WEBVTT 00:01.167 --> 00:04.197 PAUL FREEDMAN: So welcome to History 210, The 00:04.200 --> 00:06.130 Early Middle Ages. 00:06.133 --> 00:08.003 I'm Paul Freedman. 00:08.000 --> 00:11.030 And behind this innocuous title "The 00:11.033 --> 00:11.973 Early Middle Ages"-- 00:11.967 --> 00:14.167 I think we're going to have to jazz it up a little. 00:14.167 --> 00:17.227 I think we're going to put an exclamation mark on it, at 00:17.233 --> 00:21.173 least. But behind this innocuous title, you will see, 00:21.167 --> 00:27.067 I hope, if you stay for this course, a strange course. 00:27.067 --> 00:33.527 Strange, not because it covers the particular period 250 to 00:33.533 --> 00:39.103 1000, but because it starts out very recognizable, and 00:39.100 --> 00:42.670 gets stranger and stranger, and seems to dissolve into a 00:42.667 --> 00:47.027 kind of a hard to grasp world. 00:47.033 --> 00:48.303 Hard to grasp, but fun. 00:48.300 --> 00:50.830 I will talk about both the strangeness and the fun 00:50.833 --> 00:54.303 aspects in more detail. 00:54.300 --> 00:58.170 There are several great themes in this span of centuries: the 00:58.167 --> 01:04.097 fall of the Roman Empire; its survival in the East, as the 01:04.100 --> 01:08.600 Byzantine Empire; the so-called barbarian invasions 01:08.600 --> 01:13.430 and kingdoms, set up on the ruins of the Roman Empire; the 01:13.433 --> 01:16.603 triumph of Christianity, which went from being an outlawed 01:16.600 --> 01:20.030 minority religion to the established faith of the Roman 01:20.033 --> 01:23.273 Empire; and then survived the extinction 01:23.267 --> 01:25.697 of the Roman Empire. 01:25.700 --> 01:31.600 We have two Teaching Fellows: Lauren Mancia, sitting at this 01:31.600 --> 01:38.100 end, and Agnieszka Rec standing in that corner. 01:38.100 --> 01:40.470 So far, there are sections scheduled for Wednesday at 4 01:40.467 --> 01:43.297 o'clock and Friday at 10:30. 01:43.300 --> 01:46.870 We'll probably have two other sections. 01:46.867 --> 01:51.827 We'll see how large the class is next week. 01:51.833 --> 01:55.273 Let me know if those two section times-- 01:55.267 --> 01:58.467 well, probably, the sections to be added would be on 01:58.467 --> 02:01.697 Thursday: Thursday afternoon, and Thursday evening. 02:01.700 --> 02:05.030 Let me know if you have some special problem in terms of 02:05.033 --> 02:08.973 the scheduling of the sections. 02:08.967 --> 02:14.297 As I said, when some of you were already here, I'll have 02:14.300 --> 02:18.530 some pauses, so that if you are shopping and want to look 02:18.533 --> 02:23.733 at another course, it'll be, if not easy, at least possible 02:23.733 --> 02:30.233 for you to get up and leave. So I'll have several pauses 02:30.233 --> 02:32.173 during the presentation. 02:32.167 --> 02:37.467 But, I should say, I do want to give a full class 02:37.467 --> 02:39.797 discussion today, or presentation today. 02:39.800 --> 02:41.400 We only have so many 02:41.400 --> 02:43.070 opportunities to discuss things. 02:43.067 --> 02:45.427 And I'd like to set the scene for you. 02:45.433 --> 02:50.303 And I think that will also help you decide about taking 02:50.300 --> 02:52.130 this course. 02:52.133 --> 03:01.333 Now, this course is part of the Yale Open Courses Program. 03:01.333 --> 03:05.033 And, as you probably know, there are lots of-- 03:05.033 --> 03:09.203 well, a select number, but a substantial number, of courses 03:09.200 --> 03:14.200 that are offered free to the public via the Internet. 03:14.200 --> 03:16.570 And this is one of them for the fall. 03:16.567 --> 03:22.227 And I take this opportunity to greet our Internet students 03:22.233 --> 03:26.033 and Internet friends. 03:26.033 --> 03:31.373 So since it's part of this project, a Yale University 03:31.367 --> 03:37.027 broadcast team will be recording all the classes. 03:37.033 --> 03:41.333 And they'll be as unobtrusive as possible. 03:41.333 --> 03:44.473 The classroom experience will be essentially as it would be 03:44.467 --> 03:47.867 if they're not there. 03:47.867 --> 03:54.927 And it's their intention to videotape me, and not you, so 03:54.933 --> 04:00.573 neither your faces nor voices are supposed to appear. 04:00.567 --> 04:04.767 Your questions are unlikely to be heard. 04:04.767 --> 04:09.767 I will repeat the questions, so that people watching this 04:09.767 --> 04:12.467 on the Internet will have an idea. 04:12.467 --> 04:15.697 And I do encourage questions, both things that you haven't 04:15.700 --> 04:18.530 understood or things for elucidation. 04:18.533 --> 04:22.403 I have a slightly more formal lecture style than some 04:22.400 --> 04:24.930 people, perhaps. 04:24.933 --> 04:29.603 I try to have a reasonably structured lecture that 04:29.600 --> 04:31.600 doesn't wander off too much. 04:31.600 --> 04:35.130 Some of you have taken courses from me and know I have 04:35.133 --> 04:40.433 certain themes, or preoccupations, or diversions. 04:40.433 --> 04:45.333 But I'm going to try to be as coherent as possible, partly 04:45.333 --> 04:47.473 because we are filming. 04:50.667 --> 04:53.967 So I hope that you're enthusiastic about the fact 04:53.967 --> 04:56.567 that we are participating in this Yale Open Courses 04:56.567 --> 04:57.667 initiative. 04:57.667 --> 05:00.567 And, having said that, now you should just think it away. 05:05.933 --> 05:08.603 The broadcast team is not very conspicuous. 05:08.600 --> 05:11.730 And the objective is for us to interact in the classroom as 05:11.733 --> 05:12.933 we normally would. 05:12.933 --> 05:19.003 And this is part of the unique experience of teaching and 05:19.000 --> 05:21.130 learning at Yale, so don't hesitate to ask me if you have 05:21.133 --> 05:25.303 any questions or concerns. 