By me...:-))
EMPEROR JUSTINIAN
"...an imperial victory which would establish
the form of absolutism by which Byzantine
history is generally characterized".
From JB Bury on the Nika Rebellion, which resulted in 30,000 quick
deaths in "The History of the Later Roman Empire", volume I, pg 345.
Justinian was born in 482 as Petrus Sabbatius in an area we now call the
Balkan region. Because he was the Emperor Justin's nephew, when his
assession to the throne came, he was called Flavian Petrus Sabbatius
Justinianus. Justinian had a great deal of power in his uncle's
government from 520, but he reigned as the sole emperor from 527 to 565. =
Like so many Christian emperors, Justinian incorporated a ferocious and
harsh religious intolerance into his regime. The age of Justinian was a
very important junction in late antiquity and the early middle ages.
Justinian would achieve, by his inflexible laws and his savagery, far
reaching victories in the Nicene Christian war against classical
thought, Christian heresy, and paganism. This holy war started by
Constantine in the early fourth century would make huge gains under
Justinian that would hold its ground until the tide was reversed in the
Renaiassance, the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment..
Justinian would also continue the work of Constantine and Theodosius in
persecuting Christian heresy. Like Constantine, Theodosius, Ambrose,
Cyril, Martin, Chysostom and Augustine, he was convinced that the
empire's stability required a rigid, totalistic, empire wide conformity
to the Nicene Creed. Justinian's Codex and Novella parts of the Corpus
Juris Civilis were specificly designed to wipe out religious diversity.
They were written to secure and protect the Nicene Chuch with the might
and law of the empire. Christianity may have never have grown to its
proportions without imperial might because of the popularity of
paganism. Pagans had always said that Christianity offered them nothing
new; they had their virgin births, their miracles, their Godmen and
their resurrections. In this man's view, it was for the good of the
empire to wipe out individual choice. Ironicly, heresy means "choice".
To Justinian, choice meant disorder. To the Christian emperor,
individuality meant chaos. Justinian was a despot's despot. The Stalin
of the 6th century.
This Nicene Roman empire would require every person conform. In 523 his
uncle, Emperor Justin, had outlawed Arianism. Since it is believed that
Justinian was the real power, this can be considered Justinian's first
move against Arian Christianity. Campaigns and persecutions against
Arians became widespread. Justinian would be no different with regard
to heresies but with one exception; the Monophysite heresy, to which his
wife Theodora was an adherent. Monphysitism would never be wiped out
and would go on to become major churches in Syria and North Africa. The
Syrian Marionites, Egyptian Coptics and the Ethiopian church are
Monophysite. The doctinal difference was that with Monophysitism,
Christ had only one nature and it was divine. With Nicenes he had two,
human and diviine. With Arians, Jesus was an annointed human messenger
from God.
In this period there was an historian named Procopius. Procopius is the
most important historian of the early Byzantine era. During Justinian's
reign, he wrote on the wars, the building programs, the Hagia Sophia,
and the problems with the racing factions that led to the Niki
rebellion. But there was one book he wrote in secet which was not
released until after his death. It was called "The Secret History" and
it was all about Justinian and his wife Theodora. At the beginning of
this work, Procopius puts it this way:
"You see, it was not possible, during the life of
certain persons, to write the truth of what they did,
as a historian should. If I had, their hordes of
spies would have found out about it, and they
would have put me to a most horrible death. I
could not even trust my nearest relatives. That is
why I was compelled to hide the real explanation
of many matters glossed over in my previous books."
(Procopius quotes from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook; Procopius
translation by Richard Atwater, in Procopius, Secret History, Chicago:
P. Covicii; New York: Covicii Friedal, 1927)
Justinian threatened severe penalties for all other heresies but
Monophysites from the start. Justinian savagely persecuted the
Manicheans, the Montanists, and the Sabbatians. His inquision brought
about penalties such as the loss of citizen rights, exile and death for
paganism and heresy. The execution of many by burning or drowning was
performed in his presence. Heads rolled.
Procopius says in chapter 11 of his "Secret History".
"Now among the Christians in the entire
Roman Empire, there are many with dissenting
trines, which are called heresies by the
established church: such as those of the
Montanists and Sabbatians, and whatever
others cause the minds of men to wander from the
true path. All of these beliefs he ordered to
be abolished, and their place taken by the
orthodox dogma: theeatening, among the
punishments for disobedience, loss of the
heretic's right to will property to his children
or other relatives."
Procopius writes in chapter 11:
Like his imperial predecessors, Justinian also issued laws that
persecuted paganism and oppressed Judaism. In 527 Justinian decreed CJ
1.5.12
"Heretics are all such as do not belong to
the Catholic faith=A0 including Jews. They are not
to hold any office; or follow profession of law"
Heavy fines were promised for those Jews or heretics that deceived their
way into the profession of law.
