The History Book Club discussion

THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE NATURE OF CHRIST

The Government of the Church:

By the fifth century, five bishoprics compete for leadership of the church. These patriarchs are the bishops of Rome (the pope), Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem.

Two “Schools” of Christology:

Antiochene (from Antioch in Syria): They make a careful distinction between the human and divine natures in the person of Christ. When Christ performed miracles and rose from the dead, that’s the divinity. When Jesus suffered and died on the cross, that’s the humanity. Leading figure from this school: Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople 428-431.

Alexandrian (from Alexandria in Egypt): They emphasize the unity of divinity and humanity in the person of Christ, and reject any attempt to “divide” his natures. Instead of “Christ died for our sins” they will say “God died for our sins.” Leading figure: Cyril, bishop of Alexandria 412-444, and his successor Dioscorus (444-451).

Councils:

431: Controversy over the Virgin Mary. Should she be called “Mother of God” (Cyril) or only “Mother of Christ” (Nestorius)? Council at Ephesus decides in favor of “Mother of God,” Theotokos in Greek, and condemns Nestorius as a heretic.

449: Second Council of Ephesus, dominated by the Alexandrian Dioscorus, imposes a Monophysite creed (Christ has “one nature”) based on an extreme version of Alexandrian Christology. Because the result of this council is later overturned, it goes down in history as the Robber Council of Ephesus.

451: Council of Chalcedon, condemns the previous council and decides in favor of a two-nature Christology. They attempt to compromise: Christ has both human and divine natures, but the two natures are united “without confusion or mixture.” Christ is “perfect God and perfect Man.”

After Chalcedon: the Christian world is divided.

Churches that accept Chalcedon: Constantinople and the Greek-speaking east; the Roman pope and the Latin west.

Churches following a “Monophysite” position: Syrians, Egyptians (Copts), Armenians, Ethiopians.

Nestorians survive in Persia and Central Asia, and reach China in the ninth century.

SOURCE OF HANDOUT: SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

BISHOPS AND MONKS IN THE LATE ROMAN EAST

Characters:

Egeria, Spanish pilgrim who traveled to Egypt, Sinai and the Holy Land c.384, and kept a Diary on her travels.

Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus in Syria (393-c.460). Wrote Lives of many Syrian holy men, including Simeon the Stylite. Also wrote an Ecclesiastical History. Member of the Antiochene theological faction, sympathizer with Nestorius; condemned at the "Robber Council" of 449 and rehabilitated at Chalcedon in 451.

Rabbula, bishop of Edessa in Syria (412-435). A convert from paganism, he lived briefly as a monk before his election as bishop. A supporter of Cyril of Alexandria, he was adopted by the Monophysite faction after his death. The Life of Rabbula was written by one of his disciples during the episcopacy of Ibas.

Ibas, bishop of Edessa (435-457). A member of the Antiochene faction, resented by the followers of Rabbula and the Monophysites, who bring misconduct charges against him at the "Robber Council" of 449. Ibas is condemned but rehabilitated later at Chalcedon.

Simeon the Stylite ("pillar saint") c.390-459. A young monk expelled from the monastery for ascetic extremism, Simeon climbed his first pillar in 423 and never came down. Ruins of the church built around his pillar can still be seen today at Qalat Sim’an, Syria. We have several Lives of Simeon, including one by Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Simeon inspired many imitators, including Daniel the Stylite, who set up his pillar near Constantinople between 460-493.

Daniel the Stylite, d. 493. Imitator of Simeon. Set up his pillar near Constantinople in 460; his advice regularly sought by emperors.

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, wrote c.500. Mysterious author of a variety of philosophical and mystical texts, including the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, which attempts to find symbolic meanings in the sacraments. The author pretends to be Dionysius the Areopagite, a character in the New Testament (Acts 17:34), hence the name.

SOURCE: SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

Egeria's Description of the Liturgical Year in Jerusalem: Translation

Based on the translation reproduced in Louis Duchesme's Christian Worship (London, 1923)

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mikef/durham/e...

CULTURES AND RELIGIONS OF THE EAST

Judaism:

Septuagint: Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible made by Alexandrian Jews in the 3rd century BC. (Name from the Latin word for seventy, the number of translators supposedly involved.) Most Greco-Roman Christians use this version as their Old Testament.

66-70 AD: Jews revolt; Romans capture Jerusalem and destroy Temple.