05:25.300 --> 05:27.770 The syllabus, you all have copies of 05:27.767 --> 05:28.867 the syllabus, I believe. 05:28.867 --> 05:34.227 And, of course, you'll have seen it on the server. 05:34.233 --> 05:36.833 The books are at Yale Bookstore, and 05:36.833 --> 05:40.333 they are all there. 05:40.333 --> 05:41.873 I hope there will be enough copies; if 05:41.867 --> 05:43.497 not, we will get more. 05:43.500 --> 05:47.800 The first assignment is, conveniently in this sense, 05:47.800 --> 05:49.300 from the course pack. 05:49.300 --> 05:52.800 The course pack is at TYCO, the photocopy 05:52.800 --> 05:55.430 place on Elm Street. 05:55.433 --> 06:01.603 If you don't know where that is let us know. 06:01.600 --> 06:08.330 And the assignments for Monday and Wednesday, those first two 06:08.333 --> 06:11.833 assignments are from Peter Brown's The World of Late 06:11.833 --> 06:16.003 Antiquity and A. H. M. Jones' Constantine and the Conversion 06:16.000 --> 06:17.430 of Western Europe. 06:20.800 --> 06:23.800 Questions so far? 06:23.800 --> 06:24.300 Right. 06:24.300 --> 06:24.770 OK. 06:24.767 --> 06:27.767 So the requirements that you see on the syllabus are a 06:27.767 --> 06:31.727 short paper that's due October the 10th. 06:31.733 --> 06:37.533 A mid-term, that will be held in class October 17th. 06:37.533 --> 06:42.773 And a long paper, which is due December 5th. 06:42.767 --> 06:45.067 That long paper is a research paper. 06:45.067 --> 06:48.427 And we'll be glad to help you choose a topic, offer you 06:48.433 --> 06:51.273 suggestions, help you get started on that. 06:53.933 --> 07:01.573 It's 15 to 20 pages, and it counts for 40% of your grade. 07:01.567 --> 07:08.197 The mid-term counts 30% of the grade; the short paper 20%, 07:08.200 --> 07:13.600 and your section grade is 10%. 07:13.600 --> 07:17.100 Now, this course does not have onerous requirements. 07:17.100 --> 07:22.270 But I expect you to do the requirements that we have. 07:22.267 --> 07:25.627 There's no final exam. 07:25.633 --> 07:30.633 I urge you to blot out of your mind the temptation not to do 07:30.633 --> 07:33.503 the reading because there's no final exam, or the reading of 07:33.500 --> 07:35.630 the second part of the course. 07:35.633 --> 07:38.603 And if we think that this is a problem, judging on the basis 07:38.600 --> 07:42.530 of how the sections go, we reserve the possibility of 07:42.533 --> 07:45.403 giving you quizzes in the section in the section 07:45.400 --> 07:45.670 [correction: second] 07:45.667 --> 07:50.567 half of the course. 07:50.567 --> 07:53.927 Paper times, I'm going to be firm on this. 07:53.933 --> 07:56.933 I can't say absolutely no extensions on the paper, 07:56.933 --> 07:59.833 because I acknowledge the existence of overwhelming 07:59.833 --> 08:01.403 emergencies. 08:01.400 --> 08:04.570 But let me give you an example of an excuse that's not going 08:04.567 --> 08:07.627 to be accepted: "I have three other papers 08:07.633 --> 08:10.303 due that week." OK? 08:10.300 --> 08:11.570 Plan in advance. 08:11.567 --> 08:12.967 We are at your disposal. 08:12.967 --> 08:17.297 If you want to plan your final paper tomorrow, hey, this 08:17.300 --> 08:20.670 afternoon, talk to me. 08:20.667 --> 08:24.527 I'm eager to hear from you about that. 08:24.533 --> 08:29.533 In the sections, we don't want you to bring laptops. 08:29.533 --> 08:33.273 And the reason for that is, not that we think you're going 08:33.267 --> 08:37.997 to be Facebooking or answering your email, because we know 08:38.000 --> 08:41.530 that you never do that. 08:41.533 --> 08:44.803 The laptops, in our experience, interfere with the 08:44.800 --> 08:46.970 purpose of the section, which is partly to 08:46.967 --> 08:48.267 talk to each other. 08:48.267 --> 08:52.527 And rather than focusing on the screen, and then, in a 08:52.533 --> 08:56.303 sense, being a series, of archipelago of little islands, 08:56.300 --> 08:59.730 rather than a section, in the sense of give and take and 08:59.733 --> 09:00.473 interchange. 09:00.467 --> 09:03.427 If you think that that imposes some kind of hardship on you, 09:03.433 --> 09:08.173 I think you'll find that it is pleasant. 09:08.167 --> 09:14.197 And if there's some technical hardship, let me know. 09:14.200 --> 09:15.930 So logistical questions? 09:19.000 --> 09:21.500 Questions about the organization in the course, or 09:21.500 --> 09:24.530 any other aspect of this? 09:24.533 --> 09:27.003 Good, that means that I'm clearer 09:27.000 --> 09:28.770 than on some occasions. 09:32.767 --> 09:40.297 So, if anybody wants to leave now, this is one opportunity. 09:40.300 --> 09:44.200 But, since it looks like I have your attention riveted, 09:44.200 --> 09:49.970 let me introduce the course in terms of its actual content. 09:49.967 --> 09:53.967 We are beginning by looking at the crisis 09:53.967 --> 09:55.497 of the Roman Empire. 09:55.500 --> 09:59.530 And then we will be looking at its peculiar legacy. 09:59.533 --> 10:03.273 In the year 1000, where we stop, we will still be dealing 10:03.267 --> 10:08.367 with The Inheritance of the Roman Empire, the title of 10:08.367 --> 10:10.427 Chris Wickham's book, one of the books that we're going to 10:10.433 --> 10:13.473 be using a lot. 10:13.467 --> 10:17.227 The legacy is peculiar because, while the memory of 10:17.233 --> 10:22.233 the Roman Empire remains intact throughout the period, 10:22.233 --> 10:23.003 and beyond-- 10:23.000 --> 10:25.100 I mean, to this day, the head of the Catholic 10:25.100 --> 10:28.400 Church is in Rome. 10:28.400 --> 10:35.130 Until 1960, the transactions of the papacy were in Latin: 10:35.133 --> 10:38.473 the services of the Church were in Latin, the Catholic 10:38.467 --> 10:39.727 Church were in Latin. 