Jerusalem
Historical Background
Trajan and Hadrian were members of the long-lived Antonine dynasty, which came to an end with the death of Commodus in 192 C. E. The next dynasty was established by Septimius Severus, the first emperor of non-Italian descent (he was North African and his wife was Syrian). After the last member of the Severan dynasty died in 235, a prolonged period of civil war broke out. Over the next fifty years there was a rapid succession of claimants to the Roman throne, only one of whom died a natural death (the others were murdered or killed in battle). The instability on the throne affected all aspects of Roman life, resulting in inflation and devaluation of the currency, as well as hostile invasions as barbarians overran the borders of the empire. For the first time in centuries, a new fortification wall was built around the city of Rome.
The crisis of the third century ended when a general named Diocletian became emperor in 284. Diocletian is known as one of the last great persecutors of Christians. He instituted wide-ranging reforms that affected nearly every aspect of Roman life, including changing the monetary system and establishing a line of border forts to protect the empire. Diocletian even reformed the system of government. He realized that the empire had grown too large for one man to manage alone, and that the principle of dynastic succession was a source of instability. Therefore, Diocletian split the empire into two halves, east and west, and appointed an emperor (called an Augustus) to rule over each half. He also appointed two co-rulers with the title Caesar to assist the emperors, one each for the east and west. The Caesars were intended to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition to the throne by replacing the Augusti when they retired. Diocletian's system of rule by four men (two Augusti and
15.1 Statue of the Tetrarchs in Venice.
Two Caesars) is called the Tetrarchy, and each of the four rulers is called a tetrarch.
In 305, Diocletian retired to a palace in the town of Split (Spalato), in his native Illyria (modern Croatia). He forced the other Augustus to retire as well, the idea being that the two Caesars would take over. Instead, a civil war erupted between the other co-rulers and their sons. In 312, Constantine (the son of the Caesar of the west) defeated Maxentius (the son of the Augustus of the west) at the battle at the Milvian Bridge. Before this battle, Constantine reportedly had a dream or vision in which he saw two winged Victories (angels) holding a banner bearing the Chi-Rho symbol (the Greek monogram of Christ). Constantine vowed to become a Christian if he won the battle, although he was not baptized until he was on his deathbed. After his victory in the battle, Constantine assumed rule of the western half of the Roman Empire. In 313 Constantine and Licinius (the ruler of the eastern half of the empire) issued the Edict of Milan legalizing Christianity, which now became the religion of the emperor himself.
In 324, Constantine defeated Licinius in battle and became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He established a new imperial capital at Byzantium, a city strategically located on the land bridge between the continents of Europe and Asia. Following the precedent set by Alexander the Great centuries earlier, Constantine refounded the city and named it after himself: Constantinople (Constantinopolis — “the city of Constantine") (modern Istanbul in Turkey). Constantine's new capital city was modeled after Rome, including being built on seven hills and having a palace complex overlooking a hippodrome (like the Palatine Hill overlooking the Circus Maximus in Rome). But unlike Rome, the new capital was filled with Christian churches, not pagan temples. Constantine dedicated the churches to concepts or ideals that were personified and had been worshiped as pagan gods, such as Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) and Holy Peace (Hagia Eirene).
After Constantine's death in 337, the Roman Empire (now officially a Christian empire) remained unified until 395, when Theodosius I died. After Theodosius' death the empire split into two halves — east and west — ruled by his sons. With a brief exception, never again was the Roman Empire united under the rule of a single emperor. Soon after the split, barbarian tribes — including the Ostrogoths in Italy, Vandals in North Africa, Franks in France, and Visigoths in Spain — began to overrun and occupy parts of the western half of the empire. The territories they settled eventually were transformed into the states of medieval Europe. The unstable situation in the western half of the empire culminated in 410 with the sack of Rome by Alaric and the Goths.
The eastern half of the Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire, after the capital city (formerly named Byzantium), although the Byzantines always considered themselves Romans. In fact, many scholars refer to the fourth to sixth centuries as the Late Roman period, not the Byzantine period (although most archaeologists working in Palestine call it Byzantine). In contrast to the west, the eastern half of the empire remained unified and secure through the sixth century. Justinian, the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565, attempted to reunify the empire by conducting a “reconquest" of the western half of the Mediterranean. Justinian was a great builder who reconstructed Constantine's Hagia Sophia (which still stands today in Istanbul) and sponsored the construction of many other churches and monasteries around the empire, including the monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai. He also established a series of forts to protect the empire's borders from invasions. Justinian is known for having persecuted pagans and Jews, and he closed the last schools of Greek philosophy that were still operating in Athens.
Justinian's reconquest bankrupted the imperial treasury. After his death, the Byzantines lost control of the western half of the Mediterranean and began to suffer invasions of their own borders. In 614, Syria and Palestine were overrun by the Sasanid Persians. The Sasanids were aided by the local Jewish population, who had suffered under Byzantine Christian rule and hoped for permission to rebuild the Jerusalem temple. Jewish hopes were dashed when the Sasanids accommodated with the Christian majority before being ousted by the Byzantines in 628. The Byzantine reconquest of Syria and Palestine was short-lived. Between 634 and 640, Palestine fell to Muslim tribes from Arabia, never to be retaken by the Byzantines. By the seventh and eighth centuries, the territories under Byzantine rule were limited to Asia Minor and Greece, although the Byzantine Empire continued to exist until 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks.
Jerusalem
Jerusalem benefited greatly from the legalization of Christianity, becoming one of only five Patriarchate cities (the seat of a patriarch) in the entire Roman Empire. Pilgrims poured into the city, bringing with them money that boosted the economy and fueled a building boom. Some churches and monasteries were the beneficiaries of imperial patronage. For example, the empress Eudocia, the estranged wife of Theodosius II, settled in Jerusalem in the mid-fifth century and sponsored a number of building projects, including churches, monasteries, and a new city wall.
Because Christianity was outlawed (which meant that Christians could not worship openly) until Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, the earliest churches were built during Constantine's reign. Not surprisingly, Constantine focused much of his attention on the Holy Land — and especially Jerusalem. He erected the Eleona Church on the Mount of Olives (Eleona comes from the Greek word for olives), a large complex including a monastery and a circular chapel marking the spot where Jesus is believed to have ascended to heaven (see Luke 24:50—52).
The Madaba map shows Jerusalem at the height of its expansion during the Byzantine period, when the city extended from the line of the current north wall of the Old City to Mount Zion and the City of David on the south. Numerous churches erected along the streets originally laid out by Hadrian are visible on the Madaba map as basilical structures with red-tiled roofs (see Figure 13.3).
World History
