Chapter 7
The Passing of the Roman World and
the Emergence of Medieval Civilization
The Spread of Christianity, A.D. 400-750
1. Peter carried the gospel to the towns of Judea and Syria. Eventually, he made his way to Rome where, until his martyrdom in 64, he played an
important role in establishing a Christian community. James became the head of the Christian church in Jerusalem until 62 when he was put to
death. Philip made converts in Samaria and Caesarea while John went on to Ephesus.
2. Christianity became more widespread when Paul declared that the message of Christ was for all humanity. He helped create Christian
communities in Antioch and Ephesus before being taken to Rome on charges of instigating a riot. Acquitted, he remained in Rome to help
strengthen the movement there. In 64, like Peter, Paul was martyred. By the third century there were 100,000 Christians among the 1.1 million
Romans in the city.
3. In Alexandria, under the influence of the large Greek community, Christianity blossomed but it was wedded to Greek philosophy.
4. Christianity was brought to Gaul by St. Martin of Tours (bishop of Tours, 372-387) in the fourth century. Later, in 486 Clovis (481-511), king of
the Franks, was converted. In the sixth century St. Columbarus took the message to Gaul, Switzerland, and northern Italy. At the end of the sixth
century the Lombards, Ostrogoths, and Visigoths (including the rulers of Spain) were converted from their fourth century Arianism. The pagan
Germans in Frisia, Bavaria, and Saxony were Christianized in the late seventh and early eighth centuries. In the British Isles St. Patrick converted
the pagan Irish in the fifth century and St. Augustus of Canterbury converted the Anglo-Saxons in 596 and 601.
5. St. Benedict of Nursia established a monastery south of Rome on the flat topped mountain of Monte Casino which overlooked the valley which
linked Rome and Naples.
6. The power of the pope in Rome increased as the empire began to disintegrate. When unified, the West was governed from Constantinople, but
after the empire was divided in the fourth century, the West was ruled from various locations including Milan. The pope had Rome to himself and
thus exercised both religious duties and political powers (especially protection of Rome from barbarians).
7. The First Ecumenical Council, a meeting of all of the bishops of the church, was held in 325 at Nicaea. Here the doctrines of Arius were rejected
and the Trinity reaffirmed.
Questions:
1. How was Christianity able of grow outside of Judea?
2. What were the implications of the increasing political and geographical power of the papacy?
The Spread of Christianity, A.D. 400-750
 Role and Development of the Christian Church
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Organization and Religious Disputes
 Bishops
 Bishop of Rome
 Heresies
 Donatism
 Arianism
 Council of Nicea, 325
Power of the Pope
 Doctrine of Petrine Supremacy
 Damasus, bishop of Rome, 366-384
 Pope Leo I, 440-461
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Roles of the Church and State
 Bishop Ambrose of Milan, c. 339-397
 Pope Gelasius I, 492-496
New Patterns of Thought
 Christianity adopts Greek as language
 Neopalatonism
 Plotinus (205-270)
 Augustine (354-430)
 Confessions
 The City of God
 Jerome (345-420)
 Latin Vulgate
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Monasticism
 Saint Anthony (c. 250-350)
 Saint Simeon the Stylite
 Saint Pachomius (c. 290-346)
 Communities of men and women
 Saint Basil (329-379)
 Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-c. 543)
 Mone Cassino
 Benedictine rule
 Women
Barbarian Migration and Invasion Routes
1. Germanic tribes had resided along the Rhine and Danube Rivers throughout the period of the Roman Empire. Some, like the Visigoths and
Ostrogoths (eastern relatives of the Visigoths), had settled down and were involved in trade and agriculture. In the last quarter of the fourth century
a Mongolian people called the Huns burst out of the steppes of Russia and crushed the Ostrogoths. Fearful, the Visigoths petitioned to move south
into the Roman Empire. Permission was granted with the idea that they would guard the Danube frontier but in 376 the Visigoths rebelled and
pushed into the Balkans and Italy. In 410 they sacked Rome. Later, the Visigoths pressed into southern Gaul and Spain where they settled in the
early fifth century.
2. Also confronted by the Huns were the Vandals who pushed into Gaul in 406 and continued on to the Pyrenees Mountains crossing into Spain.
Although the total number in the Vandal hordes (including women and children) was probably 80,000, the Visigoths drove them out of Spain. The
Vandals pushed across the Strait of Gibraltar and conquered North Africa (429), extending themselves to Carthage (439). In 455 the Vandals sacked
Rome and pressed on to Sardinia, Sicily, and North Africa east of Carthage. A mixed band of Germans attacked Rome in 476 and deposed the last
western Roman emperor. The leader, Odoacer, became the first barbarian king of Italy (479-493).
