Late Antiquity: The Transformation of the Roman Empire and the Triumph of Christianity Civ October 9, 2015 Class 20

The Roman Empire in the Fourth Century

The Legacies of Late Antiquity The Division of the Empire into East/West – The Eastern empire afforded relative stability for historical and cultural developments – In the West, the attempts to use Roman laws and institutions (esp. Roman imperial leadership style) to maintain dominance mostly failed Beginnings of “state” organizations (that will become the nations of Europe/the west) Catholic institutions integrate with civil institutions – In the west, the papacy develops

The beginning of extensive historical records as writing AND preservation are privatized. – First there is destruction of almost everything – Then there are limited efforts at preservation of selected aspects. The Legacies of Late Antiquity

As the Church gets into place and in periods when the wars settled down, we start to derive the benefits of writing (that we covered last time), – better history – Some conservation of ancient stuff (most of it “private” and some of it “hidden”) – Loads of reconstruction of ancient stuff Lots of it was speculative/tradition based (“copied” from memory or oral retellings Lots of it was censored by Christian approach Even more than the Romans: COPIERS – And they weren’t always copying the original The Legacies of Late Antiquity

The Transformation of the Roman Empire The Crisis of the Third Century – Twenty-two emperors in fifty years – Institutional chaos – Threats along the frontier – Persecution of Christians

The Reforms of Diocletian and Constantine – Tetrarchy (that doesn’t work/hold) – East and West division (that DOES) Foreshadows (and to some degree, leads to) divisions that will haunt Western Civilization – Eastern Church – Trouble with Islam Transformation of the Roman Empire

The Later Roman Empire in West and East – The end of the western empire Barbarian federates Sack of Rome, 410 Fall of western empire, 476 – Beginnings of “state” organizations (that will become nations) as invaders, indigenous people, and the Roman Empire, remix and split territory.

The Later Roman Empire in West and East The eastern empire Constantinople Along with the East, becomes Christian, BUT ends up Christian of the “other” (minority) kind (Eastern Orthodox) Transformation of the Roman Empire

The Growth of the Catholic Church – Bishops concentrated local leadership but connected to official hierarchical organization. More “Roman-like” than “Jewish-like” – Popes: Petrine idea (that Christ selected Peter to lead the church) and apostolic succession (that the hierarchy follows Christ’s plan) – Nicene creed (finally settling on a fixed set of core beliefs) – So-called “Heresies” (LOADS of them) Disagreements over the fundamental stuff of the traditions. – Eventually, the New Testament The Triumph of Christianity

Christian Monasticism Christianity and the Roman State – Imperial support for Christianity – Constantine: ( ) eases persecutions – Theodosis: (380) Christianity as State religion – Gelasius I: emperor has power, priests have authority – Charlemagne: 800. Pope crowns him as emperor of Rome Nullifies the Eastern emperor and aligns the Church with the Roman side. Christianity and the Eastern State – Actually, the east is the “first” to pull Catholicism into the state Many varieties of the Christian Experience The Triumph of Christianity

The Secular Culture of Late Antiquity Philosophy – Neoplatonism Science and Medicine Law

The Visual Arts Especially related to architecture/buildings – Sculpture – Paintings/Mosaics There’s LOTS of this stuff left. – Perhaps more remnants than in any prior period

The Legacies of Late Antiquity We become what they started: Fragmented, with over-riding unities. – Really, we’re not very Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman. We like to think of ourselves as Western because of them, but we aren’t. Instead: We are from a wide variety of mostly European nationalities, with over-riding tones of classicism and Judeo-Christianity sprinkled in.