Fall Of Rome Essays (Examples)

Fall of Rome

Through the years, students have been taught that Roman Civilization and the Fall of Rome took place 476 A.D. when really the empire kept going for another two centuries. hen considering such an event it is important to define the framework of examination. First, it is important to define "fall" in this context. Second, it is important to discuss the factors of emperors, Barbarians and Christianity and how these factors played a role in the fall of Rome. This paper will explores these concepts with the argument that the fall of Rome is not something that happened overnight but rather took a great deal of time.

Many scholars define the fall of Rome happening at different times depending upon the different factors they consider important. For instance, Edward Gibbon's date of 476 is acceptable because that is when the Germanic Odoacer deposed the last emperor ruling from…

rise and fall of Rome and how Christianity affected the history of Rome.

Use at least two sources of information.

The rise and fall of Rome was due to many changing factors including religious, social, cultural and military.

Analyze and explain the rise and decline of Rome. How did Christianity affect the history of Rome? How did Christianity affect the history of Rome?

In analyzing the reasons for the rise and fall of Rome, it is important to begin by noting that Rome wasn't always the cultural and economic center of Italy. It took hundreds of years for Rome to evolve into a vast empire. Legend has it that Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, twin brothers who were cast into the Tiber River by their wicked uncle but who both survived. Etruscan kings ruled Rome after Julius Caesar's assassination, until the late 6th century BC,…

Fowden, Garth. "The Last Days of Constantine: Oppositional Versions and Their

Influence." Journal of Roman Studies, vol. 84 (Nov., 1994): 146-170.

Garth discusses Constantine's conversion and its historical narrative as a piece of Christian propaganda and describes how oppositional versions of the Emperor's late baptism and death helped shape and mold the "orthodox" narrative of events that became accepted as Christianity became more and more institutionalized. The purpose of Garth's article is to cast doubt upon the authenticity of the conversion of Constantine and to promote the oppositional viewpoint that Constantine was not really a Christian at heart. While Garth does provide some evidence for these claims, he ignores other evidence that points to the contrary and when he does address it he does so only with the purpose of evincing skepticism.

2.

Ando, Clifford. "Decline, Fall, and Transformation." Journal of Late Antiquity, vol. 1,

no. 1 (Spring, 2008): 31-60.…

Also, that the people as the public body, having elected their representation according to the laws of Rome, failed to compel the Republic to adhere to the laws, and thus, met with its demise. As Nifong discussed, the first tenet of the principle of natural law is the premise that promises made will be kept.

Heitland identified the indicators of the fallen republic by these marks:

The rise and predominance of Antony

The return and progress of Octavian

The relations between Antony, Octavian and Cicero

The collapse of Cicero's policy, and the formation of the Triumvirate and the doings of the Triumvirs

Given Heitland's depictions of the indicators of the fall of the Republic, and for the sake of argument ruling out other factors, what was the mood of the people that they allowed their republic to slip away from them? if, as Nifong's discussion on natural law suggests, the…

Literature, learning, and scholarly life wad preserved within the monastery, even while the previous areas of ome were left in disarray.

Perhaps most importantly, the monasteries began to give hope to those devastated by the fall of ome. Individuals who had once been prosperous now found themselves destitute, and the religious beliefs of the monasteries provided hope for eternal life and salvation. Further, these monasteries provided health care to the wounded or ill, and used these circumstances to further their religious agenda.

Through their cultural maintenance, political status, scholarly ways, and promises of eternal life, the monasteries were able to secure a position in the world following the fall of ome. Further, through their relations with society in terms of health care and learning, the monasteries held a crucial role in the history of Europe.

eferences

McKay, J., Hill, B., Buckler-Ebrey, P. (2004). History of World Societies. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin…

Summary of the Punic Wars

The Punic Wars refer to the collective names of a series of three separate wars between Carthage and ome, which took place from 264 to 146 BC. The wars were fought between the two strongest contenders for control over the central Mediterranean Sea of the time. These wars ended with the destruction of Carthage, thus ending the city's period as an independent power and an important trade center. The city would later become an important trading center inside the oman Empire.

eferences

Bagnall, N. 2002. The Punic Wars: 264-146 BC. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing.

Cottrell, L. 1992. Hannibal: Enemy of ome. Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo Press.

Goldsworthy, a. 2002. The Punic Wars. London: Cassell Publications.

Goldsworthy, a. 2004. The Fall of Carthage: The Punic Wars 265-146 BC. London: Cassell Publications.

Huby, P. 2003. Carthage. Stockport, England: Dewi Lewis Publishing.

Lazenby, J.F. 1998. Hannibal's War. Norman,…

fall of the Roman Empire?

