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Roman Empire
-Ancient Rome Located on the Italian Peninsula between Mediterranean Sea &
Adriatic Sea.
 The Capital city of Rome is located by the Tiber River.
 City of Rome was created by the Mythical twin brothers, Romulus
and Remus (City built on top of him).
 By the fourth century AD. Rome had difficulty managing its huge
Empire.
 Emperor Diocletian Splits the Roman Empire is into two halves:
Eastern Rome and Western Rome.
-Moving East –
 Emperor Constantine moved Rome’s Capital city to the east
for safety reasons.
 The New capital will be Byzantine/Constantinople.
 This will not hold the Roman Empire together.
-Why Rome Falls1) Economic - Trade declined because of infighting; the lack of
gold flowing into the empire, causing merchants to raise prices
and Inflation hits hard.
2) Military – Spending to defend. Collecting taxes became
tenuous, no pay, so people stopped serving.
3) Corrupt Politics – bribes, civil wars weakened Rome’s defense
and incompetent, corrupt politicians and emperors lose the
people trust.
4) Barbarians from the north such as, Goth, Visigoths & Franks
and the Huns attacked Rome
Date:
Byzantium: The New Rome
- The ancient Greek city of Byzantium was founded in 667 BC by
king Byzas.
- When the Western half of the Rome Empire crumbled, a medieval
civilization emerged.
- The Eastern half of the Roman Empire became known as the
“Byzantine Empire”.
-Byzantine Empire- It included most of the Balkan Peninsula to the Middle East and
parts of North Africa
- Population included: Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, Arabs,
Armenians, Jews, Persians, Slavs and Turks.
-Constantinople- Constantinople was the Capital of Byzantine Empire – was a
multicultural city – its location made it easy to defend and allowed
for easy trade with Europe, Africa and Asia.
- The Capital was named after the Roman emperor, Constantine
-Society- Culture was influenced by the Greeks, Romans & Christianity
- Women were able to attain positions of power
- It Prospered due to trade: silk(China); pepper & clover(India) grains
& furs(Europe) ivory & gold(Africa) wine(France)
- Most Currency were gold coins called “Bezant”
- Enjoyed chariot races at the arena Hippodrome
Arts & Education
- Religious subjects were the bases for their Art & Architecture.
- Preserved many of the classics from ancient Greece and produced
their own books too.
- Anna Comnena was one of the first female historians
-Government- Emperors ruled the Byzantine Empire for a thousand years
Date
-
The Age Of Justinian
-Justinian’s RuleJustinian ruled 527 to 565A.D
Was given the throne by his uncle Justin, at age 45
He wanted to beautify the city Constantinople.
*Example-The wondrous church, Hagia Sophia{Holy Wisdom}.
He wanted to recover the Western territory{Rome} overrun by the
Germanic/Barbarian invaders.
Expanded the empire, built bridges, hospitals, libraries & parks
Justinian’s conquests proved costly to the empire – the wars depleted resources.
After his death the empire lost most of the territory he regained.
-Justinian’s Codes- Set up a commission to classify and reform 5,000 old Roman laws.
- Led by a legal expert – recorded as books, “Corpus of Civil Laws”. (the laws were
to be used by many European civilizations)
-Theodora- Born lower class and was an actress.
- The daughter of a bear trainer, who worked at the Hippodrome{huge arena}.
- Became the wife of Justinian while in her 20’s.
- She was the emperors top Advisor – She equaled and surpassed sometimes his
political skills and wisdom.
- Created reforms for women:
1) Right to own land
2) Widowers were allowed to keep their children.
-Nika Rebellion- The Blue and Green teams/political parties took the grievances out on the
Gov’t/Emperor.
- Theodora saved Justinian’s throne by refusing to runaway & inspiring resolution
to the “Nika{victory} Rebellion”.
- She died of cancer in 548 at the age of 48.
Date
Religion and Decline
- Byzantine Empire followed the faith of Christianity.
- Edict of Milan 313A.D. – Emperor Constantine made Christianity
the legal religion in the Roman Empire.
- Their 88 Emperors were considered to be God’s representatives on
earth and they controlled the church.
- 29 emperors died violently and 13 left to become monks.
