8 4 13 Was Rome Declining Romans Perceptions of Decline Population Divorce rate Vigor of the Foreigner Barbarian Extent of the empire Food supply and welfare Distrust of the Gods Establishing Christianity in an Evolving Empire Competition from other Mystery Religions Zoroastrianism and the Manicheans The Development of Multiple Christianities Christian Councils and Establishing a Doctrine 476 and the Fall of Rome Just how significant was it Christians Respond Terms Augustus clergy laity ecclesiastical Arianism Odoacer Romans Perceptions of Decline Population Divorce rate Vigor of the Foreigner Barbarian Germanic warriors Tacitus s barbarians On ordinary days his table resembles that of a private person The board does not groan beneath a mass of dull and unpolished silver set on by panting servitors the weight lies rather in the conversation than in the plate there is either sensible talk or none The hangings and draperies used on these occasions are sometimes of purple silk sometimes only of linen art not costliness commends the fare as spotlessness rather than bulk the silver Toasts are few and you will oftener see a thirsty guest impatient than a full one refusing cup or bowl In short you will find elegance of Greece good cheer of Gaul Italian nimbleness the state of public banquets with the attentive service of a private table and everywhere the discipline of a king s house From a letter from Sidonius Apollinaris to his brother in law Agricola regarding Theodoric the Visigothic king c 454 CE 1 8 4 13 Extent of the empire Food supply welfare Distrust of the Gods Invasions of the Roman Empire 3rd Century Establishing Christianity in an Evolving Empire Competition from other Mystery Religions Zoroastrianism and the Manicheans Image of Mithras 2 8 4 13 The Development of Multiple Christianities Fragment from early Manichean text 52 ancient Gnostic Christian texts found buried in the Egyptian desert in 1945 Christian Councils and Establishing a Doctrine The Council of Nicaea 325 3 8 4 13 We believe in one God the Father Almighty Maker of all things visible and invisible and in one Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God the only begotten of his Father of the substance of the Father God of God Light of Light very God of very God begotten not made being of one substance with the Father By whom all things were made both which be in heaven and in earth Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate and was made man He suffered and the third day he rose again and ascended into heaven And he shall come again to judge both the quick and the dead And we believe in the Holy Ghost And whosoever shall say that there was a time when the Son of God was not or that before he was begotten he was not or that he was made of things that were not or that he is of a different substance or essence from the Father or that he is a creature or subject to change or conversion all that so say the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes them The Fall of Rome Just how significant was it 19th century depiction of the fall 4 8 4 13 Christians Respond Augustine of Hippo saint bishop The City of God 5
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