Missed Class

I missed class today because i am sick.

After Rome!

Germanic Kingdoms of Western Europe

• The Germanic Barbarians
• Barbarian warlords and their families who assimilated into Roman culture became the "nobles" or aristocrats of medieval Europe
• Germanic tribes who ruled former Roman lands sought to conquer and assimilated other barbarian peoples who lived beyond the frontiers and were sill pagans
• The angles and the Saxons (from Denmark and northwestern Germany) invaded Britain and assimilated the native Britons
• Most of the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity in the seventh century
• The most powerful Germanic tribe was the Franks
• But the real power lay with the "mayors of the palace" who were royal officials and nobles themselves

Meanwhile, back in the Eastern Empire…

• From "Eastern Empire" to "Byzantium"
• The Eastern Roman Empire continued on while the west was now divided up by the barbarian tribes
• When the emperor Justinian came to power in 527, he decided to reunite the entire Roman Empire by re-conquering the western territories
• Justinian succeeded for a time, but the land he re-took was soon conquered by new barbarian tribes and massive plague depopulated much of the west.

It’s a Christian Empire Now

• Greek Byzantine emperors saw themselves as Roman emperors and the heads of the Christian Church

• Byzantines preserved Greco- Roman art, architecture, philosophy and writing despite much of it being non- Christian
• Justinian built the massive domed Hagia Sophia ("holy wisdom") in Constantinople, considered to be the most glorious church on earth at the time

Nomadic Tribes

• Huns migrate from China to Eastern Europe
• A member of a nomadic pastoralist people who invaded Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries a.d.
•  were defeated in 455.

• Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture and loot Rome itself in 410
• A member of the western Goths that invaded the Roman Empire in the fourth century a.d.
• settled in France and Spain, establishing a monarchy that lasted until the early eighth century.

• Vandals control Carthage and the western Mediterranean
•  A member of a Germanic people that overran Gaul, Spain, and northern Africa in the fourth and fifth centuries a.d.
• sacked Rome in 455.

• Other barbarian tribes:
• Ostrogoth in Italy
• One of a tribe of eastern Goths that conquered
• ruled Italy from a.d. 493 to 555.
• Franks in Gaul
• A member of one of the Germanic tribes of the Rhine region in the early Christian era
•  especially one of the Salian Franks who conquered Gaul about a.d. 500
• established an extensive empire that reached its greatest power in the ninth century.
• Angles and Saxons in Britain
• Angles- A member of a Germanic people that migrated to England from southern Jutland in the 5th century a.d.
• Saxons-  A member of a West Germanic tribal group that inhabited northern Germany
• founded the kingdoms of North Umbria, East Anglia, and Mercia, and together with the Jutes and Saxons formed the Anglo-Saxon peoples.

Test Wednesday

1)How many edicts did Diocleation make? Four

2) who was the apostle who was responsible for the speard of christianity? Paul

3) what's and edict? an offfical order

4) What is significant about Constatine's family? they were christian .

5) Sum up what the four edicts were about? they all had to do with punishing christians

6) What was that edict of Milan? Constitine gave all of the Christian there rights back, also there land and property. Also said that you can not perscute for someone's religion

Today in West Civ, we made questions for our test on Wednesday. I think that I might have a chance of actually doing good on it. I am actually a little upset with my grade and wish that I had a better one, but I guess that it just goes to show that I need to work harder than I am now.

The Roman Empire Struggles.

99 Problems (here's just a few)

• In the third century A.D.
• Epidemic disease spread throughout the Empire
• Its too hard to defend the frontier against the barbarians
• Emperors began to loos their hold on power
• Stayed in power for an average of two and a half years due to wars
• Maintaining armies is expensive
• Too many poverty-stricken citizens

Diocletian to the rescue!

• 284 AD- Diocletian's reform
• Increase the size of the army to 400,000
• Bigger than during Augustus's time
• Recruit from the ranks of the barbarians
• Divide Roman territories into smaller provinces
• This new government had 20,000 officials
• Ten times more than under Augustus
• They were more efficient at collecting higher taxes- this greater yield provided for a larger army

Time Marches On

• 300 AD
• 60 million people in the Roman empire
• Several million are Christians
• Christianity has quite an appeal to the poor and disenfranchised
• More Christians- more face-to-face contacts- more conversions- more offspring
• Some Christians are even gaining positions of power, becoming the ruling elite

To persecute, or to not to persecute

• Diocletian (ruled from 284-305) left Christians alone at first

• Then he undertook the most systematic persecution of all *
• Diocletian's goal was to wipe out the who church. He hunted down Christians and their Scriptures. He especially loved to get hold of church leaders. He was trying to turn them back to paganism, to the old Roman religion with the emperor as a God. Therefore, anyone he caught and tried could be released by offering a sacrifice to the gods or to the emperor. Diocletian also decided to burn down all of their church buildings.
• The edict
• 1st -- > destruction of the church and burning the scriptures
• 2nd -- > Christians would be tortured and killed
• 3rd -- > Bishops and leaders would be taken  & prisoners & tortured for the sacrifice to the human gods.
• 4th -- > all Christians had to offer a sacrifice to the god.

