Download Dr John R Gibbins

Dr John R Gibbins
WESTERN CIVILISATION: From the
Ancient Greeks to the Present. An
intellectual and cultural history of
the West Part II
Towards Byzantium and the late flourishing of
the Western Empire: Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius
Constantine and Julian (5)
Lecture 10 in Series
Fiction Sources
Harris, Roger, Imperium, 2006 (Cicero/Republic)
“
“
, Lustrum, 2009
Graves, Robert, I, Claudius, 1934 (Claudians)
Speller, Elizabeth, Following Hadrain, 2002
Vidal, Gore, Julian, 1964 (Late Rome)
Man, John, Attila the Hun, 2005 (Final years)
Pears, Ian, The Dream of Scipio, eoo2
Goldsworthy, Adrian, In the Name of Rome, 2003
(Great Generals and campaigns)
Lecture Themes
Decline and Transformation, not Fall of the Western Empire
Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Constantine, Julian – the Torch Burns
flames
The Tribes circle 305-410 – Constantine and Renewal of Empire
Empire Divides 293 – Eastern,Western etc – The Four Emperors
Movement of Capital from Rome to Ravenna
The final demise of Imperial rule in West 411-476
Constantinople, Policy, Church and the Arts/Culture
Lesson and Reflections
The Roman Heritage audited and assessed
Adaptation, Decline not Fall
The analysis of our period from AD150-500 is hotly contested
My thesis is that central authority from Rome diminished
gradually (with reversals eg Hadrian)
Wealth and trade profits remained in Provinces
Legions recruited more locally, incorporating Tribes
Provinces therefore became more diverse and autonomous –
Gall Placidia 388-450 married the Goth Alaric, then his brother
Athaulf, had his son and toured Gaul as defenders of the Empire
Decline was not inevitable, often reversed for periods
Final collapse of West was partly accidental when Romulus
Augustus surrendered to Odoacer who became King of Italy in
AD476 – the end of Roman Imperium in the west
Reversals – Trajan
Trajan 97-117 in a line to Marcus Aurelius – the Antonine
Emperors
Responsible for some of the best architecture in Rome
Trajan was reputed to enjoy the pleasures but he ruled well and
appointed Tacitus to govern Asia
His wife Plotina (Plot?) plotted to ensure Hadrian would succeed
He was foiled at home by the cost of war with the Dacians
(Yugoslavia) and the Parthians (Iraq) and died of illness in
Turkey in a rearguard action
Plotina put a slave in the sick bed who declared Hadrian the
rightful successor. All contenders were then executed
Hadrian had a crash course in Latin so he could take over
Hadrian 76-138
Emperor AD117-138 followed another reformer
Called ‘the Greek’ for his Hellenic leanings and learning
Negotiated peace with a hostile Senate, largess to Plebs
He reformed the civil service, judiciary and army
Rebuilt tax collection and the Treasury
The toured the entire Empire including Britain and he likely
came to Aldborough as well as York
While well married he loved a Antonius a beautiful man whose
death led him to be made a God, with compulsory Temple
worship across the Empire and a town in Egypt – 1 image of
Antonius
A poet, musician, Stoic philosopher, unimpressed with
Christianity he embraced the Eleusinian mysteries
Built an aesthetically formed villa Adriana in Tivoli 20m from
Rome that still exists – 2 images; and rebuilt Athens e.g Library
and Temple to Zeus at Brassae (Mary Beard’s hot topic)
Hadrian’s Legacy
Hellenism renewed – in many forms
Built civic architecture of great merit
Reformed governance and army
Increase morale in Provinces and sense of belonging
Extended ‘Latin Rights’, or citizenship to more
In the field of jurisprudence he codified the laws of Rome which
he drafted the Perpetual Edict , which is the basis of all later
Roman law but which caused an uprising in Judea as it banned
circumcision
Last Emperor to invade Germanica and win
From here on the German tribes Goths and Visogoths encroach
before the Eastern Huns arrive
Marus Aurelius on horseback at Campidoglio Rome AD180
guilded in gold and later restored by Michelangelo in 1538 and a
copy made
Marcus Aurelius 161-180
Hadrian the scholar supported poets and writers such as
Antimachus, Fronto, Lucian and Apuleius
Born AD121, supported by Hadrian, the Emperor that Gladiator
Maximus obeyed till the end against Commodus (180-192) in
the film of that name
Shared as co-Emperors Augusti with his brother poet Lucius.
