one of the fathers of the early Christian church, who flourished in the second century, was born at Flavia Neapolis, near Shechem in Samaria. The exact date of his birth is much disputed, some authorities assigning it to A.D. 89, others to A.D. 118, while others again adopt intermediate dates. He seems to have entered upon the study of philosophy with an ardent desire to arrive at the knowledge of God; but neither the system of the Stoics nor that of the Peripatetics, which he tried in succession, brought him to the knowledge for which he thirsted. The next system which he determined to study was that of the Pythagoreans, but owing to his ignorance of some of the elementary sciences, he was denied admittance to the schools where that philosophy was taught. Foiled in this resolution, he sought refuge in the doctrines of the academy. Expecting to be favoured with a sight of the Divine Being, he was, upon one occasion, walking alone by the sea-shore, when he was met by an old man who pointed out to him the errors of Plato, and advised him to turn his attention to the Jewish prophets as inspired by the Spirit of Truth. For the fifth and last time Justin changed his creed, and about the year 132 made a public profession of Christianity. The Christians, at the time when Justin joined them, were suffering greatly from the false rumours regarding their character and principles, which were industriously circulated by their enemies. One of Justin's earliest acts was to address an Apology to the Emperor Antoninus in defence of his fellow-sufferers. His appeal was so far successful as to gain some little toleration for the new faith. His second Apology, addressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius was called forth by the renewed persecution of the church, but had unfortunately no other effect than that of making its author a conspicuous mark for vengeance. In both these Justinian. Apologies Justin turned to such good account his knowledge of the Greek schools, that Tertullian and many of the early writers called him The Philosopher. About the year 165 Justin was himself called upon to seal his testimony with his blood. He might have saved his life by consenting to offer sacrifice to the heathen gods; but he refused, and his refusal was punished with death. As his life and death had been both in an eminent degree those of one bearing witness to the truth, he became known to posterity as the Martyr.

The writings of Justin are chiefly valuable as having been written at so early a period in the history of Christianity, for they display nothing approaching to genius, and are faulty in method, reasoning, and style. His most important works are the two Apologies already mentioned, and his Dialogue with Trypha, a learned Jew, in which he describes his conversion to Christianity, and defends that faith from Jewish prejudices and assaults. Many other works are attributed to him, of which that on the Unity and Sovereignty of God is alone accepted as genuine. Of the rest the majority are spurious, and the whole at best doubtful.

The best editions of his works are those of R. Stephanus, Paris, 1551-1571, in Greek; of Commelin, 1593, in Greek and Latin; of Prudentius Maranus, 1742; and of Otto, Jena, 1842-4, in 2 vols. Svo, with a valuable preface and notes. The Apologies and the Dialogue with Trypha have been both translated into English; the former by William Reeve, M.A., in 1809; and the latter by Henry Brown M.A., in 1755. A good idea of the life, times, and theology of Justin is given in Bishop Kaye's Writings and Opinions of Justin Martyr, Cambridge, 1829; and a still better in Semisch's two essays on that same subject, Hamburg, 1842, 1848.

JUSTINIAN I., FLAVIUS ANICIUS, surnamed the Great, emperor of Constantinople and Rome, was born in May A.D. 483, at Taurenum in Dardania. His parents were obscure, but his uncle, Justin I., who had risen to a high position in the court of Constantinople, took Justinian under his care, attended to his education, and resolved to further his fortunes. As Justin was without issue, Justinian wisely identified his own interests with those of his uncle, and manifested great zeal in the destruction of certain persons who were considered dangerous to the imperial safety; and as a reward for his services he was appointed commander of the forces in Asia. But he consulted his own interests better by remaining in Constantinople and ingratiating himself with the senate. In A.D. 521, that body raised him to the consulship; and as he still continued to increase in favour, the senate recommended the emperor, who was now old and infirm, to adopt his nephew into a share of the government of the empire. This was done in 527, Justinian having reached the age of forty-four. In a few months afterwards Justin died, and his nephew was crowned by the patriarch of Constantinople. The coronation was accompanied by most magnificent festivals, and vast quantities of money, amounting to 288,000 pieces of gold, were given to the populace. The new emperor persisted in having Theodora, who had been a common actress, crowned along with him as his empress. The first years of this reign were spent in repelling the incursions of the Huns and the Arabs; and an extensive war was carried on in Armenia with the Persians, which ended in an annual payment of 440,000 pieces of gold to Chosroes, the Persian king.

