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ANTH 489 Romans, Arabs and Vikings. Seafaring in the Mediterranean during the Early Christian Era. Class 4: The Mediterranean Sea. Late Antiquity and the East-West split: from Diocletian to Theodosius (284-395 AD). The term Byzantine Empire was introduced in western Europe in 1557, inspired from the city of Byzantium by a German historian named Hieronymus Wolf. Migrations AD 200 – AD 400 After AD 250, with the invasion of Greece by the Goths, a series of migrations from the East started pressing the Roman Empire. The Goths: TIMELINE 284-305: Diocletian (286-305: Maximian) 305-306: Galerius and Constantius Chlorus (augustus), and Severus and Maximinus (caesars); 306-313: Turmoil; Constantine I succeeds his father (Constancius Chlorus), 313-324: Constantine I and Licinius 312: Constantine I converts to Christianity 324-337: Constantine I 325: Council of Nicea 330: Constantine declares Constantinople capital of the Christian Empire Diocletian (AD 284-305) In AD 286 Diocletian divided the empire, ruling in the East (AD 286-305). The West was ruled by Maximian (AD 286-305). The first phase (sometimes referred to as the Diarchy, 'the rule of two') involved the designation of the general Maximian as co-emperor - firstly as 'Caesar' (junior emperor) in 285, followed by his promotion to 'Augustus' in 286. 1 Diocletian took care of matters in the Eastern regions of the Empire while Maximian similarly took charge of the Western regions. In 293, feeling more focus was needed on both civic and military problems, Diocletian (with Maximian's consent) expanded the imperial college by appointing two Caesares (one responsible to each Augustus) - Galerius and Constantius Chlorus. The two Caesares were intended as the future successors to the two Augusti, which should be abdicated after 20-years term of rule. The first Tetrarchy was therefore created. Each half of the empire was divided into Prefectures (two), these were divided into Dioceses, and these into Provinces. Military affairs were ruled at the prefecture and diocese levels. Military chiefs were the Dux, who had jurisdiction over the army in one or several provinces. Map of the Roman Empire ca. 395, showing the dioceses and praetorian prefectures of Gaul, Italy, Illyricum and Oriens (east), roughly analogous to the four Tetrarchs' zones of influence after Diocletian's reforms. Constantine I (AD 311-337) Following a short period of turmoil – Constantine I (AD 272-337) re-united the empire, transferred the capital to Byzantium (AD 324), which he renamed Constantinople. Edict of Milan in 313, which fully legalized Christianity in the Empire. Council of Nicaea in 325. Although the Tetrarchic system only lasted until c. 313 many of its aspects survived. The four-fold regional division of the empire continued in the form of Praetorian prefectures, each of which was overseen by a praetorian prefect and subdivided into administrative dioceses. Byzantine Empire Crisis in the 3rd century determined the emergence of a new social order. Population decline lead to lack of labor in the fields, a decline in commerce, and a decay in city life. Followed an economic crisis, which put stress on the administrative structure. The loss of power of the public administration brought stress in the social structure: the first effect was the destruction of both the urban middle class and the small owners in the country. Commerce decayed and the Mediterranean Sea became dangerous, threatened by piracy and the destruction of the extensive trust-based merchant network that fueled commerce during the Roman empire. The result was a series of political and social upheavals. The dissolution of the imperial power was accompanied by a growth of the great estates. 2 Compounded with the rise of a centralized religious bureaucracy (from AD 394 onwards), the rise of a local landed aristocracy brought the end of the Roman social order. Followed a period known as the Middle Ages. The emperor was no longer the first of a system of magistrates but an absolute ruler in control of a centralized bureaucracy. Christianity provided spiritual unity and moral support of absolutism throughout the empire. But the Church never stopped to grow as a bureaucratic entity and never stopped corroding the power of the emperor. The emperor’s power eroded during the following centuries, until the rise of the modern state, in the 15th century, the princes eventually lost the two most important state monopolies: justice and taxation (Feudalism: the lord of this castle ruled unchallenged over his territory. Even if he swore allegiance to his king) TIMELINE 337-361: Constantius II (son of Constantine) 361-363: Julian (son of a half brother of Constantine) 363-364: Jovian (soldier) 364: Valentinian (son of Jovian, chose to rule the West leaving the Eastern Empire to his brother Valens) 364-378: Valens (brother of Valentinian, killed by the Visigoths at Adripole) 378-379: Gratian 379-395 – Theodosius I Although claiming to rule over the Roman empire, Byzantines had to cope with a series of new states, which emerged from the collapsing empire. Byzantines never looked upon these new states as equals. There was a complex hierarchy within a new order, best described as a Christian ecumenical jurisdiction. In AD 364 emperor Valentinian (AD 364-375) divided the empire between himself (West) and his brother, the Eastern Emperor Valens (AD 364-378). The Western Empire entered a period of decadence, and in AD 410 the Visigoths sacked Rome. 3 After several invasions (by the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and Huns) Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman emperor in the West, was deposed in AD 476. TIMELINE 378-395: Theodosius I the Great 395-408: Arcadius 408-450: Theodosius II (son of Arcadius) 450: Pulcheria (sister of Theodosius II) 450-457: Marcian (soldier; married Pulcheria after Theodosius's death) In the East emperor Theodosius I (378-395) had made Christianity the official religion of the empire in AD 394, and outlawed all the other religions. Theodosius I (AD 378-395) During his reign the Goths were granted the right to settle large amounts of land along the Danube frontier in the diocese of Thrace and enjoyed an unusual degree of autonomy. The East remained relatively quiet under Theodosius. The Saracens rejected their previous treaty of AD 377 with the Romans and resumed their raids once more along the frontier from Arabia to Syria (around AD 383). The Persians maintained good relations with the Romans. Armenia remained a potential source of conflict between the two powers until they reached agreement upon the division of this country in 387. In AD 529 emperor Justinian (AD 483-565) will forbid the teaching of Classical philosophy, replaced by Christian theology. A new social structure and a new economic structure evolved in the Eastern Roman Empire and brought a new political and administrative system, which came to be known as the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire is a time of heavy trials and tribulations. With the decline of the city-based ‘middle class’ people turned to religion, the majority saw an increasing tying to the soil, and the cosmopolitan Roman attitude was replaced by religious dogma. 4 Dogma and centralized power created the conditions for the rise of a religious class whose power grew steadily throughout the next millennium. The emperor’s power slowly eroded, as the religious bureaucracy consolidated its own. But the early Byzantine period is characterized by the al-embracing power of an emperor chosen by God, who is the highest military commander, the supreme judge, the only legislator and the defender of the Church and Orthodoxy. During this early period there is still a residual power in the senate, in the city populations (organized in demes, urban militias were charged with the defense of the walls), and in the military hierarchy. A powerful court developed around the emperor, borrowing oriental elements into its complex protocol. The Byzantine state had a powerful administrative machine, with a well-trained and highly differentiated civil service, an excellent legal system, and a superb military machine. Its economy stood on a highly developed financial system and its golden coinage was the main stay of its economy. Inheriting the best of the Greek and Roman cultures, the Byzantines’ world nevertheless different. Ostrogorsky wrote about them that: “a predilection for compilation denoted a real intellectual aridity, (…) imitation skimmed over the meaning and content of the subject matter, and empty conventional rhetoric often missed the original beauty of form.” Next class we will take a look at their ships!! 5