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Western Civilization
Chapter 7
The World of Late Antiquity
284-600 A.D.
• By the end of the 3rd century, it looked as if
the Roman Empire could crumble
• There were internal and external problems
• Soldier/Emperor Aurelian (270-275 A.D.)
worked to keep this from happening:
– He repulsed Germanic barbarians
– He restored the unity of the Empire
– He tried to stabilize the political structure
– He was then assassinated
Aurelian
Diocletian and Constantine
• In 284 and then again in 306 A.D. 2 military
men became Emperors of Rome
• They tried to stop the steady decline
• They initiated many reforms which gave the
empire a reprieve but did not stop the decline
Diocletian
• Reigned 284 – 305 A.D.
• Was of peasant stock from Dalmatia
• Became a general in the army and adopted
autocratic ways
• Knew what Rome’s problems were
• Acted decisively to restore order, stability, and
prosperity to the empire
• Devised a system for orderly succession and
division of administrative responsibilities
• It was called Tetrarchy or Rule of 4
– Diocletian was at the top with overall rule
– In the East, he named two men to be an Augustus
and a Caesar; those were their titles
– In the West, Diocletian named an Augustus and a
Caesar
– So there would be 4 co-rulers and 4 territorial
units for them to rule called prefectures
– When the Augustus died, the Caesar would
succeed him who would name a new Caesar
– Each Augustus and each Caesar had full governing
authority over each prefecture
Diocletian had the overall authority
1. He did not consult the Senate or the people
2. His words were law
3. He withdrew from public view as much as
possible and established court rituals that had the
air of the divine
4. Diocletian was Lord of the Land
• A bureaucracy was established in each
prefecture, so a more complete control of life was
apparent
• His reorganization was used to aid the military
that the empire needed, but he removed the
military from politics
• He worked to increase military effectiveness
– Had permanent border forces
– Created a mobile cavalry to handle crises as they
arose
– Size of army grew
• Expansion of the bureaucracy and the army
imposed financial burdens on the
government, so he
– Reorganized the tax system
• He taxed land and individuals
• Ordered specific goods& services to be produced to
support the bureaucracy, the courts, & the army
• To keep this working, bureaucrats, laborers, & artisans
had to give service to the state
• There were fixed prices on goods
• He reinstated the worship of old deities
• He wanted to unite people with a state religion
with the emperor seen as divine
• Christians defied Diocletian and were put to
death in 303 and 304 A.D.
• Diocletian abdicated in 305 A.D.
• His succession system failed and civil war
followed
Constantine
• Reigned from 306 – 337 A.D.)
• Claimed throne in 306 as did 5 others
• He used military force to win control of throne
for the entire empire in 324 A.D.
• He continued Diocletian’s policies
– Continued to strengthen the army
– Expanded and tightened bureaucratic controls
– Improved finances
– Had tight control over population
• Constantine added a new religious policy in
313 A.D. called the Edict of Milan; it granted
religious toleration and ended the persecution
of Christians; it gave Christians legal
recognition
• Constantine converted to Christianity
– Some say he wasn’t baptized until he was dying
– He promoted Christian causes
– He built churches, like St. Peter’s in the Vatican
The First St. Peter’s
• Constantine’s laws reflected Christian
influence
• He did little to encourage other religions
• He won the allegiance of Christians
• He changed the capital from Rome to
Byzantium, and it became known as
Constantinople
Byzantium
Constantinople
• Constantine shifted imperial power to the east
• He said Rome was no longer strategically
located
• He wished to freed from the pagan traditions
of Rome
• Rome remained important as the center of
Christianity
• During the 4th century, the number of
Christians grew from 5 million to 30 million
• The reigns of Diocletian and Constantine
seemed to bring order and security to Rome
• These feelings lasted through the reign of
Theodosius I (r. 379 – 395)
• There was some literary and artistic activity –
much of it for the Christian religion
• Old stresses returned after 395
– 1) no true economic recovery
• decline in production
• army used much of what was produced
• taxes were high and fell primarily on aristocrats and
peasants
• As a result:
– 2) decline in public spirit
• recruiting for the army became difficult
• German barbarians filled the ranks
• made for a less effective army - understaffed
– 3.) quality of government deteriorated
• bureaucracy became corrupt
• Pagan resentment toward Christians
• Christianity did not unify but was a dominant force
All these factors combined at the end of the 4th century
to contribute to the crisis that was to come,
the Germanic Barbarian Invasions
Germanic Barbarians
• These barbarians were looking for good
agricultural land on which to settle