3. The Ostrogoths, after recovering from the Huns, moved into northern Italy. Their king, Theodoric (493-526), governed Italy and much of the
Balkans as regent for the emperor in Constantinople. After his death, the armies of Byzantium drove the Ostrogoths out of Italy into the region north
of the Alps where they disappeared. In the sixth century the region fell under the control of the Lombards.
4. When the Franks pushed into Gaul from their lands between the North Sea and the Rhine, it put them into conflict with the Visigoths and
Burgundians who were already there. Both were defeated by the Franks under Clovis (481-511) who ultimately controlled most of modern France.
5. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes were from northern Germany and Denmark. In the middle of the fifth century they pushed west to England driving
the Celts to the far western region of the island.
6. Militarily, the success of the barbarians against the Roman Empire was in part a consequence of the defensive force spread thin by the length of the
Rhine-Danube frontier. The Roman army also suffered because the declining population of the empire deprived the army of needed manpower.
Questions:
1. Why and how did various barbarian groups put pressure on the Roman Empire?
2. What were the consequences of the barbarian migrations and invasions?
Barbarian Migration and Invasion Routes
 The Germanic Peoples and Their Kingdoms
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Germans migrate south from northern Scandinavia, 500 B.C.
 Pressures of the Huns, late fourth century
 Visigoths settle along the Danube River
 Sack Rome in 410
 Burgundians
 Vandals
The New Kingdoms
 Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy
 Theodoric (493-526)
 Visigothic Kingdom of Spain
 Warrior caste
 Catholic Christianity
 Problem of kingship
The New Kingdoms of the Old Western Empire
1. The Visigoths only weakly controlled Spain, having generated no loyalty to the crown. Consequently, when confronted by a Muslim invasion in
711, the Visigoths were easily defeated. A request for aid from Muslims in North Africa by one of the disaffected groups in Spain resulted in an
invading force of only 12,000 men but once they came, the Muslims would not leave. By 718 the Muslim victory was complete.
2. Like the Visigoths in Spain, the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy was weak, lasting solely through the force of the personality of Theodoric (493526). Although he ruled as a king, he was considered to be only a regent by the rulers of Constantinople. Byzantine armies of Justinian (527-565)
conquered Italy between 535 and 554, driving the Ostrogoths from the land. The Byzantine victory was short lived as German Lombards from the
north invaded Italy in 568 and conquered the northern and central regions of the peninsula. The Byzantines, however, were able to retain control of
the area around Ravenna that served as the capital of the Italian lands still under Byzantine sovereignty.
3. The Visigoths and Ostrogoths had helped to destroy the Western Roman Empire but their ascendancy would not last long. On the other hand,
the Frankish Kingdom would grow stronger over time. In part, this was accomplished due to the conversion of Clovis (481-511) around 500 to
Christianity and the subsequent support of the bishops of Gaul and the pope. Clovis also extended his domain as far as the Pyrenees Mountains
and made Paris his headquarters. The sons of Clovis conquered both the Burgundians in eastern Gaul and the Ostrogoths north of the Alps.
4. Charles Martel, the major of the palace for Austrasia beginning in 714, defeated the Muslims in 732 near Poitiers. By the time of Martel’s death
in 741 he was virtual ruler of the Kingdom of the Franks.
5. Roman abandonment of Britain in the fifth century opened the opportunity for the Angles and Saxons, a Germanic people from Denmark and
northern Germany. They met resistance from the Celts who managed to retain control of the western Briton lands. The Germans eventually carved
out small kingdoms throughout the island. Christian missionaries ultimately would convert the German invaders.
6. In 533-34 the forces of the Byzantine emperor Justinian gained North Africa as the emperor pursued an eventually unsuccessful attempt to
reunite the Roman Empire.