Another of Justinian's early decrees was to order the total destruction
of Hellenism, the post-Alexander spread of the teaching of the Greek
classical traditions. Hellenism was the offspring of the hellenic
classical tradition that began centuries before Alexander. During the
Hellenic age there arose Olympic games, arts and literature, great epics
and mythologies. There arose Plato, Socrates, the mathematician
Pythagoras and the father of western naturalistic philosophy, Thales.
This tradition gave the world it's first democratic reforms under Solon,
Cleisthones and Pericles. The Hellenic tradition would give us the Greek
tragedies that would be the first in the west speak to individual human
dignity and the primitive notions of 'natural rights'. The Greeks would
ecome the first people on record to question the morality of slavery.
The Judeo-Christian traditions would not question it's morality and let
go for another 2000 years.
Procopius writes in chapter 7 of The Secret History:
"Without hesitation he wrote decrees for the
plundering of countries, sacking of cities, and
slavery of whole nations, for no cause whatever.
So that if one wished to take all the calamities
which had befallen the Romans before this time
and weigh them against his crimes, I think it would
be found that more men had been murdered by
this single man than in all previous history."
Alexander the Great had founded Antioch and it became one of the jewels
of the Mediterranean. Antioch, being situated 15 miles from the
Mediterranean in the northern part of what we now call the middle east.
It was at the crossroads of many trade routes. Because it was a center
of commerce and trade, it was also a melting pot of ideas and
expressions. Antioch became a bustling multicultural center of
philosopy, religion, arts, humanities, theater and literature. Antioch
was so busy that it's streets were lighted at night while traders,
peddlers, theatre, circus and restaurant goers filled the busy streets
into the late hours of the nights. Antioch became the Athens of the
middle east, opening schools of philosophy, music and poetry. In the
Hellenist tradition, alongside athletic competitions, there were those
of music and poetry. The Hellenist tradition was truly first humanist
culture in world history, dedicated to knowledge and excellence. Antioch
even had its own Olympics every four years. In 528, Justinian outlawed
these popular eight centuries old games of the Hellenist tradition.
In his decrees (CJ. 1. 11. 9 & 10), he ordered the execution of those
who practice socery, divination, magic or idolatry. He refers to them
as "the ones suffering from the blasphemous insanity of the Hellenes".
Execution was by fire, crucifixion, wild beasts, or being shredded to
pieces by sharp iron nails.
Procopius writes in chapter 11 of The Secret History:
"The Emperor's malice was also directed against
the astrologer. Accordingly, magistrates appointed
to punish thieves also abused the astrologers, for
no other reason than that they belonged to
this profession: whipping them on the back
and parading them on camels throughout the
City, though they were old men, and in every
way respectable, with no reproach against them
except that they studied the science of the stars
while living in such a city."
Back in 306, the Synod of Elvira had attacked theatres, circuses and
other public entertainments loved by the culture. These attacks on
entertainment continued for centuries. You will remember that John
Chrysostom, in the early 5th century, begrudged the fact that more
people went to circuses and threaters on 'the Lord's Day' than went to
church.
Not only did Justinian wish to wish to destroy their religious and
intellectual lives, he sought to extend this pogrom to their civil life,
prohibiting any public service. This kind of religious testing would
last right into the 18th century American colonies where most of them
had discriminating constitutions establishing Protestantism. In order to
hold office one had to be a Protestant.
Procopius says in chapter 11 of the Secret History
"Next he turned his attention to those called
Gentiles, torturing their persons and plundering
their lands. Of this group, those who decided
to become nominal Christians saved themselves
for the time being; but it was not long before
these, too, were caught performing libations
and sacrifices and other unholy rites. And how
he treated the Christians shall be told hereafter."
In 529, the Nicene Emperor ordered the closing of Plato's Academy in
Athens. The edict deemed criminal and it's property was confiscated.
Everything pagan or Hellene in Athens was demolished or confiscated by
the Christian powers of the Empire. Temples and schools were seized and
converted to Christian churches. The Parthenon became Justinian's Church
of Hagia Sophia. The habit of religious intolerance practiced by the
world's montheistic religions would continue when in 1456, the
conquering Muslims would turn the Parthenon aka the Hagia Sophia into a
Mosque of Islam.
A writer of the time named John Malalas of Antioch (498-571) wrote of
the situation in two separate entries in his "Chronographia":
"In that year there was a great persecution
of Hellenes. Many had their property
confiscated. Some of them died:
Makedonios, Asklepiodotos, Phokas, the son
of Krateros, and Thomas the quaestor. This
caused great fear. The emperor decreed that
those who held Hellenic beliefs should not hold
any state office, while those who belonged to the
other heresies were to disappear from the
Roman state, after they had been given a period
of three months to embrace the orthodox faith.
This sacred decree was displayed in all
provincial cities."
"During the consulship of Decius, the emperor
issued a decree and sent it to Athens ordering
that no one should teach philosophy nor
interpret the laws."
