Notes- 3/15 Rome......

Late antiquity- Hadrian's time was the height of the Roman empire, that was as large as it ever got. Hadrian builds a wall in Britain which limits the expansion of the Roman empire in the north.
Marcus Aurelius limits the empire in the west against Germany. This is the era when the expansion of the Roman empire stops.
Commodus was kind of crazy
Septimius Severus was the first African emperor of Rome.
Caracalla, his son, is next and he is very brutal and was murdered.
After this, emperors fight, become assassinated, may be even
Diocletian becomes emperor in 284 and changes the government into a dominate (do-min-ot- ey)
Sets up tetrarchy which is Greek for "rule of four"
Two guys control eastern part of empire, two control west.
War breaks out between the tetrarchs, and the two most powerful rise up: Maxentius and Constantine.
They go to battle- the battle of the Milvian Bridge- October 28, 312.
Constantine wins the battle
Constantine sayts that that morning he looked up in the sky and saw a vision of the Chi-Rho. (the first to letters of "Christ" in Greek.
He had his soldiers paint it onto their shields, and he won the battle and makes Christianity illegal in Rome.
Constantine becomes the sole ruler, moves the capitol of Rome to Constantinople, and the religion is Christianity.

The Roman empire came to an end or the Roman empire evolved?

Early Christianity- In early Christian art, Jesus was depicted differently than we picture him now. Because Christianity was illegal, they made neutral art so that there was not conflict between religions.

Catacombs- burial vaults.

Basically, early Christianity is:

beginnings of early Christianity- visual art

The use of symbols

Underground movement, was illegal until Constantine

The Byzantine Empire- Runs through the city of Ravenna(a city in Italy). Under the rule of Justinian.

If you want to be a successful ruler, you have to have the church and the army on your side.

Hagia Sophia Jesus- looks more like we picture Jesus today.