...AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE The invading army touched the boarders of Rome, which had been left totally undefended. In 410 C.E. (common area), the Visigoths, led by Alaric, breached the walls of Rome and ravaged the capital of the Roman Empire. The Visigoths looted, burned, vandalized, and pillaged their way through the city, leaving a trail of destruction wherever they went. The plundering continued for three days. For the first time in nearly a millennium, the city of Rome was in the hands of someone other than the Romans. This was the first time that the city of Rome was sacked, but by no means the last. Constantine and the Beginning of Christianity One of the many factors that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire was the rise of a new religion, Christianity. The Christian religion, which was monotheistic (to believe in one god), ran counter to the traditional Roman religion, which was polytheistic (many gods). At different times, the Romans persecuted the Christians because of their beliefs, which were popular with the poor. This 16th-century medal depicts Attila the Hun, one of the most vicious and aggressive invaders of all time. In 313 C.E., Roman emperor Constantine the Great ended all persecution and declared toleration for Christianity. Later that century, Christianity became the official religion of the Empire. This extreme change in policy spread this rather new religion to every corner of the Empire. By approving Christianity, the Roman state directly...
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...The Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire is the eastern Greek portion of the Roman Empire, sometimes termed the Later or Eastern Roman Empire. The Byzantine Greeks presented themselves as Romans and their Empire as the Roman Empire. They perceived themselves as the prolongation of the Roman Empire and on no account utilized the term "Byzantine" to present themselves (Frucht, 2004). For the reason of administration, Diocletian (who ruled about 284-305) segmented the dominion of the empire among four emperors. He administered the eastern part of the empire (McMeans & Teacher Created Resources, 2010). The Empire was reunified in 324 when, conquered all his foes, and became the dominant authority of the entire empire. The Byzantine Empire may then be dated to Constantine's development of a second capital; that he modelled on Rome, at Byzantium (Frucht, 2004). So from the establishment of this city as a second Rome, the division of east from west was developed, and the east soon came out as the prevailing half. In 330, Constantine the Great relocated the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople. There were a few reasons for that; one was that the city was a splendid defensive position. Secondly it approached the wealthy Eastern cities of the Empire and was close to the Military outposts edge with the Empire's principal rival, Persia (Frucht, 2004). Constantine also endorsed the initiation of Christianity from Constantinople. The eastern section of the Empire talked Greek as...
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...The Roman Empire: The Rising in the East and the Setting in the West The Roman Empire has endured many hardships in the past with conflicts involving expansion of the land, warfare, and political justice. During the 5th Century, many argued whether the Roman Empire had fallen or flourished due to the situations handled by both the Western and Eastern Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire was the Latin speaking empire. It was also known as the barbarian kingdom and became the declining empire in the 5th Century. The Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire, was the Greek speaking empire that flourished and revived Rome’s optimistic idealism. Although the Western Empire began to fall, the Eastern Empire rose and covered up the...
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...rebuild the Roman Empire in one day, nevertheless the real question is how could one of the most powerful ancient empires fall? Over the years, historians have attributed the fall of the Roman Empire to many different factors. I believe that immigration played the biggest role in the fall of the Roman Empire...
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...churches, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches. There are numerous independent churches of Christians in the Eastern region such as Eastern Orthodoxy. Over the years, Christianity gained fame in Roman Empire after the introduction of Christian Roman emperors such as Constantine. The aim of this essay is to provide a description of the rise of Christianity during the Roman Empire. In the early centuries, the followers of Jesus spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. It is believed that Paul constructed a church in Rome. The majority of the first Christian groups were from the east, in Egypt, there was Alexandria as well as Jerusalem and Antioch. Due to Christianity teachings of the theology of love, caring for the orphans, widows, and sick, and stance against infanticide, abortion, and adultery it gained believers among...
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... | | Byzantine Empire 330 C.E. to 1453 C.E. --- Only in the eastern Mediterranean did a classical empire survive. The eastern half of the Roman empire, known as the Byzantine empire, withstood the various problems that brought down other classical societies and survived for almost a millennium after the collapse of the western Roman empire in the fifth century C.E. --- The Byzantine empire was a political and economic powerhouse of the postclassical era. Until the twelfth century, Byzantine authority dominated the wealthy and productive eastern Mediterranean region. The Byzantine empire also deeply influenced the historical development of the Slavic peoples of eastern Europe and Russia. Byzantine missionaries and diplomats introduced writing, Christianity, codified law, and sophisticated political organization into lands settled by Slavic peoples. Because Byzantine political, economic, and cultural influence stretched so far, historians often refer to it as the “Byzantine commonwealth.” Just as Greek and Roman initiative brought Mediterranean lands into a larger integrated society, Byzantine policies led to the formation of a large, multicultural zone of trade, communication and interaction. --- The Byzantine empire takes its name from Byzantion - latinized as Byzantium – a modest market town and fishing village that occupied a site of ...
