Exegesis and Empire in the Early Byzantine Mediterranean (Studies & Texts in Antiquity & Christianity, 17)

The emperor Justinian desired doctrinal unity across the empire and, in doing so, entrusted people like Junillus Africanus to help him formulate and carry out various policies. Junillus Africanus' treatise Handbook of the Basic Principles of Divine Law , composed in Constantinople in the 6th century, was a guide to interpreting God's law as found in the Bible. This influential text advocated a new approach to power, faith and society, and to the relationship between the emperor, the Church and the people. This study presents the Latin text with facing-page English translation along with a long introductory section that outlines Junillus' life and career, how he served the emperor, and the historical and religious background to the period in which the treatise was composed.