The Byzantine Empire: The First Christian Empire   Term Paper ID:27353 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Overview of the rise & decline of the Byzantine Empire, the first Christian Empire. Discusses rulership of Constantine & Justinian. Also describes church architecture & symbolic purposes.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Overview of the rise & decline of the Byzantine Empire, the first Christian Empire. Discusses rulership of Constantine & Justinian. Also describes church architecture & symbolic purposes. Paper Introduction: The first Christian Empire in the world was that of the Byzantine Empire founded by Constantine in 330 A.D. The Byzantine Empire started with the division of the Roman empire into East and West factions, with the eastern provinces becoming the Byzantine Empire. When the Roman Emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity, he moved the governing center from Rome to the city of Byzantium, made Christianity the state religion, and created a state that had a profound effect on the social life and outlook of the people. The first moves toward splitting up the Roman Empire had been made by Constantine's uncle, the Emperor Diocletian, who thought that the problems with the empire were related to having too much territory to the east and north out of direct control (Wenzel, 1965: pp. 11-13). The separation did not take place immediately but over a generation or so and would last for more Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. In the city of Ravenna the walls of theChurch of San Vitale were raised, and buildings of all types were built inConstantinople. He looked at them,and was awed" (Wenzel: p. Since many of the peoplewere very poor, Justinian built a huge lodging-house where they could stayfor nothing. 73). The separation did not take place immediately but over a generationor so and would last for more than 11 years. When Constantine came to power, the Roman Empire was insecure, filledwith dissension within and threatened by enemies on the outside. Work was started in 532. In many ways, thedevelopment of the Byzantine Empire sealed the doom of the Roman Empire.For a time, the organization put in place in the east by Diocletianstrengthened this half of the old Roman Empire, but in time it too began todecline steadily, in part because of a shortage of able men to lead: "Wehave seen that citizenship in the Roman Empire no longer meant a share inthe control of public affairs. It collapsed several times later on, but it was alwaysrepaired. 11-13). Justinian built many harbors,and masses of people were always coming by boat into Constantinople topetition the emperor to carry out legal business. The dome was the biggest that had everbeen attempted. Large semi-domes on the east and west supported it and served asa roof over the space below. The political importance of the empire hadended long before the fall of the city, but its intangible influence hadalways transcended its physical boundaries" (Garraty and Gay, 1986: p.46 ). The first Christian Empire in the world was that of the ByzantineEmpire founded by Constantine in 33 A.D. 19-2 ). This suppression had weakened the Roman state. A special passagewas built from the palace leading into one of the upper balconies insidethe church so Justinian could come everyday and see how the work wasprogressing. 74). It was damaged by fire in theNika revolt and had to be rebuilt, so Justinian decided to give it thelargest dome in the world.. The plan of this church was similar to other Byzantinechurches but on a larger scale. The imperial intellectual tradition was saved by Greekscholars who took manuscripts with them. He built a huge granary near the Hellespontwhere grain was taken from Egyptian ships and stored while the ships waitedfor a good wind so the grain could be delivered the rest of the way. 46 ). There was in fact a greater need than ever before for able leaderswith the growth of the Christian churches and their influence. When the Roman EmperorConstantine was converted to Christianity, he moved the governing centerfrom Rome to the city of Byzantium, made Christianity the state religion,and created a state that had a profound effect on the social life andoutlook of the people. issued a proclamation that meant thatChristianity was now legally recognized, a decree that was maintained byConstantine (Breasted: p. The empire began to disintegrate and continued to do so over a longperiod of time before it was finally smashed by the Ottomans in 1453. The first moves toward splitting up the RomanEmpire had been made by Constantine's uncle, the Emperor Diocletian, whothought that the problems with the empire were related to having too muchterritory to the east and north out of direct control (Wenzel, 1965: pp. London: Frederick Muller, 1965. Able men of affairs were no longer arisingamong such citizens, except as the army raised one of its commanders to theposition of emperor" (Breasted, 1938: p. 15-16). The ideathat all men are brothers was enhanced by Christianity and combined withthe idea that all human life is sacred. The Byzantine Empire startedwith the division of the Roman empire into East and West factions, with theeastern provinces becoming the Byzantine Empire. The greatest construction of the period was the Church of St. 629). He chosethe Christian God as the one to lead him into war and to make himsuccessful (Wenzel: pp. The city tripled in size. . Theempire lost its intellectual base to Italy, and mental stagnation and anti-intellectualism existed at the court in Constantinople: "Bereft of externalsupport and of its own inner core, Byzantium could only await passively therecovery of Ottoman power. Sophia,or Holy Wisdom. There had been such a church on the same spot for sometime, but it had changed its appearance many times, growing larger andlarger under the various Byzantine emperors. This helped form the character ofthe Byzantine Empire (Wenzel: pp. Byzantium would continue to influence later artists, sculptors, andarchitects. One of the periods of growth in Byzantine history came during thereign of the Emperor Justinian. He made a great effort to improvethe grain supply for the city. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1938.Garraty, John A., Peter Gay, The Columbia History of the World. 629). His making of Christianity the officialreligion of Rome was successful, and this brought about tremendous changesfor the Romans. This influence is still felttoday: "The mixed religious, linguistic, and artistic tradition of thepresent-day Balkans still reflects the ambiguous status of medievalIllyricum and the extent of imperial prestige among the western andsouthern Slavs" (Garraty and Gay: p. In terms ofarchitectural design as well as theology, the inside of the church was seenas a model of heaven and earth. He also built many aqueducts to provide water for the city,and to improve the system he built a huge reservoir underground which isstill present in Constantinople today. The choice of Byzantium for the new capital was fortunate. The inside of St. However, theseofficers of the church devoted more and more of their time to church dutiesuntil they had no time for anything else. . 88-9 ). As corruption developed, the Roman government tried toenforce the laws and thus to enforce morality as the old gods disappeared.Christianity offered a system in which God would punish those whotransgressed, and this helped strengthen the Roman government. New York: Harper and Row, 1986.Wenzel, Marian, Finding Out About the Byzantines. Christianity was an important political tool for the Byzantines, andthey sent missionaries in the form of priests to teach the poeple to beloyal to the emperor just as they taught them to be loyal to Christ: "Oneof the biggest means of propaganda for the emperor and for Christ was thedecoration in Byzantine churches, which they tried to build wherever theChristian religion had taken effect" (Wenzel: p. The worshipper entering the church wouldthus see a picture of Paradise in which a complete order of the sacredbeings of heaven would be shown in rich colors, using purple and gold asthe colors the people had learned to associated with heavenly and earthlypower. Caesar Galerius in 311 A.D. TheChristian church would become a new arena for public speaking and thus forpublic debate and decision making, and church statesmen were soon theleading figures of their age at a time when the civil responsibilities ofthe old democracies had stopped producing such men. Christianity had started as thefaith of the weak and powerless, but it soon became a very powerfulorganization, As a result, the Roman government saw the futility ofpersecuting the Christians. The figures are often placed in a background of gold mosaic as gemswould be put into settings of gold in the emperor's crown. The highestfigures would be the richest and the most sacred, and they always lookeddown upon the worshipper: "The worshipper felt that the figures weremagically possessed with the power of the originals. Sophia was covered in gold(Wenzel" p-p. REFERENCESBreasted, James Henry, The Conquest of Civilization. The citywas on the European side of the Bosporus and overlooked both Europe andAsia and thus was positioned to be a power in both. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.