Sunday, October 21, 2012
What This Blog Is About...
So as you guys can see in the blog's address, the blog's title, and the blog's description; this blog is about the Roman Empire. Just had to get it out there in case some of you guys haven't noticed. This blog will include the rise of the Romans, some of Rome's lasting contributions, Rome's geography, the fall of the Roman Empire, and of course the Byzantine Empire (a.k.a the eastern side of the Roman Empire). Also please do notice that I try to be funny and make jokes, but even of they aren't funny please still laugh. Even if it is an awkward laugh.
The Rise of the Romans!
You might think that the high and mighty Ancient Romans (well not anymore) started off as a humongous empire. Well, this will prove you wrong, the Ancient Roman Empire started off as a small farming village that was near the Tiber River (the Tiber is Italy's third longest river).
You are probably thinking Roman Empire actually start. Well, to answer that question, the Romans were ruled by kings and queens up until 509 B.C.. However, when the last king was driven out of Rome, Rome became a republic. The Roman Republic was ruled by a Senate (the men who were in the Senate all came from important and rich families in Rome). Due to being governed by a Senate, Rome began to take over all of Italy.
The Punic Wars were a series of wars fought by the Romans and the People of Carthage. This war was fought because both of the Empires wanted to rule the Mediterranean Sea alone. The Punic Wars were ended in 146 B.C with Carthage crushed like a bug by the Romans. The Romans soon took over Carthage and then began conquering lands near Carthage. Do keep in mind that my this time, the Roman Empire was getting pretty big.
Almost everybody knows the name Julius Caesar right? Well, you might not know the Julius part ,but surely you know Caesar (like the one in Caesar salad? No?). Julius Caesar was a general in the Roman military. In the year of 49 B.C. Rome's Senate demanded that Caesar handed over his army, since he was going to attack. Julius Caesar ignored this demand and continued on with his troops into Italy. He then took control of Rome. The Senate got back at him too, Julius Caesar was stabbed to death during a Senate meeting.
One thing that you should know is that there was a lot of struggles for power after Julius Caesar had died. However, Julius' great nephew,Octavian, defeated all of his rivals, including Mark Anthony. Octavian changed his name to Augustus or "respected one". As a result of defeating his rivals, he became the Roman Empire's first emperor. Augustus brought on almost one hundred years of peace and prosperity to the Roman Empire. Augustus was often shown in artworks as a young and good-looking man- even when he grew old.
You are probably thinking Roman Empire actually start. Well, to answer that question, the Romans were ruled by kings and queens up until 509 B.C.. However, when the last king was driven out of Rome, Rome became a republic. The Roman Republic was ruled by a Senate (the men who were in the Senate all came from important and rich families in Rome). Due to being governed by a Senate, Rome began to take over all of Italy.
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| Julius Caesar |
Almost everybody knows the name Julius Caesar right? Well, you might not know the Julius part ,but surely you know Caesar (like the one in Caesar salad? No?). Julius Caesar was a general in the Roman military. In the year of 49 B.C. Rome's Senate demanded that Caesar handed over his army, since he was going to attack. Julius Caesar ignored this demand and continued on with his troops into Italy. He then took control of Rome. The Senate got back at him too, Julius Caesar was stabbed to death during a Senate meeting.
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| Augustus Caesar |
-ThePersonFromMars
The Roman's Lasting Contributions
First of all, let me tell you one thing. THERE ARE A LOT OF CONTRIBUTIONS THAT THE ROMANS HAVE MADE! So, do not expect me to list every single contribution that the Romans have made. So- here are the contributions that the Romans have made to our modern society.
The Roman government always thought of the importance of its citizen's rights. This idea then led to the Enlightment thinkers (during the early 1800's) to question their governments. The Enlightment thinkers' ideas then led to the American colonists rebelling against its rulers. Those events then led to the Revolutionary War ( if you are an american and you don't know what the Revolutionary War then good luck to you), the Revolutionary War then led to the American Independence. Which then formed the United States of America. So the Romans had a big role in our modern society.
