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THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

Eastern and western empire. Extent of the fall of the western Roman empire. Divisions in the Latin west and Greek east. Consequences of civil and administrative restructuring. Concentration of power and jurisdiction in the executive. Response of the eastern empire to the conquest patterns of Islam. Role of Christianity. Authority of the Pope.

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This research examines whether and to what extent the Western Roman Empire can be said to have "fallen" over the course of the third to fifth centuries AD and how the West fared vis-à-vis the Eastern Empire over the same period. The research will discuss how the Eastern Empire responded to the conquest patterns of Islam from the seventh century onward, as well as the role of Christianity in the fate of both the East and the West.
Gibbon's narrative of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire begins essentially from the death of the last of the so-called five good emperors, Marcus Aurelius, in AD 180. Gibbon goes on to provide the precarious histories of a number of emperors, some good, most bad--and almost all assassinated. But under Diocletian, Rome in AD 286 underwent a civil and administrative restructuring that had major long-term conse

88). He died in splendor but obscurity in 316. Diocletian split imperial rule intoEastern and Western divisions, selecting a general, Maximian, as co-emperorin Milan while he located eastward, at Nicomedia, adjacent to Persia; Romeremained titular capital, but no ruler was there. Gibbon's narrative of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire beginsessentially from the death of the last of the so-called five good emperors,Marcus Aurelius, in AD 18 . Après lui, le déluge. In AD 293, by which time he and Maximian carried title of Augustusand status of god, Diocletian assigned himself and Maximian each a so-called caesar, sited geostrategically, in Gaul and what is today known asthe Balkans. 1911; New York: The Modern Library, 1967.Hayes, Carlton J.H., Baldwin, Marshall Whithed, and Cole, Charles Woolsey. As theRoman civil apparatus was eclipsed, the papacy there "became moreeffective" at settling heresies and at asserting secular authority where acivil authority had failed (Hayes, et al. Ed. The administrative apparatus was further shored up by arrangedmarriages among the caesars, and imperial rule proceeded under what becameknown as the "four princes of the world," in Latin quattuor principes mundi(Cousin). But the emperor's new,definitely Christian capital in the East increasingly eclipsed the one inthe West. Thearmy was suddenly fighting for its own homeland and "helped contain" bothArab and Balkan/barbarian tides. Chiefly because heestablished himself mainly in Byzantium (Constantinople), Constantine wasnot universally loved in Rome, though he did convert to Christianity anddid undertake some architectural restoration there. The barbarians whooverran the West, like the "learned and luxurious citizens of the Romanempire," converted to Christianity in great numbers as they prosecutedtheir invasions. Raymond Postgate and G.P. The controlling idea appears to have been to stabilize and secure theEmpire. A pious believer in the old Roman religion andcivic virtues, Diocletian mistrusted and therefore persecuted thetroublesome Christian cult. But under Diocletian, Rome in AD 286 underwent a civil andadministrative restructuring that had major long-term consequences for thestatus and fate of the Empire. This research examines whether and to what extent the Western RomanEmpire can be said to have "fallen" over the course of the third to fifthcenturies AD and how the West fared vis-à-vis the Eastern Empire over thesame period. Rome's marble architecture was being plundered--not so much by thebarbarians as by the resident shelter-seeking Romans. Works CitedCousin, Jean. Despite the imperial diffusion, Diocletian concentrated more realpower and jurisdiction in the executive, specifically taking power andprivilege from the (more politically diffuse and ambitious) senate andredistributing it to consuls and specialized bureaucrats. The southern and easternMediterranean, north to the Black Sea, plus the southern Iberian peninsula,were completely overrun by the eighth century. History of Western Civilization. 99). Rivalry between Maximian and the various caesarsfor absolute control of east and west ultimately led to the victory ofConstantine, son of one of the caesars, in AD 312. Whereas, aggravated by threats from barbarians, Rome retainedmuch of its pagan identity and culture until the early fifth century,Constantinople was decisively Christian. The research will discuss how the Eastern Empire responded tothe conquest patterns of Islam from the seventh century onward, as well asthe role of Christianity in the fate of both the East and the West. Gibbon goes on to provide the precarioushistories of a number of emperors, some good, most bad--and almost allassassinated. 