Download Western Civ. IF

Western Civ. IF
Christianity Takes
Form
Unit 3 Review
From Classical to
Medieval
The Byzantine Empire
Page 5
Page 9
Page 9
Page 13
ROMAN RELIGION
In an earlier lecture I talked about the Roman Empire as it existed under the organization established by the first
emperor, Augustus Caesar. As a political system it was very successful. It assimilated many peoples with diverse
government and diverse cultures into a single world empire. But it also created a kind of spiritual void in the life of its
subjects. And that is what I would like to look at today.
The Roman Empire was a period in which all traditional religions of the earlier ancient world went into decline and
were replaced by new religious systems. We must begin today by considering the causes of this decline. Traditional religion
declined because it no longer served the purposes for which it had originally been developed. The main purpose of
ancient religions was to serve as a focus for political and social loyalties.
Each national group, each city, and sometimes even each family had its own religion. You could tell what a person's
background was by observing which gods he worshipped. Greeks worshipped Greek gods, Romans worshipped Roman
gods, and others worshipped the gods of their own nationality. Religion was in fact a sign of belonging. An individual
accepted their gods because all of his fellow countrymen, friends and relatives also believed in them. This was true, for
example, of Judaism, the Hebrew religion, which was a national religion intended only for Hebrews.
With the coming of the Roman Empire, older nationalities and social groupings became less important. National gods
were less important because the older political groupings were absorbed into the Roman Imperial state. The establishment
of a worldwide peace made it possible for persons to move freely from one place to another, and many people did move to
improve their economic condition. An Athenian might end up in Gaul, A Spaniard in the Egypt. When this happened, the
individual was separated from his old friends and relatives and from his traditional religion.
One consequence of the up rooting of people was that they no longer had clear-cut rules to live by, no guide for
proper behavior. This was not because of the decline of religion. Except for Judaism, no ancient religion provided rules to
follow in life. In ancient societies, behavior was controlled by social pressure. You acted a certain way because your friends,
relatives, and fellow citizens would reject you if you did not. People who were up-rooted no longer knew how to behave.
At the same time there was a growing feeling that leading an ethical life, behaving in a proper manner, was important.
The Greek philosophers argued that a man should be good, and they succeeded in convincing everybody that this was
true. But the rules of the philosophers were for well-educated people with logical minds. They did not appeal to the
masses.
P a g e 1 o f 26
The Imperial Cult
Mystery Religions
When the old national religions declined, the Romans
Thus, the traditional ancient religions declined, and the
tried to create new religion to replace it. This was an new imperial religion did not provide an adequate substitute
imperial religion that would do for the Empire and Rome for them. As a result the Roman Empire saw the appearance
with the older religions have done for cities and nations.
of many new religions. Each different in many ways from
This imperial religion had two parts. The first part of those that had preceded them.
the religion was the worship of the goddess Roma. Roma
was a deity who had been made up to represent the Roman
state. The second part of the religion was the worship of
the cult of the Emperor himself. It varied in different parts
of the Empire. In lands like Egypt, where the rulers had
always been considered gods, the Emperor was worshipped
as a god. Since the Romans did not believe that men could
be gods, people in the Roman areas worshipped the genius
of the Emperor instead. The Romans believed that every
man had a genius, the spirit that watched over him and kept
him from harm. Since everyone wanted the Emperor to be
safe, everyone worshipped his genius.
The most popular of the new religions are called mystery
religions. They were not all exactly alike, but they do tend
have some things in common. They contrast sharply with
older patterns.
First of all, the mysteries were universal religions. They
were intended for everyone who wanted to join, not just
members of a particular national group. Often the religion
might be dedicated to an old national deity, particularly one
from the Near East. One popular mystery religion featured
Isis, a traditional Egyptian goddess. But the mysteries also
included rites, ideas and myths from many other religions. For
instance, Isis was equated with many goddess is for many
This imperial religion was not really a successful cultures.
replacement for older religions for several reasons. First, it
Secondly, the mystery religions were personal religions.
was purely political. You followed it only to show that you You joined one as an individual, not as a citizen or as the
were loyal to the state. It was not a proper religion at all. It member for particular family.
did not set forth any ethical rules to live by. Since everybody
Finally, the mystery religions had one other thing; they
followed it, it did not give you the feeling of belonging to
had mysteries. To ensure that one worshiped as an individual,
group.
the worshiper had to go through an initiation ceremony. By
performing these ceremonies, you became a
member of the religion. These were secret. Only
persons who were initiated knew what they were.
They were like fraternity initiations. Since they
were secret, they were called mysteries.
Frieze above from the “Alter of Peace,” a Roman Imperial Cult alter, shows the
goddess Roma (center) suckling the young twins, Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome.
P a g e 2 o f 26
The mystery religions were popular because
they help to fill the void in men's lives that the
conditions of the Empire created. Accepting a
mystery religion made you a member of a new
group, not a national but a religious group, the
congregation. Mystery religions also gave believers
rules to live by. Worshippers of Isis sometimes had
to shave their heads; and they were supposed to be
good people, although this was not worked out in
detail. At any rate worshippers in mystery religions
gained new customs to follow, and this gave them a
sense of belonging. Membership made you feel
important. By going through the mysteries, you
became associated with the god of the religion.
Greeks and Romans needed this feeling of
importance because they could no longer be
important by involving themselves in politics.
Old Testament taken from Judaism. It soon also came to have
many Christian writings as well.
Christianity
Of all the new religions that began during the Roman
Empire, one is by far the most important. That religion is Roman Religious Tolerance
Christianity, which gradually spread and became established
Contrary to popular belief, the Romans were very tolerant
through the Roman world. Now we should consider quite grew in their actions toward religions other than their own. They
as much as it is why it became so popular.
recognized all the old traditional national religions, just as they
Christianity benefited from some of the same factors that tolerated the traditional laws of their subjects. They did not
helped the other mystery religions; and in fact, Christianity is a object to the mystery religions either, as long as they did not
mystery religion. It is a universal religion intended for interfere with older religions too much.
everybody. It is intended for the individual; it stresses a personal
The only requirement that the government set down was
relationship between worshipers and God. In has ceremonies that everyone should accept the Imperial religion, the cult of
for the worshipers alone-sacraments such as baptism and Roma and Emperor, along with other traditional religious
communion.
observances. They even made an exception to that rule in the
Christianity also had some characteristics that made it
different from the other mystery religions. These characteristics
also made it far more popular. We must therefore consider
them.
case of the Jews. The Romans realized that the Hebrews could
not accept the Imperial religion because their traditional
religion was monotheistic. Long before Roman times, the
worship of all other religions had been forbidden among Jews.
The central figure of Christianity was Jesus Christ. He was The Hebrews were exempted, therefore, from the Imperial
not the traditional god or mythical figure. He was a real religion as long as they did not seek to convert other people,
which they didn't do.
person. He was much easier to identify
with, particularly for members of the
Christianity was a special case,
lower classes. He gave the religions
however, and we must look at the
historical basis.
Roman policy toward Christianity
more
closely. Eventually, it became the
Christianity was a monotheistic,
illegal
to be a Christian. A law was
exclusive religion. If you became a
passed
against it under Nero (possibly
Christian, you abandoned all other
around 75 A.D). The reasons were
religions. This was not true of other
political.
The emperors thought that
mysteries. You could worship Isis, the
the
Christians
were subversive and
Emperor, Rome, and even traditional
opposed
to
the
state. Like Judaism
gods at the same time. This gave
Christianity was monotheistic, and
Christians a stronger sense of
Christians
did not accept the Imperial
belonging to a definite group or
religion.
Unlike
Judaism, however,
congregation.
Christianity was new and evangelical;
A ls o, b ec au s e Ch ri s ti an i ty
Christians wanted everybody to
Jesus as “the Good shepherd,” Rome, 3rd
developed out of Judaism, it had many
become a Christian and to renounce
century
A.D.
more ethical rules to follow. Some
the Imperial religion.
mysteries, like the religion of Isis, said
The laws against Christianity did not
you should be a good person; but they
did not say how you were supposed to do that. Christianity mean that there was widespread arrest and execution of
provided a better guide to conduct, one that was as well Christians, at least not immediately. In 112 A.D., the second of
developed as those of the Greek philosophers. But you did not the Good Emperors - Trajan (98 -117), wrote a letter to one of
have to be a philosopher to understand and follow the rules. the governors in the provinces outlining procedures to be
Christianity had an appeal for both educated and uneducated followed in dealing with Christians. He said that anyone
accused of being a Christian must worship in the Imperial cult
people alike.
or suffer the penalty of death. But he instructed the governor
Finally Christianity had extensive scriptures, religious
to ignore the Christians unless some private citizen brought
writings that Christians could turn to that would explain their
charges. This was the standard procedure. Because of this
religion and clarify the rules of belief and behavior. It had the
policy, action was taken against the Christians only on rare
occasions.
P a g e 3 o f 26
Persecution of Christians was usually sporadic and geographically spotty. Christians might be persecuted in one city,
say, in Gaul, for a year or so; and 50 years later they might be persecuted in a city in Asia Minor. By 250 A.D., Christians
had become more numerous; after that date, persecution was more common. One emperor, Decius (249-251), tried to
wipe Christians out everywhere, but his rule was very short and he was not successful. In general the persecution of
Christians was carried out only at remote intervals. But it was still not easy to be a Christian because many in the general
population did not like. They were very different, and people shunned them socially.
