Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/179

 JUSTINIAN AND THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE 143 the need of further revision of the Code, which was reissued in 534 in the form now extant. The other two The revised law books of Justinian which have come down ^tiiutes to us are his Institutes, a textbook for students an d Novels in the law schools based upon the earlier Institutes of Gaius, and his Novels, or new laws issued during the remainder of the reign. Some of these were enacted in order to supple- ment or correct certain parts of the Code and the Digest. Such was the Corpus Iuris, or body of law, which medieval and modern western Europe were to revive and use. Most of it is in Latin, but the Novels are mainly in Greek. Justinian maintained the Roman tradition of magnificent public works as well as of lawmaking. We have already mentioned the elaborate rings of massive fortifi- *, ., ,. • 1 t • 1 1 1 1 1 t- • Buildings cations with which he surrounded the Empire and the splendid structures with which he adorned his newly acquired city of Carthage. When the Persians de- stroyed the great Eastern metropolis, Antioch, he rebuilt it in munificent style, as he did other Syrian cities destroyed by earthquakes in the latter part of his reign. But most impressive was the new Constantinople that rose after the great fire during the Nika riot. To-day little is left of its statues, porticoes, basilicas, hospitals, and the vast and richly adorned Sacred Palace of the emperor. Even of the churches only two or three remain, but among them is the greatest of all, St. Sophia. This church is the finest example of Byzantine architec- ture and is " perhaps the boldest instance of a sudden change in almost every respect, whether of plan, eleva- The church tion, or detail, which is known to architecture." of St - Sophia The dome had been used by the Romans, but, as in the well- known Pantheon at Rome, had been built up directly on a foundation of thick, circular wall, so that the ground-plan of the interior was no larger than the circumference of the dome itself. Now a central dome, one hundred and seventy- nine feet above the floor, one hundred and seven feet in diameter, and forty-six feet in depth, was raised high in air above the roofs of the rest of the structure, and was