132-135: Second Jewish revolt under Bar Kochba. Jews expelled from Jerusalem. In Late Antiquity, Jewish communities are scattered throughout the Roman world (the "Diaspora") with a sizable number also in Mesopotamia, in the Persian Empire.

After destruction of the Temple, traditional priesthood wiped out. Worship shifts to the synagogues (Greek: "assemblies") and emphasizes scripture rather than sacrifices. Religious leadership passes to Rabbis, men skilled in interpretation of Torah (Scriptures of the Hebrew Bible). From c.300 to c.700, composition of the Talmud (extensive commentaries on Torah).



Manichaeism:

Religion founded by Mani (216-276), prophet from Persian Mesopotamia who called himself the successor to Jesus and Buddha. Borrows elements from Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism. Postulated a universe divided between good and evil powers; human souls were "particles of light" fallen from heaven and imprisoned in flesh; the material world is evil. Followers practised a strict asceticism. Missionaries spread as far west as Rome and as far east as China.



Christianity:

Hellenes: Originally it meant "Greeks" but in Christian times it comes to mean "worshippers of the Greek gods" or pagans. From the fourth century onward, Christian Greeks call themselves Romans (Rhomaioi).

Coptic: Indigenous language of Egypt (from Greek "aiguptos"), written in Greek alphabet. From the fourth century onward, a substantial Christian literature survives in Coptic (e.g. Shenoute).

Syriac: Dialect of Aramaic, a Semitic language (closely related to Hebrew, Arabic). Common language of Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia in Late Antiquity. Much Christian literature survives, including sources representing the Monophysite point of view.

Abgar: Legendary king of Edessa who supposedly exchanged letters with Jesus Christ.

c.200 AD: Bardaisan of Edessa writes Book of the Laws of the Countries, a "Christian ethnography."

Ephrem (306-373): Syrian Christian poet. Forced to move to Edessa after his city of Nisibis was surrendered to the Persians in 363. Wrote Hymns against Julian and against heresies; Hymns on Paradise.

Jacob Baradaeus (c.500-578): Monophysite bishop who traveled around Syria and secretly ordained clergy in defiance of the Chalcedonian authorities. The Monophysite Church is sometimes called "Jacobite" after him. Syrians call the Chalcedonian Church "Melkite" from the Syrian word for "king", i.e. "the Emperor’s Church."



Christianity outside the Empire:

Katholikos: title given to the head bishop of one of these "national" churches.

Armenia: Small independent kingdom contested between Rome and Persia. Christianity brought in fourth century by Syrian monks, who create a written alphabet for Armenian and translate scriptures. Armenia leans Monophysite after Chalcedon.

Georgia: Another small kingdom in the Caucasus. According to Rufinus, a slave-woman converted the king’s household to Christianity in the fourth century.

Arabia: Arab tribal confederation (Ghassanids) on Rome’s frontier adopts Monophysite Christianity. It also spreads to southern Arabian kingdom of Najran, where a Persian military intervention in the sixth century produces martyrs.

Nubia: Several small kingdoms along the Nile in modern-day Sudan. Adopt Monophysite Christianity in the sixth century.

Ethiopia (also called "Aksum"): Christianity brought in fourth century by shipwrecked Roman merchants. King converts, and patriarch of Alexandria sends bishops. New alphabet invented to translate Bible. By the sixth century, Ethiopia is a military power that intervenes in Arabia. Ethiopia sides with the Monophysites. The Kebra Nagast ("Book of Kings") preserves some information about this period, but was written many centuries later. Ethiopian Christians believed that they were the true descendents of David and Solomon, and claim to possess the Ark of the Covenant.

Persia: Substantial Christian communities exist in the Sasanian Persian Empire, mostly in Mesopotamia. Their language is Syriac. In the fifth century, they adopt the Nestorian version of the faith. Their missionaries make converts in Central Asia and (by the ninth century) even as far as China.

India: Small Christian communities exist along the south coast from at least the fourth century, brought overseas by Syriac-speaking merchants. They claim to descend from the Apostle Thomas, based on stories told in the apocryphal Acts of Thomas.

A Nestorian Christian Inscription from China

East Asian History Sourcebook:
Ch'ing-Tsing:

Nestorian Tablet: Eulogizing the Propagation of the Illustrious Religion in China, with a Preface, composed by a priest of the Syriac Church, 781 A.D.