In general, what we can say, then, about the new religions that cropped up in the Roman Empire, is that they came
into existence to provide Romans citizens with a feeling of belonging, to provide them with rules of conduct to guide and
judge their lives by, and to fill the void left by the loss of other social and national groupings and religions under the larger
context of the Roman Empire.
P a g e 4 o f 26
Christianity Takes Form
In an earlier lecture I mentioned that one of the mystery religions that grew up in
the first century of the Roman Empire was Christianity. I probably don’t need to say
here that it became the most important of the mystery religions. Few of you are
members of the Mithra cult or the cult of Isis, but a lots of you are, at least nominally Christians. So, I’d like to spend this lecture talking about the formation and
early development of Christianity.
The founder of Christianity was a Jew named Jesus of Nazareth who lived in the first half of the first century A.D.
Most of his life is obscure. Jesus, himself, never wrote anything down, so what we know of his life comes from the writings
called the Synoptic Gospels – the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark and Luke. All of them give accounts of some
part of the life and teachings of Jesus. All of them were written after his death, in order to preserve his teachings as the
first generation of Christians were dying out.
Modern scholars disagree to some extent as to the main teachings of Jesus, but a few of them are clear. The most clear
part of his teaching is a moral message. Jesus taught that God required a new moral awareness among his followers. He
insisted that how people treated each other was more important than simply following the rites and customs of worship –
he told people to work and play well with others. He elevated good human relations over strict compliance with the
religious rules and rites of the Jewish religion and the law. He hinted that people who accepted his teaching and behaved
accordingly would be rewarded in the next life. He may also have preached that he either represented the fulfillment of
prophesy – the Messiah of Jewish tradition – or that he was the herald of God’s intervention into human affairs. As a
result of his teachings, especially his de-emphasis on Jewish law, Jesus was arrested, tried and executed. We know all of
this because of the writings of three individuals who compiled what we call the Synoptic Gospels — Matthew, Mark and
Luke.
The very earliest accounts of the life of Jesus are lost to us. Biblical scholars, studying the books of the New Testament
that we have believe that there were works on the life of Jesus that were written before the Synoptic Gospels that Mark,
Matthew and Luke used as a source for their works. These writings are called the “Q Gospels.” [Quelle = “source” in
German] Each of the authors of the Synoptic Gospels have a slightly different story, or perhaps I should say, lay somewhat
different stresses on their story of Jesus and his message. So, let’s look at each of them.
P a g e 5 o f 26
the message of Christianity was not just for Jews, but for
everyone. He also convinced Jewish Christians that the Jewish
The Gospel of Mark is probably the earliest written
laws need not apply to non-Jewish Christians.
Gospel. It was written around 63 A,D., probably in Rome.
Paul’s letters to the various churches were actually the
Mark is thought to have been a follower of the Apostle Peter.
first
published works of Christianity. They set many of the
Mark was apparently writing primarily for a Greek-speaking
doctrines
of the early Church outside of Jerusalem. His works
audience; he makes no reference to Jewish law or practice.
Mark’s story is less a narrative than a series of anecdotes in also summarize Christian beliefs. He made Christ’s death and
which he describes Jesus, his words, person, and even gestures resurrection the central event of the religion. He downplayed
in great detail. His gospel lacks elements that are standard in the notion of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, and focused on
the other gospels. He makes no mention of the virgin birth, Jesus’s promise to reward Christian belief and faith with
and many scholars believe that the verses in Mark that salvation and eternal life. He portrayed Christ as an
intermediate between humans and God. Importantly, Paul
describe the resurrection were added at a later date.
stressed that Christianity was not an extension of Judaism. A
The author of the Gospel of Matthew is traditionally
number of the leaders of the Church at Jerusalem believed
ascribed to the Apostle Matthew the Tax Collector, but most
that before one could be a Christian one had to be a Jew.
modern scholars are unconvinced that this is the case. The
Paul argued that Christianity was a completely new religion
Gospel was most likely written between sometime between 65
and anyone could be one. Paul was a Roman citizen, and
and 75 A.D. Matthew’s gospel is largely synthetic, that is he
when arrested for his faith, he demanded to be tried as a
seems to have borrowed heavily from the “Q Gospel,” from
Roman. He was taken to Rome and treated well for about
Mark, and from other works on Jesus. He was probably
two years, but finally executed during Nero’s persecutions in
writing for Jewish Christians in Palestine. His work is full of
about 64 a.d.
illusions to the Old Testament, and Jesus as the fulfillment of
prophesy. Matthew argues that Jesus is the Messiah of Jewish Early Difficulties
prophesy.
During the next 2 centuries Christianity expanded in
Synoptic Gospel Writers
The Gospel of St. Luke was written just before 70 A.D.,
quite probably under the influence of St. Paul. Luke
acknowledged that he was not an Apostle and was not an eyewitness to the life of Christ. He claimed to have investigated
everything carefully and to have written an orderly account
from the sources. In other words, Luke was an historian.
Luke wrote his account for gentiles, that is for non-Jewish
readers, especially Greeks. His Gospel stresses Jesus as a
healer, a helper of the oppressed, a sufferer for others. One
scholar wrote that the Gospel of St. Luke is the Gospel of
“the outcast, the Samaritan, the publican, the harlot, and the
prodigal.”
spite of, perhaps even because of, occasional persecution by
Roman authorities. [explain about process of persecution] As
its membership grew, a number of problems began to
surface. One was theological. The many writings of the early
Christians were unclear as to the nature of Christ and his
relationship to God. One group of early Christians – the
Gnostics – believed that no perfect being could inhabit a
physical (imperfect and mortal) body. So, they denied the
possibility of the Trinity, and argued that Jesus had never
really been a human being. Other Gnostics argued that the
mortal imperfect Jesus was not divine, had only been touched
by God at some point before he began his ministry. I should
point out that the Gnostics generated a large body of
St. Paul
scriptural texts (nearly 20) that were not accepted by
But, even with the written words of the Gospel writers, mainstream Christians.
its possible that Christianity would never have been much
Then in the mid-200s, a church leader named Cyprian
more than a splinter cult of Judaism without the intervention
created a new idea of church leadership. He argued that
of Hellenized Jewish administrator named Saul. He was born
Jesus had given the Apostles authority over the church, and
in Tarsus around 5 a.d.
He was an administrator in
the apostles had passed their authority on to the chief elders
Jerusalem, and after about 30 a.d. he worked tirelessly to
of each church. So, each church had one chief elder who had
persecute Christians. Around 35 a.d. he was on his way to
authority over that church. This idea is called the “apostolic
Damascus to arrest some Christians when he had a profound
succession.” These chief elders, bishops, had authority over
conversion experience. He was baptized, changed his name
the doctrines of their own church, and in the early 300s they
to Paul, and became a Christian missionary, first in Asia
began to meet in councils and make policies for all the
Minor, then Greece, and finally Rome. In 50 a.d. Paul
churches.
attended the first church council, and there he argued that
P a g e 6 o f 26
Over time, the bishops of the churches in the largest
cities like Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, and, of course
Rome, became more important, and in the Western
Empire, the Bishop of Rome became the most important of
all. These bishops began to dominate councils of churches
and influence important decisions. So, over time the
Christians became more organized and more hierarchical in
terms of church authority. Now, this didn’t stop heresy, but
it did give Christian worship more organization, and it went
a lot further to define what was and was not orthodox
Christian doctrine. This was good because the Church had
other heretical movements that it had to deal with in the 4th
century. I’d like to look briefly at two.
Donatism
The first is called Donatism. During the persecution of
Christians by the emperor Diocletian (303-311), the Bishop
of Carthage found himself in a dilemma. If members of his
flock were arrested under suspicion of being Christians,
they were required to make an offering to the emperor’s
statue. If they refused they were executed for their faith. If
they made the offering, they were released. The Bishop
reasoned that, if Christians were killed because they refused
to make a gesture, their refusal was essentially suicide, which
is a sin. They were not required to deny their faith, only to
make an offering for the welfare of the emperor. The
Bishop ordered his congregation and priests to make the
offering and avoid death. But some of the Christians
believed that he Bishop’s order was wrong, and that priests
who conformed to it and escaped martyrdom were traitors
to the church and sinners.
In 311, just at the end of the persecutions, the Bishop
died. There was an election for a new bishop, the
conservatives – the ones who disagreed with the order – lost.
They decided to protest the election and chose as their
leader a priest named Donatus. Donatus argued that any
priest who had escaped death by making an offering to the
emperor was sinful and tainted. He argued that the holy
sacraments were invalidated if performed by any priest who
was tainted by sin, any sin. A bad man can’t be a good
priest! Now this opened up a real can of worms! How can
anyone know if a priest has committed a sin? This Donatist
heresy was so destructive that it was referred to the Emperor
Constantine in 313. Constantine was not a Christian, but he
agreed to hear the dispute and render a verdict. His verdict
was that Donatism should be rejected. But the contention
quietly brewed in the Church for the next century or so.
Finally, it became moot when the church accepted the
notion of original sin as doctrine. Under this doctrine all
men share the sin of Adam, and are thus born sinful. Since
everyone was tainted by original sin, sin must not invalidate
the sacraments as all priests are sinners.
