Diocletian
- Ruled from 284-303
- It was cool to persecute Christians
- Rome needs a big army (400,000)
- Rome needs a big government (20,000 officials)
Constantine
- Rules from 306-337
- It was cool to be a Xian
- Conversion to Christianity b/c he saw a cross in the sky
- 313- His Edict of Milan proclaims freedom of worship
- Built a new capital in the East
- Byzantium- soon to be known as Constantinople
Life in 4th Century
- Country dwellers are bankrupt due to taxes
- Farming system: peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
- Peasant can avoid paying taxes, but are getting hit just as hard by the landlords
- Paying off debts by working for a patrician in exchange for endless back-breaking work
- Landowners were counts and bishops having more power than the faraway empire
- Foreshadowing feudalism
No comments:
Post a Comment