World History Homework Four Answers - Student Five
1. Who is your favorite Roman emperor, and why? My favorite emperor would have to be Marcus Aurelius. Out of all the other emperor's listed with him, he was the only one that was not violent and cruel against people, and he had compassion for the weak.
- Superb. May use as the model.
2. Describe what the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire were, including approximate dates. In 509 B.C., Rome became a republic, a government in which power is controlled by the common people. Rome grew and expanded by conquest into the most powerful nation in the world at the time under this Republic. Politicians and generals became a lot more powerful and hungry for power as Roman territory increased, however. Eventually, a series of events during the 1st and 2nd centuries B.C. led to the diminish and fall of the Roman Republic. The Roman Empire was then formed under the power of Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar. Rome continued to prosper and expand for several centuries with the Empire being ruled by an emperor, who had complete control over his people, with power no longer in the hands of the people.
- Excellent, though note that the specific beginning of the Roman empire was the reign of Augustus Caesar.
3. Compare and contrast the Roman Empire in the West with the Byzantine Empire. The Roman Empire was similar to the Byzantine Empire in several ways. They were both ruled by one man. They were both systems of government that were created. Both Empire's were constantly conquering more lands and expanding their power. It is interesting to note that expansion was key in the time of the Roman Empire. Some differences are as follows. The Byzantine Empire was ruled by a professed Christian, whereas the Roman Empire never claimed to be Christian, and was in fact very pagan with their many gods, rituals, and practices. Justinian of the Byzantine Empire made a lot of progresses solely for Christianity, such as the Christian symbols, declaring Sunday as a religious holiday, and establishing Christianity as an official religion of the Roman empire.
- Constantine was the emperor who first recognized Christianity, and he was in the West. (Minus 1). But your answer has good insights.
4. Comment on the significance of the Roman language, Latin. The thing I find the most significant about Latin is its ability to sum up in a few words powerful concepts and thoughts that in English would take up to several sentences. For example, the Latin term "caveat emptor", a two word phrase, meaning in English the entire sentence "the burden of examining a product or service is on the buyer before he pays his money, and it is up to him alone to make sure that he gets as much in value as he pays."
5. Explain what Pax Romana was. This is the period from 27 B.C. (when the civil war war declared ended by Augustus Caesar) to A.D. 180 (when Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-emperor died). Pax Romana, which is Latin for "the Roman peace," describes a time where Rome experienced a period of great peace, prosperity, and leadership by the "Five Good Emperors."
- Good. But you might want to proofread your answers better, as you repeated the word "war", and in your answer to question 3 you said "Empire's" when it should have been "Empires".
6. Current events question: What about the decline of the Roman empire reminds you of the United States today? (Possibilities could be: in-fighting for government positions like the Illinois Senate seat, moral decay, economic decline, weakness to attack by foreign enemies, etc.) The moral decline of the Roman empire reminds me a lot of the moral decline in America today. Rome had honest leaders like Justinian who were intent on furthering Christianity. America had great men like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who also had a similar main goal in life of furthering Christian views and building America upon them. Rome definitely experienced a moral decline, and sadly, it seems as if America is now falling deeper and deeper into the same thing.
- Could be, though I'm skeptical that Abraham Lincoln had a main goal of furthering Christian views. Good answer otherwise.
7. Challenging question (choose "a" or "b"):
(a) all of world history so far in this course can be attributed either to God paving the way for Jesus, or the devil creating obstacles for Him. Discuss.
(b) there should be an entire course taught about Christianity overcame the anti-Christian Roman empire. Discuss why. An entire course on this subject would be very interesting! It would be extremely worthwhile for students to know what it was about Christianity that was so powerful and unwavering that overcame the anti-Christian Roman empire!In a day and age where Americans are fed lies like "All religions are OK" and "You can have multiple God's" and just theories that are basically disputing the importance of a religion with ONE God that man is forced to serve and be accountable to, it would be very helpful to see how Christianity prevailed above an anti-Christian empire as powerful as Rome!
- Excellent. May use as a model!
- Good work. 69/70!--Andy Schlafly 17:46, 2 March 2009 (EST)