For this monumental work the world is indebted to Justinian I
(Flavius Anicius Justinianus), the most famous of the emperors of
the Eastern Empire since Constantine. He was born a Slavonian
peasant. Uprawda, his original name, was Latinized into Justinian
when he became an officer in the Imperial Guard. He was adopted,
educated, and trained by Justin I, whom he succeeded as emperor.
His long reign (527-565) was disturbed by the sanguinary factions
of the Circus--the Greens and the Blues, so named from the colors
of the competing charioteers in the games--the suppression of the
schools of philosophy at Athens, and by various wars. Nevertheless
it was marked by magnificent works, the administrative organization
of the empire, and the great buildings at Constantinople. The
Church of Santa-Sophia, the first great Christian church, although
used as a Mahometan mosque since 1459, still stands at
Constantinople, with its plain exterior but impressive interior, a
monument of Justinian's reign.
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