Arrianism
The second is an Eastern heresy called Arianism. It is
named after its founder Arrius. The Arians believed that
God, and God only, was a perfect unity – eternal,
omniscient, unchanging – the One. Jesus had none of these
traits; as a mortal he could not be the Father & the Son at
the same time. So, Jesus, according to the Arian argument
could not have divinity. He could only be a sort of prophet,
a mediator between God and man. As you can imagine, this
caused a serious rift in the Eastern Church. Mainstream
Church leaders argued that Christ, the Son, had always
existed with God, and his translation to earth through the
virgin birth had been a miracle, and the fulfilment of
prophesy. But many Eastern Christians preferred Arianism,
and some missionaries who went to work among nonChristian Eastern German and Slavic tribes were Arian,
and converted these groups to Arian Christianity. As we will
see, this will be important later on.
Creating a Definitive Body of Scripture
One last important factor that helped to create a unified
Christian Church that took place in the 4th century was the
creation of the New Testament. Now, up until the middle of
the 300s, there were lots of Christian writings in circulation.
The Synoptic Gospels, remember Matthew, Luke, Mark,
were widely accepted. The letters of Paul and some of the
other Apostles were around and widely accepted. But other
works that held more heretical beliefs were also in
circulation. There were Gnostic Gospels and Epistles, there
were some fairly questionable collections of the "sayings" of
Jesus, there were other controversial works as well, all
claiming the authority of scripture. In 382, the pope
commissioned a noted Christian scholar named Jerome to
produce a Latin translation of the Old and New Testaments
to be the standard version for Christians everywhere. He
revised the Gospels of the New Testament, and delivered
them to the Bishop of Rome in 384. Next, he began to
translate the Old Testament from Greek into Latin. It was a
painstaking and difficult task, which Jerome completed in
405. He then translated the various other books of the New
Testament.
By his death in 420, Jerome had created the Vulgate
Bible, which is still the standard Bible in use by Roman
Catholics. Jerome was very careful when he chose the
writings that would go into the Bible. He excluded works
that had any hint of Gnosticism or any other heresy, and
with very few exceptions, he rooted out verses of the
P a g e 7 o f 26
acceptable books that might give heretical impressions. The important thing is that Jerome produced a standard, acceptable orthodox
Bible which further helped to define Christianity as a universal religion.
So, what's it all mean? Well, we can say that during the 3'd and 4th centuries, Christianity became more universal, better defined
as a faith, and far better organized as an international universal religion. This was to be very important in the next centuries, as the
Church would be one of the most stable, powerful and important institutions in the West.
P a g e 8 o f 26
Unit 3 Study Guide — The Romans
Scope of Unit 3
Unit 3 will cover Lectures 21 to 28. This unit is primarily focused on the history of the ancient Romans, although it takes a few detours to cover the Etruscans, the rise and formation of Christianity and the Germans. I
hope that this study guide helps you prepare what is a fairly generous quantity of material.
❦❦❦
Etruscans
A really good study resource for the Etruscans may be found at:
http://factsanddetails.com/world.php?itemid=2096&catid=56&subcatid=368
The Early Romans — Monarchy, Revolution and Republic
✓ Unlike Greece, Italy has few good natural harbors, so that the inhabitants were never sailors in ancient times.
They were farmers. On the western side of the mountains, several small rivers created a series of relatively
open plains with rich soil where farming could be carried out. Most Italians lived there. Almost in the middle of
the plains is the Tiber River. Rome was located on several small hills overlooking it on the south side.
✓ The Latin-speaking tribes settled into the middle of this open land west of the mountains. The region they occupied was named for them. It was called Latium.
✓ Although they had the same language and customs, the Latins were not politically united. They founded dozens of independent villages scattered throughout Latium. Later, when they became more civilized, villages
located close to each other combined to form 30 small city-states. One group of villages that combined was
located on the hills south of the Tiber River. Rome was one of these city-states.
✓ But neither the Latins or the other barbarians created civilization for themselves. They learned about it from
other peoples. In South Italy, civilization was introduced by the Greeks. After 750 B.C., they began to settle
and to set up city-states along the southern coast of Italy.
✓ But in Latium and Central Italy, civilization was introduced by another people called the Etruscans. The
Etruscans are very mysterious.
• We cannot read their language. Recent Archaeology suggests from DNA evidence ties them to a people of Anatolia
called the Lydians.
• We do know that by 800, they had begun to found city-states and to create an advanced civilization in the northwestern part of Italy (Etruria), on the other side of the Tiber River from the Latins.
• Because they were civilized and the Latins were not, they were able to conquer and to rule some of the Latins for a
brief time. Around 753 B.C (according to tradition)., one band of Etruscans crossed the Tiber and took over the Latin
village overlooking the river.
• They organized the villages into a city-state and introduced elements of civilization.
• They built temples and fortifications
• They introduced the Etruscan alphabet, which was modeled on the Greek alphabet.
• They may also have given the villages a common name for the first time. Some scholars think that the name Roma
is an Etruscan word, but this is not certain.
• Although the Etruscans had given them civilization, the Latins at Rome still resented being ruled by foreigners. In
509 B.C., they revolted and drove the Etruscans out.
P a g e 9 o f 26
✓Using your text and the on line and in class lectures, you should be able to identify and explain the following:
gravitas
imperium
pietas
dictator
virtus
consuls
auctoritas
praetors
Tarquin the Proud
censors
Lucretia
Senate
Latium
centuriate assembly
Latin
paterfamilias
res publica
patron/client relationship
✓ In its early days, Rome was an aristocratic state, with two hereditary classes. Early Rome was very much like an
early Greek polis. The hereditary aristocracy, the patricians, dominated a hereditary underclass called the plebeians. In the 470s B.C. a political process took place among the Romans called the Struggle of the Orders.
✓ Identify and explain the following terms associated with the Struggle of the Orders.
patricians
Tribunes of the Plebs
plebeians
sacrosanct
Plebeian Council
veto
plebiscites
Hortensian Law
XII Tables
Canuleian Law
✓ The principal reason why the patricians gave way to the demands of the plebeians was that the patricians needed
more and plebeians to serve in the army.
•
•
•
•
Rome required ever-increasing numbers of men as its power became greater and greater.
Patricians realized that the way to get men—men willing to fight for the city—was to give them rights.
This was a win-win for everyone.
The patricians got more men in the army, the plebeians won rights, and Rome itself had a population that was loyal. That
will translate into a tremendous amount of power.
✓ The Romans also had two very important social institutions that we need to understand in order to really understand
how Rome functioned as a society and state. The first is the institution of the Roman family (familia), and the second
is the patron/client relationship that the Romans called patrocenium. Please study these two conventions in your text
(115-116) and in the on-line lecture notes.
Roman Expansion
✓ In their early history, the Romans were almost continually at war with the other states around them. Conditions in
Italy in the Early Republic made it almost impossible for Rome or any other state to avoid war.
• There were literally hundreds of small, independent states in Italy, all competing with one another for power and resources.
Most of these states needed land, and they could only get it by taking it from their neighbors.
• Because war was so common, the Romans came to admire and to reward men who were good soldiers and good generals.
If a consul won a great battle, he and his relatives would find it easier to win election to other offices in the future.
• Even common soldiers earned great prestige when they had fought in an important Roman victory. They were also given
land and a share in the spoils of war on occasions.
• The Romans were always ready and even eager to fight, if they were given any reason to do so by some other state.
P a g e 10 o f 26
•
✓ Study the following terms from your various sources (text, lectures):
Livy
Magna Graeca
phalanx
“Pyrrhic Victory”
Samnites
Roman Confederation (Latin League)
Gauls
fetiales
King Pyrrhus
Fetial Law
Epirus
✓ Rome’s earliest conquests can be neatly divided into three parts:
• the conquest of central Italy (500-400 B.C.),
• the conquest of northern Italy (c. 390-350 B.C.)
• and the conquest of southern Italy (290-270 B.C.).
• At first, Rome was merely an equal partner with the other Latin cities. But gradually the size, skill and the toughness of her
armies allowed her to become the leader of the alliance.
• As warfare continued, the Romans conquered the various hill tribes and city states that were in competition with them. To
make sure that they would not be threatened again, Rome settled some of her own citizens among these people. Roman
citizens would receive land, settle down, and form communities of their own and often intermarry with the locals. What this
means is that Roman settlements are now farther away from Rome proper, and they have to be protected as well— which
means more expansion.
• Now, the Romans also did something for their conquered enemies that would never have occurred to the Greeks.
• They extended citizenship to those Latin peoples and conquered neighbors who could benefit from it.
• Not all of the conquered peoples could benefit from full Roman citizenship. After all, Rome was a republic like Greek states,
and only people who lived within a fairly short distance—say a day’s travel from the city—could take part in the political life
of the city.
• Those who lived close to Rome became Roman citizens and those who lived too far from the city were extended Roman
rights that they could use, for instance the right to do business in Rome, but were allowed their own local government.
• As a result of the extension of Roman citizenship and Roman rights, Rome grew very quickly, gaining a population and an
army that was much greater than any Greek polis could ever even hope to acquire.
✓ A brief comparison between Roman and Greek alliances and expansion:
• Unlike Athens and other Greek cities, the Romans treated their allies well. The Romans sometimes needed the help of her
allies, especially in her early history. She was careful not to offend them.
• Romans were afraid the gods would disapprove if she did not keep treaty obligations.
• Rome also gave the peoples of many allied states Roman citizenship, something that Athens and other Greek cities never
did, wouldn’t even contemplate!
• In Athens all citizens were supposed to have an equal chance to hold office, but this was only possible if the number of citizens was relatively small. But in Rome, a small number of families tended to monopolize the major offices in the state. They
could give out citizenship without seriously threatening their own power within the Roman state.
