A Journey Through Christianity and the Roman Empire
Origins of Christianity
What is Baptism?
A Christian sacrament marked by ritual use, admitting the recipient to the Christian community.
What Does it Mean for Someone to Be Resurrected?
To be raised from the dead.
How Did Christian Martyrs Help Strengthen the Faith of Other Christians?
The courage of martyrs inspired Christians to hold onto their beliefs.
How Did the Zealots Feel About Roman Rule in Judea?
They opposed Roman rule. The Zealots resisted the Romans by force, refused to pay taxes, and killed Roman officials.
Events of Jesus’ Life According to the Gospels
Jesus was baptized by a prophet named John in the Jordan River. Afterward, he began teaching from the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus traveled throughout Judea telling people that God would soon come to establish his kingdom.
Why Did the Roman Government Fear the Spread of Christianity?
They feared that Christians, who refused to worship Roman gods, were disloyal. Romans also worried that the gods would be angry if people who became Christians stopped worshipping them.
Beliefs of Christianity
When Was the New Testament Written Down?
Between A.D. 50 and 150.
Who Do Christians Believe Are the Members of the Holy Trinity?
Christians are monotheistic; they worship one God. This one God includes God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Which Part of the New Testament Was Partly Written by the Apostle Paul?
He wrote part of the Acts of the Apostles. Paul’s life and the lives of other early Christians are described in this book.
Do Most Christians Believe That Jesus Was Human, Divine, or Both?
Christian belief holds that Jesus was God in human form. The idea of him as both was very controversial.
What is the Golden Rule?
It says “In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you.” This is because Jesus urged his followers to treat others as they would like to be treated.
What Two Faiths Make Up the Judeo-Christian Tradition?
It is both Judaism and Christianity. This is because they both follow one God, have the Old Testament as scripture, and have similar ethical traditions.
Decline of the Roman Empire
When Inflation Occurs, Do Prices Rise or Fall?
When inflation occurs, it causes a general rise in the cost of goods.
Why Do Mercenaries Fight?
German mercenaries fought for pay rather than for their country.
Whose Support Did a Man Need Most to Become Emperor?
The army’s support was crucial for a man to become emperor.
How Did the Emperors Cause Inflation?
They made coins with less gold or silver and used more copper or less valuable metals. Then, when merchants realized that the coins had less precious metal, they raised their prices. This is what caused inflation.
Why Did Diocletian Divide the Empire?
They would choose a co-emperor to help manage the empire. Diocletian ruled the eastern part of the empire, while Maximian ruled in the west.
How Did the Western Roman Empire Finally End?
The Vandals plundered Rome. The city never recovered from these attacks. The Western Roman Empire ended in 476.
Survival of the Eastern Empire
What is a Strait?
It is a narrow body of water that forms a land connection between two larger bodies of water.
What Attacked Constantinople in 1204?
In 1204, soldiers from Western Europe called Crusaders took the city.
How Might a Moat Help Someone Defending a City?
It would make it more difficult for attacking armies to reach a city.
What Land Did Justinian Try to Conquer?
He tried to conquer lands around the Mediterranean, such as Spain, Italy, and North Africa.
Which Foreign Power Finally Destroyed the Byzantine Empire?
The final attack came from the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
Ancient Age
Eratosthenes of Cyrene
- Calculated the circumference of the Earth.
- Calculated the tilt of the Earth’s axis.
- Estimated the distance between the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon.
- Created the first map of the world.
Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria
- The conception that the Earth was immobile and was the center of the universe.
- Formulated the geocentric theory.
- Performed calculations on the size of the Earth.
Strabo
- Wrote his work Geography in Greek.
- States that the Earth is a sphere located at the center of the universe.
Hipparchus of Nicaea
- Discovered the precession of the equinoxes.
- Achieved greater accuracy in calculating the distance from the Earth to the Moon and the Sun.
- Divided the terrestrial circle into 360° for the first time.
- Created the concepts of latitude and longitude.
- Divided the Earth into parallels and meridians.
Herodotus
- Accurately described the characteristics of the ecumene.
- Considered the Earth as a flat disk.
- Was the first to consider the Caspian Sea as an inland sea.
Middle Ages
Al-Idrisi
- Presents the Earth divided into 7 climatic regions.
- Supported the theory of the Earth’s sphericity.
Ibn Khaldun
- Tried to prove that natural phenomena constantly influence the activities of peoples.
Ibn Battuta
- Wrote the Book of Travels.
Modern Age
Henry the Navigator
- Initiated the voyages of discovery by the Portuguese.
- Created the Sagres School.
- Organized various maritime expeditions to the African coasts.
Bartolomeu Dias
- First European explorer to round the Cape of Storms.
Vasco da Gama
- Managed to reach India by skirting the African coast.
Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano
- Discovered the Strait of Magellan.
Christopher Columbus
- Made 4 trips to America.
- Was the first to chart the round-trip route across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain to America.
- Gave rise to European global expansion and geographical development.
Juan de la Cosa
- Made the oldest world map of the American continent.
Gerardus Mercator
- Developed a type of map projection.
- Made the best curved representation of the Earth on a plane.
- Was the first to call a set of maps an atlas.
Bernhardus Varenius
- Defended the theory of heliocentrism proposed by Copernicus.
- Divided geography into general and universal.
Contemporary Age
Alexander von Humboldt
- Was one of the founders of modern geography.
- Contributed to the development of geophysics.
Carl Ritter
- Defines the influence of the physical environment on human activities.
- Emphasized the comparative study of certain areas.
Wladimir Köppen
- Developed a climate classification system.
- Classified climates into 5 types.
- Published a scientific document called The Climates of the Geological Past.
Paul Vidal de la Blache
- Assumed the region as the object of study of geography.
- Considered that humans adapt to the region where they develop.
Friedrich Ratzel
- Founder of human geography or anthropogeography.
- Developed the concept of living space.
Emmanuel de Martonne
- He was interested in geomorphology.
- Presented aspects such as the erosion of glaciers, the evolution according to their climates, or their degree of aridity.