Early Europe up to First Test Flashcards
Late Roman Empire big ideas
A century of crisis, diocletian’s reforms, constantine and christianity
Late Antiquity
period of european history roughly 250-600
crisis of third century DATES
235-284
crisis of third century
fifty years of leadership turmoil, civil war. emperors too busy fighting in wars to watch frontiers, constant chaos at top
other problems with Roman empire
too big, new border pressures (persia, barbs), less conquest=less spoils to support the economy, emperors captured in wars
Diocletian dates
r 284-305
Diocletian
emperor 284-305, ended crisis of third cent. created tetrarchy, military reforms, split empire, edict of max prices, shifted empire east, chose good people
tetrarchy
split roman empire in 2 parts, east and west, 2 senior emperors (Augustuses), jr emperors (Caesars), jrs succeed srs. did not last past diocletian
Constantine dates
r306-337, 313 edict of milan, 324 founds constantinople, 325 council of nicaea.
Constantine
emperor r306-337. builds on diocletian reforms, with some changes. converted to xtianity, and state supported it. ended tetrarchy, reunited empire. new currency that works (solidus)
early christianity
Jesus born in monotheist community (jews) in palestine. St paul of tarsus changed message from jews->everybody. 5% of roman empire at time of const.
council of nicaea.
- convened by constantine to determine christian orthodoxy. decided on jesus fully man and fully divine. rejected arianism, created trinity
arianism
one of three kinds of christianity, jesus more man than god, rejected at nicaea. popular with germanic tribes.
monophysites
Jesus is a god, not man (pop. in east, syria). rejected by chalcedon 451
nicene creed
jesus both fully man and god, supported by nicaea and reinforced by chalcedon 451
pagan knowledge vs christian learning
is there room for pagan learning in christianity? big question, lot of big authors struggled with it. relevant today, faith vs science
Tertullian
150-225, from n af. background educated roman pagan. No compromise, rejected pagan learning, focus on end of days/christianity.
Tertullian quote
“What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?”
St Jerome
340-420 (after constantine, xtian tipping pt in roman empire). Very conflicted about pagan learning vs xtianity. Retired from imperial ladder to be scholarly. Advisor to pope, read greek. Wrote the Vulgate
the Vulgate
translation of bible into Latin by St Jerome. western christian canon for 1000 years.
Augustine of Hippo
most important church father. 354-430. said that pagan learning is OK to know but xtianity is most important. tried every religious flavor, settled on xtianity. wrote important works.
St Augustine of Hippo biography
from north africa. mother (monica) xtian, kept trying to convert him. dad small town council, moderately well off background. somewhat hedonistic youth. became follower of cicero, manichaeism, neoplatonism (which he tied into xtianity)
St Augustine Dates
c 354-430. 395 bishop of hippo. 397 Confessions. 410 City of God. 430 dies at hippo
City of God
work by st augustine, 410. god does not promise happiness on this earth. rome fall doesn’t matter. city of god is where it gets better
Theodosius I
r 378-395. Gave visigoths place in empire after they pushed out by huns. they have no loyalty. start pillaging. 390s makes xtianity official state relgious. last emperor of united roman empire.
visigoths
barbarian group, forced out by huns 376. settled in rome, unsatisfied with status, start pillaging. their king alaric sacked rome in 410.
visigoth dates
376 forced out by huns. 410 alaric sacks rome.
alaric
barbarian leader. pillages rome for 3 days in 410, sacks rome. wanted to emulate stilecho, a barb who married son of emp. negotiations for this failed, sacked rome.
barbarians
from greek for “not like us”. not raging hill brutes-tons of culture + goods exchange via roman trade. paid off/appeased by romans in various ways. groups outside of roman empire.
end of western roman empire
barbs moved in. no one guarding borders. 476 romulus augustulus deposed by Odavacer.
Theodoric
r493-526. grew up in constantinople as hostage. took italy ogoth kingdom in “name of east”. Tried to restore roman infrastructure + administration, maintained sep admins for romans and ogoths. called king (rex)
Boethius “schoolmaster to middle ages”
480-524. Old-school roman official and leading official under theodoric. consul, master of offices. translated some plato+aristot to latin. wrote “liberal arts” schoolbooks. accused of plotting with east in old-school roman politics, executed.
Consolation of philosophy
book by boethius, written in prison 523. dialog between him and philosphy, translated by important english chars.
Cassiodorus
ca 490-583. First half of life in theo’s court, similar to boe. consul 514. letter-writer for theo. protege/rival of boe. retired in 538, lived in const til 555 then retires to vivarium. focused on religion+copying.
Cassiodorus dates
ca 490-583. consul 514, master of offices 520s, retired 538, 555 moved to vivarium.
eastern monastism
st anthony, egypt, late 3rd century. extreme acsetism, lived in desert.
western monasticism
st benedict of nursia, italy, mid 6th cent. wrote rulebook for monks, very simple monk-like life, less harsh.