2 vols. Britannica 2 1 Deluxe Edition CD-ROM. . German barbarians were also perpetuallythreatening to invade southward. 3 vols. He evensent expeditions against the German barbarians in parts of the Westernempire. But Islamic Arabs did not penetrate the Byzantine Empire. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1971. . The result, according to Gibbon, was to subvert theempire: The Romans themselves, the most powerful and enlightened nation of the globe, had renounced their ancient superstition; and if the ruin of their empire seemed to accuse the efficacy of the new faith, the disgrace was already retrieved by the conversion of the victorious Goths (Gibbon 367).Christianization of the barbarians sharpened cultural divisions between theLatin West and Greek East, despite the unifying factor of faith andconcentration of doctrinal authority over east and west in Rome. One legacy ofthat decision in Byzantium was what became a well-organized but notoverwhelming bureaucracy that turned out to be "generally efficient, welleducated, well paid, and relatively small in number" (Treadgold 7 )--inother words, manageable, which made the east governable. But by that timethe eastern empire had transmuted itself into Byzantium. Wells. New York: Macmillan, 1967.Treadgold, Warren. The Balkan frontier effectively cut it off fromByzantium in the east. According to Treadgold, Islam did not succeed against Byzantiumbecause the emperor Constantine II (641-68) gave citizen-soldiers apractical stake in protecting it. In Byzantium, while Theodosius II waspromulgating the Theodosian Code, which codified and rationalized civillaw, the population of Rome was coming down to 25 , , and Gaul and Spainhad been occupied by the barbarians (Gibbon 132-5). The initialeffort, however, exhausted Diocletian, who retired in AD 3 5 to a south-coastal palace on the Adriatic. Diocletian. Constantine protected the pope'secclesiastical status in Rome, but over the course of the fourth century,the Empire remained officially Roman in name only. Theodosius I (the Great) actively suppressed paganand nonorthodox worship and belief during his reign (379-95), especiallyduring the Trinitarian controversy. Civil war and barbarian invasions loomed large,especially in the west. and[] scholarship," and further codified Roman law (Treadgold 75). In the West, the papacy eventuallyorganized Crusaders around the idea of protecting Christianity, but Rome'scivil authority had long since vanished, and Europe was degenerating intofeudal warlordism. Partly thatwas because successive emperors set about consolidating their position.Justinian I built "an array of public structures," includingConstantinople's Saint Sophia, presided over a "flowering of art . Except for Italy itself andthe northern provinces, Islam rule overwhelmed what had been the westernempire (Hayes, et al. The Outline of History, Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind. Beginning in theseventh century, Arab Muslims sought to spread their religion, successor toJudaism and Christianity, throughout the world. It was a practical response to theadministrative and military contingencies created because Roman civil andmilitary apparatus stretched thinly from Britain to north Africa to theeastern Mediterranean, frontier commanders could threaten civil war abroadand create anarchy at home. The eastern emperorswere active in helping to settle doctrinal orthodoxy; the major heresiesover the nature of God, Christ, and the Trinity had emerged in the east.The most authoritative ecclesial voice came from Rome, but the easternemperors gave it force. 2d ed. In the east, on the otherhand, where ecclesiastical authority was shared by emperor-appointedpatriarchs in Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem (Wells465), the ultimate doctrinal authority of the pope was to come underincreasing question, eventually leading to formal schism. "The Persistence of Byzantium." The Wilson Quarterly 22 (Autumn 1998): 66-91.Wells, H.G. 2 ed.Gibbon, Edward. Into this whole mix there plunged the Islam factor. By the fifth century, as the Byzantine Empire was coming into its own,Italy suffered what Gibbon calls two great invasions and several sackingsof Rome, starting with the Goth Alaric in AD 395 and continuing in 415 withthe Vandals (Gibbon 91ff). He converted the military from aprofessionally paid force into "themes," or divisions "settled in districts[] where they held grants of farmland, probably taken from the vastimperial estates that disappeared around this time" (Treadgold 76).

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