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THE RISE OF UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS 300- 600 CE INTRODUCTION 1.) 180 ce - Group of 7 men and 5 women on trial in Carthage a.) Refusal to worship God's of the Roman Empire - Christian worshippers b.) Beheaded 2.) Universalism a.) Emperor was the Lord God - or emperor lord 3.) Two major religions - Buddhism and Christianity a.) Universal message and widespread appeal to diverse cultures i.) Integration UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS AND COMMON CULTURES 1.) Religion ferment across the Afro-Eurasian Landmass a.) West - Christianity under the Roman Empire b.) India - Vedic Culture converts to Hinduism c.) Northern India, Central Asia, and China - Buddhism - code of ethics - becomes a religion 2.) Two Major Universal Religions a.) Were not tied to a locality i.) Hinduism - South Asia ii.) Judaism - tied to a specific ethnicity iii.) African beliefs - varied from people's b.) Appealed to diverse populations and cultures i.) Promoted by missionaries - provided a deep sense of community to their converts (1) Supported by powerful empires 3.) Blossoming outside of the empires a.) Western Europe - continued to expand (Roman state was decaying as new principalities were being established) b.) Eastern Europe - revived Roman imperium at Byzantium c.) India - conflict for cultural preminence between Hinduism and Buddhism (which was further expanding in central Asia and China 4.) Other religions flourished in Africa and the America a.) Bantu b.) Mayans 5.) Why was religion so important to individuals a.) Truth i.) Claimed to provide clear answers to individuals - whom they should obey, the degree of allegiance owed to something/ beside a ruler, and what they should die for

ii.)

Right and Wrong distinctions - “wrong” peoples could be ostracized, exiled, or even killed (1) Violence and religious persecution

b.) Loyalty c.) Solidarity 6.) Spreading religion a.) Christians and Buddhists journeyed along caravan routes - Silk Road and intermingled between the Middle East and China i.) Xuanzang brought 527 boxes of writing and 192 birch-bark tablets of Buddhist holy writings to Chang’an in 643 CE (1) Stored in the Great Wild Goose Pagoda ii.) India becomes the “Central Kingdom” to Chinese Buddhists EMPIRES AND RELIGIOUS CHANGE IN WESTERN AFRO-EURASIA 1.) Roman Fragmentation a.) Ideals still conveyed a sense of being “Roman” in regions that were overrun by “barbarians” in the western portions of the Empire b.) Christianity founds a central church in Rome 2.) Christian Imperial Split a.) East - Roman Successor - Byzantium with its capital at Constantinople and was a political arm of Christianity i.) Contended with the Sasanian Empire of Persia (1) Zoroastrianism The Rise and Spread of Christianity 1.) Religious War begins along the Roman Mediterranean a.) Martyr - people whom the Roman authroities executed for persisting Christian beliefs instead of submitting to traditional rituals or beliefs i.) 203 CE - Vibia Perpetua refused to sacrifice to the Roman Gods and were denied a human executor - faced wild beasts in the amphitheater at Carthage (1) Prison diary - unique in Roman literature (2) Allowed to keep her baby (3) Visions of heaven - “I am glad you have come, my child.” ii.) Other religions - Judaism and Islam; but Chrisitianity was based directly on “the blood of martyrs” - Tertulian (197 CE) 2.) Major Empires a.) Goth - France b.) Eastern & Western Roman Empire - Byzantine/ Rome c.) Persian Sasanian Empire - Persia d.) Empire of the Hephthalites - Pakistan/ Bactria e.) Gupta Empire - India f.) Tuora Empire - Northern China