Questions:
1. Why were the various barbarian powers unable to maintain control over their conquered territories?
2. How important was the relationship struck by Clovis with Christianity?
The New Kingdoms of the Old Western Empire
 Frankish Kingdom
 Clovis (c. 482-511)
 Converted to Christianity, 500
 Expansion
 Create title of count
 Merovingian dynasty
 Major domus (“mayor of the palace”)
 Charles Martel, mayor of the palace of Austrasia
 Battle of Poitiers, 732
 Anglo-Saxon England
 Angles and Saxons from Denmark and northern
Germany
 Society of the Germanic Peoples in the New Kingdoms
Influenced by Roman society
 Fusion of Roman and Germanic upper-classes
 Germanic law
 Wergeld
 Family and marriage
 Development of the Latin Christian Church
 Pope Gregory I, 590-604
 Papal states
 Extend papal authority
 The Book of Pastoral Care
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Monks and their Missions
 Monasticism in Ireland
 Saint Patrick (390-461)
 Saint Columba (521-597)
 Saint Columbanus (c. 530-615)
 England
 Augustine
 Synod of Whitby, 664
 Archbishop of Canterbury
 English monks to Frisia, Bavaria, and Saxony
 Women

Christianity and Intellectual Life
 Boethius (c. 480-524)
 On the Consolation of Philosophy
 Cassidorus (c. 490-c. 585)
 Divine and Human Readings
 Seven Liberal Arts
 Trivium – grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic (logic)
 Quadrivium – math of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy,
and music
 Venerable Bede (c. 672-735)
 Ecclesiastical History of the English People
The Byzantine Empire in the Time of Justinian
1. Ravenna was the capital of the western empire and from which the Ostrogothic king Theodoric (493-526) ruled as regent in Constantinople.
2. After much of Constantinople was destroyed by riots in 532, Emperor Justinian (527-565) rebuilt the city. Among the new buildings was the
Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia in Greek). It was here that the emperor was crowned and the patriarch conducted religious services.
3. The ease with which North Africa was gained in 533-34 led Justinian to push on to Sicily and then into Italy where Naples, Rome, and Ravenna
fell by 540. The campaigns continued another twelve years with the result that the Ostrogoths were driven north of the Alps and southern Spain
was conquered.
4. Pressure upon the Byzantine Empire came from the north and east. Around 560 the Avars, Bulgars (mounted Asiatic nomads), and the Slavs
(Indo-Europeans) pressed into the Balkans. When the northern frontier crumbled, the Bulgars succeeded in seizing control of the lower Danube
valley by 679. Meanwhile, in the East the Persians forced the collapse of the frontier in 602. This was followed in 626 by the alliance of the Avars
and the Persians to assault Constantinople. While the city was successful in resisting the onslaught, the attack so exhausted both sides that
neither would be able to counter Muslim expansion later in the century.
Questions:
1. How successful were Justinian’s efforts to rebuild the Roman Empire?
2. What were the consequences of expansion for the Byzantine Empire?
The Byzantine Empire in the Time of Justinian
 The Byzantine Empire

Reign of Justinian, 527-565
 Theodora
 Reestablish the Roman Empire
 Codification of Roman Law
 Corpus Iuris Civilis (Body of Civil Law), 529
 Digest and Institutes, 533
 Eventually used in the west
 Intellectual Life
 Procopius (c. 500-c. 562)
 Wars
 Secret History
Constantinople
1. The colony of Byzantium, which was to become the site of Constantinople, was established by the Greek city of Megara in the seventh century
B.C. It was located on a triangular peninsula on the European side of the Sea of Marmara at the western end of the seventeen mile Bosphorus
Strait. Adjacent to this, only a short boat ride away, was the Asian continent. In addition to its natural advantages, the site was located on the trade
routes of wheat from the Black Sea to Italy and Greece in the west and to Syria and Egypt in the south.
2. On the north side of the city was the Golden Horn, a sheltered bay seven miles long and deep enough to accommodate any ship.
3. The city was laid out by Emperor Constantine (324-337) with an eye toward a new Rome. Only the eastern end of the peninsula was settled by
the Greeks. Here, at the center, they constructed an acropolis upon which Constantine would later build his Great Palace. Descending to the water
were a series of terraces upon which were the palace buildings. At the front of the palace was the Augustaeum, a great public square to serve like
the Forum in Rome. Southwest of this was the center of entertainment, the Hippodrome which could seat 60,000. The Wall of Constantine
marked the defensive perimeter of the city.
4. To complete the city in six years and give it the glory of a capital, Constantine raided the east of its artistic treasures. This ensured that
Hellenistic culture would triumph in the Roman Empire.
5. Mese (Middle) Street was the main thoroughfare of the city and led away from the Augustaeum.
6. Within a century the population of the city had grown beyond the area planned by Constantine. For purposes of expansion, Theodosius II (408450) established a new wall to the west, a mile beyond the old one.
7. Northwest of the Great Palace was the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia in Greek), which was completed in 537 after five years of
construction. An architectural marvel, it consisted of four enormous piers topped by a huge dome which gave the appearance of floating in space
due to the forty-two windows around the dome's base which let in streams of light. It was here that the emperor was crowned and the patriarch
conducted religious services.
