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4.5 The Fall of the Roman Empire

Hi, this is the last part of the chapter four. We gonna say goodbye to the Roman Empire, the Fall of the Roman Empire.

1. In 286, Diocletian introduced the new form of government Tetrarchy, the empire was divided into two parts and ruled by four emperors. Constantine ruled both west and east for a short time. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the east and the west Empire from 379 to 395. After his death in 395, the empire was permanently divided between the West and the East by his two incapable sons.

Western Empire, there was a big problem:

The Barbarian invasions.

2.The Huns were a nomadic people, some historians believed they were the decedents of the Xiongnu (匈奴), nomadic peoples north and northwest of China during the Eastern Zhou and Han dynasty from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. In the second half of the 4th century Huns migrated from Central Asia towards Eastern Europe. They quickly destroyed the Gothic confederation.

Visigoths, the western branch of the Goths were driven away from their land and seek assistance from the Roman Empire and they were allowed to settle along the Danube River area. But they soon rose up against the Romans. In 378 they defeated an imperial army and killed the Roman emperor and in 410 they captured Rome and sacked it for three days. Finally, they left, moved to southern Gaul and Spain and built the Visigothic kingdom there with the Roman emperor’s approval.

The Vandals were another east Germanic people. They crossed over the empire and conquered Africa. In 455 they sacked Rome much more thoroughly than the Visigoths did in 410.

3. Attila and the pope. Attila frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. In 430 he led his army invaded the Roman Empire. He defeated the Roman army but was stopped by the bishop of Rome, Pope Leo I before the gate of Rome. What they talked was unknown but after the conversation Attila withdrew. It was the Pope not the emperor saved the city. This incident showed how powerful the papacy was. The papacy is the position, power, and authority of the Pope. After the death of Attila, the confederation of Huns collapsed.

4. Fall of Rome

On September 4, 476, Odoacer, a military leader deposed Romulus, the Western Roman Emperor. Romulus was forced to give up his position. And Odoacer became the first King of Italy. Odoacer was not a Roman but of barbarian decent from an East Germanic tribe called Scirii. Although his real power was in Italy, he represented himself as the client of the eastern empire emperor in Constantinople. The deposition of Romulus marks the end of the Roman Empire in the West, and the end of Ancient Rome, and the beginning of the Middle Ages in Western Europe.

5. Rise of Muslim

Now, let’s look at Rise of Muslim. The Abrahamic religions refer to three monotheistic religions all from one source, Abraham. They all claim Abraham as a prophet and their common forefather. Judaism founded in the 7th century BCE, Christianity in the 1st century CE, and Islam in the 7th century CE. These are the symbols of the three largest Abrahamic religions: the Jewish Star of David, the Christian cross, and the Islamic star and crescent. Islam is the second-largest and the fastest-growing religion in the world. It has 1.6 billion followers, almost a quarter of world population.

6. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to about 12% of the world's Muslims, followed by Pakistan (11.0%), Bangladesh (9.2%), and Egypt (4.9%). About 20% of the world's Muslims live in the Middle East and North Africa. Middle East, North Africa.

7. Muhammad c. 570 – 632 was born in the Arabian city of Mecca, his father died almost six months before he was born. At around 20 years old Muhammad became the business manager of a wealthy widow Khadijah whom he later married. In his thirtieth he began to spend long times to meditation in a mountain cave called Hira. In 610 at the age of 40 he claimed being visited by an angel in the cave, where he received revelation from God Allah. The angel told him: "O Muhammad! You are the Messenger of God". Muslims believe the holy book Quran was verbally revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel. On September 24, 622, Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina. This journey called the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, the Hijri Calendar. Eight years later Muhammad led his army came back to Mecca and conquered it. By his death in 632, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam. A Muslim empire called Caliphate was established and started to expansion. Muhammad’s father-in-law Abu Bakr became the first caliph. A caliph was a Muslim ruler meaning "successor of the messenger of God".

8. From this map we can see the expansion of the Muslim empire. You can see the expansion under Muhammad, and also the next part is the Rashidun Caliphs 1, and the next part expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate.

