Category: Bible Timeline

The Roman empire was no longer influential by the time Justinian was crowned as emperor of the Byzantines in 527 AD, but Rome’s former rulers left behind many laws that the Eastern emperors used to govern their people. These laws were often contradictory and/or outdated, so in 529 AD, Emperor Justinian decided these laws needed an update. He assembled a committee composed of ten men (decemvirs) who helped him put together the laws passed down from the time of Emperor Hadrian to the reign of his uncle, Emperor Justin I, into an easily understandable code. Their task also included the revision of the laws that were contradictory and the elimination of some that were deemed outdated. The Justinian Code was established during the 5th century AD according to the Bible Timeline with World History.

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The committee was led by the Praetorian Prefect John of Cappadocia and supervised by Tribonian, a renowned Roman jurist. They used three earlier compilations of the laws set by the former emperors which included the Codex Theodosianus, Codex Gregorianus, and Codex Hermogenianus. It had taken four years before the committee released the first part of the revised set of laws that made up the Justinian Code (Corpus Iurus Civilis or Body of Civil Law). It consisted of four parts: the Digesta or the Digest (released in 533 AD), the Codex or the Code (534 AD), the Institutiones or Institutes (535 AD), and the Novellae or Novella (556 AD).

The Digest was a compilation and summary of the writings on the law of the classical Roman jurists, while the Code was an outline of the empire’s laws and other proclamations. The smallest of these was the summary of the Digest, the Institutes, and all of these were updated twenty later with the Novella which included new laws set out by Emperor Justinian.

The Arab Muslims conquered vast swaths of territory during the middle of the seventh century and well into the early eighth century. As early 638 AD, they wrested large parts of Palestine, Syria (Shams), and Mesopotamia from Byzantine and Persian hands. Egypt, North Africa, and Hispania soon followed with the first two provinces taken from the Byzantines and the last from the Visigoths. One jewel that remained out of the Arab Muslims’ reach, however, was the prosperous yet sometimes chaotic capital of the Byzantines: Constantinople. The Arab’s many attacks occured around 668 AD according to the Bible Timeline with World History.

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The Muslims’ first attempt to conquer the great city in 674 AD and the series of naval attacks lasted until 678 AD. The hard task of keeping the city safe from any attempts to breach it fell on Constantine IV, the son of the unpopular Constans II, who came to the throne in 668 AD. The man on the other side was the Umayyad caliph Mu’awiya who started his reign in 661 AD and assembled a navy to counter the Byzantines. He led the Muslim navy in expeditions to Cyprus, Rhodes, Kos, as well the coastal town of Kyzikos by the Sea of Marmara and established a base there as early as 670 AD. It was too close for comfort for the Byzantines, and when he saw that an attack was on the horizon, Constantine prepared the Byzantine navy to defend the city.

Constantine’s preparation proved to be a wise move as the Arab fleet led by Mu’awiyah sailed for Constantinople four years later. The Arab navy first attacked in spring of 674 but the Byzantines proved to be successful in their defense of Constantinople, and the Arab navy was forced to return to Kyzikos to spend winter there. They made another attempt in spring of the following year but were repelled by the Byzantine’s use of the ancient flamethrower they called the “Greek fire” which burned Arab ships and drowned their sailors.

The cycle of attack and retreat carried on for four years until Mu’awiya agreed to a peace treaty with Constantine IV. The Umayyad caliph was forced to pay a hefty annual tribute to the Byzantines, as well as agreed to leave the naval bases they constructed on the Byzantine islands earlier. The temporary peace allowed Constantine IV to focus on the neighboring Slavs and the Bulgars.

Background

The Council of Whitby convened in 664 AD according to the Bible Timeline with World History. It was held in the Kingdom of Northumbria many years after Pope Gregory sent a successful mission to England back in 596 AD. From its initial base in Kent, the Christianity that the monk Augustine (later Archbishop of Canterbury) brought to the shores of England spread to Northumbria, Scotland, and well into Ireland. The doctrines of Christianity, however, evolved and became so complex over time that by 664 AD the Kingdom of Northumbria found itself in a debate over when they should celebrate Easter and other Christian holidays.

