The Vikings

Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Europe was haunted by many plagues. A major one was inflicted by raids of Scandinavian peoples who began a series of military sea expeditions in the 8th century. They came to be collectively known as the Vikings, sometimes also called Normans or Varangians.

The main reason for the expansion of the Vikings was probably overpopulation. It's also quite possible that their very first expeditions aimed at establishing business contacts. Soon, however, they learned that the lands they visited can be conquered and colonized.

Viking expeditions

The need to leave Scandinavia led the Vikings to explore virgin lands. In 874 they arrived in Iceland, until then inhabited by just a handful of Irish monks. Norwegian settlers formed a state on the island, with the power based on the rule of local chiefs and elders who made political decisions during assemblies called "things". Iceland became the cradle of magnificent medieval culture - it was the very land that set the stage for old Scandinavian written epics, the so-called Sagas, describing Viking beliefs and expeditions.

In 981 famous leader Erik the Red discovered Greenland. This led to establishing a colony there – it would survive until the 15th century. The Vikings probably also crossed the Atlantic and spent some time in Newfoundland, which would make them the first Europeans to set foot on the American land before Christopher Columbus. However, their discovery remained unknown for centuries and had no major historical significance.

Viking expansion took place in three main directions. Norwegians, those who settled on Iceland and crossed the Atlantic, also took the Faroe Islands, Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, Man and north-west England. Cities such as Dublin, Wexford and Limerick in Ireland were founded by Norwegian Vikings.

Danish Vikings crossed the North Sea and attacked the east coast of Britain and Western Europe. Their long boats allowed them to venture deep inland by sailing up the rivers such as the Humber, Thames, Rhine and Seine. Their vessels went as far as the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Swedish Vikings, known as Varangians, ventured into what is now Russia, came to Constantinople, and even reached Baghdad.

Terror of the seas

What made Viking such formidable invaders was that their attacks came from the sea where they felt confident unlike other European sailors who rarely dared to venture too far away from the shore. Easily covering long distances and attacking unexpectedly, they represented a threat that the peoples of Europe struggled to contain.

Fierce warriors, known for their fury in the battle, the Vikings were also pagans. As a result, they didn't find it religiously inappropriate to attack churches and monasteries. In fact, they made them common targets of their raids because of the rich loot to be found there. The earliest Viking attack in the British Isles involved ransacking religious communities on the islands of Lindisfarne and Iona.

In the ninth century the intensity of Viking invasions peaked. Since this coincided with attacks of Magyars and Arabs, the future of Catholic Europe was brought into question. With Vikings' skill to use rivers as communication routes, there were few places where people could feel really safe. In 930s, for example, the Vikings appeared at the mouth of the Seine, and Nantes, Paris, Orleans and many other cities along the route of the expedition up the river were looted.

Repeated invasions

The invaders returned every year and began to occupy coastal islands that they used as starting points for further invasions. Since 851 Europe's largest island - Britain - became the subject of particularly intense attacks. Around the same time, Varangians sailed the Dnieper towards the Black Sea to attack the Byzantine Empire.

When the Vikings began to settle, they blended into conquered populations quickly. It is quite surprising, consiering that they had their own original culture that included advanced arts and crafts, their own law, trade and a complex religion with a variety of gods led by Odin.

Conversion to Christianity

After settling down and establishing relations with its neighbors, the Vikings usually accepted Christian faith. In the British Isles their expansion was stopped by king Alfred the Great, and the Scandinavians who settled there were baptized in 878. In 911 a Norman chief Rollon received as a fief from Charles the Simple the lands he conquiered – they became to be known as Normandy. A year later, Rollon and his people converted to Christianity.

Vikings assimilated completely in the areas where they settled. Although their settlements covered large swathes of land, their original culture survived only in their native Scandinavia Peninsula and a few of the colonized the islands.

In the 11th century Viking expansion began to lose momentum and Scandinavia itself became a part of Christian Europe. However, the Nordic countries did not abandon expansion entirely - after a wave of raids on the British Isles, Danish ruler Cnut the Great was crowned the king of England. Following his death, the empire consisting of England, Denmark and Norway broke up. In total, the Danish dynasty ruled Britain from 1016 till 1042. In 1066 Norwegian king Harald Hardrada who claimed his rights to the English throne was killed in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, but a Norman descendant of the Vikings, William the Conqueror, became king of England after defeating king Harold II at the Battle of Hastings just 19 days later.

Important dates

• 793-795
  Vikings plunder Lindisfarne in the British Isles, invade Scotland and Ireland
• 802
  The sacking of the Iona monastery
• 840
  Vikings take Dublin
• 841
  Vikings appear at the mouth of the Seine
• 845
  The sacking of Paris
• 851
  Early Danish Viking raids on England
• ca. 860
  The first Varangian attack on the Byzantine
• 874
  Vikings reach Iceland
• 878
  Peace between the English and the Vikings in Wedmore; Danes convert to Christianity
• 911
  Rollon receives Normandy as a fief
• 981
  Erik the Red discovers Greenland
• 1013-1042
  Danish dynasty on the English throne
• 1066
  The Normans conquer England

Early Middle Ages

By the end of the 4th century, Western Roman Empire was in decline. Europe and the Mediterranean was being flooded by barbaric tribes. The achievements of the Roman civilization fell into oblivion and it would take centuries for a new European civilization to emerge.

In the fourth century AD Roman borders were based on the river Rhine and the Danube. The lands beyond them were populated by peoples that the Romans referred to as barbarians. Among the various barbarian tribes settled close to the borders were Germanic Vandals, Franks and Burgundians living along the Rhine and the Ostrogoths and Visigoths who lived around the Danube.

For a long time the Romans both fought and traded with them. But in 370s panic spread among the tribes when the Huns from Asia invaded the lands of Central Europe, decimating local inhabitants and forcing the survivors to flee. In 376 the entire Visigoth tribe sought refuge in the Roman Empire. They were admitted and settled there as Roman allies, but soon fell out with their hosts and went on a military expedition that culminated with sacking of the empire's capital in 410 and founding Visigoth kingdoms in what is now France (and later also on the Iberian Peninsula).

Beginning of the End

The legions that used to man their posts at the Rhine border had to relocate to deflect the threat from the Visigoths. With the river no longer guarded, in 406 the Vandals and other peoples crossed it and made their way into Gaul. A year later, last Roman troops left Britain. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes living in the area of today's northern Germany who had been raiding the island, embarked on its regular conquest and started lasting settlements. After a series of successive migrations and wars Franks and Burgundians occupied Gaul, the Visigoths took the Iberian Peninsula and the Vandals settled in north Africa. In Italy, the barbaric leader Odoaker deposed the last Western Roman emperor in 476. This marked the end of the Roman Empire in the West, although Odoaker and other chiefs still formally recognized the dependence of the Emperor in Constantinople.