9. Sunni and Shia

There are two major branches of Islam. Sunni came from the Arabic word Sunnah meaning the custom and practice based on Muhammad's words and deeds. Sunni believes Muhammad did not clearly designate a successor and the Muslim community acted according to his Sunnah in electing his father-in-law Abu Bakr as the first caliph. Shia in Arabic meaning "followers of Ali”, they believe the successor of Muhammad is Ali, the cousin and the son-in-law of Muhammad. Today 85–90% of the world's Muslims are Sunni and 10–15% is Shia.

10. Look at this map Shia makes the majority of population in Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, Iran and Azerbaijan.

11. Muslim prohibits idolatry.

Idolatry means the worship of an idol. Muslims believe visual depictions of the prophets should be prohibited because the use of images can encourage idolatry. This is why the images of the prophets are extremely rare both within and outside Islam. The images of prophets made by non-Muslims could always made Muslims feel uncomfortable and offensive even they are tended to be favorable or neutral. Recent years there were several Muslim terrorist attacks happened in Europe caused by the publication of controversial Muhammad cartoons. Someone even drew Muhammad as a dog. Of-course we condemn the terrorism but I think these cartons should not be published. The tensions between the Western and Islamic world is already getting worse every day. Don't add fuel to the fire. All cultures are equal. Mutual respect is more important today. Confucius said “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others”.

12. The Byzantine Empire also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium, Byzantium was the ancient Greek name of the capital city Constantinople, modern-day Istanbul, Turkey. Actually, the Byzantine Empire or the Eastern Roman Empire was the terms used by the historians after the end of the Empire. Romans at that time still used the name Roman Empire. Latin was used by the Western Roman Empire and the east was Hellenistic world, from the early sixth century Geek became the official language. The east had always been more urbanized and civilized than the west. The administration was carried by a vast bureaucracy composed by military and civilian officials. The most important positions at court were occupied by eunuchs. A eunuch is a man whose testicles had been removed. The extensive use of eunuchs was one of the reasons to the survival of absolutist authority of the emperor. The real political power remained in the hands of emperor and civilian officials instead of the military commanders like in the west.

13. Justinian I also known as Saint Justinian the Great was the Eastern Roman emperor from 527 to 565. He was "the emperor who never slept". His time was a distinct epoch in the history of the Later Roman Empire. He reconquered many former territories of the Western Roman Empire, including Italy, Dalmatia, Africa, and southern Hispania. Justinian’s jurist composed the Justinian Code which remains today the foundation of most of European country’s legal system.

14. This is the map of the empire during Justinian’s rule. You see he re-conquered many parts of the empire.

15. Justinian also built this famous church Hagia Sophia in Greek meaning "Holy Wisdom", it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Patriarch of Constantinople was the top Christian leader in the Eastern Empire, like Pope in the west. After the fall of Constantinople, it became an Ottoman imperial mosque and now a museum.

16. The Fall of Constantinople

The territory reconquered by Justinian I held for two more centuries. During the Early Muslim conquests of the seventh century the empire lost its richest provinces Egypt and Syria to the Arabs. During the Macedonian dynasty in 10th–11th centuries, the empire again expanded and after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The empire lost much of Asia Minor to the Turks. The empire recovered again and by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. During the Fourth Crusade, Constantinople was sacked in 1204 by crusaders. Although Constantinople was recovered in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small rival states in the area for the two more centuries. Its remaining territories were gradually conquered by the Ottomans over the 14th and 15th century. The Ottoman Empire also known as the Turkish Empire was a state that conquered much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. Finally, in 1453 Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople. The Fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire and the end of the Roman Empire.

17. Now, let’s look at the key words: Fall of Rome, Muhammad, Sunni and Shia, The Byzantine Empire, Fall of Constantinople.

Now, questions of this chapter

1. Give a brief introduction of Pax Romana.

2. Tell the stories of Genesis, Exodus and Jesus Christ. How did Christianity become the official religion of the Roman Empire?

3. Who are Germanic people? How their invasions changed the Roman world?

And now this is the finish of the chapter four. And now we say goodbye to the Ancient Rome. And from next chapter, we will go to the Middle Ages.