1. History 10: How to Think About History
Unit 1: The Roman Heritage (Chapter 6)

2. Causation
Christianity spread the armies, technology and thinking of Rome.
The Christian emphasis of living a life of modesty and discipline appealed to Greeks and Romans.
Roman culture taught the virtue of selflessness and service to the community

3. Change
Rome collapsed as civil war weakened the empire politically, economically, and militarily.
Law and order declined
Invasions weakened the empire
Economic crisis led to farmers selling their land to wealthy landowners and becoming tenant farmers

4. Continuity connects different historical periods and developments
Roman law established a common standard of justice for the entire Empire
Roman law is the basis for the legal codes of Europe and North America in the present day, e.g. evidence-based decision-making, innocent before proven guilty.

5. Perspectives & Biases
Rome’s decline led to the virtual disappearance of central authority in Europe
The Italian scholar Petrarch coined the term “Dark Ages” in the 1300s to describe life after Rome
The negative view was popular because most written records of the time had a strong Rome-centric bias
Petrarch dismissed the era following the collapse of Rome as a “dark” and chaotic time in which no great leaders emerged, no scientific accomplishments were made, and no great art was produced

6. The Dark Ages Weren’t So “Dark”
Important Technologies: printing press, blast furnace, eye glasses, hour glasses, mechanical clock, heavy wheel plough, tidal mills
Important Thinkers & Historical Figures: Peter Abelard, William of Ockham, Petrarch, Dante, Erasmus, Saladin.
Important Events: Battle of Hastings (1066 CE), Magna Carta (1215 CE), Black Death ( CE), Great Schism ( CE).