The rule of Germanic chiefs and constant conflicts between them hastened complete collapse of Roman civilization that had begun long before the barbarians arrived. Trade was dwindling, cities were going into decline, fewer and fewer people were educated and qualified. Although the Germanic tribes developed their own culture and in some respects (quality of ploughs for example) were superior to the Romans, their knowledge of the relatively complex technologies such as heating homes or general development of the fine arts, architecture and literature would take centuries to match that of the Romans.

For a time it seemed that the empire could rise again. When the Ostrogoths began to harass the Eastern Roman Empire, the Emperor was able to persuade them to direct their attention toward Italy. Their leader Theodoric overthrew Odoaker and ruled the country as the Emperor's official representative. After Theodoric's death, emperor Justinian (527-565) took a huge effort to reconstruct the former empire, recovering Italy, northern Africa and southern part of the Iberian Peninsula. This success was short-lived alas - in 568 new Germanic invaders, the Lombards, began the conquest of Italy. During the long wars that followed, Roman civilization in the Apennine Peninsula ultimately collapsed.

In the meantime, a new significant political force emerged in the north-west of Europe. Kingdom of the Franks under the leadership of Clovis (ca. 481-511) and his successors expanded to the south, eventually engulfing the whole Gaul. It became the heart of the country of the Franks. In 496 Clovis converted to Christianity, choosing Catholicism, unlike most of other Germanic rulers who preferred Arianism. Strong relationship between the Frankish monarchy and the Church was to be of paramount importance to both sides for many centuries to come.

Authority of the Church

As the Western Empire collapsed, it took with it its numerous institutions. It was only the Church that managed to keep its head above water, playing an important role in the time of the barbarian invasions. Literacy and experience in administration distinguished the clergy from other social groups. Bishops became the leaders of local communities, and since the central power of the Emperor had been gone, the bishops of Rome - the Popes - were happy to fill that void, assuming leading political role in Italy. Dual authority of the Bishop of Rome - that of St. Peter's successor and the ruler of the former capital of the empire - allowed the Pope, considered in Western countries as the leader of the Church, to play an important political role. This process was further reinforced when more and more barbaric rulers gave up Arianism for Catholicism.

The birth of Europe?

In the seventh century Muslim Arabs overran North Africa and invaded the Iberian Peninsula. This was a pivotal event - the Mediterranean world was thus divided into two zones controlled by mutually hostile religions, and political center of gravity of the Christian West shifted to the north. In a sense, it was then that the very concept of "Europe" was born. The kingdom of the Franks settled as a dominant power in the region. The powerful line of Clovis (Merovingians) weakened and actual power was in the hands of “mayors of the palace” (maior domus). One of them, Charles Martel, stopped Arab invasion at the Battle of Tours (aka Battle of Poitiers). His son, Pepin the Short, supported the Pope in his fight against Lombards and - with papal permission - dethroned the last of the Merovingians, ascending to the throne in 751. Pepin founded the Carolingian dynasty. His son, Charles, later called the Great, was to build an empire whose rise marked the end of early medieval period.

Important dates

• 376
  Visigoths cross the Danube
• 406
  Germanic tribes cross the Rhine
• 410
  Visigoths plunder Rome
• 476
  Dethronement of the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire
• 527-565
  Justinian's reign; temporary revival of the Roman Empire
• 568
  Lombards conquer Italy
• 636-670
  Arabs conquer the Middle East and North Africa
• 711
  Arabs conquer the Iberian Peninsula ruled by the Visigoths
• 732
  Charles Martel stops the invasion of the Arabs in Tour
• 751
  Pepin becomes the first king of the Carolingian dynasty

The Advance of Islam

Islam, one of the three great monotheistic religions, has spread as a result of several conquests over of a vast area stretching from Spain to India. It took just one century to usher a new civilization.

In the seventh century Arabian Peninsula was a desert land inhabited by nomadic tribes. Only on the shores of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean there was more fertile soil. It was there that caravan routes started, to run across the desert and end in the cities of Syria and Mesopotamia. The trails lead through oases where people lived off brokering and where settlements developed. That was the nature of the two cities were located along a caravan trail - Mecca and Medina, which played a key role in the history of Islam.

Muhammad was born in Mecca in the late sixth century. He lost both parents when he was still a child - after his parents' death he was raised by his uncle. When he grew up, he traveled with the caravans. At the age of 24 he married his employer, a rich widow Khadija bint Khuwaylid who would later be known as the “mother of Islam”. Once he had secured his well-being, he could devote himself to religious meditation. Muhammad began to experience revelations during which he spoke to archangel Gabriel. He wrote down Gabriel's words in the form of verses that make up the oldest part of the Koran, the holy book of Islam. Over time, this part has grown to 114 revelations that he had over twenty two years. Then Muhammad began to preach what had been revealed to him - there is only one god almighty - Allah, and the only way to salvation is through total submission to the will of God. The word "Islam", which means submission or surrender in Arabic, gave the name to the new faith, whose followers were called Muslims - "those who surrender."

In Mecca, Muhammad gained a few followers, mostly in among his closest family. However, the merchants living in the city were not supportive of the new idea to say the least. Most of Mecca's wealth was owed to pilgrims visitng the temple of the Kaaba, dedicated to 360 different deities which the new prophet refused to recognize. In 622, knowing that there's a plot to assasinate him, Muhammad fled from Mecca to Yathrib (today's Medina) along with supporters. The date of this escape was called Hijri and over time Muslims become to recognize it as the beginning of a new era in line with the Islamic calendar.

In Yathrib, Muhammad quickly gained popularity as a wise mediator, which helped him win more and more followers. He organized a prophet-led Muslim commune and called Yathrib the “city of the prophet” - Medinat-annabi or Medina. Its inhabitants under the leadership of Muhammad took on fighting with Mecca. In 630 AD, Mecca capitulated which allowed Muhammad to return to his hometown. The Kaaba Temple after destroying the 360 idols was devoted to the one god - Allah.

The choice of a successor

At the time of the prophet's death in 632 all the tribes inhabiting the Arabian Peninsula converted to Islam. Muhammad did not leave, however, any accurate guidance as to the choice of his successor, which eventually led to conflicts and civil wars.

The Muslim commune agreed on rules governing the selection of religious and political leader who was given the name of caliph. Arabs under the leadership of caliphs began a period of great conquests. Once warring tribes, now united under the banner of Islam they proved to be a power strong enough to challenge two largest powers in the Middle East - the Christian Byzantine Empire and Sassanid-ruled Persia where Zoroastrianism was the major religion.

The march of Islam

Muslims wasted no time - their expeditions beyond Saudi Arabia began under the very first Caliph Abu Bakr (632-634). But the decisive period of conquest occurred during the period of the Caliphate of Omar (634-644). In 635, the Arabs took Damascus in Byzantine Syria, then conquered Persian Mesopotamia, and by 650 AD Persia itself. In 642 Byzantine Alexandria surrendered to Arab invaders, which meant the conquest of Egypt.

