This Rome, that Rome, the East Rome, the West Rome, most of the history of the world has been dealing with Rome. What's more terrible is that the four ancient civilizations have not yet had ancient Rome.
With such a strong sense of existence, it is not the four ancient civilizations, and the names are still hard to remember. There was a republic in BC, which is similar to the names after the 19th century.
Don't worry, let's sort it out from the beginning and compare it with contemporary China.
1. Pure Rome
Regalia (Kingdom of Rome)
Refers to the period from 753 BC to 509 BC, also known as the Roman Kingdom . At this time Rome was in transition to a state. Rome is not yet a powerful country, it is probably a bigger town.
Legend has it that there were seven kings : Romulus , Numa Pompilius , Torris Ostylus , Ancus Marcius , Lucius Tarquin Priscus , Cy Arvius Tullius , Lucius Tarquin Superb _ _ _
Well, that's right. It is legend. Western history is not our history, and there are no rich written records at all.
All deeds are similar to legends.
At this time, our country was in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. During the Spring and Autumn period to be exact (from 770 BC to 476 BC). At this time, Greece next to it is in a more prosperous and civilized period!
Roman Republic
509 BC to 27 BC.
There is also an official name called: The Senate and the Roman People.
This history begins with the expulsion of the tyrant Lucius Tarquin Superb . Then began the history of the separation of powers with the Senate, the Consul and the Tribal Council .
The real power of the country is in the hands of the Senate, and the consuls are elected from the nobles by the centurion meeting to exercise the highest administrative power. The tribal assembly is composed of male commoners and male nobles.
This history ends with the awarding of Octavian " Augustus " (supreme, our emperor of China) in 27 BC.
Events such as the Spartan uprising, Caesar's assassination, Octavian's victory over Anthony at the Cape of Akshen, and Octavian's ascension to the throne all occurred during this historical period.
One more thing, although Alexander the Great was worshiped by the Romans at this time, he was the king of Macedonia and a student of Aristotle. belongs to another line of history.
This period of history spans the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period, Qin Dynasty and Western Han Dynasty of our country.
Does this period of history look like King Qin sweeping Liuhe? Created a centralized state. It's just that the process is slower than ours. We were done in 221 BC.
Roman Empire
27 BC - 1453 AD . _ _
It started from when Octavian became the " emperor " until the Ottoman Turkey destroyed Eastern Rome.
This period of history corresponds to China from the Western Han Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty. At its peak, the huge empire spanned the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa.
It is difficult to compare this period of history to that dynasty in China. However, this history also has one thing in common with us: it has always been harassed by northern nomads.
This period of history was not peaceful. Under pressure from the north, internal worries and other factors, Constantine (a bit like our Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu) moved his capital to Byzantium in 330 AD (that is, later Constantinople), then the division of East and West Rome, the fall of West Rome, and Europe entering the Middle Ages.
2. Divided pure Rome
Western Roman Empire
In 395 AD , Emperor Theodosius I of the Roman Empire died and divided the Roman Empire between his two sons. Since then, the Roman Empire has officially split into Eastern and Western Rome. However, the official names of the two Roman countries are still the same and have been used all the time: the Senate and the Roman people.
This is a bit like Theodosius I entrusted his two sons with a feudal system.
In 476 AD , the " barbarian " Germanic Odoacer deposed the last emperor of Western Rome, Romulus Augustus , and Western Rome officially perished. From then on, Europe entered the dark middle ages.
The demise of Western Rome made Europe so unbearable? You must know that the end of the Middle Ages was the fall of the entire Roman Empire in 1453 AD. Is the demise of Western Rome the beginning of darkness, and the demise of Eastern Rome the end of darkness? It seems that Europe's attitude towards the two Romes is inconsistent.
From A.D. 395 to A.D. 476 , our country did not stop. It was the period of war from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
However, our country has not entered darkness. Then we began the unification of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the territory was expanding, and the culture and economy were also prosperous.
Eastern Roman Empire
Origin of the name Byzantium in the Eastern Roman Empire
Around the Spring and Autumn Period of our country, a Greek named Byzas accepted God's instructions: to build a city opposite the Kingdom of the Blind.
When the Greek came to the Bosphorus, he found that the east bank was already inhabited, but the beautiful west bank was actually deserted. So Byzas believed that all the people on the east bank were blind, and this was what the gods called the kingdom of the blind. As a result, a new city was established on the West Bank under his own name. This is where Byzantium comes in.
The location of this city is extremely favorable. It strangles the throat of communication between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. When our Varyag passed by here, it was slaughtered by Turkey.
At this time, the city will really start to shine in the world, and it will have to wait for almost a thousand years, which is the Eastern Jin Dynasty of our country.