The decline and eventual fall of the Roman Empire happened in the third century. Rome had made many enemies and grew from a revered unchallenged leader of the Mediterranean to a rather weary empire surrounded by a myriad of enemies. Rome experienced a number of significant military defeats over the time. The most significant contributor to the fall of the empire though was the economic policies adopted by the emperors. The decline is noted to have started with the rule of Septimius Severus in 193 AD. The rulership engaged in excesses and spent too much on the military. The currency was debased and inflation rose to crisis levels. Further, the time of poor economic policies coincided with a time when civil wars were commonplace. Assassinations were rife. Army generals made attempts to stage coups and assume ruler ship. The soldiers often murdered the emperor when…

The Aeneid

Taking a character from The Iliad and setting him on his own journey, the Roman Virgil's epic The Aeneid necessarily contains certain parallels with the earlier Greek text. The overall story of this lengthy poem in and of itself reflects many of the same basic understandings of mankind's place in the universe, its relationship to the gods, and the relationships that exist within society and between men that are already described above, demonstrating that no real fundamental change has occurred in this schema. Aeneas, the titular hero of the tale who flees his native Troy after it is sacked by the Greeks, is as important as the individual heroes of the war itself, but more than a tale of individual heroism The Aeneid is the story of the founding of a people and the long trajectory of history and humanity. It is a tale for and in many…

Ancient Rome and the Events of the Late Republic (end of the Republic), you will create a timeline of major events that led to the end of the Republic. Your timeline should have at least 7 events.

200 CE: The rise of populist or democratic sentiments and political philosophy. Rome was not a democracy, although it was a Republic. By the 2nd century CE, populist tribunes started to make waves on the Roman political scene. These populist tribunes were mirrored by the uprisings by local governments and communities in Roman-acquired territories throughout the vast empire. With such a vast empire, and such a relatively weak method of centralized governance, it became increasingly impossible to achieve harmony and authoritative rule. It was not as if Rome usurped idyllic ways of life, so much as populist leaders did recognize the need to start "reclaiming public land and putting landless poor citizens back…

Carthage and Rome

Comparing Carthage and Rome

One of the greatest wars Rome ever fought was against Carthage -- and it was actually a war that happened three times. Called the Punic Wars (Punic another name for Phoenician -- the nationality of the men who founded Carthage), the contests revealed much about both nations, and created heroes and legends for all antiquity to marvel over. This paper will compare and contrast the two civilizations of Rome and Carthage from the standpoint of "persons within the community," showing just how such persons helped both powers came to be and how they went on to fare when they both began to war with one another.

Beginnings

Started near Tunis at around the end of the ninth century BC, Carthage took over the rule of "leader" amongst the colonies of Phoenicia nearly three hundred years later when in the sixth century BC Tyre…

Impressions

hen in Rome

The film hen in Rome deals with a young woman has lived a fairly sheltered life and has had limited experience with relationships. The romances she has had have made her feel that love and romance are unimportant in her existence. This changes when she goes to Rome for her sister's wedding and meets her love interest. The male character proves to be Beth's ideal partner. However, since this film is clearly in the genre of romantic comedy, there has to be complication which separates the would-be lovers. In this case, Beth (Kristen Bell) becomes angry when she sees Nick (Josh Duhammel) kissing a woman after they have had encounters indicating mutual attraction. So, she takes several coins out of the Fountain of Love which mythology states will make the owners of the chips fall in love with her. As it turns out, there were several…

After this, there could have been very little perceived threat left; not only were the Carthaginian's surrendering rather peacefully, but they were even giving up their means of waging war effectively. The giving up of weapons in an age when manufacture and shipping -- the two methods by which any commodity, military or otherwise, can be obtained -- took an extended period of time meant that the Carthaginians were showing themselves to desire peace not only in the short-term, but as a general social principle.

Their submission to the Romans, then, should have been the end of the war. If the reason behind Rome's military invasion of the Carthaginian territory was the possible threat the area presented to Rome, then its disarmament would have solved that problem. The Romans refused to let the issue go, however, demanding that the entire city of Carthage be destroyed right to the ground.

It…

Auden

The Amazing Moderns W.H. Auden (adio Script)

"Jumpstart" radio show theme song playing.

ADIO ANNOUNCE:

Good afternoon girls and boys, guys and gals! This is Boom Bill Bass, a.k.a. Three B, ready to jumpstart your afternoon with my "unofficial" DJ mix and musings about prose and poetry, music and lyrics, and anything in between these things!

Listen up! We will be doing a great series in Jumpstart this month, called the "Amazing Moderns." This is a poetry series -- yes dear listeners, a poetry series this time -- showcasing the works of great poets in American literature in the 20th century. If you're wondering what 20th century means, guys and gals, it's that period when you're not yet born, oh yeah I'm kidding -- NOT! This period is between the 1900s and well before the Millennium, before the futuristic years of "2Ks" -- that's 2000 and up -- started.…

Individuals in the city of god are "predestined to reign eternally with God" (p. 7) whereas people living in the earthly city are fated to "suffer eternal punishment with the devil" (p. 7).

Order in the city of God is different from how it is in the earthly city, given that people in the former respect each-other and God and because they are not motivated by fear or by their desire to rule. In spite of the fact that Augustine aimed at associating the city of God with the Christian church and with Christianity in general while the earthly city was a reference to Ancient Rome and to the part of society that was driven by material values, he does not actually want readers to relate to a physical matter when discussing the two cities. His perspective in regard to the psychological fight between people focused on material values and…

" Pericles said that Athenians did not have to be forced to chose the lot of the soldier, they loved the land that gave them the freedom to chose to live the way they wanted, rather than to fulfill a predetermined ideal and thus, when necessary: "They resigned to hope their unknown chance of happiness; but in the face of death they resolved to rely upon themselves alone." In a democracy, the citizen's sense of self-reliance is its life-blood. Values are created and chosen by consensus and the consent of the governed, not by a single, 'philosophical' intelligence and thus the values are more enthusiastically believed, and because they exercise choice from birth, people more able to undertake creative intellectual change, as they did in ancient Athens. The limits of Yahoo society, although it seems to be more socially stable than most democracies, is that people will not believe in…

Huns, nomadic people and barbarians (from the Roman point-of-view) coming from the East, may have given the final blow to an empire that was already crumbling. They conquered semi-nomadic nomadic peoples they found on their way moving westwards, settling in territories north and south of Danube, and incorporated them in a new empire.