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Attempts to resolve the issue about the date started as early as 325 AD in the Council of Nicaea, but the debates continued for many years in Christian-dominated cities in Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa. Another attempt was made 200 years later by Dionysius Exiguus to calculate and reconcile the date of the Easter which was later adopted by the Church of Rome. This was the date that the monk Augustine took with him to England. It was later used by the English converts for when they celebrated the Easter.

But the Celtic Christians (Breton and Irish) used another date which they inherited from the Romans. They received the date from the early Christians and practiced it before communication between the island and Rome was cut off by the invasion of the barbarian tribes. The date that they followed in observance of the Easter was a week earlier than the Roman Catholic one, but there were instances when the date fell much later than the Roman. This, in turn, also affected the celebrations of other Christian holidays.

A House Divided

The royal family of the Kingdom of Northumbria was also divided on this issue: the Kentish-born Queen Eanfleda and her son, King Alchfrid on the Roman side and her husband, the King Oswiu on the Celtic/Ionan side. To settle the issue once and for all, King Oswiu invited bishops, clerics, and members of his own family to a meeting in the Abbey of Whitby in Northumbria. Abbess Hilda of Whitby presided the council and church authorities from both sides attended the meeting.

Those who favored the Roman date for Easter included the Irish missionary Ronan, Wilifrid (Abbot of Ripon), King Alchfrid, James the Deacon, a priest named Agatho, and Bishop Agilbert of Wessex. Abbot Coleman of Lindisfarne, various clerics, Abbess Hilda, and Cedd, the Bishop of Sussex made up those who favored the Celtic/Ionan date. The speakers included Abbot Colman and Abbot Wilifrid, but the Roman side won over the course of the discussion. Colman and his followers initially refused to accept the ruling and retreated to the abbey in the island of Iona where they kept the Celtic/Ionan tradition for many years. Meanwhile, the rest of England followed the decision of the Council of Whitby and celebrated Easter on the Roman calculation.

Charles Martel

Charles Martel’s reign seemed off to a bad start. Although he was the man, who would eventually defeat the Arabs and halt their advance into Europe, which is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History before 750 AD. He was his father’s (Pepin II of Herstal) son by his second wife (it was rumored that she was his mistress, which made Charles illegitimate). Pepin bypassed Charles as heir to the title of Mayor of the Palace before his death in 714 AD and named his grandson, Theudoald, as the new ruler of Austrasia instead. To top it all off, his father’s first wife, Plectrude, had Charles imprisoned in Cologne to secure Theudoald’s succession to the throne. Charles, however, escaped from imprisonment almost immediately and came back to Neustrasia. The civil war that ensued between him and Plectrude lasted for two years until he prevailed and proclaimed himself the Mayor of the Palace in 717.

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Muslim Invasion of Western Europe

Back in 711 AD, Arabs and Berbers led by Tariq ibn Ziyad started their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula and steadily advanced north to the Pyrenees for the next 7 years. The fragmented Visigoths had been helpless to stop them in Spain. Their northern advance was halted only when they reached Aquitaine. Odo the Great, the Duke of Aquitaine, led his small army into battle and managed to defeat the Muslims in the Battle of Toulouse in 721 AD. For Odo, this was his major victory against the Muslims as he also killed the Arab governor of Al-Andalus who was hastily replaced by the caliph with a high-ranking official called Al-Ghafiqi. Both men and their troops met in the Battle of the River Garonne in 732 AD, but this time, the odds were not in the Duke’s favor. His troops were defeated, and the Muslim army went as far as Poitiers where they looted and killed people along the way.

