The Justinian Code of Law advanced the culture of the Byzantine Empire in many aspects - marriages, rights for women, wills & inheritance, protecting personal property, and harsh penalties for crimes. Although the code is considered the greatest thing Justinian did, it legalized religious intolerance. Consequently, the laws took away civil rights for Jews and prohibited them to many civil liberties such as marriage, education, and various traditions.
Considered one of the greatest emperors of the Byzantine Empire, did Justinian demonstrate trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness and/or citizenship as a leader?
Well, let me start it off.
ReplyDeleteJustin, as we know from class, was a Christian leader, and his religious views helped him make decisions. Now, back then, different religious groups would be weary of each other, and even now, a lot of people are starting to be afraid of people that follow Islam. This usually comes when a person is not educated on another groups' religious views, and so might be the case with Justin. Justin was trying to look out for his people, so he tried to do it in a way in which he thought was right; giving the Jewish people less rights. Now, at the time, it must have been seen as a good idea. The people were weary of the Jewish people and what they value, so they may have said against it. Keep in mind, at this time, places were conquered and claimed for that religion. As Constantinople was founded by a Christian leader, one may assume that the leader would claim it in the name of God (Christian), as a Jew would claim it for YHVH, and as a Muslim would claim it for Allah. Thank you for reading.
Abdul.K Per. 9
I believe that Justinian was a bad leader because he supported anti-semitism which I believe is really unfair to the Jews in these ways, he made them wear special clothing, and legalized religious intolerance, which took away the Jews' civil rights, When it comes to all of this evidence, Justinian totally did not demonstrate the correct qualities of good leader, so in conclusion, I believe Justinian did not demonstrate trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness and/or citizenship as a leader - Tyler Period 9
ReplyDeleteI feel that the good dose NOT out way the bad. I feel this way because by allowing the law for anti-semitism Justinian broke all of the traits for a leader to be called great. By allowing this new law he no longer portrays fairness because it is un-fair that Jewish people are denied their citizen rights just because of their religious affiliation. Trustworthiness because he is obliviously biased and favors different religions over others and in our society now if a leader was even the littlest bit biased we would of kicked them out of office in a heart beat. Citizenship because it says that you have to "...be a good neighbor" to qualify. Now this quote really is saying that you have to be nice to everyone and this is not even close to nice for Jewish people, and finally he broke the trait of respect because he broke his own basic Laws and Justice code. Showing that he doesn't respect his own laws that he wrote himself. He broke this law because is states and I quote, "Justice is the constant and continuous wish to render everyone his due..." this quote is telling us that you have to make it fair for everyone and this law make it very un-fair to Jewish people. Now if Justinian broke all of the traits for greatness than why are we still calling him one of the greatest leaders?
ReplyDelete- Sara K. Period:4
Sara K.
DeleteYour view has made me change mine. I realized after reading your response that he did go against his own morals by not vetoing that law. If he was truly a great leader, he would not have done that. He also as you explained did not demonstrate fairness and equal rights for all people. The Jewish people were not even basic civil rights and Justinian by supporting this, promoted anti-semitism. Yo could as I said say he was a product of his time but as I noticed, he is a major hypocrite when he says that you have to "...be a good neighbor" if Justinian was really a great leader, he wouldn't contradict his own laws that HE made.
Thank you for helping me switch view points,
-Morgan Period:8
Justinian was Not considered a fair leader. He didn't include all citizens in the Byzantine Empire. He gave zero rights to the Jews. Besides that he was a good leader.If he wasn't anti-semitisim leader, He would be one of the best empire leaders ever.
ReplyDelete-Adam P Period 9
I agree with Adam P. from Period 9. Justinian was really an excellent leader who helped Rome get back on their feet. The older Rome fell for so many reasons, and one of those main reasons is political corruption. Justinian brought back political corruption by creating laws that stopped Jews from living their normal life. Like Adam P. said, the good doesn't outweigh the bad.
Delete-Adam S. Period 9
Although Justinian did not demonstrate fairness, he did demonstrate responsibility. He was unfair because he mistreated Jews and made the population of the Byzantine Empire practice Christianity, but he was responsible because he made a code of laws that had a great impact on his society. The laws he made took care of crime and lying, while keeping the empire organized.