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...asked is what attributed to the fall of the Roman Empire? Was it the adoption of Christianity in 380 AD? Or the relentless barbarian hordes that plundered and sacked Roman cities only a few decades later? Or a combination of both? The facts are that Theodosius the Great, being the last true emperor of a unified Rome, officially made Christianity the state religion in 380 AD. He ordered the conversion of all roman temples be either converted into Christian churches or destroyed. Practicing any of the former pagan religions was considered an act of treason and punishable by death. He ordered this conversion in both the seat of the empire in the west and in the eastern capital Constantinople. Fifteen years after the adoption in 495 AD, Theodosius died and the Roman Empire split into two halves: The west, now controlled by Theodosius’ son Honorius and the east, controlled by his other son Arcadius. This begins the ultimate demise of the empire as it was currently known. 410 AD, after 800 years of security, Rome is conquered and sacked by the Visigoth’s lead by Alaric I. Being only 30 years after the adoption of Christianity as the state religion it is hard to argue the role it may have played in this destruction. However barbarians are by no means a new threat. Rome struggled for centuries before containing the threats of pagan tribes such as the Visigoths, Vandals, Alani, Allemanni, and even the Huns lead by the notorious Attila. The empire, at least the western half, has been in decline...
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...ARTISTIC IDEAS OF BYZANTINE Byzantine art is the artistic products of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from Rome's decline and lasted until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe, as well as to some degree the Muslim states of the eastern Mediterranean, preserved many aspects of the empire's culture and art for centuries afterward. A number of states contemporary with the Byzantine Empire were culturally influenced by it, without actually being part of it (the "Byzantine commonwealth"), such as Bulgaria, Serbia, and the Rus, as well as some non-Orthodox states the Republic of Venice and Kingdom of Sicily, which had close ties to the Byzantine Empire despite being in other respects part of western European culture. Art produced by Eastern Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire is often called "post-Byzantine." Certain artistic traditions that originated in the Byzantine Empire, particularly in regard to icon painting and church architecture, are maintained in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day. Byzantine Mosaics (c.500-843) Using early Christian adaptations of late Roman styles, the Byzantines developed a new visual language, expressing the ritual and dogma of the united Church and state. Early on variants flourished in Alexandria and Antioch...
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...The Rise and Spread of Islam •The Post Classical Period: Faith and Commerce - Spread of major world religions o Budhism o Christianity o Islam 1. Spread through preaching, trade routes - Development of Systematic o Boat trade 2. Indian Trade spread disease, religion, ideas - Three Big Ideas o Trans-regional communication and exchange networks o Forms of state organize. Diversify o All societies increased productive capacity • Pre-Islamic Arabia - Bedoin culture based on Kin/clan/tribal networks o Survival dependent on loyalty to clan o Magnified by harsh environment - Shayks- clan/tribal leaders o Conflict was frequent o Society was fragmented - Fierce inter clan rivalries and struggles for resources o Emphasis on revenge, “male honor” - Towns and long distance trade----Mecca and Medina o Medina (Yathrib) (established on oasis) o Mecca more important – Umayyad (ruling clan) – Quraysh; (Ka’ba) - Status of women varied by clan o More respect vs. less respect - Little art/architechture (no big civs) o Focus on poetry 1. Gives glimpse into daily life - Bedovin religions- blend of animism and polytheism o Animism- nature worship - The life of Myhammad and Genesis of Islam o Born around 570 CE – Merchant, married Khadijah ...
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...Etruscan family. 3) A republic is a state or country where the ruler is elected by the people and the citizens have the right to vote. 4) The Roman military were well-trained who were organized into legions. They were happy to fight. 5) 6,000-10,000 soldiers were in a legion. 6) The Roman Confederation was a system where people got citizenship under the Roman law. 7) A Roman dictator is a ruler with absolute control in an emergency situation. In an empire it isn't just for an emergency. 8) Cininnatus was a former consul who ran a farm. He was called to be dictated when Rome was surrounded by enemies. He surrounded the enemies overnight and stopped supplies from coming in. 9) There were the patricians and the plebians. The patricians were wealthy land-owning citizens. The plebians were the commoners, so basically everyone else. 10) The tree branches were the senate, assembly, and consul. 11) They revolted because the patricians didn't tell them the laws and the plebians couldn't run office. What happened was that the plebians got to run assembly. Also the laws were posted in the marketplace. They were posted on the twelve tables. 12) They were called the twelve tables. 13) Carthage is at the northern tip of Africa. Carthage and Rome faught in wars because they wanted land. 14) In the first Punic war the Carthagians and Romans both wanted control of Sicily. Rome built a navy from designs of a ship-wrecked Carthagian ship. In the...