• Citizenship was valuable to the allies, not so much for political reasons as because it allowed them to trade with Romans on
an equal basis and to intermarry with Roman families.
• Generally, it was a good bargain for both sides. The allies got protection and fair treatment, and the Romans got vast numbers of soldiers to assist them in their conquest.
✓ The next two stages of Roman expansion were much shorter.
• Consolidation of dominance over the Western Mediterranean
• Dominance over the Hellenistic East
✓ Western Domination: War With Carthage: Carthage was one of the cities that had been built on the north coast of
Africa by the Phoenicians. As a Phoenician city, Carthage was very active in trade and commerce. By 264, Carthage
had established a lucrative commercial empire which included much of western North Africa, and part of Spain. The
Romans fought two long costly wars with Carthage (264-241 and 218-201).
P a g e 11 o f 26
✓ Study and identify the following terms related to the Punic Wars:
Sicily
Battle of Trebia
First Punic War (264-241 B.C.)
Quintius Fabius Maximus
Roman navy
“the Delayer”
corvus
Battle of Cannae
Hannibal Barca
Lake Trasimene
Hamilcar Barca
Publius Cornelius Scipio
Second Punic War (218-204 B.C.)
Scipio Africanus
Saguntum
war in Spain
elephants and Alps
Battle of Zama
✓ Domination in the East: After Zama, the king of Macedonia, Philip V, welcomed Hannibal to his court.
• Hannibal assured Philip that the Romans had expended so many men and resources defeating Carthage that Philip could
pick up some territory. On Hannibal’s advice, Philip began to put pressure on the Greeks who complained to Rome.
• The Romans put Scipio in charge. Scipio raised an army, and, in what is called the Second Macedonian War, 200-196
B.C., he crushed Philip.
• The Punic Wars had not in fact weakened Rome but given it a large, experienced fighting force led by a truly able commanders.
• After defeating Philip, the Roman Senate made the Macedonians pay a large fine and told the king to leave Rome’s friends
in Greece alone. That done, Scipio and his army returned to Rome.
✓ Hannibal escaped and ran away to the Seleucid Kingdom.
• Once there, Hannibal convinced the Seleucid king, Antiochus III, that the Romans were tuckered out, so why not take a
shot at expanding Seleucid interests and possessions in Greece."
• So, in 192 B.C. Antiochus began to move into Greece.
• The Romans asked Scipio to go to work again, and, as you can guess, he defeated the Seleucid army (The Syrian War,
192-189 B.C.). The Seleucids were fined, told to behave, and the Romans went home. At this point, with nowhere left to run,
Hannibal committed suicide.
✓ So, between 204 and 188 B.C., Rome became the big power in the whole Mediterranean basin. Now, I should mention that the Romans didn’t annex any of these defeated states yet, they just charged them huge fines and told
them to behave. The extent of Roman Expansion up to now outside of Italy had been the acquisition of Spain from
Carthage, and that’s about it. Rome was not the great empire that she would become, but, Rome had changed as a
result of all of these wars, and not necessarily for the better. So, let’s look at those changes.
Consequences of Roman Domination and Expansion
✓ Remember that the early Romans had a simple agricultural economy; but Roman conquests this traditional system
was replaced by a far more advanced economy.
✓ Wealthy Romans developed extensive trade and a demand for luxury goods that Romans had not known about before. Romans paid for these goods with money brought into Rome by conquest.
✓ Also, by 200 B.C., it was becoming harder and harder for small farmers to make a living. There were several reasons for this, but the most important grew out of Roman expansion and warfare.
• In the early period, most Roman soldiers were farmers who farmed in the winter and fought in the summer.
• This was easy since the wars took place close to home. But when the Romans begin fighting far away in, say, in Spain, or
Greece, or Africa, many soldiers were forced to stay away from their farms for years at a time.
• When the men went to war their farms went untended and ultimately had to be sold.
• Wealthy Romans bought these farms and combined them into larger estates called latifundia.
• The latifundia were mainly intended to produce a cash crop that could be sold for profit. Major products were cattle, wine
and olive oil.
P a g e 12 o f 26
• Latifundia were operated by slaves, and the owner might only visit them once or twice a year. He looked on it has an investment. The slaves who worked on these estates were non-Romans who had been taken prisoner by the Romans in war.
✓ These changes caused serious disruptions to Roman society.
• Those farmers who were forced to sell their land had to move to the cities, and the urban population rose rapidly in Italy after 200.
• In the cities work was scarce for free Romans as slaves did most of the unskilled labor. There were not enough jobs available so the unemployed either had to beg or steal to make ends meet.
• Urban poverty and crime became a serious problem. While a growing number of Roman citizens got poorer, other Romans
became extremely wealthy.
• Fairly early on it became necessary for the Senate to create a welfare program, called the corn dole, that provided poor
Roman citizens in the city with free grain to keep them from starving.
✓ The winners in this new economy had varied backgrounds. Most senators made money, but there were also others
who became rich as well. These men were wealthy enough to afford to serve in the army as cavalry, so they were
called equestrians. Wealthy Romans lived in unprecedented luxury: they had expensive houses and clothes, many
slaves. They could afford to provide better education for their children. They often sent their sons to study in Greece.
✓ These social and economic difficulties were aggravated by political problems. After 200 B.C., a very few wealthy
families increasingly monopolized the important Roman offices. They fell into the class of wealthy Roman Senators
called nobiles, which means notable or well known persons.
• Discus the means by which the nobiles came to dominate the Roman state through the Senate, through politics, foreign policy and wealth. Think about ways that noble patrons could use their clients to secure their political interests.
✓ The Senatorial Class — the nobiles—became increasingly more callous about foreign expansion and diplomacy.
This new face of Roman foreign policy can best be illustrated by two events that both took place in 146 B.C.
✓ The Sack of Corinth: The first was in Greece. Roman leaders pushed the Greeks until, in desperation, Southern Greece
revolted against Roman influence. Instead of resorting to diplomacy to settle what was a fairly minor difference, the Roman
consul Lucius Mummius invaded and destroyed the city of Corinth. He had no real reason to do so except to loot the city
and send the booty back to Rome.
✓ The Third Punic War:That same year Rome declared war on Carthage without much more provocation except that it still
existed. The great city of Carthage was defeated, destroyed so that “not one stone was left standing on another,” and Roman soldiers sowed the ground with salt so that nothing would grow there.
✓ By 146 B.C. Rome WAS the 400-pound gorilla on the Mediterranean block, and it was out of control.
The Reforms and Deaths of the Gracchi Brothers
✓ After 133, a series of internal struggles broke out that gradually undermined the whole structure of the Roman state.
The conflict was ignited by the action of two brothers named Tiberius Gracchus (d 133) and Gaius Gracchus
(d.121). These two men came from a very distinguished plebeian Senatorial family, But they were still anxious to
solve the problems which had arisen at Rome in the previous century.
✓ Using your text, and the lectures, study the reforms of Tiberius Grachus (Tribune 133 B.C.) and his brother Gaius
(Tribune 123, 122). Identify the following terms:
nobiles
land reform
optimates
public lands
populares
Plebeian Council
equestrians
final decree of the Senate
The Age of Generals Begins
✓ It was not long before men appeared who were able to destroy the Senate's power over the army.
✓ The first was named Gaius Marius (d. 87 BC). Marius was not really a reformer, but he was unpopular with the
Senate because he did not come from a distinguished noble family. Normally, he would not have had a chance to
reach high office, but he was able to get enough support from the equestrians to win the office of Consul in 107 BC.
P a g e 13 o f 26
• How did Marius change the way that soldiers were recruited? What were the consequences of this new form of recruitment?
How did Roman soldiers essentially become clients of their general rather than loyal troops of the Roman Republic?
• using your text, notes and on line lectures identify and explain the following terms.
Marius’ Mules
“quid pro quo”
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Gaul
Pompey
proconsul
Crassus
crossing the Rubicon
Mithradates
Battle of Pharsalus
Marcus Tullius Cicero
the Ides of March
novus homo
Marcus Antonius
“concord of the orders”
Octavian
First Triumvirate
✓ The Second Triumvirate is the name historians give to the official political alliance of Octavian, Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus, and Marcus Antonius formed on 26 November 43 BC. There were two 5-year terms, covering the period
43 BC – 33 BC.
• The Second Triumvirate was an official (if extra-constitutional) organization, that controlled the Roman state.
• The most important members of this new arrangement were Julius Caesar’s nephew (and adopted son and heir) Octavian,
and Caesar’s closest friend and general Marc Antony.
• Octavian was able to out maneuver Antony.
• Antony was sent to Egypt to consolidate Roman control of the East, while Octavian stayed in Rome.
• Despite having married Octavia, Octavian’s sister, in 40 B.C., Antony openly lived in Alexandria with Cleopatra VII of Egypt.
Cleopatra had also been Caesar’s girlfriend, and bore him a son named Caesarion.
• A master of propaganda, Octavian turned public opinion against his colleague.
• Octavian paraded Antony’s antics in Egypt with Cleopatra and scandalized the Romans.
• Finally Antony and Cleopatra put an expedition together to attack Rome.
• Octavian’s forces decisively defeated Antony’s and Cleopatra’s at Actium in Greece in September 31 BC and chased them
to Egypt in 30 BC.
• Both Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide in Alexandria, and Octavian personally took control of Egypt and Alexandria.