10:39.733 --> 10:44.133 And Latin remains the official language of the Catholic 10:44.133 --> 10:46.633 church in its administrative head. 10:46.633 --> 10:53.033 So the most faithful preserver of Rome and its legacy, 10:53.033 --> 10:57.133 historically, is the Catholic Church. 10:57.133 --> 11:00.973 And this is a paradox because the Church begins its career, 11:00.967 --> 11:05.127 and, indeed, its first 250 years, as illegal 11:05.133 --> 11:06.303 in the Roman empire. 11:06.300 --> 11:08.630 And, indeed, there are periodic persecutions where 11:08.633 --> 11:13.533 people were punished, including killed, because they 11:13.533 --> 11:14.803 were Christian. 11:17.000 --> 11:21.370 The most faithful preserver of Rome, however, after the fifth 11:21.367 --> 11:24.697 century collapse of the Empire in the West, is the so-called 11:24.700 --> 11:26.700 Byzantine Empire-- 11:26.700 --> 11:31.070 the Byzantine Empire with its headquarters in 11:31.067 --> 11:32.297 Constantinople. 11:34.267 --> 11:37.527 Despite the fact that it would abandon Latin for Greek in the 11:37.533 --> 11:40.573 sixth century and turn into a very different kind of 11:40.567 --> 11:45.867 political and cultural entity, the Byzantine Empire went down 11:45.867 --> 11:53.397 in flames to the Turks in 1453 still as the Roman Empire. 11:53.400 --> 11:56.870 That was its official name to the end. 12:00.433 --> 12:05.433 Another heir to the Roman Empire, in a sense, is Islam, 12:05.433 --> 12:08.503 which begins in the seventh century, in the 12:08.500 --> 12:10.270 middle of our period. 12:10.267 --> 12:12.897 I don't have to emphasize to you the historical 12:12.900 --> 12:16.100 importance of Islam. 12:16.100 --> 12:20.370 But our task is to understand its origin and its astonishing 12:20.367 --> 12:27.327 expansion in terms of this era, 250 to 1000. 12:27.333 --> 12:30.733 To understand it in terms of its times, and thus how it 12:30.733 --> 12:37.003 arises and interacts with the Roman and Byzantine as well 12:37.000 --> 12:41.270 as, offstage, the Persian, Empires that it either 12:41.267 --> 12:45.667 destroys or weakens in the seventh and eighth centuries. 12:45.667 --> 12:49.427 Mohammed was from outside the former empire, from Arabia, 12:49.433 --> 12:51.573 and may be said to represent a very different 12:51.567 --> 12:53.897 kind of set of ideas. 12:58.233 --> 13:02.373 But the power of Islam would, for centuries, be concentrated 13:02.367 --> 13:06.667 in areas of the former Roman Empire: the Mediterranean, the 13:06.667 --> 13:09.127 Balkans, Egypt, Syria, North Africa. 13:09.133 --> 13:13.233 Of course, in the latter, it still is the overwhelming 13:13.233 --> 13:14.473 majority religion. 13:17.600 --> 13:22.770 And Islam then brings up a sort of question that I'm not 13:22.767 --> 13:26.167 going to deal with directly very much, but that will be at 13:26.167 --> 13:29.367 the back of our minds, and that is relevance. 13:29.367 --> 13:32.167 This is a pre-industrial course; it's in the very 13:32.167 --> 13:35.527 pre-industrial category in terms of requirements. 13:35.533 --> 13:37.973 It's far away; it's distant. 13:37.967 --> 13:40.927 That is part of its appeal, I think, is as I said, its 13:40.933 --> 13:42.873 strangeness. 13:42.867 --> 13:45.997 But the lessons from the material covered in this 13:46.000 --> 13:48.100 course are perhaps these-- 13:48.100 --> 13:49.730 worth thinking about. 13:52.267 --> 13:56.267 How, perhaps the most successful, multi-cultural 13:56.267 --> 14:02.797 empire of Western history, how it did that, how it endured 14:02.800 --> 14:03.730 for so long. 14:03.733 --> 14:07.203 The success of the Roman Empire and 14:07.200 --> 14:10.070 why it finally failed. 14:10.067 --> 14:15.367 And in that failure, how does a rich, literate, 14:15.367 --> 14:21.667 well-developed society come to be destroyed by a more 14:21.667 --> 14:22.727 primitive one? 14:22.733 --> 14:26.503 Primitive, at least, in the sense of material culture, 14:26.500 --> 14:30.130 economic complexity, urbanization, and literacy. 14:33.333 --> 14:38.933 Another important lesson is the power of religious ideas, 14:38.933 --> 14:44.973 not only intrinsically as part of people's lives and outlook, 14:44.967 --> 14:50.997 but socially and historically: how religion affects the 14:51.000 --> 14:54.530 political course of history. 14:58.000 --> 15:01.330 Having said this, I think I did mention, I was going to 15:01.333 --> 15:04.003 tell you what was fun about this course. 15:04.000 --> 15:07.500 This is what I think is fun, and I've already kind of 15:07.500 --> 15:10.000 alluded to this. 15:10.000 --> 15:13.570 We begin with a familiar world, in the sense that the 15:13.567 --> 15:16.227 Roman Empire, although obviously not technologically 15:16.233 --> 15:20.003 the same as the one we live in, is a very advanced society 15:20.000 --> 15:22.000 and a very complex one. 15:22.000 --> 15:23.400 Advanced? 15:23.400 --> 15:26.270 Well, go to Europe and look around, and see the 15:26.267 --> 15:28.297 engineering feats of the Romans. 15:28.300 --> 15:35.630 See the public life that the baths, stadia, temples, law 15:35.633 --> 15:42.403 courts, marketplaces, whose ruins still, in many 15:42.400 --> 15:47.270 instances, dwarf the towns that survived around them. 15:47.267 --> 15:50.927 See what an accomplishment that is. 15:50.933 --> 15:56.433 It is a huge empire, a bureaucratic empire, one with 15:56.433 --> 16:01.533 lots of literate people, a huge army, a huge civil 16:01.533 --> 16:05.503 service, a lot of commerce back and forth, all things 16:05.500 --> 16:08.370 that are familiar to us. 16:08.367 --> 16:15.227 But as it weakens and collapses, you get a kind of, 16:15.233 --> 16:19.633 if not post-apocalyptic, at least transformative 16:19.633 --> 16:20.903 experience. 