Mar 24 2009
A Fresh look at the importance of history
Hello readers “Today is the first day of the rest of my life”. My blog shows the relevance of history and how it shaped the modern world. Are we so different then our ancient Roman ancestry? Rome defined Judao, Christian, and Muslim religions. Did Roman Emperor Constantine spread Christianity as a stroke of genius? Wake up America we need to take a deeper look at Roman history!
I understand why certain parts of the Muslim world look upon us as crusaders! Don’t get me wrong I love my country and what the country stands for; Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness.
As in, the Roman Empire the last days were ripe with internal strife. It ripped itself apart through greed and corruption. If we are so busy fighting ourselves how can we defend against our foes? Like Rome our country is split between the two dominate parties; Democrats and Republicans, much like east and west Rome.
Timeline and Facts
Roman Emperor Diocletian divided empire in 285. “Rome ceased to be the capital from the time of the division. In 286, the capital of the Western Roman Empire became Mediolanum”. This spawned the creation of the Eastern Roman Empire, which would become the Byzantium Empire named by the Emperor Constantine. “Although not foreseen at the time, a division into Eastern and Western empires became permanent after the accession (395) of Honorius in the West and Arcadius in the east”. Rome became a failed state around 476 AD.
USA is the new Rome. It shares many parallels with ancient Rome. We have our first black president and Rome also had a black emperor named Septimius Severus. Our government and political system is based on many roman principals (actually Rome assimilated Greek government structure). “The more things change the more they stay the same”. If we do not study our history, it is bound to be repeated.
The Roman emperor never ended. When Rome splintered into east and west, this was the beginning of the end. West Rome fell to the might of the Gaul’s, (French tribe), Goths (Germanic tribes), and Visigoths, thus splintering into many kingdoms. Just to shorten the hurdle of religion, Rome imploded into Eastern Orthodox (Catholic), and Western Orthodox (Orthodox). Then it exploded to control nations, thanks to Roman Emperor Constantine. The Empire of Rome failed but now it controlled the very ideals of man, faith. Ask your self why is there a hierarchy structure in Orthodox religions? It bares striking resemblance to Roman government. Is the Pope closer to the almighty than a devout Christian?
Our past, present, and future are intertwined. If we just take a moment to study how the people in our world came to be, we could better understand there argument.
Wow. This is interesting stuff. I’ve heard that the Roman Empire “created” Catholicism as a means to tax people and collect money for the emperor. I have no idea if this is accurate, but it made an impact on me when I was twelve, that’s for sure.
I agree that our country shares similarities with ancient Rome. Hopefully, we are moving toward a future wherein no civilization need live in fear of “falling”. Every day, we become more connected to our fellow man though technology. I’d like the see the interests of all responsible humans being cared for by other humans who are in a position of power.
However, for humans who desire to commit crime and squander resources, well, then I’m not so sure how I feel about their role.
Anyway, great article.
Great article, inetersting points. It is shocking how the past of the Roman Empire connected to the present of the United States. The similarities brough up in this article are amazing!
There is no such word as Jewdeo; I believe you intended to use the word Judeo.
I agree there are some disconcerting parallels between ancient Rome, and present day America, but your article loses me in attempting to explain it.
Rome accepted Christianity in the 3rd century because Constantine became a Christian.
There was no West and East Rome. There were two centers of Christian leadership, Rome and Constantinople (now Istanbul). They disagreed over many issues, but the key conflict was over the authority of the Pope. Over this they split (they didn’t “slit”) into the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1052. It is referred to as the Great Schism.
Why do organized religions have a hierarchical structure you ask? Why do business or governments? It provides a structure for organizing a society or a group. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that.
Let’s keep it clean with no personal attacks. The article grabbed you enough to make a rather personal response. The time line was shorted, in the article but there was a West and East Rome. Roman Emperor Diocletian divided empire in 285. “Rome ceased to be the capital from the time of the division. In 286, the capital of the Western Roman Empire became Mediolanum”. This spawned the creation of the Eastern Roman Empire, which would become the Byzantium Empire named after the Emperor Constantine. “Although not foreseen at the time, a division into Eastern and Western empires became permanent after the accession (395) of Honorius in the West and Arcadius in the east”. Rome became a failed state around 476 AD. Please check your facts before issues a response. Thank you for your passion David.
While Christianity continued to expand in Europe, Islam presented a significant military threat to Western Christendom. By 715, Muslim armies had conquered Syria, Jerusalem, Caesarea, Alexandria, Iraq and Persia, Carthage and all of Spain.
Modern Day:
With a high number of adult baptisms, the Church is growing faster in Africa than anywhere else. It also operates a greater number of Catholic schools per parish here (3:1) than in other areas of the world. Challenges include suppression of non-Islamic religious practices by Muslims in Sudan.
In 1095, Byzantine emperor Alexius I appealed to Pope Urban II for help against renewed Muslim invasions, which caused Urban to launch the First Crusade aimed at aiding the Byzantine Empire and returning the Holy Land to Christian control. The goal was not permanently realized, and episodes of brutality committed by the armies of both sides left a legacy of mutual distrust between Muslims and Western and Eastern Christians. The sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, conducted against papal authorisation, left Eastern Christians embittered and was a decisive event that permanently solidified the schism between the churches.
Over time, other inquisitions were launched by secular rulers to prosecute heretics, often with the approval of Church hierarchy, to respond to the threat of Muslim invasion or for political purposes.King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain formed an inquisition in 1480, originally to deal with distrusted converts from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism. Over a 350-year period, this Spanish Inquisition executed between 3,000 and 4,000 people, representing around two percent of those accused. In 1482 Pope Sixtus IV condemned the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition, but Ferdinand ignored his protests. The inquisition played a major role in the final expulsion of Islam from Sicily and Spain.
Just before the Fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Empire in 1453, in an effort to combat the spread of Islam, Pope Nicholas V granted Portugal the right to subdue and even enslave Muslims, pagans and other unbelievers in the papal bull Dum Diversas (1452). Several decades later European explorers and missionaries spread Catholicism to the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Pope Alexander VI had awarded colonial rights over most of the newly discovered lands to Spain and Portugal.
The Greek word “catholic” means “universal” and was first used to describe the Church by Ignatius in the late first, early second century. Some different Christian denominations not in communion with The Catholic Church describe themselves as “catholic”, but in common usage it refers to the body also known as the Roman Catholic Church and its members. The Church itself in its official documents since the first Council of Nicea in 325, including the documents of the most recent ecumenical councils, Vatican I and Vatican II, uses the name “Catholic Church”. “The term ‘Roman Catholic’ is not used by the Church herself; it is a relatively modern term, confined largely to the English language.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Christianity
which explains why catholic priests molest young boys