g.) Qi Empire - Southern China 3.) RELIGIOUS DEBATE AND CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM a.) Belief in Heaven and Hell i.) Worshippers have a sense of worth b.) Constantine - vision sent by Christ had brought him military victory i.) Roman State falls under a Christian Church c.) New Beliefs i.) Obedience to God - rather a human ruler ii.) 200 CE - published writings circulate the empire iii.) 300 CE - revolution in Christian book production occurs (1) Divine Codex 4.) THE CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE a.) Constantine (280- 337 CE) - proclaimed emperor with death of his father emperor Constantius i.) 312 - closed in on Rome to rule (1) Battle of Milvian Bridge - vision of a cross - “In this sign conquer” (a) Defeated his rival ii.) Issued a proclamation (1) Tax exemptions b.) Christianity was already making progress - but this conversion boosted their status throughout Rome 5.) CHRISTIANITY IN THE CITIES a.) 312 CE - large basilicas (Greek for basileus “King”) were being constructed in every major city i.) Open to all and considered to be heaven on earth ii.) Cathedra (Latin for both a teacher’s seat and governor’s throne) Bishop’s throne (1) In return for tax exemptions - bishops were responsible for metropolitan poor (2) Some became judges- to settle in a claims court The Christian Empire 1.) Breaking language barriers a.) 300 CE - Egypt i.) Coptic replaces hieroglyphs (1) Based on Greek - allowed Christian message to be conveyed to Egyptians b.) Nubia and Ethiopia - developed scripts and language under Christian influence c.) Syriac joines Antioch to Mesopotamia - Semitic offshoot becomes a major Christian language i.) Georgia and Armenia - Christians develop written languages

2.) 325 CE - Constantine summons bishops to a council at Nicaea (modern Isnik, Turkey) a.) Establishes a creed - statement of religious belief formulated in technical, philosophical terms i.) Develops the Holy Trinity (1) Father, son, and holy spirit (2) Easter - celebrate Christ’s resurrection 3.) Christian Roman Empire a.) Coined by Eusebius - a Palestinian bishop The Fall of Rome: A takeover from the Margins 1.) 400 CE - western European provinces began to fragment with retreat of Roman armies along the Rhine and Danube 2.) WHO WERE THE BARBARIANS? a.) “Foreigners” - western provinces and were considered to be just non-Roman soldiers 3.) THE GOTHS a.) Roman need for soldiers drew the Gothic tribes in - whom petitioned Emperor Valens (r. 365 - 378 CE) to immigrate into the empire i.) Encouraged their entrance - but could not feed them (1) Famine and anger at breakdown of supplies turned Goths against Valens ii.) Marched against Adrianople - August 378 CE - but Goths brought cavalry to deal with Roman infantry b.) Rome could not deal with constant intrusions - although it had roads/ but lacked canals and was damaged by overextension i.) Could survive via effort and taxation ii.) 400 CE - could not raise enough taxes c.) 418 CE - Goths settled in the region of Gaul i.) Own king - who controlled own military (1) Presented as allies to Roman aristocracy - due to social upheaval 4.) CONTINUITY IN CHANGE a.) Nomad Confederation threatened Western Europe - The Huns under King Atitila (406 - 453 ce) i.) Hadrian’s Wall - town walls, villa walls, city walls - Romans ii.) Cavalry warfare in scattered villages and open fields of the Germans b.) Attila the Hun i.) Mandate of Heaven - divine right to rule tribes of the North (1) Ukraine, Hungary, and central Europe ii.) Ideals came from China - extracted gold from Rome as tribute c.) Fall of Rome

i.)

476 CE - young boy named Emperor Romulus Augustulus (MiniAugustus) resigned ii.) Alaric II - provided Goths and Roman landowners a simplified code of law that allowed the Roman way of life to be maintained without an empire d.) Rise of the Catholic Church i.) Western Europe -- rise of Bishops/ Popes (symbolic head of the western church) (1) Rome becomes spiritual capital - 700 CE Byzantium, Rome in the East: The Rise of Constantinople 1.) Controlled the Eastern Roman Empire a.) Borders of Greece to modern Iraq b.) Danube to Egypt and Saudi Arabia 2.) Highly centralized a.) Roads led to Constantinople b.) Taxation and Government - palace life 3.) Establishment of Byzantium/ Constantinople as the capital a.) Located on European side of the Bosporus (Modern day Istanbul) i.) Population of over 500K (1) 4K palaces (2) 20K tons of grain from Egypt ii.) Roman Culture - hippodrome echoing the Roman Circus Maximus 4.) Economy a.) Yearly budget of 8.5 Million gold pieces - largest in the west/ besides China i.) Justinian - 527 CE becomes emperoro (1) Reformed Roman laws (a) Digest - volume of 800K words of 1,528 Latin Law books (b) Institutes - Roman manual for law b.) Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) - largest church built by Constantine (Basilica of Saint Peter - Rome) would have reached the lower galleries i.) 200 feet tall Sasanian Persia 1.) Bubonic Plague sacks Constantinople killing ⅓ of the population 2.) KING OF KINGS OF ERAN AND AN-ERAN a.) Empire of Persia - King of Kings of Eran and An-Eran (Iranian and non-Iranian lands) i.) Ctesiphon - capital on the region where Tigris and Euphrates came close (1) 20 miles south of modern Baghdad ii.) 110-foot vaulted Arch decorated with rows of small arches - Great ARch of Khusro (1) Khusro I Anoshirwan (Khusro of the Righteous Soul) (a) Exemplified the model ruler - strong and just