16:23.300 --> 16:27.500 It gets stranger and stranger, more and more disorganized, 16:27.500 --> 16:31.030 harder to understand at first grasp. 16:31.033 --> 16:35.273 Basically we begin in the Shire and we end up in more 16:35.267 --> 16:37.167 dangerous territories. 16:37.167 --> 16:40.667 It's hard to describe the territory that we end up in, 16:40.667 --> 16:46.627 but that is what I think is intriguing about the course. 16:46.633 --> 16:52.033 You start out in a familiar world, and it just becomes 16:52.033 --> 16:55.673 something alien, but, I think, appealing. 16:55.667 --> 16:58.027 Appealing, but I do have one warning for you. 16:58.033 --> 17:05.303 Or one thing that I have seen students surprised at, and 17:05.300 --> 17:06.570 sometimes even annoyed at. 17:06.567 --> 17:11.567 And that is, we've got to talk about religion: both 17:11.567 --> 17:17.367 Christianity and Islam, and, to a more limited extent, 17:17.367 --> 17:20.427 Judaism, and also paganism, for that matter. 17:20.433 --> 17:22.603 But the one that tends to bother people actually is 17:22.600 --> 17:23.770 Christianity. 17:23.767 --> 17:26.997 So sometimes people will say, I thought I was taking a 17:27.000 --> 17:29.170 History course, and this turned into a Religious 17:29.167 --> 17:31.497 Studies course before my eyes. 17:31.500 --> 17:33.830 We're going to have to talk about some heresies. 17:33.833 --> 17:37.133 You're going to have to understand, actually, what 17:37.133 --> 17:39.603 people are fighting and killing each other over, when 17:39.600 --> 17:42.330 they talk about the nature of Christ, or the relationship 17:42.333 --> 17:45.533 among the three persons of the Trinity. 17:45.533 --> 17:48.733 This is unfamiliar, but, again, I think unfamiliarity 17:48.733 --> 17:50.203 is good for us. 17:50.200 --> 17:53.830 And unfamiliarity has a funny way of turning into familiar. 17:53.833 --> 17:56.733 When I started teaching-- 17:56.733 --> 17:59.573 well, dinosaurs weren't walking the earth, but they'd 17:59.567 --> 18:04.627 just departed, primitive birds and early mammals-- 18:07.700 --> 18:10.670 the assumption was that religion was safely-- 18:10.667 --> 18:12.667 religion as a political movement, not religion as a 18:12.667 --> 18:18.027 personal commitment, but religion as something that had 18:18.033 --> 18:21.373 an impact on politics was pretty safely gone, and that 18:21.367 --> 18:24.127 it was a feature of medieval history. 18:24.133 --> 18:29.303 Obviously the last years have shown us, in many ways, the 18:29.300 --> 18:31.100 power of religious ideas. 18:31.100 --> 18:36.630 The power of religious ideas, not solely personally, but 18:36.633 --> 18:40.673 collectively; not solely as sentiments, but 18:40.667 --> 18:41.897 as political movements. 18:44.700 --> 18:49.870 So we begin with the crisis of the Empire, the first crisis 18:49.867 --> 18:51.867 of the Empire in the third century AD. 18:55.567 --> 18:57.297 If we go back just before that-- 18:57.300 --> 18:59.430 this isn't officially part of the course, this is like the 18:59.433 --> 19:03.833 chef offers you this little amuse-bouche, this little 19:03.833 --> 19:06.703 snack to begin the meal. 19:06.700 --> 19:08.570 The period of the Good Emperors, the second century 19:08.567 --> 19:12.367 AD-- the term the Good Emperor is a term popularized by the 19:12.367 --> 19:16.597 great historian of The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire, 19:16.600 --> 19:18.900 Edward Gibbon, who wrote in the 18th century. 19:18.900 --> 19:21.670 And it's one of those works that, whatever its myriad 19:21.667 --> 19:25.467 factual and interpretive inaccuracies, still sets the 19:25.467 --> 19:29.327 program for how we look at the decadence and collapse of the 19:29.333 --> 19:30.533 Roman Empire. 19:30.533 --> 19:34.973 Gibbon says, "If a man were called upon to fix the period 19:34.967 --> 19:38.127 in history of the world during which the condition of the 19:38.133 --> 19:41.473 human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without 19:41.467 --> 19:45.297 hesitation, name that which elapsed from the accession of 19:45.300 --> 19:48.800 Nerva to the death of Marcus Aurelius," that 19:48.800 --> 19:52.300 is, 96 to 180 AD. 19:52.300 --> 19:56.230 He goes on, "Their united reigns are possibly the only 19:56.233 --> 20:00.203 period in which the happiness of a great people was the sole 20:00.200 --> 20:05.570 object of government." So it's this period of the so-called 20:05.567 --> 20:09.367 Good Emperors against which the subsequent decline traced 20:09.367 --> 20:15.767 in Gibbon's monumental work would take place. 20:15.767 --> 20:18.567 Now, as opposed to Gibbon, we're not so confident that 20:18.567 --> 20:20.827 the Roman Empire was so wonderful 20:20.833 --> 20:22.173 for everybody involved. 20:22.167 --> 20:23.627 We have a somewhat more egalitarian 20:23.633 --> 20:24.873 outlook than Gibbon. 20:24.867 --> 20:27.197 Gibbon never says, oh, well, what about the slaves? 20:27.200 --> 20:31.400 Or what about the peasant, or hey, the position of the women 20:31.400 --> 20:33.770 in society? 20:33.767 --> 20:38.197 But more than that, I think we have some more doubt and 20:38.200 --> 20:42.030 hesitation as to whether any state, particularly any 20:42.033 --> 20:47.433 powerful state, necessarily represents a standard of 20:47.433 --> 20:49.933 virtue or happiness. 20:49.933 --> 20:52.803 For the poor, the smooth functioning of the Roman 20:52.800 --> 20:55.300 government was less important than it was for 20:55.300 --> 20:56.830 the propertied classes. 