Justinian: Byzantine Emperor

Justinian I was an aspiring ruler of the Byzantine Empire whose ultimate goal was to re-conquer Rome, despite the several obstacles and failures that stood in his way. His contributions to the empire included the reformation of taxation and a new body of laws called the corpus iuris civilis, which combined Roman laws with the beliefs of Christianity. This new system of laws would influence later European countries and be the standard for which they based their legal practices on.

Much of his reign stressed the importance of Christianity, however for a short period of time, Justinian believed in Monophysite Doctrine, which claimed that Christ only had one nature that was truly divine and dismissed his humanity. This put a strain on his relationship with the Roman Pope. Eventually, after realizing that he needed the power and influence of the Pope, he changed his beliefs once more, and accepted the orthodox belief in both the divine and human nature of Christ.

While he was not having luck in the political and religious aspects of his empire, he did make a large contribution to the artistic culture of the Byzantine Empire. He had the Santa Sophia built in Constantinople and the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna. These two buildings were influential architectural breakthroughs that later gave influence to European architecture and mosaic style.

Although Justinian was tied to the Orthodox Latin Church, his persecutions of non-Christians played a role that eventually did more harm than good for his goal of re-conquering Rome. It was because of this persecution and intolerance that foreign nations, especially Muslim rulers, were largely accepted by a majority of the Byzantine people. It was because of his failed expeditions and persecutions of non-Christians that prevented him from achieving his goal of conquering Rome.

Links:

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MA/BYZ.HTM

Shared Saints: A Common Bond

Despite the division between the Byzantine and Western Catholic Churches, they share many things because of their common origin. For example, both celebrate many of the same saints, including Saints Cyril and Methodius.

The Byzantine Church recognizes Cyril and Methodius as great saints, "equal to the apostles" for their work in bringing the Orthodox faith to central Europe. The Roman Catholic Church also considers them important; Pope Leo XII even wrote an encyclical to introduce their feast day. Although originally only Slovenia, Moravia, and Croatia celebrated them, eventually Pope Pius IX officially recognized their feast day, and Pope Leo XII made it an official universal feast day in 1880.

The brothers are most known for their work as missionaries to the Slavic peoples of Europe. They converted many, and their success is primarily attributed to their work in creating a written Slavic language and translating Biblical and liturgical books into the vernacular. Cyril and Methodius devised an alphabet to make the written language, and their proficiency in the Slavic language from a young age made their task easier. Cyril's education in Constantinople increased their success as well, because he was able to apply what he knew to aid the spread of litearacy, and therefore Christianity.

Cyril and Methodius exemplify one of the many reasons people convert to new religions: education. In addition to preaching Orthodox Christianity, a religion that could be practiced in their own languages, the brothers offered literacy, in the form of religious texts written in Slavic. Because of their work, Cyril and Methodius are considered some of the greatest missionaries of Orthodox Christianity to the world, as well as the founders of Slavic civilization. For these contributions, both the Roman Catholic and Byzantine Orthodox churches honor them as saints.

Sources: OrthodoxWiki, Papel Encyclicals Online

Constantine and Christianity

Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity. His conversion was extremely important in the rise of Christianity in Rome. Before the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine saw a vision of a labarum. That night, he had a dream, and Christ told him to take this cross into Battle. He was also told him his dream that the symbol would act as a safe guard in all the battles he ever encountered. When he woke up in the morning, he told his soldiers to mark their shield with the symbol in his vision. Constantine and his troops won the Battle of Milvian Bridge, and he continued to wear the labarum for every battle thereafter. Soon after the vision and his victory in the battle, Constantine converted to Christianity with no questions asked. He dropped everything he believed in for this new religion because of a vision and dream he had. Constantine slowly integrated Christianity into the empire.

It is in question whether or not the vision Constantine encountered was a real event, or just a natural event called, “halo phenomena.” Constantine, however, gave the testimony on oath and most historians accept his statement.

Constantine’s conversion to Christianity helped the religion in many ways. He paved the way for the rise of Christianity in Rome. He did a lot of work for the church and the Christian cause. An example includes allowing followers to practice the religion without being persecuted through issuing the Edict of Milan. Constantine played a big part in the growth of the church because he funded Christian leaders and churches. He believed that the church and the state should be as close as possible. This relationship between the church and state made Rome stronger. Constantine’s sponsorship of Christianity made it a favorable religion in Rome.

Constantine’s conversion, involvement, and sponsorship in Christianity had a huge impact on the religion. He paved the way for Christianity in Rome, and practiced aspects of the religion that are still done today such as, worship on Sundays. Without the vision or dream, Constantine may have never converted to Christianity and it may never have been so wide spread through Rome.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/rulers/constantine.html
http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/easteurope/ConstantineConverts.html
http://historymedren.about.com/od/cwho/p/who_constantine.htm

Gladiators

Humans have searched for means of entertainment for millennia. Today, our society seems to revolve around how we can relax and be entertained. Everything around us – from television, music and movies to food, the Internet and sporting events – serves as some means of entertainment for us. The leaps and bounds we have made in technology has made our search for leisure easier, however before technology made amusement more readily available, societies had to rely on other things to entertain themselves with.

One way Ancient Romans entertained themselves was through Gladiator contests. Gladiators were typically slaves, condemned criminals, or prisoners of war who were forced to battle against each other, typically to the death. These combatants performed in amphitheaters, which were oval-shaped structures used specially for sporting events. The most famous amphitheater was the Roman Colosseum, built in 80 C.E. by Roman emperor Vespasian and his son Titus.