Constantine came with divine light
Constantine was a great man, who ended the history of the four emperors of Rome (Italy and Greece each set up an emperor called Augustus, and each of their assistants set up a deputy emperor called Caesar), and established himself as the only emperor.
The high-spirited Constantine looked down on the old capital. At this time, malaria was rampant, and it was also occupied by paganism. It was really not worthy of the image of a great empire. So, under the guidance of the gods, they began to choose a new capital.
The place Constantine initially chose was Troy, the cradle of the Romans. From beneath the gates of Troy, a voice told Constantine that this was not the destiny of himself and his empire. So Constantine came to Byzantium across the Hellespont Strait (today's Dardanelles) under the call of the gods. On the night of his arrival in Byzantium, Constantine dreamed of an old woman rejuvenated.
This is a very auspicious thing, so Constantine named it " New Rome " . The year is 330 AD .
Constantine was the emperor of Rome
Although the later emperors of Eastern Rome gradually called the city Constantinople, Eastern and Western Rome had not yet been divided during the Constantine period. Constantine was emperor of all Rome, East and West.
In 395 AD, Theodosius I divided the entire empire into two parts. These two parts were given to his two sons Arcadius and Honorius respectively. Arcadius became ruler of the east, Honorius of the west. Only then did East and West Rome really begin.
The cool Byzantine Empire is the name of later generations
Although Rome divided something, the Western Roman Empire was destroyed by the barbarian Germans in the fifth century . Eastern Rome became the only shining lighthouse in the Middle Ages in the eyes of Westerners (Westerners are really not very good at making history. At this time, the lighthouse of world civilization is in the East, and the Tang and Song Dynasties are no better than the ruined Eastern Rome).
Although the eastern part of the Roman Empire was called Eastern Rome at that time, the monarch called himself the Roman Emperor, and the people also called themselves Romans. But there is no Byzantine Empire and Byzantines.
The Byzantine Empire was added by posterity . After the demise of Eastern Rome, until 1526 , the German scholar Heronimus Wolf used the term " Byzantine " for the first time during the compilation of the Encyclopaedia Bonn . After that, the French scholar Silviol Du Camp published a book "History of Byzantium", which was used to present the history of the country with Byzantium as its capital. After being used by Montesquieu and others, the Byzantine Empire gradually became the unified name for the Eastern Roman Empire by later generations.
This is like the country established by Liu Bei. Liu Bei called himself Han at that time. As for the Kingdom of Shu and Shu Han, they were given by later generations, and Liu Bei and Liu Chan did not recognize them.
Ethnic composition
The ethnic groups in the Eastern Roman Empire were complex, including Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians, Armenians, etc., as well as the Slavs after the 6th and 7th centuries. But the main ethnic groups are Greeks and Hellenized people. In political and economic life, the Greeks dominate.
The Byzantine Empire was dominated by Latin in the 4th to 6th centuries, and Greek in the 7th to 15th centuries.
religion
Constantine began to believe in Christianity, and later with the development of various relationships, Christianity in the Eastern Roman Empire gradually formed its own characteristics, and later developed into the Orthodox Church.
It is precisely because of this that after the fall of Eastern Rome, some people in Russia believed that Russia should be the " Third Roman Empire " , at least the authentic successor of the Byzantine Empire and the Orthodox Church.
3. Those who want to have a relationship with Rome
Holy Roman Empire
This empire has nothing to do with the Roman Empire.
This is a country dominated by Germans. In 962 AD , Otto I was crowned emperor by Pope John XII in Rome. Subsequently, the Holy See recognized it as the successor of the Western Roman Empire. And it was also recognized by the Eastern Roman Empire.
The territories at its height included modern Germany, Austria, northern and central Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, eastern France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.
In 1806 , under the persecution of Napoleon, Franz II of the Habsburg dynasty gave up the title of Holy Roman Emperor. At this point, the Holy Roman Empire withdrew from the stage of history.
Charlemagne
In 800 , Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, King of the Carolingian Dynasty of the Frankish Kingdom, as " Emperor of the Romans " in Rome , and recognized the Charlemagne Empire as the successor of the Roman Empire.
In 843 AD , the empire was divided.
Russian Empire
In 1472 , Grand Duke Ivan III of the Grand Duchy of Moscow married Sophia, the niece of Constantine XI, the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire .
In addition, the Russian Empire considered itself the core of the Orthodox Church after the Eastern Roman Empire.
Under the superposition of these factors , the Russian Empire considered itself the " Third Roman Empire " . This title is only what the Russian Empire itself thinks.
latin empire
1204-1261 _
The short-lived state established after the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Then the Eastern Roman Empire was restored.