After nearly a millenium of teaching classical philosophy, law, and the
first ideas of western science, Christianity once again triumphed over
it's rivals by the use of threats and force. Literacy would become an
empire wide casualty as the Christian world dove into the dark ages with
the destruction of classical philosophy. The Greco-Roman culture of
baths, hygiene and athleticism would disappear. Notions of philosophy,
democracy and natural rights would die for nearly a millenium. Music,
poetry and the theatre would suffer mightily. The love of knowledge, art
and the humanities would lie submerged under a sea of religious dogma,
ideological intolerance and literary ignorance until the late middle
ages and the times of the Renaissance. Renaissance means "rebirth" and
that rebrth was that of the diversity, intellectuality and creativity of
the lost classical world which Christianity had sought to extermnate by
the force of decree, canon and might. It is because of this rebirth
that the notions of democracy, separation of powers and liberty
reentered western society and changed the nature of government and
religon. Governments would become increasingly secular and religions
would begin to co-opt classical humanist ideals of liberty, diversity
and tolerance.
Due to the progressively threatening persecutions, teachers and
philosophers would look for greener pastures, flee or be forced into
exile. Because a war had broke out with the Persian Empire (modern
Iran), the some of these Hellenist teachers headed for Persia where King
Khusro protected these teachers. Khusro even made it part of his peace
treaty with Justinian.
The historian Agathia wrote in his Histories II: 30:3&4, regarding the
teachers that journeyed to Persia:
"they did not share the view of God prevailing
among the Romans and thought that the Persian
state was far better."
"They were forbidden by law to take part in
public life with impunity owing to the fact that they
did not conform to the established religion.
But the teachers werent content in Persia and journeyed to the banks of
the Euphrates where they founded a school which lasted well into the
golden years of the Islamic empire. The Muslim world would make
classical philosophy a part of its culture for several centuries. In a
major way, it was from Islam that Europe rediscovered science, humanism
and the classical thinking of antiquity. For the next seven centuries,
Classical thought would be tucked away on dusty monastery shelves and in
the learning centers of Islam, where a more advanced civilization was
developing as Europe entered the dark ages. In the beginning of its
rebirth, in the later middle ages, it crept slowly onto the European
continent. Then it became a surge of ideas as the golden age of Islam
came to an end with the brutality and intolerance of the Ottomans. The
Ottomans would do to its world what Constantine, Theodosius and
Justinian had done to the high culture of classical thought. This is
the point where Islamic culture began its own slide into a dark age that
in most ways has not ended yet to this day. Pierre Chuvin, in his
"Chronical of the Last Pagans" claims that this school would be a factor
in the return of Classical thought to Europe. How ironic.
Islamic learning and science would eventually make important
contributions to the rebirth of classical culture and philosophical
naturalism in the European Renaissance.
Setting the Record Straight, Islamic Science
http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/sciencehistory.htm
Islamic foundation of European Renaissance
http://www.medievalhistory.net/islamica.htm
Classical philosophy and humanism would return to Europe in a similar
fashion it left Europe; 'on the run' from violence and intolerance.
After centuries of high civilization and a general tolerance, Islam
would finally reach the same fevered pitch of intolerance regarding
religions and culture expressed so mercilessly in fourth, fifth and
sixth century Christendom. But when the classical world returned, it
sparked the European Renaissance with its classical art and literature,
it's notions of natural liberty, a scientific revolution and the Earth
shaking changes of the Enlightenment. This would herald a long slow
decline of Christianity as defining Europe and the rebirth of the
humanist, classical traditions as the political foundations of the west.
It is no coincidence the architecture of the US Federal government would
be built distinctly Greco-Roman or Palladian, an Italian Renaissance of
greco-Roman architecture. It is no coincidence that themes of democracy
and liberty didnt emerge in medieval Europe until Greco-Roman philosophy
and art returned to Europe.
Justinian's edict regarding Plato's Academy was part of the larger plan
of a total destruction, by law and by force, of paganism and classical
philosophy. Humanism, the City of Man, was to be inexorably wiped from
the face of the Earth and upon its ruins would be built an unyielding
theocracy . This vicious pogrom began with Emperor Constantine in the
early fourth century and would continue in various forms of church-state
alliancesfor over a thousand years
Following in the footsteps of Constantine and Theodosius, Justinian
decreed pagans could not participate in civil service and they could no
longer own property. Justinian, showing his vengeful nature decreed
(CJ. 1, 5, 12;):
"Pagans Barred from Office
and their Real Property Confiscated."
" ... It is our intention to restore the existing
laws which affect the rest of the heretics of
whatever name they are, (and we label as
heretic whoever is not a member of the
Catholic Church and of our orthodox and holy
faith); likewise the pagans who attempt to
introduce the worship of many gods, and the Jews
and the Samaritans. ... We forbid any of the
above mentioned persons to aspire to any
dignity or to acquire civil or military office or
to attain to any rank."
Forbidden to aspire to human dignity? Justinian's decrees, like so many
other's decrees and church canons represent the antithesis of liberty's
principles. The foundation on which the principles of liberty rest is
universal respect and recognition of every individual's personal dignity
and desire for autonomy. Liberty arose as humans began to understand
themselves and see that there needed to be governments that balanced the
needs of the state with much more of the needs of the individual.