Happily married with a large family
Distracted by frontier wars everywhere he showed brilliance at
diplomacy, politics and war
Educated as a Greek and Stoic philosopher he appointed
scholars to key positions in government e.g. Quintus Rusticus
Wrote his Meditations over his life, even on campaigns.
Images, Bust as young man; Bust; As Warrior; in Hollywood
Meditations
Reflections and aphorisms rather than a systematic
treatise like Pascal and Montaigne latter
Nearest to Epictetus a previous Roman Stoic of
repute
12 books with themes of the brevity of life; need to
self refection and critique; priority to be placed on
moral life; tolerance; reflections on providence and
the divine
Lessons – avoid distractions; concentrate on tasks;
focus on obligations not rights; resign yourself to
fortuna and the fates
Show fortitude, bravery, seek wisdom, don’t act in
haste, make the best of what you have.
Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and
love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained
that you shall live.
A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is
higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself.
The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in
which a vulgar man aspires.
Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to
bubble up, if you just dig.
Begin - to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin
this, and thou wilt have finished.
Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant
to live.
Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to
glory and virtue than education without natural ability
Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with
the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the
present
Philosopher King
Often envisaged as the embodiment of Plato’s ideal
ruler – Matthew Arnold, Cecile Rhodes
‘The greatest of men’ - Voltaire
He took advise, sought wise opinion before acting
He ruled for the public good first of all ‘ what does
not benefit the hive, does not benefit the bee’
He prioritised the public realm over the private in all
things; fought against the temptations of power
He sought justice when making Treaties
His greatest defect was appointing his son
Commodus to Augustus alongside himself in 179AD
The Military Anarchy
After the Severan dynasty 193-235 rule passed to Generals who
killed each other on a regular basis by rival Generals or the
Praetorian Guard for the privilege 235-284 (Average 2.5 year
rule; with 6 Emperors in 238 alone)
Frontier wars were fought less for the defence of the Res
Publica or Pax Romana than for glory and booty
In 234 under Gordian III a Persian army was defeated so
relieving pressure in the east, but Gordian was murdered and
Phillipus (the Arab) born near Damascus replaced him who
lavished money in 248 to mark the 1000 Anniversary of the
founding of Rome
He founded a new capital Philippolis in Jordan, and started to
decentralise administration. The losers rebelled and he was
murdered in 238 by Maximinus, the man appointed to defend
him
One Emperors rule is to be remembered for its unintended
Decius Edict of Sacrifice
To inspire patriotism and loyalty to the Republic he ordered
sacrifices to the Gods for the welfare of the Empire on one day
over the entire Empire. Every household had to conform to rules
enforced locally (many surviving papyri). Christian communities
were opposed to animal sacrifices and set up widespread
internal opposition. A Goth army arrived in 250 and Decius and
sons were defeated and killed
250-251 was the worst year in Imperial history to date with
both invasions and coups. Seeking to divert attention the new
Emperor Valerian blamed the Christians for disloyalty and seized
their property and ordered active persecutions in 257. Valerian
was captured by the Persians, used as a human footstool and
eventually he was displayed dead with his skin was stuffed with
straw
Economics and Trade
Henry Chadwick in his reflective last chapter to our set book,
notes that some feared Rome’s end in C2ndAd due to
environmental changes:
Droughts and poor harvests reduced food supplies
Populations began to decline
Wars created insecurity and diverted resources
Trade slowed over the Mediterranean area
Usery (interest) and paying bribes began to emerge
Only serious efforts at regulating markets, money supply and
corruption by Diocletian halted the decline, followed by the
injection of gold Constantine was to ransack from Greek
Temples
The Tetrarchy 284-324
Roman Law was codified well by Gregorius 280-290
Military and administrative pressures began the process to
divide the Empire into an Eastern and Western realm each with
two Consuls as ruler invented by Diocletian 284-305 (image
over)
The Empire with 4 Augusti was called the Tetrachy
Rivalries were obvious and eventually one ruler emerged as
sovereign who was to change the world
Constantine I 306-337 son of Constantius I and a barmaid
Constanius I –a tetrach, reinvaded Britain and set about the
German tribes
Diocletian made civil reforms well and retired to Split naming
Constantine and Maxentius as dual successors in the West on
the basis of desert no inheritance
Diocletian Persecutions
