HIS 1305, Western Civilization I 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
2. Describe the causes and effects of major historical events. 2.1 Discuss the longevity of the Eastern Empire. 2.2 Discuss the fall of the Western Empire.
3. Discuss key individuals in Western culture
3.5 Identify major figures and events in relation to the fall of the Western Empire. Required Unit Resources Chapter 7: Late Antiquity, 250–600 Unit Lesson
Did Rome’s Fall Send Western Societies into the Dark Ages? More than perhaps any other unit in this course, the study of what historians call Late Antiquity (250–600 C.E.) proves how much written history changes as historians learn more about their own biases and examine new evidence. Late Antiquity marks one of the most famous turning points in history, the pivot of the West from the Roman Empire to the medieval world. How did the most powerful human force on earth by 600 C.E. become something else—not a remnant or memory nor a completely bygone era, yet something distinct and new? Why did the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire, live on for 1,000 years after the Western Roman Empire disintegrated? Rejecting the older view that Western Rome fell into the Dark Ages, historians now study how Rome was transformed and how Late Antiquity marks a time of great
innovation in society and thought (Ward-Perkins, 2005). Where our first modern 18th century historians saw corruption and weakness, current 20th century historians, such as Peter Brown (1982), see creation of new ideas about worship, society, and the purpose of the individual as well as the persistence of some Roman administrative structures and law, particularly through the expansion of the Catholic Church (Bowersock et al., 2012). Consider the questions below, which drive studies into this period.
• What was transformed, preserved, infused from outside, or created anew? • How did the meaning of citizenship and personhood change? • To what degree were Rome Christianized and Christianity Romanized?
Preserving or Recreating the Empire: Diocletian and Constantine
We left the empire in Unit III as chaos broke over Western Rome with Septimus Severus’ death in 211. One emperor after another, including Severus’ descendants, failed to take control. The names assigned to the Crisis of the Third Century, which is also called the Military Crisis or the Imperial Crisis (234–84 A.D.), indicate the degree of strife. Civil war emptied coffers, and the inflation caused by making coins with less silver worsened the economic pain. Without resources for their entertainment, advancement, protection, or care, the
UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE Rome: Fall or Transformation?