With the complete defeat of Antony, Octavian was left sole master of the Roman world. Octavian would become the first
Roman Emperor – Augustus Caesar.
✓ Augustus Caesar (same person as Octavian) was the most important man in Roman history. He maintained control
of the Roman State for the rest of his life. He was dominant from 30 B.C. to A.D. 14. During that 43 years he reorganized the Roman government to give permanent control to one man. He was the first Roman emperor. Augustus used military power to have himself put in charge of the old city-state government of Rome. He gained control by
combining many powers of the old magistrates, consuls and tribunes into the largely informal and unofficial role of
first citizen.
• Using the text and your notes and on line lectures, study the ways that Augustus consolidated his control over the Roman
state. How did he use the powers of traditional Roman offices? Which offices? How did he organize the provinces? How did
he maintain control of the Roman army? Of all of his titles, Augustus liked the title princeps best. Why?
• Dr. Price argues in his lecture that Augustus was able to create a mass delusion among the Romans. What was that delusion, and how did he pull it off so successfully that his rise to power created the Roman Empire?
The Roman Empire
✓ Identify the following names and terms from the text and lectures:
Julio-Claudians
Augustus
Tiberius
Caligula
Claudius
Nero
Year of the Four Emperors
Flavians
Vespasian
Titus
Domitian
Good Emperors
P a g e 14 o f 26
Trajan
Marcus Aurelius
Commodus
civitates
romanization
household administration
borders of the Empire
Rhine
Danube
Antonine Constitution
auxilia
✓ You should be able to identify good and bad, and very bad emperors. What made a good one? What made a bad
one? And what happened to the bad ones?
Christianity Takes Form
✓ One consequence of the growth of the Roman Empire and the uprooting of people and societies within the Empire
was that people were separated from their old local religions. In the Ancient World, religious activity had been tied to
one’s locality, and one’s ethnicity. Local religions and cults began to fade in the face of a broad membership to the
Roman Empire. As people began to move throughout the Mediterranean they often lost their connection with the
gods and cults of their native lands. Membership in the Roman Empire brought many benefits, but, by the end of the
first century B.C., in the area of religion, it created something of a vacuum among those who lived in it.
✓ The following terms and names are related to material on Early Christianity in the text (167-172) and lectures (both
in-class and on-line). Identify them, learn them, know them.
Roman Imperial Cult
Gospel of St. Luke
persecution
Roma
exclusive monotheism
Decius
genius of the living emperor
orthodoxy
Domitian
mystery religions
heresy
“Q Gospels”
Isis
Messiah
Gnostics
Mithras
Saul of Tarsus
St. Cyprian
Christianity
St. Paul
Apostolic Succession
Jesus of Nazareth
Jerusalem
St. Jerome
Synoptic Gospels
Eucharist
Vulgate Bible
Gospel of St. Matthew
presbyters
Gospel of St. Mark
apostles
✓ What elements did mystery religions share in common? Why were they so successful? Dr. Price argues that early
Christianity was, in fact, a mystery religion, although in some ways it was quite different from other. what were its
similarities? Differences?
✓ Over time, the bishops of the churches in the largest cities like Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople
and, of course Rome, became more important. These bishops began to dominate councils of churches and influence important decisions. So, over time the Christians became more organized and more hierarchical in terms of
church authority.
✓ One last important factor that helped to create a unified Christian Church that took place in the 4th century was the
creation of the New Testament. In 382, the pope commissioned a noted Christian scholar named Jerome to produce
a Latin translation of the Old and New Testaments (the Vulgate Bible) to be the standard version for Christians everywhere.
✓ The Vulgate Bible is still the standard Bible in use by Roman Catholics.
The Late Empire
✓ TheThe Good Emperors have already been covered. (see above)
✓ The Severan Dynasty (193-235) began when Septimius Severus came to the throne in 193.
• Severus militarized the Empire, giving more power to the military over civilian affairs within the provinces.
• Severus’ philosophy of governing: “Keep the army happy and ignore the civilian population.”
✓ Problems plaguing the Empire from around 180-280s A.D.
✓ Internal Problems
• Barracks Emperors
P a g e 15 o f 26
• Empire contracts
• plagues
• slight drop in temperature leads to shorter growing seasons and contraction of good available agricultural land.
• problems raising revenues. No coherent tax policies.
• inflation — Roman emperors debase coinage to pay army. debased coinage is worth less than good coinage.
• fewer slaves: As Rome contracts fewer slaves are taken from conquered areas. Slaves freed to become tenant farmers.
• between 180-280, the population of the Empire contracted by about one third.
✓ External Problems
• The Germans begin to take advantage of weakness in Empire. They begin to raid into Roman territory in increasing numbers.
• The Parthians (Persians) begin to cause problems in the eastern territories of the Empire, in Mesopotamia, Syria and Eastern Asia Minor.
• The Romans probably still had the resources to defend against one of these problems, but not both.
✓ But the Roman Empire was not dead yet. it still had vast resources, and strong traditions. what it needed was someone who could pull it all together again. and it looked in 284 as if it had found just such a person. this person was the
emperor Diocletian. he revived the empire, at least for a while.
• When Diocletian became emperor in 284, he determined that the Empire was declining primarily because of its internal and
not its external problems. So, he set out to shore up the crumbling internal system and the first thing he did was give himself
the power to do it. He got rid of the last remnants of the Republic and gave himself a new title of Dominus, which meant
lord, or perhaps more appropriately “master” – specifically the master of a slave. Whereas Augustus had stressed the fiction
that he was merely the first among equals (princeps), Diocletian based his rule on absolute power and the mystery of his
person.
• He was almost never seen in public. When he did appear he wore magnificent clothing and jewelry to emphasize his wealth
and power. He met with and took advice from a select group of advisors called the companions. The very few who actually
gained audience with the Dominus were forbidden to look him in the eye, and had to kiss the hem of his garment when they
entered or left the ruler’s presence. His home was called the Sacred Palace, and he was said to be divinely appointed to
rule. There was still a Senate in Rome and another was created in Byzantium, but their powers were nil; both essentially
served as town councils. Diocletian, with an enormous bureaucracy was the sole ruler of the empire.
• He created the Tetrarchy. He split the Empire into eastern and western halves.
๏ Each half had an emperor (the Augustus) who ruled their half essentially independent from the other half.
๏ Each half also had an “assistant emperor” (the Caesar) who helped with governing and were supposed to step up into
the Augustus position when the Augustus died or retired.
๏ This system was supposed to make it easier to make quick policy decisions and also to solve the problem of imperial
succession.
• He knew that this army would need resources and that meant the collection of regular and dependable taxes. He reformed
the tax rolls so that only cultivated land could be taxed. The taxes were higher than they had been.
• He also issued a new silver coinage in an attempt to fight inflation.
• To make certain that this income would be forthcoming, he tried to freeze social and economic life as it was at that time.
• He declared that farmers could not sell their land and move, and, if they did, their neighbors would be responsible for paying
their taxes. He decreed that civil servants could not quit, and, if they died, their children had to take their places. He decreed
that businessmen could not shut down or open new businesses and could not leave the cities. He essentially issued laws
that would keep everyone in important professions doing exactly the same thing forever.
• In addition to freezing occupations, Diocletion also froze prices.
• The taxation was too high for smaller farmers, so many of them sold their land to larger land holders and became tenant
farmers, themselves. A smaller number of landowners cam to dominate a wide range of tenant farmers. This new agrarian
social system became the basis for Medieval peasant agriculture.
• And to make certain that people would stay where they were, he promised horrible punishments to anyone who disobeyed.
He ordered the confiscation of property, maiming of limbs, gouging out of eyes, and branding of faces. But what this tells
you is not that all of this working but just the opposite.
P a g e 16 o f 26
✓ Diocletian abdicated in 305 A.D. He went back home and took up farming. He hoped that his tetrarchy system would
solve the problem of succession and maintain some kind of stability to the Empire. It didn’t, because right after Diocletian stepped down, the four emperors fought among themselves for power.
✓ The winner of this power struggle was Constantine, and he is really important for three reasons.
•
•
•
•
He continued the revival of Rome that Diocletian began. (ruled from 311 to 337 AD).
He moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to his own city called Constantinople.
Constantine also made Christian worship legal with the Edict of Milan (313).
Constantine favored Christianity and helped the early Christian Church leaders to formulate orthodox doctrines and organization by means of his leadership in a series of Church Councils.
✓ It was necessary to create Christian orthodoxy because a number of problems began to surface. One was theological. The many writings of the early Christians were unclear as to the nature of Christ and his relationship to God. We
have already looked at the Gnostics, but in the 4th century a number of other heresies began to unfold, the most
threatening of which were Arianism and Donatism.
• Arianism: It is named after its founder Arius. It is an eastern heresy.
• The Arians believed that God, and God only, was a perfect unity – eternal, omniscient, unchanging – the One.
๏ Jesus had none of these traits; as a mortal he could not be the Father & the Son at the same time.
๏ So, Jesus, according to the Arian argument could not have divinity. He could only be a sort of prophet, a mediator between God and man.
๏ As you can imagine, this caused a serious rift in the Eastern Church. Mainstream Church leaders argued that Christ, the
Son, had always existed with God, and his translation to earth through the virgin birth had been a miracle, and the fulfillment of prophesy.
๏ But many Eastern Christians preferred Arianism, and some missionaries who went to work among non-Christian Eastern German and Slavic tribes were Arian, and converted these groups to Arian Christianity. As we will see, this will be
important later on. Some emperors were even partial to Arianism and this partiality would cause problems over the next
century or so.
