"Designed as an accessible introduction to Justinian's reign and his time, The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire offers readers and researchers a mix of descriptive chapters, biographical sketches, and annotated primary documents. An overview of the world of Late Antiquity is presented in the introduction, and is followed by chapters on the shape of the Empire, the Nike revolt of 532, the legal achievements of Justinian, the Empress Theodora, and Justinian's building program. The narrative chapters conclude with a section discussing the imperial achievements as a whole. An annotated bibliography and index are also included in this work. "--Jacket.