Heirs of Rome

The Byzantine Empire

The Muslim Empire

Christian Europe

The Empire at its height, c 250

Diocletian, The Tetrarchy, 285 CE

In 324, Constantine moves East

Theodosius, 379-395 The last Emperor who could claim to rule both East and West.

Upon his death, the empire was divided between his two sons, Arcadius (East) and Honorius (West)

Rome’s real last gasps!… Theodoric the Great 489-526

- Ostrogoth king ruled Italy from Rome… after killing Odovacer

• His rule was enlightened, peaceful and just- praised by Romans & barbarians.

• Retained the Roman Senate, civil service and schools. Old, aristocratic families still held high positions in the government

Greco-Roman culture lived on: The Byzantine Empire

Justinian the Great, 527-565

• Three principal goals: 1) restore the western provinces 2) reform the laws and institutions 3) promote art and architecture

Trade and Industry flourished

Hagia Sophia, 532-537

Mosaics

Corpus Juris Civilis, the Body of Civil Law

The Byzantine Legacy…

• The codification of the laws of ancient Rome under Justinian

• Preserved and expanded the philosophy, science, mathematics and literature of ancient Greece.

• It prevented Muslim Arabs from advancing into Europe

Around 610, Muhammad was a prosperous merchant

The Muslim Golden AgeThe 8th & 9th Centuries

• The Arab Empire stretched from Spain to India and was unified by a common language-Arabic, religion-Islam and culture

• Muslims preserved and expanded the Greco-Roman-Byzantine achievements in science, philosophy and mathematics…

Muslim contributions to civilization

• Education- great universities at Cairo, Baghdad and Cordova…

• Mathematics- introduced Arabic numerals, furthered the study of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry…

• Science- discovered many chemical compounds, including sulfuric acid…

• Agriculture- improved farming by crop rotation • Industry- Cordovan leather; Damascus swords; damask

cloth; crystal glass; smooth paper; beautiful rugs …• Navigation- they believed the world to be round…• Literature- 1001 Arabian Nights…• Medicine- used anesthetics, compiled medical texts

The Mongols: Genghis Khan

• In 1258, Baghdad was plundered and burned. 50,000 dead, including the last Baghdad Caliph…

• For 200 years, Mongols devastated palaces, libraries and universities

The Mongol Empire at its height

• The cultural greatness of the Byzantine and Islamic Empires enriched the western world …but…

• did not produce the major breakthroughs that created the modern world. That is the singular achievement of western Europe.

The Church as Unifier

• Became the dominant institution after the collapse of Roman authority - assumed many political functions

• It preserved the high culture of the Greco-Roman civilization

• Membership in a universal religion (Catholic) replaced membership in a universal empire (Rome)

Saul of Tarsus became St. Paul the Apostle who transformed a small Jewish sect into the religion of Christianity which taught that Jesus was savior and God. [34-64]

Early Christians were brutally persecuted by the Romans for over 200 years.

Christianity gained many converts:

• People were dissatisfied with the old pagan religions and were attracted by the ideas of One God, equality, universal love and eternal salvation…

• Early Christians displayed courage and sincerity, willing to suffer persecution rather than renounce their faith.

• The concept of equality appealed to the poor and oppressed…

• Missionaries could travel and preach- Rome’s transportation system!

Pope Gregory The Great, 590-604

• 588 Lombard invasions• Maintained productive

lands - kept food coming into Rome

• Ransomed captives• Organized defense of the

city• Sponsored hospitals and

schools• Aided women and

orphans• Negotiated truce in 598

The Medieval monk

• Monks and nuns built monasteries and converted the people…

• Maintained libraries with theological works and the ancient Latin classics

• Reclaimed the land and instructed peasants in farming -rejected classical disdain for manual labor

• Provided help to the old, the sick, the destitute• Adopted a code of poverty

• A monk being “tonsured.”

Monks worked in a Scriptorium

• Christianity ended the classical, Greco-Roman view of the world.

• To the classical mind, human worth came from the capacity of individuals to use reason, and shape their life based on rational standards;

• Christianity taught that Life’s purpose was not to achieve excellence in this world, but to attain salvation in a heavenly city.

• To the western church – which was to dominate and shape European civilization that emerged during the Middle Ages- a person’s worldly accomplishments amounted to very little if one did not accept the Christian God and his revelations.

• CharlemagneR 768-814

Holy Roman Emperor

Any Questions?