I have a Dream...

Like Martin Luther King Jr., Constantine the Great also had a dream that affected history. His dream occurred on October 28th 312 C.E., the night before his memorable battle against Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. The roman letters of Chi and Rho appeared next to the words "in this you shall conquer." In his vision be believed that Christ was protector and would lead him and his army into victory. Constantine would put the symbol seen in his dream on the shields of his army to help protect them during battle. With the victory over Maxentius in the Battle of Milvian bridge, Constantine turned his religious beliefs towards Christiane and away from the worship of Greek and Roman Gods.




The coin above was commonly used after the victory at Milvian Bridge. The image on the front of the coin is Constantine and the image on the back depicts the image he seen in his dream known as Labarum. Without Constantine's dream the spread of Christianity would not have been as significant as it was and still is today.

Information found from:
http://forumancientcoins.com/Articles/Constantine_Ch_Rho_files/Constantine_Ch_Rho.htm

Nation of Churches

We have had many discussions in the last couple of weeks about the initiation of Christianity to the Roman state and the influence from Constantine the Great. The Roman state adopted Christianity as the states major religion during the 4th century AD. The Emperor Constantine was convinced that the Christian god had promoted him in his rise to power and was determined to ensure on-going divine protection for his empire. To ensure that the interest of Church and State were closely related, a major symbolic relationship defined the Byzantine Empire.


The Orthodox church emerged receiving numerous legal and financial dispensations which made it a key player in the Byzantine Empire. The Church was then able to regard Constantine as God's chosen representative on earth who guide his people according to the divine will instead of being regarded as a God himself. As the Byzantines debated the nature of Christ, the Council of Nicaea and Ecumenical Church Councils were created to convene any matters of religious controversy.

The Church of Byzantium played a major role in the development in religious traditions that then spread throughout the Middle East. Below is a list of fourteen Churchs that followed the Byzantine Liturgy with their own variations and history.
1. Albanian Church 8. Italo-Albanian Church
2. Bulgarian Church 9. Melkite Church
3. Byelorussian Church 10.Romanian Church
4. Croatian Church 11. Russian Church
5. Georgian Church 12. Ruthenian Church
6. Greek Church 13. Slovakian Church
7. Hungarian Church 14. Ukrainian Church

These Churches created a trend and domino effect that has given us such a diversity of Religions across the world.

For more information:
http://byzantium.seashell.net.nz/
http://www.faswebdesign.com/ecpa/byzantine/overview.html

Constantine the Great's impact on the Roman Empire

The Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) was the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages and Constantinople(Byzantium) became its capital. Diocletian created a new form of an "administrative" system because the Roman state became too big. There was an over-extension. Diocletian decided to divide Rome into two empires, an East Empire and a West Empire. The two empires then had sub-divisions. In the sub-divisions, Diocletian assigned for each of the states or cities to have two emperors and two ceasars. However, the Roman Empire gets invaded by the Huns and the Western Empire collapses. With this decline, comes a new ruler, Constantine the Great. He becomes emperor of the Eastern Empire and and Constantinople becomes the capital. The most significant culture feature of this empire (Byzantine) was the rise of Christianity. Constantine becomes a main supporter of this religion because of a vision he had. In his vision he saw a religious symbol (Labarum) and it told him to conquer. He had this "dream" before the battle of Milvian Bridge. At this battle Constantine and his army won. This was coincidence enough to convert him to Christianity. Constantine wanted to spread his wisdom to others so he offered grants and gifts in a form of persuasion. After much of this "preaching" Christianity becomes the dominant religion in the Roman Empire. Constantine started to build monestaries to improve the expansion of the religion. Eventually, Christianity becomes "Romanized". An example of this romanization would be the structure and look of Catholic churches we see today. Christianity became so popular and so expanded, that anyone who was not part of it was considered barbarian. The Byzantine Empire and Rome were forever changed by this religion. This empire was one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe. It can be said, "Constantine converts to Christianity and Christianity converts to Rome."

Holy Apples Batman!

Apples, apples, apples: Granny Smith, to Macintosh, to Honey crisp, and Golden Delicious. Apples are a major fruit import and export in our society, especially during the fall season when people crave their donuts and cider. Apparently, apples have been around since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. But, as far as I know, they date back to 8,000 B.C. A timeline of apples can be retrieved here: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/maia/history.html Since the discovery of this fruit, they have been symbols of love, beauty, luck, health, comfort, pleasure, wisdom, temptation, sensuality, sexuality, virility and fertility. In Greek mythology, Gaia, or Mother Earth, presented a tree with golden apples to Zeus and his bride Hera on their wedding day. However, these golden apples were heavily guarded. The apples soon became a temptation and bribery. Because the golden apples were given to Zeus on his wedding day, a sexual connotation soon became intertwined. This is a possible reason on why apples became a dessert at the end of a meal in Greek society.
Today, apples are only seen as a source of food, health, and pleasure (enjoying the delectable item), and a good source of fiber to help with digestion :). Apples are made in all kinds of varieties to cater to peoples specific desires and wants. These varieties include different colors, tastes, textures, etc. As far as I know, there are not any sexual connotations related to apples, but they make for a great apple crisp dessert or apple pie. The only connotations I know about apples are cider mills and "an apple a day, keeps the doctor away" (health). Cider mills draw in large attractions. People love the good taste of apple cider (hot or cold), apple flavored donuts and bread, and just plain 'ol apples. Now, is it any wonder that apples have become the most sought after fruit?

God didn't make the rules?

