Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages

by Dan Jones

congregations’; a formal schism between the churches of Rome and Constantinople had endured between 484 and 518 over the matter.* And while the imperial capital was staunchly Chalcedonian, large areas outside it were just as steadfastly Miaphysite. These included Egypt, the breadbasket of the empire itself. The prospect of losing the province over a matter of faith was not an enticing one. But it was real. In light of this Justinian was forced to walk a tightrope between Chalcedonians and Miaphysites for his entire reign. He was helped somewhat by the fact that his wife Theodora was herself strongly Miaphysite and went out of her way to shelter members of the sect, thereby giving the impression of imperial evenhandedness. But Justinian never really grasped the problem with the firmness that he had shown in reforming Roman law. The best that could be said was that he avoided escalating the dispute into another official schism in the Christian world. Elsewhere, however, Justinian’s suppressing instinct and pursuit of orthodoxy would be felt rather more deeply. He was an especially keen persecutor of sexual deviance.