ABSTRACT
John Malalas includes in his chronicle two direct references to Justinian's codification of the laws; furthermore he alone of the contemporary or near-contemporary accounts records the prohibition on the teaching of philosophy and law at Athens, and in addition he manages to devote a sentence every now and again to Justinian's later legislation. Malalas, in his 74 pages on Justinian's first thirty-six years as emperor, has as many references to legislation as he does in the previous eight books in which he covers the five and a quarter centuries since the birth of Christ in just under 200 pages. Malalas' first reference contains a simple statement about Justinian's codification of previous emperors' legislation. If it can be accepted that Malalas made use of official notices, this has ramifications for the study of his chronicle, or at least offers scope for new investigations.
