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Late Roman Empire

Late Roman Empire. 284 – 476 Diocletian to Romulus Augustulus. Crisis and Reform. Rome in 2 nd -3 rd centuries: a period of remarkable instability Military and government corruption Financial mismanagement Social unrest and rebellion. Late Roman Empire. Reign of Diocletian (284-305)

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Late Roman Empire

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  1. Late Roman Empire 284 – 476 Diocletian to Romulus Augustulus

  2. Crisis and Reform • Rome in 2nd-3rd centuries: a period of remarkable instability • Military and government corruption • Financial mismanagement • Social unrest and rebellion

  3. 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.

  4. 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

  5. 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.

  6. 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

  7. 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)

  8. Constantine

  9. Diocletian

  10. St. Augustine

  11. Roman mosaics

  12. Roman mosaics

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