Transcript Late Roman Empire

Late Roman Empire
284 – 476
Diocletian to Romulus
Augustulus
Crisis and Reform

Rome in 2nd-3rd centuries: a period of
remarkable instability
 Military
and government corruption
 Financial mismanagement
 Social unrest and rebellion
Late Roman Empire


Reign of Diocletian (284-305)
Diocletian Reforms:
- division of Empire, East (Byzantium) and West
(Rome). Split of Empire accompanied by an increase in
administrative and bureaucratic inefficiency
- tetrarchy (four prefectures)
- division into diocese [GK: dioíkèsis:
housekeeping; cf. economy: oikos
nomos]
- Great Persecution of Christians 303-311. Christianity, though
tolerated since 1st century, is now viewed with suspicion, and
believed to be weakening the empire.
Constantine

Emperor in Rome from 306
 Ruled
both east and west between 324 and
337
 Edict of Milan, 313, ends Christian persecution
 conversion to Christianity

Founding of “Constantinople” in 330
 Founded
in eastern capital of Byzantium
 Admiration for culture and wealth of east
 Growing disinterest in Rome and the west
Early Christian debate

Debate within Christianity on the relationship
between Jesus and God. The followers of Arius
maintained that Jesus’s nature was similar to the
divine (but not identical). This means that they
didn’t believe that Jesus was in fact divine. The
followers of Athanasius argued that the
natures of God and Jesus were identical. To
resolve this dispute, Constantine issued the
Nicene Creed, which supported Athanasius.
Factors Contributing to the
decline of Rome
Enormous bureaucracy (in west and east)
and general corruption
 Non-Roman armies loyal to generals
 Financial chaos; inflation; unstable tax
base
 Infrastructure decaying; interest and
attention shifting to Constantinople
 Rise of Christianity
 Germanic invasions

Literary Culture
“Fathers of the Church”: chiefly responsible for
early notions of the Church, the mass, theology
 Ambrose: trained in Greco-Roman classics;
opposed the Arian heresy; developed liturgy &
hymns
 Jerome: translation of the Bible into Latin (from
Greek and Hebrews)
 Augustine: theology, orthodoxy


City of God (De Civitate Dei)
Constantine
Diocletian
St. Augustine
Roman mosaics
Roman mosaics