In such a vast and rapidly acquired empire, where recently settled nomads ruled the peoples of diverse and rich cultures, tensions caused by independence movements quickly emerged. Omar was assassinated in 644 and his successor met similar fate in 656. The rebels who killed Otmane chose Ali (656-661), Muhammad's son-in-law to be the next caliph. His reign changed little in terms of stability - it was marked by internal strife and religious disputes, and Ali himself was also murdered. The next in line was Muawiyah of the Umayyad clan. This time, Ali's supporters (Shī'atu 'Alī) refused to recognize religious leadership of the new caliph. This led to a permanent rift into the Shiite and Sunni Muslims. This schism that continues to be the most fundamental division in the Muslim world today.

With the death of Ali, the so-called classical or orthodox period in the history of the Caliphate ended. Since Muawiyah (661-680) caliph's power was more like the authority of monarchs. The capital was moved from Medina to Damascus. The authority of the caliph was passed in accordance with the dynastic order of Umayyad family. The centralized bureaucratic apparatus preferred to recruit its officials from non-Arab population that was often better qualified.

One state

Muawiyah solidified his power only after thirty years of civil war with caliph Abd al-Malik (685-705). Once unrest at home was over, further conquests were possible. In the east, the Muslims arrived in Tashkent in Central Asia and conquered Sindh and southern Punjab (today's Pakistan). In the west, the conquest proceeded along the North African coast. After passing the Strait of Gibraltar Arabs occupied the kingdom of the Visigoths in Spain and in 718 crossed the Pyrenees, threatening the country of the Franks. Their march was stopped by Charles Martel, and the defeat in 732 at the Battle of Poitiers brought an end to the Arab expansion in Europe.

Caliphate, as a state without internal borders stretching from Spain to India, flourished under Umayyad rule. Arabs took full advantage of accomplishments of the conquered peoples: they adapted Byzantine and Persian methods of administration, benefited from the achievements of the art of war, copied art and explored science. The Umayyads were tolerant of other religions, especially of the "peoples of the Book", namely Jews and Christians, with whom they shared a common biblical tradition. According to the teachings of Islam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus were great prophets whose prophecy was fulfilled by the last of the prophets - Muhammad. The infidels, however, were obliged to pay taxes to the caliphate. This was a clever incentive for the population of the conquered territories to convert to Islam. And since there was a ban on translating the Koran into other languages, converts quickly learned Arabic. As a result, Arab invaders mingled with their subjects, creating a community with a unified culture, where the word Arab began to mean simply Arabic speaking follower of Islam. This way, a uniform civilization sharing the same culture and religion and spanning a large area was established.

However, Umayyads' tolerance of other religions became one of the causes of their fall. Their lack of consistent and strong effort to spread Islam among the infidels caused growing discontent. Abdul Abbas, a descendant of Muhammad's uncle, led the opposition and in 747 he was at the forefront of an open rebellion. In 750, the military rulers of Damascus were defeated in a decisive battle, and the entire family of Umayyad and all of their supporters were killed. The only member of the overthrown dynasty who escaped death was Abd-ar-Rahman - he fled to Spain where he founded an independent state that flourished for the next 300 years. The new Abbasid dynasty relocated the capital to Baghdad in Mesopotamia, which soon became a great metropolis. In this way, the main center of Islamic civilization shifted to the east, and the the influence of Greek-Byzantine culture in Abbasid caliphate gave way to the stronger influence of its Persian counterpart. The Abbasids sought islamization of all its subjects. Throughout the caliphate there was uniformity in the spirit of Arab culture. Only Iran, although its population converted to Islam completely, retained Persian language and cultural identity.

Blossoming civilization

Islamic civilization entered a new phase. Not only did it use the achievements of other cultures, but began to create its own. A so-called "House of Wisdom" was founded in Baghdad, where scholars translated medical and philosophical works of ancient Greeks and studied Indian mathematics, including numbers that we sometimes refer to as "Arab" today. Muslim thinker and the doctor Ibn Sina became one of the biggest medieval authorities in the field of philosophy and medicine and he was known in Europe under the name of Avicenna. The creator of algebra (the term itself is derived from Arabic) was a mathematician and astronomer of the ninth century Abū 'Abdallāh Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, while a Persian algebra scholar Omar Khayyam combined his talents in mathematics and poetry in a unique way.

Literature, fine arts and architecture bloomed as well. Beautiful mosques with shiny domes were built. In literature, Islamic culture used the heritage of folk tales and legends from all over Asia. This was reflected in the classic collection of fairy tales One Thousand and One Nights. For centuries, Muslim culture was significantly ahead of the West. Despite political disintegration of the great Abbasid Caliphate in just one hundred years after its creation, Islamic civilization continued to flourish. Having made East the center of their reign, the Abbasids quickly lost control over North Africa, where the dominance of the Fatimid dynasty (909-1171) prevailed, ruling from the new Egyptian capital - Cairo.

Turkish conquest

The biggest threat to the Caliphate of Baghdad, however, came from the east. Iran showed its political weight again. The situation changed with the advent of barbaric invaders from Central Asia. They were the Seljuk Turks who conquered most of the eastern Islamic world. On behalf of the Abbasid caliphs who retained religious authority, Seljuk rulers called sultans held political power. Seljuks successfully attacked the Byzantines, prompting the emperor to call on Christians from western Europe for a crusade against the infidels.

Muslim unity under the Seljuk rule proved to be as short-lived as that of the Abbasids - by twelfth century the East had already been divided into independent sultanates. Muslims, however, remained strong enough to challenge European crusaders. Once again, a major threat came from the east: the hordes of nomadic Mongols who eventually raided and looted Baghdad, thus putting an end to the Abbasid Caliphate. This has opened a new chapter in the history of the Muslim world.

Important dates

• ca. 570
  Birth of Muhammad
• ca. 594
  Muhammad marries Khadija
• ca. 610
  Muhammad's revelations begin; around 613 he embarks on prophetic activity
• 622
  Muhammad flees to Yathrib (Medina)
• 624-630
  Battles of Mecca and Medina; Muhammed returns to Mecca
• 632
  Death of Muhammad; Abu Bakr becomes caliph
• 634-644
  Omar Caliphate
• 636-641
  Muslims conquer Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Egypt
• 644-656
  Otmane Caliphate
• 656-661
  The rule of Ali - the last of the orthodox caliphs
• 661-680
  Muawiyah becomes caliph; the Beginning of Umayyad Caliphate
• 693
  Conquest of North Africa begins
• 711
  The invasion and rapid conquest of the kingdom of the Visigoths in Spain
• 718
  Arabs cross the Pyrenees
• 732
  The Battle of Tours aka the Battle of Poitiers - the Franks stop Muslim advance
• 750
  The beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate
• 755
  Abd ar-Rahman founds independent Umayyad emirate in Spain
• 786-809
  The rule of caliph Harun al-Rashid
• 909-1171
  Fatimid dynasty in Egypt and North Africa
• 1055-1157
  Turkish Seljuk Sultanate
• 1258
  Mongols capture Baghdad; end of the Abbasid Caliphate

The Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Internal conflicts, economic decline and external threat from barbarian tribes meant that the future of the Roman Empire was brought into question. However, as it turned out, the western and the eastern part faced different fates.

