Religion/Morals and Tradition

Throughout almost every dynasty or empire, there have been major relationships between

high power religious leaders and political leaders no matter what era. A common trend that I

noticed during the class was that leaders that choose to undermine or turn away from religious

leaders often didn’t succeed during their time of leading. Now, it wasn’t impossible, but I was

very rare where leaders that didn’t accept religion did well. Even now, religion plays such a huge

role in most people’s everyday life. No matter if you accept a religion or not, it has such a big

influence on high power people and the everyday working class. The same can be said about

religion back then, religion was if not more important back then than it is now. One of the

biggest examples of an emperor that took on the role of bringing in religion was Emperor

Constantine. One of the biggest reasons why Emperor Constantine brought on Christianity was

because the Roman Empire had been in shambles for decades, so he used Christianity as an

attempt to bring the people back together and unite as one Empire again. Arguably the biggest

turning point for his Empire was when he signed the Edict of Milan. This allowed the people to

be protected if they wanted to practice any religion they chose to follow. As I had mentioned,

most successful leaders were those who accepted religion. Well, like I said, since Emperor

Constantine accepted Christianity, this marked the turning point in the Roman empire for going

from ancient history to the middle ages. Along with this, Constantinople was the largest and

richest city in the Byzantine Empire during the middle ages. This backs up my point that

accepting religion as a leader is very crucial to your success.

Another example of a religious leaders would be Emperor Augutus. Augustus

Badly wanted to be a god himself, the Roman Empire had a wide variety of gods throughout

their religion and he wanted to be the next. Augustus was most well known for being the first
Emperor in the Roman Empire, but even more for being a self-proclaimed “Restorer of the

Republic” which basically meant that he was giving the power back to the senate and the people.

Augustus believed deeply in ancestral values like monogamy, chastity, and piety. A few things

that Augustus accomplished during his time was he defeated Caesar's assassins, he introduced

numerous political and social reforms, under augustus’s rule, the Roman Empire doubled in size,

and the Roman Empire that he established lasted for nearly 1500 years. First off, Augustus

defeated Caesar's assassins in 43 B.C. Octavian battled to get revenge for the deaths of his great

uncle and adoptive father, demonstrating his ambition to succeed Caesar as the political

successor. To stop Caesar's assassins, he established the Second Triumvirate with Mark Antony

and Marcus Lepidus. Next, he introduced numerous political and social reforms. Romans were

still used to the idea of living in a republic rather than an empire after Julius Caesar's rule. Even

though Augustus declared himself to be the ruler for life, he exploited constitutional structures to

expand his authority while publicly refusing official offers of a dictatorship or a life consulship.

He formed the Principate with himself as Princeps, which means "first among equals," in order

to inaugurate the Imperial system. One of the biggest accomplishments was the fact that he

doubled the size of the Roman empire during his time. By extending the empire's borders,

Augustus was able to conquer much of the Balkans, northern Spain, Egypt, and the Alps. Up

until the Romans were forced to retreat west of the Rhine River in 9 AD after three legions were

wiped out in an ambush, progress was achieved in Germany as well. Augustus spent a lot of time

in Spain, Gaul, Greece, and Asia as part of his efforts to expand his empire.Lastly, his Roman

Empire that was established by him lasted for nearly 1500 years. Beginning with Augustus, a

regime that would influence European and Asian history for centuries and last in some form until

the fall of Constantinople in the 15th century. All of these accomplishments show that not only
was he extremely successful, but also by the end of his reign, he was in fact a God and was

worshiped by his people.

Finally, an example of a leader that may have been religious, but had a tendency of taking

advantage of religion and even taking over the rules in the religion so that it fit his propaganda

was Justinian. In the realm of religion, Justinian had a key role in establishing church doctrine.

He battled as a fierce defender of Christian Orthodoxy against rival Christian groups including

the Arians and the Monophysites as well as against the final remnants of Greco-Roman

paganism, Manichaeans, and Samaritans. He was a devout Christian who drafted legislation to

safeguard the church and stifle pagan practices. He was also a skilled constructor. He ordered the

construction of fortifications, dams, bridges, and cathedrals all around the empire. The Hagia

Sophia Justinian restored brought these three facets of his passion together. Put all of this

together and he became a very busy man taking over the role of Emperor and taking over the role

of creating rules in the religious realm. One of his biggest accomplishments was the construction

of Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom, Ayasofya), which was constructed between 532

and 537, is a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture and art. It served as the main church of the

Byzantine Empire in its capital, Constantinople (now Istanbul), before being converted into a

mosque in 1453 by the Ottoman Empire. Justinian's support for the Orthodox Church may be

seen in the "House of Wisdom," which grew to be one of the biggest cathedrals in Christendom.

The cathedral, which is enormous and magnificent, was built on the ruins of earlier Christian

churches, the first of which dates to the early history of Constantinople. The large columns from

the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus were transported by Justinian to Constantinople, where they

are prominently displayed in his "Great Church," possibly as a symbolic gesture. All of these
people that I’ve mentioned have not only been very successful in their reign as Emperer’s, but

also played a huge role in their Empire’s religion.

Aldrete, Gregory s. “Constantine I: Contributions to Christianity and Other

Accomplishments.” Wondrium Daily, 6 Oct. 2020,

https://www.wondriumdaily.com/constantine-i-contributions-to-christianity-and-other-accomplis

hments/#:~:text=Constantine%20I%20was%20one%20of,of%20the%20reforms%20of%20Diocl

etian.

Dr. Gregory S. Aldrete is Professor of Humanistic Studies and History at the University of

Wisconsin, Green Bay, where he has taught since 1995. He earned his B.A. from Princeton

University and his master's degree and Ph.D. in Ancient History from the University of

Michigan. Honored many times over for his research and his teaching, Professor Aldrete

was named by his university as the winner of its highest awards in each category, receiving

both its Founders Association Award for Excellence in Scholarship and its Founders

Association Award for Excellence in Teaching. That recognition of his teaching skills was

echoed on a national level in 2009, when he received the American Philological Association

Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Classics at the College Level-the national teaching

award given annually by the professional association of classics professors.

Roller, Sarah. “10 Facts about Emperor Augustus.” History Hit, History Hit, 1 Oct. 2021,

https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-emperor-augustus/.

Sarah studied History at the University of Bristol and Trinity College Dublin and is

passionate about public history and art history (with a soft spot for the Tudors too). When
she's not writing for History Hit, she can normally be found exploring London on foot,

practising her pastry skills in the kitchen or trying to stay on top of her enormous book

pile.

Streich, By: Mike. “Justinian's Achievements in the 6th Century.” Short History Website, 4

May 2018,

https://www.shorthistory.org/middle-ages/byzantine-empire/justinians-achievements-in-the

-6th-century/.

Streich was a history instructor who had been involved in most levels of education since

1991. Streich received his first degree in Biblical Literature, studied law and business, and

worked for several years in consumer finance with a specialty in bankruptcy laws. Streich

earned an MA in History through the UNC system as well as post MA courses in

Education. Streich taught American History, European History, and Global Studies, most

recently at three college and university systems, private and state. As an instructor, Streich

led many adult and student tours abroad, visiting most of Europe and the South Pacific. He

is an expert on student travel. Streich is fluent in German. Streich was also a co-ordinator

for foreign exchange students for several years and taught Global Studies.