When Rome split in two the western empire fell shortly, but the eastern empire lasted 1000 years longer. When Constantine reunited the empire, he decided to move the capital to Constantinople, instead of Rome. The east controlled North Africa and the Middle East. Starting at 500 to 557, the east fought the Persians over territory control. Three wars were fought, and a treaty was made ten years later. The treaty made Christianity legal in Persia and outlined the territories of both empires.  Rome split in two and that wasn’t the best chose for the west.

The best ruler was Justinian. He ruled 38 years. He was a shepherd, but when he turned 16, he walked to Constantinople to meet his uncle Justan. His uncle gave him an education when he arrived. His uncle became emperor and Justinian helped his uncle rule the state. He was even made co-emperor just before his uncle’s death and became true emperor in 527. He was known as Justinian the Great for his accomplishments. He appointed efficient people to government positions. Some of these choices almost cost his empire. In 532, people made a revolt and 30,000 people died. The city was burnt. Justinian defeated the vandals living in North Africa. Justinian wasn’t a soldier, but he had two generals, Belisarius and Narses. Belisarius made the expansion to North Africa. It was unstable and later fell to the Moors. Justinian reclaimed parts of Italy from the Ostrogoths. He also reunited Rome for a short while. While the military conquered more land, Justinian made Constantinople better. He built the Hagia Sophia and made 34 other churches. He made the code of Justinian, which was the code of Byzantium until 1453. Justinian died at 83 in 565. The empire weakened after his death. After Justinian’s death, the army was spread thinly across the empire. The treasury had low funds building and funding the army. Justinian made Byzantine great.

After Justinian ruled, a man named Heraclius. He was attacked by the Slavs and Persians. He put the army around the capital and repelling invaders. The empire began to fall apart. Byzantium gave up trying to reclaim the lands that were lost. After Persia was repelled, Islam overthrew Persia. After taking the Middle East and parts of Africa, the Arabs made a siege on Byzantium. Byzantium repelled the Arabs with Greek fire. By 800, it was so small that it was just Asia minor and the Balkan islands. Byzantium just became a country or a Greek state because Greek was the language.  Heraclius wasn’t the best ruler for the empire as time showed.

The Apostles spread their word and soon, word of mouth spread, and Christianity took over Rome. Jesus was born in 3 AD and was crucified 30 years later. The Apostles continued spreading the gospel after his resurrection. The Christian religion spread even when there was persecution. By the 3rd century Christianity was the main religion in Rome. In 312, the persecution of Christians ended. 83 years later, Theodosius made Christianity the official religion. The church got its government from Rome. Each region was ruled by a bishop and the bishops reported to an archbishop. Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch were special bishoprics. Christianity took over Rome and formed the church by word of mouth.

Monks had a simple life, but not all saw this life was the best. One thing of the church was monasticism. The first monk was St. Anthony, and his idea became widespread. A system was made so monks could support other monks. The monks abandoned society to become a true Christian and their lifestyle was justified by Mark 10:21. One extremist monk is St. Simeon, who lived on a 60-foot pillar. The monastic lifestyle became widespread. This was a moral example for society. They made monastery’s one of which was made by St. Benedict in 540 AD. These monks who followed St. Benedict became Benedictine monks. They were known for their three ideals obedience, poverty, and chastity. The monks had prayer time seven times a day. The monastery was a self-sustaining community. Pope Gregory helped build six monasteries but worked in the government and did lots of public work. Some monasteries were made for women and were called convents and the women were called nuns. Monks and nuns lived with no contact with the outer world, but their lifestyle had problems.