303 Diocletian had ordered all Citizens to sacrifice to the Gods
with penalties for non conformers – Christians mostly
The various churches opposed, e.g. Antioch, with spokesman
such as Lactantius 240-320 as leader in Nicomedia who argued
this was to do with politics not faith
Monetary Reforms were a greater success with new gold and
silver coins replacing the old
Changed his mind and added Severus as successor annoying his
sons
In 305 he removed the purple cloak and grew cabbages at
home
He returned to study philosophy, advising the young and
gardening. Died at home in 313
Constantine the Great
Rivalries increased in the Tetrachy Constanius sided
with Licinius against the others
Constantius I in Britain asked fellow prefect Galerius
in Rome to return his son Constantine to him. He
arrived in Britain in AD 305 just before his father died
and was announced Emperor at York by the army in
305 to rule from AD 306-337
Back in Rome the other Tetrachs fought each other
until two were left to fight it our Maxentius and
Constantine
Wanting sovereignty Constantine invaded Italy in 312
from Britain and Gaul – Image over Bust of
Constantine Capitoline Museum, Rome
Another challenge
Sweeping aside the northern armies Constantine
arrived at Rome before Maximinus was able to
provision the capital for a long siege
The armies met at Milvian Bridge on the Tiber with
an easy victory for Constantine leaving only
Maxentius in opposition
Retreating to Turkey followed by Licenius in a
hopeless situation he committed suicide
Licenious married Constantine’s sister for security
But they fell out and war ended with a treaty in 316
Final solution
Licenius and Fausta sired a large family of potential
heirs – so Constantine finally had him arrested and
imprisoned in exile in 324 having him executed later
Sensing future disloyalty from Rome, Constantine
immediately ordered the building of massive
fortifications at Instanbul, naming the new Imperial
Capital city Constantinople
This marked the informal division of the Empire, with
superior status given to the Eastern capital
The Byzantine Empire had been born
Christianity made Official
We now come to an essentially contested and irreconcilable
issue of Constantine’s adoption of Christianity as the official
religion of the Empire
Why it is essentially contested is that it divides Roman Catholics
since against every other sect and religion in the west – about
the exclusive right of the Catholic Church to decide on spiritual
matters in the Empire
Papal authorities were to insist every since 324 that
Constantine’s adoption of Christianity gave the Church the
exclusive right to ecclesiastical supremacy and, even more
contentiously, to have inherited the exclusive title, powers and
authority of Augusti, Emperor of Rome as well as defender of
the faith
The infamous ‘Donation of Constantine’ document grounds this
Constantine and Religion
In his early life Constantine was attracted to prophesies,
auguries and divine signs which led him to explore many
religious systems – in 310 his vision of Apollo and Nike recorded
However, animal sacrifice had become a dangerously volatile
issue in the Empire as we have seen with Decius
In 312 Constantine announced that he was placing more
importance upon mens divina or ‘Divince Mind’ in military and
political decision making
He noticed that his opponents worshiped traditional gods, so
Constantine explored the potential of Christianity as an agent of
temporal support for the secular world
Before battle with Maximus at Rome in 312 he looked for divine
sign, and said that the sky revealed a cross, an image with both
temporal and secular significance. He ordered the sign put on
shields, and the victory was won
Constantine and Religion
Primary sources divide here: 1) some argue that it was primarily
pragmatic; 2) others identify a random weather event that
became interpreted as an ’Emblem of Christ Appearing to
Constantine’ Rubens sketch for a tapestry series 1630? 3) others
argue that the Cross was a traditional icon of Romans;
4) but some (Eusebius 274-339) argue that it was a divine sign
that God favoured him and authored his victories after that –
quoting Constantine as saying, ‘by this sign conquer In Hoc
Signo Vinces
Constantine announced Christianity as official and all
persecutions of its adherents to end, as Licinius had done
before him in the East
The following images show him re-caste, first in an icon with his
Mother Helena than by Byzantine artists as an assistant to Jesus
Unforeseen Consequences
Pagan religions were de-prioritised (not banned),
benefaction given and Christian Church building
began in earnest, including St.Peters in Rome
Unknown to Constantine were the vicious cleavages
growing amongst Christian leaders on the key articles
of faith of the emerging religions. These were to
hound not only Constantine but most subsequent
temporal and spiritual rulers until today
If the benefit to the Empire of Christianity was unity
– all would be lost by factionalism and disunity
Jesus cannot be blamed for what follows, men can
Council of Nicaea 325
In Africa a puritanical group advocating Church, Clergy and
member frugality grew – The Donatists.