Justinian and the church councils were no better than any other
totalitarian ideology. Forbidden to aspire to human dignity? 20th
century dictators like Hitler, Stalin, and Pinochet crushed human
dignity, too. Soon afterward, in 528 and 529 Justinian had all pagans
removed from public service in his government. This was one of three
purges of pagans during his reign. Two more would come in 546 and 562.
In 528 Justinian began to organize nearly a millennia of Roman law just
as Theodosius the younger attempted in 438. The Codex Theodosianus was
bulky and disorganized so Justinian sought to clean it up and refine it,
so to speak. Other private collections of Roman were also used as
sources. The Codex Gregorianus and Codex Hermogenianus were two such
sources. This body of civil law was done in four parts. First done was
the Codex. It comprised Imperial Decrees from the time of Emperor
Hadrian in the second century Then the Digest (Pandects) and Institutes
were done. The most important part of Justinian's body of organized law
was the Digest which was designed for attorneys and judges. It brought
together all of the greatest legal ideas and writings in Rome's history
and established case law and judicial guidelines.
The writings of 39 classical Roman jurists make up the bulk of the
Digest. Most of these jurists are Ciceronians. The writings of the
great jurist Ulpian make up a third of the entire project. Paulus'
writings make a significant contribution, too. The Institutes were meant
for students of law and gave a generalized, outlined view of Roman law
and law history. The 2nd century jurist Gaius' "Institutionus", from
the time of Emperor Hadrian, make up a good portion of the Institututes
The Institutes also contained many excerpts from the Digest. The jurist
Modestinus also made important contributions. When there were
differences of opinion between these jurists, the Corpus gave the jurist
Papinian the final authority in these matters.
The Novellas were made up of Justinian's imperial edicts, decrees and
legislation issued between 535 and 565. They were never organized
except in private collections.
Gaetano Cipolla, professor of Italian history and language, in his
lecture to the Italian Club at St. John's University says so well:
"It is not difficult to see the great influences that
the Roman Empire had on the countries of
Europe. Today, in Italy people drive on the same
roads built by the Romans, drink water brought in
by Roman aqueducts, are governed by laws
codified by the great Roman Emperor Justinian.
What is less known is that Britain was part of
the Roman Empire for centuries. It was governed
as a Roman province, and the effects of
that experience did not disappear. It is present
in English law. The so called "Common Law"
of England, which supposedly is completely
different from the legal system prevalent in Europe,
is translated from the Roman "jus comune
gentium" and can be shown to have been
greatly influenced by Roman law. The
greatest document of English law bears a Latin
title "Magna Carta."
The entire lecture can be read at
http://www.floria-publications.com/italy/italian_culture/what_italy_has_gi=
ven_the_world.html
James Allen Evans of the University of British Columbia, writing in the
online ecyclopedia of Roman Emperors regarding Justinian, notes:
"The Codex Justinianus, the Institutes and the
Digest of Roman jurisprudence, all commissioned
by Justinian, are monuments to the past
achievements of Roman legal heritage.
Justinian's reign sums up the past. It also
provides a matrix for the future."
(www.roman-emperors.org)
Although a great deal of Justinian's Code was founded on the Ciceronian
writings of the famed classical jurists Ulpian, Gaius, Papinian,
Modestinus and Paulus, the Code also incorporated Church Canon as law.
Outside of the Digest and the institutes, civil law and canon law were
mixed according to Justinians model of church-state union. The Codex and
Novellas were filled with legislation and edicts against Christian
heretics, Hellenes, Samaritans, Jews and pagans that would make the
empire a rigid and forceful theocracy of a sort. This certainly was
Justinian's intention, seeking an empire wide conformity to the
compulsory religion of the state. These two parts of his Corpus Juris
Civilis would sanction and promote bigotry, anti-Semitism, cultural
rigidity and religious intolerance.
From the Codex and Novellas came theocracy and campaigns of religious
tyranny: Temples were burned or demolished; pagans were executed;
heretics were persecuted and anathematized; dissenting church's
properties and churches were seized and turned ointo Nicene churches;
synagogues were burned or closed and a Church put in it's place;
Christians who returned to paganism faced death, exile and the loss of
testamentray rights. Jews were systematicly and progressively oppressed.
A Jew could not testify against a Christian. A Jew could not own a
Christian slave or convert any slave to Judaism. They were forbidden to
celebrate Passover before Easter. They were also banned from
celebrating Passover if it fell on Easter. Their scriptures were
scrutinized and censored before they could be used in a Synagogue. The
Talmud would be considered 'blasphemy'. No writings or prayers were
allowed that could be interpreted as opposing Nicene trinitarianism.
These religious laws would not survive the enlightenment in the
governments of the west but the Digest and Institutites are still the
foundation of most western civil law. Even the common law tradition has
Roman foundations from when Roman law ruled Britain. The Digest and
Institutes would hybernate until Europe's Renaissance when all things
classical would re-animate Europe and bring it out of the Christian dark
ages.
