Proctor Essay 2

The Roman Empire influenced the Byzantine Empire’s culture, mainly through the religion of Christianity. Christianity first appeared in the Roman Empire, with the birth, teachings, and supposed resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the beginning years of it’s arrival, Christianity was not tolerated and Christians were mainly, and most often brutally prosecuted. However, with Constantine’s Edict of Milan, Christianity was officially tolerated, and under Theodosius, it became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Byzantine Empire inherited this relatively new religion, continuing to follow the beliefs and traditions of the church, as well as spreading the word of Jesus Christ and the message of god. Churches sprung up in the empire, such as the mighty Hagia Sophia. Located in Constantinople and built by Justinian, this church especially exemplified

Similarly in a letter to Anulinus he dictates that clergymen are not to be forced to perform publuc services. This is because he sees the welfare of the realm as being connected to their ability to serve God, and so would not hinder this (10:7). However, Licinius was not as pleased with this situation as he ought to have been. Eusebius writes that Licinius, consumed with envy for Constantine, began to plot against him. However,all of his plots were foiled by the divine protection Constantine enjoyed. As such, he next turned to violence and began to persecute the Christians in his realm (10:8). Eusebius records that Constantine, seeing this, had no choice but to go to war with Licinius. Constantine, enjoying the favor of God as he did, was easily victorious. Thus Constantine united the empire, and brought peace and joy to all his subjects

The new faith that brought a message and established the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the faith that Constantine adopted as a child from his mother. Christianity during Constantine’s reign established much dominance over other religions and was the main reason for influence of the Christian. Christianity in the Roman world had many perils from gladiatorial battles, to forms of charity which affected the Roman world for good (McGiffert, 34). Charity became with

Christianity experienced notable change during the Byzantine Era as a result of the fact that new ideas were introduced into the religion and because more and more cultural values from across the world started to pervade it. The religion was very different in Byzantium from how it was in the West principally because a series of Eastern ideas were adopted by Christian leaders. Christianity experienced a different development in the East when compared to the evolution that it experienced in the West. In the centuries lasting between the beginning of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire and the end of a small medieval state Christianity has practically been bombarded with Eastern ideas and with ideas that generally differed from the ones promoted in the West, eventually making it possible for "a distinct system of religious practice and devotion" (Krueger, 1) to emerge.

Most notably, the difference in leadership sparked a lack of unity between the East and West. The West divided secular and ecclesiastical issues into two roles: the emperor and the Pope. This separation of responsibility allowed each head to focus a great amount of energy into the protection of the Church and state. In particular, the elimination of heretics in the West was a source of pride for the Roman Catholic Church and is mentioned in multiple primary sources, such as Document #63 in The Human Record and “Anna Comnena on the Suppression of Bogomil Heretics.” Unfortunately, the separate leadership positions produced an internal tension while both the Pope and emperor were aiming to be accepted as the more powerful leader. A prime example of this competition would be between Pope Leo III and King Charles when, before King Charles could declare himself emperor of all of the West, Pope Leo III invited him to Rome, where mosaics depicting shared power between the Pope and emperor had been placed, and crowned him emperor, which reinforced the idea that the religious leader held power over the secular leader. In contrast, the East’s leader was both the secular and religious leader, as shown in the Ravenna mosaics of Justinian and Theodora (Document #61, The Human Record). The couple were depicted with symbols of both legal and religious authority including purple robes, for royalty, religious, military, and domestic figures, ornate crowns, and the bread and wine for mass. The choice to keep one person as both secular and religious leader caused a lack of tension between the two aspects, but also caused less changes to be made, such as banning heretics, which the West found appalling. In Document #63 of The Human Record it reads, “all heresies have emanated from [the East] and have flourished among [the East]; among us, that is Westerners, they

In Document E it says that although the Emperor Galerius does not agree with the Christians religion they will be accepted in Roman society. This means that the emperor saw the loss of the Christian's life so terrible he needed to save them before the Roman empire crumbled. Document F expresses that Constantine issued the Edict of Milan to stop the persecution of Christians in Rome for their religion. This shows that the emperors took action so that Christianity could grow and expand as a religion and gain followers to work for the greater good. Document G says that Theodosius created a code that entailed that Christianity was now a state religion and was to be completely accepted throughout Rome. This ended any persecution of Christians in Rome and made the final step for Christianity to become a state religion. The emperors of Rome made laws that stopped the persecution of

