continued to be the capital of what was left of the Roman Empire.1 Constantine had laid out his new city on an imposing scale and adorned it with the choicest treasures of art from Greece, Italy, and the Orient. Fourteen churches, four- Monuments teen palaces, eight public baths, and several of Contriumphal arches are assigned to the founder of stantinople the city. His most stately building was the Hippodrome, an immense structure devoted to chariot races and all sorts of popular gatherings. There new emperors, after their consecration in Sancta Sophia, were greeted by their subjects; there civic festivals were held; and there the last Roman triumphs were celebrated. Theodosius the Great built the principal gate of Constantinople, the "Golden Gate," as it was called, by which the emperors made their solemn entry into the city. THE THREE EXISTING MONUMENTS OF THE These three monuments preserve for us the exact line of the low wall, or spina, which divided the race course and around which the charioteers drove their furious steeds. The obelisk was transported from Egypt by Constantine. Be tween it and the crumbling tower beyond is a pillar of three brazen serpents, originally set up at Delphi by the Greeks, after the battle of Platea. On this trophy were engraved the names of the various states that sent soldiers to fight the Persians. But it was Justinian who, after Constantine, did most to adorn 1 Of the eight sieges to which Constantinople was subjected in medieval times, only two succeeded. In 1204 A.D. it was captured by the Venetians and in 1453 A.D., by the Ottoman Turks. See pages 477 and 492. the new capital by the Bosporus. He is said to have erected more than twenty-five churches in Constantinople and its suburbs. Of these, the most beautiful is the world-famed cathedral dedicated by Justinian to "Holy Wisdom." On its completion the emperor declared that he had surpassed Solomon's Temple. Though nearly fourteen hundred years old and now defaced by vandal hands, it remains perhaps the supreme achievement of Christian architecture. Historic Excepting Athens and Rome, no other European city can lay claim to so long and so important a history as Constantinople. Her day came after theirs was done. Throughout significance the Middle Ages Constantinople remained the most important city in Europe. When London, Paris, and Vienna were small and mean towns, Constantinople was a large and flourishing metropolis. The renown of the city penetrated even into barbarian lands. of Constantinople The Scandinavians called it Micklegarth, the "Great City"; the Russians knew of it as Tsarigrad, the "City of the Cæsars." But its own people best described it as the "City guarded by God." Here, for more than eleven centuries, was the capital of the Roman Empire and the center of Eastern Christendom. Studies 1. Compare the area of the Roman Empire in the East in 395 A.D. with its area in 800 A.D. (maps between pages 222-223 and facing page 306). 2. Compare the respective areas in 800 A.D. of the Roman Empire in the East and Charlemagne's empire. 3. On the map, page 338, locate Adrianople, Gallipoli, Nicæa, the Bosporus, Sea of Marmora, and Dardanelles. 4. Who were Belisarius Chosroes II, and Heraclius? 5. In your opinion which of the two rival imperial lines after 800 A.D. had the better title to represent ancient Rome? 6. Why has Justinian been called the "lawgiver of civilization"? 7. Why was it necessary to codify Roman law? Is the English Common law codified? 8. Compare the work of Alexandrian and Byzantine scholars in preserving learning. 9. "The Byzantines were the teachers of the Slavs, as the Romans were of the Germans." Comment on this statement. 10. The Byzantine Empire was once called "a gigantic mass of mould, a thousand years old." Does this seem a fair description? 11. "The history of medieval civilization is, in large measure, the history of the Roman Empire in the East." Comment on this statement. 12. Show that Constantinople formed "a natural citadel." 13. On the map, page 340, trace the successive walls of Constantinople. CHAPTER XV THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THE EAST AND IN THE WEST TO 1054 A.D.1 Church 120. Development of the Christian Church A preceding chapter has traced the early history of Christianity. We there saw how the new religion appeared in the The Catholic Orient, how it spread rapidly over the Roman Empire, how it engaged with the imperial government in the long conflict called the Persecutions, how the emperor Constantine, after his conversion, placed it on an equality with paganism, and how at the end of the fourth century the emperor Theodosius made it the state religion. By this time the Church had become a great and powerful organization, with fixed laws, with a graded system of officers, and with councils attended by clergy from all parts of the Roman world. To this organization the word Catholic, that is, "universal," came to be applied. Membership in the Catholic Church, secured only by baptism, was believed to be essential to salvation. As St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, had said, “He can no longer have God for his Father who has not the Church for his Mother." The The first three centuries of Christianity witnessed the development of the episcopal system in the Church. Each provincial city had its bishop, assisted by priests episcopate and deacons. An archbishop (sometimes called a metropolitan) presided over the bishops of each province, and a patriarch had jurisdiction, in turn, over metropolitans. This graded arrangement of ecclesiastical officers, from the lowest to the highest, helped to make the Church centralized and strong. 1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter iii, "The Benedictine Rule"; chapter iv, "The Reëstablishment of Christianity in Britain"; chapter v, "St. Boniface, Apostle to the Germans." It appears to have been modeled, almost unconsciously, on the government of the Roman Empire.1 The development of the patriarchate calls for special notice. At the time of the Council of Nicæa2 there were three patriarchs, namely, the bishops of Rome, Antioch, and The Alexandria. These cities ranked among the most patriarchs important in the Roman world. It was only natural, therefore, that the churches established in them should be singled out for preeminence. Some years after the removal of the capital to Constantinople, the bishop of that imperial city was recognized as a patriarch at a general council of the Church. In the fifth century the bishop of Jerusalem received the same dignity. Henceforth there were five patriarchs four in the East but only one in the West. The Christian Church was a very democratic organization. Patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, priests, and deacons were drawn from all ranks of life. No special training Clergy and at first was considered necessary to fit them for laity their duties, though the more celebrated ministers were often highly educated. To eke out their salaries the clergy sometimes carried on business as farmers and shopkeepers. Where, however, a church had sufficient funds to support its bishop, his engagement in secular affairs was discouraged and finally prohibited. In the fourth century, as earlier, priests and bishops were generally married men. The sentiment in favor of celibacy for the clergy became very pronounced during the early Middle Ages, especially in the West, and led at length to the general abandonment of priestly marriage in those parts of Europe where papal influence prevailed. Distinctive garments for clergymen did not begin to come into use until the fifth century, when some of them began to don clothing of a more sober hue 1 The correspondence may be indicated as follows: |