On July 28, 531 Justinian decreed (Codex Justinianus., 1.5.21):
"Concerning Heretics And
Manichaeans And Samaritans"
"Since many judges, in deciding cases,
have addressed us in need of our decision, asking
that they be informed what ought to be done
with witnesses who are heretics, whether
their testimony ought to be received or rejected,
we therefore ordain that no heretic, nor even they
who cherish the Jewish superstition, may
offer testimony against orthodox Christians who
are engaged in litigation, whether one or the other
of the parties is an orthodox Christian. But a
Jew may offer testimony on behalf of an
orthodox Christian against some one who is
not orthodox".
During this same period (529), Justinian ordered all the Samaritan
synagogues destroyed and forbade any Samaritan from aking a will to
leave property or gifts to anyone except an Orthodox Christian. They
were forbidden to leave legacies or presents to anone but Nicenes.
"The synagogues of the Samaritans shall
be destroyed, and if they dare to build others,
they shall be punished. They may have
no testamentary or other legal heirs except
Orthodox Christians" (C.J, 1.5.17)
The campaigns and persecutions of the Samaritans were barbarous, and
bloody. Thousands died in the supression of the uprising against
Justinian's dicatorship and 20,000 Samaritans were sold into slavery. In
the Christian world, slavery was a legitimate station in life and the
Bible was used to support its continuance in this new order. In the end,
the head of Julian, the Samaritan's leader', was presented to Justinian
as he requested. The land lay unproductive for decades to come and
would remain so until the Muslims took over the land.
Procopius writes in chapter 11 of The Secret History:
"A similar law was then passed against the
Samaritans, which threw Palestine into
an indescribable turmoil. Those, indeed, who lived
in my own Caesarea and in the other cities, deciding
it silly to suffer harsh treatment over a ridiculous
trifle of dogma, took the name of Christians
in exchange for the one they had borne before,
by which precaution they were able to avoid the
perils of the new law."
"The country people, however, banded together
and determined to take arms against the Emperor; ....but finally,
defeated in battle, were cut
down, together with their leader. Ten myriads of
men are said to have perished in this engagement,
and the most fertile country on earth thus
became destitute of farmers."
At this time, North Africa remained under the control of the Vandals, an
Arian Christian people. Arian Vandals had persecuted Nicenes the way
Nicenes ad persecuted Arians, exiling leaders, reducing rights, using
violence and confiscating churches for Arian Christian use. Between 523
and 530, there arose a Vandal King Hilderic that promoted tolerance of
Nicenes. Exiled Bishops returned and churches were returned. Bu this
was to end when his cousin Gelimer deposed and imprisoned him. Gelimer
would reinstate the policies of persecuting Nicenes. It is claimed that
Hilderic, from his prison cell, managed to get letters off to Justinian,
pleading for him to intervene.
Arian Christians were corrupt and demented heretics by Nicene standards.
Arians felt the same about Nicenes. Even though the eastern empire could
not afford such a war, Justinian ordered his 'Magister Militum',
Belisarius, to invade and conquer the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa. It
was Justinian's intention to reconstitute the ancient territories of the
Roman Empire. This Vandal and Arian Christiankingdom stretched from the
the Libyan shores to Spain. It had existed as an independant empire for
a century and Justinian wanted it back into the empire and he wanted it
Nicene. Evidently he was willing to break the bank to do it.
In 533,=A0Belisarius did indeed reconquer North Africa and then Sicily
in 535. In 535, Justinian issued laws against all of the heresies, the
Jews and the pagans. In August 535 in Novella 37 to Salomon, Governor of
Africa decreeing Jews couldnt attend church or own Christian slaves.
Their synagogues were to be seized and turned into Nicene Churches.
Those found guilty of being Arian Christians were barred from holding
public office. The exiled and displaced returned. Seized churches became
Nicene once again and synagogues were rebuilt as churches.
Novella 37 contains:
"Jews may not keep Christian slaves, nor
may they make proselytes by circumcision."
"Their synagogues shall be
rebuilt in the style of churches."
"Jews, pagans, Arians, and other heretics
may not have 'speluncas' nor observe any
of the ceremonies of the Orthodox Church".
In that same year of 535, joining in the spirit of Justinian's wide
ranging attacks on the rights of non-Nicenes, the canons of the Church
Synod of Clermont in France declared Jews could no longer hold
adminstrative positions or public office. They were forbidden to stand
in any kind of civil authority over any Christian and Canon 13
prohibited any Jew from becoming a judge.
Novella 6 was issued in 535. This Novella, aside from making the laws
on how the church heirarchy was to operate and be selected, laid down a
standard of theocracy, uniting priesthood and kingdom by imperial
decree.
"The greatest blessings granted to human beings
by God's ultimate grace are priesthood and kingdom, the former taking
care of divine affairs, while the latter guiding and taking care of
human affairs, and both, come from the same source, embellishing human
life."
"Therefore, nothing lies so heavy on the
hearts of kings as the honour of priests, who
on their part serve them, praying continuously for
them to God. And if the priesthood is well ordered
in everything and is pleasing to God, then there will
be full harmony between them in every thing
that serves the good and benefit of the
human race."
