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decline and fall of the Roman empire... - Count Duckula - 04-18-2005
So much for that great paper on Roman history I blathered on about.
I have a rough draft due at 6:30 tonight and have fifteen sources and a paragraph.
Quote:During the reign of the emperor Diocletian over the eastern half of the late Roman empire, the persecution of Christians reached an all-time high. Diocletian passed laws and even ordered the army to end this threat to national security. Yet when Constantine assumed leadership of the western half of the empire, he counted a belief in Christianity as the reason he won his imperial seat. Theologians, historians, and scholars have raged on for centuries about Constantine's Edict of Milan and conversion to Christianity was a political ploy or a genuine religious belief. However, I intend to propose in this paper that Constantine's conversion to Christianity and subsequent empirical reformations happened to bond the Roman empire back together to prevent it from splintering into civil war.
My paper is a two-prong attack, the history and the discourse. My outline is as follows:
--Christianity under Diocletian
--Constantine's battle for the throne/Milvian Bridge/becomes Christian
--Christianity under Constantine
then
--symbols in Constantine's empire: coinage and statuary
--recorded documents by historians, including the Edict of Milan
--and something wild and wonderful that will tie this all together; I have a feeling that this wild and wonderful thing will involve linking Constantine's (written) actions to events
Or, I'm BSing my way into a rough draft. (Fifteen pages and thirty--THIRTY sources?! Oy gevald!)
Angel had writer's block. I have writer's I've-been-writing-too-many-things-lately-and-my-brain-is-fried-spam.
:(
decline and fall of the Roman empire... - Count Duckula - 04-18-2005
I realize that this post comes across as "please write my paper for me" but this post isn't please write my paper for me. This post is hopefully "please give me a new perspective" or "please give me a good laugh because after 30 hours without sleep I'm pretty humorless at the moment."
Again, :(
decline and fall of the Roman empire... - Occhidiangela - 04-18-2005
Count Duckula,Apr 18 2005, 07:12 AM Wrote:I realize that this post comes across as "please write my paper for me" but this post isn't please write my paper for me. This post is hopefully "please give me a new perspective" or "please give me a good laugh because after 30 hours without sleep I'm pretty humorless at the moment."
Again, :(
[right][snapback]74312[/snapback][/right]
His wife? His Mother? Were they not influential in his conversion, or is that all eyewash? Carroll asserts that cold hard politics trumped any spiritual fervor in the Emperor.
As to the distaff side, the old Power Behind the Throne deal . . . ala Elanor Roosevelt-ish maybe? Or is that an unfocusing thought? Apologies if the latter.
Occhi
decline and fall of the Roman empire... - Assur - 04-18-2005
Hi
Constantine only converted to Christianity on his deathbed, so there are doubts about the strength of his faith amongst historians. One reason for being pro Christianity was the fact that his rivals in the post Diocletian powerstruggles all were rabid persecutors of Christians.
His mother, the empress Helena certainly was very much a christian, responsible for "finding" many of the major relics, the True Cross amongst other things ^_^
I would say that there were two main reasons for Constantine to support Christianity:
-Constantine shifted the centre of the Empire to the east, by founding Constantinople, and in the eastern part of the Empire Christianity was well established amongst the general population.
- The Roman Empire needed a new core ideology, since worship of the deified emporers and the old gods didn't enthuse the people anymore. Christianity gave a new feeling of togethernes and helped establish a sense of difference against the external enemies; the Sassanid Empire being in the main fireworshippers and the Germanic tribes being eiter oldfashioned pagans or, if christians, supporters of the Arrian heresy.
Hope that helped.
good karma
decline and fall of the Roman empire... - Count Duckula - 04-20-2005
The paper is wrote. The paper isn't worth the paper it's on, I think. But if you want to read it, PM me.
In a similar vein, I'm attempting to put together a resume. PM me if you want to read that too.
decline and fall of the Roman empire... - Assur - 04-21-2005
[quote=Count Duckula,Apr 20 2005, 11:17 PM]
The paper is wrote. The paper isn't worth the paper it's on, I think.
Don't worry, I've had bad feelingd about reports I wrote and the grades were better than I expected (of course it also happened the other way round ;) )
Is the grade for the paper important?
good karma
decline and fall of the Roman empire... - Tal - 04-22-2005
Count Duckula,Apr 20 2005, 07:17 PM Wrote:The paper is wrote. The paper isn't worth the paper it's on, I think. But if you want to read it, PM me.
In a similar vein, I'm attempting to put together a resume. PM me if you want to read that too.
[right][snapback]74625[/snapback][/right]
Your PM Inbox is full but I would be happy to read your paper.
-Tal