From 313 they challenged Rome’s dominance and despite
Councils at Arles the African Church desisted
In the East theologians led by Arius (250-336) challenged the
whole idea of God made man, by decreeing that everything
made of matter was corrupted by sin. This Ayrian faction was
only extinguished by terrible persecutions many years latter
The Alexandrian faction claimed the Father and Son were the
same substance and Jesus was not made man.
Constantine in desperation called a Council Bishops at Nicaea
who fudged by arguing that the Father and Son were
‘consubstantial’, but the Creed they then drafted is the basis of
Christian beliefs ever since. However the heresies continue to
this day
Constantinople
A cosmopolitan venture – all and everyone welcome
Aimed to avoid a challenge to Rome so no Senate
Separated civil and military commands
Privileges for immigrants from the West
A new Rome with all civilised features e.g. a Forum
Hippodrome theatre to seat 80,000 people
New Cathedral the Santa
Separated Church and State but the Christian Clergy
were deferential to the Emperor who promoted them
Images Map; Existing Walls; Medieval Engraving;
Hippodrome Remains in C17th; St Sophia Cathedral
Family & Civil Discord
In 326 Constantine had his wife and son Crispus executed for
treason, charges trumped up by Helena his mother. He had
murdered 5 family members in total.
Constantine repented and did penance, while his mother toured
the provinces opening Churches, one being the Holy Sepulchre
at Jerusalem
His remaining relatives inherited the Empire for posterity but
tensions between centre/s and provinces grew, as did demands
by the armies
Constantine died in 337, buried in the Church of the twelve
Apostles, being baptised on his deathbed
The Byzantine Empire was to last into the C15th
Diagnosis
By 337 the old order was almost extinct
The Senate and Senatorial class has dissolved
Christianity developed more factions e.g. Nestorianism in far
east; Monophysites in middle east; Arab Islam threatened
The Army has become powerful, recruiting locally and often
disloyal
The Equestrian civil service was effective but loosing power,
with slaves and tax revenues in decline, others migrating East
Power had ascended dangerously to the Emperor, leaving the
executive and provinces caught between army and ruler
All the time enemies at the frontiers were learning from Roman
trained officers that had defected
Only one more Caesar brought gory and virtue before decline
Emperor Julian 361-3
Born in Constantinople in 331, he survived, like Claudius, by
hiding in the reaches of scholarship – Hellenic and Christian
He was feted by the Bishop of Alexandria, George of
Cappadocia
The decendents of Constantine had warred to such an extent
that Constanius II in 337 ordered the massacre of all male
offspring of Constantius I and Theodora his Empress wife
He Constantine II dies I battle with his brother Constans in
350
A usurper Magnetius breaks the west from eastern empire but
is killed by Constantius II
Julian, the son of the murdereded Constantinius I, is asked in
357 to lead forces against the Gauls, and despite all wins well
He rules the west is now trusted, was virtuous and seen as
inheritor. Caesar 355-360
Rise
Constanius meanwhile dallied in Constantinople in the
face of an approaching Persian army under Shapur in
359.
