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18 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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1.) What methods did Augustus develop to rule as emperor that enabled the empire to remain strong for
over two hundred years? |
When Augustus took control of Rome, he implemented several new methods for governing the empire, known as the participate. Under this new form of government the traditional representatives of government- the Senate and the Roman people continues to exist & appoint the traditional magistrates to carry out public business. The Senate increased its power & began to take over elections from the popular assemblies. Augustus established a personal bodyguard known as the Praetorian Guard - loyal to him & helped maintain peace in the empire after his rule. He also created a foreign service that gave advancement based on performance; this eliminated some of the worst provincial abuses that had occurred in Rome's past. Main focus of his government was to maintain peace, collect taxes, & prevent power from accumulating with the real power being exerted at the local level. This allowed for Rome to function for the next two hundred years even when the Emperor in power was not a sufficient ruler.
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2.) What problems did the Roman Empire face between the time of the “Five Good Emperors” and Diocletian, and how did these problems affect the stability of the empire?
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The Military Monarchy was somewhat destabilizing because so many people kept claiming the throne. The emperor would have to fight off other claimants, using resources that could be used to defend the empire against outside forces. Centralized control was in decline. Internal and external pressures.
People were purchasing largely from “the far east…which kept money from circulating & limited the avenues for the growth of a prosperous middle class.” The poor received subsidies & the city had to import grains. The lack of hard currency caused emperors to create more money, but this caused inflation. The plague spread from China (through the silk road). Labor became scarce. People were “hungry, restless, and agitated”. |
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3.) What were the religious and philosophical movements that competed with Christianity during the
first centuries after Christ? What made Christianity attractive to the population? |
In an attempt to bring the religious focus of the west away from the Roman emperor a rise in various philosophic and religious movements began. The Roman Stoic Seneca (ca. 4 BCE-65 CE) wrote that by focusing on their own ethical behavior, people could locate the divinity within each person. People found in Stoicism ethical principles to help guide their lives. Stoicism exerted an important influence on both Christianity&Western ideas in general. The most influential philosophical system that emerged during the late empire (200s) was Neoplatonism. They created a system that offered an explanation for the link between the divine&the human. Through study, contemplation,&proper living, people could cultivate divinity within them & thereby reduce the distance between the human and the divine. These philosophies had limited appeal as they attracted people with leisure, education&a respectable income.
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(what made christianity attractive cont'd)
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Christianity was open to all people, the poor, women,&even slaves, which made it appealing to many people within the Empire.
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4.) Explore and describe the key factors that led to the collapse of political unity in the former Western
Roman Empire—include the military changes, migrations, and attacks from “barbarians”. |
By the end of the third century, the Rome Empire relied more & more on mercenaries to guard the empire's borders. The cost of maintaining legions large enough to guard the whole border of the empire would cost the entire annual budget. In looking for a more cost effective way to maintain stability on the borders, Rome made German tribes looking for an escape from the Huns who had been invading their land, federates. These German federates were allowed to bring their families within the Roman lands in exchange for them providing military service to the empire. This eventually led to the empire being filled with German soldiers who began to turn on Rome & take parts of the empire for themselves such as the Vandals who took over Rome's North African territories after being made federates in the area to protect Rome's interests. Eventually this led to a German mil. leader named Odovacar to depose the western emperor Romulus Augustulus, who ended the centuries of Roman Emperors in the west.
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5.) Can the Byzantine Empire be considered an extension of the Roman world, or was it something
new? Support your answer with evidence from the text and lectures. |
Once the traditional capital of the Roman Empire fell in the west, the eastern capital Constantinople kept up the spirit and traditions of Rome for many centuries. Although the empire came to be known as the Byzantine Empire it still had a large foundation in Roman tradition. They still had large arenas for public spectacles in the chariot races that were held at the hippodrome, which also was a center for political activity in the empire just like the public forms of the west. The Byzantines held onto the Roman code of laws (although greatly revised and updated) that eventually made their way back to western Europe and are to this day the basis of many laws in the western world. They also kept the traditional trade routes open with the far east that were created by Rome centuries before. The focus on a story army and navy as well as military innovation, such as Greek fire- a substance made of combustible oil that was pumped through tubes on ships.
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(BYZANTINE COTN'D)
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The liquid burst into flames on contact, which proved highly effective since the oil floated and kept burning. These links to the Rome of the west all point to the Byzantine Empire being an extension of the original empire.
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6.) How was Islam able to conquer such a vast empire in short amount of time?
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After Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, Islam spread rapidly due to a number of factors. The Rashidun Caliphate swiftly gained new territory due in part to the strength provided to their armies by their intense conviction – belief in a shared religion meant to them that God was on their side. The Muslim armies were stronger and better organized than most armies they fought against. They also showed considerable tolerance toward non-Muslims (in contrast to the practices of the Byzantine Empire). Jihad means “struggle”, and one aspect of this is holy war against non-Muslims. Belief in this principle was another force that made their armies strong. The Quran is meant to only be read in Arabic, and all Muslims must learn this language. Sharing a common language helped unite people. Shari’ah law governed Islamic life and served as another “unifying force”. Paper manufacturing was invented during the late 8th century and this allowed for the dissemination of Islamic religious doctrine.
