Eastern Roman / Byzantine Continuation — Justinian I, Theodora, Justinian's Code 529-534 CE, and Hagia Sophia 537 CE

Recite Three Promises. Cold Call: What did the inhabitants of the Eastern Roman Empire call themselves? (Answer: Romaioi / Romans.) Today we meet Justinian and Theodora — Late Antique Roman rulers continuing the Roman tradition from Constantinople.

• Recite Three Promises
• Cold Call from yesterday's exit ticket recall
• Display MG-3 + MG-19 + Ravenna photographs

Justinian I (r. 527-565 CE) is the unit's most consequential Late Antique ruler. He inherited the Eastern Roman Empire 65 years after the 'fall' of the Western Empire 476 CE. His reign is defined by 4 major achievements: (1) CORPUS JURIS CIVILIS 529-534 CE — Justinian's chief jurist Tribonian compiled all surviving Roman law into 4 parts (Institutes for legal education; Digest of jurists' opinions; Codex of imperial constitutions; Novellae of new constitutions). The Code is THE foundation of European civil-law tradition — modern legal systems of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Latin America, Quebec, Louisiana, and many others derive from Justinian's Code. (2) HAGIA SOPHIA 537 CE — completed in 5 years 10 months under architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, the largest enclosed space in the world for nearly 1,000 years (until Seville Cathedral 1520 CE), featuring a 31-meter dome on pendentives — a Late Antique architectural innovation. Hagia Sophia served as: Byzantine cathedral 537-1453 / Ottoman mosque 1453-1934 / museum 1934-2020 / mosque again 2020-present. Today it is in Istanbul, Turkey, and is a layered living-heritage site. (3) RECONQUEST CAMPAIGNS — under generals Belisarius and Narses, Justinian reconquered Vandal North Africa 533-534 CE, Ostrogothic Italy 535-554 CE, and southern Hispania from the Visigoths. The reconquests were brutal and devastating; Italy in particular was depopulated by 20 years of war. (4) EMPRESS THEODORA — Justinian's wife and political partner, of low-status origin per Procopius's Secret History (former actress / sex worker — primary-source MG-7 sourcing matters here, Procopius was hostile), reportedly persuaded Justinian not to flee Constantinople during the Nika riots 532 CE per her speech preserved in Procopius's Wars Book I.

• Notice: even calling them 'Byzantine' is a political choice made by later Westerners. Anthony Kaldellis is leading the modern scholarly recovery of their self-identification.

  model Because its inhabitants called themselves Romaioi (Romans) for the next 977 years until 1453 CE, called their state Romania (the Roman state), and considered themselves the direct political-cultural continuation of Rome. The 'Byzantine' label was coined in 1557 by the German Hieronymus Wolf and applied retrospectively. Calling them 'Greeks' or 'Byzantines' rather than Romans was a Western-European political choice in the medieval period to deny their legitimacy as Rome's successor.

  prompt Why does Anthony Kaldellis call the Byzantine polity 'the Roman Republic' / 'New Rome'?
• Notice: this is living legacy — Justinian's Code is not historical; it shapes how 5 billion people are governed today.

  model Modern civil-law systems (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Latin America, Quebec, Louisiana, much of Africa, Japan via Meiji-era German-law adoption) derive their structural foundation from Justinian's Code via medieval European reception of Roman law (Bologna 11th-13th century onward). Approximately 60% of the world's legal systems today are civil-law systems descended from Justinian.

  prompt What is the legacy of Justinian's Code today?

• Cold Call: Name the 4 parts of Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis.
• Cold Call: How long did the Eastern Roman Empire continue after 476 CE? (977 years until 1453 CE — same answer as yesterday)
• Cold Call: What is one modern legal system descended from Justinian's Code?

MG-7 6-Question Source Card applied to Justinian's Code preamble (Institutes Book I Title 1 'De Justitia et Jure') — Wineburg Moves 1-4; NMAI Move 5 (modern Greek + Turkish + Levantine + Italian + global civil-law-system descendant communities); WHA Move 6 (translation by Peter Birks and Grant McLeod 1987).

M-6-S-CUL-06-A Photograph

Modern photograph of Hagia Sophia interior in Istanbul, Turkey — looking up at the 31-meter dome with its pendentives + ring of windows + Justinianic Byzantine mosaics (partly visible above the four Ottoman-era seraphim painted faces 1453-) + the four large medallion calligraphic panels added in Ottoman period (1453-) bearing the names of Allah, Muhammad, the four Rightly Guided Caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali), and the two grandsons of Muhammad. Caption: 'Hagia Sophia 537 CE — completed in 5 years 10 months under Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus. Layered living heritage: Byzantine cathedral 537-1453 / Ottoman mosque 1453-1934 / museum 1934-2020 / mosque 2020-present.' Style: high-resolution architectural photograph showing layered heritage.

• Apply MG-7 Move 5 (Living Descendants) to Justinian's Code preamble — who today is a living descendant of Byzantine legal-political tradition?

  scaffold Hint: modern Greek Orthodox communities, modern Turkish communities of Istanbul, modern global civil-law-system descendants, modern Eastern Christian communities; refer to MG-8
• Compare Hagia Sophia's 4 historical phases (Byzantine cathedral / Ottoman mosque / museum / mosque again) — what does this layered history say about Late Antique architectural legacy?

  scaffold Photographs of each phase available; MG-7 Source Card optional for each phase

M-6-S-CUL-06-B Photograph

Modern photograph of the two Justinianic mosaics in the apse of Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy (c. 547 CE): the Justinian panel (Justinian flanked by court officials including Archbishop Maximian + Belisarius + the imperial guard) and the Theodora panel (Theodora flanked by court ladies + clergy, holding a chalice as offering). Both mosaics depict the imperial couple as still living rulers at the moment of San Vitale's consecration 548 CE. Style: high-resolution detail photograph of the mosaics showing gold-leaf tesserae and the imperial-purple-and-gold color scheme. Caption: 'Justinian + Theodora — Late Antique Roman rulers from Constantinople depicted in Western Italian Roman-continuation mosaic. Ravenna mosaics 547 CE.'

• Why does Anthony Kaldellis argue 'Byzantine' is a misleading label?
• What modern legal system descends from Justinian's Code? Name one.

• Show Call — display one strong student source-card response on Justinian's Code preamble
• Preview Lesson 7 (Justinianic Plague 541-549 CE — TRAUMA-INFORMED LESSON with MG-15 protocol active)

• Research a contemporary news article (within last 5 years) about Hagia Sophia's status change from museum back to mosque in 2020. Write 2-3 sentences applying the SIMULTANEITY + LIVING-DESCENDANTS frame — Hagia Sophia is layered living heritage for multiple communities (Greek Orthodox, Turkish Muslim, global Christian-Muslim-secular).