Download Introduction to Humanities Lecture 7c The Late Roman Empire

Introduction to Humanities
Lecture 7c
The Late Roman Empire
By David Kelsey
The Late Empire
• The Late Empire:
– The problems that arose in the 3rd century A.D. from invasions, the plague and
civil war devastate the population of the Empire.
– Through the efforts of two Roman emperors, Diocletian and Constantine, the
Roman empire is revitalized in a period of history now called the Late Roman
Empire.
– The Roman Empire also sees the growth of a new religion in Christianity.
Diocletian
• Diocletian:
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Lived 244-311
Ruled 284-305
A prominent military leader
The emperor Numerian was
executed by his prefect so
Diocletian executed the prefect
and was then hailed as emperor
– Diocletian retired in 305.
•
Source of image of Diocletian:
todayinhistoryblog.wordpress.com
The Reforms of Diocletian
• The reforms of Diocletian:
– He increases the number of provinces to 100, each grouped into 12
dioces, which were each headed by an official called a vicar.
– The 12 dioces were divided into 4 prefectures
– The entire empire was divided into east and west with each
containing 2 prefectures.
– Each half of the empire was ruled by an Augustus
– Diocletian ruled the East and Maximian (a strong military
commander) ruled the West.
– Each Augustus was assisted by a vice emperor who would
theoretically succeed to the position of Augustus.
– This system was called Tetrarchy, rule by 4.
The Tetrarchy under Diocletian
•
Source: "Tetrarchy map3" by Coppermine Photo Gallery - Coppermine Photo Gallery
Constantine
•
Constantine:
– Ruled 306-337
– Was a great military leader
– Constantine becomes Augustus of the Western
empire, with Licinius becoming Augustus of the
Eastern empire
– In 324 AD Constantine’s army routed Licinius’
army
– Constantine then established himself as sole ruler
of the empire.
•
Divine Monarchy:
– Under Constantine, the emperor becomes a
divinely sanctioned monarch whose will was
law.
– Government officials were the emperor’s
humble servants
– The Roman senate was completely stripped of
power.
•
Source of image of Constantine: en.wikipedia.org
Constantine’s reforms
• Constantine’s reforms:
– Constantine establishes a sharp divide between administrative and
military bureaucracies, with the emperor maintaining control over
both…
– The army was enlarged to 400,000. Garrison troops were located on the
frontiers and mobile units were based behind the frontiers to aid as
support…
– These military reforms, along with a dedication to building public works,
drained government finances.
• So Constantine:
– Makes government payments in produce
– Enacted new tax laws to gain revenue
– Issued laws that forced people to remain in their designated job classes
– To fight inflation Constantine established maximum wages and prices for
the entire empire.
– This was an unprecedented level of government control…
Constantine’s building program
• Constantine’s building program:
•
– 324-330 AD: Constantinople is
constructed.
– It was located in the Eastern
empire on the site of the Greek
city Byzantium.
– It is now called Istanbul, Turkey.
– He built there a forum, large
palaces and a vast amphitheater.
– It was officially dedicated on May
11, 330.
Image of Hagia Irene, the first Christian
church commissioned by Constantine.
– It was built in the 4th century AD in
Constantinople
• Constantine also built, in Rome,
the arch of Constantine.
• And he was the first emperor to
build Christian churches in Rome.
•
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Constantine’s conversion to Christianity
•
Constantine’s conversion to Christianity:
– In 312 AD Constantine has a vision of a Christian Cross before a battle and converts to
Christianity
– In 313 AD Constantine issues the Edict of Milan, which officially tolerated the existence
of Christianity in the Roman empire.
– After Constantine, every Roman emperor was Christian except Julian (360-363) who
tried but failed to restore the Greco-Roman polytheistic religion.
– Under Theodosius I (379-395 AD) Christianity is made the official religion of the Roman
empire.
After Constantine’s Death
• After Constantine’s death:
– The empire divides into Eastern and Western halves again.
– By 395 AD the western and eastern parts of the empire were virtually two
independent states.
– In the 5th century AD, while the empire in the east remained intact under the
Roman emperor in Constantinople, the administrative structure in the
Western empire collapsed and was replaced by several Germanic kingdoms.
Map of Empire after Constantine’s death
•
Map of Empire after Constantine’s death:
•
Source: imgarcade.com
German Invaders
• German Invaders:
– In the late 4th century, the Huns, nomads from Asia, began
moving into the Black sea region forcing the Germans westward.
– In 376 one of these German groups known as the Visigoths
moved into the Balkans and began farming there.
• They did so at the cost of supplying the Roman army with troops…
– But the Visigoths soldiers were mistreated and so the Visigoths
revolted.
– In 378 AD the Roman Emperor Valens and a Roman army of
40,000 confronted the Visigoths at Adrainople.
– The emperor was killed and the Roman army decimated.
– But the new Roman emperor Theodosius I resettled the
Visigoths into Roman civilization…
More foreign Invaders
•
More Invaders:
– In the early 5th century the Burgundians moved into southern Gaul and the Franks
into northern Gaul.
