Essay on Roman Empire 100-600 Ce

In Rome's empire during the 100-600 C.E. periods, there were cultural and political changes and continuities occurring. The continuity in Rome culturally was Christianization. Christianization was the empire becoming a basis upon Christianity. A political continuity in Rome was the superiority of technology, which aided in the successfulness of the military. Some of the technology was the new armor and the use of the material, concrete. A cultural change in the Roman Empire was the way that the lower classes were treated. The way the lower class was treated had changed a lot and eventually caused them to revolt. A political change in the Ancient Roman Empire was the military strategies. The military at first had a large navy and began to break it up into smaller, more maneuverable units.

In the Ancient empires, religion was a necessity for empires to flourish. After the Roman Empire had several religions for a long time, Christianity had risen. For the first three centuries of the existence of Christianity, it was rejected. Christianity was looked down upon because the peoples saw it as rebellious because it was based upon a kingdom of heaven that was separate from the Roman unsophisticated empire. Christianity was then accepted because of its philosophy of an orderly world and concern for social welfare. As Christianity began to spread, it added faith in a god actively interacting with human affairs. Some of these human affairs were doctrines of birth, life, miracles and the resurrection of Jesus. As these beliefs were strengthened throughout the centuries, more Romans and several emperors accepted Christianity. After a few centuries, Christianity was even more accepted because of its message and organization, along with the freedom for women that it suggested. When Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 CE, it had incorporated Greek philosophies and had brought exceptionally great benefits to him personally and to his empire. In the late 300's, Christianity served as a connecting bridge between the Romans and the "barbarians." Most other polytheistic cults died out, but Christianity came through as very successful.

The Roman Empire was always more superior than other empires and city-states when it comes to technology. In the Roman Empire, the use of catapults was very common. In many of the empires, walls were built around them as protection from other empires trying to enter. Many of these walls were built of stone, which were easy to destroy with their newly developed catapult firepower. Since the Roman Empire was quite large, there were a lot of soldiers and to continue to have a lot of soldiers they needed to protect themselves effectively during war. The Romans had the best armor during this time. The soldiers of the Roman army had armor made of steel. This steel was a lot more sturdy and more bullet-proof than any other armor previously used. Full body shields made of steel was also a new development made by the Romans. These shields were a lot more effective than the previous shields because they were a lot larger. The previous shields were near the size of an average head and were used to protect the face and chest. Another proof of the superiority of technology in Rome was their engineering. The Roman Empire often used concrete to build their buildings. Because there were many wars with the Roman Empire, concrete watch towers were used to watch over the area to look out for invaders. Also the Colosseum was built, an entertainment arena, out of concrete. The Colosseum is still standing due the technology used to build it. Concrete was and still is the sturdiest material to build things and that will last for centuries.

The Roman Empire's culture had changed throughout the period. At the beginning of the Roman Empire, strong men acted as if they were the protectors of the weak, the weak would then provide obedience and services to the stronger of men. These stronger men were often the men fighting in the wars. Wars made the rich richer, and the