en, part of Tribonian’s goal in revising the law was to apply an explicitly Christian flavor to the pagan jurists’ writings collected in the Digest. This was not mere window dressing. The time was fast approaching when pagan beliefs would not only be marginal, but illegal.19
Among the rash of laws passed in the first decade of Justinian’s reign was a decree that pagans were not allowed to teach students. In itself this did not stand out from the other collections of anti-pagan legislation collected in Justinian’s law codes. But its effect on one important institution was soon made clear. John Malalas spelled out what it meant. In an entry covering the year 529, he wrote, “The em
Powers and Thrones
Dan Jones