Attila, the Hun leader, had the merit to unite his people who used to be scattered in different clans and tribes, giving them to opportunity to unite under the same flag and fight like a nation. He was born at the dawn of the fifth century AD, at a ripe time, suitable to question and greatly endanger the Roman supremacy in the Mediterranean world and beyond.

Like other barbarians, the Huns were parasitic people, living off the possessions of those they pillaged and of the tributes the latter agreed to pay in exchange for peace. What the…

role of Islam as a unifying force

Perhaps more than any other religion in the world, Islam has put to work its less obvious sense in order to unify the peoples sharing the same belief. Through its art, its common language and its judicial system that has the Koran teachings at its base, Islam was a unifying force among the Arabic peoples of the Arabic Peninsula, Northern Africa and the Middle East.

There is a short discussion I would like to address here and that is to identify the differences between culture and civilization. This will help us see how religion LO is included in this set of concepts. From my point-of-view, religion LO can be considered an element of civilization through its cultural component. If we exclude Marxist ideology that argue that civilization is but a certain level that culture has attained and make no distinction between the two,…

Flapper Movement

The Effect of the Flappers on Today's Women

The 1920's in the U.S. And UK can be described as a period of great change, both socially and economically. During this period the image of the women completely changed and a "new women" emerged who appears to have impacted social changes occurring in future generations of both men and women. This new symbol of the women was the Flapper. The Flapper was a new type of young woman that was rebellious, fun, bold and outspoken (Zeitz, 2006). This research paper explains the rise and fall of the Flapper in the 1920's, explores its historical and current impact on women in terms of culture, work, gender and social behavior and reflects on its long-term impact of the position of today's women.

Evolution of the Flapper

Flappers, most often characterized as the "New Woman," originally emerged in the 1920s in the…

New scholarship suggests that Byzantine Empire was as successful as was ome in shaping modern Europe (Angelov, 2001).

Islamic Golden Age

The Islamic Golden Age (also called the Caliphate of Islam or the Islamic enaissance) was a center of government and political, cultural and religious traditions that arose in the early 6th century AD from the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed and reached its height between the 8th to 13th centuries (Kraemer, 1992). The Golden Age was centered around the Saudi Arabian peninsula. Its first capital was Media; at its greatest extent, the Caliphate controlled all of the present day Middle East, northern Africa and parts of Spain, and extending to the Indus Valley. It was thus one of the few empires that rules over three continents (Kennedy, 2001).

After the end of the classical empires of the Middle East (such as Egypt and Assyria) the region was politically and…

One of the major problems faced by Charlemagne in his efforts to extend the level of education was the fact that there were very few educated persons available to teach others. Years of neglect had left the educational field with few individuals possessing the background necessary to teach others. hat little scholarship that still existed in Europe was concentrated in and around Rome and Charlemagne initiated an aggressive program to attract the leading Italian scholars to his court. By recruiting these scholars to his court, Charlemagne ensured that the full body of available knowledge would be made available to himself and his subjects. From this pool of scholars, Charlemagne built his program of learning and began slowly to establish his own body of Frankish scholars. From this group, the future European learning environment would be built (Einhard) and the future of the European educational system would be ensured.

The curriculum…

Engineering the oman Colosseum

While the Colosseum stands, ome shall stand; when the Colosseum falls, ome shall fall; when ome falls, the world shall fall. -- The Venerable Bede quoting an Ancient Anglo-Saxon Peasant Prophecy

Perhaps the most enduring symbol of the greatness of the oman Empire can be seen today in the ruins of the Colosseum. This massive amphitheatre is situated in the middle of modern ome near the oman Forum and has become an iconic representation of the oman Empire at its zenith. Although estimates vary, analysts believe that at least 50,000 and perhaps as many as 80,000 spectators were accommodated in its capacious dimensions and the Colosseum has become the benchmark by which all subsequent stadia have been judged. Flush with the treasures and riches of Jerusalem, the builders of the Colosseum spared no expense in its design and construction, but despite its impressive seating capacity and…

Staircase ramps which are comprised of steep and narrow steps that lead up one face of the pyramid were more in use at that time with evidence found at the Sinki, Meidum, Giza, Abu Ghurob, and Lisht pyramids respectively (Heizer).

A third ramp variation was the spiral ramp, found in use during the nineteenth dynasty and was, as its name suggests, comprised of a ramp covering all faces of the pyramids leading towards the top. Reversing ramps zigzag up one face of a pyramid at a time and would not be used in the construction of step pyramids, while lastly interior ramps that have been found within the pyramids of Sahura, Nyuserra, Neferifijata, Abusir, and Pepi II (Heizer, Shaw).