[Horne Introduction:]:

This remarkable record of the fact that Christianity flourished in medieval China is a huge stone about ten feet high. Carven dragons and a cross adorn its summit, and its main shaft is completely covered with some two thousand Chinese characters. It stands now in the Peilin or "Forest of Tablets" in Sian-fu, this Peilin being a great hall specially devoted to the preservation of old historic tablets. Up to a few years ago the ancient stone stood with other unvalued monuments in the grounds of a Buddhist monastery, exposed to all the assault of the elements. Only European urgence has led to its being preserved in the Peilin.

The Nestorian sect of Christians still exists in Western Asia and was in a thriving condition in Syria in the sixth century. It sent missionaries widely over Asia. Marco Polo recorded having found Christian churches in China; and Roman Catholic missionaries of later centuries found there a few Nestorians still practising a debased formof their half-forgotten faith. This much concerning the Nestorian Christianity in China we have long known. Then, with the modern opening of the empire, the old Nestorian stone was found. It tells its own history, and tells it plainly, how the Nestorian monks came, how Chinese officials were appointed to listen to their explanations, and gravely approved of the new religion as having "excellent principles." Various emperors accepted, or at least included, Christianity among their religions; and the faith prospered, and had many thousands of followers, and in the year A.D. 781 erected this stone in commemoration of its triumphs.

Now, alas, only the stone remains. The record of the sect's decay has needed no stone to make it manifest. Nestorian Christianity, shut off from its mother land by the rise of the Mohammedan powers in between, proved unable to resist the inroads of ignorance and superstition and changing political affairs. It degenerated and disappeared.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastas...

Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns on the Pearl

http://www.voskrese.info/spl/pearl.html

JUSTINIAN AND THEODORA

Hippodrome: stadium for chariot races.

Blues and Greens: the two racing teams, and their associated "fan clubs": a combination of political factions, street gangs, and crime families.

Procopius: c.500-c.565. Main source for Justinian’s reign. Originally from Caesarea in Palestine, Procopius served as secretary to Justinian’s general Belisarius. He wrote three major works:

Histories of the Wars against the Persians, Vandals and Ostrogoths. A propagandistic work intended for public circulation.

Buildings: A celebration of the emperor’s many building projects.

The Secret History (anecdota): what Procopius really thought about Justinian and Theodora. Not read by anyone until centuries later.

Chronology:

c.482: Justinian born to peasant family in modern Serbia, then a Latin-speaking province. Originally named Petrus Sabbatius ("Peter Sabbath"). Justinian travels to Constantinople to join his uncle Justin, who has risen to become commander of the emperor’s bodyguards.

518: Death of emperor Anastasius. Justin arranges his own election as emperor.

518-527: Reign of Justin. He is elderly and not well-educated, and relies heavily on his nephew’s advice.

c.522: Justinian marries Theodora. Because of her controversial background, a special law has to be issued allowing the marriage.

527: Justin dies and Justinian succeeds him. He crowns Theodora as empress (Augusta).

529: Justinian orders closure of Plato’s Academy in Athens, as part of general crackdown on last vestiges of paganism. Several philosopers seek refuge with the Persian King.

532: The Nika ("victory") Riots. Blues and Greens combine against Justinian. Much of city burns. His general Belisarius, using Hun mercenaries, slaughters about 30,000 rioters in the Hippodrome.

533: Justinian issues the Corpus Juris Civilis, a monumental compilation of Roman law.

533-4: Justinian sends Belisarius to lead military expedition against the Vandals. After a swift victory, North Africa is reconquered.

535: Belisarius lands in Italy to attack Ostrogoths, who have been in turmoil ever since Theodoric’s death in 526. The Goths resist stubbornly, and the war drags on for decades.

537: Justinian dedicates the great church of Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") to replace the one that had been destroyed during the riots.

540: King Khusro of Persia invades Syria, sacks Antioch.

540: Bubonic Plague strikes the Roman world, killing perhaps as much as one-third of the population and devastating the economy.

543: In an attempt to persuade Monophysites to accept the Council of Chalcedon, Justinian agrees to condemn three long-dead fifth-century theologians (Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Ibas of Edessa) whom Monophysites regarded as too "Nestorian." But this condemnation of the "Three Chapters" irritates the Roman popes.

548: Death of Theodora.

553: Fifth Ecumenical Council in Constantinople ratifies condemnation of Three Chapters. Roman Pope Vigilius is arrested and brought to the council in chains, to force his acceptance. But Monophysites remain unreconciled.

c.560: Final defeat of Ostrogoths. Italy devastated after decades of war.

563: Justinian begins promoting Aphthartodocetism (belief that Christ’s flesh was incorruptible and therefore the wounds of crucifixion were only illusory), a doctrine regarded by most as heretical.