ReplyDeleteGrace Period 9
I belive Justinian was a good emperor despite his anti semitism promoting law. I believe this because Justinian made a lot of improvements to his society and established many good laws we still use today. Anti semitism was common in his time and he was a product of his time. Also, even if he had vetoed the law, the next emperor to rise to power would have reestablished it. It was just his time period. I feel Justinian was a great emperor for his time although he wouldn't be for ours. Justinian's laws are unacceptable today however he was a good emperor for his time and he deserves to be recognized as such.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Period:8
I think the good outweighed the bad, and Justinian is still one of the best emperors. Back then they had no idea about Semitism and no experiences with it. Therefore, Justinian did not know any better and should not be known as a bad leader. He contributed a lot of new ideas that benefited New Rome like his code of laws and the relocating of the empire. Justinian demonstrated the qualities of a good emperor.
ReplyDeleteCatharine period 3
I agree with you, Catharine. In the time of the Greeks and Romans, all people cared about was order. There was no tolerance for other religions. If outsiders got in the way, they were forced to flee. Emperors didn't care for new recruits. All they cared about was themselves.
Delete-Maxwell S., Period 9
I believe that Justinian demonstrated two out of the four characteristics. Justinian was trustworthy and responsible. He was responsible for keeping the empire in good hands and the citizens trusted Justinian to make decisions for the people. In this time period discrimination was highly common. Especially because Justinian decided to make the empire practice christianity, so Jewish citizens were viewed as less important. Now in 2014 discrimination is not tolerated, but back then it was a normal attitude. Although, I don't think that Justinian was fair or respectful. He continued to let jewish citizens be treated unfairly and with disrespect. Justinian could have stood up for what was right, but instead he was prejudice and discriminated the jews. If Justinian had made the right choice, America might not be the way that it is today. I don't think that Justinian was a good emperor.
ReplyDelete-Ashley p.8
Adam I disagree with you. Justinian was a good emperor. Despite his anti-semitism, he helped make many useful laws as well that helps us advance as well. Although anti-semitism is not tolerated and is horrible in modern times, it was normal in Justinian's time. He was a product of his time and he was a good leader. Although not fair to the Jewish people, he earned the respect of many around him and was a good leader. I would never call Justinian a great emperor but he was not a horrible emperor either. In fact, would just consider him good. Many of his laws helped us today despite his anti-semitism.
ReplyDeleteI respectfully disagree with you, Adam
-Morgan Period:8
I believe Justinian was not a good leader. Although, he helped and made the Byzantine Empire a good empire, he was anti-sematic towards the Jewish people. He treated the Jewish citizens with disrespect and he was not fair. He was also harsh on them. This was not uncommon back then but that does not mean he has to follow. Justinian could have changed the way people ruled and gave the same amount of rights for the Jews, but he followed other people. I believe the bad outweighs the good.
ReplyDelete-Zoe Period 4
Justin was definetley a great leader. Everyone thinks that he bad for only one reason, he used the idea of semitism. Meanwhile, there are many great accomplishments that he did and they way out that one bad thing. He beautified the city by building hagia sofia and many other structures. Also, he won back most of the land that the empire lost in the previous centuries. That expanded his empire which made it better. On top of all of that his greatest accomplishment was his code of laws. They kept his empire in order and helped them by lessening the occurrence of violence, which kept it safer. In the end the good things definetley outway the bad and Justinian was a great leader
ReplyDelete-Demi period 3
I believe Justinian was not a good leader. In this time period discrimination was highly common. Especially because Justinian decided to make the empire practice christianity, so Jewish citizens were viewed as less important. Now today, discrimination is not tolerated, but back then it was a normal attitude. Although, I don't think that Justinian was fair or respectful. He continued to let jewish citizens be treated unfairly and with disrespect. Justinian could have stood up for what was right, but instead he was prejudice and discriminated the jews.
ReplyDelete-colin per.3
Justinian was not a good emperor in the Byzantine Empire, and his good achievements do NOT outweigh the bad ones. The reason why Justinian was a bad Byzantine Emperor was because he was prejudice, discriminated the Jewish religion and its people, and was the one who founded the "League for Anti-Semitism". Justinian only wanted to have an Empire to be exactly like him, but that was highly impossible because people have empathy towards different subjects, especially religion. Even people that were Christian (Monotheism), like Justinian, people had empathy towards different subjects. Justinian made a mistake for being discriminate towards Jews because he never gave them any rights or to do anything that they wanted because he gave them limited restrictions. Discriminating your own population will decrease its people living their, and less people means less protection that your empire may possibly have in the future. Justinian may have created the Hagia Sophia to prevent the population from rioting, and he may have created walls to protect the city, but what was the point of creating the walls if you were about to make a Code of Law that destroys your own population?