Questions:
1. Why was the location of Constantinople important for its development?
2. How successful was Constantine in making the new city another Rome?
Constinople


 Life in Constantinople
 Rebuilt 532
 Commercial center
 Royal palace complex, Hagia Sophia, and the
Hippodrome
From Eastern Roman to Byzantine Empire
 Frontier insecurity
 Battle of Yarmuk, 636
 Bulgars
Byzantine Empire in the Eighth Century
 Christianity and Iconoclastic Controversy, 730
 War economy and power of the emperor
 Eastern and western empire separated
The Expansion of Islam
1. Arabia is a bleak land about 1500 miles long and 1200 miles wide. It features two large deserts, portions of which have no rainfall. There are a
few seasonal streams but no real rivers. Although the people are nomads, before 450 powerful states in Yemen did exercise control. The decline
of Yemen's authority and the return to nomadism was reinforced by Ethiopian and Persian invasions in the sixth century.
2. There are numerous theories as to the cause of the expansion of Islam: the harsh environmental conditions, population pressure, religious zeal,
the longing of single men in the army for booty, or the desire to export the religious reform of Arabia.
3. Mecca was a major trading city and it was here that Muhammad was born about 570. Mecca was also the home of the Ka'ba where the sacred
stone (a shrine for the polydaemonists) was located. Fearful of Muhammad's attacks on the traditional gods, the people of Mecca expelled him.
He and his followers migrated in 622 to trading rival Yathrib (later called Medina, meaning "the city," i.e. the city of the prophet) which had
requested Muhammad's aid as a neutral arbitrator among its five tribes (three were Jewish). It was here that Muhammad had success. Once he
became both secular and spiritual authority of the city, Muhammad initiated an attack against Mecca that fell in 630 in part due to a grain boycott
on the agriculturally dependent city.
3. Expansion west through Byzantine Egypt was preceded by thrusts against Syria and Mesopotamia. Despite stubborn resistance from the
Byzantines, by 640 Syria had fallen and Damascus and Jerusalem were occupied. Egypt was in Muslim hands six years later. The struggle
here was made easier by the people's weariness over taxation and the theological and factional struggles of Christianity. Muslim promises of
political and religious freedom were enticing. From Egypt there was a slow drive across North Africa leading eventually into Spain in 711. In 732
Muslim raiders were in the kingdom of the Franks and near Poitiers fought an indecisive battle. Since this amounted to no more than an
adventure, the raiders returned to Spain.
5. The Byzantine army was defeated by the Muslims at Yarmuk in 636 and by 640 Syria was in Arab hands. In the east, Muslim forces defeated
the Persians in 637 and by 650 all of the Persian Empire had fallen. The Umayyad dynasty (661-750) pushed their conquests to the Indus River.
After 660 the Umayyad capital was moved to Damascus since this was the center of power for Mu'awiya (661-680), the first Umayyad ruler.
6. The Slavs in the north and the Muslims in the east were pressing the Byzantine Empire. With Constantinople under siege, the Byzantines
were able to save eastern Christian Europe by the defeat of a Muslim fleet in 718 in the Sea of Marmora.
Questions:
1. What role did geography have to play in the expansion of Islam?
2. Why was Islam so successful in expanding into Christian lands?
The Expansion of Islam
 The Rise of Islam
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
Bedouins
 Allah (Arabic for God)
 Ka’aba
Trade through Mecca
Muhammad (c. 570-632)
 Caravan manager
 Quran
 Hegira (Hijrah), 622
 Yathrib (Medina)
 Submission to Allah
 Five Pillars of Faith
 Belief in Allah and Muhammad as his Prophet
 Prayer five time a day and public prayer on Friday at
noon
 Observance of Ramadan, fasting from dawn to sunset
 Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)
 Giving alms to the poor
 Shari’ah (law code)

Expansion of Islam
 Abu Bakr succeeds Mohammed at his death
 Jihad
 Battle of Yarmuk, 636
 Persians defeated, 637
 Egypt falls, 642
 Muawiyah become caliph (successor), 661
 Umayyad dynasty
 Damascus
 Shi’ites – accepted only descendants of Ali, Muhammad’s
son-in-law, as true rulers
 Sunnites – claimed that the descendants of the
Umayyads were the true caliphs
 Spain attacked, 710
 Battle of Tours, 732
 Constantinople attacked and Muslim fleet defeated, 717