565: Death of Justinian.

568: The Lombards ("Long-Beards"), another group of Germanic warriors, invade Italy and seize large parts of the country. Italy will not again be politically unified until the nineteenth century.

565-578: Justin II, nephew of Justinian, reigns.

c.580: Slavic-speaking tribes begin crossing the Danube and settling in the Balkan provinces.

578-582: Tiberius II emperor.

582-602: Maurice emperor.

Source of handout: Syracuse University

THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE BLUES AND THE GREENS: Circus Riots

Medieval Sourcebook:
Theophanes: Chronicle - on the Greens and Blues

This is the account of a conversation between an officer of the Green faction and the herald of Justinian, as recorded by the later chronicaler, Theophanes.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source...

Procopius on the Nika Riots

Medieval Sourcebook:
Procopius: JUSTINIAN SUPPRESSES THE NIKA REVOLT, 532

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source...

Some of Justinian's legislation.

Medieval Sourcebook: Corpus Iuris Civilis, 6th Century

Although Law as practiced in Rome had grown up as a type of case law, this was not the "Roman Law" known to the Medieval, or modern world. Now Roman law claims to be based on abstract principles of justice that were made into actual rules of law by legislative authority of the emperor or the Roman people. These ideas were transmitted to the Middle Ages in the great codification of Roman law carried throughout by the emperor Justinian (527-565). The Corpus Iurus Civilis was issued in Latin in three parts, The Digest, the Institutes and a textbook. Currently in the World there are just three widespread legal systems: the "Common Law" of the Anglo-American legal tradition, Islamic Sharia, and Roman Law [in, for instance, most of Europe, Scotland, Quebec and Lousiana:]. Each was spread by different sorts of imperialism in the past.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source...

Procopius on Hagia Sophia

Medieval Sourcebook:
Procopius: De Aedificis

Procopios: on the Great Church, [Hagia Sophia:]

Justinian's great building project of the Church of the Holy Wisdom - Hagia Sophia - was completed in a few short years of building, and dedicated in 537. The dedication is not to any "St. Sophie", but to Christ as the "Holy Wisdom" of God.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source...

Also: Paul the Silentiary on Hagia Sophia.

Medieval Sourcebook:
Paul the Silentiary: Descriptio S. Sophiae

Paul the Silentiary: The Magnificence of Hagia Sophia

Here are some short extracts from a famous encomium [hymn of praise:] by Paul the Silentiary, in which he draws on the imagery of Hagia Sophia as a dome of Heaven

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source...

JUSTINIAN'S CHURCH

http://www.hagiasophia.com/listingvie...

Medieval Sourcebook:
Procopius: The Plague, 542

Procopius on the Great Plague.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source...

SASANIAN PERSIA

Iranshahr: "Land of Iran."

Persians: what the Greeks and Romans call Iranians. From Fars, a province of southern Iran.

Shahanshah, "King of Kings." Title of the King of Persia.

Sasanians: family name of the dynasty that rules Iran from 224-642 AD. They claim to be descended from the ancient Persian empire of the Achaemenids (559-330 BC).

Ctesiphon: Sasanian capital on the river Tigris (near modern Baghdad).

Zoroastrianism: Persian religion. Founded by prophet Zoroaster (Zarathushtra) c.1200 BC. Revived as the state religion of the Sasanian Empire.

Ahura-Mazda: God of Light.

Ahriman: God of Darkness.

Magi: Zoroastrian priests (hence our word "magic").

Sources:

Ferdowsi: Iranian poet of the tenth century. His Shahnama ("Book of Kings") preserves many legends from Sasanian times.

Al-Tabari: Arab Muslim historian of the early tenth century.



Chronology:

224: Ardashir I founds Sasanian dynasty, expands Persian power.

240-270: Shapur I.

260: Shapur sacks Antioch, captures Roman emperor Valerian.

276: Mani (founder of Manichaeism) executed by Persians.

309-379: Shapur II.

c.340-372: Shapur persecutes Christians.

363: Julian’s failed invasion of Persia.

364: Roman emperor Jovian forced to make peace; frontier city of Nisibis ceded to Persia.

399-420: Yazdegerd I.

410: First general council of the Persian church: adopts Nicene Creed but asserts independence from the church of the Roman empire.

c.420: Christian bishop Abdas burns a Zoroastrian fire-temple. In retaliation, Yazdegerd launches massive persecution of Christians.

