Week 1 History 1B

• When did the Roman Empire end?


  • 454 - Marcellinus comes, writing in the eastern empire around 518
  • 476 - end of the western Roman Empire
  • 480 - death of the last recognized western emperor
  • 1204 - sack of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade
  • 1453 - end of the eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire
  • 1806 - end of the Holy Roman Empire

  
• A large amount of important building nowadays still get built using the Roman architecture
• Late Roman Empire


  • Empire after circa 300 divided into east and west; east more populous, wealthier than the west; north Africa was a key province for the west

  
• Emperor Constantine was the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire
• The clothing they wore throughout this period constantly changed
• Reasons for the end of the (Western) Roman Empire


  • Military reasons
  • Religion (and therefore cultural as well)

  
• The 'Barbarians' were not a homogeneous group - each group (and each individual) had different interests and experienced the empire differently

  
• Many 'Barbarians' worked for Rome - the empire provided wealth and status
• The Goths entered the empire (in the east!) as refugees, not invaders
• There was an age of civil war and political instability
• The fall of an empire was not necessarily a bad thing for everyone - not everyone would have cared
• Decline of the Western Roman Empire


  • General decline in the economy (the state no longer facilitates exchanges in the West; less centralized power)
  • Some regions transformed - Roman culture almost disappeared: e.g. England
  • Military conflict such as civil wars still devasting for people living through it

  
• We should abandon a simplistic narrative of chaos and decline regarding the fall of the Western Roman Empire
• Contemporary inscription on Theoderic the Great, Gothic ruler of Italy: 'semper Augustus, guardian of liberty, propagator of the Roman name and born for the good of the Republic'
• Procopius of Caesarea, Wars 5.1, on Theoderic the Great: 'In name Theoderic was a usurper, yet in fact he was truly an emperor.'
• A letter from Ostrogothic Italy, c.508: 'Our government is an imitation of yours, the exemplary form of the only good imperium set on display'
• Role of Christianity


  • Important for understanding causes of events
  • Shaped wider society/culture
  • Transformed the landscape
  • Huge variety of beliefs
  • Encounters between religions shaped cross-cultural relations (e.g. conversion)
• Constantine I


  First Christian emperor, ended persecution of Christians
• Christianity was made the state religion by the end of the fourth century
• Factors that led to the spread of Christianity


  • Imperial patronage of Christianity
  • Legislation enforced Christianity - banned pagan practices
  • Financial and legal privileges for Christian clergy/donations for church building
  • Seeking unity of the Church
  • Model for the emperor
  • Hard coercion (anti-pagan legislation) and soft coercion (promotion of Christian officials)
  • Model of Christianity, mission, holy people and bishops, cult of the saints
  • Peer pressure, women leading the way
  • Regional differences
• Not all of the Empire became Christian, this began happening in the last part of the fourth century
• Christianity was favoured in cities more than in villages
• Aristocratic women were mostly the first ones to convert to Christianity
• Christians began to persecute pagans
• In the fifth century Christianity became the dominant religion
• Imperial establishment of Christianity


  • Bishops can now intervene in politics - emperors not always a fan
  • Some figures influential, e.g. some popes, some holy men with particularly broad following
• Diversity in the practice of Christianity


  • Regional differences (sometimes seen as 'heresies')
  • Pagan survival - no surveillance state
  • Foreign peoples not always Christian
  • Even if Christians, can be the wrong kind of Christians - the Goths were generally 'Arian' Christians
• After the western Roman Empire, the Eastern Empire didn't change much
• The emperor was the last pagan emperor but portrayed himself as a Christian ruler
• There were still pagans in the sixth century
• Not much changed in the eastern Roman Empire after 476
• Conversion of the Franks to Nicene Christianity


  • A turning point, surrounded by 'Arian' Goths in Spain and Italy
  • Relationship between royal power and conversion - sources see it as essential, but what is the reality?
• Christianity re-entered Britain from both the Continent and Ireland
• Irish/Anglo-Saxons were particularly enthusiastic for further conversion efforts - repeated missions to the Continent
• Willibrord - patron saint of Luxembourg, and Boniface - missionary to western Germany
• Frankish efforts in the modern Netherlands from the seventh century onwards
• Expansion of Christianity across Europe in the Middle Ages, but many, many Christians still outside of Europe
• Age of Conversions


  Conversions of the Franks to Nicene Christianity was a turning point – surrounded by 'Arian' Goths in Spain and Italy
• Relationship between royal power and conversion


  Sources see it as essential, but what is the reality?
• Christianity re-entered Britain from both Continent and Ireland (Britons in Wales apparently not so big on converting their neighbours)