b.) Trade? Or Raw Power i.) Controlled the crossroads of Afro-Eurasia - Silk Road ii.) Iranian armored cavalry - Persian horsemen covered from head to food in armor (iron sewn onto leather and chain-mail) (1) Light and flexible swords iii.) Sacking of Antioch in 540 CE - warning to Byzantium (1) 604- 628 CE - Persians conquered Egypt and Syria (a) Khusro II falls to Emperor Heraclius 3.) AN EMPIRE AT THE CROSSROADS a.) Unity i.) Intrusions by both Rome and Christianity (1) Sasanians were devout Zoroastrians ii.) Christians and Jews were tolerated - unlike non-believers in the Roman Empire (1) Talmud b.) Sasanians also embraced Christianity and Judaism - Pancantatra stories from northern India i.) All cultures met this region c.) Nestorius - bishop of Constantinople - Christians exploited Sasanian trade and diplomacy to spread faith i.) Use of the Silk Road (1) Monasteries in Chang’an ii.) Thomas the Apostle - establishment of Saint Thomas Christians THE SILK ROAD 1.) Use of commercial routes more commonly known as the Silk Road to convey ideas, technologies, commodities between the Mediterranean and China a.) Byzantium sent ambassadors to the nomads of eastern-central Asia i.) Discovery of the Empire of China b.) Similar for the Chinese - discovery of eastern and western roman empires 2.) Sasanians control of Merv a.) Extracted tribute from Samarkand and Panjikent by tribal nomads The Sogdians as Lords of the Silk Road 1.) Located in Samarkand and Panjikent a.) Blended Zoroastrian and Mesopotamian beliefs - touched with Brahmanic influences i.) Use of camels and language on Silk Road ii.) Mansions at Panjikent - strong influences of warrior aristocracy b.) Merchants to China i.) Sweet-talked money out of other’s pocket… ii.) Discovery of Byzantine coins

Buddhism on the Silk Road 1.) Fall of Han allows China to become more open to cultures as nomadic groups guarded Silk Road routes - allowing ideals to travel a.) Buddhist monks serve as primary missionary agents 2.) Bimiyan - valley of the Hindu Kush where two statues of Buddha (121, 180 feet tall) stood until destroyed by Taliban in 2001 a.) Yungyand Buddhas seated inside the Great Wall and had 50,000 statues surrounding the five huge Buddhas at Yungyang POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS CHANGE IN SOUTH ASIA 1.) Chandragupta (r. C. 320 - 335 CE) and the Gupta Dynasty a.) “King of Kings, Great King) b.) Expansion into southern India 2.) Poetry a.) Expressed widespread religious yearnings and popular sentiments i.) Kalidasa - worked with motifs and episodes from Mahabharata and Ramayana to address issues and extol virtues ii.) Classical Sanskrit b.) Preserved stories from ancient eras i.) Story of Kalidasa’s story of Sakuntala is that misfortune comes from failing to follow Brahmanical religious rules Transformation of the Buddha 1.) Buddha now worshipped as a god a.) Two Schools and their doctrines i.) Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) Buddhism - extended worship to many bodhisattvas who bridged the gulf between Buddha’s perfection and the world (1) Buddha was a God and Bodhisattvas were divine (2) More universal religion ii.) Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) Buddhism or Theraveda in Ceylon/ Southeast Asia (1) Rejected Bohisattvas and remained loyal to early Buddhist texts b.) Historical Buddha was a sage who believed to enter nirvana, ending the pain of consciousness i.) God and Supernatural powers were nonexistent c.) City of Sankasya - home to Buddhist sangha or a white-eared dragon i.) White-eared snake ii.) Agrarian lifestyle The Hindu Transformation 1.) Spread of ancient Brahmanic Vedic religion across South Asia - because of Buddhism and Jainism dominated cities - Brahmans were focused in rural and agrarian India a.) Hinduism (Hind- Arabic for India)