๏ Additionally, A Goth named Ulfilas published a Bible and he and a number of Goth (German) missionaries converted a
great many Eastern Germans. Ulfilas and his colleagues were Arians, so most Eastern Germans who converted to
Christianity were Arians.
• Donatism: During the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Diocletian (303-311), the Bishop of Carthage found himself
in a dilemma. If members of his flock were arrested under suspicion of being Christians, they were required to turn over holy
books and other Christian materials to the authorities. If they refused they were executed for their faith. If they gave up the
stuff (traditor), they were released (to become traditores, where we get the word traitor). The Bishop reasoned that, if Christians were killed because they refused to make a gesture, their refusal was essentially suicide, which is a sin. The Bishop
ordered his congregation and priests to comply and avoid death. But some of the Christians at Carthage believed that he
Bishop’s order was wrong, and that priests who conformed to it and escaped martyrdom were traitors to the church and sinners.
๏ In 311, just at the end of the persecutions, the Bishop died. There was an election for a new bishop, the conservatives –
the ones who disagreed with the order – lost. They decided to protest the election and chose as their leader a priest
named Donatus.
๏ Donatus argued that any priest who had escaped death by surrendering holy things to the emperor was sinful and
tainted.
๏ He argued that the holy sacraments were invalidated if performed by any priest who was tainted by sin, any sin. A bad
man can’t be a good priest!
๏ Now this opened up a real can of worms! How can anyone know if a priest has committed a sin?
๏ This Donatist heresy was so destructive that it was referred to the Emperor Constantine in 313. Constantine agreed to
hear the dispute and render a verdict. His verdict was that Donatism should be rejected. But the contention quietly
brewed in the Church for the next century or so.
P a g e 17 o f 26
• Finally, it became moot when the church accepted the notion of original sin as doctrine. Under this doctrine all men share
the sin of Adam, and are thus born sinful. Since everyone was tainted by original sin, sin must not invalidate the sacraments
as all priests are sinners.
✓ Constantine viewed Christianity as a vehicle for stability in a Roman Empire that was sorely in need of stability. He
had no use for an unstable or disunited Christianity.
✓ Constantine founded a dynasty that would rule the Empire for about 40 years.
✓ All of his successors, except for the last member of the dynasty would be Christians. The last of Constantine’s line,
Julian the Apostate would try unsuccessfully to restore paganism as the religion of the Empire.
✓ Julian’s successor, Theodosius, reinstated Christianity, even making it the preferred state religion. He denounced
Arianism and supported and promoted the Church.
✓ After Theodosius a series of very weak emperors ruled in the West:
• Generals increasingly controlled the West.
• The city of Rome declined as a center of government in the West.
• Various emperors and generals ruled the West from other cities that were better protected, and in some cases more wealthy
and strategically important.
✓ In the meantime, the Eastern part of the Empire became more important.
• The East was wealthier and better populated.
• It was still a center of cities and trade.
• Constantinople (Constantine’s capital) rapidly became the center of culture, religion and power.
✓ The Germans
• As the fabric of the Roman Empire began to unravel internally, external threats on the frontiers of the Empire contributed to
further crises. The most important external threat was posed by a people called the Germans.
• The Germans are Indo-Europeans who apparently appeared in the area of the Baltic Sea around 1500 B.C. They began to
migrate to the south in the late Bronze Age, and they reached the Rhine River, which actually is in today’s Germany, around
200 BC.
• The Romans had had dealings with the Germans from the time that Julius Caesar annexed Gaul into the Empire in the 50s
B.C. Most of these dealings had been less than friendly.
• The Germans were a bellicose people, like the Romans, and most relations between the two in this early period usually involved a fair amount of blood and body parts getting strewn about the landscape.
• Several German tribes spread down the Danube River and reached the Black Sea around 200 AD. So, Germanic peoples
slowly but surely become the neighbors of the Roman Empire to the north.
• Most of what we know about the Germans is the result of a book called Germania by the Roman historian, Tacitus. The
basic social unit of the Germans was the clan of some 10 to 20 families, and, for military and some other purposes, a bunch
of these clans would join together to form tribes. This society was dominated by men who were the hunters and the fighters.
All other physical labor – farming, cooking, etc. – was left to women or slaves, but usually the women. When the men were
not hunting or fighting, they usually were drinking, eating and arguing.
• The Germans did not launch a major assault on the Roman Empire at any particular time. They drifted down along the
northern border of the Empire, and they would raid into the Empire and suffer attacks by the Roman army in retaliation for
these raids. The first Germans actually entered the Roman Empire as slaves, where they were highly prized for their good
looks. But the raids continually increased, and after 200 A.D. they became increasingly threatening. In fact, the Romans in
the 3rd and 4th centuries even adopted the policy of settling some German tribes along the northern border to protect the
Empire from other German tribes. And, since they did that, some Germans became Christians. In fact, the Germans generally adopted many aspects of Roman civilization; they did not really represent a competing civilization.
• Beginning in the late 300s, Romans began to allow various Germanic tribes to settle in depopulated Roman territories. The
Germans settlers could farm the land and defend it against other Germans, AND pay sorely needed taxes to the Roman
state. It was a win/win all around.
• The Germans were being pushed themselves by an asiatic barbarian people called the Huns.
P a g e 18 o f 26
• Visigoths - 375 - some 100,000 settle an area south of the Danube River with permission of the Eastern Emperor Valens.
Romans treat them badly and in 378 the Visigoths defeat Valens and his army at the Battle of Adrianople. Valens is killed in
the battle.
• The emperor Theodosius makes peace with the Visigoths and settles them further west in Greece. Now they threaten the
Romans in the west.
• In 406 the Rhine River froze and thousands of Western Germans walk across into the Western Roman Empire.
• Romans, desperate to defend the West evacuate Britain completely in 410.
• That same year Visigoths under King Alaric invade Italy and sack Rome. Alaric spared churches and many Romans, but the
sack of 410 was a blow to Roman morale.
✤ Many pagans blamed this disaster on Christianity. They argued that the old gods had punished Rome for falling away
from the old religion.
✤ To refute this charge, St. Augustine of Hippo wrote his most famous book, The City of God. In it, he argued that all
earthly states are imperfect and must eventually fall. Romans were wrong to think that the Empire would last forever.
✤ Politics or any other activity designed to make this world better or stronger will ultimately fail. For that reason, such activities are relatively unimportant.
✤ The only perfect state is the city or Kingdom of God, which is in heaven. Men should try to prepare themselves to be
good citizens in that state.
• Finally, in 476 AD a German chief named Odoacer conquered Rome and expelled the Emperor Romulus Augustulus (a
boy), and that is considered by historians the fall of the Roman Empire. It was even considered at the time the fall of the
Roman Empire. However, I want you to put in your notes that 476 AD is the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. Not in the
East. In the East it continues for another 1000 years.
• In the West after 476, increasingly different German tribes carved little kingdoms out for themselves. But the populations
that they controlled were Romans, so German kings did all they could to be Roman as well. They converted to Christianity,
the employed Roman civil servants and advisors, they maintained as best they could Roman institutions like assemblies
and gladiatorial contests — they did all that they could to maintain a certain degree of romanitas in their kingdoms.
Roman Art, Literature and Culture
✓Study the Spielvogel text on this subject. He covers the culture of the Republican Period on pages 124-132 and the
culture of the Augustan Age (148-150), and the so-called Silver Age (157-165). How do these periods differ?
✓study the importance of rituals and omens, as well as the household cults in Roman religion on pages 124-126.
✓Identify the following terms:
Jupiter Optimus Maximus
auspices
pontifex maximus
Vesta
pontiffs
Janus
college of pontiffs
Penates
augurs
festivals
college of augurs
✓Study the growth of slavery in the Republic. Why was the revolt led by Spartacus of particular concern to the Romans? Also the position of women and marriage in the Roman family.
✓Spielvogel notes that the development of law, especially the civil law was “one of Rome’s chief gifts” to the Mediterranean World, and even to us today (Louisiana’s civil code is based on Roman Law. Learn and identify the following
terms related to the Roman legal system:
ius civile
ius gentium
praetors
jurists
ius naturale
P a g e 19 o f 26
✓Literature and art in the Republic. Identify the following from the text:
Greek New Comedy
Stoicism
Plautus
mos maiorum
Terence
“Greeklings”
Cato the Elder
Scipio Aemilianus
On Agriculture
✓Culture in the Augustan Age. Also look at the culture of the Silver Age Identify the following terms from Spielvogel
(148-150, 157-165).
Augustan Senate
Tacitus
equestrian class
Seneca
Augustan reforms
Juvenal
Virgil
architecture
The Aeneid
aquaducts
Horace
gladiatorial shows
Satires
eruption of Vesuvius
Ovid
medicine
Amores
slavery
Art of Love
the Roman family
Livy
P a g e 20 o f 26
From Classical to
Medieval
In the last few lectures, I have been discussing the great changes that took place in government and religion during the Roman Empire. I have followed the story to the 400s
when the western part of the Empire was overrun by barbarians. These events were paralleled by great changes in the outlook and thought of Greek and Roman civilization.
By the late 400s the outlook of the ancient world had been replaced by a new, medieval view of life. The development
of intellectual life in the Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages is my subject for today.