Cass later life
focused his monks on copying manuscripts. preserved tons of docs.wrote on spelling at age 93.
Justinian dates
527-565. plague in 540s.
Justinian
“great” eastern roman empire, mid 6th cent. recodified roman law in Corpus Juris Civilis, spoke latin. reconquered much of west, fought persia, great building projects. bit off more than e rome could chew
justinian background
family from balkans, father Justin went from nowhere->soldier->head of imp guards-> emp. justinian ruled behind scenes.
Theodora
wife of justinian, roman empress. whorey background. very important, esp for woman. lots of imp power. famous speech during hippodrome riots.
Procopius
500-600. secretary to belisarius, eyewitness to wars. wrote History of the Wars, Buildings, Secret History. Different pictures of Justin/theo, and belis.
hippodrome riots
blues and greens united to protest new taxes. mass chaos in constantinople. imp family was going to flee. but instead locked all of them in dome and slaughtered them - not much more dissent.
blue/green factions
two social factions in constantinople. religious/political/sports factions. jian+theo favored blues.
Belisarius
GET DATES. Jian’s right hand general. invaded N af easily, regained territory, then had harder time in italy. also fought persians for a time. wife antonina
invasion of north africa
Belisarious conquered N africa very easily, celebrated triumph in rome. vandals few in number+not friends with roman pop. vandals melted into local pop.
invasion of italy
much harder than africa. war for two decades, devastated roman infrastructure on continent. ended up winning (temporarily).
plague of justinian
540s. black death. killed half of constantinople, 1/3 of empire. major factor in byzantine decline.
Constantinople in byzantine times
glorious city, surviving jewel of rome. greatly built up by justinian. 300k-400k people.
Corpus Juris Civilus
Law code by justinian, finished in XXX. Code, Novels, Digest, Institutes
Code
systematic revision of all roman statutes from 2nd cent on.
Novels
New laws passed by justinian
Digest
commentaries on laws by leading roman lawyers
Institutes
reflections on legal principles in other books
Macedonian Renassaince
850-1050. couple cents of revival, islamic world lost some political coherance. “terms” system of soldier farmers.
E/W christianity split
Different languages=different discussions of theology, eastern hierarchy (patriach appointed by emperor), iconoclasm controversy entirely eastern.
Byzantine big ideas
Legal legacy-CJC latin, spread to italy. civil law based on it. preservation of greek classics, schism of 1054, eastern orthodox legacy (russia, balkans)
Rise of Islam big ideas
Muhammed and origins, spread of islam to 1000CE, conversion and culture
pre-Islam arabia
arabs many polytheist tribes. mecca already sacred + major trading hub. same general geographical area as origins of xtians+jews.
muhammed dates
born 570, married khadija 595, 610 first revelation, 622 hijra (move to medina), 630 capture of mecca, died 632
umma
community of all believers
hadiths
traditions about the teachings of the prophet, finalized c900
qu’ran
recitations - literally word of god
Muhammed
born in branch of wealthy trading family, right after death of justinian. prophet, not divine. lead early muslims to medina, then conquered mecca, relayed qur’an from god.
beginnings of islam
oral tradition during muhammed’s life. started monotheist group in mecca, preached against polytheists. early followers from tribe and family. pushed out of mecca for preaching against their main industry. goes to medina, builds community, fights battles, takes mecca.
conquest of mecca
muhammed+gang returns to mecca in 360s. bloodless conquest. smashed polytheist idols, making kab’aa house of god.
christianity vs islam (theology)
islam has less complex theological questions, no sacrements/trinityish questions. christianity saw itself as building on/correcting judaism, islam builds on/corrects xtianity and judaism.
5 pillars of islam
“there is no good but god”, daily prayer, fast of ramadan, alms for the poor, religious pilgrimage to mecca
first conquests of islam
arabs faced easy foes- overextended byzantines, persians very centralized, when they lost their capital they collapsed. arabs took north africa, persia, spain. N af cities spaced out- taken one by one
shias vs sunnis origins
shias believe that Ali (married to M’s daughter) was last legitimate caliph, sunnis accept political leadership after ali.
uymayyed caliphate
huge caliphate after muhammed. 661-750. moves political capital to damascus.
750 abbasid caliphate
moved capital to baghdad, end of big islamic political unity
division of islamic realms
umayyeds kept N africa, hamdanids anatolia, abbasids in persia, fatimids n africa
dhimmis
jews and christians in islamic lands. “people of the book”, permitted religious freedoms but second class citizens. NO POLYTHEISTS allowed
what happened to lands after islamic conquest
useful people absorbed. local pops not forcibly converted but are enticed by first class status. and overwhelmed by societal forces. arabic replaces greek+syriac.
ISlam as as uniting factor in expanding, sophisticated world
arabic as a universal language, the qu’ran, legal/ethical tradition, economic opportunities. built big empire, culturally way ahaead of westerners
