Monday, May 22, 2006
This Day in Ancient History
On this day in 337 AD, Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, known as Constantine the first or Constantine the Great, who was 63, died shortly after being baptised a Christian (and we assume he received eucharist and unction--but maybe they did things differently back then). This is a huge turning point for the Roman empire. Physically, the empire is divided between Constantine's four sons and faces a continuing decline and being serially overun by barbarians. Spiritually, Rome becomes the center for the Western Catholic Church and thus the locus of leadership of one of the most important and powerful forces in history.
Apropo of the tremendous money making of the Da Vinci Code worldwide of The Da Vinci Code, Constantine's death was actually recreated in the film.
Apropo of the tremendous money making of the Da Vinci Code worldwide of The Da Vinci Code, Constantine's death was actually recreated in the film.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 6:39 AM 
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"Physically, the empire is divided between Constantine's four sons and faces a continuing decline and being serially overun by barbarians."
I guess that depends on whether you consider the East a part of the empire; the Romans surely did, but many in the west seem not to. It would be 734 years to the real start of the final decline (Manzikert, 1071). Note that this is rather longer than the distance in time between the division and the first Punic War. Even after Manzikert, it would be nearly 400 years before the end.
I highly recommend John Julius Norwich's three-book series on the Byzantine Empire -- Byzantium: The Early Centuries, Byzantium: The Apogee, and Byzantium: The Decline and Fall.
I guess that depends on whether you consider the East a part of the empire; the Romans surely did, but many in the west seem not to. It would be 734 years to the real start of the final decline (Manzikert, 1071). Note that this is rather longer than the distance in time between the division and the first Punic War. Even after Manzikert, it would be nearly 400 years before the end.
I highly recommend John Julius Norwich's three-book series on the Byzantine Empire -- Byzantium: The Early Centuries, Byzantium: The Apogee, and Byzantium: The Decline and Fall.
We often neglect the Eastern Empire which lasted for a lot longer than the west, but that's because I don't care about the eastern empire only the west. Freakin' Byzantines. Thanks for pointing out my prejudice.
Today, I read an article in the Summer 2006 MHQ, The Quarterly Journal of Military History, about the Battle of Myriokephalon in 1176. The author, Richard Tada, believes the beginning of the end of the Eastern Empire was the death of Manual I Comnenus in 1180.
Roger has been watching that show on HBO too much.
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Roger has been watching that show on HBO too much.
# posted by 
: 8:29 PM
: 8:29 PM << Home