420-438: Bahram V ("Bahram Gur").

c.450: Persian church adopts "Nestorian" Christology.

459-484: Reign of Piruz.

488-531: Reign of Qobad.

Early sixth century: career of Mazdak, radical prophet who preached against wealth and property. He is protected by Qobad, but eventually executed by Khusro I.

531-579: Reign of Khusro I (also called "Chosroes" or "Kasra").

532: Khusro signs "eternal peace" treaty with Justinian.

540: Khusro breaks treaty, invades Syria, sacks Antioch.

591-628: Khusro II.

SOURCE OF HANDOUT: SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

THE CRISIS OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY

Chronology:

Late sixth century: Slavic-speaking tribes begin crossing Danube and settling in Roman Empire’s Balkan provinces. Constantinople rapidly loses control of the area.

582-602: Reign of Roman Emperor Maurice.

590: Khusro II overthrown in Persia, seeks refuge in Constantinople.

591: Khusro restored, with military assistance from Maurice.

602: Soldiers mutiny when Maurice orders them to winter north of the Danube. Maurice assassinated. General Phocas seizes power and begins bloodbath in Constantinople.

602-610: Reign of Phocas. Khusro declares war, under pretext of avenging Maurice.

610: Heraclius sails from Carthage and overthrows Phocas.

614: Khusro takes Antioch and Jerusalem. Jews attack Christians, welcome Persians as liberators. True Cross carried to Ctesiphon.

617: Egypt captured by Persians.

622: Heraclius begins counterattack, campaigns through mountains of Armenia.

626: Persians ally with Avars (a Hunnic tribe threatening the Balkans) to besiege Constantinople.

628: Heraclius defeats the Persians and sacks the royal city of Ctesiphon. Khusro (called "Kisra" in Tabari) overthrown by his sons, who make peace. Khusro imprisoned, then killed.

628-638: A series of weak Shahs succeed each other in Persia, including Shahrbaraz, who showed an interest in converting to Christianity but was soon assassinated.

630: Heraclius triumphantly restores Cross to Jerusalem: "Exaltation of the Cross." Heraclius persecutes Jews.

634: Arab invasions begin.

638: Jerusalem falls to Arabs. Heraclius and his patriarch Sergius begin last attempt to reconcile Monophysites by proposing "Monothelite" formula, statement that Christ’s two natures are united by "one will."

638-642: Persian empire conquered by Arabs.

641: Death of Heraclius. Egypt falls to Arabs. Roman pope rejects Monotheletism.

653: Pope Martin arrested and exiled for his opposition to Monotheletism.

662: Death of Maximus the Confessor, whose tongue and hands were chopped off for his refusal to accept Monotheletism.

681: Sixth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople III) rejects Monotheletism and restores good relations with Rome.

Antiochus Strategos on the Sack of Jerusalem in 614.

Medieval Sourcebook:
Antiochus Strategos: The Sack of Jerusalem (614)

Byzantine law granted toleration to Jews [Theodosian Code 16.8.21:], although there were occasional attempts at forced conversion [Leo VI, Novels:], but there was a general prejudice against Jews. The following account of the fall of Jerusalem to the Persians in 614, by the monk Antiochus Stategos, who live din the monastary (lavra) of St. Sabas inJerusalem, shows this attitude. It provides a Byzantine version of the later blood libel.

It also, of course, may reflect Jewish resistance to Byzantine restrictions an oppression.

Finally, it might be noted that, despite Antiochus' account, the Persians of this period seem to have been significantly more tolerant of religious diversity than almost any contemporary government. They began the system, long continued and later known (under the Turks) as the Millet system by which each religious group governed itself in religious and family matters.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source...

MUHAMMAD AND THE ORIGINS OF ISLAM

Islam: "submission" to the will of God.

Muslim: "one who submits."

The five Pillars of Islam:

The Shahada, or Profession of Faith: "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet."
Prayer, five times a day.
Fasting, during the holy month of Ramadan.
Almsgiving.
Pilgrimage to Mecca (the Haj) at least once.
The Qur’an: a series of revelations delivered by the Angel Gabriel to Muhammad, who then repeats them to his followers. After his death they are collected and written down. Each chapter or sura corresponds to one revelation.

Hadith: oral traditions about the sayings and deeds of Muhammad, passed down through his followers and eventually written down. A major source for Islamic law and custom.

"Peoples of the Book": Christians, Jews and other peoples tolerated (and subordinated) under Islamic rule.

Jizya: Special tax paid by non-Muslims.