"Therefore, we exert the greatest possible effort
to guard the true dogmas of God and the honour
of the priesthood, hoping to receive through it
great blessings from God and to hold fast to
the ones which we have".
In 10 more years Justinian would expand on this theocratic model by
making the canons of the first four Ecumenical Councils the law of the
Empire.
It would not be until the European Enlightenment that these church and
state notions would be overturned. To this day there are still those
that look with nostalgia upon the old ways to control the people. Like
theocratic Iran, Christian fundamentalists yearn for a union of their
strict orthodox brand of Christianity with the state. Like so many
misguided fanatics in Christian history, their zealotry has blinded them
to the lessons of the past. An understanding of the principles of
liberty has taken a back seat to the compulsion to proselytize and
control the affairs, private and public, of the people. It took until
1833 before the last state in the USA, Massachusetts, complied with the
federal constittion and disestablished their state supported church.
In 535. after Belisarius' triumph, Justinian took aim at the Jewish
community of Borion in North Africa. He decreed the synagogue closed,
forced baptism on the Jews and outlawed their practices. The Jewish
Encyclopedia online remarks in their article on Justinian:
"Justinian was just enough not to force the Jews of
his empire to accept baptism, with the single
exception of the community of Borion, in a
remote corner of the province of Africa.
This community, which claimed to trace its origin
and the building of its synagogue back to
Solomon, had preserved its autonomy against
the Romans as well as against the Vandals;
Justinian, however, forced it to accept baptism
and changed its synagogue into a church
(Procopius, "De =C6dificiis," vi. 2)."
In 536, the Synod of Constantinople forbade any belief or activity in
any church that didn't meet Justinian's religious and ornaizational
requirements. The canon was designed to enforce Nicene trinitarian
doctrine and supress all elements of religious dissent or diversity. In
537, Justinian issued Novella 45, to Johannes, Pretorian Prefect,
stating Jews are to perform decurionate, traditional civic duty of the
Roman citizen, without its honors and privileges;
"Relating to the law that Jews, Samaritans, or
heretics are not to be exempt from the office
of magistrate on pretext of their belief, but that, on
the contrary, they shall bear the burdens of
the magistracy without enjoying its privileges."
The Novella continued, reinforcing the decree of 531 which limited their
rights to give testimony:
"...may, in a suit involving orthodox persons,
only give evidence for them or for the state."
Church synods of 538 in Orleans made it illegal for Jews to appear in
public during Easter week. In 538 Justinian would again issue an edict
that prohibit Jews from owning Christian slaves. These prohibitions
against Jews would be recorded as CJ. 1.10.2 and CJ. 1.3.54. Beginning
with Constantine in the fourth century it was also decreed that Jews
could not own any Christian slaves.
Soon afterward would come the Italian campaign which would help empty
the treasury. This would be compounded by Europe's first experience
with the Bubonic plague in 540. Justinian would become so frightened by
this new plague and fearing it was God's punishment for the people's
sins, he made laws against blasphemy. Ecclesiastical authorities
preached to the people, convincing them disobedience towards church
authorities brought the plague upon them. The people had these same
fears and thousands became desperate for salvation, filling the churches
with the sick, fearful and displaced.
Justinian's laws emboldened zealous monks. His decrees inspired a
fanatical inquisitor named Ioannis Asiacus in the same way Cyril and
Martin were by Theodosius II. Beginning in 532, Asiacus would begin a
four decade crusade against pagans in Asia Minor. In 542 Asiacus would
begin to forcibly convert pagans. In Constantinope, hundreds of pagans
would be killed in 546 because they resisted. Justinian encouraged
Asiacus' forced conversions and violently destroying pagan and Hellene
temples. By 577, 99 churches and 12 monasteries would be built on the
ruins of pagan religious sites and temples. The missions of John of
Ephesus, of Julian to Nubia and of James Baradaeus were part of
Justinian's strategy to forcibly convert pagans. It has been claimed
that John of Ephesus forced 70,000 pagans to convert.
Procopius writes in chapter 11 of Secet History:
"Agents were sent everywhere to force
whomever they chanced upon to renounce the faith
of their fathers. This, which seemed impious to
rustic people, caused them to rebel against those
who gave them such an order. Thus many perished
at the hands of the persecuting faction, and others
did away with themselves, foolishly thinking this
the holier course of two evils; but most of them
by far quitted the land of their fathers, and fled
the country."
In 545, Justinian issued Novella 131. This new law covered a wide range
of things. In chapter 1, it declared the canons of the first 4
ecumencal councils to be the law of the empire. This would make
official the Christian theocracy whose seeds were sown with the state's
establishment of Christianity under Constantine and Theodosius' ban on
all religions but the Nicene one. This would unite church and state,
placing the future of Europe in the iron grip of religious tyrants,
Popes and councils for more than 1000 years.