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...The Roman Empire The Roman Empire was one of the strongest empires in all of mankind. The Roman Empire has such a rich history and shows how power and strategic tactics can run an empire efficiently. The Roman Empire was characterized by an autocratic form of government which meant the top leaders made all the important decisions. They had a large territorial area around the Mediterranean which went into present day Europe, Africa, and Asia. Rome history starts at the time it was know as Rome Republic and was ran by royal Rome. There Imperium was in command and are represented by consuls and the senate and assembly. Rome in their Republic they started their conquest as they fought Carthage in three Punic Wars. Carthage main advantage was their navy and Hannibal was leading Carthage to victory over Rome and take over. But Rome had its own power in Scipio Africanus and he ended Hannibals victory run and they were able to hold Carthage back and became the the power of the west with a great strategic army. The fall of the Republic started with Julius Caesar he mid wife of the Roman Empire and was more of a dictator figure. Julius Caesar was part of the first triumvirate of the new Roman Empire. He was ulitmately betrayed at the end of his term. Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, would take over after Caesars untimely end. He lead Rome to its second triumvirate and was the first empire of Rome. After Emperor Augustus took over and was a very low profile ruler and...
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...that make and unmake emperors. Most emperors now no longer be of Roman origin. The Severan dynasty (Septimius Severus, Caracalla, Heliogabalus and Alexander Severus) from 196 to 235 is from Libyan and Syrian origins and is based on the army of Illyria (Yugoslavia). A period of fifty years of political anarchy succeeds, there are several emperors same time. In 284, Diocletian General (of Illyrian origin) takes power. In order to defend the empire and peacefully resolve the issue of the transfer of power, he imagines the system of tetrarchy (four people sharing power). But the system does not work after the resignation of Diocletian...
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...The history of the world is the history of humanity, beginning with the Paleolithic Era. Distinct from the history of Planet Earth (which includes early geologic history and prehuman biological eras), world history comprises the study of archeological and written records, from ancient times on. Ancient recorded history begins with the invention of writing.[1][2] However, the roots of civilization reach back to the period before the invention of writing. Prehistory begins in the Paleolithic Era, or "Early Stone Age," which is followed by the Neolithic Era, or New Stone Age, and the Agricultural Revolution (between 8000 and 5000 BCE) in the Fertile Crescent. The Neolithic Revolution marked a change in human history, as humans began the systematic husbandry of plants and animals.[3][4][5] Agriculture advanced, and most humans transitioned from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle as farmers in permanent settlements. Nomadism continued in some locations, especially in isolated regions with few domesticable plant species;[6] but the relative security and increased productivity provided by farming allowed human communities to expand into increasingly larger units, fostered by advances in transportation. World population[7] from 10,000 BCE to 2,000 CE. The vertical (population) scale is logarithmic. As farming developed, grain agriculture became more sophisticated and prompted a division of labor to store food between growing seasons. Labor divisions then led to the rise of a leisured...
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...Decline of the Roman/Han/Gupta Empires Diverse Interpretations Assignment COMPARISONS TO FOCUS ON: * The causes for the decline of the Roman, Han and Gupta Empires * Understanding of how and why the collapse of the empire was more severe in Western Europe than it was in the Asian Empires. * Comparison of the role that religions played in the declines * The impact of missionary outreach of the Christians and Buddhists in these empires RESOURCES * Upshur – “The Decline of Empires” * Stearns - Decline of Empires. * Frank Smitha - “Decline and Fall” * Johnson and Johnson – “Why Don’t Empires Last?” * Spodek – “China and Rome: How do they compare?” * Bulliet pages 168-170 and 186-189. ASSIGNMENT 1. Construct a Venn comparing and contrasting the causes for decline of the Roman, Han and Gupta empires. Information will come from the documents and not the lecture…you already wrote the lecture notes once, why write them again? Rome Han similarities Gupta 2. Write 3 comparative analytical mini-paragraphs about the decline of empires. (generalization, facts, analysis…) Remember that analysis answers the question “why?” Example: The AP World History teachers have very different tastes in beverages. Ms. Forswall likes tea while Ms. Patch likes cola. Green tea and Earl Grey are Ms. Forswall’s favorites; they taste nothing like Pepsi or Coke because soft drinks are much sweeter. Ms. Patch usually chooses a diet style of...
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...West they became known as the Huns. The Huns who were traveling westward across the grasslands of Central Asia until they appeared in Southeastern Europe in the last days of the Roman Empire (370 A.D.). It was there and in Central Europe that they built a massive empire of their own. Another nomadic group called the Alani, who lived on between the plains of Volga...
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