In this capacity, Theodora was emphasized as a saint to eradicate iconoclastic actions of his husband, his military failings and focus attention away from the anxiety of the declining kingdom. By ending the second iconoclasm, Theodora becomes a symbol of hope, a restorer of the icon and to the old ways of the powerful Byzantine

Before the era of the Byzantine Empire, the Roman Empire had disagreements about their faith and religion. They encountered differences that eventually caused them to split in two. The Byzantine Empire was successful in discovering the Orthodox Christian religion and building a new empire that preserved Roman laws. Without the great schism, Roman laws would’ve been forgotten and there would not have been the exploration of a new religion.

Without the support of Roman emperors, christianity would not have become as dominant of a religion that it is today. One reason for this, is Emperor Constantine converted to christianity, and favored people who practiced it. By doing, Emperor Constantine helped make the religion more established because when the people saw that their leader became apart of and favored this group, it made it become taken seriously and made people want to convert. Another reason for this is that Emperor Theodosius made christianity the imperial state religion. Because of this, it made it impossible for the people to not be christians and be citizens at the same time. This expanded christianity even more because people wanted to convert out of fear of prosecution

In the medieval Europe, the functioning of the societies across the different European regions revolved around the Christianity religion. During that period, Christianity was the main religion with the largest number of followers. The Catholic Church which oversaw the practising of the religion was a powerful international church. The Catholic Church was given importance both by the emperors and the people considering the superstitious attitude during that period. As such, the church used to give various teachings which used to be actively followed by the people. As the people had blind faith on the church, the emperors also used to give immense regard to the church and its priests. Not more than the Catholic church was not even less the power

When Diocletian’s guiding hand was removed, years of dreary fighting amongst rulers ensued, Constantine I emerged as the sole winner. By 324, he had disposed of all rivals, and for a brief period there was again, one empire and one emperor. Unlike Diocletian, Constantine ordered complete freedom of worship throughout the territories under his control (Edict of Milan) This was the beginning of the adoption of Christianity by the empire, however, it could not solve the immediate problems it encountered: rivalries and warfare among emperors and would-be emperors, the threat of barbarian invasions and the economic decline of the West. The destruction of the West was also due to high taxation and rising prices, which by the third century, turned the prosperous cities of the early empire to heavily fortified outposts whose citizens had lost all real self-government.

The conversions of Aksun Emperor Ezana and Armenian King Trdat to Christianity show Christianity was used as an imperial religion. Constantine set this conversion model in 312 when he proclaimed Jesus Christ as his patron deity. Constantine’s strategic decision was not based in faith but in a power to win the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. The Christian God is credited with this military triumph signaling the Christian God is one of imperial power.

In 527 AD, Justinian took control of the Byzantine Empire. Although it is currently referred to as the Byzantine Empire, many citizens and leaders, including Justinian, considered themselves to be Roman and part of the Roman Empire. This mentality led to the revival of the Roman Empire in Byzantine and in its capital, Constantinople. During his rule, Justinian led the empire to its greatest size both in the amount of controlled land and influence over groups in Europe and Asia. He also contributed to the spread of Christianity both within the Byzantine Empire and without. Finally, Justinian preserved Roman laws for the Byzantine Empire and other European systems of government. Justinian’s successful emulation and revival of the Roman Empire through his beautification and improvements on Constantinople and other parts of the Byzantine Empire, strong support of Christianity and role in its growth as a major religion, and his codification of Byzantine law benefited the Byzantine Empire and the surrounding regions.

Constantine the Great, throughout his career, zealously attempted to spread the Christian faith: he offered special privileges for the religion by granting tax free lands for the church, as well as special allowances for the clergy,

Christian Studies Research Paper- Constantine Constantine was Roman Emperor from 303 to 337 and has become an important historical figure, as he was the first ever-Christian emperor. It is unsure what motivated him to be a Christian. Many argue that his mother, Helena, had influenced him. On the other hand, others say that Christianity came to him gradually as he only declared to be a Christian after he was 42.