Crash Course Discussion Questions and Reflection
Crash Course World History: Fall of Rome?
1. The argument that the Roman Empire did not fall until the 15th century was the most significant topic discussed in the video because it sheds light on the differences between the eastern and western roman empire. Although the Roman Empire was divided in half and the city of Rome was overtaken by Germanic peoples, it continued to exist in the form of the Byzantine Empire. People of the Byzantine Empire spoke Greek and had a drastically different culture than that of the Western Roman Empire, but it was still very Roman. Its civil laws derived from Roman law, its people enjoyed the same spectacles that true Romans did, and the state continued to encourage …show more content…
Similar to the Greeks, they considered alien people and cultures to be uncivilized compared to their own and they exhibited this by addressing all non-romans as barbarians. Such ethnocentrism was common in the ancient world and I think this is what allowed the Western Roman Empire to last as long as it did. The Roman people resisted foreign influences in order to preserve their own culture and institutions but they did not turn a blind eye to the advancements made by the so called barbarians. For example, as discussed in the video, as Roman legions ventured north to defend Roman territory from barbarians, they adopted pants, garments of the uncivilized, to stay warm in the cooler …show more content…
Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are all Abrahamic religions. I think this is significant because a lot of people do not realize that Islam shares many similarities with Christianity and Judaism. For example, the Hebrew Torah, Islamic Tawrat, and the first five books of the Christian Old Testament are all the same scriptures. This shows that the three religions worship the same god but do so slightly differently. Another example of the similarities that exist between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism is the fact that each religion arose in the Middle East and were influenced by other religions like Zoroastrianism. This is evident by the dualistic nature of the religions, they recognizes opposing forces that keep the universe in balance. I think this topic helped me understand the mindset of people in the Dark Ages who shared so many similarities but fought each other
Crash Course World History: Fall of Rome?
1. The argument that the Roman Empire did not fall until the 15th century was the most significant topic discussed in the video because it sheds light on the differences between the eastern and western roman empire. Although the Roman Empire was divided in half and the city of Rome was overtaken by Germanic peoples, it continued to exist in the form of the Byzantine Empire. People of the Byzantine Empire spoke Greek and had a drastically different culture than that of the Western Roman Empire, but it was still very Roman. Its civil laws derived from Roman law, its people enjoyed the same spectacles that true Romans did, and the state continued to encourage …show more content…
Similar to the Greeks, they considered alien people and cultures to be uncivilized compared to their own and they exhibited this by addressing all non-romans as barbarians. Such ethnocentrism was common in the ancient world and I think this is what allowed the Western Roman Empire to last as long as it did. The Roman people resisted foreign influences in order to preserve their own culture and institutions but they did not turn a blind eye to the advancements made by the so called barbarians. For example, as discussed in the video, as Roman legions ventured north to defend Roman territory from barbarians, they adopted pants, garments of the uncivilized, to stay warm in the cooler …show more content…
Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are all Abrahamic religions. I think this is significant because a lot of people do not realize that Islam shares many similarities with Christianity and Judaism. For example, the Hebrew Torah, Islamic Tawrat, and the first five books of the Christian Old Testament are all the same scriptures. This shows that the three religions worship the same god but do so slightly differently. Another example of the similarities that exist between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism is the fact that each religion arose in the Middle East and were influenced by other religions like Zoroastrianism. This is evident by the dualistic nature of the religions, they recognizes opposing forces that keep the universe in balance. I think this topic helped me understand the mindset of people in the Dark Ages who shared so many similarities but fought each other