Roman art, architecture, and engineering is also a big part of our modern world nowadays too. Even though our modern replicas might not be as grand as the original Romans'. The art that was created by the romans were very much inspiring and greatly appreciated by the artists and people during the Renaissance period (the period of renewal interests in the ancient worlds).Even to this day, Roman art pieces are still very much appreciated. The Roman architecture still influence our building styles to this day too. When you see a set of the columns near the entrance of an building (usually government buildings) then that building probably was influenced by the Roman architecture (also a mix of Greek). An example of a building that was influenced by the Romans (and Greek) is the White House in Washington D.C. (picture shown on the right).Moving onto the Roman engineering, the Roman's engineering ways do influence our engineering as well. The Romans created the water aqueducts. The Romans also created excellent roads and bridges too. Actually, some of the roads and bridges built about 2,000 years ago are still in use. They are that stable! Their engineering skills have helped influence our roads and bridges too.
Now, we will move onto how the Romans helped spread the religion of Christianity. When the followers of Christianity first entered Rome, the emperor thought that they were rebels since the Christians would not worship the Roman gods. So, thousands of Christians were tortured, killed, and arrested. Some were even thrown into pens with lions for public entertainment. However, the remaining Christians did not give up their religion that easily. These Christians would meet in catacombs (underground tunnels that were used as burial places). Constantine was the first Roman emperor to accept Christianity. During one of the battles, Constantine sent his troops into war with the Chi-Ro symbol (Christian symbol). Do you know what happened? His troops won the war. So Constantine then became a Christian. In the the year of A.D 312, Constantine made Christianity legal. Then in A.D 391, emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion in Rome.
As you can see from the many words in this post, the Romans do influence our modern world a lot. Their art helped inspire renaissance artists to create many beautiful paintings and sculptures. There architecture influences our buildings and building style as well. Also their engineering skills. You cannot disagree with the fact that their engineering skills were awesome and ingenious either. I mean, come on those roads and bridges are still used to this day. Those roads and bridges are almost 2,000 years old. I don't know about you, but I do not know anything that is still in use after all of those years. All in all, you have to say that if we didnt have the Romans then we might not be what we are now.
The Roman government always thought of the importance of its citizen's rights. This idea then led to the Enlightment thinkers (during the early 1800's) to question their governments. The Enlightment thinkers' ideas then led to the American colonists rebelling against its rulers. Those events then led to the Revolutionary War ( if you are an american and you don't know what the Revolutionary War then good luck to you), the Revolutionary War then led to the American Independence. Which then formed the United States of America. So the Romans had a big role in our modern society.
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| The White House in Washington D.C. |
Now, we will move onto how the Romans helped spread the religion of Christianity. When the followers of Christianity first entered Rome, the emperor thought that they were rebels since the Christians would not worship the Roman gods. So, thousands of Christians were tortured, killed, and arrested. Some were even thrown into pens with lions for public entertainment. However, the remaining Christians did not give up their religion that easily. These Christians would meet in catacombs (underground tunnels that were used as burial places). Constantine was the first Roman emperor to accept Christianity. During one of the battles, Constantine sent his troops into war with the Chi-Ro symbol (Christian symbol). Do you know what happened? His troops won the war. So Constantine then became a Christian. In the the year of A.D 312, Constantine made Christianity legal. Then in A.D 391, emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion in Rome.
As you can see from the many words in this post, the Romans do influence our modern world a lot. Their art helped inspire renaissance artists to create many beautiful paintings and sculptures. There architecture influences our buildings and building style as well. Also their engineering skills. You cannot disagree with the fact that their engineering skills were awesome and ingenious either. I mean, come on those roads and bridges are still used to this day. Those roads and bridges are almost 2,000 years old. I don't know about you, but I do not know anything that is still in use after all of those years. All in all, you have to say that if we didnt have the Romans then we might not be what we are now.
