Continuity And Changes In The Roman Empire Essay

After the collapse of Rome in 476, many changes were taking place in the world, affecting both politics and religion. The Roman Empire was under assault from both pagan and Muslim powers. A young emperor, Justinian took over the Byzantine throne, and was steadfast to rebuild Constantinople in all its glory and power. Infrastructure such as bridges, roads, and aqueducts were constructed. In additions, churches, monuments and monasteries figured prominently in these rebuilding efforts; religion and faith being an important element of a cohesive and unified society.

With construction of grand cathedrals, churches and monasteries comes the opportunity for grand art. In keeping with earlier traditions of the Roman Church, paintings, sculptures, frescoes, and reliquaries figured heavily as ornamentation. These “material expressions” of faith were important to Justinian and many other powerful leaders in the Church. An

Soon, he began to question, and ultimately oppose these “material expressions” that Justinian had so cherished. The Muslim faith barred all such icons or “material expressions” from their mosques and practices. Perhaps, Leo believed that the success of the Muslim armies was due to God’s displeasure with such practices in the Roman Church. Ultimately, Leo and many others believed that God’s prohibition in the Ten Commandments – “Thou shalt not make any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them” (Exodus 20:”4-5) – applied literally to all such material expressions. Thus began a great movement against the use of these material expressions in religion known as iconoclasm, or the practice of destroying religious images. The word originates from the Greek eikon (“icon” or “image”) and klao (to “break” or