A terminological appraisal of the bilingual polysemic nature paradigm conceptualised by Justinian I: approaches from jurisprudence, philosophy and theology

<p dir="ltr">This thesis attempts to trace the ideological undercurrents which shaped the way in which the Latin <i>natura </i>and the Greek <i>φύσις </i>were employed in the texts created under Justinian’s patronage, direct and indirectly. The principal foci of this thesis are the legislative texts promulgated under Justinian, where a <i>φύσις </i>/<i>natura</i>-determined paradigm underscores the entirety of each book. In the <i>Digesta </i>a factually pragmatic nature is the only inferred form of the idea, while in the <i>Novellae </i>particularly but not exclusively, the paradigm is often polarised around a nature ascribed to the Almighty, being always associated with good and purity. Standing opposite is human nature, whose corporeal sinfulness drives it towards an irrevocable flux. This thesis proposes that the author of the Christological treatises which were ascribed to Justinian personally, was also the mind directly responsible for the creation of the inferred φύσις-paradigm of the <i>Codex</i>, <i>Institutiones </i>and <i>Novellae</i>. The author substantiates this claim by illustrating that this polysemic model of the Corpus is observable in the personally authored Christological treatises: same ideology but different contextual terminology.</p>