ReplyDelete-Andrew, Period: 3
I agree with you, Andrew. Being the emperor shows that person wants to take charge and helping the citizens by showing empathy towards them. You can't help just one religion, because there might be other religions that have problems that aren't yet resolved. If that person kept ignoring those problems, everyone would flee, ruining the reputation of that empire's strength.
Delete-Maxwell S., Period 9
I believe that Justinian was a good leader. Even though he had some problems, every emperor has problems but that doesn't mean that they are bad rulers. Also if you compare the good and the bad, I believe that the good outweighs the bad. Justinian had problems like the "League for Anti-Semitism" but he had many accomplishments like the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia is one of the most magnifacent buildings created back then for his time. Imagine yourself making the Hagia Sophia with such little recources. That would have been really hard to build but Justinian pulled it off showing how good of a ruler he was.
ReplyDelete-Elijah, Period 8
I believe that Justinian was a bad leader. He took away the Jews right to practice their religion and to marry. The empire stopped building synagogues and life was turning out to be unfair for the Jews. Even though Justinian built the beautiful Hagia Sophia, it was still rushed and there were many flaws. If he included all the people in the byzantine empire then he would be one of the greatest emperors who ever lived.
ReplyDelete-Max, Period 9
I think Justinian was a good leader. Justinian did have problems but he was considered the greatest emperor. Some of his problems was not including Jews in the byzantine empire, being an anti-semitism leader, and supporting the structure of the dome in Hagia Sophia. On the good side though Justinian built Hagia Sophia to worship Christianity and made his code of laws which did benefit Rome. Overall I think Justinian was a good emperor. -Vincent, Period 9
ReplyDeleteI do not believe Justinian was a good emperor. No emperor that is prejudice should be considered an emperor because they have a bias eye. What if Justinian's code of giving Jews unequal rights carried on to this day? That seems a little to the extreme but even the tiniest bit of bad can grow into a large amount. Also, he did some work but most of the time he demanded people to construct what his vision was. He was a demanding emperor and only changed the empire for its looks, not for the people. I believe that most people focus on his greatest achievements instead of his one horrible failure. This one failure affected not only Jews but all citizens because they were convinced to also be predjudice about Jews. All in all, Justinian was a bad emperor and should not be a role model for our society today.
ReplyDelete- Kacey
Period 4
Even though, Justinian approved the law for religious intolerance for the Jewish people, the goods things Justinian did outweighs the bad. He was born into the belief of "Anti-Semitism". In what used to be Constantinople, he ordered a cathedral to be built. It is now known as the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia is a massive structure in the middle of the old city of Constantinople and which is now known as the modern city of Istanbul, Turkey. I believe Justinian was a strong and powerful leader, even though, he did have one terrible law.
ReplyDeleteI think that for Justinians time when he was a leader, he was a good leader because he did so many good things and only one bad thing which was discriminating people. Even though we think that is really bad now, back then, most poeple would agree with Justinian because no one knew better. If Justinian was a current emperor, he would not have discriminated jews because now, poeple are educated that discrimination is bad. For his time period of being an emperor, I think that the good out ways the bad and that Justinian was a good emperor. Dustin Period 3
ReplyDeleteI feel that Justinian was a good leader. All though he took away a lot of rights from Jews which is very wrong, he was just a product of his time period. That was what he was taught to believe and no one would tell him other wise. He did some amazing things as a leader like making the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia was an amazing architectural achievement for that time period. No one else was creating structures that great. He only took six years to build it which is pretty amazing. Also, Justinian made the Code of Laws which was some laws that were meant to keep people from doing bad things. I feel that the Code of Laws greatly benefitted the society. So even though Justinian did do some bad things, I feel that overall he was a good leader!
ReplyDelete-Sam J. Period 9
Sam,
DeleteAlthough Justinian built the Hagia Sophia a grand achievement it was covered with flaws and problems that easily could of been avoided if he just took his time and really payed attention to detail. It was more of a pest to the architects since they were constantly trying to make new solutions. Also, he only built the Hagia Sophia for his own benefits. I bet that is you went around and asked who wanted a new church a good part of them would say no, especially since he forced Christianity on to them.
Sara K. Period 4
I think that the good does not outweigh the bad because Justinian does not have all of the traits to be a good leader. He does and does not demonstrate trustworthiness because people trusted him to make decisions that will benefit the empire but he may have broke that trust with the Jews when he allowed anti-semitism. He does not demonstrate respect because he treated the Jews with disrespect. He does demonstrate responsibility because he took care of his empire. He does not demonstrate fairness because he was un-fair to the Jews by taking away their rights. He does not demonstrate citizenship because he did not allow Jews to have rights just because of their religion. I do not think that Justinian was a good emperor.