Gladiators were divided into four different categories, and could be recognized by the type of armor that they wore. Thracians sported a “wide-brimmed crested helmet with visor, high greaves on both legs, arm protector, [and used a] very small shield, and short, curved sword.” Secutors wore an “egg-shaped helmet with round eye-holes, greave on one leg, arm protector, [and used] legionary-style shield and sword (scutum and gladius).” Retiariuses wore arm protectors and a large net, and used a trident and a small dagger for weapons. Those of the Bestiarius type generally wore no armor at all, as they were considered the lowest ranking of the Gladiators. These gladiators were trained to handle and fight several different types of animals. The other divisions of gladiators usually fought against gladiators of a different division.

A typical day watching the Gladiator games started with a processional to the Colosseum. Once there, exhibitions of exotic animals and animal fights took place until a lunch break was called. During the lunch break, the particularly extreme criminals were executed; such criminals included murderers, those having committed arson, and Christians (considered to be guilty of treason and violation of recognizing the emperor of a divine individual). The Gladiator combats followed the lunch break; they fought until either one of them died or gave the signal for defeat – holding up his index finger. At this point, the crowd would determine whether the defeated gladiator should be spared or put to death. They would indicate their preference by giving a thumbs up for sparing his life or a thumbs down for killing him.

Our tastes in entertainment have changed drastically over the millennia. However the search for a way to enjoy ourselves will always be part of our society.

References:
http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/arena.html

The Great Wall

It is interesting to that the the Great Wall of China is still in place today! Wall are used in general for things such as; to keep things or people in, to keep things and people out. They can be offensive to some, saying "we do not want you here", "you are an invader".

There Great Wall was constructed in order to protect the dynasty from western invaders. It was constructed over 2,000 years ago, by Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China during the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C - 206 B.C.). The Great Wall was one of the largest building construction projects ever completed. It stretches across the mountains of northern China. It extends about 8,850 kilometers. Since the Great Wall was discontinuous, Mongol invaders had no trouble breaching the wall by going around it, so the wall proved unsuccessful and was eventually abandoned.

Today it is used for nothing but a tourist spot. Restoration and rebuilding took place in the 20Th century and in 1987 the Great Wall of China was made a World Heritage Site. It is amazing that these wonderfully massive structure such as the Great Wall, the Egyptian Pyramids and other amazing ancient structures around the world were created before they had any of the machinery we have today. It a mystery as to how they were constructed so flawlessly without the help of modern technology.

http://fijidailypost.com/editorial.php?date=20091106

Poison Creating Life

The debates over the origins of human life are extensive and heated. A discussion generating much fewer strong feelings and less controversy in the everyday world is over the origins of life in general--at an atomic level. A recent article from the magazine New Scientist examines this debate and explores a new option.

Because Earth was formed so close to the sun, scientists doubt that the larger, more complex elements necessary for life would have formed at the planet's birth. Life depends on these elements for molecules to create the basic make-up and processes of cells.

Scientists have suggested many theories, including lightning causing chemical reactions and the possibility that falling comets and asteroids brought organic material, but many conflicts to these theories exist. The most significant argument against comets was previously that they burned up as they entered the atmosphere, converting their organic molecules to carbon dioxide.

Recently, however, scientists working with NASA have come up with a third option: cyanide. Researchers fired projectiles simulating comets hitting the Earth and came up with some surprising results: the impact formed cyanide. The poisonous compound contains nitrogen, an important element in amino acid formation, a basic life function.

These findings add another aspect to the debate, but more scientists still do not agree. Donald Brownlee says that

some of early Earth's organic material undoubtedly formed this way...[but] there were probably other sources too, including organic-rich particles of interplanetary dust, which fall to Earth more gently than asteroids and comets. "It gets warmed but it doesn't get extremely hot."

The discussions over the origins of life will continue despite these new findings, but we can all be sure the end result will assure something we already knew: Life exists on planet Earth.

The Noble Eightfold Path

The eightfold path is a guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing from attachments and delusions.,, and leads followers to the truth about all things. The eight steps are do not have to be followed in sequence, but all eight must be acomplished before reaching pure and everlasting nirvana.

The fist step is, "The Right View." This step basically means to see and understand things the way they really are. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind.

The second step is, "Right Intention." This is the commitment to ethical and mental energy that controls our actions. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: The intention of renunciation. The intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion. Fianlly, the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion.

The third step is, "Right Speech." Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path. Buddah explaines right speech as, refrain from lying, do not slander anybody, dont say anything that will hurt somebody's feelings, and finally, do not have conversations unless they have meaning a truth in it.

The fourth step is, Right Action." The second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. Buddah also describes this in three ways. Do not kill anyone, including yourself. Do not steal and do not lie. Finally, abstain from sexual misconduct.

The fifth step is, "Right Livelihood." This means that one should earn his living in a righteous way. In the step Buddah describes things people should avoid. Avoid dealing with weapons, dealing with living beings, working in butchering animals, and selling intoxicants and poisons.

The sixth step is, " Right Effort." This is seen as one of the most important of the eight steps. Without effort, no steps can be achieved.

The seventh step is, "Right Mindfulness." This is the ability to see things as they really are with clear consciosness.

The eighth step is, "Right Concentration." The final of the eighth steps, right concentration means to have a state of mind where all thoughts and ideas are pure and are concentrated on one thing.