Conclusion
A strong impression is created of Justinian being guided by imperial instincts when bringing out the laws under consideration here: how to keep his empire together and foster harmonious relations with his people, despite the conflicts of law and custom across East and West; how to obviate the fomentation of dissent by politically powerful actors; how to prevent the further rise of forces that had already begun to threaten his power base; how to consolidate his posiÂtion at the top.
He addressed these issues in multiple ways, many of which perpetuated tactics used in the past: respecting and adopting local custom or laws in both the eastern and western portions of empire; encouraging the difÂferent communities to coalesce by giving them one legal system that was genÂerally recognisable to both, as it comprised a mixture of their laws; softening the blow when legislating against one or the other by hiding the law’s true provenance or impact, and insinuating defects in old law; not following local ways without reflection; not blindly accepting ancient thinking yet still relying on it to validate his laws; invoking either the ancient jurists or God as jointÂcollaborators in the end product; actively portraying himself as neither a pushÂover nor a fool, and always making sure his subjects knew that it was he who was in charge. He trumpeted his role as the ultimate impartial and wise arbiter who chose the laws sagely but imposed innovations where needed, implying that he should be given the same respect as the ancients, or even God.Justinian followed an unpredictable path in his legislation, it is true, the flip side to his style inevitably entailing that he did not feel bound to respect any particular existing legal principle or norm, and if he did it was because he chose to do so. But this shows at least partially that he wanted to create for himself an aura of equity and fairness, his justice not being dictated by East or West, his will to find a just solution being unquestionable, irrespective of whether this was true.
And ultimately, he either opted for precedent from one system or the other, or the authority given by God or himself. Using the law in this way, he hoped to meld the contrasting elements within his empire to form a single compliant and obedient entity. Hence Justinian’s positioning of himÂself in relation to the lex citandi is made clear: by superseding it, he could porÂtray himself through his legislation as noble and wise, free of all strangleholds over his imperium, regardless of the reality. This allowed him to maintain a steely determination in asserting his own independence from tribal mentaliÂties, tending to the promotion of his own imperium. This was necessarily acÂcompanied by a clear agenda of securing acquiescence for his laws, and makÂing them more palatable when they went against embedded Roman legal traditions or local customs. He had to ensure that those from either of the furÂthest sides of his spectrum would be antagonised as seldom as possible, as he sought to maintain his grip on power in the East and to re-conquer the West. In the words of Cicero, he was using the law to create â€?a single joint community of gods and men’, with East and West alike being subtly persuaded to accept each others’ divinely-backed laws, or rules steeped in his own authority, or the comÂmands of the ancient and wise lawgivers.[369] [370]Justinian’s legislative choices were ultimately dictated by keeping his emÂpire intact and under (his) control, and this often entailed bringing out laws that went against the grain in one section of the empire or another. To this exÂtent, his approach mirrors Watson’s analysis of the law as being â€?out of step’ with society’s needs.n8 But the different elements of society were also benefiÂciaries of Justinian’s overall policy of securing stability throughout his territoÂries. Whether or not incidental to his plans, this was still a necessary corollary of them, and more than just occasional respect was afforded to the customs or legal traditions of his populace generally, so long as they did not interfere with his imperium.
But there is also a strong undercurrent of accommodating vested interests, even though Justinian presented himself as neutral. Where the support of such parties mattered, legislative even-handedness was more an illusion than realiÂty. It was important too that these potential rivals did not over-reach themÂselves. To some extent, the church had to be a casualty of laws directed precisely at the threat posed by new and emerging sources of power, even if this position was to be reversed in later centuries, to some extent. But catering for the influÂential components of society in this way was just another means for Justinian to preserve intact the working parts of his empire, by making sure it did not crumble due to squabbling internal factions, and by protecting his own rank at the pinnacle. Law, therefore, operated under the conditions of empire so as to accommodate the practices of different sections of society according to the level of their power and influence, but also to keep them in check.
Following one way or the other could always be interpreted as a sign of weakness: that Justinian was in thrall to the Greeks generally, or to the ancients and the West, or to a particular pressure group. But even if an individual piece of legislation favoured any one of these, Justinian’s overall intention was to creÂate the impression of legislative impartiality, regardless of the reality, and of achieving justice not only through the substantive content of his rulings but also through their language of presentation, and thereby to assert his domiÂnance within his empire, achieve unity and bolster his imperium. The laws seen here do not simply represent Justinian ruling on individual issues; they were also about cultivating an image that he wanted the world to have of him, and which would, he planned, strengthen his imperium in both East and West, preventing it from being undermined and his territory from falling apart. But he was also astute enough to understand the need for the law to cater for those who could de-stabilise this vision, and to use legislation to undercut the growth of rivals to his own power and authority, thus ensuring that law interacted with empire to achieve stability, with him at the helm.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank Edward Cavanagh, Paul du Plessis, and Benet Salway for their comments on earlier drafts of this chapter.