HY 1010, Western Civilization I 1 UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE Christianity, End of the Roman Empire, and the Rise of Islam, Byzantine, and the Medieval Period Learning Objectives Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 1. Discuss and define the rise of Christianity and the new political structure and cultural changes it brought in the late Roman Empire and distinguish between emperors who persecuted Christians and those who embraced Christianity and the changes that Christianity brought. 2. Examine encounters between the various Germanic tribes and the Roman Empire. 3. Summarize the rise of Byzantine and discuss examples of Byzantine literature, historians, and scientists. 4. Discuss the evolution of the Roman Catholic Church and the role of the pope and how these evolved over time. 5. Differentiate between the Eastern and Western churches including iconography, doctrine and affect of geography on the rise of the Byzantine Empire and religious practices such as pilgrimage. 6. Discuss the development of Islam and define its tenets and what impact Islam had on the boundaries and borders of the Middle East and Europe. 7. Evaluate the changes in the late Roman Empire in terms of political, economic, and social factors. 8. Examine the development of the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire and define the influences on each. 9. Discuss important emperors from late antiquity and the impact they had on law, religion, and other aspects of social, political, and economic development. 10. Define the characteristics of the middle ages and the three civilizations this involved. Written Lecture Unit IV covers Chapters 7 and 8 and begins with the late antiquity period of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire shifted in terms of its political structure from imperialism to a tetrarchy. Growth of Christianity was first met with resistance by Roman emperors, who persecuted the Christians. Later emperors, such as Constantine and Justinian, embraced Christianity and even converted to it. Christianity began to develop its own infrastructure, including the use of bishops, development of the papacy, and rise of monasticism. Religious relics encouraged the Christian practice of taking pilgrimages. As Christianity spread, new communities developed with their own distinct practices, languages, and interpretations of church doctrine. Communities such as the Ascetic, Monophysites, Chalcedonians, and Arians are a few examples of these new groups. Rapid growth in the eastern Roman Empire demanded a second capital city to govern this region. The new eastern capital, named Constantinople, later grew into Byzantium. While Latin continued as the dominant language in the Western Reading Assignment Chapter 7: Late Antiquity: The Age of New Boundaries, 250-600 Chapter 8: Medieval Empires and Borderlands: Byzantium and Islam Supplemental Reading See inf.

1. HY 1010, Western Civilization I 1
UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE
Christianity, End of the Roman Empire, and the
Rise of Islam, Byzantine, and the Medieval Period
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
1. Discuss and define the rise of Christianity and the new
political structure
and cultural changes it brought in the late Roman Empire and
distinguish between emperors who persecuted Christians and
those who
embraced Christianity and the changes that Christianity
brought.
2. Examine encounters between the various Germanic tribes and
the
Roman Empire.
3. Summarize the rise of Byzantine and discuss examples of
Byzantine
literature, historians, and scientists.
4. Discuss the evolution of the Roman Catholic Church and the
role of the

2. pope and how these evolved over time.
5. Differentiate between the Eastern and Western churches
including
iconography, doctrine and affect of geography on the rise of the
Byzantine Empire and religious practices such as pilgrimage.
6. Discuss the development of Islam and define its tenets and
what impact
Islam had on the boundaries and borders of the Middle East and
Europe.
7. Evaluate the changes in the late Roman Empire in terms of
political,
economic, and social factors.
8. Examine the development of the eastern and western halves
of the
Roman Empire and define the influences on each.
9. Discuss important emperors from late antiquity and the
impact they had
on law, religion, and other aspects of social, political, and
economic
development.
10. Define the characteristics of the middle ages and the three
civilizations
this involved.
Written Lecture
Unit IV covers Chapters 7 and 8 and begins with the late
antiquity period of the
Roman Empire. The Roman Empire shifted in terms of its

3. political structure from
imperialism to a tetrarchy. Growth of Christianity was first met
with resistance by
Roman emperors, who persecuted the Christians. Later
emperors, such as
Constantine and Justinian, embraced Christianity and even
converted to it.
Christianity began to develop its own infrastructure, including
the use of bishops,
development of the papacy, and rise of monasticism. Religious
relics
encouraged the Christian practice of taking pilgrimages. As
Christianity spread,
new communities developed with their own distinct practices,
languages, and
interpretations of church doctrine. Communities such as the
Ascetic,
Monophysites, Chalcedonians, and Arians are a few examples of
these new
groups.
Rapid growth in the eastern Roman Empire demanded a second
capital city to
govern this region. The new eastern capital, named
Constantinople, later grew
into Byzantium. While Latin continued as the dominant
language in the Western
Reading
Assignment
Chapter 7:
Late Antiquity: The Age of
New Boundaries, 250-600
Chapter 8:

4. Medieval Empires and
Borderlands: Byzantium
and Islam
Supplemental
Reading
See information below.
Key Terms
1. Digenes Akritas
2. Dirham
3. Exarchates
4. Jizya
5. Late Antiquity
6. Macedonian
Renaissance
7. Metropolitan
8. Monastic movement
9. Neoplatonism
10. Vulgate
HY 1010, Western Civilization I 2
half of the empire, Greek became the dominant language of
Byzantium, and

5. Byzantium Christianity became known as Orthodox
Christianity. While
Constantinople grew and expanded in the east, the Western
Roman Empire
experienced more attacks on its borders by various peoples,
including the
Germanic tribes .These attacks gradually eroded the borders and
resulted in the
downfall of the Roman Empire.
Chapter 8 examines the rise of the medieval or Middle Ages.
The term “middle
ages” defined this period as being between the ancient and
modern periods.
This period saw the continued growth of Byzantium and the
birth of Islam.
Byzantium would encounter other peoples as it experienced
attacks along its
borders. These people included the Lombards, Avars, Bulgars,
Rus, and
Muslims. The growth of Byzantine caused a re-structuring of
the military system,
including the creation of military districts known as themes to
replace the
provinces of the old Roman system. The chapter also discusses
how Orthodox
Christianity further distinguished itself from the eastern
Catholic Church with the
issue of iconoclasm. In Eastern Europe, religion became a
cause of disunity just
as language and ethnicity had been in the past. In Byzantine, a
recurring theme
emerged regarding the political idea of divine monarchy.
Next, Chapter 8 examines the rise of Islam and the experiences
of Muhammad,

6. the Qur’an and the five pillars which define this religion. The
chapter also
discusses the relationship between Christians, Jews, and
Muslims. Trade and
commerce grew along with Islam in the east and the Muslims
excluded the
Byzantines from trade. Chapter 8 also examines the Islamic
leadership known
as the caliphate and the various dynasties such as the Umayyad
and Abbasid.
Pakistan, India, Nubia, and others fell to Islamic armies. Islam
developed a new
professional bureaucracy and administrative system. Islamic
culture centered on
the mosque and consequently Greco-Roman culture disappeared.
Supplemental Reading
1. Go to http://www.jstor.org/ and search for the four articles
dealing with the
Arch of Constantine. These articles are written by A.L.
Frothingham and they
can provide some interesting information into this large
structure in Rome.
The author examines the origins of the arch and who built it,
using the clues
supplied in the decorations adorning the arch itself.
Frothingham, A.L. (1912). Who built the arch of Constantine?
Its history from
Domitian to Constantine. American Journal of Archaeology, 16,
3, 368-386.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/

7. Frothingham, A.L. (1913). Who built the arch of Constantine?
II: The frieze.
American Journal of Archaeology, 17, 4, 487-503. Retrieved
from
http://www.jstor.org/
Frothingham, A.L. (1915). Who built the arch of Constantine?
III. The attic.
American Journal of Archaeology, 19, 1, 1-12. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/
Frothingham, A.L. (1915). Who built the arch of Constantine?
IV. The eight
medallions of Domitian. American Journal of Archaeology, 19,
4, 367-384.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/
2. Go to http://www.jstor.org/ and search for the article The
Edict of Diocletian
Fixing Maximum Prices by Roland Kent. Look at how the
Emperor Diocletian
http://www.jstor.org/
http://www.jstor.org/
http://www.jstor.org/
http://www.jstor.org/
http://www.jstor.org/
http://www.jstor.org/
HY 1010, Western Civilization I 3

8. instituted an order that set the prices of various goods
throughout the
empire. Think of whether this would work today, and why this
may or may
not have worked back then.
Kent, R.G. (1920). The edict of Diocletian fixing maximum
prices. Unniversity
of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register, 69, 1,
35-47.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/
3. Go to http://www.jstor.org and search for the article “Do
Prophets Come with
a Sword?” Conquest, Empire, and Historical Narrative in the
Early Islamic
World by Thomas Sizgorich. It is an interesting look at the
Early Islamic
World from the perspective of a Christian apologist during the 9
th
Century
C.E. (A.D.).
Sizgorich, T. (2007). “Do prophets come with a sword?”
Conquest, empire,
and historical narrative in the early Islamic world. The
American Historical
Review, 112, 4, 993-1015. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/
4. Click here to access a PDF of the Chapter 7 Presentation.

9. 5. Click here to access a PDF of the Chapter 8 Presentation.
http://www.jstor.org/
http://www.jstor.org/
http://www.jstor.org/
http://online.columbiasouthern.edu/CSU_Content/courses/Gener
al_Studies/HY/HY1010/12J/UnitIV_Chapter7Presentation.pdf
http://online.columbiasouthern.edu/CSU_Content/courses/Gener
al_Studies/HY/HY1010/12J/UnitIV_Chapter8Presentation.pdf