2.) Vegetarians - forsaking animal sacrifice - abandoned pastoralism a.) Became entirely agrarian 3.) Deities and the Atma (Eternal Self) a.) Brahma - birth b.) Vishnu - existence i.) Present and most popular deity (1) Krishna - dark-skinned cattle herder and charioteer of Arjuna Mahabharata (a) Depicted during a war in which Krishna intervenes by ordering Arjuna to kill ALL his foes fore he belong to the Kshatriyas (warrior caste) (b) Gupta Age - becomes the Bhagavad Gita or “Song of the God” (c) Religious and Ethical precepts - dharma - served as major canon of Hindu spirtuality (d) Regarded Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu c.) Siva - destruction 4.) Worship a.) Did not favor sacrificial rituals performed by Brahmans - prefer to devote passion and faith in an individual form i.) Use of idols b.) Bhakti - practice of worshipping Hindu gods by utilizing an idol or altar c.) Temples and Monasteries became centers of education Culture and Ideology Instead of an Empire 1.) India lacked a centralized empire that could establish codes of law and administration a.) Fall of Mauryan Empire in 2nd Century BCE left India with just tax collectors b.) Gupta did not extend authority over entire subcontinent or have direct relations with rural population i.) Hindu culture unifies the region (1) Sanskrit - becomes political public language (a) Records, inscriptions (genealogies and prestige) 2.) THE CODE OF MANU a.) Brahman ideal on morality and society utilized Sanskritic texts - one being the Code of Manu i.) Sage Manu - seeked answers on how to organize communities after a series of floods dislocated the people ii.) 1000 Chapters but later grouped into Twelve Subchapters iii.) Addressed how to assimilate strangers into expanding communites by refining the caste system (1) Manu - Hindu Mythology was the Father of the Human Race and his laws applied to all peoples b.) Laws of Manu - offered guidance for living within the caste system

i.) ii.)

Marry within own caste Follow same profession and dietary rules of such caste (1) Social and religious pressure - kept all individuals in social group

3.) INTERNAL COLONIZATION a.) Settlers from northern India push southward - lands outside domain of the Brahmans i.) Encountered Buddhists - competed to win followers (1) Created an Indic culture - based on shared vocabulary addressing concepts such as nature of universe and the cycle of life and death b.) Buddhist Schools force Brahmans to establish schools - called maths (where high intellectual topics could be further discussed) c.) India did not adhere to one religious system as in China and Europe i.) Xuanzang - Chinese Buddhist pilgrim describes India (630s-40s) as Indu Brahmans and Buddhists POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS CHANGE IN EAST ASIA 1.) Han China was largest state in the world at its time 2.) Culture and Fall of the Han a.) Post-Han influences - Silk Road trade, nomadic military talent, and Buddhism (same role as Christianity in Europe) Northern and Southern China 1.) Fall of Han results in about 16 empires competing for power - civil wars wage during the Six Dynasties Period (3 century long period) 2.) Rise of Tuoba or Northern Wei Dynasty in 386 a.) Considered “barbaric” - but were civilized to imperial standards due to residence i.) Taxed land and labor on basis of a census ii.) Conferred official rank and titles iii.) Court rituals and preserved historical archives and promoted classical learning b.) Adapted to military and city-based technology i.) Nomadic - but used dikes, fortifications, canals, and walls (1) Rebuilt the city of Luoyang - capital c.) Facing issues - utilized the importance of being Chinese i.) Adopted the Chinese family name of Yuan - required all officials to speak and act Chinese (1) Resistance from traditional Tuoba families ii.) Sought strong relationship with Han Chinese families in Luoyang (1) Offered political power (a) Dowager Empress Fang (regent 476 -490ce) d.) Unification attempts under Emperor Xiaomen i.) Rebuilt the Han Imperial capital based on classical architectural models

