The Roman Empire was once a vast and wondrous place where they conquered many places and many things. They had many great leaders and were a great empire but there were many things that went wrong. There are no definitive causes for the fall of the Roman Empire, yet there are multiple valid reasons as to why it happened such as military power, social problems, widespread of diseases, and moral strength.…
When the Roman Emperor Augustus came to power in 27 BC it was after a period of civil war that lasted over 70 years following the death of Julius Caesar. Rome had 50 legions at this time, and number that would have put too great a financial strain on the Roman coffers. Augustus also feared for the loyalty of these legion due to the fact that many legionaries prior to the civil war had given their loyalty to the legion’s commander and not the state. During this time Augustus also limited Rome’s territorial ambitions choosing the secure its gains and to not expand it much further, thus making it more unmanageable both administratively and financially.…
The long decline of the Western Roman Empire was caused by the accumulation of the many obstacles that stood in their way over time. At first the Roman Empire was thriving. It was the biggest empire at the time and it expanded at an incredible speed. Their military and leadership capabilities were magnificent. When confronted by the Roman military their enemies were better off giving up and not even trying; it wasn’t worth it. In time, however, the Roman Empire’s golden age expired, they stopped conquering and internal drawbacks began to appear. The once flourishing Roman Empire began to face many problems, like military incapacity, the growth of Christianity, and unemployment, all of which contributed in a different way to the decline of the Empire.…
Augustus rebuilt the town which lacked suitability and protected it against major disasters. During his administration he built temple, among other buildings. One major reason for building these new building was to handle the influx of people that settled in his empire, he need a location were cases could be tried. The temple of Mars was constructed to uphold laws. He also sought that judges that tried these cases be chosen by lots and that crimes committed not go unpunished.…
Walter Goffart is a historian of the later Roman Empire and early Middle Ages. He specializes in research on the barbarian kingdoms of those periods. He is currently a senior researcher and lecturer at Yale University. The article by Walter Goffart is about Rome, Constantinople, and the Barbarians. However, Constantinople isn’t mentioned as often throughout the article as Rome and the Barbarians are. The article is trying to prove that the barbarians and Christianity had a major role in the fall of Rome (Goffart 275).…
Modeled off of Suetonius’s Lives of the Caesars, Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne seeks to paint Charlemagne as the model emperor. As shown in his carefully vague reasoning for the family of Carloman’s flight into Lombardy and in his consolidation of Louis the Pious as the ordained and appropriate heir to the throne, Einhard constructs the image of Charlemagne into that of a historical hero. Charlemagne, through Einhard’s influence, becomes nothing less than the imperial…
Becoming Charlemagne, written by Jeff Speck. This book written by Jeff Speck, chronicles events around the life of a Germanic king name Karl. Becoming Charlemagne is a factual account of the events that took place in the empires of A.D 800. Jeff Sypeck explains key events in this time period and illustrates how the king Karl became the legend Charlemagne.…
The Forum of Augustus was erected in 2 BCE, a full forty years after it was promised in 42 BCE. Augustus at the time known as Gaius Octavius at the time vowed to Mars during the battle of Philippi to erect a temple in his name. He did this most likely to bring him strength in this battle as after the battle he was able to avenge his adoptive father Julius Caesar by killing his assassins. Sometime after in 27 BCE he became Princeps of Rome changings his name to Augustus. He then made plans to build a forum and build the temple he vowed of Mars Ultor inside of it. He also stated through propaganda that by doing this he was fulfilling his adoptive will linking him to the deified Julius Caesar whom the people loved making him more popular…
With the prompt relating to how either Charlemagne or Augustine would align in such a conflict, it’s important to consider the values both parties, in this case, bring to the table. Both of them, Henry IV and Gregory VII, assume ordination by God as distinct justification for their singular correctness. Henry, in general, believes that emperors, because of their distinct position and ordination, should have full jurisdiction in terms of the investment of Bishops. Gregory’s counter to this is, essentially, that he is the highest religious figure and, thus, is “the most ordained;” he believes, therefore, that his word should have greatest potency due to it being, in technicality, closer to God.…
All good things come to an end. Rome was a seamlessly powerful empire, but just like any powerful civilization, it was bound to come to a halt eventually. After centuries of peace and prosperity and being the center of the world at the time, the empire was doomed to fall. It took many years of bloody wars, government reforms, and economic power to reach its peak; therefore, it would take many more years of wars and deterioration of the economy to a dwindling civilization. This phenomenal empire declined for many factors such as religious, political, health, and technological factors. Most of the factors came from within the city, which led to internal decay. Many foolish decisions and revisions caused the heart and soul of Rome to crumble.…
Charlemagne was born into a royal family which means he was destined to become royalty later on. He was born around 742 and was the son of Bertrada of Laon and Pepin the Short who became king in 751. Pepin divided the kingdom equally between him and his brother. After his brother died and it was passed on to his nephews, Charlemagne murdered them and seized their territories. As an adult, Charlemagne displayed a talent for languages and could speak Latin and understand Greek, among other languages.…
The structure of Two Lives of Charlemagne is designed to let an audience learn about the history of the rule of Charles from two different perspectives. The first section is written by Einhard and the second section is written by Notker the Stammerer. One perspective views Charlemagne more like a human and the other account view Charlemagne as more pious and saint-like. The two different views of Charlemagne’s reign both coincide that Charlemagne was a generous ruler and was a great king and emperor.…
Looking back at history, an individual usually can find an incredible amount of information about any given period in any given part of the world. Yet as varied are the history books, so are the biases which they each present. We see one example of these biases in Einhard's The Life of Charlemagne in which this adviser and close friend to the great Frankish king gives his history of Charlemagne's life. One issue that Einhard repeatedly touches on is the virtually uninterrupted series of wars that the Frankish Kingdom under 'Charles the Great' undertook. Throughout the individual accounts of these war, Einhard attempts to justify Charlemagne's military career.…
After defeated the combined forces of Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium in 31 B.C.E, Octovian took supreme control and assumed the title Augustus. At this time, Augustus establishing a new political orders and effectively maintain all the power in his hand and the hand of the imperial’s staffs. Augustus and his bureaucracy controlled virtually all decisions, even though the emperor had claimed that he replaced the State in the hand of the Senate and Roman people.…
Medieval Europe, the dark ages, had one major ruler, who everyone thought was the best...Charlemagne. Charlamagne did multiple things to help the economy. Charlemagne also did some things for himself. One thing that he did for the economy was converting all of his subjects to Christianity. Another thing that he did was he spent most of his reign in military campaigns. Also he declared that any of the Saxons that he captured( only if they would not get baptised ) would be sentenced to death. He had multiple wives and possibly had up to eighteen children. He died in 814 in January. He was buried at the cathedral in Aachen. Some of the things that he would do for himself was wake up at around three a.m. and would make his servants wake up with…
