These people are called humanist. Many people believe that Ancient Greece is just famous for the movie “Hercules” and those columns on the White House. The truth is, that if the Ancient Greeks didn’t accomplish as much as they had, then life today would be drastically altered. The Greeks are a huge part of our culture, customs, and government. The Ancient Greeks are the most significant to western culture because of its creation of different types of government, ideas on philosophy, and the impact of Hellenistic culture.
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.
Byzantine Empire Under Justinian During the Emperor Justinian’s reign, from 527 until 565, the Byzantine Empire expanded in wealth, power and prestige. Much of this was due to Justinian’s skilful rule. Stated in Document 3, Justinian’s rule was that of God, because he had absolute rule over his empire. There were also periods of retrenchment and plague which often makes the period seem an unsuccessful one, although these times showed his quality as an Emperor. His attempt to revive the Roman Empire was a successful one, both in terms of power and longevity.
The Roman Empire at this time was very large as it stretched from North Africa to the northern parts of the Britannica. Because of their vast amount of territory and relative peace in the empire, Roman emperors did not feel the need to expand and conquer further. Without the wealth that came about from conquests, the Roman government was forced to fund the army themselves, and although the military did not necessarily become weaker, the nature of the army changed from offensive to defensive. Men stopped joining the army due to this less glorious approach, and thus the army weakened. By the 4th century, a diminished military and the incompetence of new emperors eventually led to the downfall of the Roman Empire at the hands of invading Germanic people such as the Goths and Visigoths.
Marcus Aurelius’ time as an emperor, Ancient Rome was living in harmony and the empire was very rich and big and the military forces was strong and united as well as the senate. With many nations under their command, Ancient Rome was at their top of the history during his reign. After his death, the country became destabilized because his son was not a strong leader and he was corrupted. During the time of Aurelius’s son reign, corruption started to be seem more than ever. Another event that showed the decline of Ancient Rome was when the empire was split into two nations with two emperors.
As each new era ushers in change, there is always one individual that can be associated with facilitating these reforms, Lorenzo Medici and the Renaissance, Galileo and the Scientific Revolution, Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Predeceasing these infamous men is Caesar Augustus. Many argue that Augustus was reformer, others a revolutionary. Augustus was both; he took prior roman laws and tradition and reformed them in revolutionary ways. He kept the traditions and ideals that made Rome strong and used them to reshape a government that would dominate over the Mediterranean arena for the next 400 years.
While Julius Caesar was dictator, he made a lot of notable changes to the empire. “One of the initial crises with which Caesar had to deal with was a lot ofdebt in Rome, especially after the Civil War when lenders demanded that their loans be repayed and the rest of the economy collapsed.” (Gelzer 94) Since Caesar was a creative thinker he improvised a way to get the economy up by making people repay their loans at the property’s “pre-war” value. This strategy would end up working and the economy went right back up to where it was supposed to be. Caesar put into place the construction of new public buildings which reduced the unemployment level and it boosted the economy. Caesar made many other improvements as dictator by making more jobs, boosting the economy, and helping out the poor and middle classes.
the reign of Justinian marked the final end of the Roman empire; the establishment of the new, Byzantine empire; the beginning of Western Europe's unique position within the civilizations of the Old World; and made possible the spread of Islam and the rise of the Franks. Justinian rebuilt Constantinople, as well as bridges, aqueducts and many churches. The Justinian Code was a code of laws that served as the foundation of international law that is
Henry had immediately married her after all the delays that his father had caused. Everything had seemed to be going to plan but later he faced major problems because of his decisions. Henry was largely successful in being different to his father. The nobility liked Henry and saw him as a true king because he had engaged in war where his father never did. Henry also wanted England to be a major power in international affairs.
Byzantion later conquered Chalcedon, across the Bosporus on the Asiatic side. After siding with Pescennius Niger against the victorious Septimius Severus, the city was besieged by Roman forces and suffered extensive damage in 196 AD. [1] Byzantium was rebuilt by Septimius Severus, now emperor, and quickly regained its previous prosperity. It was bound to Perinthos during the period of Septimius Severus. The location of Byzantium attracted Roman Emperor Constantine I who, in 330 AD, refounded it as an imperial residence inspired by Rome itself.