At this time the struggle between the Blue and the Green factions, as they were called, raged within the city; and a conflagration, kindled by them for the sake of massacre, would have cost Justinian his empire but for the courage of Theodora, who exhorted him to fight for his empire to the last extremity. See Constantinopolitan History.

The rebellion was quelled, and Justinian being established on the throne, turned his arms against surrounding enemies. His generals, Belisarius, Germanus, and Narses fought the battles of the empire against the Vandals in Africa, the Goths in Italy and Spain, the Persians in the East, and the countless hordes of Huns, Franks, Bulgarians, Slavonians, and others who were ever ready to invade the imperial dominions when they had the least prospect of plunder. When the successes of the generals above mentioned had restored peace, the emperor turned his attention to the formation of a complete code of laws, the execution of which has conferred great lustre upon his name. (See Civil Law.) He died in November 565, in the eighty-third year of his age, of which he had reigned 38.

The time of Justinian is a bright epoch in history; but when his character and conduct are fairly canvassed, it is found that much of the merit for ability displayed during his reign attaches to others, and much demerit to himself. The glory of the warlike operations carried on against the enemies of the empire, belongs to his faithful generals Belisarius, Germanus, Narses, and others, for Justinian himself was no warrior, nor did he ever enter a field of battle. It is true he supplied his generals with abundant means for carrying on active warfare, but it was by the most merciless rapacity exhibited towards his own subjects. They were often compelled to bring their stores for the supply of the troops without receiving adequate remuneration, and sometimes without any remuneration at all. The emperor could well afford to scatter hundreds of thousands of gold pieces amongst the people, when this money so distributed was quite certain to find its way back to his own treasury by the oppressive taxes which were imposed upon all branches of industry, and by his monopoly of the silk trade. In the same way, at the expense of his subjects, he could gratify his desire for associating his name with art, by building splendid monuments in almost every important town of his empire. Procopius has written a work, De edificiis Justiniani, which contains an account of these buildings; and one of them, the church of St. Sophia, so impressed the emperor when he saw it in all its splendour, at its dedication, that he exclaimed in a transport of delight, that he had surpassed Solomon himself! But besides avarice his character was deformed by religious intolerance. Zealous in the cause of orthodoxy as then professed, he persecuted those who held different opinions from his own, and tried to expel them from his empire; yet he ended by becoming a Nestorian himself. Having risen to power by unscrupulous means, he was naturally suspicious; and his ungenerous treatment of Belisarius has left an indelible stain upon his memory. (See Belisarius.) Although he raised Theodora, who was a mere courtezian, to be his empress in spite of all remonstrance, yet, when he had set his heart upon Amalasuntha, the queen of Theodat, it is pretty certain that he would have sacrificed both Theodora and Theodat in order to gain the object of his desire. It is to his Pandects, Institutes, and Novels, that Justinian is chiefly indebted for his fame; and perhaps his merit in respect of these has been overrated. In private life he was a man of hard application, frugal, and even penurious; for though he frequently helped those who were suffering from the effects of plagues and earthquakes, yet he turned a deaf ear to the complaints of those who were suffering from the rapacity of his ministers.

Justinian II., surnamed Rhinotmetus, succeeded his father Constantine IV., as emperor of the East, and reigned from 685 to 695, and again from 704 to 711. His reign was signalized by his wars and truces with the Saracens and the Christian Maronites of Mount Lebanon, by the dissensions created in the church through his intolerance, the bloody persecution set on foot against the Manicheans, and the insatiable rapacity with which he taxed his subjects in order to raise the means of gratifying his sumptuous tastes. His cruelty and extortions at last maddened his subjects into rebellion. Under the command of the famous soldier Leontius, they rose en masse, dethroned Justinian, cut off Justinus, his nose (from which indignity he obtained the surname of Rhinotmetus), and banished him to the Crimea. Leontius was proclaimed emperor, and after a reign of three years was in his turn dethroned and banished by Tiberius Aba- marus, who wore the purple for seven years. Meanwhile, Justinian, having escaped from the Crimea, had married the daughter of Busiris, the khan of the Khazars. Compelled by the intrigues of Tiberius to quit his new home, he fled to Terbelis, king of the Bulgarians. With an army of 15,000 horsemen he suddenly pounced upon Constanti- nople, slew his old rivals Leontius and Tiberius, with thou- sands of their partizans, and reinstated himself on the throne. Cruelty, rapacity, and disaster marked his second reign. Conspiracies again broke out, and Justinian, to the great joy of the whole Roman world, was at length dethroned and put to death by Philippicus Bardanes, A.D. 711.