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Religious Life of Persia
• Originally polytheistic, in many respects like other Mediterranean
and Near Eastern cultures.
• Zoroaster created a simplified version of Persian religion at some
point between 1000-400 BCE
• Zoroastrianism believes in two main spiritual forces:
– Ahura Mazda, the good creator of the universe
– Angra Mainyu, the source or spirit of chaos and evil
• Through an active life of good deeds people can help Ahura
Mazda prevail, and hasten the end of the time.
• Orthodox Zoroastrianism promoted by Sassanian Emperors
– Toleration for other religions waxed and waned, declining by
the 400s
– Zoroastrian iconoclasm
Rivals to Zoroastrianism
• Manichaeism: Judeo-Christian movement
founded by the Iranian mystic Mani (third century
AD/CE)
– Posited an imperfect creation in which the powerful
but not omnipotent God contends with Satan for the
human soul
– Gnostic dualism
– Considered a heresy by Christians
• Very popular in Roman Syria and Egypt,
Persia, India
Some additional thoughts on
Zoroastrianism:
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Heaven and hell; Individual judgement
Free will
The Devil (Angra Mainyu)
Influence on
Judaism, ~500 BCE
A very quick word on Judaism
• Tribal religion of the Hebrew people, before 1500 BC
– Very exclusive monotheism
– Torah
• The Hebrew kingdom of Israel was founded prior to 1000
BCE
• Achaemenid Persian influence
• Occupied by Rome from 63 BCE
– Contumnacia
• Destruction of Jerusalem in the
”Jewish Wars”, 70 CE.
• Diaspora
• Rabbinic Judaism
– Evolution of the Talmud, Jewish
law
Rome and the Jewish People
• Judea was part of the Hellenistic kingdoms.
• Conquered by the Romans in 63 BC
• Allowed to retain local government under its own
kings, as long as they paid taxes to the Roman
governor of Palestine.
• Many Jewish revolts during the first century AD,
resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem and the
Jewish Diaspora.
More Rome
Christianity in Rome
Under the Emperor Constantine (312-337):
• “Edict of Milan”, 313, Christianity legalized,
property lost during recent persecutions
restored.
• Council of Nicaea, 325, first Ecumenical Council
– Church leaders, episkopos, the 1800 bishops of the
Empire
– Debated matters of theology (especially Christology)
– Hammered out some details of ceremony and
practice, such as the date of Easter.
Helena: Christian patronage, tourism,
archaeology
New Capital for the East: Constantinople
Church Hierarchy
• Emperor is at the top
• Dioceses- Units of Roman administration
• Bishops- a career path for ambitious
Romans
• Archbishops and Patriarchs
• Bishop of Rome: Petrine Doctrine
Christianity Ascendant
• Constantine’s Christian biographer, Eusebius (339)
called him “the Great”.
• All of Constantine’s sons were Christians, though they
supported different sects
• Despite the Council of Nicaea, it took several years for
orthodox Roman Christianity to take shape
• Many rival branches of Christianity:
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Theological issues
Jesus’s humanity
Trinity
Imperial hierarchy
• By 380, Nicaean Christianity is state
religion, “catholic”
• Persecution of pagans, ”heretics”
Julian the Apostate
• Julian (360-363) tried to undo the growing
importance of Christianity in favor of the
traditional pagan religion of Rome.
• Died fighting the Persians, and his reforms were
unsuccessful.
Ancient Arabia
• Settled regions and nomadic desert groups (Bedouins)
• Kingdom of Nabatea, ~200 BCE-106 CE
– Borderlands of Hellenistic kingdoms; Petra
– Control of trade routes
• Roman province of Arabia Petraea, 106 CE
– Arab legionaries
– Arab provincial officials
– Limes Arabicus and foederati
• Yemen (Arabia Felix)
– Abyssinian/Ethiopian influence
– Himyarites and Judaism, 6th cent.
– Persian and Roman context
Palmyran Empire of Zenobia, 270-274
Rebellion of Queen Mawiyya and the Tanukhid
Arabs, 375-425 CE
Tribes and Tribal confederations
• Extended kin groups
• Typical kinship arrangements of both
nomadic Arabs (like the Bedouins) and
more sedentary groups
• Mutual support
• Endogamous marriages; adoption
• Tribal alliances– mutual protection
• Marriage pacts
Antarah ibn Shaddad (sixth century)
Persian and Rome
• After 360s, border between Rome and Persia
was more or less stable, though there were
many small scale wars.
• Massive conflict in the late sixth and early
seventh centuries.
• Persia nearly conquered all of the Eastern
provinces between 614-621
• 626-631 Emperor Heraclius led and equally
successful counter attack
Rome (Byzantine Empire) and Persia
Empires and Peripheries
• Sedentary agricultural communities vs.
nomadic people
• Where empires start and stop- Limes in
Latin
• Porosity of borders
• Cultural processes
• Influence of empires– wealth (trade, service,
pillage), political organization, self-identity,
military technology
• “Cooked barbarians”
Rome (Byzantine Empire) and Persia