What body of water is in the middle of this picture?
It is the Mediterranean Sea.
It looks like a flying duck!
What happened to the western half of the Roman Empire?
It fell to barbarians.
Who were the Celts?
They were fierce barbarians who painted themselves blue.
What was the capital city of the Byzantine empire?
The capital city was Constantinople.
What is the room called in a monastery in which monks copied books?
It is called a scriptorium.
What country is this?
This country is England.
What happened to the eastern half of the Roman empire?
It shrank but survived. It became the Byzantine empire.
Special Celts called bards would memorize their history in song and sing it to the Celtic people.
The Byzantines built schools for all children, rich or poor. All children went to school in Constantinople.
What is the modern day name for the city of Constantinople?
Today we call this city Istanbul.
What country is this?
This is Greece.
Who did the pope send to teach the people of Britain about Christianity?
The pope sent St. Augustine.
What did the Celts do when the Roman Empire fell?
They drove the Roman soldiers out of England and recaptured the land.
Why did Emperor Justinian write the Code of Justinian?
The Code of Justinian was a common set of laws that everyone in the Byzantine Empire had to follow. It was written because each country that Justinian conquered had its own laws and that made it difficult to know what was right and wrong.
Why did the Celts paint themselves blue?
They thought that the blue paint was like spiritual armor that would protect them in battle.
What city is here?
This city is Rome.
Who split the Roman empire in half and why?
Emperor Diocletian split the Roman empire in half because it was too big for one man to control.
Different Celtic tribes lived all across Europe and England.
How did Empress Theodora save Justinian's throne?
She convinced him to stay and fight, rather than run away when his people were rioting.
What is the name of the massive, beautiful church built by the Byzantines in Constantinople?
It is called the Hagia Sophia.
What city is this?
This city is Constantinople.
In what year did Rome fall to barbarians?
The Visigoths sacked Rome in the year 410 AD.
What is Vortigern famous for doing?
He invited the Anglo-saxon barbarians over to help him conquer the other Celtic tribes.
How did the church split?
Christians in the east and west disagreed about who should lead Christians. In the West, they wanted to follow the pope. In the East, they thought Christian leaders from the major Christian cities should lead together. Eventually, the church split. Western Christians followed the pope and were called Roman Catholics. Eastern Christians did not follow the pope and were called Eastern Orthodox.
Describe the process of making parchment.
Parchment is not paper, it is dried animal skin. First, animal skins would be soaked in water for days. Then, all the hair would be scraped off. After that, it would be wet again by spitting beer all over it. Next, they would stretch it and dry it again. Finally, it was ready to be cut into page-sized pieces and bound into a book.