- ThePersonFromMars
The Roman Geography
The Roman Empire's size at its height will leave your mouth hanging ( a map of the Roman Empire at its height). Yeah, yeah, i know that it did not astound you that much that it left your mouth hanging, but the Roman Empire was pretty big at its height. The Empire stretched from present day Spain to a little part of Western Asia. It was that big.
However, there were things inside of the Roman borders that threatened territorial cohesion, or a region that would not agree to something. Here are two things that threatened territorial cohesion. One, a lot of Germanic tribes tried to invade the Roman villages and land. Invasions disrupted the Roman's peaces. Which would then lead to grumpy people, and grumpy people led to more grumpy people; and that would lead to arguments. Another thing that threatened territorial cohesion was the inflation that was going on. The inflation led to stealing, stealing led to arguments, and arguments turned into fights (well, usually. They do for me.).
-ThePersonFromMars
The Fall of the Romans... DunDunDunDun!
In about the year of A.D 200, the Roman Empire had already started to weaken. The Roman armies started to choose their own leaders; which then led to a lot of fighting between the armies. Then the Roman Empire was being attacked by the Germanic tribes,called germani or 'barbarians' by the Romans, in the northeast. These were the two main reasons why the Roman Empire was beginning to crumble very slowly.
The person who became the new Roman emperor in the year of A.D 284 was Diocletian. Diocletian reorganized the army to make it bigger to defend Rome from invasions by the Germanic tribes. He also realized that the whole Roman Empire is way too big for one person to control. So he split the Empire into two, but not officially. The Eastern side was ruled by him, and the Western side was ruled by a general named Maximian. This wasn't exactly the best decision since some of you guys might know that the two sides would officially split in another 200 years.
The person who replaced Diocletian as emperor (after Diocletian retired) was Constantine. Constantine became the emperor of the Eastern side. He moved the Roman capital to a town called Byzantium. He rebuilt the town by making it bigger and better. He then renamed the town's original name Byzantium to Constantinople.
Now, we are nearing the end of the Roman Empire. The Huns had invaded the Germanic tribes' lands, so the Germani moved onto Roman lands. Some of the Romans allowed some of the Germani (e.g: Visigoths) to stay on their land. However, in return the Germani would have to help the Romans defend the land from invasions. In about the year of A.D 395, the Roman empire officially separated into two Empires. The Western Empire got attacked by Visigoths in A.D 410 (the plan to let the Visigoths stay and defend Rome backfired terribly right?), and then got attacked once again by the Vandals in A.D 415. Then in A.D 476, the Visigoth leader Odoacer claimed himself king of Italy. The Western Empire then got split into Germanic tribe Kingdoms. Well, that marked the end of the Western Empire.
- ThePersonFromMars
The Byzantine Empire! A.K.A the Eastern Roman Empire
In about the year of A.D. 400, the once great and powerful Roman Empire was split. The Western Empire collapsed. Whereas , the Eastern Empire prospered and grew for another one thousand years until the Fall of Constantinople in 1495. Here is something you might want to know, the Byzantine Empire is called Byzantine because the empire's capital was previously call Byzantium until emperor Constantine renamed it after himself.
The Byzantine Empire prospered by being the center of trade. Since its capital was smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the Empire was obviously the city or Constantinople.
The Byzantine Empire was influenced more by the Greeks than the Romans. Some of the buildings that have still survived to this day made by the Byzantines are the Hagia Sophia and the the Church of the Holy Apostles.
In about the 6th century most of the Roman lands were won back. You might be wondering who conquered back all of these lands? Well my friend, that is a very good question; the person who won most of the land back was emperor Justinian. Justinian had a wife who helped him make new sets of laws, give women more rights, and build new churches. Under Justinian's rule, the Empire had gained a lot of land back. However, this did not last very long. After Justinian died, the Byzantine Empire got smaller and smaller.