• Between the 2nd and 5th centuries grew large
enough to challenge Rome
• Initially, barbarians lived in small villages that
made up clans that made up tribes
– Weak central government
– Loose boundaries
– Tribal leaders
Barbarian Settlement
• They lived by farming
• Wealth was gauged by the number of cattle
held and by the number of wives each man
had
• Wives did the household and farm chores
• Warfare was important
• Warrior groups might include more than one
tribe
• Germanic tribes came into contact with
Romans because of a desire for Roman goods
– They traded cattle for goods; cattle were needed
to feed Roman troops
– Roman goods added to tribe’s wealth
– This trade sometimes created competition among
tribes
• Some tribes made treaties with Rome which
gave them the backing of Rome and added to
a tribe’s prestige
• These tribes were called “Federated” because
of their link with Rome
• Federated tribes agreed to oppose other
tribes hostile to Rome
• Some warrior groups placed their warriors in
the service of Rome
• So the Roman army had many Franks, Goths,
and Saxons
• Tribes without Roman favor had less prestige
• They created an anti-Roman factions that led
to warfare among tribes and with Rome
• Around the end of the 2nd century one o f the
stronger tribes was the Goth and anyone who
fought with the Goths was considered a Goth
• By the early 3rd century, the Goths began
challenging Roman supremacy
• By the 4th century, the Huns were threatening
the Goths
• Most of the Gothic Confederation was
destroyed by the Huns
• Those who survived were called Visigoths
• The Visigoths asked the Romans if they could
cross the Danube and enter the empire to get
away from the Huns
• They asked if they could settle as a nation with
their own king in Roman territory in the
Balkans
• Rome said yes in return for military service
• When Rome didn’t fulfill its promises, the
Visigoths sacked Rome in 410
• This shocked Romans
• Visigoths thought that taking Rome would
make Rome keep to its original bargain
• It didn’t work so Visigoths moved into
Southern Gaul and Spain
• In 418 Rome gave in and accommodated them
• Rome did not fall, but it did change
• Roman accommodation of the Visigoths set a
precedent
• Other barbarians began moving in by the late
5th Century
Vandals
• Vandals passed through Visigoth territory in
406 destroying whatever lay in their path
• They then settled in Africa in 429
• They set up a kingdom there and deprived
Rome of its chief source of grain
• From North Africa, they conducted raids on
the European coast
• In 455, the Vandals crossed the sea to Rome
and pillaged it
Huns
Huns
• Huns invaded Rome under the leadership of
Attila the Hun in the 430s
• They were stopped by Pope Leo I
• Leo met Attila at the city gates and talked
Attila into leaving
• The papacy gained prestige as Protector of
Rome
• The Huns collapsed after Attila’s death in 453
Ostrogoths
• Invaded Italy in 489
• Established the Ostrogothic King Theodoric as
emperor
• An imperial presence in Rome ceased at this
time
Other Barbarian Battles
• The Anglers, Jutes, and Saxons (425) wiped
out Roman outposts in Britain
• They then established themselves in Britain
and Wales
• Burgundians created a kingdom in southern
Gaul and blocked Roman routes between Italy
and Gaul
• Franks and Alemanni occupied northern Gaul
• Franks took over most of Gaul 481-511
• Visigoths were driven out of Gaul by the
Franks and moved into Spain
• The Franks absorbed Burgundians and
Alemanni
• After 480, the Roman emperors resided in the
East
• By 500, the Germans had won the West
• The imperial Roman government was too
weak to get enough troops to keep the
Germanic barbarians out
• Invasions were followed by increasing poverty
• Cities declined, shrinking in size
• This decline meant the end of urban
aristocracies that had been so important in
Greco-Roman civilization
• Peasants learned to work for new Germanic
landowners
• The peasant class grew in size
• Great estates became self-sufficient, selfcontained economic units
• Trade was drastically reduced
• Manufacturing took place on great estates
• Invasions contributed to cultural stagnation in the
West
• Germans could only imitate the Romans
• They weren’t advanced enough to create their
own rich culture
• Destruction to life and property was not excessive
• Germans and Romans co-existed peacefully
except in Britain and near the Rhine River
Byzantine Civilization
395-1100
• Began as a continuation of the old Roman
Empire
• Situated in the East around Constantinople
• This is the area left after Germanic invasions in
the West
• By the 6th century, there were signs of a new
society emerging
• a new name was given to this society -Byzantine
• The change happened during the reign of
Justinian (527-565)
• He is often called the last Roman and first
Byzantine emperor
• He was aided by his wife, Theodora in reading
his people
• Justinian made a major effort to restore the
unity of the old Empire
Justinian and Theodora
• Justinian tried to establish authority over
western areas taken by barbarians
• He was only partially successful; he took N.