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greek architecture exists mainly in surviving temples that survive in large numbers even today and is tied into Roman and Hellenistic periods which borrowed heavily from the Greeks.…

Cosimo De Medici

e know all about the de Medici family - one of the most important dynastic families in Europe and in particular concerning the cultural and artistic life of Italy and so of the continent. And yet, as Dale Kent makes clear in her authoritative (and fascinating) account of the family and in particular of the life of Cosimo De'Medici, we actually know less about the family than we think. Kent argues that common ideas - and common misconceptions -- about the De'Medicis reflect not only flawed knowledge about this family in particular but also more general flawed assumptions about their era and about prevailing attitudes of the time towards artistic patronage and indeed towards art.

Kent's book is as much an ethnographic exploration of the culture and society of fifteenth-century Florence as it is about Cosimo de'Medici himself - although in her telling the man and the…

The Golden Bull of 1356 fixed the number and identity of the electors. And while the Empire finally received an orderly method of choosing its sovereigns, the power of these sovereigns had largely passed from the center to the periphery. The old empire existed in name only.

Italy too is part of the story of the German rulers of the Holy Roman Empire. The part of Italy north of the Papal States was an actual part of the Holy Roman Empire, while Sicily, in the extreme south, was at times under the rule of the Emperors. In particular, Frederick II was famed for the glorious, and learned, court he maintained in Sicily. Italy was very strongly affected by political developments North of the Alps. The same divisions between Church and State that plagued the rest of the Empire were prominent in the Italians city states as well. For Italy, like…

Cohn, Erasmus and Machiavelli

Political theory inevitably arise from the influences which affect a society at the time of their formation. During the time which communist leaders ruled Russia with an iron fist, the social order, or lack thereof, demanded a heavy handed approach to political leadership in order to bring order out of the chaos remaining after the olshevik revolutions, and the First World War. In America, the establishment of a state in which freedom of the individual is held as one of the highest moral goods of the people evolved in part due to the unfair and unjust monarchies of the European continent. The founders of the United stated had suffered under the tyranny of 'divine right' for centuries, and as a result, vowed to establish a country in which the guaranteed individual freedoms of each citizen formed the glue that would bond the country together.

Looking at…

Classical and Christian

The sixth century was a time of great transformation in the Western world; it was the time of the end of the Classical Period and the beginning of the Christian Era. ome had fallen to the barbarians, but they had assumed the mantle of oman Emperors. However, these barbarian "emperors," and the empire they ruled, were just a shadow of the real thing. In other words, the remnants of the old oman world still existed, but on top of that foundation was being built a new Christian world. Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy is an example of how the sixth century saw a mixture of the new Christian thought blended with a base of Classical philosophy.

Boethius was a oman aristocrat who had served the Ostrogothic Emperor Theodoric the Great. The Ostrogoths had conquered ome and set themselves up as the inheritors of the oman Empire, even going…

Confucianism in Pre-Modern China

Confucianism comes from the Chinese philosopher Confucius, after whom the philosophy takes its name. Confucius lived from the middle of the 6th century BC to the first part of the 5th century BC and was a teacher of the values of those who lived in the days of Chinese antiquity. For Confucius, the greatest years of the Zhou dynasty had come in the three centuries prior to his birth. The dynasty itself lasted for centuries following Confucius' life, though in a much different form from what came before. Confucius viewed the lessons of the early Zhou dynasty as containing valuable nuggets of wisdom. Confucius' teachings carried on well after his day as did many other schools of thought in China, where philosophy and wisdom were highly prized and sought after by many Chinese leaders from Confucius' own time till the end of the 3rd century BC.…

Moreover, unlike Augustine who criticized the mysticism, the Jewish faith embraces it, however Judaism is more concerned about actions that beliefs (Judaism). In the Jewish law, sex is not considered shameful, sinful or obscene, nor is it a necessary evil for the sole purpose of procreation (Judaism). Although sexual desire comes from the evil impulse, it is no more evil than hunger or thirst, and like hunger, thirst and other basic instincts, sexual desire should be controlled and channeled, satisfied at the proper time, place and manner (Judaism). The primary purpose of sex is to reinforce the marital bond between husband and wife, and since the first and foremost purpose of marriage is companionship, sexual relations play an important role (Judaism). Although procreation is a reason for sex, it is not the only reason (Judaism).

Growing up Catholic, my views of the world, including sex, have been formed much from…

Likewise, although the veneration of rulers might seem elaborate and even servile, this was in keeping with the Roman tradition.

Byzantium collapsed with the invasion of the Turkish forces in 1453. But the fascination with this period in Herrin lives on -- at the beginning of her book she says she wrote her work to explain to 'common people' what she does for a living, and also why Byzantium still affects their lives today. At times, her work reads more like an apology, with the historian as an advocate for the civilization's greatness. However, the readability of the work makes up for Herrin at times sounding intensely partisan, writing in defense of what has shaped her entire scholarly life.

At times, Herrin's familiarity makes her assume too much on the part of the reader -- perhaps someone better-versed with modern orthodox theology would be able to appreciate some of the…

The education system of the Byzantine region spread through to the other nations, with them adopting new words from the Arab language, hence enriching their language. The social status of the slaves improved, whereas that of the elite and those who fought against the invasion deteriorated as they lost control over their territories.