Julian was called with his legions, but their fear at
being decimated by Constantius or the Persians led
to revolt. They proclaimed Julian Emperor of the
West and he moved east taking towns on the route
Constantius died of fever and Julian reigned
His first move was typical of Roman Emperors – to
chose his own official religion – namely traditional
gods (see Gore Vidal, Julian)
For this he was labelled by Christians as ‘ulian the
Apostate’ (Image over)
Glory or Death
Closed Temples were ordered to be re-opened and re-built;
sacrifices allowed and occasionally decreed
He sent officers to Delphi to consult the Oracle only to get the
reply that the flame had been extinguished
He allowed exiled and persecuted Christian sects back into the
Empire and exercised a policy of religious tolerance in exchange
for loyalty to the Empire
Julian established an ethos based on the old Roman and Greek
virtues of duty, wisdom and strength. He created a basic form
of welfare to deal with people dispossessed or impoverished
He invaded Persia and defeated Shapur on home ground
Death of Rome
Julian had not budgeted for the reaction by Christians who not
only rejected toleration of heretics and heresies, but who saw
their rise to be less than inexorable
He annoyed the Jews ordering the rebuilding of their Temple in
Jerusalem and Christians in Africa
Julian adjudicated disputes between all the divergent forces in
the Empire but failed to see his own assassination at the hands
of one of his own officers during a military skirmish on the way
home from Persia.
His successors mis-managed affairs and the West sank into
decline until the final acts from 376-411
Fearful that Rome was vulnerable, Imperial authority moved to
Ravenna on the East coast, with direct sea routes to the East
Many scholars, lawyers, equestrians etc emigrated East
In 415 in Alexandra, Africa, the last Chair of the Platonic School,
Hypatia, was attacked, stripped of clothes and skin and burnt.
Decline or Fall of the West 376-411
With many enemies at the gates the arrival of two more
formidable forces was to tip the balance against Rome – the
Goths from the north and the Huns from the east. There force
was a hoard and a newer, larger and lethal bow
A hoard was the mobile mass of many tribes
The Goths had partial conversion to Christianity but their Bishop
Ufilas was branded a heretic by Rome
The Huns were aliens to Rome and its civilisation but traded
Emperors such as Valens and Valentine sought to incorporate
Goth forces in an alliance against Huns but this failed
In 386 Maximus, commander of forces in Britain invaded Italy
only to be defeated by Theodosius I
394 Christian Theodosius I attacked pagan Arbogast who was
advancing the God Scapis, a Hellenic-Egyptian deity as official
Images of Ravenna, city, church, mosaics of horse and
Claudians
Alaric and the Goths
The Romans educated and trained the Goth and Hun officers
and armies that were to defeat them
Sons of tribal leaders were educated in Rome and trained in the
armies to return as Roman rulers. Sons were traded as hostages
Alaric returned as Roman invaders, invading Greece in 399 and
Italy in 401 to be defeated by Stilicho himself of German extract
Another hoard, the Alamanni from the upper Rhine invaded in
406. Stilicho asked Uldin of the Huns to help defeat them
Then the Rhine froze in 407 and the a new hoard of Vandals,
Alans and Sueves attached.
In Britain Constantine II rebelled and took Gaul and the Eastern
Empire changed Emperor in 408
In 410 Alaric sided with the Constantine and the Germans inside
the Roman army. Retribution by killing German soldiers led to
further desertions to Alaric who took Rome with little opposition
for the first time in 800 years
Aftermath
Ravenna remained with Honorius and Government and
Theodosius II in Constantinople. Alaric withdrew and died later
= some hope? No
This is the moment when Augustine of Hippo (St Augustine)
delivered his City of God polemic proclaiming all earthly
government corrupt, Rome an Empire of the past, the sack as
divine retribution for personal sin, and only his Church
legitimate
Rome is invaded 3 times more from 411-476, Egypt and Africa
taken by the Vandals in 439, Ravenna defeated and sacked in
476
Ravenna hosted two female Empress, Galla Placidia (who
married a Goth Athaulf) and Pulcheria, daughters of Theodosius
in Constantinople. While honest and wonderful at building and
welfare, they were not able to build stable alliances
Fall?