=A0=A0=A0
"Concerning Four Holy Councils"
=A0=A0=A0
"Therefore We order that the sacred,
ecclesiastical rules which were adopted and
confirmed by the four Holy Councils, that is to
say, that of the three hundred and eighteen
bishops held at Nicea, that of the one hundred
and fifty bishops held at Constantinople, the first
one of Ephesus, where Nestorius was
condemned, and the one assembled at
Chalcedon, where Eutyches and Nestorius
were anathematized, shall be considered as
laws. We accept the dogmas of these four
Councils as sacred writings, and observe
their rules as legally effective."
Chapter 2 would raise the See of Rome to the pinnacle of power in the
Christian realm, bringing pogroms, persecutions and inquisitions upon
the face of Europe.
"Concerning The Precedence of Partriarchs"
"Hence, in accordance with the provisions of
these Councils, We order that the Most Holy Pope
of ancient Rome shall hold the first rank of all
the Pontiffs, but the Most Blessed Archbishop
of Constantinople, or New Rome, shall occupy
the second place after the Holy Apostolic See
of ancient Rome, which shall take precedence over
all other sees."
Chapter 14 of Novella 131 reinforced Christendom's official policies of
anti-Semitism and religious intoerance by forbidding any Nicene from
willing property to Jews, pagans or Arians. That land would be promptly
seized by the church. Justinian would also ban the building of pagan
temples and Jewish synagogues:
"If an Orthodox Christian has sold or willed to a
Jew or pagan or Arian a piece of land on which
there is a church, the church of that locality shall
seize such property."
"Heretics may not build a 'spelunca' for
their heresies, nor may the Jews erect
any new synagogues".
In February, 553, Justinian issued Novella 146 limiting the Jews' own
religious rituals in their synagogues. In this way, the despotic
Christian emperor could control the content of Judaic worship services.
Not only would Justinian stop the building of Synagogues, force
converting them into churches, enact the loss of civil rights, but Big
Brother and his spies would control the internal workings of the
sxisting synagogues. This is the same sort of religious meddling and
interference seen in 536 when the Synod at Constantinople forbade any
belief or activity in any church that didn't meet Justinian's doctinal
requirements. At that time religious heterodoxy was under attack. This
time it was the age-old religious rituals of Judaism.
Jewish Psychiatrist and historian Ernest Rappaport, who was arrested by
the Gestapo and fled from Nazi Germany writes regarding Justinian in
chapter 4 of his book "A Study in the Origins of Hatred: A Psychistory
of Anti-Judaism":
"He also ordered under the threat of
severe punishment, that at the Jewish
Sabbath services the scriptures must be read
instead of in Hebrew, in Greek and Latin, using
the Septuagint whose text had already
been adulterated by the monks, that the Public
hearing might induce some Jews to convert."
"The phrase "Our God is the one and only one"
was forbidden to be recited in the
synagogues because it was understood as
a blasphemous protest against the twofold splitting
of the image of God in the holy trinity. For the
same reason chanting the verse "holy, holy, holy
is the Lord Zeboath" was prohibited. Al. so the
reading on Sabbath of the verses by Isaiah
promising consolation for downtrodden Zion was
not permitted. Overseers were placed into
the synagogues to prevent transgressions against
the prohibitions but they could not prevent
secret whispering of the forbidden parts of prayer
at communal prayers at other times of the day
and behind the backs of the government spies."
Although this Novella's content is longer than the excepts I have
quoted, this terrible anti-Semitic Novella deserves to be seen in its
entirety. From the anti-Jewish church canon laws to John Chysostom's
Homilies against Jews to the Codices of Christian emperors to
Charlemagne's edicts to the Spainsh Inquisition to Martin Luther's
anti-Semitic book, "The Jews and their Lies" are laid the psychological
foundations of the Jewish Holocaust in Christian Europe.
NOVELLA 146:
=A0=A0
"A Permission granted to the Hebrews to read
the Sacred Scriptures according to Tradition, in
Greek, Latin or any other Language, and an Order
to expel from their community those who do
not believe in the judgment, the Resurrection,
and the Creation of Angels."
PREFACE
"Necessity dictates that when the Hebrews
listen to their sacred texts they should not
confine themselves to the meaning of the letter,
but should also devote their attention to those
sacred prophecies which are hidden from them,
and which announce the mighty Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ."
"And though, by surrendering themselves to
senseless interpretations, they still err from the
true doctrine, yet, learning that they disagree among themselves, we
have not permitted this
disagreement to continue without a ruling
on our part."
"From their own complaints which have been
brought to us, we have understood that some
only speak Hebrew, and wish to use it for the
sacred books, and others think that a Greek
translation should be added, and that they have
been disputing about this for a long time."
"Being apprised of the matter at issue, we
give judgment in favour of those who wish to
use Greek also for the reading of the sacred
scriptures, or any other tongue which in any
district allows the hearers better to understand
the text."
CHAPTER 1
"We therefore sanction that, wherever there is
a Hebrew congregation, those who wish it may, in
their synagogues, read the sacred books to those
who are present in Greek, or even Latin, or any
other tongue. For the language changes in
different places, and the reading changes with
it, so that all present may understand, and live
and act according to what they hear."