After the assassination of Commodus in 192, the last ruler of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty, the country plunged into a bloody civil war that lasted a year. Septimius Severus, was the one who emerged as victor from the fighting and ascended the imperial throne. Although his reign lasted relatively long (193-211), it became apparent at this time that the real power belonged to those who were able to gain - or simply buy - loyalty of the army. But it was loyalty that one could not count on for too long.

The price of power

The son of Septimius, Caracalla (211-217), was murdered by his own officers, and a similar fate befell many of his successors. Discontented troops in the provinces promptly declared their commanders as their emperors, which led to a string of civil wars that raged for most of the third century. Governance has become a dangerous honor - few emperors survived longer than five years from the accession to the throne. Weakened by internal tensions, Rome also had to face external threats. In the east Persian empire had been revived, while in the north pressure from Germanic tribes was mounting - they ventured numerous raids into the country, wreaking havoc throughout the empire.

Events of the third century ruined a significant part of the empire. High taxes weakened the economy and made citizens hostile towards the state. A gradual devaluation of money, caused by successive reduction of the amount of gold and silver in the coins) undermined confidence in this tender and caused a return to barter. Soon life began to focus around mansions of large landowners, which resembled the feudal relationship that would become commonplace in Medieval Europe centuries later.

By the end of the third century the power fell into the hands of talented military emperors who reunited the empire, but could not solve the underlying problems. A particularly noteworthy ruler was Diocletian (284-305) who thoroughly reformed the state, making it also more despotic and harsh. Diocletian tried to make the empire easier to manage by dividing it into two parts, western and eastern, each ruled by two emperors - the superior augustus and lower caesar. Despite this, the empire remained united and often actually ruled by one emperor, although the division between western and eastern parts was increasingly noticeable. This was a reflection of the growing differences between the two parties, the most important being that Eastern cities prospered better than their Western counterparts.

Christian empire

The system of Diocletian, based on the rule of four emperors, collapsed after his abdication. After another series of civil wars Constantine the Great emerged as the ruler of the whole empire. This had important implications, because Constantine converted to Christianity, believing that this god of Christians had helped him to emerge victorious from the civil war.

For many centuries, Christianity continued to develop despite periods of persecution. The support the religion received from Constantine and the rulers that followed was a decisive factor behind its expansion. Finally, in 381, Emperor Theodosius the Great proclaimed Christianity the dominant religion, banning all other cults. Common faith strengthened the empire for the time being and even after its demise it served as a kind of spiritual bridge between the old and new world.

Another important development during Constantine's reign was the foundation of Constantinople and moving the capital there - this showed growing importance of the eastern part of the empire. After Constantine's death power struggles flared again. Proclaimed emperor by the army, Julian the Apostate attempted to restore and strengthen the pagan religion. These efforts ended with his death in 363.

Barbarians and vandals

The threat from barbarians became even greater after the Germanic people, the Visigoths, made their way into the empire in 376. Initially admitted as refugees fleeing from even more dangerous Huns, they soon began disputes with the Romans. In 378 they inflicted a severe defeat on the Roman army at Adrianople, where Emperor Valens was killed. Order was restored by the last ruler of a united empire, Theodosius the Great (379-395), but soon after his death more barbaric tribes began to pour into the empire - the Visigoths, Vandals, Alemanni, the Burgundians, Huns and Ostrogoths.

In the fourth century, an increasing number of tribes settled in the territory of the empire. Numerous barbaric troops served, under their own command, in the Roman army. The western Rome was becoming increasingly barbaric, even long before signs of impending disintegration of the state became obvious in the fifth century.

The barbarians invaded Gaul, and soon the last Roman troops left Britain. Stylichon, a barbarian general in the Roman service, kept mounting pressure from foreign tribes at bay, but eventually he was assassinated in 408 on the orders of the Emperor Honorius (395-423), anxious of Stychlion's power. There remained no one who could stand up to the pressure from the Visigoths led by Alaric I, who occupied and plundered the city of Rome in 410, and then moved on to conquer Spain. Vandals subjugated North Africa, conquered Sardinia and Corsica, and finally in 455 captured and looted Rome (hence the term "vandalism", meaning mindless destruction).

The last emperors of the Western Empire were merely puppets in the hands of Germanic tribal kings who held the real power in Italy. In 476, one of these kings deposed the last emperor of the West - Romulus Augustulus. This event marked the end of the Western Empire. Thr eastern part of the empire escaped that fate, so the Roman Empire - in its Byzantine form - continued to exist for the next 1000 years.

Important dates

• 192
  Death of Commodus, the last emperor of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty
• 284-305
  The reign of Diocletian
• 324
  Constantine becomes the sole ruler of the empire
• 378
  Visigoths defeat Romans at Adrianople
• 379-395
  The reign of Theodosius the Great, who made Christianity the official religion
• ca. 407
  Romans leave Britain
• 410
  Visigoths loot Rome
• 455
  Vandals loot Rome
• 476
  Dethronement of the last emperor of the Western Empire

Early Christianity

It took Christianity only about three centuries to turn from an obscure cult know by few into the official religion of the Roman Empire. Having survived conflicts and barbaric invasions barbarians, became the bridge between the ancient and medieval era.

Our knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth and the earliest time of Christianity is very limited. Judea was a small, though restless, province of the Roman empire, and religious movements in the region attracted the attention of the Romans only when they threatened public order. The only source of information about the life of Jesus are the four Gospels, written many years after his death. Besides, the Gospels focus mostly on his mission and messages, omitting biographical details. In addition, there are contradictions within them, while some of the information does match with the data from other sources accurately. The factors that contributed to final shape of the text might include inaccurate memories of the authors, misunderstandings, and perhaps some deliberate distortion.

"King of the Jews"

But there is no reason to doubt the basic message of the gospel: Jesus was a Jew who encouraged to repent and renounce sin, get rid of worldly desires, promoted love and kindness, and spoke about the impending Judgment Day that would see sinful souls doomed to eternal damnation. Eventually, Jesus was tried and crucified by the Romans as the alleged offender political (declared "King of the Jews"), probably at the initiative of the Jewish clergy. His disciples proclaimed him the long-awaited Messiah (in ancient Greek Christos meaning "anointed one", "the chosen one"), and claimed they had seen him risen and had witnessed his accession to heaven.

According to contemporary research the birth of Jesus took place roughly six years BC, and his crucifixion between 29 and 33 years of AD, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea (26-36 AD). It was a period of tensions and unrest, conflicts between rich and poor, and finally between the rebellious zealots and those who advocated an agreement with the Romans. There were also disputes between the different sects of Judaism. The atmosphere was hectic and full of expectations as written in manuscripts of the era, found in the desert near the Dead Sea. The texts, left behind by a reclusive sect, reflect a belief in the imminent coming of the Messiah who would help Palestine throw off the shackles of Roman Empire.