20:56.833 --> 21:01.273 Because the Roman state, like most states, in so far as it 21:01.267 --> 21:05.627 practiced the rule of law, was set up to guarantee property, 21:05.633 --> 21:06.903 not rights. 21:09.667 --> 21:13.167 And you'll see Wickham, when we come to read him, he 21:13.167 --> 21:17.897 emphasizes, in the chapter on the burden of rule in the 21:17.900 --> 21:20.930 Roman Empire-- 21:20.933 --> 21:23.303 this is for September 19th-- 21:23.300 --> 21:25.400 the Roman Empire was not organized to 21:25.400 --> 21:28.530 reward ordinary people. 21:28.533 --> 21:33.233 To different degrees, and at varying times, it did rely on 21:33.233 --> 21:34.133 slave labor. 21:34.133 --> 21:35.673 This is easy to exaggerate. 21:35.667 --> 21:38.697 It's not a slave society. 21:38.700 --> 21:42.700 It's not an overwhelmingly slave-owning society, but 21:42.700 --> 21:48.870 certainly many of its enterprises involved slavery. 21:48.867 --> 21:52.967 Its laws were designed to protect the property of the 21:52.967 --> 21:56.327 wealthy, rather than to mete out equal justice. 21:56.333 --> 21:59.103 Rome was an imperial power, and, as I will say in a 21:59.100 --> 22:03.870 moment, it was an extraordinarily tolerant one. 22:03.867 --> 22:06.667 But it was tolerant as long as you conformed to their image 22:06.667 --> 22:07.597 of civilization. 22:07.600 --> 22:12.470 Like many great imperial powers, it assumed that there 22:12.467 --> 22:15.427 were certain areas of life that were optional. 22:15.433 --> 22:16.933 They were very tolerant with regard to 22:16.933 --> 22:19.073 religion, for example. 22:19.067 --> 22:21.297 But their definition of civilization 22:21.300 --> 22:24.870 was being like us. 22:24.867 --> 22:26.367 They were generous about that. 22:26.367 --> 22:29.627 They would make citizens of people from the Celtic lands 22:29.633 --> 22:33.673 of Britain to Egypt. 22:33.667 --> 22:37.197 But this meant conforming to a certain set of standards, 22:37.200 --> 22:42.330 beliefs, assumptions, and a way of life. 22:42.333 --> 22:49.833 Another thing that we now would dissent from Gibbon 22:49.833 --> 22:52.733 about is the efficiency of the Roman Empire. 22:52.733 --> 22:54.973 To Gibbon, in the 18th century, the Roman Empire 22:54.967 --> 22:57.297 appeared a marvel of efficiency. 22:59.867 --> 23:02.467 But really, how could it be efficient? 23:02.467 --> 23:07.867 The distances were so long, and travel was so slow. 23:07.867 --> 23:13.167 This is an empire that took weeks and weeks to traverse in 23:13.167 --> 23:15.467 the state of communications. 23:15.467 --> 23:19.997 And we know, from contemporary times that, even with great 23:20.000 --> 23:23.630 communications, indeed, with instantaneous communications, 23:23.633 --> 23:27.073 it's very hard to hold states together. 23:27.067 --> 23:29.467 And, in fact, one of the things that's happened in the 23:29.467 --> 23:33.027 last 50 years is the weakening of the 23:33.033 --> 23:34.733 state, strangely enough. 23:34.733 --> 23:37.673 Strangely, because what people thought was going to happen is 23:37.667 --> 23:39.697 what had been going on in the 20th century generally. 23:39.700 --> 23:42.430 States had become more and more powerful, more and more 23:42.433 --> 23:47.133 dictatorial, more and more tyrannical. 23:47.133 --> 23:51.473 And, indeed, George Orwell's 1984, written in the post-war 23:51.467 --> 23:55.427 era in the late 1940s, assumes that totalitarianism is what's 23:55.433 --> 23:57.173 going to be generalized. 23:57.167 --> 23:59.197 In fact, it turns out that the problem is 23:59.200 --> 24:02.730 not so much the state-- 24:02.733 --> 24:05.833 look at the great states of the mid-20th century: one no 24:05.833 --> 24:08.903 longer exists, the Soviet Union, and the other, the 24:08.900 --> 24:10.130 United States-- 24:12.200 --> 24:16.530 whatever our strengths are-- it doesn't seem to be the 24:16.533 --> 24:18.633 extraordinary power of the central government, which is, 24:18.633 --> 24:24.433 in fact, much reduced from what is was in, say, 1950, by 24:24.433 --> 24:26.373 any measurement. 24:26.367 --> 24:28.527 So we have a different idea of the state. 24:28.533 --> 24:33.173 We're more aware of the limitations of state power in 24:33.167 --> 24:34.027 past times. 24:34.033 --> 24:36.603 We're more aware of the discrepancy between the 24:36.600 --> 24:42.370 rhetoric of power-- and no polity equals the Roman Empire 24:42.367 --> 24:47.497 for its ceremonies of power, its architecture of power, its 24:47.500 --> 24:48.770 culture of power. 24:51.033 --> 24:54.273 But the emperor, in fact, however glorious, however much 24:54.267 --> 24:57.697 in the third century was worshiped as a god, his power 24:57.700 --> 24:59.130 was limited. 24:59.133 --> 25:01.033 His power was limited in terms of 25:01.033 --> 25:04.273 enforcement, if not in theory. 25:04.267 --> 25:07.497 And this will be important because, right from the start, 25:07.500 --> 25:09.370 we're going to assess the accomplishments of the Emperor 25:09.367 --> 25:12.867 Diocletian, at the end of third century, and the Emperor 25:12.867 --> 25:16.197 Constantine, beginning of the fourth century, who may be 25:16.200 --> 25:19.530 said to have saved the empire from collapse. 25:19.533 --> 25:23.903 The thing about the Roman Empire that is indisputable, 25:23.900 --> 25:26.730 and does not have a value judgment attached to it, is 25:26.733 --> 25:29.203 that it was enduring. 25:29.200 --> 25:33.500 The Roman Empire lasted for an incredibly long 25:33.500 --> 25:36.800 time; it was stable. 