Transcript Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity
(ca. 300-600)
Late Antiquity
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Barbarians!
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What do you think of?
What images come to mind?
Late Antiquity
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The Germanic Kingdoms
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Farmers
Relations with Rome
 The Good
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Served in Roman military
Imitated Roman customs
Trade and alliances
Settled in Roman territory
The Bad
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Military conflicts
Sack of Rome (410)
Late Antiquity
Sack of Rome (410)
Late Antiquity
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The Huns
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Leo I and Attila
Nomadic fighters
Based in Eastern Europe
 west!
Under rule of ATTILA THE
HUN (r. 443-454)
Goal: western empire in
Gaul and Italy (451-52)
Hunnic Empire
disintegrated 454
Late Antiquity
2001
Late Antiquity
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“Fall of Rome”
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Romulus Augustulus
Last western emperors
(455-476)
Ruled fragments of
Western Europe
Romulus Augustulus
(r. 475-76) deposed
Late Antiquity
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The Germanic Kingdoms
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The Visigoths
The Ostrogoths
THE FRANKS
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Clovis (r. 481-511)
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THE ANGLES AND
SAXONS
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Founded Merovingian
dynasty
Raids  settled along
southeastern English
coast
The Vandals
The Germanic Kingdoms (ca. 530)
Late Antiquity
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Questions?
Late Antiquity
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The Eastern Roman
Empire
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Lived on
Based in
CONSTANTINOPLE
 “New Rome”
 Residence of emperor
Greek in culture
Constantine and Constantinople
Late Antiquity
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Justinian and Theodora
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Who were they?
 JUSTINIAN: emperor
(r. 527-565)
 Theodora: “Partner in
Counsel”
Legislation: Code of
Justinian
 Collection of all imperial
edicts
 Updated, simplified,
codified
Late Antiquity
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Justinian and Religion
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Emperor was directly involved in religion
Sought unified “orthodox” Christianity  divine favor!
Twilight of Paganism
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Pagans had to become Christian, or lose property, or be
exiled
Closed Academy, Athens
Ordered construction of HAGIA SOPHIA (537)
Late Antiquity
Hagia Sophia
Late Antiquity
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Reconquest of the West
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Justinian’s dream: universal Roman Empire again
Conquest
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North Africa (534)
Italy (540)
Southern Spain (552)
Ultimate failure
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Bankruptcy
Roman forces were overextended
Late Antiquity
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Mosaics
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Common in antiquity
Bits of stone, glass  unified image
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity
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Questions?
Late Antiquity
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The Papacy
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Office of bishop of Rome
One of five “patriarchal” bishops
“First among equals,” according to Greek bishops
Filled “power vacuum” in west
Late Antiquity
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Pope Gregory the
Great(r. 590-604)
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“Servant of the servants of
God”
Reign paradigmatic for
medieval popes
Papal affairs in West
 Supreme spiritual leader
 In touch with western
monarchs
Concerned about affairs in
east
Temporal authority
Late Antiquity
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Monasticism
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Solitary asceticism as way of life away from
“world”
Began in Egypt
Reaction to worldliness of imperial church
Kinds of monks: hermits, communal monks
Late Antiquity
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Benedictine Monasticism
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Founder: Benedict of
Nursia (ca. 480-543)
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Began as hermit, lived in
cave
Reluctant abbot
Established monasteries
Rule
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Detailed
Very successful
For women too
Late Antiquity
Abbey of Monte Cassino,
above Cassino, Italy
Late Antiquity
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Spread of Roman Christianity in Western Europe
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Clovis converted (496)  Franks followed
Ireland
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England
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Patrick (391? – 461?)
“I am greatly God’s debtor, because he granted me so much
grace, that through me many people would be reborn in God…”
(Confessio, 38)
Augustine of Canterbury sent (597)
Angles and king converted
Western Europe predominantly Catholic, under
spiritual authority of papacy
Late Antiquity
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Questions?