Roman Empire

From TinWiki.org

The Roman Empire was the territory under the jurisdiction of the City of Rome and it's related administration between around 27 BC and 476 AD. It was known for it's revolutionary cultural and technological advancements as well as a unique and powerful military that allowed it to grow into a huge territory covering most of Europe and the Near-East at its peak. Pressure from Rome's various enemies combined with internal strife and government corruption led to the Empire splitting into the Western and Eastern Roman Empires in 476 AD. The Western Empire died out, but the Eastern Empire continued on until 1453 AD, becoming the Byzantine Empire centred around Constantinople (Modern Istanbul). Later, the monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire (A Germanic country covering much of central Europe in the pre-Napoleon era) began to consider themselves as a continuation of the line of Roman Emperors. By 1806 with the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, the Roman Empire had completely disappeared.

1 Roman Christianity
2 Influence of the Roman Empire
3 See also
4 External links

[edit]

Roman Christianity

The Roman Empire was a primary reason for the spread of Christianity. The Empire converted under Emperor Constantine and Christianity was spread by force throughout Europe. It is thought that Constantine spread a version of Christianity different to that taught at its conception. This new version was thought to be far more chauvinistic and taught followers to be loyal to their leaders, allowing the Empire to exercise more power over it's citizens. This is the same version of Christianity that lead to the Great Crusades, and many point out that even today the falsified version is the most widely preached doctrine of the religion. The original doctrine of Christianity is thought to have been destroyed in the Early years of its conception by vassals of the Roman Empire and the newly appointed clergy who needed to secure their version as the primary doctrine. Some say this early version was contained in the dozens of unpublished gospels of the Bible was were burnt around the time the Roman Empire converted. Speculators have said that the early version of Christianity was focused on the importance of women in spirituality, with none of the concepts of 'Original Sin' that were introduced by the Roman clergy. It is also said to have been very similar to Buddhism in it's teachings, emphasising peaceful harmonious existence but with a monotheistic view on divine issues. Modern Christianity is thus said to be more like this original version, although many still use the religion as justification for actions such as war or discrimination that do not fit with the theorised original doctrine. The Modern Roman Catholic Church is the most similar to the Romans version of Christianity, and some theologians criticise that it is in many areas teaching the precise opposite of the original Christian values (i.e. the exclusion of women from the clergy; in the original, women were thought to be sacred and more important then men.)

[edit]

Influence of the Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was crucial in shaping modern history. Firstly, it introduced a standard language to Europe: Latin, and this language lives on today as the origin of most Central and Southern European languages, including English. It also provided the world with many technological revolutions, the most famous including bath houses with central heating and Roman roads, which although were not the first examples of paved roads, were the first effective infrastructure in Central and Northern Europe that allowed them to become prosperous in the future.

The Roman Empire is also famous for it's military. The Roman Legionaries were powerful and disciplined, using revolutionary tactics and formations such as the well known 'Tortoise' to dominate the period. Other civilisations tried to copy their techniques in the future, but few were as successful. They also invented the bridge layer, a concept still used today to allow armies to cross rivers using a temporary mobile bridge.

Some speculate that had the Roman Empire remained in Europe and not been replaced by the tribe society of the barbarian invaders that Europe would be far more culturally advanced, and many of the famous landmarks today such as cathedrals and castles would have been present hundreds of years earlier due to the Roman Empires conversion to Christianity.

[edit]