Odo did not initially offer an alliance to Charles Martel for fear that his Austrasian neighbor would interfere with Aquitaine’s independence, but now he needed an ally who would reinforce his small army to fight the Muslim army. He turned to Charles Martel for help and swore his loyalty. Charles immediately marched with his army south to Aquitaine to help the Duke. The Franks led by Charles Martel and the army led by Al-Ghafiqi met somewhere between Tours and Poitiers (it was called the Battle of Tours, but sometimes called the Battle of Poitiers) in October, 732 AD. It lasted for more than a week until the death of Al-Ghafiqi and the retreat of the Muslims troops to Al-Andalus. According to the Chronicle of Fredegar, Charles, along with his troops followed them as they retreated and destroyed them further (but the remaining Arab and Berber troops also plundered and burned properties along the way). Charles Martel was given the title “The Hammer” after this victory against the Muslims in the Battle of Tours. This victory marked the last time the Muslim troops of Al-Andalus would ever set foot north of Spain.

Mecca, the city near the Red Sea, became prosperous through trade. As in ancient Sumer and well into modern times. Prosperity ushered in an inequity between its citizens made up of richer merchant families who held authority over the city and the poorer people who lived on the fringes of Mecca. In 610 AD, a successful Arab merchant named Mohammed ibn Abdallah went inside the Hira cave located north of the city of Mecca to pray and came out a transformed man. On the 17th day of the month of Ramadan, Mohammed woke up to a presence that squeezed him until he felt completely overpowered and unable to breathe. The presence spoke the first scriptures of the Quran and years later, he used the experience to get rid of the inequity in Meccan society and transform the Arab world.  This eventually led him to flee Mecca in 622 AD according to the Bible Timeline with World History.

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Mohammed was so shaken after this experience and he kept it to himself for the first two years. He gradually told his wife Khadija, then her cousin, the Christian named Waraqa ibn Nawfal. His two new confidantes convinced him that the presence was sent by God himself, and encouraged him to preach to his closest friends and family members in 612 AD. Khadija was often credited as the first Muslim convert and other people soon followed. Such as Mohammed’s friend Abu Bakr (who later became his father-in-law), his cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib (later son-in-law), and one of the members of the prominent Umayyad family, Uthman ibn Affan. The rest of the Umayyad family, however, resisted and did not convert until 627 AD.

Many people beyond Mohammed’s immediate family and friends soon converted to this new religion, such as people who were dismayed with the inequity in Mecca and the women from the poorer clans of the Quraysh. There was nothing new to Mohammed’s initial message. Its basic doctrines (creation, heaven and hell, last judgment) drew from or were similar to other religions in the Near East, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. He also addressed the injustice and the wide gap between the rich and the poor that plagued Meccan society at that time. The movement was eventually called Islam (‘to surrender’) and Mohammed issued five tenets (pillars) the new believers should live by, including the declaration of faith (Shahada), ritual prayer (Salat), charity (Zakat), ritual fasting (Sawm) especially during the month of  Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). The new believers of Islam were called Muslims. They were required to nurture a sense of community (ummah) that went beyond family relations and tribes.

This new movement for equity and community did not seem to sit well with the rich men of Mecca. They were comfortable with their elevated status, as well as the profit from the pilgrims who worshiped the pagan gods at Kaaba. Mohammed himself was careful not to directly oppose the influential people of Mecca. He allowed the Muslims to follow some traditions, such as the worship of pagan gods at Kaaba. They also respected the Christians and Jews who lived in the city. Mohammed allowed the Muslims to face the holy city of Jerusalem during prayers. As he gained many followers, however, the suspicion and jealousy of the authorities who felt that their interests were threatened by Mohammed’s new movement also grew. The opposition against Islam in its early days in Mecca was led by three men: Suhayl ibn Amir, Abu al-Hakam, and Abu Sufyan.

This intensified as months passed. One of the people who led this was a prominent Quraysh clan leader named Amr ibn Hisham. He forbade other members of the Quraysh tribe to marry Muslims and prevented merchants from selling them food. Mohammed’s wife, Khadija, died during the worst of the persecution years and her death was followed by the passing of Mohammed’s uncle and guardian, Abu Talib. The loss of his protector meant that it was open season for anyone who wanted to kill Mohammed and from the start. It was clear to him that the leaders of Mecca did not want him in their city. It was time to leave Mecca.