Uprisings in Palestine

Supporters of the teachings of Jesus remained in minority, perhaps because - regardless of the pretext that was used to convict him - he didn't promise liberation in the political sense, but offered "kingdom is not of this world" instead. In 66 ADD the great Jewish Revolt broke out, resulting in the Roman looting of Jerusalem and the long, bloody siege of Masada. In 132 AD the Jews revolted again, this time under the leadership of the self-proclaimed messiah, a man named Simon Bar Kochba, but the rise was suppressed.

Both during Jesus's lifetime and in the first years after his death, Christians were just one of several Jewish sects. Early supporters converted outside Judea came from Jewish enclaves that existed in many cities scattered throughout the Roman Empire. Previously, the Jews tried to convert inhabitants of these settlements to Judaism, but the process was hindered by the requirement to conform to all its traditional religious practices, including circumcision.

Christians' decision to abandon these rigors gave the new denomination an advantage over orthodox Judaism at the cost of increasing differences betweeen the two. They were futher deepended by the doctrine preached by St. Paul who claimed that Jesus was not only the Messiah, but in fact the Son of God, sent to this world to redeem the sins of mankind through his suffering. Adoption of this doctrine cemented Christianity as a completely separate religion.

Persecution

Little is known about Christianity in the first century, except that the Emperor Nero blamed the Christians for the great fire that destroyed most of Rome in 64 AD. Perhaps it was the Christian predictions of the Judgement Day and the fires of hell that lead to the accusations. The persecution that followed were cruel, but short-lasting, and Roman sources are silent about Christianity until the 112 AD, when the imperial officer Pliny the Younger wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan, asking for advice on how to deal with Christians. Trajan replied they should not be prosecuted and no action based on anonymous denunciations should be taken. Instead, only those who came out as Christians should face punishment.

The main offense of Christians was that they recognized neither the divinity of the emperor nor the gods of the Roman pantheon. The Romans were relatively tolerant, but it they found it to understand why Christians refused to worship the emperor on a par with Jesus Christ. Roman notables tolerated Jewish resistance against worshiping the emperor, because it was an old, national worship. However, Christianity was new and could be politically dangerous. What's more, many ordinary citizens shared this view, although it is not clear why. by the end of the 2nd century anti-Christian riots broke out in Lyon and in Smyrna. It was often thought at the time that Christians were characterized by "hatred of the human race".

To some extent, this negative perception of early Christians might have been because their religious practices were confined to the privacy of their own homes (churches appeared only in the fourth century AD) and did not accept nonbelievers into their community. In religious matters they were irreconcilable, which sometimes set them at odds with their neighbors. Additionally they refused to adhere to one of traditional civil obligations - that of bearing arms. A simple form of rituals also distinguished them from other communities: there were only two sacraments, baptism and the Eucharist which symbolically reconstituted the Last Supper.

The belief in the imminence of Judgment made Christians disregard earthly matters, interpret Jesus's incitement literally and reject the mundane world. But when it turned out that the Last Judgment would not necessarily come soon, the Christian community began to organize: the positions of deacons, presbyters and bishops emerged and continued to gain importance in the society. Christians compromised with the world of the mundane by rejecting the principle of non-violence, which probably occurred at the end of the third century. However, refusal to worship the emperor induced reluctance on the part of the state. It was not so much a question of religion, as to the obligations of citizens: tribute to the emperor was meant to help consolidate the empire. Christians were persecuted especially in times of crisis that witnessed extensive reform efforts aiming at strengthening the power of the state during the reign of Decius (250-51), Valerian (257-58), Diocletian (303-05) and his successor Galerius (305-11).

Despite all its cruelty, persecution did not last long, so it did not jeopardize the very existence of the cult, but strengthened the faith of survivors. In fact, the emperors probably had to come to terms with the fact that the sheer number of Christians made it impossible to eliminate them all. At the beginning of 300 ADD they were still a minority, but a significant one - they made up about 10 percent of the population.

Christianity emerged when Romans' confidence in their own abilities and their optimism began to wane quickly and there was a general feeling that the empire is collapsing. The need for religious experience was on the rise though and that was something that the highly formalized cult of the Roman gods could not satiate. An array of Eastern gods and religions followed, giving Christianity a few serious competitors. In fact it shared some common characteristics with them - several of mystical cults featured ceremonies symbolizing death and resurrection during which the followers were to be "born " into a new life.

Advance of Christianity

In many respects Christianity had an edge over those religions. It was no different in that it offered a personified god and the hope of immortality, but what set it apart was that it turned towards everyone, not only to the initiated. Christian sense of community was very strong, based on a complete spiritual equality between the rich and the poor, masters and servants. But since it also proclaimed indifference to most of temporal matters as well as obedience to the system of government, it posed no obvious threat to the social order. In fact, Christianity could provide a sense of solidarity contributing to the preservation of the Roman state. Probably it was just one of the reasons why Emperor Constantine, called the Great, advocated it. His favorable attitude validated Christianity and gave it a shot in the arm it needed to become fully developed.

Converted Emperor

Some argue that Constantine's conversion was a result of a vision he had before his victorious battle at Ponte Milvio (312). Allegedly he attributed the vision to the god of Christians. In any case, Constantine urged his political rivals to tolerate all religions while favoring Christianity itself, although formally he remained a follower of the cult of the Unconquered Sun. Once he had seized control over the entire Roman Empire, Constantine declared himself a Christian (formally he became one on his deathbed). The first ecumenical (universal) Church council was held in Nicaea in 325. The very fact that Constantine presided it proves the Church's success in establishing its position and suggests the Emperor's tried to play a key role in its his structures.

Council of Nicea was convened mainly in order to settle doctrinal disputes between the supporters of views that would eventually prevail and those who stood by Arius. Such disputes undermined Constantine's hopes that Christianity would cement the empire's unity. Indeed, heresies (i. e. views of minority sects) often gained support in the provinces such as Egypt where opposition to Roman rule was strong. Over the next few centuries, the Church declared the views of Arius (Arianism) as well as nestorianism, monophysitism and other interpretations of Christian doctrine to be heresies, not allowing for any diversity of opinions.

The state threw its weight behind the Church's rulings. In 391 Emperor Theodosius I banned all non-Christian religious practices, describing them collectively as "pagan". The word "pagan" is probably derived from Pagus (peasant) because it was in rural areas where old beliefs were most difficult to eradicate. In 483 Theodosius II went a step further, issuing an edict by which the Arians and Nestorians were subject to death penalty. Christians turned from a persecuted sect into oppressors.

New ideas

Before the end of fourth century, Christianity had already received a solid intellectual foundation. It was created by the so-called Fathers of the Church - thinkers who adapted elements of Greek philosophy to the needs of Christianity. Another great achievement was translation the Bible into Latin by St. Jerome (345-420). But at this time, the western part of the empire collapsed following repeated barbarian invasions (476). The universal character of the Christian religion was confirmed by rapid conversion of the new barbarian rulers, even though initially most of them turned to the heresy of Arianism. The chaos that followed the raids prompted the peoples of the Western Empire to turn away from the mundane world. In 529 St. Benedict founded the first monastery on the top of Monte Cassino. Since then, the monasteries were to play an important role in the life of Europe.