Muhammad (c.570-632).

c.610: begins receiving revelations and preaching.

622: Persecuted by the pagan Quraysh, Muhammad and his followers are forced to flee Mecca and take refuge in Medina. This event, called the Hijra, marks Year One in the Islamic calendar.

630: Muhammad conquers Mecca and unites most of Arabia under his rule.



Successors to Muhammad: the Caliphs ("deputies" or "successors"). In theory, these rulers hold both political and spiritual authority over the community of Muslims.

632-661: The so-called "rightly guided" Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali.

656-661: First major civil war in Islam, a dispute over who can claim the mantle of the Prophet. Ali, Muhammad’s nephew, is defeated and killed. His followers become the Shi’ite sect of Islam.

661-750: Umayyad dynasty, with its capital in Damascus (Syria).

750: Umayyads overthrown by Abbasids, who create new capital at Baghdad (Iraq). A branch of the Umayyad dynasty survives to set up an independent kingdom in Muslim Spain.



The Conquests:

634-636: Palestine and Syria conquered from the Romans. Jerusalem captured.

637-642: Conquest of Iraq and then Iran: complete defeat of Sasanian empire.

641: Egypt taken from Romans.

650s: Arabs begin raiding into Anatolia (Asia Minor).

698: Arabs capture Carthage and North Africa from Romans.

711: Arabs and Muslim Berbers cross from Morocco into Spain, conquering the Visigothic kingdom. Islamic empire now stretches from the Atlantic to Central Asia.

SOURCE OF HANDOUT: SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

THE HOLY QURAN:

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/SURA...

These are suras (pretty harsh on women)

On Women:

Surah 4. Women

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/QURA...

Surah 17. Isra', The Night Journey, Children Of Israel

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/QURA...

Surah 19. Mary

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/QURA...

Surah 21. The Prophets

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/QURA...

Surah 75. The Rising Of The Dead, Resurrection

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/QURA...

Medieval Sourcebook: Pact of Umar, 7th Century ?

The Status of Non-Muslims Under Muslim Rule

After the rapid expansion of the Muslim dominion in the 7th century, Muslims leaders were required to work out a way of dealing with Non-Muslims, who remained in the majority in many areas for centuries. The solution was to develop the notion of the "dhimma", or "protected person". The Dhimmi were required to pay an extra tax, but usually they were unmolested. This compares well with the treatment meted out to non-Christians in Christian Europe. The Pact of Umar is supposed to have been the peace accord offered by the Caliph Umar to the Christians of Syria, a "pact" which formed the patter of later interaction.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source...

Wow, Bentley! It is going to take me a month just to skim through all of this! Thanks!

Here is some Arabian Poetry:

Medieval Sourcebook:
Pre-Islamic Arabia:
The Hanged Poems, before 622 CE

The spread of Islam after 622 CE meant the eventual dispersal of the Arabic language from Morocco to Mesopotamia - a vast region where it displaced numerous other languages. Arabic speakers have long noted their language's poetic power and the prime example is the Qu'ran. But Arabic literature did not begin with the Qu'ran. In the ka'aba [the "cubic" temple in Mecca which was kept as the central shrine of Islam after all the religious statues had been removed:], there were a number of poems "hanged" on the walls. Some of these "hanged poems" were allowed to remain after the Muslim order was established. They allow us some insight into the literature of pre-Islamic Arabia.

It is common to note that the definite unit of such poem is the line. Each line was polished to perfection, with overall poetic structure less important. The result is commonly described as a "string of pearls". Whether such an approach is correct is open to question, but it certainly impacts our reading of the Qur'an, a text which also seems to lack any overall organizational principle, but which is full of highly polished lines.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source...

For modern discussion see

Peter Heath, Thirsty Sword; Sirat Antar And The Arabic Popular Epic, (University of Utah Press, 1996)

Peter Heath

HEIRS OF LATE ANTIQUITY

Islam:

632-661: So-called "rightly-guided" Caliphs.

656-661: First major civil war in Islam, a dispute over who can claim the mantle of the Prophet. Ali, Muhammad’s nephew, is defeated and killed. His followers become the Shi’ite sect of Islam.

661-750: Umayyad dynasty, with its capital in Damascus, Syria.

750: Umayyads overthrown by Abbasids, who create new capital in Baghdad, Iraq. A branch of the Umayyad dynasty survives to set up an independent kingdom in Muslim Spain.

786-809: Harun al-Rashid is Caliph in Baghdad. Height of Islamic civilization and power.