The Bolivian city of Tiwanaku, considered by the Inca as the sacred place of their origin, was also home to a great civilization that flourished between AD 200 and 900. Located on the southern shores of Lake Titicaca in the modern Department of La Paz, the city was a famous pilgrimage site for the region. And was later the seat of a socially and politically influential Andean empire. The civilization peaked between 500 and 600 AD where it is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History. Most of the magnificent structures were built, including the Akapana, Pumapunku, Kalasasaya, and Semi-Subterranean Temple during that time. What remained of the monumental architecture in modern times, however, was only a shadow of their former glory.

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Tiwanaku Politics and Society

As was the case of great cities all over the world, Tiwanaku started out as a simple farming village without a hierarchy among its inhabitants. As years passed and as population increased, Tiwanaku society became more complex with rulers and warriors elevated to a higher status. While farmers and merchants remained in the lower half of the hierarchy. The houses of the elite, as well as the ceremonial centers, were built on the lake and surrounded by a moat. These were oriented to the nearby mountains and various celestial events that appeared in the sky. It was also a pilgrimage site which drew the people from distant Cochabamba and Moquegua regions who travelled to dedicate sacrifices and celebrate feasts. The interaction was not a one-way street, however, as the Tiwanaku-style artifacts were found in some parts of Peru and as far as Argentina—evidence of Tiwanaku’s far-reaching political and economic influence in the region.

Priests were on top of the Tiwanaku hierarchy, and they led the worship of different deities in which the sun god, Viracocha, was the head. This particular god was also worshipped by the Inca people (who rose to prominence thousands of years later, after the decline of Tiwanaku). They considered Lake Titicaca as the place of origin for the creator god Viracocha.

Survival in the Altiplano

The production of staple food in the ancient times was a challenge for the Tiwanaku people as the environment on the Andean Plateau was usually arid yet cold. The Tiwanaku managed to grow hardy crops such as quinoa, corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes for sustenance. Survival proved to be more difficult during the onset of the El Niño phenomenon which resulted either in intense rains or droughts. They developed raised field agriculture (also known as suka kollus) to adapt to this harsh environment. Crops were planted in rows of raised fields that reached up to three feet in height to protect the plants from heat and frost. Fish were caught from the lake and placed in the ditches beside the rows.

Tikal was in a state of decline by the middle of the sixth century AD when it was defeated by the southern kingdom of Caracol with the help of the northern kingdom of Calakmul. Tikal’s defeat was so devastating that there was a drop in the construction projects sponsored by its rulers. The other magnificent monuments of the Early Classic Period were either mutilated or destroyed. Its territory shrank, and at this point, Caracol was still a powerful force in the region; although the control had already shifted to the Maya lowland city of Calakmul in the modern Campeche region of Mexico. However, Tikal’s struggles were not sufficient enough to prevent the city from later becoming the largest in Mesoamerica. Which was towards the end of the 6th century, according to the Bible Timeline with World History.

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The tables turned when King J’asaw Chan K’awiil of Tikal and his troops defeated the city of Calakmul in the Late Post-Classic period. This victory was commemorated with the construction of several buildings with carvings that showed the defeated king of Calakmul bound and later sacrificed. Yik’in Chan K’awiil, J’asaw’s son, continued this expansion. It was during his reign that Tikal was transformed into a city of magnificent temples and plazas.

It became one of the largest Maya city-states in Mesoamerica during this period with the population estimated between 40,000 and as much as 500,000. The people were spread out in Tikal’s territory of 2,500 sq km or 950 sq miles deep in the El Peten rainforest. This period was also Tikal’s most prosperous, as seen in the abundance of goods buried with their rulers. Tikal continued to dominate the Maya lowland region until it was abandoned at some point in 800 AD.

Theodosius I and the Edict of Thessalonica

After many years of persecution at the hands of the Roman authorities, Christianity became the Roman empire’s sole state religion through the Edict of Thessalonica as decreed by the emperor Theodosius I (along with co-emperor Gratian). This is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History at 380 AD.