– The Vandals seized Carthage in 439 AD.
– As the German tribes moved into the empire, Roman forces were withdrawn
thereby reducing the Roman territory.
• For example, in 410 AD the last Roman legions were recalled from Britain and the Saxons
expanded their control there.
• Within another decade, both Spain and Gaul were free of Roman authority.
– By the mid 5th century, Roman authority was operating only in Rome and small parts
of Gaul.
•
The end of the empire:
– In 476 a German named Odoacer deposed the Roman emperor Romulus
Augustulus. This was the end of the Roman empire…
The End of the Western Empire
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Map of the Mediterranean at the end of the Western Roman empire:
•
Source: imgur.com
The Byzantine empire
•
The Byzantine empire:
– In the 4th century the Roman empire was split by Diocletian into east and
west.
– The Eastern Roman empire did not collapse like the western empire did.
– The capital of the Eastern Empire was Constantinople.
– In the 6th century the Eastern empire came under the rule of Justinian
Justinian
• Justinian:
– Ruled 527-565
– Nephew of the prior
emperor, rightful heir to the
throne, well trained…
– Was determined to reestablish the Roman Empire
once again throughout the
Mediterranean…
– He wanted to re-conquer the
west. He attempts to do so in
533.
•
Source of image of Justinian: en.wikipedia.org
Re-conquering the West
• Justinian attempts to re-conquer the Western Empire in 533 AD.
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Justinian’s army was lead by General Belisarius.
Belisarius sailed to North Africa and quickly destroyed the Vandals.
From North Africa he lead his forces to Sicily where he remained until 535.
Belisarius conquered the Ostrogoths on the Italian peninsula in 552.
Although Justinian had reclaimed Rome for the empire the war devastated the
Roman population.
– Justinian died in 565. At the time of his death he had reclaimed for the empire: Italy,
part of Spain, North Africa, Asia minor, Palestine and Syria.
– Only 3 years after Justinians death though the Lombards entered and occupied Italy.
Map of the Byzantine Empire
before and after the reign of Justinian
•
Map of the Byzantine Empire before and after the reign of Justinian:
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Source: wps.pearsoncustom.com
The Roman Empire at the time of Justinian
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Map of the Roman Empire at the time of Justinian’s death:
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Source of Image: faculty.cua.edu
The Codification of Roman Law
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The Codification of Roman law:
Justinian inherited a mountain of Roman law and jurisprudence
– from laws passed by the senate to decisions of praetors to the edicts of emperors.
•
So Justinian had a jurist, Treborian, codify Roman law.
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Called the Body of Civil law.
The first part, the code of law, was completed in 529.
In 533 the Digest and the Institutes were completed.
The digest was a list of writings of Roman jurists and the Institutes was a brief summary of the
chief principles of Roman law.
– Lastly, the Novels was a compilation of the most important new laws created during Justinian’s
reign.
•
The Body of Civil law was the basis of imperial law in the Byzantine empire until its end in
1453.
– Since the body of Civil Law was written in Latin it also became the basis of the legal system of all
of Continental Europe.
Other Contributions
• Other Contributions:
– In 532 a famous riot called the Nika riot devastated
much of the city of Constantinople.
– Justinian set about rebuilding much of the city. He
added many new buildings.
– He rebuilt or built new: roads, bridges, walls, public
baths, law courts and underground reservoirs to hold
the city’s water supply.
– He also built hospitals, schools, monasteries and
churches.
– In Constantinople alone he built or rebuilt 34
churches.
The Hagia Sophia
• Hagia Sophia:
– Justinian’s greatest
achievement was the
Hagia Sophia in
Constantinople.
– It was completed in 537.
– Its dome seems to
almost float in space
due to the construction
of 42 windows around
its base.
•
Source of image of Hagia
Sophia: rtwin30days.com
The Hagia Sophia Church
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Image from inside the Hagia Sophia Church in Istanbul, Turkey
•
Source: galleryhip.com
The Empire after Justinian’s death
• The empire after Justinian’s death:
– Justinian left the empire with serious problems: too much distant
territory to protect, an empty treasury, a smaller population because
of plague, and new threats to the frontiers of the empire.
– Unified Islamic Arab tribes conquered and took control of the
territories of Syria and Palestine after the Arabs defeated a Roman
army in 636 AD.
• The Arabs also conquered the old Persian Empire.
• The Arabs also attempted to take Constantinople but were defeated.
– In 679 the Bulgars defeated a Roman army and took control of the
lower Danube valley.
The beginnings of the Byzantine Empire
• The beginnings of the Byzantine Empire:
– By the beginning of the 8th century the Eastern Roman empire consisted only
of the Eastern Balkans and Asia minor.
– The entire Roman Empire consisted of only part of the eastern half of the
Mediterranean region.
– This change signifies the beginning of what is now called the Byzantine
Empire.
– It persisted until 1453 when it fell to the Ottoman Empire.
Map of the early Byzantine Empire, 814 AD
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Source: business.baylor.edu