Africa, Italy, &S.E. Spain
• He lost them again when he realized he didn’t
have the resources to keep them
• He then concentrated on keeping invaders out
of the East
• Justinian’s reign was important in shaping a
unique governmental system
– He saw himself as a direct descendent of Roman
Emperors
– He worked to perfect the system of absolute
monarchy
– He commissioned a corps of legal experts to
organize a single code of law consistent with
Roman tradition
• This code of law was called Corpus juris civilis
or the Justinian Code
– It summarized Roman law
– It collected legal opinions that defined the
principles behind the laws
– It legitimized Justinian’s highly centralized ,
absolutist government that was unique to
Byzantium
• There were also religious developments
during his reign
– Justinian claimed the right to act as leader of the
Christian Church in his empire
– Church organization and doctrines in the East
were then dependent on the authority of this
autocratic, semi-sacred emperor
• The emergence of a Byzantine culture
– combined classical Hellenistic culture with
Christian ideas
– there were also influences from the Near East,
especially from Persia
– An example of this mix is in Santa Sophia church
built by Justinian in Constantinople
Santa Sophia
Interior
Byzantine Culture
• The major aim was to preserve classical Greek
tradition and adapting it to Christianity
• A vigorous educational system flourished
based on the study of classical Greek literature
and philosophy
• Women were also given this literary education
in their homes
• Classics were collected, commented on, and
imitated
• This ensured the survival of Greek classics
• The most creative thinkers were theologians who
quarreled over dogma and produced writings
combining philosophy with Christian teachings
• Art was shown best through architecture
– Combined Greek and Near Eastern styles
– Santa Sophia Church uses the Greco-Roman
rectangular basilica with a central dome in the Persian
style
– Palaces and churches were frames for decoration
– They used precious metals, jewels, paintings,
mosaics, & fine stone
– These were used to evoke deeper spiritual
understanding
– In every artistic medium was seen the fusion of
Greco-Roman and Oriental styles, elaborate
decoration, color, and a preoccupation with
symbolism
Christianity
• Christianity made it through all the ordeals of
the late western empire’s fall and challenges
from the Roman emperor of the Eastern part
who wanted to totally control the Church
• There were some problems from their
success:
– diluted spiritual fervor
– unclear doctrines
– some heresies
• But the Church set out to solve its problems:
– It strengthened the power of the clergy, especially
the bishops over churches and laity
– Bishops defined Christian behavior and ways to
worship
– They established Church law– Canon Law– and
compelled Christians to obey
• During the 4th century, Christians recaptured
their spiritual vision with the help of monks
and monasticism
– Pious individuals left all worldly things behind
– They sought perfection through prayer
– They gathered in communities
– They accepted the rules of the monasteries
– By the 4th century, monasteries had spread over
much of the Roman world
• Also during the 4th century, Christians accepted
that the bishop of Rome, the Pope, was the
spiritual leader of the Christian world
• They contributed greatly to the culture:
–
–
–
–
built churches
adorned them with paintings and sculptures
inspired poets
had groups of thinkers produce massive amounts of
literature that provided intellectual guidelines, food
for thought
• Augustine
– Was one of these thinkers called a Church Father
– Was a convert to Christianity
– Had Latin education
– Was chosen bishop of the African city of Hippo
– Was an effective pastor
– Ended his life defending his city from Vandals
– Produced many inspirational writings: Confessions
and the City of God
Augustine
• Ambrose
– Thinker
– Bishop of Milan
– His writings set forth the basic principles of
Christian morality
• Jerome
– Was a monk
– Produced a Latin translation of the Old and New
Testaments
– Was called the Vulgate, the standard Latin Bible
for centuries
– Kept the interest in the classical language alive
St. Jerome
• Benedict of Nursia
– Helped to structure communal religious life
– Drafted rules for communal life
– Stressed moderation and a life of poverty, chastity,
and obedience
– Monks worked to have self-sufficient community
• Bishops replaced aristocrats and
bureaucracies, kept order, and administered
justice in some areas