Tribonian

Tribonian (Greek: Τριβωνιανός [trivonia'nos], – 542) was a jurist and advisor of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine). During the reign of the Emperor Justinian I, he supervised the revision of the empire's legal code. He has been described as one of the wisest collaborators of Justinian.

Tribonian was a Greek from Cyme, who studied law in Constantinople, where he became the most renowned legal scholar of his day. He was a close friend of Emperor Justinian, who appointed him to head the commission that compiled the Codex Justinianus and the Digest. Justinian also appointed Tribonian to high offices in the imperial administration, such as magister officiorum and quaestor sacri palatii, but at the beginning of the Nika riots he was forced to dismiss him on charges made by his enemies. Tribonian died in 542 of a disease, perhaps the plague.