25:36.800 --> 25:43.870 In the year 410 the Visigoths sacked, plundered Rome. 25:43.867 --> 25:47.527 They entered the city of Rome, this so-called barbarian 25:47.533 --> 25:49.573 tribe, and they pillaged it. 25:49.567 --> 25:52.967 They pillaged it in a fairly orderly way, but, 25:52.967 --> 25:55.397 nevertheless, they pillaged it. 25:55.400 --> 25:58.970 This was the first time this had happened in the city of 25:58.967 --> 26:05.327 Rome in something on the order of 800 years. 26:05.333 --> 26:08.603 The Empire itself, by this time, was 26:08.600 --> 26:14.900 nearly 400 years old. 26:14.900 --> 26:18.130 The other indisputable accomplishment of the Roman 26:18.133 --> 26:22.203 Empire is that it controlled the Mediterranean. 26:22.200 --> 26:27.000 The Mediterranean was its center, referred to often as 26:27.000 --> 26:30.770 Mare Nostrum, as our sea. 26:38.200 --> 26:41.370 Our sea because they controlled all of the 26:41.367 --> 26:42.667 shoreline of the Mediterranean-- 26:42.667 --> 26:47.397 the only power that has ever done that. 26:47.400 --> 26:50.330 There have been great empires: the Ottoman Empire, the 26:50.333 --> 26:56.273 Byzantine Empire, the Caliphate, but none of them 26:56.267 --> 27:01.767 controlled more than about 40% of the 27:01.767 --> 27:04.197 Mediterranean at any one time. 27:07.200 --> 27:10.430 So even if we dissent from Gibbon's calm assurance that 27:10.433 --> 27:12.533 the best period of human history was the era of the 27:12.533 --> 27:15.373 Good Emperors in the second century AD, we shouldn't 27:15.367 --> 27:17.397 minimize the accomplishments of this 27:17.400 --> 27:19.830 empire and of this era. 27:19.833 --> 27:23.933 To live in security, with respect to both outside 27:23.933 --> 27:30.603 enemies and internal disorder, essentially peace and the rule 27:30.600 --> 27:33.330 of law, was unusual. 27:33.333 --> 27:37.073 And, unfortunately, it remains so. 27:37.067 --> 27:38.627 Rome was an immense empire. 27:38.633 --> 27:41.603 It stretched from England to the Sahara, 27:41.600 --> 27:44.370 from Spain to Armenia. 27:44.367 --> 27:48.467 It had a common language of administration, Latin. 27:48.467 --> 27:51.867 And two cultural languages, Greek and Latin, understood by 27:51.867 --> 27:57.297 the elite from one end of the empire to the other. 27:57.300 --> 28:02.230 The cities were not walled until the third century. 28:02.233 --> 28:05.033 Gibbon, in particular, emphasizes the tolerance of 28:05.033 --> 28:08.573 Rome, which appealed to his innate anti-clericalism. 28:08.567 --> 28:12.927 And, as many of you know, his explanation for the fall of 28:12.933 --> 28:15.473 the Empire was Christianity. 28:15.467 --> 28:19.167 It was Christianity that weakened the Empire, weakened 28:19.167 --> 28:24.067 its elite, turns its attention to foolish controversies over 28:24.067 --> 28:27.527 Trinitarian or Christological concerns, when they should 28:27.533 --> 28:30.533 have been concentrating on the barbarians. 28:30.533 --> 28:35.933 This is not accepted anymore, for reasons that will become 28:35.933 --> 28:40.203 clearer in these first few weeks. 28:40.200 --> 28:45.000 And its appeal though, the idea of toleration, is very 28:45.000 --> 28:47.500 important to Gibbon, writing in the 18th century, when 28:47.500 --> 28:51.230 Europe had just emerged from centuries of religious wars. 28:51.233 --> 28:53.273 Having seen the wars of the Reformation, well not 28:53.267 --> 28:55.567 literally, he hadn't lived through them, but being the 28:55.567 --> 28:59.467 inheritor of these religious wars, of the Thirty Years War 28:59.467 --> 29:02.667 in Germany in the 17th century, of religious 29:02.667 --> 29:08.127 controversy in Britain, Gibbon, like many members of 29:08.133 --> 29:11.333 the Enlightenment generation he was part of, thought that 29:11.333 --> 29:15.533 the world would be far better if religion remained either an 29:15.533 --> 29:19.603 exclusively private matter or just disappeared. 29:19.600 --> 29:22.730 So for him, the villain in history, and in particular, 29:22.733 --> 29:26.973 the villain in Roman history is religion. 29:26.967 --> 29:32.567 But, however tolerant, of course, Rome drew the line at 29:32.567 --> 29:38.327 Christianity, for reasons we shall discuss. 29:38.333 --> 29:42.003 But it is still, historically, quite unusual that the Empire 29:42.000 --> 29:45.830 should have permitted all of these other religions. 29:45.833 --> 29:49.533 Indeed, rather than regarding, say, the religions of Egypt as 29:49.533 --> 29:53.433 inferior, they simply brought those gods in. 29:53.433 --> 29:55.673 Monday, you might worship Zeus. 29:55.667 --> 29:59.627 And Tuesday, hey, if you wanted to see if Isis was 29:59.633 --> 30:04.903 going to help you with your impending business deal, why 30:04.900 --> 30:08.470 not go and see an Egyptian temple? 30:08.467 --> 30:09.527 So its eclectic. 30:09.533 --> 30:13.403 It's a little bit like the way Americans dine out. 30:13.400 --> 30:16.630 It makes no sense to most people, in most of the world, 30:16.633 --> 30:18.673 to say something like, "Oh, I don't want Japanese food. 30:18.667 --> 30:22.667 I had that for lunch." If you're in Japan you're 30:22.667 --> 30:25.197 expected to have Japanese food for lunch and for dinner, and 30:25.200 --> 30:27.270 the same with Italian food. 30:27.267 --> 30:30.167 The same is true of religion, most people don't just say, 30:30.167 --> 30:31.967 "Oh, I don't want to go to Presbyterian Church this 30:31.967 --> 30:35.627 weekend, I'm going to go worship at a Buddhist temple, 30:35.633 --> 30:39.233 just for a change." This is more in the 30:39.233 --> 30:41.803 nature of Roman religion. 30:41.800 --> 30:44.300 So this kind of tolerance is unusual. 30:47.533 --> 30:51.033 So tolerance, tolerance is a real virtue of the Empire, 30:51.033 --> 30:52.633 even if it's limited. 