Question 1

True or false: Justinian's legal code, the Corpus Juris Civilis, is the basis for modern civil law in many European countries.

Accepted Answer

True. His commission streamlined Roman law into a digest and code, profoundly influencing continental European legal systems.

Question 2

True or false: Justinian's reign saw the first recorded outbreak of bubonic plague in Europe.

Accepted Answer

True. The Plague of Justinian (541–549) killed millions, marking the first documented pandemic of bubonic plague in Europe.

Question 3

True or false: Justinian personally led his army to recapture Rome from the Ostrogoths in 540.

Accepted Answer

False. His general Belisarius actually recaptured Rome; Justinian never led troops, preferring to rule from Constantinople.

Question 4

True or false: Justinian I never set foot in the Hippodrome of Constantinople during his reign.

Accepted Answer

False. He was a frequent attendee, using the Hippodrome for public appearances and chariot races; the Nika riots erupted there in 532.

Question 5

True or false: Justinian's wife Theodora was a former actress and wool-spinner before becoming empress.

Accepted Answer

True. She worked as an actress and wool-spinner before marrying Justinian, later co-ruling as empress and famously strengthening his resolve during the Nika Revolt.

Question 6

True or false: Justinian banned the teaching of Greek philosophy, including Plato and Aristotle.

Accepted Answer

False. He closed the Neoplatonic Academy in Athens in 529, but this was a political act, not a blanket ban on philosophy; many texts survived.

Question 7

True or false: Justinian I was the last Roman emperor to speak Latin as a native language.

Accepted Answer

True. Born in Tauresium (modern North Macedonia), he was a native Latin speaker, while later Byzantine emperors used Greek.

Question 8

True or false: Justinian ordered the complete destruction of the Hagia Sophia after an earthquake.

Accepted Answer

False. The Hagia Sophia was destroyed by fire during the Nika riots in 532, not by Justinian's order or an earthquake. He then rebuilt and greatly expanded it, completing the new structure in 537.

Justinian I Trivia Questions