For the time being, these Western Civ essays may be the only ones I’ll be publishing. This time I’ve been looking at what Rome looked like after the 3rd Century.
Apart from the now heavy Christian influence lot of problems arose in the later decades of this era. Their economy was starting to fail since most of their income relied heavily on their wars with other nations, which was growing less prominent. Having said that, new conflicting groups came to the fore front in the form of the Germanic peoples. With that in mind, let’s answer the two questions assigned today.
Question One: “In what ways did Christianity represent a departure from the ideals and practices of ancient Greece and Rome?” This is the part of the third century that wasn’t as plagued with problems. To answer the question, of lot of Roman concepts were abandoned in pursuit of better practices. No matter which historian you ask, it is agreed that with the coming of Christianity, care for orphans, widows, the sick, and the poor increased. It was as if they relit the fire within charitable action. In fact, over time Christian monasteries began to operate as hospitals, and became a central source of medical support throughout the coming decades. As for ideals, Stoicism was discouraged in pursuit of loving on another, a central teaching in the Christian belief system.
And now, Question Two: “What was the relationship between Rome and the Visigoths like?” I think referring to the two as having a ‘relationship’ is deceiving. Rivals would be more like it. Neither side could fully get along, since many of their beliefs and view points were different. The Romans called them Barbarians, but the Visigoths did too, in a way. Where things really went downhill is when the Huns were after the Visigoths. In an attempt to protect themselves, they became ‘citizens’ of Eastern Rome, of you want to call being treated almost like slaves citizenship. This is why they began to destroy Rome from the inside, starting with the defeat of the man who gave them entry into the eastern empire, Valens, in 378. A few years later, the Visigoths plundered Italy, and, as a result, forced the Romans to pour all their resources into defeating them, which let other groups in. There was a lot more fighting throughout the early 5th Century, and in the end, the empire in the West was completely destroyed.
Despite the good the Christian movement did in Rome, the empire still began collapsing. Like in the game King of The Hill, you an only be on top for so long. They aren’t down and out yet though, for there was still Roman civilization in the East, but who knows how long it will last. My next segment in this course will continue to feature the ‘Barbarian nations’ and how they interact with what’s left of the Roman Empire.
Redman Essays 