The most important trend in thought during the Roman Empire was a growing disgust for the material world and the
physical side of man and a growing concern with the supernatural and the human soul. This marked a momentous
change in traditional attitudes. Most ancient peoples were originally very much like us. They were concerned with the
practical problems of surviving and prospering in everyday life. This was especially true of the Romans.
Their main goal was to be successful politicians and rulers. Their favorite philosophy was Stoicism, which taught them
how to make the world better. It was a practical philosophy. They were proud of their political success. The poet Virgil
had said that the Romans were such good rulers that their Empire would last forever. But during the Empire, the Romans
became disillusioned and gradually lost this practical, optimistic outlook. It became impossible for most men to succeed in
politics because control over politics and political life steadily fell into the hands of the emperor and the bureaucracy. In
the 200s, Rome suffered great political problems that killed the old Roman optimism. The perfect Empire no longer
worked, and no one seemed to be able to do anything about it.
These problems convinced most people in the Empire that the material world of nature as a whole was imperfect and
corrupt. They became extremely pessimistic. This pessimism is reflected in the conception of the physical universe that
almost everyone in the Empire came to accept. The universe was thought to be made up of seven spheres, one inside
another. Each sphere contained one of the seven known planets, and the Earth was in the very center.
Men were struck by how different things seemed to be in the outer spheres from the way they were on earth. The
planets moved in regular, unchanging patterns that could be described by mathematical laws. They seemed perfect and
eternal. Thus arose the idea that the perfect, eternal place was up in the sky somewhere, literally in heaven. This idea was
held by many pagans as well as Christians. In contrast, life here on earth was always confused and changing. This had to
be the worst place in the universe. They called it the sublunar world, the world below the moon.
P a g e 21 o f 26
thinkers form reading and using Greco-Roman philosophy.
In fact, there were some semi-philosophical ideas in Paul’s
letters and in other New Testament books, especially the
Gospel of John. There was no reason why philosophy could
not be used to explain some Christian teachings – so long as
it did not come into conflict with basic orthodox ideas.
When Christian theologians used philosophy in their
religious writing, they used primarily Neoplatonism. It
dominated more abstract Christian theology from 200 to
1200.
Neoplatonism
This pessimistic attitude toward the material world led
philosophers to offer new ideas about how men should act
and the goals of action. Most earlier philosophers, such as
the Stoics, believed that men could improve the world
through virtuous action. But if the world was hopelessly evil
and corrupt, this was impossible. Thus Stoicism lost
popularity. By the 200s, it had disappeared and been
replaced by a new philosophy. Many men helped create the
new philosophy, but the most important was Plotinus (d.
270). The philosophy of Plotinus is called Neoplatonism St. Augustine & Christian Thought
(new Platonism) because he used many of Plato’s ideas.
In fact, it was a Christian writer at the end of the
But there were many major differences. Plotinus argued Empire who pulled together the various trends of imperial
that all things in the world come from a perfect, unchanging thought and used them to express for the first time in
unity, which he called The One. The world was created complete form the outlook that was to characterize the
from The One in a series of separate stages. First, The One Middle Ages. He was St. Augustine (d. 430). Augustine was
forms a blueprint for the world of nature similar to Plato’s originally a pagan and a student of Neoplatonism, but he
world of ideas. From this blueprint comes the purposes of eventually converted and became a bishop in North Africa.
individual things that Aristotle had argued for. The In 410, Rome was captured by the Visi-Goths, and many
purposes impose themselves on pure matter to shape the pagans blamed this disaster on Christianity. To refute this
form and development of things in the natural world. Each charge, Augustine wrote his most famous book, The City of
stage depends on and is inferior to the stage that comes God. In it, he argued that all earthly states are imperfect
before it. The most perfect stage is The One; the least and must eventually fall. Romans were wrong to think that
perfect is matter, which forms the world of nature. From this
comes Plotinus’ view of man. Since the human body is
made of matter it is basically imperfect. But the human
mind is similar to the higher stages because it is capable of
reason. Men must try to bring their minds into closer
contact with the higher stages by studying, using reason,
and contemplation. If they do that, they will be wise and
virtuous. But unlike Plato or the Stoics, Plotinus did not
think that men could use wisdom to improve the world. The
world was made of matter and imperfect. Nothing could
change that. This wisdom of Plotinus was an inner, spiritual
quality. It was valuable only for the persons who had it.
Christian Adaptation of Neoplatonism
It may not be immediately apparent, but this
conception was not very different from many Christian
ideas. Christ had taught that the inner condition of the soul
was more important than external action, and many later
Christians, such as monks, scorned the body and the world.
In fact, there was only one major difference between
philosophical ideas and Christian ideas, as Plotinus himself
pointed out. Philosophical truth was based on reason and
logical argument. Christian truth was based in part on
divine revelation. This kept strict pagan philosophers from
accepting Christianity, but it did not prevent Christian
Illuminated page from City of God shows St. Augustine writing
P a g e 22 o f 26
above, and the City below.
the Empire would last forever. Thus politics or any other
activity designed to make this world better or stronger will
ultimately fail. For that reason, such activities are relatively
unimportant. The only perfect state is the city or kingdom
of God, which is in heaven. Men should try to prepare
themselves to be good citizens in that state. That is what is
important. Life in the world of nature is important because
it is in that life that men gain or do not gain the knowledge
of God that will allow time to be saved.
They may gain that knowledge in three ways. On their
own, men must study the scriptures and the teachings of the
Church. They also learn from personal experience and from
the exercise of reason. But these two things are not enough.
Unlike the philosophers, Augustine thought that the soul of
man, as well as the body, was tainted
with imperfection. He is the chief
author of the Doctrine of Original Sin.
Thus the soul of man cannot achieve
knowledge of God by its own efforts.
God himself must confer grace on
those to be saved. For our purposes, the
major idea here is that life in this world
is chiefly a preparation for life in the
next. In the Middle Ages, salvation was
the underlying aim of almost all human
activity.
Decline of Intellectual Activity
monasteries. They were able to pass some of their
knowledge to others, but it was difficult because they were
so isolated. Limited intellectual activity continued in the
500s and 600s, but it became more and more restricted over
time.
One sign of the decline of learning was the
disappearance of knowledge of the Greek language from
Western Europe. Until the late Empire, educated Romans
had all been virtually bilingual – they knew Greek as well as
Latin. But by the 300s, knowledge of Greek had begun to
become rarer for various reasons. Augustine, who was a
very well educated man, knew very little Greek at all. The
fall of the Western Empire cut ties with the East and put
and end to knowledge of Greek altogether. Between 400
and 1400, we know perhaps a half
dozen intellectuals who read Greek.
This meant that Greek learning in
philosophy, science, and other scholarly
subjects was accessible to westerners
only in Latin translation. These
translations were not very numerous.
Until the end of the Middle Ages, for
example, only one of the twenty-six
major works of Plato was available in
Western Europe.
The few educated men in Western
Europe perceived that the great
learning of Greece and Rome was
slipping away. Thus, the main effort of
intellectuals after 400 was to preserve
as much as possible. A representative
figure was a man named Boethius (d.
524). He was a Roman, but he served
as a minister for one of the OstroGothic kings of Italy. He was finally
executed for political reasons. He knew Greek, and he set
out to translate Aristotle and Plato into Latin.
Unfortunately, his death kept him from finishing. He was
only able to translate two basic works of Aristotle on logic.
It was not very much, but it was the only writing of Aristotle
known in Western Europe until about 1200.
A f t e r A u g u s t i n e, o r i g i n a l
intellectual activity in Western Europe
declined rapidly as a result of the
collapse of the Empire politically. We
must look at the Early Middle Ages,
which were culturally bleak. The
political conditions that came with the
fall of the imperial government in the 400s destroyed the
institutions that had supported the traditional civilization of
Greece and Rome. The cities of Western Europe declined
steadily in population and in numbers in the early part of
the Middle Ages. They were the primary targets of
barbarian attack because most of the material wealth in the
Empire was located in them. Once the Germanic kingdoms
were established, civil war and banditry disrupted trade and Monastic Preservation
cut the cities off from one another. The threat of attack and
Another man who had great indirect influence on the
the decline of trade forced city-dwellers to flee to new lives preservation of learning was St. Benedict of Nursia (d. 543).
as farmers or monks in the countryside.
He came from a wealthy Roman family, but he eventually
Roman schools of rhetoric and law were located in the turned to religion. After he had tried to be a hermit monk
cities and supported by the city governments. When the for a short time, he decided to found a monastery in central
cities disappeared, formal higher education also came to an Italy.
end. Some educated men fled to their rural estates or to
P a g e 23 o f 26
For this monastery, he wrote a set of rules to govern the organization and every-day activities of the monks. They were
so popular that they were adopted by most other western monasteries. One feature of his rules was that the monks had to
be kept busy all the time to keep them from falling into sin. One thing they were to do was to copy manuscripts. It was
through the efforts of Benedictine monks that any of the great books of ancient times were preserved at all.
In this work of preservation generally, so much had to be done that only the very slimmest intellectual ties were
maintained with the civilization of the ancient world. To save time, men passed on books that covered the widest possible
range of learning. Much of what was kept were only textbooks. As such, they were very general and very elementary as a
rule. They did not delve very deeply into most subjects. Since medieval thinkers occupied all their time in preservation,
they had little chance for original research or original thought. They placed an unduly high value on the limited learning
of texts. Despite the efforts to preserve ancient culture, the early Middle Ages became increasingly dark intellectually.