Britain was left with a tiny garrison defending Hadrian’s Wall
until withdrawel and Celtic invasion in 407
Gaul luckily succumbed to Visogoth invaders who ruled in a very
Roman fashion e.g. St.Seviac
Burgundians took over the Rhine area and built on Roman
cultures
In many colonies the Roman way of life, dress, values, Law,
language and culture was maintained
It was like a living in a very Grand Hotel where the services
declined gradually until you had to look after yourself in
domiciles that heralded lost splendour, then the aliens arrive
Most residents were loyal, didn’t want it to end, and feared the
future, so pretended it was a bad dream
Ravenna was a beautiful illusion, like Camelot, an aristocracy in
denial, living in fortified splendour, with the enemy at the gate
Ravenna’s last stand
The western Empire was little more than an elite, with the aura
of imperial power, holed up in the mosaic city
Empress Pulcheria declared herself a Virgin for life, lived an
aesthetic lifestyle and dedicated herself to Marian theology –
the cult of the Virgin Mary
Sadly she took to persecuting the Jews and Pagans
Galla Placidia tried to support Ravenna but her miscalculations
led to its defeat, tribute money ran out to placate the Huns, so
in 434 when Attila took power the scene was set for the finale
in which he was to invade in Gaul and Italy in 441 then 447
Adopting Roman seige techniques he subdued Roman fortified
towns but they were harried by General Aetius and Visogoths
Gibbon hails General Aetius as like Arthur, the last brave Roman
Rome’s last victory was in southern France in 451 when Aetius,
with French Visogoths, led by Theodoric, and Attila died later
The End
Aetius abilities came from knowing his enemies. He was a
hostage first of Goth Attila, then the Hun Rugila. But in Ravenna
he was feared by the Emperor Valentian whose killed him in 453
While looking north a Vandal fleet from Carthage now landed
south near Rome and took the city in 455
A puppet ruler Ricemer (4-5-472) was left in charge for 14 years
of occupation
In 476 the Eastern Emperor Zeno officially made Odoacer a Hun
leader, King of Italy, and the last Emperor in Ravenna, hopefully
named Romulus Augustulus surrendered all insignia of Empire
and retired
Infact Italy now joined the rest of the West in having barbarian
rulers – who tried to maintain the West for the East
C L Stevens argues that it was the Eastern Emperor who
decreed the end of the Western Empire, so legally the Empire
continued in the West, The End of the Roman Empire, 1967
Dido’s Revenge
When Aeneas left Dido in Carthage she predicted
revenge from her people, ‘rise up from my bones
avenging spirit’ Virgil Aeneid
The fleet from Carthage in 455 is often identified as
the avenging spirit and Dido’s revenge on Rome
Some argued it was revenge of the old Gods on
Rome for abandoning the Temples
Infact, it was more the Western People’s Revenge
on their fallible despotic rulers. In 264BC the Roman
people flocked to Scipio to defend Italy, in 455AD the
people were so excluded from everything they were
not committed to the defence of the realm. In the
East the people fought and died for the Empire
Lessons
The Huns ‘kicked in a rotten barrel’, corroded from inside by
years of corrupt rule that excluded the citizenry.