As a Christian who was raised in a very religious family, I was always taught to unquestioningly accept the practices and teachings of the faith. You go to church every Sunday, accept Jesus as God's son, repent your sins, and repeat. This routine doesn't allow for question of belief, especially since it is assumed that God himself is the source of the rules we follow. This is why I was rightfully shocked to learn of Constantine's Council of Nicea. Some Roman leader decided what was acceptable for me to believe and what didn't matter? What?!

There were around 300 bishops that were present at the Council of Nicea and all contributed to the decisions about what Christians as a whole should believe. One section in particular was of great controversy during the session, concerning the words of Arius. Seventeen of the Bishops believed this to be true, but were overruled and Constantine made the final decision to reject the teachings all together. Even though a few years later, Constantine would change his mind and come to believe the Arian teachings that the church had refused. When dispute errupted Constantine was quoted, "This contention has not arisen respecting any important command of the law, nor has any new opinion been introduced with regard to the worship of God; but you both entertain the same sentiments, so that you may join in one communion. It is thought to be not only indecorous, but altogether unlawful, that so numerous a people of God should be governed and directed at your pleasure, while you are thus emulously contending with each other, and quarrelling about small and very trifling matters."

What?! A man who holds the beliefs on an entire religion in his hands, considers these matters to be trivial?! How can we be sure that Constantine did not discard an important part of the Christian faith? It's amazing how easy it is to be blissfully ignorant of how many of the practices and rules of the Christian religion were impacted during one council meeting in 325 C.E. Christians of today need to become more aware of the history of their religion, instead of blindly accepting every practice that they are taught because some of those deep rooted traditions were instated by a leader who did not even consider the matter to have much importance.

To better inform yourself on the history of the Christian belief system:
Click here

Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire

Most people have heard about the great Genghis Khan, brutal leader of the Mongols, but many people do not know much about the history of his empire. The Mongol Empire was the largest land empire in the history of the world- larger than the ancient Roman and Chinese empires. At its peak, Mongolian territory covered nearly all of Asia, stretching from the Yellow Sea in eastern Asia to the eastern Europe border. The Mongols are known as ruthless and savage conquerors but they also helped increase contact between the east and west and helped promote trade and the diffusion of ideas and goods.













The story of the Mongols all starts with Genghis Khan, or "Temujin," his given name at birth. As a child Temujin endured many hardships and slavery but when he was still a young man he rose to power as Chief of a small tribe. By 1206 he united all the tribes in Mongolia into one large, powerful empire- much like how Qin Shihuangdi unified the warring states of China. After taking control of the entire empire Temujin was given the title Genghis Khan, roughly translated to universal ruler. Motivated by power, greed and revenge for being held captive, Genghis immediately began to conquer and expand his empire. His first goal: conquer China. Genghis led the Mongols to victory over Xi-Xia, which composed of most of Northwestern China. Eventually the Xi-Xia submitted to the Mongols and became vital administrators to Genghis Khan. The Mongols turned their attention to the west in 1219 when a caravan under the protection of Genghis Khan had been massacred in Otrar, a city of the Khwarazm Empire, which consisted of all or parts of modern Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. Genghis Khan was humiliated by this attack. He put one of his trusted generals in charge of the battles in China while he led an army to central Asia to get revenge on the Khwarazm Empire. Over a three year period the Mongols completely destroyed the Khwarazm Empire and conquered almost all of Asia, coming close to Constantinople. After the destruction of central Asian empires Genghis Khan returned to get revenge on the rule of Xi-Xia, who did not provide troops to assist with the Mongols attack on central Asia. The Mongol leader returned to Xi-Xia and destroyed its capital and slaughtered many of its people.





Genghis Khan died in 1227 but his son Ogotai and later his grandson Kublai Khan continued to lead and expand the Mongol Empire. Kublai Khan completed the conquest of China in 1279 and his dynasty maintained control until 1368.





The Mongol Dynasty did not last long because it lacked administration, was too big, and had no cultural unity. Corrupt government and revolts eventually led to the demise of the dynasty. The Mongol legacy, however, still lives on today. Led by Genghis Khan they were the most savage conquerors in history. They ruled all of Asia with terror and massacred entire cities who resisted them. Genghis Khan murdered the leaders and the most noble people of all cities he conquered in order to prevent revolt and maintain order. He incorporated all captured men into his huge and powerful army.


The greatest lasting impact of Genghis Khan and the Mongols is the modern day of Mongolia, which would not exist without the great leadership of the great Khan.





Info was taken from the following websites:
http://franklaughter.tripod.com/cgi-bin/histprof/misc/mongol.html
http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/keller/mongols/empsub1.html

Global Warming: Man vs. Environment

Global warming has become a increasingly popular issue in the press and many arguments have risen due to the increased warming trend. In the book "The Long Summer" , which I am reading for our Critical Book Review, Brian Fagan also discusses how the increased global temperatures have influenced the creation of many civilizations.

Some sources claim that the increased climate change trend has resulted from human activity's which have increased the release of carbon dioxide and other heat trapping gases. Although the industrial revolution has made the use of fossil fuels more prevalent, the endless cycle of global change over the past 15,000 years can not be forgotten.

The temperature variations between the Great Ice age and today has influenced civilizations to evolve from hunter and gatherer nomads to agriculturalists. The unpredictable and uncontrollable changes have forced populations to vacate their locations to pursue alternate primary food sources. The Relocation and adaptation was not an option for our ancestors, rather a necessity in the survival of mankind.

Although Global Warming is a prominent issue in today's society, we can not forget that without it we would not have developed into the civilization we are today. We must learn from our ancestors to adapt to our current climate and change our behaviors before the climate change turns detrimental.

Information From:
Fagan, Brian. The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html