ReplyDeleteJulia, Period 9
I think that Justinian was a good leader. He had lots of accomplishments like the Hagia Sophia. Even though he took away rights towards jews there wasn't a big population of jews anyways. Madison period 3
ReplyDeleteI believe that Justinian was one of the greatest leaders in the Byzantine Empire. One of his greatest achievements was building the Hagia Sophia to worship Christianity. It is known for its beautiful colored marble and pillars. Also he created the Justinian's Code of Laws. The laws were publish to help protect the city, marriage, theft, assault and battery, and wills/inheritance. to protect the city even more he built walls to protect Constantinople. But he did have some setbacks, he did discriminate against Judaism. But overall the good outweighs the bad making Justinian a almost to perfect leader. -Brianne, Period 3
ReplyDeleteEven though, Justinian approved the law of religious intolerance against the Jewish people, he did many good things that outweigh this terrible law. He provided rights for women. Also, he ordered a cathedral to be built called the Hagia Sophia which is located in the old city of Constantinople and the modern city of Istanbul, Turkey. It is quite the structure. The Hagia Sophia did have some flaws, it was a wonderful cathedral located right in the middle of the city. I believe the good things Justinian did does outweigh the bad.
ReplyDeleteJack Period 8
Justinian was one of the greatest leaders in the Byzantine Empire. His achievement such as the Hagia Sophia and the 3 wall he built made his empire one of the most beautiful and best fortified cities at its time lasting for a millennia. Some people consider him a horrible leader for allowing anti-semitism in his empire. But this empire was a Christian society, not a Judaism or Islamic society. So Justinian can't be blamed for this. He is supposed to do things in the best interests of the people and listen to his advisers. A lot of people living in the empire were Christians and probably had prejudice against the very few Jews. Justinian would have to make this law in the best interest of his people who almost all were Christian. If he didn't, he would be likely assassinated by his advisors which was the way how people took people out of power those days. It was not Justinian's fault, it was what the people thought should happen during his time period. Therefore, Justinian is still one of the greatest leaders of the Byzantine Empire. Daniel L. Period 3
ReplyDeleteI think that Justinian was a good leader. All of the good he did outweighed the bad. Even thought he hated the Jews, he did so many great things for his empire. He went out of his way to make it beautiful. He also made a great code of laws for everyone. Back then they didn't know that hating the Jews was that bad. Justinian could have made a change but people would hurt him if he tried. He really was a great leader to his empire.
ReplyDelete-Emily, Period 3
I think that Justinian was a good leader but not a great one. Justinian did remove the rights of the Jewish people, which was cruel and unnecessary. But think about the time period. It was completely normal for Justinian to pass that law. And if he didn't, he could have been assassinated, because that's what happened in ancient times. You can think about it like how Americans owned slaves. For a long time, we Americans used African Americans as slaves, and did not consider them people. Eventually we learned that that was despicable, but a hundred or so years ago it was completely normal. The same thing happened with Justinians time period. Also, Justinian did so much for his empire like building the Hagia Sophia, expanding towards the west, and creating a fantastic code of laws. In the end for Justinian, the good outweighs the bad.
ReplyDelete-Tia, period 3
Although emperor Justinian is claimed to be unfair towards the Jewish population ( he would be in modern day), it was not uncommon for the time period. The Byzantine Empire was founded as a Christian Empire, and back then everything was based off religion. Since most of the population was Christian, they didn't know a lot about other religions, and therefore labeled them as bad. Now although that is wrong, it was common for its time. This is why Justinian was a great emperor. He beautified the city, won back land his ancestors used to own, and built a wonderful cathedral. He brought peace to his empire. This is why Justinian was a great leader and will go down in history.
ReplyDeleteKevin, Period 3.
Justinian was a great leader. Although he made a law that takes away civil rights from the people who follow the Jewish religion which was very bad but in his defense he was a product of his time. In this Blog I am looking past the big mistake Justinian made because he contributed so much to his people to the point were historians say that the good outweighs the bad. Justinian protected his people for a long time. His religion lead him to making this desision
ReplyDeleteSal.I Period 9
I believe Justinian was good leader. He did so many good things to improve the his empire. Even though he made an awful decision passing the law about anti-Semetism, the good he did outweighs the bad. Even if he decided to veto the law he would've been assassinated. Then someone else would become emperor and pass the law. Justinian also tried to make a lot of people happy in his empire and the majority of people were were christians. This is what most people wanted at the time. So, he pleased many of his people making him a good leader for them. All in all, the good definitely outweighed the bad.
ReplyDeleteGabrielle, period 8
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