Rivalry

When Italy lay in ruins, the bishops of Rome - the popes - played an important role as defenders of the faith and values that made up the core of the Roman civilization. They demanded recognition of their leadership over the whole Church. However, Rome had three strong contenders - Alexandria, Antioch, and the capital of the eastern part of the Empire - Constantinople. In the seventh century, Antioch and Alexandria were conquered by Muslim Arabs, leaving Rome and Constantinople as the only surviving centers of Christianity, each representing two divergent traditions - Latin and Greek - that would eventually separate.

Gods and Myths of Antiquity

Ancient Middle East and Mediterranean region were the birthplace of many beliefs, rituals and religious concepts. Interestingly enough, the faith of a small and politically insignificant Hebrew nation was the one whose influence has proved to be the most durable.

Religion seems to be older than history. It can be assumed that Neanderthals buried their dead in accordance with a specific religious ritual, while certainly did so the earliest Homo sapiens. It is believed that from prehistoric times, great cave paintings of Lascaux and Altamira that depict animal life scenes have certain religious value. There's also substantial evidence for the existence of numerous local cults narrowly predating the rise of the very first civilizations.

In the earliest of them, the Sumerian civilization, cities emerged as centers of religious worship around 5000 BC and it was only later that they turned into political and commercial hubs. The first great religious epic, Gilgamesh, was written around 2000 BC, but in fact must be much older than that.

Telling a story about an expedition in search of eternal life, Gilgamesh posed a problem that was to become pivotal in later religions - how to overcome death. One of the stories of the epic describes a great flood that killed all creatures except those who sought shelter in the ark. A striking resemblance to the biblical story of the flood lends evidence to the extent to which the Sumerian concepts influenced the beliefs of ancient Jews and other religious systems.

The power of the gods

Sumerian religion revolved mostly around attempts to placate harsh gods by making substantial offerings. Fearful nature of its followers can be partly explained by the environmental conditions in which they lived - flat, open space made them particularly susceptible to all kinds of disasters such as floods and invasions by neighboring peoples. In addition, the system relying on absolute submission was convenient for the ruling caste of priests who monopolized access to knowledge.

In many different cultures, each of the early cities had its patron deity. Over time, some of those deities gained wider popularity and got grouped in the pantheon (the hierarchy of gods connected by family ties) whose authority extended over the whole country.

Typical was also the way the pantheon expanded to assimilate newly established cults or in response to new socio-political situation. A good example would be the "promotion" of Marduk, the deity of the city of Babylon, the leader of the pantheon at a time when the city gained a dominant position in Mesopotamia.

Similar changes took place in Egypt whose religion survived for over 3000 years, although its history was quite complicated. Its 2,000 deities adopted all possible forms - human, animal or fitted with human body and animal head. They included, among others: Anubis (jackal-headed man), the goddess Bastet (portrayed as a female), Tot (a male with the head of an ibis) and other deities represented by a cow, beetles, and even hippos. Just like in Sumer, the priests were an influential caste, but the bulk of the power was in the hands of Pharaoh, who was worshiped as Earthly incarnation of the a falcon-headed god Horus. Growing importance of the city of Thebes paved the way for greater recognition of its deity Amun. As a result of its fusion with the sun god Ra (Re), the supreme deity of the Egyptian religion - Amun-Ra - was born.

Osiris underwent a different evolution - killed by his brother, he was brought back to life thanks to the efforts of his wife Isis and her son Horus. Osiris has become a very important deity of the Egyptian religion, upholding the death and having the power of granting people eternal life.

The concepts of life after death

Sumerian concept of life after death was rather gloomy, while the Egyptians perceived death as a "passage to happiness." Consequently, the Egyptians treated the earthly life as a preparation for death. Apart from maintaining a virtuous life, one had to secure mummification after death and equipping their coffin with all the supplies and equipment useful in the eternal life. Moreover, in order to overcome all the dangers on the way through the underworld, the deceased had to be cleared elaborate rituals written in the book of the dead. The biggest of all the tombs found in Egypt, the pyramids, were built by the rulers of the fourth dynasty (2613-2494 BC).

Another type of tombs were mastabas and chambers forged in the rock like those in the Valley of the Kings. Only one of these tombs, the burial place of a young pharaoh named Tutankhamun, remained undiscovered by looters. Its treasures, found in 1922, proved to be one of the greatest archaeological sensations of the twentieth century.

The stability of the Egyptian religion has always made an impression on the people who encountered it at first hand. Changes it underwent over the millennia largely involved assimilation of new cults without any serious conflicts. Perhaps the only exception was during the reign of Akhenaten (c. 1369-1352 BC), who tried to introduce a cult of just one deity - the solar disc of Aton - and founded a new capital of the state - Akhetaten. To this day, Akhenaten is seen as a progressive monotheist on one hand, but also as an intolerant fanatic on the other. However, this religious reform did not survive its creator and the opposing forces made every effort to erase his name from the memory of posterity.

Gods and Myths of Olympus

Greek rituals and religious beliefs were strongly influenced by cults of Egyptian and Middle Eastern origin, but evolved in a completely different way. It was important because from the fourth century BC on Greek ideas - along with the culture and language - began to spread to the Middle East following the victorious army of Alexander the Great. Although later the Greeks were defeated by the Romans, their culture dominated by that of the invaders, and consequently spread throughout the Mediterranean and up north, reaching as far as the British Isles where the Roman soldiers serving on the Hadrian Wall erected temples dedicated to Jupiter and Fortuna.

Greek deities are often referred to as the Olympian gods, because they were thought to inhabit Mount Olympus in Greece. The best known deities include Zeus (the ruler of the gods), Athena (goddess of wisdom), Artemis (goddess of hunt), Ares (god of war) and Aphrodite (goddess of love). Their Roman counterparts were Jupiter, Minerva, Diana, Mars and Venus, respectively. A characteristic feature of the Greek deities was that, apart from certain exceptional abilities and immortality, they were almost completely human. The first written document that mentions them (epics of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey) presents them as creatures full of flaws and passions, eager to stir intrigues among human. This type of "humanization" of the deities was characteristic for Greece in the mature stage of its development and fit into a broader conception of the world, with man as the measure of everything. Greek sculpture presented people in their perfection, while myths were full of characters that combined human and godly qualities (Hercules being among the best know ones).

Greek religion, with its sinful deities, may be difficult to understand for contemporary people. However, the sheer number of human sacrifices whose remains were excavated in the temples in Europe and the Middle East provides substantial evidence that the gods were treated with grave seriousness as personifications of powers ruling the world. Also the Greek myths were very rich and contained stories describing creation of the world as well as “histories” of dynasties, wars and expeditions. Their impact has been so great that they are a source of inspiration for artists, humanists, and the whole of modern culture to this day.