The effects on Arab society

The interactions between the Arabs and the non-Arab community resulted in several changes within the Arab society. At the time of the conquest, the Arab received support from the Christians of the Syrian and Egypt territories because the Arabs promised them less taxation as compared to that of the Byzentine (Rogan 157). Therefore, the Arabs, after the conquest was over, feared that the interactions between the Muslim and the non-Muslim community would lead to undesirable results. For this reason, the Umayyad sought to keep the Muslim worriers concentrated in the garrison towns…

Christ Book Critique

Everett Ferguson's book Church History, Volume One: from Christ to Pre-Reformation explores the relationship between the church and secular historical events. Since the inception of the Christian religion, those in positions of leadership have utilized the faith in the religion to extend power to the followers, often coming into conflict with secular leaders such as kings and queens. The book covers an extended period of time and deals thoroughly with the various struggles of the Christian religion and specifically the Catholic Church. The book also explains the writing of the Christian Bible and explains the ways that the religion spread until it eventually became the most influential belief practice in the western world. In the text, the author makes several arguments regarding this dynamic which deal with specific periods in Christian history including the first rise of Christianity in the waning Roman Empire, the growth of the…

Medieval Herb Gardens

In ancient medieval times, the omans created landscape gardens, as well as formal gardens. While the tradition of landscape gardens did not survive the fall of ome or the breakdown of the Western Empire, the tradition of formal gardens did survive in medieval monasteries, which were abbeys ruled by abbesses or abbotts.

However, while the omans' formal gardens focused on agriculture, the herb gardens in the monasteries concentrated on practical gardening. Still, the formal structure stayed the same.

Historians have not determined exactly what the early monastic gardens looked like. The earliest information about the appearance of monastic gardens comes from the plan of the monastery of Saint Gall, which was written in Switzerland in the 9th Century.

Saint Gall's plan revealed that these medieval herb gardens consisted of rectangular beds separated by narrow paths. This style of garden was dominant in Western Europe up until the…

Certainly, rhetoric lends itself to the discovery of truth, as truth (Aristotle suggests) always makes more intuitive and intellectual sense compared to falsehood, and so equally talented rhetoricians will be more convincing sharing the truth than sharing falsehood. However, critics have pointed out that there is so "tension between Aristotle's epistemological optimism and his attempt to come to terms with rhetoric as a culturally and contextually specific social institution.... [as Aristotle says] scientific discourse is concerned with instruction, but in the case of [certain audiences] instruction is impossible; our proofs and arguments must rest on generally accepted principles... rhetoric [is] something separate from and inferior to scientific and ethical deliberation." (Haskins, 2004, 13-14)

Aristotle's historical effect on rhetoric and its continued fallout

It may seem self-evident that arguments today would be based as much on logic and the greater good than on past authority and religious dogma. However, such an…

History Through eligion

How can we, as Christians who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, interact with historians who believe in the theory of evolution? How can Christian teachers, teaching in secular public schools, present the truth without causing offense? Is it possible to do so?

Many people hold that prior to the Origin of Species by Chares Darwin in 1859; Christians believed that the world was created in six days. They believed that the earth was relatively new and that it was only a few thousand years old. Prior to the theory of Origin of Species, Christians had increasingly believed that the earth was several hundred years old. There is yet another fallacy to the effect that the arrival of Darwin's theory of evolution triggered science and theology to differ publicly regarding the origin of the earth. Contrary to popular belief, historical evidence shows that the earliest supporters…

Historiography in Jesus' era, or the ethics of writing good history, was also different from our own -- objective, historical accounts were rare, rather each historian wished to present his or her version of the facts.

History and belief invariably 'butt heads,' and when confronted with arguments about the life of Jesus that challenge all notions of science and history, such as the resurrection of dead: Charlesworth admits "Historians cannot answer this question" as "this question extends beyond the methodology and focus of historians" (Charlesworth 118; 121). For believers, aspects of Jesus will always exist outside of historical time, but it is the duty of those who seek the historical Jesus to put their own personal biases and agendas aside when reviewing the evidence. A singular Jesus may never emerge, but scrupulous historical and literary analysis can reveal a clearer picture of the many versions of Jesus that existed during…

Europeans invented a more complex sewer system and sewers spread across Europe's most important cities in a short time.

Mechanical clocks had been invented before the half of the second millennium, but, in the 16th century, they have been perfected by Galileo with the help of the pendulum. Clocks have become more advanced in time as people discovered ways of making the mechanism more precise and also of smaller proportions.

Europeans also became acquainted with the gunpowder in the Renaissance period and warfare had been taken to a whole new level. It is not clear whether Europeans have invented gunpowder alone or if they've been inspired for the concept from the Asians. As a result of this invention, knights had become out-dated as the new armed foot-soldiers became more numerous, replacing them.

The invention of eye-glasses earlier in the millennium led to the invention of the telescope somewhere between the…

"

In total contrast with these heroes lies the modern hero or better said the modern man defined by his struggle for power. The idea of an individual selling his or her soul to the devil for knowledge is an old motif in Christian folklore, one that is centered upon in Cristopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus."

Doctor Faustus, a well-respected German scholar unsatisfied with the traditional forms of knowledge decides he wants to learn to practice magic. He begins his career as a magician summoning Mephastophilis, a devil while Valdes and Cornelius instruct him in the black arts. Despite the devil's warnings about hell Faustus tells the devil to return to his master Lucifer with an offer of Faustus's soul in exchange for twenty-five years of service from Mephistopheles. As the twenty-five years have passed, Faustus begins to dread his impending death and on the final night he is overcome by…

Despite some questionable choices in examples, however, Tuchman was able to supply an ample amount of evidence for her thesis in her information about the corruption plaguing the Catholic church prior to the eformation. This fact, while certainly acknowledged in history books, rarely receives the importance it deserves. This example, and perhaps that of Vietnam, were the most convincing ones that leaders throughout history have displayed an inherent proclivity that is decidedly "contrary to the way reason points and enlightened self-interest suggests" (Tuchman 1985, 1). Her chronicles of America's imperialist appetites and the wanton destruction it achieved in a fruitless siege in Vietnam for years should be taught as much as, if not more, than certain other areas of U.S. history.