(1) Wei support Buddhist temples and monuments (2) Supported Confucian traditons (a) Intense fighting breaks out after Xiaomen’s death downfall of the Northern Wei Dynasty Buddhism in China 1.) Prominent in the capitals of Chang’an, Luoyang, and Nanjing 2.) MADHYAMIKA BUDDHISM AND CULTURAL CHANGE a.) Conveyed by Kumarajiva (344-413 CE) into China - carried exotic holy books b.) Established the Mahayna branch of Madhyamika (Middle Way) Buddhism - irony and paradox to show reason was limited i.) Contended that all reality was transient - nothing remained unchanged (1) Enlightenment through transcendental visions and experiences of the material world of sights and sounds c.) 300CE - Buddhism expanded into northwestern China i.) Decline of state-sponsored Confucian ideals ii.) Expressed (1) Daily prayer and mantras (a) Seated solitary meditation - required mind and breath control (b) Rise of the Clergy (2) Appealed in crisis - immigrants trying to restore prestige d.) Emperor Xuanwu - made Mahayana Buddhism the state religoin e.) Buddhistic qualities i.) Expression of cosmic truth -- high level of adaptability 3.) DAOISM, ALCHEMY, AND THE TRANSMUTATION OF THE SELF a.) Challenged the Confucian state and scholars - gave rise to two new traditions of Daoist thought i.) Organized, community-oriented, and heavenly masters - guided local religious groups or parishes (1) Sought virute, confession, and liturgical ceremonies - Salvation ii.) Individualism (1) Ge Hong (283- 348 CE) reconcile Confucian ideals with Daoism (2) Internal Alchemy - use of trance and meditation to control human physiology (a) Postures and techniques to facilitate the healthy flow of Qi - life force b.) Ultimate Goal was Eternal Life i.) Release from cycle of life, death, and rebirth - not the goal c.) 400 CE - 1700 Buddhist monasteries - with 80K monks and nuns FAITH AND CULTURES IN THE WORLDS APART 1.) Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas - not easy for culture to circulate

a.) Local beliefs Bantus of Sub-Saharan Africa 1.) Mystery - oral traditions and linguistic no further than 1000 CE a.) Arrived in modern Nigeria about 4-5K years ago b.) Climate was suitable for agrarian culture and hunter-gathering 2.) BANTU MIGRATIONS a.) Two Great Migrations i.) Moved across Congo into East Africa - utilized by knowledge of iron smelting began agriculture (1) Relatively prosperous ii.) Migrated into the Congo and areas of the Kalahari Desert (1) Less fortunate - tsetse fly - did not permit livestock (a) Subsistence farming b.) Why? - it’s unclear i.) Genetics show they conquered hunting-gatherers in those regions (1) They were settled agriculturalists (a) Lake Nyanza - (Lake Victoria) (b) Kenyan Highlands (c) Tropical rainforests of Congo c.) Important Crop - Banana i.) Western Bantu - rainforests ii.) First arrived in Upper Nile and traveled from there to Africa iii.) Provided more nutrients than the Yam crop - withstood the climate (heavy rainfalls) (1) Fewer trees had to be cleared (2) Anopheles mosquito cleared - carried malaria (a) Allowed the settling of the region by 500- 1000 CE 3.) BANTU CULTURES, EAST AND WEST a.) Centralized in the East African savanna - due to relatively easy communication i.) Other heavily forested regions did not fall until European colonization b.) Western Speaking of the Lower Congo i.) Small-scale societies based on family and clan (1) Socially and politically organized based on age (a) Elder rule (b) Three Age Grades for Males / Two f...