4 - The Impact of the Byzantines DBQ (copy)

Group 1

Source 1.1

• Christianity
• Islam
• Judaism
• Latin

• They stopped the expansion of Islam, which allowed Christianity to survive in Europe and spread to America.
• The Arabs were able to defeat the Byzantines in Constantinople and spread Islam throughout all of Europe.
• The Orthodox Christians constantly fought with their rivals, the Latin Christians (Western Romans).
• The Byzantine Empire controlled much of Afro-Eurasia (the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia).

Group 2

Source 2.1

• To keep people and animals from wandering away from the city and getting lost.
• To keep out the Huns and Goths, who were overrunning Rome.
• It allowed the Muslims to show their strength by building these remarkable achievements.
• They did not build walls around their city for protection.

• Not very successful, because invaders found a weakness in the seaward side of the city.
• Very successful, because it took 1,100 years and the invention of gunpowder to beat them.
• Very successful, because the city was never conquered by attacking Turks or Crusaders.
• Not very successful, because Rome was destroyed by the Goths in the fifth century.

• The Byzantines were able to spread Christianity throughout all of Asia.
• It shows how quickly the Byzantines were able to overthrow the Muslims in Constantinople.
• To learn from their mistakes about building walls to separate themselves from outsiders.
• The walls were remarkable achievements that helped protect the city of Constantinople.

Group 3

Source 3.1

• Because the Roman Emperor Constantine decided they should each worship different gods.
• They differed on the interpretation of the Bible, marrying of priests, and refusal to accept the authority of the Pope.
• The Eastern Orthodox Christians believed the Pope had supreme power, while the Roman Catholics did not.
• Eastern Orthodox eventually pushed out Catholicism and caused it to no longer be worshiped.

• Russia
• Ethiopia
• Greece
• Ukraine

• To realize the impact of economies that used to be part of the Byzantine Empire.
• Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the largest branch of Christianity in the world.
• Over 250 million Eastern Orthodox Christians have been influenced by Byzantine traditions.
• The United States has the highest number of Eastern Orthodox Christians in the world.

Group 4

Source 4.1

• The Byzantine Empire did not have any laws in place yet.
• The invading Germanic tribes destroyed the previous laws.
• The old laws were unorganized and could lead to confusion.
• The Western Roman Empire wrote its laws in Latin, not Greek.

• John Locke mirrors one of Justinian’s guidelines when he says “no one ought to harm another”.
• Thomas Jefferson’s unalienable right to Life echoes one of Justinian’s guidelines.
• Locke and Jefferson rejected Justinian’s guideline that laws are fair and people are honest.
• Locke and Jefferson’s statements about equality are similar to Justinian’s guideline “to give every one his due”.

• Byzantines were the first civilization to organize their laws into a written code.
• John Locke copied and then translated Justinian’s Code into English.
• Justinian’s Code influenced future sets of laws and ideas about justice.
• Thomas Jefferson learned from the mistakes in Justinian’s laws.

Group 5

Source 5.1

• science
• literature
• architecture
• math

• Byzantine scribes helped preserve knowledge from ancient Greece that is still used today.
• The Byzantines invented things like geometry, the Socratic Method, and the Hippocratic Oath.
• The Byzantines destroyed the inventions and achievements from ancient Greece.
• Byzantine scribes ignored the achievements of other cultures and thought they were false.

Group 6

Source 6.1

• It was the world’s largest Christian cathedral for a millennium.
• It was the best defended fortress in the Eastern Roman Empire.
• It was transformed into a Muslim mosque by the Ottomans.
• It was a museum and the most visited tourist attraction in Turkey.

• Byzantine leaders like Justinian I were buried in large tombs like the Hagia Sophia.
• The Hagia Sophia is the last remaining cathedral of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
• The Byzantines built architectural wonders that have survived and still impress to this day.
• We should remember Constantinople, which the Ottoman Turks completely destroyed.

Group 7