In this lecture, I have been trying to make one basic point. What we call the decline and fall of Rome represented
more than just a change in government in Western Europe. It marked a significant break in the line of civilized
development in two ways. To take the more obvious way first: adverse conditions determined that a great part of the
intellectual tradition of Greco-Roman civilization would be lost. Men in the Middle Ages generally knew less about
ancient life and ancient thought than we know today, and our own knowledge is more limited than we would like. Just as
important, however, is the fact that many of the basic assumptions of Greeks and Romans had already been discarded or
radically altered well before the Roman Empire itself ceased to exist.
P a g e 24 o f 26
The Byzantine
Empire
A few lectures ago I talked about the German penetration of the Roman Empire. We saw
that the barbarians came in and established several weak kingdoms in the western part of
the Empire. With this development, Roman government came to an end in the West, but
it continued to exist in the East for another thousand years.
Historians often call this surviving state the Byzantine Empire because the capital was in Constantinople, which had
previously been known as Byzantium. But the people who lived in it never called it anything but the Roman Empire, and
they always thought of themselves as being Romans.
In the beginning, it roughly consisted of the eastern half of the Roman Empire, but in a thousand years of history, it
periodically grew and shrank. The Empire had its greatest extent under the emperor Justinian (527-565). His armies reconquered large territories in the West. They destroyed the kingdom of the Vandals in North Africa and brought that land
back under Roman control. More important, they recaptured Italy from the Ostrogoths. The Byzantines ruled Italy for
nearly a century.
But for most of the Middle Ages, the Byzantine rulers were mainly concerned to protect the territory they had in the
eastern Mediterranean. In this region, they had two principal groups of enemies. In Europe their enemies were the Slavs.
The Slavs were the last great group of Indo-European barbarians to appear. The Slavic languages include Russian, Polish,
and various others.
In Asia, the main enemies of the Empire were the Moslems. I will be looking at them in later lectures. Together these
enemies continued to whittle away at the Eastern Roman Empire through the rest of the Middle Ages. But for most of the
period, the eastern Romans were able to hold on to Greece and Asia Minor, which represented the heartland of their
Empire. These regions had many different peoples, but the dominant language and culture were Greek, as it had been in
Roman times.
The governments of the Eastern Empire kept the organization created for the Roman world by Diocletian and
Constantine in the 300s. The Byzantines believed that the office of emperor had been created by God to care for mankind
and protect Christianity. But the man who held the office was theoretically still an elected official. In practice, the ruler
normally chose his own successor after consulting with the Senate of Constantinople. This Senate had been created by
Constantine in imitation of the old Roman Senate. It was made up of the main leaders of the civil administration of the
Empire. Occasionally, however, emperors were assassinated or overthrown by civil war. Then, it was usually the army that
decided who the new ruler would be.
P a g e 25 o f 26
The Byzantine Empire at the
height of its expansion under the
rule of the Emperor Justinian
(ruled 527-565). The Byzantine
Empire went a long way toward
preserving Roman civilization,
although its language and culture
were Greek.
But however the ruler was actually chosen, his name
would be proclaimed to the people of Constantinople, who
would cheer and clap. Their applause symbolized the election.
Once on the throne, the emperor was an absolute monarch,
who controlled all aspects of government, just like the Roman
emperors from Diocletian on. He wore the old purple robes
and crown, and men had to bow down in front of him and
touch their foreheads to the floor. He was referred to by the
Greek title autocrator, autocrat, and sometimes he was even
called basileus or king.
Now, you should remember that Diocletian had greatly
enlarged the Roman imperial bureaucracy. The Byzantine
rulers used this large, powerful administration to help them in
running the government. The system worked because the East
escaped the great collapse of civilization that hit Western
Europe in the early Middle Ages. The Byzantine Empire
continued to have many large, populous cities. In the cities,
trade and industry remained strong, and the ancient
educational institutions still operated with only minor changes.
Justinian closed the schools of pagan philosophy because they
taught ideas inconsistent with Christianity, but the schools of
rhetoric and law still taught these subjects as before. The cities
provided wealth to support the large bureaucracy, and the
schools trained educated people needed to keep the
bureaucracy operating efficiently. As a result, the Eastern
Roman Empire was the best organized state in Europe through
most of the Middle Ages.
If the Empire had a weakness, it was the army. Because
they were wealthy, the emperors often hired foreign
mercenaries to fight for them instead of drafting their own
subjects. The mercenaries were professional soldiers, so the
army was generally well organized and effective against
enemies. But it was not as large and not always as loyal to the
state as a citizen army would have been.
The main check on the power of the emperor and his
administration was that he had to conduct government
according to the law. The law that was used was based on the
Roman law. Justinian took special pains to see that traditional
Roman law would be preserved. At the start of his reign, he
ordered a group of legal scholars to draw up the famous Code
of Justinian. They collected all the earlier Roman laws still in
force and arranged them systematically according to subject.
They also collected selected passages from the works of the
jurisconsults. Finally, they wrote a textbook based on their
earlier work to be used to train lawyers in the imperial law
schools. This work preserved the Roman law in the East and
also put it into a convenient form that was passed back to
Western Europe later on. This was the major contribution of
Byzantium to European civilization.
P a g e 26 o f 26
Byzantine Church & State
Now I want to give special attention to one last
institution of the Byzantine Empire. That institution is the
church. Christianity was the official religion of the Eastern
Roman Empire, and the relationship between the church
and state was very close. Because the emperors believed that
God had created their office, they regarded themselves as
the ultimate rulers of the church. They claimed the final
power to enforce religious decisions.
Now, emperors might consult with Church leaders on
religious matters and allowed councils to settle many issues,
but the final power always rested with him. Church leaders
sometimes disagreed with the emperor’s decisions and tried
to resist them. But the ruler was powerful enough to control
the Church in the area that he ruled. Thus, the Eastern
Church had what is called Caesaro-papism, a system in
which the emperor headed the Church.
Among the leading churchmen, power was divided.
Remember that the Council of Nicea had given special
authority to four men – the bishops of Rome, Alexandria,
Antioch, and Jerusalem. Three of these men ruled areas
that were in the East. The practice eventually grew up of
calling them patriarchs. They regarded the Bishop of
Rome, the pope, as senior in prestige, but they did not agree
that he had any jurisdiction over them. The patriarchs
considered the pope to be only the first among equals. They
claimed to have independent religious powers in their own
areas, subject only to the Emperor.
occasionally disagreed about matters of religious practice
and even about minor matters of belief. But these questions
were overshadowed by the larger issue of who should have
the greatest influence in making religious decisions. Under
the Petrine Theory, the popes regarded themselves as the
leaders of Christianity. Over time, they insisted on having a
stronger and stronger role in deciding religious disputes. But
the emperors considered the pope merely another patriarch.
They felt that it was their duty to make the final decision.
These two views were bound to come into conflict.
Iconoclasm
The first really serious clash over this issue arose in
connection with a movement initiated in the Eastern
Church known as iconoclasm (742-842). Iconoclasm means
the breaking of images. As Christianity grew in the Roman
world, paintings and statues of Christ, Mary, and the saints
were used to decorate churches. These images gradually
became the objects of religious veneration. Some Eastern
Christians considered the growing importance of this
practice as idolatry. After all, the Ten Commandments had
forbidden the making and the use of graven images.
In 726, the Emperor Leo III (717-741) issued a decree
banning all images from Christian churches and ordering
their destruction. The images had strong support among the
mass of Christians, and many resisted the edict. But the
patriarchs simply accepted the decree and tried to enforce it
as rigorously as possible. Leo’s policies continued off and on
under some of his successors until 842, when the rulers
During the 300s, a fourth Eastern bishop grew in finally gave in to popular discontent and abandoned them.
importance and joined the others. He was the Patriarch of
Constantinople. Because he was the bishop of the second
capital and later the only capital of the Empire, it was
inevitable that he would become a major leader in the
Eastern Churches. But the emperors prompted the growth
of his authority because his position in the capital made
him easy to control and an ideal agent for carrying out
their religious policies. The other patriarchs grumbled
The print at right shows
about this, but imperial support made the patriarch of
Byzantine “iconoclasts”
Constantinople the chief cleric in the East.
painting over pictures of
At first, the Eastern Church was not a separate entity.
It was part of one universal Christian church along with
the Church of Rome and other Western churches. I now
want to discuss the relations between the leaders of the
Eastern Church and the pope. As joint leaders of
Christianity, the emperor, the patriarchs, and the pope tried
to cooperate in defining, protecting, and promoting
orthodox beliefs. But over time, cooperation became
harder. The churches in the two parts of the Roman
Empire had slightly different traditions, and they
Christ and pulling down an
alter crucifix from a church.
P a g e 27 o f 26
But the issue had seriously damaged relations between the East and the popes. The emperors had tried to enforce
iconoclasm in Rome too, which they had nominally ruled since Justinian’s time. But the Lombard attacks had weakened
imperial power in Italy, and the popes steadfastly resisted the policies of the Iconoclastic emperors in Italy and the West.
This was the first major papal challenge to imperial religious authority, and it marked the beginning of a series of disputes
over Church leadership that lasted 200 years. These disputes ended in 1054 . They ended because Rome and the East
made a final break with each other that still continues today. The two halves of the Church split apart with the leaders of
each part claiming that they represented true Christianity.
The Churches of the East formed what have now come to be called the Orthodox Churches, principally the Greek
Orthodox Church. The Church of the West became what we call the Catholic Church, from which the Protestant
churches broke off later on.
P a g e 28 o f 26