Craving for faith

Worshiping Olympian gods seemed to be on the wane during the last centuries BC, although the Romans maintained the cult of Jupiter and the other gods of the pantheon as a form of civil service. One of the reasons could be that in the Hellenistic period (after the death of Alexander the Great) and during the existence of the Roman Empire, people began to feel insecure about their fate. The result was not skepticism, but the hunger of faith. The world of late antiquity was full of all kinds of cults and mystery religions that promised salvation and immortality. Faith in the Egyptian and other gods penetrated Rome and although this trend caused discontent among many citizens of the "eternal city", their tolerant attitude actually created the right conditions for those cults to spread. Aiming to assimilate cults of subordinate nations, they expanded their pantheon with many new, sometimes very strange deities whom they later worshiped.

The hunger for faith in the ancient world was eventually satisfied by a new religion - Christianity, which was born in the Roman province of Judea. Residents of the province were Jews or Hebrews, a nation that has already developed its own monotheistic faith, completely different from the religions of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece.

The early history of the Hebrew people is known only from their own religious and historical writings, called the Old Testament, whose final form solidified many centuries after the events described in them. According to this source, the Hebrew patriarch Abraham left the city of Ur and settled in Canaan in Palestine. His descendants, the Israelites, were freed from slavery in Egypt by Moses and later, under the leadership of Joshua, reclaimed the territory of Canaan where they settled and founded the state of Israel. Like most of records of this kind, The Old Testament contains echoes of memories of real events, but it is difficult to assess the extent of subsequent distortion.

This is also the case with the first rulers of Israel - Saul, David and Solomon. But it is certain that Philistines, the enemies of the Hebrews who came to Palestine in the twelfth century BC, really existed. After Solomon's death, Israel split up into two separate kingdoms, Israel and Judah which soon began to feel the effects of being sandwiched between the great empires. Israel was completely destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BC.

In 587 BC the Babylonians conquered Judah, looted Jerusalem and deported the Jewish population. But the Babylonian captivity did not mean the end of the nation. Some Jews returned to their homeland where he rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem, and survived as subjects until 63 BC when the Romans occupied Palestine and turned it into a province called Judea.

One almighty god

By this time the Jewish religion - Judaism - developed many of the features that set it apart from the others. Their god was not just a local character and was considered to be the sole, universal and all-powerful. It was not a property of rulers and priests either. Perhaps it was the complicated history of the Hebrew nation that prevented the religion from becoming a state institution and made it function as a set of beliefs and values, available to everyone. These beliefs were interpreted and updated by the "scribes" and prophets whose position could be in conflict with the authorities.

The Jews regarded themselves as the chosen people and their belief in one god allowed neither compromises with other religious doctrines nor placing their god among gods of the Roman pantheon. Their independence made them unpopular, although their steadfast faith attracted new follower, contributing to the growth of their communities scattered throughout the Roman Empire. In Judea itself dissatisfaction with the power of the Romans was mounting and in the final years of the first century BC the situation in the province became very tense.

In addition to the zealots - patriots who were ready to take up arms and stand up to fight against the Romans - there were competing fractions within Judaism. Among theme were conservative Sadducees who strictly interpreted and followed the Scripture, and the Pharisees whose interpretations were more liberal and who professed new doctrines. One of them was the idea of doomsday that would see resurrected people face God and answer for their deeds.

It was the times of social and political unrest and there was little doubt that Judah is on the verge of dramatic changes.

Important dates

• around 2000 BC
  The epic of Gilgamesh is written on clay tablets
• ca. 1369-1352 BC
  The reign of Akhenaten in Egypt
• ca. 1352-1343 BC
  The reign of Tutankhamun in Egypt
• 9th century BC
  Reign of Saul and David in Israel
• ca. 970 - 930 BC
  The reign of Solomon in Israel
• 722 BC
  The Assyrians destroy the kingdom of Israel
• 587 BC
  The Babylonians conquer the kingdom of Judah
• 539 BC
  Persians conquer Babylon, the Jews rebuild Jerusalem
• 539 - 142 BC
  Jews under successive rule of the Persians, Egyptians and Seleucid
• 168 - 142 BC
  The Jewish revolt against the Seleucid
• 142 - 63 BC
  Period of Jewish independence
• 37 - 4 BC
  The reign of King Herod, appointed by the Roman Senate

The Roman Empire

Being originally just a colony of a few settlements lying on the hills, within a few centuries Rome grew to the size of a huge empire that dominated the area of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Romans saw themselves as descendants of Aeneas, Trojan, who escaped after the Greeks conquered and destroyed his hometown. Rome itself was to be founded by Romulus, one of the two twin sons of the god of war - Mars.

In reality, however, Rome was originally a settlement on the Palatine, and a city-state that included seven surrounding hills. Thanks to its convenient position at the intersection of trade routes running through Italia, the city prospered very well. Nevertheless, for a long time the Romans were in the shadow of another ethnic group - Etruscans from which many Roman rulers originated.

The new republic

About 510 BC, the Romans expelled the last king of Etruscan origin, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, and established a republic in their city. However, it took another two centuries of conflicts between the patricians (the privileged) and plebeians (lower class) before it the country settled into relative stability.

In the republic it was the senate that passed new laws took important state decisions was. It was composed of representatives of the aristocracy, and the executive power was in the hands of two consuls. The consuls were elected each year by the centurial congregation which comprised representatives of the people. Despite this, the congregation was usually called upon to choose candidates of the aristocracy, and therefore the interests of commoners were represented only by the tribunes, having the right to veto the Senate resolutions and decisions of officials. In practice, however, this system gave the people a sense of civic belonging to Rome which was one of the strengths of the state.

Roman citizenship

This strength contributed to the Romans' ability to create and dominate a confederation of peoples of Latium as well as defeat the Etruscans, Samnites and Gauls. One of the secrets of their success was that their allies and defeated enemies - after some time - were granted Roman citizenship. This meant that the number of Romans increased with their conquests, thus boosting their strength further. This way they gained the favor of the conquered peoples, which would otherwise constitute a permanent threat to the expanding country. These new allies remained generally loyal to the Romans, even in the case of periodic failures, resulting in the latter usually winning the wars, despite the fact that they quite often lost the battle.

By 272 BC The Romans dominated the entire Italian peninsula. Allied with with Carthage, they subjugated the Greek cities of southern Italy, and then expelled king Pyrrhus from Sicily. This island later became the subject of a conflict with Carthage, a north African Phoenician colony, which was the main rival of Rome in attempts to dominate the western areas of the Mediterranean. This led to the First Punic War (264-241 BC). Roman legions, which were primarily land army, fared very well with the mercenary armies of Carthage, but it was only when the Romans decided to create a strong fleet that the fate of the war was set. The war ended with the Carthaginians leaving Sicily and soon after the Romans managed to control the Sardinia and Corsica.