Aided by the surety of hindsight, Tuchman's analysis of the evolutionary Way in the U.S. is equally adept and indicates the extent to which policy in British government contributed…

Attitudes Towards Dance in the Catholic and Christian Traditions

A History of Church Attitudes Toward Dance

The Historical Attitudes of the Church

Throughout history, dance has been a part of the human experience. so too, religion has played a fundamental role in that experience. It may in fact be truthful to say that dance and religion are essential parts of what define us as human beings. Both dance and religion rely on the belief that we as human beings have souls, and as such, these souls contain the essential parts of our psyche. Both dance and religion contend that our souls' desires cannot be expressed through superficial means. Other than dance and religion, no other human endeavour offers a more thorough and personal opportunity for this expression. Religion offers us the opportunity to commune with our god through the reading and recitation of his word. It offers us the opportunity…

African-Americans are second only to Native Americans, historically, in terms of poor treatment at the hands of mainstream American society. Although African-Americans living today enjoy nominal equality, the social context in which blacks interact with the rest of society is still one that tangibly differentiates them from the rest of America. This cultural bias towards blacks is in many notable ways more apparent than the treatment of other people of color, such as Asian immigrants, as is reflected in disparate wages and living conditions experienced by these respective groups. Common stereotypes hold the successful, college educated black man or woman as the exception rather than the rule, whereas Asians are commonly thought of as over-achievers. Although any bias undermines social interaction in that it shifts attention away from individual merit, the bias towards African-Americans can be said to be worse than most, and lies at the root of discrimination and…

St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography. Philip Freeman. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005.

The book by Philip Freeman takes the reader deeper into the life and times of St. Patrick of Ireland than any previous publication has been able to do. Freeman's thesis is that there have previously been many unknowns about St. Patrick and the author was determined to solve those mysteries as thoroughly as he could. The work was written based on Freeman's passion to truly understand and share his knowledge of St. Patrick to readers around the world. Bringing St. Patrick's fascinating life into a well-thought-out narrative was a valuable historical service for Freeman. The purpose of this book review is to present a realistic portrait of St. Patrick, the saint after whom a special day is designated -- and while millions of people celebrate St. Patrick's Day, very few are likely to know anything at…

Papacy

The Rise of the Papacy

The Middle Ages, so called because of their position between the ancient and the modern eras, are often termed medieval or even dark. This period of time is marked by a dearth of non-church art, and by the domination of the Roman Catholic Church over all of Europe and parts of Africa and Asia. This was a far-reaching kingdom that was financed by the kings of subject countries, and was ruled by a variety of men. This was also a time when the people bowed under the weight of the growing Catholic oppression that regarded all religions but their own as sacrilegious and the Catholic Church as sacrosanct. This paper looks at the church's rise to power during and after the demise of the Roman Empire, how that rise affected the people of Europe, and what the apex of that power looked like..

Rise…

Dark Ages

The author of this report is asked to answer to a number of questions relating to the Dark Ages. Specifically, the author is asked to define what "Dark Ages" means. Second, the author is asked to ask how this society unwittingly paved the way for a preservation of literature and art from the classical era. In particular, the author is asked to identify how Ireland was instrumental in this re-emergence. Finally, there is to be a summation of the Arthurian legend and how modern ethics is driven in part by this literature and dynamic and a definition of chivalric code is also to be offered.

Questions Answered

In terms of history, the Dark Ages is the millennia or so that followed the end of the oman Empire. It refers to the cultural and economic downfall that ostensibly happened in Western Europe after the oman Empire was reduced to…

Germanic History

Germanic Kingdoms

This is a paper that analyzes the role of Germanic Tribes in the development of European civilizations. It has 2 sources in MLA format.

When ome was beset with social, economical and political problems Germanic tribes from the Scandinavian regions invaded territory by territory and exploited the weakness of the Western Empire. Gradually, these tribes replaced the oman Kingdoms and formed kingdoms of their own. From small tribes of no consequence they began to grow into rulers to be rued.

The Germanic people did not emerge suddenly but had been in existence since the 2 BCE. These people were former farmers and slaves who lived peacefully with the omans. However, with the passage of time the Germanic people began their exploration from the hine and Danube areas and began to settle there. A short while later they were forced to flee and seek refuge in the…

And he gained a following both among many Jews and among many of Greek origin. He was the Messiah. And when Pilate, because of an accusation made by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him previously did not cease to do so. For he appeared to them on the third day, living again, just as the divine prophets had spoken of these and countless other wondrous things about him. And up until this very day the tribe of Christians, named after him, has not died out (18.63-64)

This paragraph has also been very controversial, because many believe it would not be likely that Josephus would have written that Jesus "appeared to them on the third day, living again." Some scholars say that Josephus had given up all his Jewish leanings by this time, but others say that this was not the true…

