, 3rd series (Li^ge, 1856).

Fr.^ncis E. Gigot.

Justinianopolis, a titular SCO of .Vrmonia Prima, suf- fragan of Scbasti'. Tliis sir is lictlrr known in history under tiic names of Acilizenc and Kcltzcne. Acilizene is a province situated between the Euphrates and the Antitaurus, where Mithridates, pursued by Pompey, sought refuge. Strabo (XI, iv, 8; XI, xii, 3; V, xi, 6), Procopius (Bellum Pers., I, 17), and Ptolemy (V, xii, 6) also mention it. The ancient name of Justin- ianopolis seems to have been Eliza, capital of Acilizene, frequently mentioned by the Byzantine historians, and to-day known as Erzindjan. At first suffragan of Sebaste, later of Camachos, Keltzene was already an archiepiscopal see in 980, and had as many as tw-enty- one suffragans. Subsequently, until the fourteenth century, it became again a simple metropolitan, with- out any suffragans. Lequien (Oriens Christ ianus. I, 435) mentions six bishops of this town, botweon the fifth and the eleventh century. An earthquake de- stroyed Erzindjan in 1784; it has since been rebuilt on a more regular plan, and is to-day a sanjak of the Turkish province of Erzeromn, and serves as headquarters for the staff of the fourth and [jrincipal corps of the Turkish army. The town counts 30,(500 inhabitants, nearly 10,000 of whom are Armenians, and a few hundred are schismatical Greeks.

CuiNET, La Turquicd'Asie, I (Paris, 1892), 210-216.

S. Vailh6.

Justin Martyr, Saint, Christian apologist, b. at Flavia Neapolis, about a. d. 100, converted to Chris- tianity about A. D. 130, taught and defcnilcil the Clu-is- tian religion in Asia .Minor and at Kdnic, where lie suffered martyrdom aliout tlic year Ki'i, Two " Ajiol- ogies" iK'aring his name and his "Dialogue with the Jew Tryphi )n " have comedown tons. LeoXIIIhad a Mass and an Ollice composed in his honour and .set his feast for 14 April.

Life. — Among the Fathers of the .second century his life is the l)est known, and from the most authentic documents. In both ".\pologios" anil in his "Dia-