A Short History of the Middle Ages Fourth Edition

Plate 1.12: Mosaic from San Vitale, Ravenna (c.545–c.550). Flanked on one side by churchmen (holding a
cross and a Bible) and on the other by military men (holding spears and a shield inscribed with the sign of
Christ), Emperor Justinian is here depicted in an offertory procession, during which the items for the Mass
are brought to the altar. He himself carries the paten, which contains the Eucharistic bread. By both his
position in the composition and his role in the Mass, he is thus made the link between heavenly and earthly
orders.

The fifth and sixth centuries saw retrenchment in the East. For the first time

emperors issued compendia of Roman laws. The Theodosian Code, which gathered

together imperial “constitutions” (general laws) alongside “rescripts” (rulings on

individual cases), was published in 438. Western barbarian law codes of the sixth

century attempted to match this achievement, but they were overshadowed by the

great legal initiatives of Justinian, which included the Codex Justinianus (529, revised