30:52.633 --> 30:55.233 Real virtue because it's unusual, historically. 30:58.467 --> 30:59.897 Peace-- 30:59.900 --> 31:06.670 the Roman Empire spent half of its state budget on the army. 31:06.667 --> 31:09.367 On the other hand, no empire this large could be held 31:09.367 --> 31:13.367 together by military means alone. 31:13.367 --> 31:17.367 It was held together by an elite that shared notions of 31:17.367 --> 31:21.227 civilization, that made certain sacrifices for the 31:21.233 --> 31:22.633 public good. 31:22.633 --> 31:28.873 Those games, the circuses, the competitions, the ceremonies 31:28.867 --> 31:31.727 were usually paid for by private people, not by the 31:31.733 --> 31:33.003 state, for example. 31:36.933 --> 31:41.303 It is an urban civilization, with an elite that is urban. 31:44.833 --> 31:49.273 The cities held their local gods. 31:49.267 --> 31:52.027 They had local administration. 31:52.033 --> 31:56.003 They built aqueducts, temples, law courts, all these edifices 31:56.000 --> 31:59.370 that I mentioned earlier. 31:59.367 --> 32:02.567 It was a cosmopolitan way of life. 32:02.567 --> 32:05.327 So it's diverse in the sense that there are many different 32:05.333 --> 32:08.933 peoples, but unified, in the sense that the elite shares a 32:08.933 --> 32:10.103 common language, 32:10.100 --> 32:12.400 and even the city planning is the same. 32:12.400 --> 32:16.370 If you went to London or you went to Timgad, in what's now 32:16.367 --> 32:19.027 the Algerian desert, you'd know your way around. 32:19.033 --> 32:21.133 You'd know where to find the marketplace. 32:21.133 --> 32:23.333 You'd know that it was laid out in a grid. 32:23.333 --> 32:26.033 You'd know where the law courts would be in relation to 32:26.033 --> 32:27.433 the temples. 32:27.433 --> 32:29.833 You could find your way, just as if you get off the 32:29.833 --> 32:35.233 interstate, you know that there will be a Wendy's or a 32:35.233 --> 32:38.703 Denny's or a Shell station. 32:38.700 --> 32:43.600 And it would be an exceptional place that didn't have them. 32:43.600 --> 32:48.330 If you couldn't find a Home Depot, even without benefit of 32:48.333 --> 32:52.603 technical aids, getting off an exit of the average interstate 32:52.600 --> 32:55.530 highway then you don't live in America, or you haven't been 32:55.533 --> 32:56.773 here very long. 32:56.767 --> 33:00.927 So the same thing, there's a sort of a mental picture of 33:00.933 --> 33:02.973 what a city looks like, from one end of the 33:02.967 --> 33:05.167 empire to the other. 33:07.933 --> 33:10.403 But it is an empire that is centered around the 33:10.400 --> 33:13.670 Mediterranean, and not just logistically or politically, 33:13.667 --> 33:14.827 but culturally. 33:14.833 --> 33:19.003 For the Romans, their empire included lands where olive 33:19.000 --> 33:23.370 trees didn't grow, and where wine grapes didn't flourish, 33:23.367 --> 33:26.027 but those places were not places they wanted to live. 33:26.033 --> 33:30.573 They wanted to control them, but they were beyond 33:30.567 --> 33:31.567 civilization. 33:31.567 --> 33:35.927 So a government official on the Danube, in what's now 33:35.933 --> 33:38.833 Hungary, writes home complaining that, quote, "The 33:38.833 --> 33:41.533 inhabitants lead the most miserable of lives for they 33:41.533 --> 33:46.033 cultivate no olives and they drink no wine, end of story. 33:46.033 --> 33:49.773 And you could imagine, there's a certain kind of East Coast 33:49.767 --> 33:52.327 discourse on the order of, "They have blueberry bagels 33:52.333 --> 33:58.033 out here, I can't live here." Or, you know, the nearest 33:58.033 --> 34:04.433 Starbucks is 30 miles away, and there's no substitute. 34:04.433 --> 34:05.573 This is an impressive empire then. 34:05.567 --> 34:06.827 So, its flaws-- 34:10.067 --> 34:15.197 it has an imbalance between the urban and the rural, not 34:15.200 --> 34:17.770 as great as historians once thought, but it is dominated 34:17.767 --> 34:22.627 by cities that depend on peasants, but that tend to 34:22.633 --> 34:26.273 drain the land of its vitality. 34:26.267 --> 34:29.067 It's also imbalanced East-West. Strangely enough, 34:29.067 --> 34:33.497 for an empire that was founded in the West, by the time we 34:33.500 --> 34:36.030 start, the East is more prosperous. 34:36.033 --> 34:37.303 It's more urban. 34:37.300 --> 34:39.430 It has more trade. 34:39.433 --> 34:42.703 It's better organized, more commercial. 34:46.167 --> 34:50.227 Another flaw of this empire is its size. 34:50.233 --> 34:53.103 It works for a long time, and then, when it doesn't work, 34:53.100 --> 34:55.630 this becomes a real problem. 34:55.633 --> 34:56.873 And then the army-- 34:56.867 --> 35:01.227 the army in the third century discovers that it can make and 35:01.233 --> 35:02.933 unmake emperors. 35:02.933 --> 35:06.073 So the immediate crisis of the third century, which lasts 35:06.067 --> 35:11.667 from 235 to the accession of Diocletian in 284, is that it 35:11.667 --> 35:14.227 has dozens and dozens of emperors. 35:14.233 --> 35:16.873 Most reign for less than three years. 35:16.867 --> 35:19.997 All but one die violently. 35:20.000 --> 35:22.730 So the two things are linked, the power of the army to 35:22.733 --> 35:26.533 proclaim an emperor, and the inability of that emperor to 35:26.533 --> 35:30.073 keep this power before the army or an army somewhere, in 35:30.067 --> 35:35.097 one province or another, rises up another emperor and kills 35:35.100 --> 35:38.270 the former one. 35:38.267 --> 35:41.897 So it's a durable empire, but an unwieldy, and in certain 35:41.900 --> 35:45.730 respects, exhausted one. 35:45.733 --> 35:48.233 So in the first part of the course, we're going to look at 35:48.233 --> 35:50.733 how this empire functioned. 