History of The Jews in The Byzantine Empire - Justinian Code: 527-565

Justinian Code: 527-565

The Civil Code of Justinian tightened the regulations on the ownership of Christian slaves by non-Christians. It abolished compensation for illegal purchases of Christian slaves, and added a 30 lb gold fine for this offense. Jews owning Christian slaves during the time of Justinian could be punished by execution.

In 545, Justinian legislated that the right of existence of any synagogue on land belonging to an ecclesiastical institution be nullified. He was also the first emperor to order that existing synagogues be converted into churches. There is, however, only one example of such a conversion taking place by force: the synagogue in Borem. This synagogue was most likely converted for military reasons, in light of its strategic position on the frontier with the territory of the Berber tribes. In fact, Justinian banned all non-Christian places of worship in northern Africa, in legislation that grouped Jews with pagans and heretics. This legislation was hardly enforced, but set a precedent for the violability of synagogues and the blurring of the difference between Jews and other non-Christians. Once more, this represents the divergence between the Empire's theological objectives, its pragmatic goals and its capability to enforce its legislation. The poor efficacy of legislation points to the dominating power of the latter in restraining the two former factors, which, in this case, coincided.

In terms of symbolic legal roles, the Jews also found that they were positioned somewhere between other non-Christians and the Christian majority. For instance, Justinian demanded that Passover be shown as subservient to Easter; in cases in which the former would fall before the latter, the Jews were forbidden from celebrating it on its appointed day, and were compelled to delay it. Jews were also forbidden from giving testimony concerning Christians in a court of law—a restriction already present in the Theodosian code—although Justinian eased this restriction in 537 to allow them to testify in cases between Christian individuals and the state. This privilege was not enjoyed by any other non-Christian group. Once more, the state sacrificed the doctrinal subordination of the Jews in order to gain practical benefits, in this case testimony against those who faced it in court.

Questions of internal Jewish discourse—which could, under the Theodosian Code, be arbitrated only by Jewish courts—could, under the Justinian Code, be officiated by the state, a power which Justinian did not shy away from utilizing. In 553 for instance, Justinian required that the public reading of the Pentateuch proceed in vernacular, rather than Hebrew, and forbade altogether the reading of the Mishna. In this way, Justinian not only restricted the religious freedom of the Jews, but also expanded his own power in order to reinforce the principle that, "in theory, there is no area that falls outside of the Empire's legislative power". Justinian's restrictions were, however, poorly enforced. Ironically, what little enforcement they did enjoy contributed to a notable growth in Jewish culture and liturgy. For instance, the banning of the reading of Mishna prompted Jewish scholars to write the piyutim, important works of poetry which refer strongly to the Mishna. Because these were not banned by the Civil Code, they afforded Jews the ability to circumvent it. Accordingly, this form of religious expression flourished under Justinian.