Chapter 8.0-8.5, Humanities Honors
The rise of Christianity
Religion in Rome was polytheistic (they believed in multiple gods) and they were based on the Greek gods
Roman emperors tolerated other religions but expected everyone to be respectful to Roman gods
In 63 BC, Romans conquered Judea and allowed Romanized Jews (Jews who showed respect to Roman gods and laws) to govern Judea
Judea became Roman province
Judea being under Roman rule was under the direction of an official called a procurator (someone is in charge of a province)
Jews were monotheistic (they believed in one god) and refused to respect Roman gods
Many Jews resisted Roman rule and believed God would send the messiah (leader or savior) to save them
What major event occurred in Judea during the time of Roman rule?
Between 6 BC and 4 BC, a Jew named Jesus was born in Judea and many considered him to the be the Messiah that would come and restore order
At 30 years old, Jesus began preaching Christianity, a unique version of Judaism
What were the basic teachings of Jesus?
He performed miracles and delivered his religious teachings
He preached the Jewish belief of a singular god
He based much of his teachings on the Hebrew’s ten commandments
What type of person would Christianity appeal to?
It appealed to many people, mostly the poor
His followers were known as disciples
How did Jesus die? For what reasons did he die?
Many Jews did not accept the idea that Jesus was the messiah
Jesus’ message was equality, this threatened the positions of leading jews
These Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy (contempt for God)
The roman rulers of Judea feared Jesus and his rising popularity
They were scared he might lead a rebellion against Judea
In 29 AD, Jesus was arrested for blasphemy and defying Roman authority
He was crucified, the Romans favored form of capital punishment
The spread of Christianity
After Jesus died, the religion of Christianity began to spread
The Apostles were disciples who became teachers themselves took Jesus’ teachings and called it Christianity
The apostle, Paul, was very influential in the development of Christianity.
Paul helped spread Jesus’ teachings across the Roman Empire
Christianity spread quickly due to roads, trade routes, and common language throughout the peaceful time of Pax Romana
Persecution of Jews and Christians
The Roman empire was under the Reign of Nero
The spread of Judaism and Christianity was seen as a problem by the Roman emperors
Christians and Jews were persecuted by the Romans; many were crucified, exiled, or killed during gladiator events (such as being fed to lions)
Christians who were executed were known as martyrs, those who sacrifice themselves for their beliefs; this only helped spread christianity
Organization of Christian church
Head of church is the Pope, then regional bishops, then priests
Popes later operated in Rome and still do today
Teachings christians beliefs were converted into the text called the Bible
Christianity becomes recognized
Christianity became recognized throughout the Roman empire and gained popularity
In 312 AD, Constantine had a vision of a cross in the sky before a battle and won, becoming open to the idea of Christianity
In 312 AD, the emperor Constantine made christianity legal and saw it was the dominant religion of his empire
Constantine issued the Edict of Milan (in 313 AD), a ruling that gave freedoms and equality to Christians within the Roman empire
Constantine converted to Christianity on his deathbed
In 395 AD, Emperor Theodosius, made christianity the official religion of the Roman empire
Emperor Theodosius ruled from 378 to 395 AD
Did christianity lead to the fall of rome?
Some historians think that christianity helped lead to Rome’s fall
Romans thought more of the afterlife than their day to day life
Christianized Romans were unprepared for the invaders who conquered the Roman Empire
Byzantine Empire
The fall of the Roman empire
After the Pax romana ended, the Roman Empire declined
The Roman empire had a trade imbalance (bought more than they produced)
As Rome went into debt, the military became weak, and the emperors were weak
Emperor Constantine moved the capital to Constantinople
Emperor Diocletian tried saving the empire by dividing it into 4 divisions but he still had final say
By 476, Germanic barbarians conquered the western roman empire
The visigoths sacked Rome in 410 AD
The western roman empire fell into a dark age from 500 to 1300 AD
What happened in the eastern Roman empire?
The eastern roman empire later was known as the Byzantine Empire
While the western empire fell, the eastern empire rose
How did physical geography impact byzantine capital of constantinople?