Hagia Sophia- It was a huge domed church, in the city of
Constantinople.
Mosaic Art- pictures made of tiny pieces of colored stone or glass.
Illuminated Manuscript- elaborately decorated books-with
religious themes - provided vivid records of daily life.
-Icons- Religious images used in worship.
- Some believed they should be used, because they were symbols of
God. Others felt the Bible prohibited the use of icons and it was a
Pagan practice.
-Schism of A.D. 1050- Schism means, “A Separation”
- The A.D.1054 schism saw two Christian churches emerge, Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox.
Eastern Orthodox
Roman Catholic
1) Services conducted in
Latin.
2) The Pope has authority
over all churches.
3) Pope claims authority
over Kings/emperors.
4) Priest may not marry
5) Divorce is not permitted.
6) Can use Icons
Similarities
1) They base their
faith on the gospel of
Jesus and the Bible.
2) They use sacraments
such as baptism
3) Their religious leaders
are priests and bishops
4) They seek to convert
people.
1) Services conducted in Greek
and local Languages.
2) The bishops have authority
over Churches.
3) Emperors claims authority
over bishops
4) Priest may marry
5) Divorce allowed under
certain conditions.
6) Can’t use Icons
-
-The Byzantine Empire FallsThe Byzantine Empire was able to flourish because of strong leadership, strategic
location of its capital and their strong religious faith.
After a thousand years, the great Byzantine Empire will come to an end.
The empire was in decline because of Plague of Justinian{Probably Bubonic},
internal political problems and attacks from foreign enemies.
The Islamic Turks led by Sultan Mehmed II, will conquer Byzantine and it’s great
city in 1453 A.D.
The Great city of Constantinople will be renamed Istanbul by the Muslims.
Date:
Byzantine Heritage Live On In Russia
- Slavic Tribes will eventually become the Russians. They were
located north of the Black Sea and east of the Baltic Sea.
- Do to their location to Constantinople; the Slavs developed a
culture influence through Byzantine Trade and Religion.
-Slavic Tribes- Eastern Slavs - Lived closest to Byzantine Empire, (Today
Ukrainian, Russia) so they borrowed their Religion, Laws and
culture. Borrowed from Europe and Asia too. The largest of the three
Slavic groups. Their acceptance of eastern Orthodoxy isolated the
eastern Slavs. The Rus tribe is where the name Russia comes from.
-
Western Slavs – located east-central Europe (today Poland Czech
republic and Slovakia) – Roman catholic
- South Slavs – located in the Balkan Peninsula (today Serbia,
Croatia and Slovenia) – influenced by both Roman catholic and
eastern Orthodox and Islam.
-
-ChristianitySpread by Missionaries (People carrying religious messages), who lived in
Monasteries (area to develop a spiritual way of life).
The Missionaries Traveled trying to convert the Slavs to Christianity.
Many Slavic people never adopted Latin or Greek but instead used their native
tongues.
Cyril and Methodius – Byzantine missionary brothers- help develop the Cyrillic
Alphabet to present Christianity to the Slavs in their own language.(used still today
in Russian area)
- Armenia first country to officially adopt Christianity.
- Vikings- Vikings where from northern Russia -Vikings protected trade routes- Given the
Rule over the Slavic Tribes around 862a.d.
- Gradually the line between the Slavs and Vikings vanished to make one culture.
-
-
-Kiev RussiaFirst major city Kiev, location great for traveling and trade.
Viking leader Oleg, settled in Kiev at the beginning of 10th century & created
principality of Kiev..
King Vladimir forces all Russian subjects to be baptized in the Dnieper River and
convert to Christianity.
Kiev declines as a power city do to the 1240a.d. Mongols invasion, led by Genghis
Khan.
- Ivan the GreatMongols were uneducated, warrior Nomads from central Asia and conquered
Russia.
They pillaged {to take or steal} and forced the Russians to pay harsh taxes.
Prince Ivan III from the city of Moscow{called the third Rome} takes the title
name of Czar (means Caesar).
In 1480a.d. Ivan the III refuses the taxes and Forces the Mongols out of Russia.
- He brought Russia back under one Russian ruler.