• Constantine rules as emperor 306-337
• What was his connection with Christianity? *
• When the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who controlled from 306 to 337 lead Rome, Christianity became the main religion of the Empire. Historians are still unsure about his reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians debated about which form of Christianity he promised to. Although Constantine had been open to Christianity by his mom Helena, there is no agreement between scholars as to whether he accepted his mother's Christianity in his childhood, or as he got older through his life and he didn’t get baptized until right before he died.
• Grew up in a Christian family.
• Eusebius a historian who actually spoke to Constantine who saw what happened at the battle where he put the Christian sign on his shield.
• Edict of Milan stated that they couldn’t kill anyone because of their religion.
• Also if you were a Christian and you got you land taken away now you will get it back

• How did he restructure the empire?*
• Expanded autocratic policies of Diocletian 
• Divided into Garrison troops: front lines, and Mobile units: behind as back-up 
• Gave empire greater flexibility in responding to invasion 
• Managed to introduce new gold coin: solidus, and new silver coins that remained in circulation during his reign 
• Building programs 
• 324-330 constructed new capital city on Byzantium, shore of Bosporus 
• named Constantinople (Istanbul) "New Rome" 
• defense strategic location, w/ forum, palaces, amphitheater, churches 
• public baths, Arch of Constantine, first to build churches, first basilica to Saint Peter 
• gave grants to Christian leaders, symbolizing Christianity's growing role 

Diocleation and Constitine

Today in West Civ, we took notes on the Roman Empire Struggles. We learned a lot about the problems that 
Then he undertook the most systematic persecution of all *

• Diocletian's goal was to wipe out the who church. He hunted down Christians and their Scriptures. He especially loved to get hold of church leaders. He was trying to turn them back to paganism, to the old Roman religion with the emperor as a God. Therefore, anyone he caught and tried could be released by offering a sacrifice to the gods or to the emperor. Diocletian also decided to burn down all of their church buildings

What was Constitine connection to Christianity? *

• When the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who controlled from 306 to 337 lead Rome, Christianity became the main religion of the Empire. Historians are still unsure about his reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians debated about which form of Christianity he promised to. Although Constantine had been open to Christianity by his mom Helena, there is no agreement between scholars as to whether he accepted his mother's Christianity in his childhood, or as he got older through his life and he didn’t get baptized until right before he died. 

How did he restructure the empire?*

• Expanded autocratic policies of Diocletian 
• Divided into Garrison troops: front lines, and Mobile units: behind as back-up 
• Gave empire greater flexibility in responding to invasion 
• Managed to introduce new gold coin: solidus, and new silver coins that remained in circulation during his reign 
• Building programs 
• 324-330 constructed new capital city on Byzantium, shore of Bosporus 
• named Constantinople (Istanbul) "New Rome" 
• protected strategic location, with a forum, palaces, amphitheater, churches 
• public baths, Arch of Constantine, first to build churches, first basilica to Saint Peter 
• gave grants to Christian leaders, symbolizing Christianity's growing role 

Starting Christianity

Christianity - roots

• All begins with Jesus
• Most of what we know of Jesus comes from the "Gospels" of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
• Means "good news"
• Jesus was a Jewish itinerant preacher in Judea who set himself apart from other "Messiahs"
• Taught that one must strive for perfection since God was perfect
• Jesus sought out the imperfect in society
• Jesus' followers believed he was the "Messiah" who had come to end the world and bring the truly faithful into the kingdom of God
• Jesus was believed to be both man and the son of God; both human and divine
• Jesus was deemed a threat to Roman rule and was crucified, though his followers believed he rose from the dead and ascended to heave
• The followers of Jesus who attempted to spread the word of his teachings were know as the apostles

• Start spreading the news
• Paul of Tarsus was a Jew who became a follower of Jesus after a miraculous vision on the road to Damascus
• Paul talked of "predestination" which meant that God chose who was to be saved and who was to be damned
• Paul was well-travelled, he helped found churches in many places and he kept in touch with these new Christians by letters (Corinth, Thessalonia, Rome, Ephesus)
• He helped take off the spread of Christianity