Western Civilization Notes – David Underhill

 

Pages 214 – 219: 20 Feb 2004

The Crisis of the Third Century (180-284CE) – 214

  • “Five Good Emperors” ended in 180CE with the death of Marcus Aurelius
    • The first four appointed promising young men, but Aurelius appointed his son
  • Commodus – very unpopular after ending costly wars and trying to placate the Senate by executing its members
    • Few talented people wanted to work with him as a result
    • Strangled by his wrestling coach in 192CE
  • Provincial General Septimius Severus wins over other armies’ candidates for succession to the throne

   The Severan Dynasty (215)

  • Eliminated Senate’s rights and ruled as military dictators
  • “Enrich the soldiers, boys, and scorn the rest”
  • Septimius left power to his son Caracalla who murdered his brother
    • Makes everyone a Roman citizen to increase taxes to pay bonuses to the army
    • His mother helps him run the estate until his assassination
  • Caracalla’s sister has much influence on successor Sererus Alexander
  • In 235CE the army turned against them and killed the Severan’s; 50 years of endemic civil war ensued

     The Height of the 3rd Century Crisis (216)

  • Civil war brought the economy to its knees
  • Pestilence plagued Rome for 15 years
  • The Germans and Persians broke into the empire
    • 251CE: Goths slew the emperor Decius and crossed the Danube
    • 260CE: Valerian captured by Persians and made to kneel before the Persian king
      • He died and was put on exhibition
      • Western Roman states declared independence

      Neoplatonism (216) – became very popular (nearly more so than stoicism); many start to turn towards other religions too

  • Doctrines: 1) Emanationism – all matter is from divine sources but has no quality of its own and is a symbol of evil)
    • 2) Mysticism – attempt to reunite the body with the divine by communicating through contemplation
      • One should be ashamed of having a body and should seek to subjugate it
    • 3) Asceticism – extreme self-denial; supposed to release the soul from bondage so it could be w/the divine
  • Founder: Plotinus of Egypt in 204CE (217)

      Roman Rule in the West: A Balance Sheet

  • In 284CE, Rome changed dramatically from its old form

      Explaining the “Fall” of Rome (217)

  • Germanic tribes were able to fell the Romans because internal strife had weakened Rome greatly
  • Rome’s abuse of the tribes caused them to attack
    • After the 4th century, more tribes were interested in joining Rome, not destroying it

      Political Failures (217)

  • Most serious failure was a lack of laws to govern succession
    • It was difficult to establish a clear line because the emperor was a position that did not officially exist
    • Violence became an increasingly common way to assume power after an emperor’s death

      Economic Crisis (218) … caused by:

  • Slave system
    • Produced the agricultural surplus that supported Roman cities
    • Worked so hard they could not reproduce very much
      • Slaves replenished through war, but after 117CE there were no wars to speak of
    • Slave numbers declined and production dropped
    • Roman landlords refused to use machinery or technological advances to increase production to prior levels
  • Labor shortages
    • Many soldiers and farmers were needed to drive the empire
    • From Aurelius to the next strong emperor in 284CE, population declined by a third due to the plague and war
    • Resulted in too few farmers to produce food and too few soldiers to fight
  • The very rich began to give themselves privileges and stopped paying taxes (and sometimes raised armies)
    • This put too big of a burden on the local elite for taxes
    • Rome ended “not so much with a bang as with a whimper”

      Roman Achievements

  • It was the largest country ever with the largest percent of the world’s population and survived for the longest time
  • Maintained a stable economy with no safeguards for four centuries
  • The key to Roman success was enfranchising those they conquered and allowing even provincials to hold office

 

Pages 227 – 232: 20 Feb 2004

      The Emergence and Triumph of Christianity (227)

  • Formed primarily by Jesus and St. Paul

      The Career of Jesus (227)

  • Jesus of Nazareth was born in Judea near the beginning of CE
  • Born just after Judea was conquered; bandits still rebelled in the countryside and many were against Rome there
    • Led to two revolts (first resulted in the destruction of the Temple, the second caused all Jews to be exiled from Jerusalem)

·         The temple was eventually rebuilt and Sadduces (temple leaders and aristocrats) guarded the Torah

·         Politics and religion were close

·         Pharisees – main rivals of the people who taught and preached religious law

    • Believed all 613 commandments applied to all Jews (Sadduces believed most applied only to priests)
    • Preached that the afterlife was characterized by rewards and punishments
    • Jesus’ teachings developed from this group
  • Essenes – quasi-monastic group; radical
    • Believed in spiritual deliverance through asceticism, repentance, and mystical union with God
  • Jesus – the first record of his life not recorded until Mark, thirty years after his death … he taught:
    • Fatherhood of God, brotherhood of humanity
    • Golden Rule (“do unto others as you would have others do unto you”)
    • Forgiveness and love of enemies
    • Repayment of evil with good
    • Shun hypocrisy
    • Oppose literal ism in Jewish religious law
    • Imminent approach of God’s kingdom
    • Resurrection of the dead and existence of Heaven
  • Jesus expelled merchants and moneychangers from the Jerusalem temple and was tried for blasphemy by the religious leaders who found him guilty
    • They sent him to Pontius Pilate who condemned him to be crucified
    • His followers hope was restored when they were told he had been resurrected and they preached his word

      The Propagation of Early Christianity (229)

  • Apostle Paul – huge significance; his work reached many and broadened Christianity to a universal religion
  • Few Jews converted
  • Began to attract many in the 3rd century “age of anxiety”
  • Christianity gained many more followers than other new religions (Mithraism, Serapis cult)
    • Thought to be good at ousting demons (important to those who believed the world was filled with demons)
    • Three views that led to Christianity’s triumph
      • Salvation – people joined to avoid damnation (nonbelievers “liquefy in fierce fires” for eternity)
      • Social Dimensions – appealed to women because it offered equal chances of salvation and gave them a role in worship (Mithraism excluded women completely)
      • Organization – hierarchy of priests to direct the faith
        • Also offered services to members like nursing, support, and burial
  • Christianity generally tolerated
    • Some local magistrates prosecuted small numbers, but the martyrs gave Christianity a boost if anything
    • Persecution was not an issue until Diocletian but by then Christianity was too big to be wiped out
    • Galerius realized this an issued an edict of toleration in 311CE
  • Constantine converted to Christianity in hopes for aid in an upcoming battle after thinking he saw a cross in the night sky
    • He eventually became emperor and a full Christian
    • He made Christianity Rome’s religion and was a great patron of it
    • His children all grew up as Christians and the population began to shift to Christianity
  • His line of rule continued to build Christianity up (except for Julian “the Apostate” who tried to launch a Pagan revival in his three year reign)
  • Pagan religions banned by Theodosius