Hannibal

However, this was only the beginning of the conflict whose continuation would put the Roman state to a severe test. A brilliant Carthaginian commander Hannibal (whose father made him swear eternal hostility to Rome) captured Saguntum in Spain in 219 BC and daringly crossed the Alps with his battle elephants. His attack on Italia started the Second Punic War (218-202 BC). Although Hannibal had fewer troops, the Romans suffered a defeat at the Trebbiano (218 BC), Lake Trasimeno (217 BC) and at Cannae (216 BC). However, he failed to make it to Rome itself and despite remaining on the peninsula for 16 years he did not win the final victory. In the meantime, the Romans began to be successful in the fight against the allies of the Carthaginians, conquered Spain and invaded North Africa. Summoned from Italy, Hannibal was defeated at the Battle of Zama (202 BC), and Carthage surrendered.

From that moment the power of Rome grew steadily. In order to avoid any possible threat in the future, the Romans started the Third Punic War (149-146 BC) that resulted in the conquest and destruction of Carthage. Shortly afterwards Greece was conquered too. In total, in the second century BC the Romans subdued even Macedonia, Pergamon in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and the coast of present-day France. Weakened internal conflicts, Egypt remained officially independent, but in reality it was within Roman sphere of influence. Mediterranean Sea was gradually becoming Rome's inland sea.

Reluctance

Expansion on this scale had a huge impact on the lifestyle of Roman citizens. The wealth and luxury did not have beneficial effect on characters of Romans who used to live strict and simple life. The political system of Rome, created for the city-state, could be barely adapted to the conditions of a great empire. Increasingly prosperous class of soldiers reluctantly watched monopolizing power of the aristocracy. The Romans imported huge quantities of war slaves who were cheap labor, which resulted in massive relocation of peasants from the countryside to the cities. There, their growing discontent was becoming a threat to the stability of the state. At the same time, rising numbers of slaves made the outbreak of a rebellion more and more likely. Also the free inhabitants of Italy who had not yet been granted Roman citizenship began to express their opposition to the uneven distribution of privileges in the state.

The time of civil wars

All these factors led to a period of wars and political conflicts that started in the end of 2nd century BC and continued to rage through most of the first century BC, making disintegration of the state a real threat. They resulted in the growth of rivaling parties: optimates who favored the aristocracy and populares who opposed them. The conflict between the two groups largely contributed to the fall of the republic.

State weakness became evident during the invasion of Teuton and Cimbri tribes (113-101) who were eventually driven out by the leader of the populares - Gaius Marius. Then broke out the War of the Allies (91-88 BC) which ended only after Italic allies of Rome were granted Roman citizenship. In 87 BC Marius was driven from Rome by Sulla, the leader of the optimates and winner in the fist Civil War (88-81 BC). Sulla declared himself a dictator in 82 BC, arranged a series of purges and conducted several political reforms that strengthened senate's authority.

After he gave up his power in 79 BC, external and internal crises in the country were addressed by prominent individuals who also began to consolidate their personal power. They were Pompey the Great, the man behind great conquests in the East, and Crassus - the one who suppressed the slave revolt led by Spartacus.

In 60 BC, they made a gentleman's agreement with Julius Caesar (I triumvirate), which allowed for effective governance of the whole country. In 58 BC, Caesar received a lieutenancy of Cisalpine Gaul and proved his military genius by conquering the entire Gaul (58-51 BC) and carrying two famous expeditions to distant Britain (55 and 54 BC).

In the meantime, the balance within the triumvirate staggered with the death of Crassus during his expedition against the Parthians. Considering his position at risk, in 49 BC Caesar marched with his army to Italy, thereby starting the second civil war. In 45 BC Caesar came out victorious as the new dictator of Rome, but in 44 BC he was murdered by the Republicans.

This gave rise to the third civil war, in which Republicans, led by Cassius and Brutus, were defeated by Octavian (Caesar's relative and adopted son), Antony and Lepidus who formed the second triumvirate. Lepidus was soon ousted, while Octavian and Antony turned against each other. Defeated at the Battle of Actium, Antony committed suicide and all power fell into the hands of Octavian.

Octavian, who went down in history under the honorary nickname Augustus ("dignified"), was the first Roman Emperor and ruled until 14 AD. Though republican system was never officially lifted, Augustus held absolute power in the country by holding all key civil and military offices. Republic was therefore fiction, despite the fact that its traditional institutions (eg the Senate) still existed.

Octavian was a skilled ruler - during his reign borders of the empire reached as far as the Danube. The rule of his successors - Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero - who lacked Octavian's restraint were tyrants whose reigns were marked by scandals. However, this had little impact on the functioning of the whole empire, whose heyday was the result of "Roman peace" (Latin: Pax Romana) - giving up further conquests in favor of preserving status quo and excellent organization of the state. Granting citizenship to the inhabitants of the provinces also helped stabilize society of the Empire. Somewhat less glorious was the policy of "bread and circuses" that was meant to keep the masses in the idle, persistent state of contentment by regularly organizing various events that included the struggles of gladiators and other bloody demonstrations.

The only exception to Pax Romana was an attempt to conquer Britain in 43 AD during the reign of Claudius. As a result, the territory roughly corresponding to present-day areas of England and Wales fell under Roman control.

Nero (54-68 AD) was the last ruler related to Caesar and Octavian, but the title "Caesar" (from which the words "emperor", "tzar" and "Kaiser" are derived) was also passed on to his successors. After a bloody conflict that took place in 69 AD it was granted to Vespasian. It was a tough and determined ruler who gained popularity through a program of public works, including the construction of the Colosseum.

The end of the dynasty

Flavian dynasty (Vespasian, Titus, Domitian) could boast of many achievements, though its reign ended as early as in 96 AD with the assassination of Domitian. However it's the Nerva-Antonine dynasty (96-192 AD) that is credited with bringing the times of political, economic and cultural flourishing of the state. The period was marked by the rule of "Five Good Emperors" (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius). Characteristic feature of this dynasty was that each of the rulers assigned his successor not from the circle of his closest relatives, but among the most talented individuals in the country. During the Nerva-Antonine rule the area of the empire reached its peak size.

However, the situation changed for the worse after Marcus Aurelius (161-180) appointed his own son Commodus (180-192) as his successor. He proved to be a tyrant whose death in a plot marked the end of the dynasty. The civil wars that followed were the beginning of the crisis that engulfed the country in the third century.

IMPORTANT DATES

• 753 BC
  Founding of Rome (according to tradition)
• 264-241 BC
  First Punic War
• 202 BC
  Victory of the Romans at Zama
• 146 BC
  The conquest of Greece
• 91-88 BC
  War of the Allies
• 82-79 BC
  The dictatorship of Sulla
• 73-71 BC
  Slave rebellion under the leadership of Spartacus
• 58-51 BC
  Caesar conquers Gaul
• 49-45 BC
  Second Civil War: victory of Caesar
• 44 BC
  Caesar's assassination
• 31 BC
  Augustus brings together all the power in his hands
• 43 BC
  The beginning of the conquest of Britain
• 96-192
  Nerva-Antonine dynasty
• 122-128
  The construction of Hadrian's Wall