threatened attack of the _Bulgarians_, who had crossed the Danube on the ice (559). This great general, whose form and stature and benign manners attracted the admiration of the people, as his noble but poorly requited services gave him a right to the gratitude of the sovereign, was accused, in 563, of conspiracy against the life of Justinian. His property was confiscated, but his innocence was finally declared. The story that he was deprived of his eyes, and compelled to beg his bread, is not credited. He died in 565. A few months later _Justinian_ himself died at the age of eighty-three. He has been aptly compared, as to his personal character and the character of his reign, to Louis XIV. of France. Among the many structures which he reared was the temple of St. Sophia at Constantinople, and countless fortresses for the defense of the capital, of the Danube, and of other parts of the exposed frontier. THE CIVIL LAW.--Justinian's principal distinction in history grows out of his relation to legislation, and to the study of the law. He caused a famous lawyer, _Tribonian_, with the aid of a body of jurists, to make those collections of ancient law which are still in force in many countries. The _Code_ included the imperial constitutions and edicts in twelve books (527, 528). This was followed (533) by the _Institutes_, embracing the principles of Roman jurisprudence, which was to be studied in the schools of _Constantinople_, _Berytus_, and _Rome_; and the _Digest_, or _Pandects_, comprising the most valuable passages from the writings of the old jurists, that were deemed of authority. In this last work three million lines were reduced to a hundred and fifty thousand. Finally a fourth work, _The Novels_, embraced the laws of Justinian after the publication of the code (534-565). These works, taken together, form the Civil Law,--the _Corpus Juris Civilis_. They are the legacy of Rome to later times. Humane principles are incorporated into the civil law, but, likewise, the despotic system of imperialism.