4.4 2024 Christianity and the end of the Roman Empire

• History
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 1

The Time of Greeks and Romans

4.4- Christian Rome

What are we going to do?

Recap paragraph 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3

Explanation paragraph 4.4 Christian Rome

Check your homework (individually)

Do exercises

Aims

At the end of this lesson you can explain:

The connection between Judaism and Christianity

How Christianity developed from a forbidden cult into the dominant religion

Give examples of how Christians were persecuted

Recap

1. Make groups of three or four people

2. You will receive a paper cup

3. Play Happy Families (kwartet) 15 minutes

4. Each time someone has a happy family answer the question that goes with this family as a team, write the answer down.

Questions to answer:

When you have a happy family you answer the question that corresponds with your family (help each other)

1. Explain the meaning of the following forms of government: aristocracy, monarchy, republic, empire

2. Rome was ruled as a republic for many years. Explain how the republic was ruled use the terms: dictator, senate, consul and patricians.

3. Who was Caesar? Explain and use the terms: general, civil war, murdered, dictator for life

4. Greek-Roman: Explain in your own words what Romanisation is.

5. Inventions by the Romans: Do you know an other invention?

6. People: Who would you like to be and why?

Around 100 AD the Roman Empire had reached its largest size.

Jesus was born in 1 AD in the province Judea (today Israel)

Judea in the Roman Empire

63  BC the Romans captured Judea, the area that is now called Israel. It was ruled by a king (client kingdom)

Jews were forced to worship the Roman emperor. They refused.

 Jews lived in diaspora from 132 AD: they left Judea and moved to other areas in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Many preserved their culture, faith and practices; for this, they were often distrusted. 

Check your homework

Christianity

In 33 AD, the Romans executed a Jewish preacher, Jesus Christ. 

His followers, called Christians, believed God had raised him from the dead. 

Christianity became a cult within Judaism. It grew in all parts of the Empire, mainly among poor people. 

Jesus was arrested for rebellion against Roman rule.

He was sentenced to death by crucifixion by the Roman governor of Judea: Pontius Pilatus.

Jesus was crucified in 33 AD, together with two criminals

Jesus had followers like Petrus, Paulus, Judas, Lucas and Marcus. These are also known as the apostles. After Jesus' 

death the apostles spread Jesus' teachings across the empire.

What is the name for non-Jewis people?

Very gradually, more and more people in the Roman Empire became Christians

Emperor Nero, who ruled from 54 till 68 AD, is known for burning Rome and persecuting the Christians

Read Christianity grows in the empire
Why was this new religion so popular?

Christianity was very polular among poor people because:

1. The Christians took care of the poorest and the weakest

2. The Christians promised a wonderful life in the afterlife

Do exercises

1 and 2

Done? Read Constantine the Great page 87/88 of your tb

Done? Read page 90 of your TB

Emperor Constantine would become the first Christian emperor. This ended the persecution and caused Christianity to spread further very quickly.

The night before an important battle Constantine had a dream. In the dream his was told that he would win the battle if he fought under the sign of the Christian cross.

Some accounts say that Constantine saw the Greek letters Chi and Rho in his dream and not the cross. Chi and Rho represented the spelling of Christ in Greek. 

The next day he had his soldiers paint the Christian symbol of Chi Rho on their shields.

And guess what? His army won the battle.

In 330 AD Constantine established a new capital of the Roman Empire. He built it on the location of the ancient city of Byzantium. The city was named Constantinople after Emperor Constantine. Constantinople would later become capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire.

Aims

At the end of this lesson you can explain:

The connection between Judaism and Christianity

How Christianity developed from a forbidden cult into the dominant religion

Give examples of how Christians were persecuted

Exercises

Do exercise 6,7,8 paragraph 4.5 in your WB

20 minutes

In the 4th and 5th centuries, Germanic tribes, like the Goths, Vandals and Franks invaded the Roman empire.

The Romans called these Germans "barbarians".

Especially the Western Roman empire was attacked, conquered and plundered by different Germanic tribes.

In 410 AD the Visigoths attacked and plundered the city of Rome. In 455 the Vandals did the same and plundered the city for two weeks.

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The Eastern Roman empire continued under the name Byzantine Empire for another 1000 years.

The Western Roman empire was gone. Germanic tribes had created their own kingdoms here. 

Rome had always provided a strong government, education, and culture. Now much of Europe fell into barbarianism. The next 500 years would be known as the Early Middle Ages, or Dark Ages of Europe.

In 476 AD, a Germanic barbarian by the name of Odoacer took control of Rome. He became king of Italy and forced the last emperor of Rome, Romulus Augustulus, to give up his crown. Many historians consider this to be the end of the Western Roman Empire.

congratulations

Exercises

6

hippodrome

amphitheatre

aquaduct

imperial palace

temple