35:50.733 --> 35:54.833 And we're going to look at its two great crises. 35:54.833 --> 35:59.973 The first of them, this third century crisis, which involves 35:59.967 --> 36:03.827 all these many different emperors, also has invasions 36:03.833 --> 36:07.703 from Persia, also has the first indications of barbarian 36:07.700 --> 36:11.130 invasions across the frontier of the Danube and the Rhine 36:11.133 --> 36:16.333 rivers, but it survives this first crisis. 36:16.333 --> 36:19.303 And that is the accomplishment of Diocletian, about whom 36:19.300 --> 36:21.030 you're going to be reading. 36:21.033 --> 36:25.703 The second crisis, that of the fifth century, is similar, in 36:25.700 --> 36:32.900 many respects, but more final in its results. 36:32.900 --> 36:36.070 The fifth century crisis witnesses the collapse of the 36:36.067 --> 36:39.827 Roman Empire in the West, the fall of the Roman Empire of 36:39.833 --> 36:43.773 Gibbon, that Gibbon made famous, and that continues to 36:43.767 --> 36:48.367 inspire a certain amount of fascination and fear today. 36:48.367 --> 36:53.297 So here are some questions that should be in the back of 36:53.300 --> 36:56.370 your mind, at least, while you do this reading for 36:56.367 --> 36:57.327 the first few weeks. 36:57.333 --> 36:59.533 When we're talking about the collapse or weakening of the 36:59.533 --> 37:02.833 Roman empire, did this happen because of foreign threats or 37:02.833 --> 37:05.333 internal weakness? 37:05.333 --> 37:09.003 The rhetorical topos, and it's often invoked with regard to 37:09.000 --> 37:13.570 empires in the modern world, is internal weakness. 37:13.567 --> 37:17.497 That's because the opponents don't seem very savage or very 37:17.500 --> 37:19.430 impressive. 37:19.433 --> 37:23.903 But it's not necessarily a given. 37:23.900 --> 37:27.130 As I said before, external enemies, even that don't 37:27.133 --> 37:31.073 appear to be that imposing, can, under certain 37:31.067 --> 37:35.527 circumstances, impress their will on what would seem to be 37:35.533 --> 37:36.973 a more powerful empire. 37:36.967 --> 37:38.427 To some extent that is, indeed, 37:38.433 --> 37:41.303 because of internal weakness. 37:41.300 --> 37:43.330 But it won't do to exaggerate that. 37:43.333 --> 37:46.033 But this is one of the problems. 37:46.033 --> 37:48.973 Another problem is continuity versus change. 37:48.967 --> 37:51.327 The East survives. 37:51.333 --> 37:53.203 The East even flourishes for a while. 37:53.200 --> 37:56.400 And even for a while seems to be on the verge of 37:56.400 --> 37:58.800 re-conquering the West from the barbarians. 37:58.800 --> 38:01.630 So how can we talk about the fall of the Roman Empire when, 38:01.633 --> 38:03.733 you know, only part of it falls? 38:06.333 --> 38:10.933 Another question is, how did the rise of Christianity 38:10.933 --> 38:12.733 affect the political and cultural 38:12.733 --> 38:14.373 fortunes of the Empire? 38:14.367 --> 38:17.827 As I said, Gibbon said it affected its fortunes by 38:17.833 --> 38:19.333 destroying it. 38:19.333 --> 38:22.503 But beyond that, I think, over simple explanation, how did 38:22.500 --> 38:25.170 Christianity change the Empire? 38:27.800 --> 38:30.200 Was this change a catastrophe or a transformation? 38:33.100 --> 38:35.770 And, how did Christianity triumph? 38:35.767 --> 38:40.127 It seems to be so alien to everything Roman. 38:40.133 --> 38:44.403 How does it become the official 38:44.400 --> 38:45.830 religion of the Empire? 38:45.833 --> 38:47.303 And, how does it become, indeed, 38:47.300 --> 38:51.730 identified with the Empire? 38:51.733 --> 38:53.903 All of these questions are currently very much debated by 38:53.900 --> 38:54.630 historians. 38:54.633 --> 38:56.633 I'm not going to have a definitive answer for you. 38:56.633 --> 38:57.973 I've certain opinions. 38:57.967 --> 39:02.467 I'll present the information basically in accord with that, 39:02.467 --> 39:07.467 but this is not something that has been scientifically proven 39:07.467 --> 39:11.297 or received universal acknowledgement. 39:11.300 --> 39:13.630 So we begin this course with the reign of the Emperor 39:13.633 --> 39:16.503 Diocletian, 284 to 305. 39:16.500 --> 39:19.730 And we do this because he solved a number of problems 39:19.733 --> 39:22.173 which threatened the survival of the Empire 39:22.167 --> 39:23.397 in the third century. 39:25.700 --> 39:30.070 These problems, as I said, instability of rule, Persian 39:30.067 --> 39:34.067 invasion, barbarian invasions, and then, one I didn't 39:34.067 --> 39:37.027 mention, which is inflation, tremendous economic 39:37.033 --> 39:38.273 dislocation. 39:40.367 --> 39:43.167 All of these are manifestations of the 39:43.167 --> 39:45.667 long-term flaws I just mentioned. 39:45.667 --> 39:47.227 The thing about long-term flaws-- 39:47.233 --> 39:50.803 I mean, you can point to long-term flaws in the Soviet 39:50.800 --> 39:54.830 Empire or long-term flaws in the British Empire. 39:54.833 --> 39:57.533 But why do they manifest themselves when they do? 39:57.533 --> 40:01.133 Or, to put it another way, why does the empire go on and 40:01.133 --> 40:05.433 flourish for a couple hundred years, or a few decades, and 40:05.433 --> 40:06.703 then collapse? 40:09.267 --> 40:11.197 Questions? 40:11.200 --> 40:12.570 Questions about this, or problems? 40:15.233 --> 40:16.533 You know how to reach me, paul.freedman@yale.edu. 40:19.500 --> 40:24.770 I put my office, 327 HGS, and office hours. 40:24.767 --> 40:25.797 Please come and see me. 40:25.800 --> 40:29.430 And I look forward to talking with you on Monday. 40:29.433 --> 40:30.673 Thanks.