Polybius: Historian and Politician

Louis XIV

The histories written by Polybius are considered to be essential from historiographic perspective as it gives detailed and comprehensive picture and understanding of the Hellenistic world. His work on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire are considered to be one of the most important and significant works in the field of classical history.[footnoteRef:1] The aim of this research is to investigate and study the historical settings in which Polybius had penned down his most famous work, the Histories in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources. The analysis would be beneficial in understanding the political and social constraints responsible for influencing his work and furthermore, the opinion of his contemporaries and the reception got from critics when Polybius work was completed. [1: ulloch, A.W., Gruen, E.S., Long, A.A. And Stewart, A. (eds.) (1993) Images and Ideologies: Self-Definition in the Hellenistic World,…

high degree of misinformation I had received from traditional teachings about the church and the beginning of Christianity. Moreover, I was struck by the notion that most other people in the Western world receive this same degree of intentional misinformation, so much so that I have even heard people defend the idea that knowledge of the historical church is irrelevant to modern Christianity. Reading through the class material, I was struck by how critical this historical information was to the understanding of the actual church. One critical piece of information is the idea of Jesus as the head of the church, despite him not establishing Christianity as a separate religion. Another critical idea was that prophets could play a continuing role in Christianity, when my traditional understanding had suggested that after Jesus there would be no more Jewish prophets. I also found myself wondering about the very obvious and significant…

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In 46 B.C., once again Sallust was given an opportunity to shine or fail, as he was made a practor and sailed to Circina where he proved himself by stealing the enemies' stores. In return, Caesar rewarded Sallust with the title of proconsular governor of all of the province of Numidia and Africa. Others with a much stronger background were expecting this position, but it may have just been that Sallust showed a greater skill at organization. Sallust, however, takes advantage of this situation and when returning to ome was cited for extortion. [footnoteef:16] Caesar quickly acquitted Sallust, but that was the end of his political career. It appears that Caesar may have made a deal with Sallust that if he quietly disappears, he would not be tried. [16: Ibid.]

At this point in Sallust's life, he says he made the decision to give up his political career. Or,…

film Spartacus, its historical background, the significance of the movie being made and shown in 1960's America, the real-life events occurring in the U.S. In the 1960's, the historical significance of the slave revolt of Spartacus, how gladiators and slavery in Rome relate to the movie, and background information about Rome at the time of Spartacus, including the slave revolt, and the rise of Roman generals to positions of power.

Spartacus was a slave, who is famous for having led a revolt 'the slave revolt' against the Roman Republic, from 73 D to 71 C. Spartacus was born in Thrace, a region northeast of Greece, and was a member of a group of nomadic herders and later served in the Roman Army (Sinnigen, 2003). Spartacus deserted the army, but was captured and enslaved, following which, the Romans trained him as a gladiator to fight other gladiators and wild beasts in…

Ancient Rome

Diocletion attempted to stabilize the Roman Empire by splitting it into two (and later four) regions with four rulers -- also known as the Tetrarchy, with each ruler picking a successor (Mathisen). Since the time of Caesar, it had essentially become too big to be governed by one ruler. Thus, Diocletian's re-ordering of the empire was a way to make governance more practical and possible (Khan Academy). He himself took over governance of the Eastern half with its base in Constantinople while appointing a co-ruler for the Western half. Later to keep out the Visigoths, Diocletian also appointed two more rulers to help keep the barbarians from invading. In doing so, Diocletian began the practice of subdividing provinces into dioceses -- and creating a hierarchy of governance from the local level on up to the imperial level. This is where the Catholic Church adopted its diocesan rule from.…

The Palace of the Emperor Titus was completed in 81 AD by the architect Rabirius.[footnoteRef:2] Located on the greater part of Esquiline Hill, the Baths of Titus (named the Palace of Titus by Pliny) extended from the “based of the Esquiline Hill near the Coliseum to one of its summits at the Church of SS. Martino e Silvestro, and to another at S. Pietro in Vincoli.”[footnoteRef:3] It is believed that the Palace was built rather quickly by converting an existing structure into the Baths.[footnoteRef:4] The Palace used the house of Mecenas and the Golden House of Nero which had come across from Palatine Hill as part of the construction that existed to make the Palace. There were “nine long corridors, converging together like the radii of the segment of a circle, divided from each other by dead walls, covered at the top and closed at the end” according to one…

The Palace of the Emperor Titus was completed in 81 AD by the architect Rabirius.[footnoteRef:2] Located on the greater part of Esquiline Hill, the Baths of Titus (named the Palace of Titus by Pliny) extended from the “based of the Esquiline Hill near the Coliseum to one of its summits at the Church of SS. Martino e Silvestro, and to another at S. Pietro in Vincoli.”[footnoteRef:3] It is believed that the Palace was built rather quickly by converting an existing structure into the Baths.[footnoteRef:4] The Palace used the house of Mecenas and the Golden House of Nero which had come across from Palatine Hill as part of the construction that existed to make the Palace. There were “nine long corridors, converging together like the radii of the segment of a circle, divided from each other by dead walls, covered at the top and closed at the end” according to one…

Roman Culture

Spartacus

The 1960 film Spartacus claims to tell the story of the famous slave revolt, also known as the Gladiator War, which terrorized Rome for years and can be pinpointed as one of the most influential causes of the eventual destruction of the Roman Republic and its descent into imperialism and tyranny. One must say "claims to be," rather than "is," in this case because the film is wildly inaccurate historically. The creators of this work were, of course, aware of its lack of historical authenticity, which is partly attributed to the artistic necessity of condensing four years of political upheaval and constant warfare into less than four hours. Indeed, condensation of time is the biggest historical inaccuracy here -- for example, many main Roman characters are rather indiscriminately condensed in time, such as Gracchus who appears to be a combination of two Gracchus brothers active fifty years…

