AP World History September 25, 2015 (b-Week)

Warm Up – September 25, 2015 Why do you think the Roman Empire fell apart in 476AD? Give at least 3 specific reasons. (I will be walking around and taking a grade on your response)

Agenda Finish Fall of the Roman Empire Intro Byzantines Rise of Islam Reminders : Chapter 6, Section 1 & 2 due Monday Chapter 6, Section 3 due Wednesday

The Decline of the Roman Empire The fall of the Roman Empire happened in 3 major stages: 1. An era of decline due to internal problems within Rome

The Romans experienced political problems The empire was too large for one emperor to control Emperors after the Pax Romana were weak Citizens experienced a loss of confidence, patriotism, & loyalty to the Roman gov’t

The Romans experienced economic problems Outside groups disrupted trade Poor harvests led to food shortages Rome had a trade imbalance (they bought more than they produced) The gov’t raised taxes & printed new coins which led to inflation The economic decline left many Romans poor

The Romans experienced military problems Germanic tribes outside Rome were gaining strength The Roman military was growing weak: generals were challenging the authority of the emperors To save money, Romans hired foreign soldiers but these “mercenaries” were not loyal to Rome

Quick Class Discussion What would you do to save the empire? Brainstorm a series of reforms that might save Rome from its decline

The Decline of the Roman Empire The fall of the Roman Empire happened in 3 major stages: 1. An era of decline due to internal problems within Rome 2. A brief period of revival due to reforms by Emperors Diocletian & Constantine

Attempts to Reform the Empire In 284 A.D. Emperor Diocletian came to power & made a series of reforms that temporarily halted Rome’s decline To fix the military, he doubled the size of the Roman army To fix the economy, he fixed prices for goods To fix the lack of loyalty, he presented himself as a godlike emperor

Diocletian’s most important reform was realizing Rome was too large & dividing the empire into the Western Eastern Roman Empires The empire was divided between Greek-speaking & Latin-speaking halves The East was far wealthier than the West because it had most of the great cities & trade centers But, the empire was also divided by wealth

Attempts to Reform the Empire After Diocletian, the emperor Constantine came to power & continued to reform Rome To help unify Rome, he ended persecutions & converted to Christianity He moved the official capital from Rome to a new city in the East, called Constantinople

Constantinople was a major trade center & was easy to defend; The city was built in the Roman style but had a strong Greek & Christian influence

The Decline of the Roman Empire The fall of the Roman Empire happened in 3 major stages: 1. An era of decline due to internal problems within Rome 2. A brief period of revival due to reforms by Emperors Diocletian & Constantine 3. Continued decline, invasion by Germanic “barbarians”, & the conquest of Rome

The Collapse of the Roman Empire After Emperors Diocletian & Constantine, the Western Roman Empire continued to decline Disease, corruption, & declining economy exposed the West to attack from outside invasions

The Collapse of the Roman Empire By 370 A.D., “barbarian” groups outside Rome, led by the Huns, began to attack The weak Roman army in the West could do little to stop the invasions; By 476, Germanic barbarians conquered Western Rome

The Fall of Rome

After the Fall of Rome The decline of the Western Roman Empire led to the Middle Ages

After the Fall of Rome The East became the Byzantine Empire & flourished for another thousand years The Byzantine Empire kept alive the cultural achievements of ancient Greece & Rome

The Classical Era The combination of Greek & Roman achievements are known as Greco-Roman culture

Closure Activity What were the important cultural contributions of the Classical Era? Match the achievement with the appropriate classical civilization

Brain Pop Video Fall of the Roman Empire

The Eastern Roman Empire

SPLITS

After the Roman empire collapsed in the West, the Eastern Roman Empire became the center of civilization. The capital of the Eastern Roman Empire was Byzantium or Constantinople as it came to be known.

Due to its location, it controlled trade between Asia and Europe.

Politics in Constantinople Senate still met as in Rome but the emperor had absolute power. Emperors were the head of both the church and the state. Religion was closely linked to politics. Justinian was a strong and important emperor.

Justinian Justinian became emperor in 527 and ruled until 565. He launched 3 ambitious projects during his reign: 1. He tried to re-conquer Roman lands to the west. 2. He ordered a team of Greek and Latin scholars to compile and simplify the laws. 3. He undertook a massive building program in Constantinople.