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(ISLAM Q CONTINUED)
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Islam grew incredibly rapidly after the death of the prophet Muhammad, and essentially replaced, but did not eliminate, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and paganism as the dominant religion of the Middle East.
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7.) Describe the major intellectual tendencies and accomplishments of Charlemagne.
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Although Charlemagne never learned to write he had always had an intellectual curiosity that he used to foster what was known as the Carolingian Renaissance. During this time he put an emphasis on education that helped bring stability to the region. Charlemagne started by opening up schools to the public where the clergy had to accept all interested children without charging them fees. Charlemagne then brought into the kingdom the English scholar Alcuin to help him reform education further. Alcuin along with many other scholars he brought in from around Europe instituted a new curriculum that would dominate medieval universities and influence modern liberal-arts education. One of the most notable reforms was that of standardizing texts. At the time there were many different versions of all available texts, they scholars took all of them and put rewrote them into one form with fewer errors that made them easy to read.
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(CHARLEMAGNE CONT'D)
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This text form also is the basis for our own lowercase letters and the printing press letters invented 600 years later.
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8.) How did the Vikings become so powerful, and what was their effect upon the European world?
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The Vikings had “longboats” which enabled them to invade. These boats were very versatile & allowed them to travel in seas but also in rivers. They were shallow & broad and very stable, even in stormy seas. They had a large sail, which added to the stability. They could also be propelled by oars when necessary. They were not Christian and saw nothing wrong with attacking monasteries. Monasteries were very easy targets because there was plenty of wealth & loot, the monks wouldn’t fight back, there was plenty of food, they could take slaves, etc. This gave them a horrible reputation, but also helped them. The Viking invasions resulted in chaos in western Europe. Charlemagne had improved education in the empire, but in the face of constant warfare, the empire’s resources began to be spent much less on education and much more on war. The church also suffered – many places of worship were destroyed and church lands were often taken over for land to house armies.
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(VIKINGS CONT'D)
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While the Viking invasions did slow down as they settled in to their new territories, order was not easily restored.
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Examine ONE of these major events and its impact on Western culture: The Franks and Charlemagne, the Vikings, The Norman Conquests (England and Italy).
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After the fall of the Roman Empire in the west, Europe became a land of isolated tribes that had no real connection to each other. This changed with the rise of the Franks from their first King Clovis, all the way up to Charlemagne. Clovis (485-511) – one of the chieftains of the Gauls In 485, decided that he wanted to be the ruler of Gaul. He has the King exiled and takes power stating the Merovingian Dynasty. After Clovis most of his hares take the thrown at a very young age so they create the Mayor of the Palace. By 700, these mayors of the palace exerted a tremendous amount of power over the kingdom. The kings ended up sending the mayors off to lead armies. Charles Martel becomes the mayor of the palace and helps save the Franks (and Europe) from a Muslim invasion. His son eventually takes the throne away from the descendants of Clovis and starts the Carolingian Dynasty. Under this dynasty Charles the Great (Charlemagne) takes over and greatly expands the empire.
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(#9 CONT'D)
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He unifies western Europe that hadn’t been seen since the time of Rome as well as fostering in an age of educational growth and helped to spread Christianity to regions still ruled by pagan tribes.
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Briefly examine the causes and results of the four major Crusades.
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For centuries before the crusades started Christians had been visiting holy places by the 11th century these pilgrimages became even more popular, especially to Jerusalem, where Jesus lived. The Turks who controlled Jerusalem in the 11th century made it much harder by charging Christians taxes to make theses visits, this along with a plea for help from the Byzantine emperor Alexius to Pope Urban II, the Pope called for Christians to take up arms and defend the holy land from the Muslims. This soldiers who answered the call were hoping to be rewarded by having all of their sins absorbed as well as the possibility of gaining land, wealth and prestige from winning battles. The first Crusade was a success for the Christians as they took the city of Jerusalem, but they massacred all who lived with in the city after taking control of it. The crusaders also took over other kingdoms such as Edessa, Antioch, and Acre.
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(CRUSADES CON'T)
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By 1140 Edessa was taken back by the Muslims this caused the 2nd crusade, but at the start of it there was an outbreak of plague which caused it to end quickly with an easy win for the Muslim armies. The third crusade was a result of Jerusalem falling back into the hands of the Muslims under Saladin who controlled Syria and Egypt as well. For this crusade three major monarchs responded Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (HRE), Richard the Lion Harted (England), and Philip II (France). The campaign started well, but lost momentum when the Barbarossa drowned in river, causing his troops to go back to Europe, and shortly after Philip II decided to return to Europe as well with his army leaving Richard alone to make a peace settlement with Saladin. The fourth and finally major crusade was actually fought in Christian empires against Christians.
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(CRUSADES CONT'D 2)
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These crusaders did not have enough money to get to the holy land so in exchange for transport ships the Crusaders attacted the Christain city of Zara fro the Benetains. When this did not work for them the Crusaders then helped an ousted Byzantine Emperor regan power in exchange for funding the Crusaders. They were able to win enough battles to reinstall the emperor but he was then unable to pay them back for the efforts, so the soldiers sacked the city and raped and murdered people within the empire including nuns. They then took control of the Byzantine empire and that was the end of the 4th crusade. (yay religion!!!)
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