Classical Civilization Spice Chart

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Classical Civilizations CCOT – sample * Analyze the cultural and political changes and continuities in ONE of the following civilizations during the last centuries of the classical era: China, 100 CE to 600 CE; Roman, 100 CE to 600 CE; Indian, 300 CE to 600 CE. ThesisChangeContextBaselineSupportSupportSupportReasonChangeContextBaselineSupportSupportSupportReasonContinuityContextBaselineSupportSupportSupportReason | Between 100 CE and 600 CE, the Roman empire underwent a change in government as the empire collapsed due to corruption within. Also, the influence of Christianity increased greatly. However, the “Eastern Roman Empire”, the Byzantines, kept the culture going.Clearly, the most important change that the Roman Empire experienced…show more content…
Unable to quash the start-up religion, finally in the 4th century, Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Now with official favor, Christianity spread more easily. Representing perhaps ten percent of the population prior to Constantine’s conversion, Christianity grew in popularity, and Christian symbols and hierarchy were increasingly used by state officials. After the fall of Rome, the organization of the Christian church, which mirrored the imperial government, often provided stability for people in a time of political chaos. This organization and stability provided yet another means for Christianity to earn converts. Christianity’s growing importance in the Mediterranean basin and Europe is likely the result of the emotional connection that the religion provided in the face of political turmoil that the sterile Roman mythology was not able to offer.To the east of Rome, the empire survived and continued, in the form of the Byzantines, uninterrupted for nearly a thousand years after Rome’s fall. Although the Gupta empire declined, Indian culture continued largely unchanged despite political transitions, much the Byzantines. At the beginning of the period, Rome was a…show more content…
In the 6th century, Emperor Justinian led a number of conquests in an attempt to capture the former lands of the united Roman Empire. This quest to recapture the lands is a testament to the continuity that existed between Byzantine’s and the former Roman Empire. Additionally, Justinian codified and simplified many former Roman legal codes in order to aid in the administration of the government. Not only did the Eastern Roman Empire continue the legal traditions of Rome, but economically, the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) remained a commercial center as it dominated much of the silk and spice trade in the Mediterranean Sea much like its predecessor brokered the exchange of goods between Asia and Europe or between regions around the Mediterranean. The Byzantine’s represent one of the clearest continuations of classical traditions in the later postclassical era as a Roman emperor sat on a throne in the eastern capitol of Constantinople. Because civilization was more deeply entrenched in the eastern Mediterranean and the East faced less pressure from
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