As I have said in the first paragraph, the Byzantine Empire lasted for another thousand or so tears more. The Byzantine Empire did not fall until the Fall of Constantinople in the year of 1495. As you might have inferred, the Byzantine Empire was quite successful. It lasted even longer than Rome.
-ThePersonFromMars
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| The Hagia Sophia |
The Byzantine Empire prospered by being the center of trade. Since its capital was smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the Empire was obviously the city or Constantinople.
The Byzantine Empire was influenced more by the Greeks than the Romans. Some of the buildings that have still survived to this day made by the Byzantines are the Hagia Sophia and the the Church of the Holy Apostles.
In about the 6th century most of the Roman lands were won back. You might be wondering who conquered back all of these lands? Well my friend, that is a very good question; the person who won most of the land back was emperor Justinian. Justinian had a wife who helped him make new sets of laws, give women more rights, and build new churches. Under Justinian's rule, the Empire had gained a lot of land back. However, this did not last very long. After Justinian died, the Byzantine Empire got smaller and smaller.
As I have said in the first paragraph, the Byzantine Empire lasted for another thousand or so tears more. The Byzantine Empire did not fall until the Fall of Constantinople in the year of 1495. As you might have inferred, the Byzantine Empire was quite successful. It lasted even longer than Rome.
-ThePersonFromMars
The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches
The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic both started out as one religion. However, it had split and the outcome was the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic.
Let me tell you why the religion decided to split into two. The Byzantine Empire did not agree with Pope Leo II when he crowned Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Empire. Since Charlemagne had reunited most of the original Roman Empire's land back together. The Byzantine Empire's emperor and people felt like they had just been slapped in the face, they felt insulted. Since the Byzantine Empire was the only part of the original Roman Empire that had survived. The crowning of Charlemagne made the relationship between the Eastern and Western Empire go bad. So, in the year of 1054 the two sides separated once again. The Eastern Church was then changed into the Greek Orthodox Church (a.k.a. the Eastern Orthodox Church). This action made by the Eastern Empire severed all of the ties that the Eastern Empire had with the Western Empire.
The two churches had different perspectives too. First of all, the Roman Catholic's (Western Empire)Pope had total control over the bishops(a senior member of the Christian clergy, usually in charge of a diocese and empowered to give out holy commands. definition taken from dictionary.com). The Roman Catholics also believed that Virgin Mary was conceived and born without sin. Whereas the Eastern Orthodox believed that Virgin Mary was able to sin, but did not. For they believed that if Virgin Mary could not sin, then that would mean that she isn't really human. Which would aso mean that Christ's flesh wasn't exactly human either.
Well, there you go, that is a whole page about the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic came to be.
Let me tell you why the religion decided to split into two. The Byzantine Empire did not agree with Pope Leo II when he crowned Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Empire. Since Charlemagne had reunited most of the original Roman Empire's land back together. The Byzantine Empire's emperor and people felt like they had just been slapped in the face, they felt insulted. Since the Byzantine Empire was the only part of the original Roman Empire that had survived. The crowning of Charlemagne made the relationship between the Eastern and Western Empire go bad. So, in the year of 1054 the two sides separated once again. The Eastern Church was then changed into the Greek Orthodox Church (a.k.a. the Eastern Orthodox Church). This action made by the Eastern Empire severed all of the ties that the Eastern Empire had with the Western Empire.
The two churches had different perspectives too. First of all, the Roman Catholic's (Western Empire)Pope had total control over the bishops(a senior member of the Christian clergy, usually in charge of a diocese and empowered to give out holy commands. definition taken from dictionary.com). The Roman Catholics also believed that Virgin Mary was conceived and born without sin. Whereas the Eastern Orthodox believed that Virgin Mary was able to sin, but did not. For they believed that if Virgin Mary could not sin, then that would mean that she isn't really human. Which would aso mean that Christ's flesh wasn't exactly human either.
Well, there you go, that is a whole page about the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic came to be.
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