Augustus and the Republic were dedicated to defending and
promoting the Res Publica
After him Emperors cared little for this, leaving only the private
life for citizens welfare (gladiators)
Also the lessons of assimilation and incorporation –
cosmopolitanism had been lost. Invaders were paid tributes to
go away; Foreigners distrusted; loss of tolerance; Jews and
heretics were persecuted; citizens lesser rights not prized
Britain, shielded by seas, was late in losing its security to enjoy
Roman life. Rome was lost when the last legions left
Those remaining fought hard for civilisation as they knew it –
the origins of the Arthurian legends
Much of what they gave us still remains in our lifestyle today
Reflection
Barrow has a neat Epilogue I have abbreviated and enhanced
Roman intellectuals taught that everything is mortal and will
pass, including life and Empires – Stoic
While showing piety (pietas) - (but not slavish obedience to all
gods) and pious respect to others on spiritual matters, they
knew they were less than gods and needed secular rules and
values to guide them – a practical people
The rules adopted were traditional mores (virtu) and Roman
Laws, both artefacts of many generations
But they knew also that the public life trumped the private life –
and that private decadence would follow decline of and
exclusion from the Res Publica – belonging fuelled success
More Thoughts
Perhaps they never got the balance right but they knew that
both libertas (public freedom for the people) and duty or selfsubordination to the civitas, Republic or Empire has to be
accommodated
For this they knew that security was vital and until the end they
properly supplied, funded and trained their armies and navy
They know that naked power (potestas), while necessary,
corrupts so they balanced it with authority/auctoritas the right
to rule, and legal constraints
To ensure fairness they invented procedures or due process in
all things and promoted Equity and fair play in politics and law
Lessons
In all things, and as exclusion from the public left
only the private life for living, Romans learnt that
trust or fides, was the basis of reciprocity and social
life – and educated each other for that or constantia
Friendship (Epircurean) proved the best relationship
and area for the pursuit of well being and happiness
– amichi (it even trumped marriage)
Scholarship, learning, education and training were
paced at the centre of life to ensure the lessons
above were learned, embodied in everyday life, and
transmitted – a sense of gravitas
Judgement
Romans showed they had human frailties could be
cruel and bullying to others (slaves and enemies) and
to each other, but they also developed the Hellenic
idea of self-respect, and respect for the
dignity/dignitas of self and others humanitias
Via incorporation of foreigners, graduated entry to
citizenship and equal legal rights they showed us how
via tolerance and openness, we can create large
political units which allow and protect diversity,
difference and yet provide security and well being
Transformation
Ovid had articulated that there are always
opportunities for for renewal in disaster
The ‘Great Idea’ which is Graeco-Roman civilisation
did not die with Rome’s collapse but morph into and
spread into new institutions that were to modify,
shape and transform the middle ages from Darkness
into Light
We must now explore these in the lecture series on
the exciting and dramatic Medievals
Good men were sucked into the East and the Church
The core continuities are:
Continuities
Byzantium – the Roman Empire in the East until 1476
Roman Catholic Church
The Bishop of Rome – Pope/Emperor
Christian theology based upon Platonism
Latin its language
Roman Law
Humanistic learning and Scholarship
The Republican ideal
Cosmopolitanism – many in the one and vice versa
Holy Roman Empire – Pippin, Charlemagne
The Renaissance – re-birth
11th April: Myths of Medieval Europe: From Dark Ages to Petrarch
18th April: The Early Church, St Augustine and the Triumph of
Christianity; Latin, Roman Law and the Roman Catholic Church;
Byzantium and the Eastern Empire
Easter Break 2 weeks - remaining lectures to be held at the Methodist
Cottage behind the Methodist Church in the High Street, Northallerton
9th May: Orders and Disorders – Feudalism, Manors and Military
elites; Kingdoms and Realms; the Saxons, Vikings, Normans and
Tudors, political ideas and the growth of Kingship
16th May: The Aristotelian revival; St Thomas Aquinas and
Scholasticism; John of Salisbury, Marsilus and William of Ockam
23rd May: High Medievalism and the Flourishing of Cultures,
Manners and the ‘Civilising Process’; Dante and Petrarch;
Draft Seminar List
Gillian Hovell, The History of Latin
Sue Southwell, Vernacular Medieval Architecture in
Yorkshire
Prof Anthony Pollard, Chivalry and the Nobility
(University of Teesside) 23/5/11
Britain’s After Life
Roman Britain, R G Collingwood, 1923
If in 407 legions had returned Britain could have stood alone for
a while
By 360 most big mansions were derelict
380 Wall abandoned
400 most towns were in decline
Rearguard actions till 440, then reversion to Celtism
Malton and York survive in some form untill later
Saxons from the East, Celts from the West and Picts from the
North
Roman Britain’s were wiped out with marginal survival in SW
and Wales
No direct link to the Saxons
Seminar
What did the Romans do for us?
What is their legacy?
What were their defects?
What led to their decline in the west?