During his reign (527–565 A.D.), Justinian I was known as the “Emperor who never sleeps.” It’s easy to see why. He was the last ruler to try to reconquer the lost western provinces of the old Roman Empire; he issued a code of laws that influenced all of Europe’s law codes and still has an impact today; he married the capable and influential Theodora though she was a commoner; and he ordered the construction of the Hagia Sophia, the most famous church of eastern Christianity.

Scholar Glenn Bugh offers a survey of the history, culture, and law of Justinian’s era. Bugh also discusses his legacy, which is memorialized in Dante’s The Divine Comedy, in Napoleon’s Civil Code, and in the poetry of Ireland’s W.B. Yeats.

6:45 to 8 p.m. Justinian, Architect of Law and Order

The emperor’s military campaigns to restore the lost provinces of the fallen Western Roman Empire mark the last time the Roman Empire spanned the Mediterranean; he ordered a codification of 1,000 years of Roman law.

8 to 9 p.m. Justinian as Grand Builder

The Hagia Sophia and other churches were the architectural inspiration for Islamic mosques; his churches in Italy provide unparalleled representations of Byzantine art in the 6th century A.D.

Bugh is an associate professor of history at Virginia Tech University.

CODE: 1J0-539