Justin THE Gnostic, who flourished towards the close of the second century, has only recently become known to us through the Philosophoumena of Hippoly- tus (V, 22; X, 15), and of his personal history and ori- gin very little information has come down to us. His system has a Judaizing cast, and is mostly based upon a mystical interpretation of Genesis. He propagated his doctrines secretly, binding his disciples to silence by solemn oaths. In his gnosis Justin made use of (irei'k mythology, especially the tradition of the twelve conflicts of HcrciUes. He assumes three original prin- ci](les, two male and one female. The last he iden- tities with Eden, which marries^ Elohim, and becomes thus the mother of the angels of the spirit-world. The tree of life in Paradise represents the good, the tree of knowledge the evil angel*. The four rivers are sj^m- bols of the four divisions of angels. The Naas, or the serpent-spirit, he made, imlike the Ophites, the bearer of the evil principle-, he committed adultery with Eve, and a worse crime with Adam ; he adulterated the laws ofMnsesaiid the oracles of the prophets-, he nailed Jesus to till! cross. But by this crucifixion Jesus was emanci- jiated from his material body, rose to the good God to wliom he committed his spirit in death, and thus became tlic deliverer.— Schaft", Church History, i, 242, 243. See Gnosticisji.
Justin oi'- Sicily. See Jcstixl's.
Justin I, or the Elder, Roman emperor of the East, boru A.U. 450, was originally a swineherd. The sol- diers of the Prajtorian band forced him to accept the imperial dignity on the death of Anastasiiis in 618. lie is noted in ecclesiastical history for his interference iu belialf of the orthodox bishops who had been banished by the Arians, but whom he recalled, and for several eilicts which he published against the Arians. Hearing of the destruction of Aiitioch by an carlliquake, he laid aside the imperial robe, clothed liimself in sackcloth, and I'.issed several days in fasting and prayer, to avoid di- \ me Midgment. He rebuilt that city and other places \y\nrh were destroyed by the same calamitv. He died m ;.•-'.. See Smith, Diet, of Or. and Horn. Biog. ii, 677 sq.
Justina, St., is said to have been born at Antioch, ol( hristian i)arents,and to have siifTcrcd martyrdom at ^ifomidia 111 aol. St.Cyiiriaii,surnamed the Magician, IS rtiargcd with the attempt of her seduction by magic, and that lior conduct led him to embrace the Christian laith. Diirmg the persecution ordered bv Diocletian and Mpiuuan they were arrested together, and, after sulknng torture with great firmness, were sent to Dio-
cletian at Nicomedia. The latter caused them at once to be beheaded. The Greek Church commemorates them on the 2d of October, and the Roman Church on the 26th of September. The empress Eudocia, wife of Theodosius the Younger, -ftTote a poem in three cantos in honor of St. Justina and St. Cyprian. See Photius, Bibliotheca, cap. cLsxxiv ; Tillemont, Memoires, vol. v ; TtMT^m, Biblioth. des Auteurs Eccles. au troisieme siecle; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, xxvii, 309.
Justina of Padua, St., patroness of Padua, and, together with St. Mark, of Venice also. According to the hagiographers, she was a native of the former city, and suffered martjTdom there in 304, under Diocletian, and accortling to others under Nero. We have no de- tails on the event, however. Her relics, which were lost, were recovered (?) in 1177, and are preserved in a church of Padua which bears her name. In 1417 a con- vent of Benedictines in the neighborhood reformed their rules, taking the name of Congregation of St. Justina of Padua. This reform was followed by another in 1498, under the care of Luigi Barbo, a Venetian senator, whom pope Alexander VI created first abbot of the or- der. The congregation spread, and the monastery of Mount Cassin, having joined it in 1504, was made its head-quarters by Julius II. INIoreri considers the legend of this saint's miracles as fabulous, yet the Roman Church commemorates her on the 7th of October. See Tille- mont, Hist, de la Persecution de Diocletian, art. 55 ; Bail- let, Vias des Saints, Oct. 7th. — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gener. xxvii, 310.
Justinian I, the Great (Flavius Anicius Justin- lANus), emperor of the East, was born in 483 of an ob- scure faraib'. He shared the fortunes of his uncle Justin, who, from a common Thracian peasant, was raised to the imperial throne, and, after the death of his uncle, Aug. 1, 527, was himself proclaimed emperor. He obtained great military successes over the Persians through his celebrated general Belisarius, destroyed the empire of the Vandals in Africa, and put an end to the dominion of the Ostrogoths in Italy, which successes restored to the Roman empire a part of its vast possessions. But Jus- tinian was by no means satisfied with the renown of a conqueror. Learned, unweariedly active, and eccle- siastically devout, he aspired to the united renown of a lawgiver, theologian, and champion of the genuine Christian orthodoxy as well ; and his, in some respects, brilliant reign of nearly thirty years is marked by ear- nest though unsuccessful efforts to establish the " true faith" for all time to come. Indeed, he regarded it as his especial mission to compel a general uniformity of Christian belief and practice, but by his persistency only increased the divisions in church and state, as he was greatly misguided by his famous wife, who, though ani- mated by great zeal for the Church, was blindly devoted to the Monophysites. ' Yet, however unfortunate the ef- forts of Justinian in behalf of Christian orthodoxy re- sulted, so much is certain, that his aim ^vas noble and lofty, and that he was actuated by the holiest of pur- poses. It is said of him that he spent whole nights in prayer and fasting, and in theological studies and dis- cussions, and that he placed his throne under the espe- cial protection of the Virgin Mary and the archangel Jlichael. He adorned the capital and the provinces with costly temples and institutions of charity. Among the churches which he rebuilt was that of St. Sophia at Constantinople, which had been burned in one of the civil commotions. This church is esteemed a master- piece of architecture. The altar Avas entirely of gold and silver, and adorned with a vast number and variety of precious stones. It was by this emperor that the fifth (Ecumenical Council was convened at Constantinople (A.D. 653) to secure the end for which Justinian was personally laboring— the union of the Church and the extirpation of heresies. His fame, however, rests chief- ly on his great ability as legislator. Determined to c< 1- lect all previous legislative Roman enactments, he in-