Constantinople was a crossroad between Europe, Asia, and Africa; trade made the byzantine empire very wealthy
the location on the water (connecting the black sea and the mediterranean sea) made it easily defendable from outsiders
Culture of Byzantine empire
Thought of themselves as Romans
They kept Greco-Roman culture alive
Constantinople became a major center of learning
Schools taught philosophy, medicine, geometry, and Greek and Latin grammar
Had roman style architecture (used arches and domes)
Had forums for business and trade and arenas for entertainment
The Hagia Sophia was a christian church in 360 AD and still stands; it is in Turkey
Byzantines official language was Greek
Justinian was the most famous byzantine emperor
50 years after the fall of the western empire, Justinian rose to power in Byzantine and began reconquering Roman territories lost to Germanic tribes
In addition to empire building, what else did Emperor Justinian value?
He ordered legal experts to consolidate Roman laws into a single law code
This was called the Justinian code; served as the legal basis for criminal justice, marriage, property, slavery, and women’s rights
This law code served as the basis for 900 more years and the legacy of the Byzantine empire
The Justinian code
The Law code: 5000 Roman laws that Byzantine still considered useful
The digest: summarized Roman’s opinions about laws
The institutes: textbook on how to use the laws
The Novellae: Contained all new laws that were passed after the 534 AD
Justinian’s building projects
He ordered the start of many building projects, including the Hagia Sophia
He built hospitals, aqueducts, public baths, and courts
Empress Theodora
Justinian’s wife was Empress Theodora, who had a lot of power of the byzantine empire
She dealt with foreign leaders, advised in issues dealing with other nations, helped pass new laws, and encouraged the building of christian churches
She guarded the empire ruthlessly, ordering the murder of anyone she deemed an enemy
When a rebellion against Justinian rose, she sent the army to slaughter 30,000 people
The empire thrived under her and Justinian’s rule
Religion of Byzantine empire
Byzantine converted to Christianity before people in the western roman empire did
The division of Christianity
Christianity developed differently in the east due to the distance
All christians both in the east and west based their faith on Jesus and the bible
Many differences between the western and eastern religious practices
Christianity was organized the same on both sides of empire
Christians in east and west disagreed over the leadership of the church
Christians in western europe saw the pope as the top authority figure
Eastern European christians believed that the byzantine emperors had authority over church matters
Emperors relied on a religious leader called a patriarch to oversee church matters, but emperors had final say
Byzantine christians did not accept the pope
The biggest controversy was the use of icons (religious images used during prayer and worship)
Some christians thought icons were idol worship (worshipping false images of god)
In 730 AD, the byzantine emperor banned all icons and christians reacted violently
Emperor Leo the second ordered the destruction of all icons in the byzatine empire
Riots broke out of people who wanted icons and iconoclasts (those who wanted to ban icons)
The pope in western europe supported icons and called leo the second a heretic (a believer of false religious ideas)
The pope excommunicated the leo the second (banned him from church)
The great schism occurred in 1054 (the division of christians )
Christians in western europe became the roman catholic church
Christians in eastern europe became the eastern orthodox church
The early Christian churches
Priests led local communities called parishes
Groups of parishes formed a bishopric/diocese headed by a bishop
Then, they were all grouped under the archbishop
According to Church tradition, Jesus had made Peter the Chief Apostle and first bishop of Rome
Peters successors are known as popes
Pope Gregory the first took control of land and made papal states
A monk is a man who seperates himself from society to devote himself to god and lives in a Monastery; this is known as monasticsm
Benedictine Rule divided each day into a series of activities
90% of the work of anciet rome was perserved by monks
They worked as missionaries (people who convert others to christianity)
Nuns are women who seperate themselves from scoeity and devote themselves to god
They lived in convents and were headed by a abbesses
The age of charlemagne
By 500 AD, the western roman empire was replaced with states ruled by german kings
The franks were the only long lasting German state; the Frankish kingdom was established by Clovis
Clovis was the first Germanic ruler to convert to christianity
He gained support from the catholic church
His grandson, Charlemagne, came to unite the three kingdoms into one, creating the Carolingian empire
He promoted learning and it was known as the carolingian renaissance
In 800 AD, the pope named Charlemagne the emperor of the Romans and created the Holy Roman empire
His coronation was the joining of Roman, christian, and Germanic elements