(c.483-565) Eastern Roman Emperor, born Tauresium, Illyricum. He was the nephew of Justin I, whom he succeeded. During his reign of 38 years, the most brilliant period of the Byzantine Empire, he warred against the Persians, overcame the Goths and Vandals, conquered Spain, Italy, Sicily, Dalmatia, and Africa, and crushed the Nika revolt in Constantinople. His most enduring work was his codification of the laws, forming the "Corpus Juris Civilis" (system of civillaw). Through the influence of his wife, Theodora, he was friendly to the Monophysites, particularly in the quarrel of the Three Chapters and in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553. Famous as a patron of the arts, he built the churches, now mosques, of Our Lady at Jerusalem and Santa Sophia in Constantinople.