Art of classical antiquity, in the ancient cultures of Greece and ome, has been much revered, admired, and imitated. In fact, the arts of ancient Greece and ome can be considered the first self-conscious and cohesive art movements in Europe. Style, form, execution, and media were standardized and honed to the point where aesthetic ideals were created and sustained over time. The art of classical antiquity in Greece and ome reverberated throughout history, impacting the art of subsequent eras in Europe. In fact, there can be no absolute "neoclassical" era in art history because of the way neoclassicism evolved throughout the centuries since the fall of the oman Empire. The arts of the enaissance borrowed heavily from classical antiquity, as can be seen in enaissance icons such as Michelangelo's David. Some suggest that medieval art pays homage to classical antiquity, even if the quotations from classical Greek and ome are…

2. What were the military, social, and economic events that led to the Gracchan land reforms (discuss one event each of military, social, and economic)? How did the Gracchi attempt to resolve these problems (discuss three)? How effective were they?

When Tiberius Gracchus was elected tribune, the social structures that had nourished the Republic as it developed from an independent city-state were already breaking down. The consolidation of public land under the emerging latifundia system had turned roughly 7% of the population (Last, 1932a, p. 9) into indigents as displaced peasant farmers flooded Rome and other cities, only to find demand for their labor limited at best. Meanwhile, the army was starving for recruits as the traditional citizen military class proved too small to police the vast Roman frontier and quell slave revolts closer to home. Finally, relations with the Italian and even the Latin allies had become increasingly strained.…

Art has always been used as a means of expression and of confirmation of events and movements that take place in the society in that respective period of time. The Neo-Classical and Romanticist art makes no exception to this rule and the two periods have been considered in the history of artistic art as two of the most representative for the expressivity they brought to the world of the arts as well as through the painters they inspired. Jacques-Louis David and Eugene Delacroix are two of the most representative painters of the New Classical period and the Romanticist art and their paintings are significant for the symbols and ideals these two periods provided for the artistic world.

Neo-classical art must be seen in the wider context of the 18th century and the era of Enlightenment when the new perceptions on the role of reason were redefined against the concepts of…

Jewish History

The Hebrews do not actually appear in history until about 1224-1211 B.C.E. during the reign of Marniptah, king of Egypt (Ancient pg). Marniptah was the son of Raamses I, 1290-1223 B.CE, who is thought to be the kind of Egypt at the time of the Hebrew exodus (Ancient pg). In an account of Marniptah's military campaign in Asia, 1220 B.C.E., inscribed in granite is listed all the conquered peoples including the Israelites, who are mentioned as "now living in Canaan" (Ancient pg). Before this, the only history is that which was written by the Hebrews themselves who trace their origins to a "single individual, Abraham, who comes originally from Mesopotamia" (Ancient pg). This pre-Egyptian Hebrew history is referred to as the age of the patriarchs, which means father-ruler (Ancient pg). More than a thousand years had passed before this era of history was written down, and although it…

Oedipus Exemplifies or Refutes Aristotle's Definition of a Tragic Hero

Aristotle's, the Greek philosopher definition of a tragic hero and tragedy has been influential since he set these definitions down in The Poetics. These definitions were viewed as important during the Renaissance, when scores of writers shaped their writings on the works of the ancient Rome and Greece. Aristotle asserted that tragedies follow the descent of a tragic hero or a central character, from a noble and high position to a low one. A tragic hero posse some tragic flaws, which cause his, fall from fortune, or turnaround of fortune, and to some point, the tragic hero realizes that his own mistakes have caused the turnaround of his fortune. Aristotle also noted that the tragic fall of a hero or a central character in a play stirs up fear to the audience or the reader given that the audience sympathizes…

104).

In Ancient Israel, the use of fire is also part of the tradition of warfare. For example, we are not sure whether the prophet Elijah is stating that the fire hurled against the Moabites is divine, or simply falls down upon the enemy from Israelite war machines: "If I am a man of God," Elijah replied, "may fired come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men (2 Kings 1:12, New International Version).

Similarly, since most ancient gates were nothing but fortified wood, when the armies of Israel set out to use siege warfare, the rules for such are outlined in Deuteronomy 20: 10-20; however, use of flaming arrows, lit pots of oil shot from frames arranged on the outsides of walls -- more like a slingshot than a catapult, in fact,…

There had been a series of factors, ranging from bad weather to bad positioning, preventing the allies from advancing further into Rome.

After observing the strong resistance that they had encountered and the bad luck that they had, the allied forces had decided to make a significant move by bombing the monastery of Monte Cassino on the 15th of February, 1944. Even with the highest point of the Gustav line destroyed, the allies did not manage to advance into Rome until the time that the Germans retreated because they had no supplies left.

Parker has succeeded in accomplishing what little writers actually attempted to accomplish, with the Battle of Monte Cassino receiving lesser attention from other authors. The battle of Monte Cassino has had a slight I touch into it, as the conditions from the battles having lasted from 1914 to 1918 being similar to the ones in eastern Rome…