Roman Empire to 500 CE
Constantinople was named after who?
Constantine I, ruler of the Roman Empire, renamed the city of Byzantium as Constantinople in 330 CE.
Which of the following is a belief that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have in common?
A. The incarnation
B. Original sin
C. The idea of God as the Creator
D. The resurrection of Jesus
C. The idea of God as the Creator
What was the tax that non-Muslims had to pay?
The jizya - this was actually even less than the zakah that Muslims had to pay!
The Hagia Sophia was built during the rule of who?
Justinian I
Justinian's Plague killed how many people?
About one-third of the Byzantine population
After Constantine's death, the empire split into eastern and western halves. What were the names of these two halves?
East was known as the Byzantine Empire, West was the Roman Empire
Muslims believe the Christian doctrine of the trinity violates what core concept?
Monotheism
Who founded the House of Wisdom? (Bayt al-Hikmah)
The Khalifa al-Ma'mun
The persecution of Christians stopped with what? (through what)
The Edict of Milan in 313
_______ strengthened the military and conquered regions in western Anatolia (now Turkey) and southern Italy. Indeed, the empire became almost as powerful as it had been under Justinian’s rule.
Basil, a Macedonian who was a Bulgar slave originally
Which ruler was famous for making Christianity legal and is considered the first Byzantine emperor?
Constantine I
What is the connection between Judaism and Christianity?
Judaism was the first 'monotheistic' religion, developing over a period of more than 1,500 years, from 2000-300s BCE. Then Christianity branched off from Judaism in the first century CE.
Who destroyed the House of Wisdom and in what year did that occur?
The Mongols destroyed it in 1258
What was the iconoclasm controversy?
An icon is a holy image or sculpture of a revered holy figure such as Jesus Christ or a saint. A saint is someone who is recognized as holy or virtuous by the Church. Byzantine art frequently used human forms and symbols to represent important ideas and figures in Christianity. A great debate arose over whether this type of practice, including veneration of the icons, was acceptable.
Which battle was described as the beginning of the end of the Byzantine Empire?
Battle of Manzikert in 1071
What happened during the Punic Wars?
During the Punic Wars, Rome defeated Carthage, a rival sea power based across the Mediterranean in North Africa. By doing this, the Romans conquered the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, and the city of Carthage.
True or false: By the end of the 600s CE, Muhammad's followers were compiling all of his revelations from Gabriel into a written document
This is actually false, although this is what is stated in the lesson itself. The Qur'an was compiled within about a year after the Prophet's death, so around 633 CE - not anywhere near the end of the 600s.
In Abbasid rule, which years are often describes as a golden age?
The first three centuries of Abbasid rule are often described as a golden age in which literature, philosophy, theology, mathematics, and the natural sciences flowered, nourished by the encounter of Arab thought and culture with Greco-Roman, Byzantine, Persian, and Indian traditions.
What was the Great Schism of 1054?
Split in Christianity between East and West:
Though there had been earlier small splinters within the Christian church, this was the first major division. The church in the West eventually became known as the Roman Catholic Church, and the church in the East became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. Catholic comes from the Latin word for “universal” and orthodox comes from the Greek words for “true doctrine."
Which Ottoman sultan conquered Constantinople and in what year?
Sultan Mehmet II in 1453
What was one defining feature of the Crisis of the Third Century?
50 years in which 26 different men were recognized by the Roman Senate as emperor. That is more than one every two years, because they were killed off so fast. (235-285 CE) Occurred after the assassination of Commodus.
What does the Christian Bible consist of?
The Christian Bible consists of the Hebrew Bible plus 27 additional writings known collectively as the New Testament, all written in the first century after the Romans' execution of Jesus of Nazareth. Christians refer to the Hebrew Bible as the Old Testament.
Which of the following is associated with the Golden Age of Islam?
A. The development of algebra
B. The separation of religion from government
C. The destruction of ancient Greek texts
D. The complete unity of all Muslims politically
A. The development of algebra
Which ethnic groups lived within the borders of the Eastern Roman Empire?
Most Byzantines were Greek, but a mix of North Africans, Arabs, Persians, and Turks also lived within the borders of the Eastern Roman Empire.
How did Justinian plant the seeds of the decline of the Byzantine Empire?
Justinian himself planted the seeds for the Byzantine Empire’s decline. First, his constant wars and the rebuilding of Constantinople after the Nika Riot caused serious financial problems for the empire. The reconstruction of the Hagia Sophia alone cost about 320,000 pounds of gold. He also left the Byzantine army scattered across the empire under the command of a general.