Justinian His works on the city and the laws were of lasting value to civilization. His wars, however, proved to be a waste of men and $$$. After his death, all the conquered territory quickly passed back to the barbarians.

Justinian’s most important contribution was his code. The Code of Justinian summarized the laws of many of the provinces of the Roman Empire from the last 400 years. Using these summaries, Justinian created new laws.

Some important principles of Roman Law: All persons had the right to equal treatment under the law. A person was considered innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof rested with the accuser rather than the accused. A person should be punished only for actions, not for thoughts. Any law that seemed unreasonable or unfair could be set aside.

Code of Justinian Law students were taught how to use the code. And it was the basis for Byzantine law for the next 900 years!

Theodora, Justinian’s Wife Answer questions, using p.

Theodora Theodora recognized the right of women and made sure others did too. Through her influence, laws were made protecting women and granting women greater benefits in divorce cases.

Religion in the Byzantine Empire. People debated issues such as the nature of God and Jesus. Conflicts over icons weakened the empire. Icons were pictures of Mary, Jesus, and holy figures that were sold in markets.

Icons

Religion Many objected to the use of icons because they felt people prayed to them as if they were idols. Those that objected to these figures were called iconoclasts. Remember the 10 Commandments....

Iconoclasts were one of the reasons the Christian church split in 1054 A.D. Other reasons: 1. Pope in Rome supported the use of icons, the Byzantine emperor didn’t.

East v. West 2. The pope led the church in Rome, the patriarch led the Eastern Church. The bishop of Constantinople was known as the patriarch.

East v. West 3. The pope in Rome claimed to be the leader of all Christians. However, the patriarch refused to accept the pope’s authority.

Religious Split 4. Priest of the eastern empire conducted services in the local language of their member. Priests in western Europe conducted services only in Latin. 5. Roman priests could not marry, while Eastern priests did.

Religious Split The break between Rome and Constantinople became final in That year the pope and patriarch excommunicated each other. Excommunicate: they were declared “outside the church”, cut off from all Christians.

Religious Split The western branch of the Christian Church became known as the Roman Catholic Church. (Catholic comes from a Latin word meaning “universal”.) The eastern branch became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. (Orthodox comes from 2 Greek words means “correct belief.”)

Islam

Rise of a New Faith After Justinian's death, much of his empire was reconquered by barbarian groups. Then armies of Arabs, inspired by the prophet Muhammad, burst forth from the Arabian desert and threatened the Byzantine empire’s very survival.

The Spread of Islam In the 600s Arab victories claimed the lands in Syria, Palestine, Egypt, northern Africa and Spain. Bedouins were the Arabs from the desert who were nomads and worshipped many gods and spirits.

The Spread of Islam The Bedouins believed spirits called jinn were thought to reside in rocks and other natural objects. Mecca was home to the most sacred rock. The Black Stone of Mecca was embedded within the wall of a shrine called the Kaaba, which in Arabic means “cube”.

Kaaba The Kaaba contains idols representing 360 gods. Pilgrims traveled to this shrine in the holy months, making Mecca an important religious center. In this busy town, around the year 570, Muhammad was born.

Muhammad's Life Orphaned at six Was not literate Was a successful merchant Came to believe in one god, Allah (the same god worshipped by the Jews and Christians)

Mohammed created Islam Islam means “surrender to God.” The Koran contains the teachings of Mohammed.

The Five Pillars of Islam Faith Prayer Alms Fasting Pilgrimage

Islam spread through jihads or “holy wars.” Muslims conquered Spain, Portugal, North Africa, Palestine, and the Fertile Crescent. The Koran written in Arabic was considered the only true word so it spread easily through Arab lands.

Muslim Empire

Arabs were tolerant rulers who treated the Jews and Christians with respect.

Islam split into two sects. Shi’ites are the minority group who believe that Mohammed’s grandson, Husayn, was the rightful caliph. Caliph: a political and religious leader who followed Muhammad. The Sunni are the orthodox Muslims and are in the majority in the Muslim world.

Accomplishments of Islam Translated Greek books into Arabic First chemical laboratories Treatment of disease (diagnosed smallpox and wrote an encyclopedia of medicine)

Accomplishments of Islam Created algebra Arabic numerals Wrote the Arabian Nights – folktales about Alladin’s magic lamp and stories of Sinbad the Sailor.