Discuss Rome's Three Heirs (Please see the instruction) Essay

Discuss Rome's Three Heirs (Please see the instruction) - Essay Example irers of Roman culture and allowed the Roman language Latin to co-exist with the tribal languages, retaining the Roman system of Government and accommodating themselves to Roman culture. Rome was also the cultural context within Christianity was born and the invading tribes took to the new religion, especially through the influence of the Franks who helped to convert most of the barbarians to Roman Christianity. The European civilizations therefore brought about a relatively peaceful transition from Roman to Germanic rule, although there was an initial economic collapse due to the marauding barbarians. However, the final result was that the Roman language, the Catholic religion and Roman law and Government triumphed in the west European regions in the post-Roman era. Constantinople in the eastern part of the Roman Empire became the imperial capital of the Byzantine Empire. As opposed to the barbarians of the west, this empire was comprised of Hellenistic, Greek, Roman and Judaic elements. The origin of the empire was the rebuilding of Byzantium as Constantinople in 324, which was followed by the expansion of the empire into Asia Minor and the spread of the Islamic religion, up to 1204 when the Byzantine empire fell to the Ottoman Turks. The first phase of the Byzantine empire under emperor Justinian was the most remarkable in terms of political and cultural achievement. From a cultural perspective, Constantinople represented the crossroads of the Asian and European civilizations. From a legal perspective, Justinian ordered a collation and revision of Roman law. As a result, the law was codified to eliminate excessive legal decrees and introduce clear, enforceable laws. The corpus juris civilis or the body of civil law was produced, which contained the precepts of the law and also contained Justinian’s code of bringing subjects under the authority of a single sovereign, which latter also became the foundation of European law. The Government was centralized