Late ninth-early tenth centuries: political fragmentation of Abbasid empire.

1258: Mongols invade Middle East, destroy Baghdad and kill last Abbasid Caliph.

Byzantium:

610-711: Dynasty of Heraclius. Constantinople barely survives repeated attacks by Arabs.

726-787: Iconoclasm: controversy over veneration of icons. Icon-veneration upheld at Second Council of Nicaea in 787.

c.863-869: Cyril and Methodius begin preaching Christianity to Slavic kingdoms of Eastern Europe.

989: Conversion of Russia. In later centuries, Russian Czars (from "Caesar") will refer to Moscow as the "Third Rome."



The Latin West:

732: Charles Martel defeats a Muslim army at Poitiers.

751: Last Merovingian king deposed and replaced by Carolingian family, with support of Roman pope.

771-814: Reign of Charlemagne ("Charles the Great").

800: Charlemagne travels to Rome and is crowned "Western Roman Emperor" by the pope.

After 814: fragmentation of Charlemagne’s empire as it is divided and re-divided among his heirs. The "Western Frankish Kingdom" eventually becomes the Kingdom of France. The Eastern Kingdom (Germany) retains the imperial title and comes to be known as the Holy Roman Empire.

SOURCE: SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

This is the wonderful syllabus where the sources were cited to help you read Gibbon:

http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/gaddis...

POTENTIAL SPOILER - GIBBON'S HIGH LEVEL THEORY WHICH YOU MIGHT WANT TO WAIT TO READ ABOUT!!

Gibbon's theory

"Gibbon offers an explanation for why the Roman Empire fell, a task made difficult by a lack of comprehensive written sources, though he was not the only historian to tackle the subject. Most of his ideas are directly taken from what few relevant records were available: those of the Roman moralists of the 4th and 5th centuries.

According to Gibbon, the Roman Empire succumbed to barbarian invasions in large part due to the gradual loss of civic virtue among its citizens. They had become weak, outsourcing their duties to defend their Empire to barbarian mercenaries, who then became so numerous and ingrained that they were able to take over the Empire. Romans, he believed, had become effeminate, unwilling to live a tougher, "manly" military lifestyle. He further blames the degeneracy of the Roman army and the Praetorian guards. In addition, Gibbon argued that Christianity created a belief that a better life existed after death, which fostered an indifference to the present among Roman citizens, thus sapping their desire to sacrifice for the Empire. He also believed its comparative pacifism tended to hamper the traditional Roman martial spirit. Lastly, like other Enlightenment thinkers, Gibbon held in contempt the Middle Ages as a priest-ridden, superstitious, dark age. It was not until his own age of reason and rational thought, it was believed, that human history could resume its progress.

Gibbon sees the primary catalyst of the empire's initial decay and eventual collapse in the Praetorian Guard, instituted as a special class of soldiers permanently encamped in a commanding position within Rome, a seed planted by Augustus at the establishment of the empire. As Gibbon calls them at the outset of Chapter V: The Praetorian bands, whose licentious fury was the first symptom and cause of the decline of the Roman empire... He cites repeated examples of this special force abusing its power with calamitous results, including numerous instances of imperial assassination and demands of ever-increasing pay."

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topi...

Bentley wrote: "ENVIRONMENT, GEOGRAPHY, FACTS OF LIFE

http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/gaddis...

Some additional photos and images provided in link"

Bentley, this link goes to the same page as the previously listed one. You may want to fix it.

Vicki wrote: "Bentley wrote: "ENVIRONMENT, GEOGRAPHY, FACTS OF LIFE

http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/gaddis...

Some additional photos and images provided in link"

Bentley, this link ..."
Thank you Vicki it has been corrected.

Here is an interesting work by Montesquieu written in 1734. I have placed this on the spoiler glossary thread:

Montesquieu

Considerations on the Causes of
the Greatness of the Romans
and their Decline

1734

TRANSLATED, WITH NOTES AND AN INTRODUCTION,

by David Lowenthal


http://www.constitution.org/cm/ccgrd_...

At the time of Julius Caesar, Cicero was extremely influential and after Caesar's assassination helped establish Augustus (Octavian) as the first Roman Emperor even though he yearned for Rome to return to a Republic.

Here is an excerpt on a write-up about Cicero:

Marcus Tullius Cicero (pronounced /ˈsɪsɨroʊ/; Classical Latin: [ˈkikeroː:]; January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He was member of a wealthy family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.

