Editing Justinian I (section)

====Authoritarian rule====
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=[[Saint]]
|name          = Justinian the Great
|death_date    =
|feast_day     = 14 November
|venerated_in  = * [[Eastern Orthodoxy]]
* [[Lutheranism]]
|image         = Angel shows a model of Hagia Sofia to Justinian in a vision.png
|imagesize     =
|caption       = Illustration of an angel showing Justinian a model of Hagia Sophia in a vision, by [[Herbert Cole]] (1912)
|birth_place   =
|death_place   =
|titles        = Emperor
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes    = Imperial Vestment
|patronage     =
|major_shrine  = [[Church of the Holy Apostles]], Constantinople
|issues=
|prayer=
|prayer_attrib=
}}

Justinian's religious policy reflected the conviction that the unity of the empire presupposed unity of faith under the [[Chalcedonian Christianity|Chalcedonian Church]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} Those of different beliefs were subjected to persecution, which imperial legislation had effected from the time of [[Constantius II]] and which would now vigorously continue. The ''Codex'' contained two [[statute]]s<ref>''Cod.'', I., xi. 9 and 10.</ref> that decreed the total destruction of [[paganism]], even in private life; these provisions were zealously enforced. Contemporary sources (John Malalas, [[Theophanes the Confessor|Theophanes]], and [[John of Ephesus]]) tell of severe persecutions, including men in high positions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sarris |first1=Peter |title=Justinian: emperor, soldier, saint |date=2023 |publisher=Basic Books |location=London |isbn=9781529365399 |page=279}}</ref>

The original [[Platonic Academy|Academy of Plato]] had been [[Siege of Athens and Piraeus (87–86 BC)|destroyed]] by the Roman dictator [[Sulla]] in 86 BC. Several centuries later, in 410 AD, a [[Neoplatonic Academy]] was established that had no institutional continuity with Plato's Academy, and which served as a center for [[Neoplatonism]] and mysticism. It persisted until 529 AD when it was finally closed by Justinian I. Other schools in Constantinople, Antioch, and Alexandria, which were the centers of Justinian's empire, continued.<ref>Lindberg, David C. "The Beginnings of Western Science", p. 70</ref>

In [[Asia Minor]] alone, John of Ephesus was reported to have [[christianization|converted]] 70,000 pagans, which was probably an exaggerated number.<ref>[[François Nau]], in ''Revue de l'orient chretien'', ii., 1897, 482.</ref> Other peoples also accepted Christianity: the [[Heruli]],<ref>Procopius, ''Bellum Gothicum'', ii. 14; [[Evagrius Scholasticus|Evagrius]], ''Hist. eccl.'', iv. 20</ref> the [[Huns]] dwelling near the [[Don River, Russia|Don]],<ref>Procopius, iv. 4; Evagrius, iv. 23.</ref> the [[Abkhaz people|Abasgi]],<ref>Procopius, iv. 3; Evagrius, iv. 22.</ref> and the [[Tzanni]] in [[Caucasus|Caucasia]].<ref>Procopius, ''Bellum Persicum'', i. 15.</ref>

The worship of [[Amun]] at the [[oasis]] of [[Awjila]] in the [[Libya]]n desert was abolished,<ref name="ReferenceA">Procopius, ''De Aedificiis'', vi. 2.</ref> and so were the remnants of the worship of [[Isis]] on the island of [[Philae]], at the first [[Cataracts of the Nile|cataract]] of the [[Nile]].<ref>Procopius, ''Bellum Persicum'', i. 19.</ref> The [[Presbyter Julian]]<ref>''DCB'', iii. 482</ref> and the [[Longinus (missionary)|Bishop Longinus]]<ref>John of Ephesus, ''Hist. eccl.'', iv. 5 sqq.</ref> conducted a mission among the [[Nabataean]]s, and Justinian attempted to strengthen [[Christianity]] in [[Yemen]] by dispatching a bishop from [[Egypt]].<ref>Procopius, ''Bellum Persicum'', i. 20; Malalas, ed. [[Barthold Georg Niebuhr|Niebuhr]], [[Bonn]], 1831, pp. 433 sqq.</ref>

The civil rights of Jews were restricted<ref>''Cod.'', I., v. 12</ref> and their religious privileges threatened.<ref>Procopius, ''Historia Arcana'', 28;</ref> Justinian also interfered in the internal affairs of the synagogue<ref>''Nov.'', cxlvi., 8 February 553</ref> and encouraged the Jews to use the Greek [[Septuagint]] in their synagogues in Constantinople.<ref name="Maas2005">{{Citation|author=Michael Maas|title=The Cambridge companion to the Age of Justinian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AvjaThtrKYC&pg=PA16|access-date=18 August 2010|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-81746-2|pages=16–}}</ref>

The Emperor faced significant opposition from the [[Samaritan]]s, who resisted conversion to Christianity and were [[Samaritan revolts|repeatedly in insurrection]]. He persecuted them with rigorous edicts, for example, in 529, he banned them from having wills, an intentional act of humiliation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sarris |first1=Peter |title=Justinian: emperor, soldier, saint |date=2023 |publisher=Basic Books |location=London |isbn=9781529365399 |page=283}}</ref> However, he could not prevent reprisals towards Christians from taking place in Samaria toward the close of his reign. 

The [[Manicheans]] too suffered persecution, experiencing both exile and threat of capital punishment.<ref>''Cod.'', I., v. 12.</ref> In Constantinople, c.450, a number of Manicheans, after strict inquisition, were executed by burning.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sarris |first1=Peter |title=Justinian: emperor, soldier, saint |date=2023 |publisher=Basic Books |location=London |isbn=9781529365399 |page=279}}</ref>