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Theodosius I was born in Gallaecia region of the province of Hispania, a place where Christianity was embraced early in the faith’s history. His father, a successful military officer who served in Britannia and Mauretania, was executed in Carthage after the death of the emperor Valentinian I and as a result, the younger Theodosius was forced to return to Gallaecia. He redeemed himself after many years of service to the empire. Theodosius was elevated to co-emperor by Gratian when the Western Roman ruler Valens was killed in the Battle of Adrianople. Theodosius, then, took over the empire as sole emperor when Gratian died in 383 AD.

Three years before Gratian’s death, Theodosius (along with his co-emperors) proclaimed that the empire would not have any other religion other than Christianity. The years that led to 380 AD were tumultuous for Theodosius as he struggled to counter the Goths who settled in the Danube frontier. On February 27, 380, the emperors Gratian and Theodosius agreed to issue the Edict of Thessalonica or the Cunctos populos which endorsed Nicene Christianity as the state’s sole religion.

EMPERORS GRATIAN, VALENTINIAN AND THEODOSIUS AUGUSTI. EDICT TO THE PEOPLE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our Clemency and Moderation, should continue to profess that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition, and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in the second the punishment of our authority which in accordance with the will of Heaven we shall decide to inflict.

GIVEN IN THESSALONICA ON THE THIRD DAY FROM THE CALENDS OF MARCH, DURING THE FIFTH CONSULATE OF GRATIAN AUGUSTUS AND FIRST OF THEODOSIUS AUGUSTUS

The edict was issued under the influence of Acholius, the Nicene bishop of Thessalonica, who, in turn, was influenced by Pope Damasus of Rome. This was a big improvement from Constantine the Great’s Edict of Milan which only legalized Christianity but tolerated paganism for many years. During this period, pagan temples were either shut or completely destroyed, such as in the case of the magnificent pagan temple in Edessa and the Serapeum in Alexandria. Paganism was not the only casualty of Theodosius’ zeal for Nicene Christianity—the believers of Arianism, branded long ago as heretics during the time of Constantine, were also suppressed and prohibited from public worship. Later in the same year, Theodosius removed Arian bishops from their positions in Constantinople which led to the gradual decline of Arian influence in the empire. The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed was adopted one year later by the First Council of Constantinople which was also assembled by Theodosius I.

Christianity came a long way from the faith of an often-persecuted minority to one of the most influential religions in the Roman Empire by the time of Emperor Constantine. This eventually led to the recognition of Sunday worship around 321 AD, according to the Bible Timeline. The acceptance of Christianity in the empire took many years, and the repression by the authorities was brutal. However, its resilience saw to it that Christianity would be allowed (and even adopted) by the greater Roman population. The Edict of Toleration by Emperor Galerius issued in 311 AD paved the way for the acceptance of Christianity and ended the persecution of the people. Two years later, the Edict of Milan, agreed on and issued by Constantine I and Licinius, removed all the barriers that prevented the Christians from worshiping freely. The Edict of Milan also allowed the return of confiscated properties of Christians.

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This shift in policies concerning Christians was continued in 321 AD when Emperor Constantine issued a Sabbatical edict that was later compiled in the Codex Justinianus in 6th century AD. More importantly, the edict was the first recognition of Sunday as the day of rest and worship. In a message from Constantine to Elpidius, it states:

“Let all judges, the people of cities, and those employed in all trades, remain quiet on the Holy Day of Sunday. Persons residing in the country, however, can freely and lawfully proceed with the cultivation of the fields; as it frequently happens that the sowing of grain or the planting of vines cannot be deferred to a more suitable day, and by making concessions to Heaven the advantage of the time may be lost.”

It was further expanded during the time of the Emperors Valentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius in the same codex which stated:

“The day sacred to the sun, to which the ancients very properly gave the name of Sunday, which returns after a certain period of revolution, must also be respected, so that there shall be no investigation of legal disputes on that day, either before arbitrators or judges, whether they have been appointed or voluntarily chosen.”