Cicero is generally held to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome. He introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary (with neologisms such as humanitas, qualitas, quantitas, and essentia distinguishing himself as a linguist, translator, and philosopher.

An impressive orator and successful lawyer, Cicero thought that his political career was his most important achievement. Today, he is appreciated primarily for his humanism and philosophical and political writings. His voluminous correspondence, much of it addressed to his friend Atticus, has been especially influential, introducing the art of refined letter writing to European culture. Cornelius Nepos, the 1st-century BC biographer of Atticus, remarked that Cicero's letters contained such a wealth of detail "concerning the inclinations of leading men, the faults of the generals, and the revolutions in the government" that their reader had little need for a history of the period.

Cicero's speeches and letters remain some of the most important primary sources that survive on the last days of the Roman Republic.

During the chaotic latter half of the first century B.C. marked by civil wars and the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar, Cicero championed a return to the traditional republican government.

However, his career as a statesman was marked by inconsistencies and a tendency to shift his position in response to changes in the political climate. His indecision may be attributed to his sensitive and impressionable personality; he was prone to overreaction in the face of political and private change.

"Would that he had been able to endure prosperity with greater self-control and adversity with more fortitude!" wrote C. Asinius Pollio, a contemporary Roman statesman and historian.

Extract from Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero

This is what the Roman Constitution looks like and here is an explanation of all of its components up to the time of Cicero:

It describes more of the republic set up but I think it is important for us to understand its progression: (This piece provides a vast amount of information)

From the Society for Ancient Languages:

http://www.uah.edu/student_life/organ...

Selected Works by Marcus Tullius Cicero

Great article on the book and Gibbon:

Literary Saturday: Remembering Gibbon and the Long Fall of Rome

http://blogs.the-american-interest.co...

Hi Bentley, thanks for posting that link to 'Remembering Gibbon and the Long Fall of Rome', very interesting reading!

Yes, Aussie Rick, I thought it was an excellent article.

Here's a new book on the market that apparently offers an interesting insight into ancient Italy and the Spartacus rebellion.

by Peter Stothard
Publishers blurb:
In this inspiring and original book, former editor of The Times, Sir Peter Stothard, re-traces the journey taken by Spartacus and his army of rebels. In the final century of the first Roman Republic an army of slaves brought a peculiar terror to the people of Italy. Its leaders were gladiators. Its purpose was incomprehensible. Its success was something no one before had ever known. The Spartacus Road is the route along which this rebel army outfought the Roman legions between 73 and 71BC, bringing both fears and hopes that have never wholly left the modern mind. It is a road that stretches through 2,000 miles of Italian countryside and out into 2,000 years of world history. In this inspiring and original memoir, the former editor of The Times, Peter Stothard, takes us on an extraordinary journey. The result is a book like none other -- at once a journalist's notebook, a classicist's celebration, a survivor's record of a near fatal cancer and the history of a unique and brutal war. As he travels along the Spartacus road -- through the ruins of Capua to Vesuvius and the lost Greek cities of the Italian south -- Stothard's prose illuminates conflicting memories of times ancient and modern, the simultaneously foreign and familiar, one of the greatest stories of all ages. Sweepingly erudite and strikingly personal, "On the Spartacus Road" is non-fiction writing of the highest order.

Reviews:
"Haunting, erudite and beautifully written...a fusion of memoir, history and travelogue that is unlike any other book ever written about Spartacus and all the more precious for being quite so unexpected." - The Spectator

"An intriguing book that is impossible to categorise...Stothard's real passion is for the process of thinking about Spartacus, both for the Ancients and for us...compelling." - The Times

"A wonderfully rich and endlessly thought-provoking brew...reminiscent of the writing of W.G. Sebald...Beautifully written, musing and far-sighted...it's an astounding success." - Literary Review

Thank you Aussie Rick.

"Scars from lion bite suggest headless Romans found in York were gladiators - Evidence from tests on 80 skeletons of young men found in Yorkshire gardens points to world's best-preserved gladiator graveyard, archaeologists say."

Read the full story:

Gladiator graveyard

What an amazing story Aussie Rick..what science can ascertain now is amazing.

Not sure if folks are interested in podcasts..but Dan Carlin is a little off the wall but discusses the Romans:

There is one which discusses Rome, ancestry -

The wars which elevate Rome to superpower status also sow the seed for the downfall of its political system. Money, slavers. ambition, political stalemate, and class warfare prove to be toxic mix.

Here is a link if you have itunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/da...

There are two on the Romans which you may be interested in.