St. Bendict and Pope Gregory are the more famous church fathers, but other people helped shape the church. Other than St. Benedict and Pope Gregory, there are other people who helped make the church. The study of the church fathers is called Patristics. The eastern and western church had four men to be great church fathers. These men are the eight doctors of the early church. From the western church are Saint Ambrose, Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine, and Pope Gregory the Great. From the eastern church are Basil, Athanasius, Gregory of Nazangus, and John Chrysostom. More important leaders are Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna. These men were taught by the 12 apostles. Other Church fathers are from Greece Clement of Alexandria, the Cappadocian Fathers, and John Chrysostom. Some Latin church fathers are Jerome of Stridonium, Tertullian, Augustine of Hippo, Gregory the Great, and Ambrose of Milan. The only difference of these men is what language they wrote in. The last western church father is John of Damascus, but sometimes given to Bennard of Clairveaux. The eastern church doesn’t consider the church fathers to be finished. Most church fathers wrote books in the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha isn’t considered canon of the scripture. There are more people than the famous ones who shaped the church to what it was then.

Most of the church fathers were praised for their writings. No one had all the answers. When problems came, they called a council. The first one of these councils was in Acts 15. The big debate was if Gentiles should be circumcised and become Jews. They decided not to but outlined imperatives for now converts to follow. More councils and more difficult subjects were addressed. The Church fathers were praised but not always right.

Many times, a creed was used to persuade people to one thing. A creed is a succinct way to convey what you believe, such as Apostle’s Creed or Nicene Creed. We don’t know if the Apostle’s Creed was written by the Apostle’s, but it outlines the truths of Christianity, like the existence of the godhead or Christ’s work for sins. The Nicene council was called by Constantine and over 300 bishops. This council ended in the first uniform doctrine. Athanasius was there and was battling Arianism. Arianism was taught by Arius, a man who taught that Christ was fully man and wasn’t equal to God. Arianism made divisions in the church, so the council made a creed to counter Arianism. This creed is much like the Apostle’s Creed but, has detail defining that Christ has Godhood. The council of Chalcedon, was held in 451, said that Christ was fully man even though he is both man and God. People used creeds to persuade people such as the Arianis.

The Mycenae and the Minoa were the earliest civilizations and were the opposites of each other. The Mycenae were defeated at Troy by the other tribes while the Minoa were peaceful. The Dorians claimed the old Mycenean cities. The high Greek culture was restored at 800 BC. After that, the Greeks started taking over the Mediterranean. Soon after, democracy came to Athens. Persia attacked Greece so the Greeks teamed up and won the war. The biggest rivalry in all of Greece was Athens and Sparta. One of Greece’s best generals was Alexander the Great. If you want to learn about Alexander, the Great click here. After all that, Rome came and took it all over.

China had five dynasties by 500 AD — the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties. The Xia left no records, so we know little to nothing about them. The Shang had organized cities but had cruel king which let to slave revolt. The Zhou was split in two sides and 200 states fought. The Qin was led by Shi Huangdi who led under dictatorship. He moved all the nobles to the capitol to prevent a Rebellon. One famous thing he did was build the Great Wall of China which you can see from space. He was also buried with thousands of terracotta solders. The Han reunited China and tried to replace the burnt books from the Qin. They also had a less brutal rule. The Han also found out that the year has 365¼ days that is why we have leap year. They made paper out of bamboo. Later, food shortages made the Han decline and the was a coup and the emperor fled. If you enjoyed this essay, then drop a follow and see you next time.

Isaac was born to Sarah and Abraham. Shortly after, a feast was thrown for Isaac. Ishmael was kicked out of the feast. In the Desert, he ran out of water. So, God promised Hagar that Ishmael’s descends will be great. He later became a good archer. God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He obeyed and believed that God would raise him. God stopped him and told him to kill a ram that he provided. Sarah died at 127. So, Abraham bought a field to bury her. Eliezer went out to find a wife who wasn’t a Canaanite. He found Rebekah, Abraham’s great-niece. They had twins Jacob and Esau.

Ancient Europe had many countries such as the Celts and the Etruscans. Europe has no deserts but has mountains. The Celts where the dominant tribe in Europe. The Celts lived all over until 0 AD. Then, they moved to the United Kingdom. The Celts lived in fines or small communities. The Etruscans where the first inhabitants of Modern-day Italy. Some of the ancient European artifacts are Stonehenge and Banyule mounds.