"Thus there shall be no opportunity for
their interpreters, who make use only of the
Hebrew, to corrupt it in any way they like, since
the ignorance of the public conceals their
depravity. We make this provision so that those
who use Greek shall use the text of the
seventy interpreters, which is the most
accurate translation, and the one most
highly approved, since it happened that the
translators, divided into two groups, and working
in different places, all produced exactly the same
text."
"i. Moreover who can fail to admire those men,
who, writing long before the saving revelation of
our mighty Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, yet
as though they saw its coming with their
eyes completed the translation of the sacred books
as if the prophetic grace was illuminating them."
"This therefore they shall primarily use, but that
we may not seem to be forbidding all other texts
we allow the use of that of Aquila, though he was
not of their people, and his translation differs
not slightly from that of the Septuagint."
"ii. But the Mishnah, or as they call it the
second tradition, we prohibit entirely. For it is
not part of the sacred books, nor is it handed
down by divine inspiration through the prophets,
but the handiwork of man, speaking only of
earthly things, and having nothing of the
divine in it."
"But let them read the holy words themselves,
rejecting the commentaries, and not concealing
what is said in the sacred writings, and
disregarding the vain writings which do not form
a part of them, which have been devised by them themselves for the
destruction of the simple."
"By these instructions we ensure that no one shall
be penalised or prohibited who reads the Greek or
any other language. And their elders,
Archiphericitae and presbyters, and those
called magistrates, shall not by any machinations
or anathemas have power to refuse this right,
unless by chance they wish to suffer
corporal punishment and the confiscation of
their goods, before they yield to our will and
to the commands which are better and clearer
to God which we enjoin."
CHAPTER 2
"If any among them seek to introduce impious
vanities, denying the resurrection or the judgment,
or the work of God, or that angels are part of
creation, we require them everywhere to be
expelled forthwith; that no backslider raise his
impious voice to contradict the evident purpose
of God. Those who utter such sentiments shall
be put to death, and thereby the Jewish people
shall be purged of the errors which they introduced."
CHAPTER 3
"We pray that when they hear the reading of the
books in one or the other language, they may
guard themselves against the depravity of
the interpreters, and, not clinging to the literal
words, come to the point of the matter, and
perceive their diviner meaning, so that they may
start afresh to learn the better way, and may cease
to stray vainly, and to err in that which is
most essential, we mean hope in God."
"For this reason we have opened the door for
the reading of the scriptures in every language,
that all may henceforth receive its teaching,
and become fitter for learning better things. For
it is acknowledged that he, who is nourished
upon the sacred scriptures and has little need
of direction, is much readier to discern the truth,
and to choose the better path, than he
who understands nothing of them, but clings to
the name of his faith alone, and is held by it as
by a sacred anchor, and believes that what can be called heresy in its
purest form is divine teaching."
EPILOGUE
"This is our sacred will and pleasure, and
your Excellency and your present colleague and
your staff shall see that it is carried out, and shall
not allow the Hebrews to contravene it. Those
who resist it or try to put any obstruction in its
way, shall first suffer corporal punishment, and
then be compelled to live in exile, forfeiting also
their property, that they flaunt not their
impudence against God and the empire. You shall
also circulate our law to the provincial governors,
that they learning its contents may enforce it in
their several cities, knowing that it is to be
strictly carried out under pain of our displeasure."
It is fitting to end this treatment of Justinian's Christian policies
with some of Procopius' thought concerning the character of Justinian
From chapter 7 of The Secret History:
"For he was at once villainous and amenable;
as people say colloquially, a moron. He was
never truthful with anyone, but always guileful in
what he said and did, yet easily hoodwinked by
any who wanted to deceive him. His nature was
an unnatural mixture of folly and wickedness."
"This Emperor, then, was deceitful, devious,
false, hypocritical, two-faced, cruel, skilled
in dissembling his thought, never moved to tears
by either joy or pain, though he could summon
them artfully at will when the occasion demanded,
a liar always, not only offhand, but in writing,
and when he swore sacred oaths to his subjects
in their very hearing. Then he would immediately
break his agreements and pledges, like the vilest
of slaves, whom indeed only the fear of torture
drives to confess their perjury."
"A faithless friend, he was a treacherous enemy,
insane for murder and plunder, quarrelsome
and revolutionary, easily led to anything, but
never willing to listen to good counsel, quick to
plan mischief and carry it out, but finding even
the hearing of anything good distasteful
to his ears."
"These and many even worse vices were disclosed
in him as in no other mortal: nature seemed to
have taken the wickedness of all other men
combined and planted it in this man's soul."
"Of the plundering of property or the murder of men,
no weariness ever overtook him. As soon as he
had looted all the houses of the wealthy, he
looked around for others; meanwhile throwing
away the spoils of his previous robberies in
subsidies to barbarians or senseless
building extravagances. And when he had
ruined perhaps myriads in this mad looting,
he immediately sat down to plan how he could
do likewise to others in even greater number."
"Consequently no place, mountain or cave, or any
other spot in Roman territory, during this
time remained uninjured; and many regions
were pillaged more than five times."
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