The Renaissance Times

Augustine said he heard a childlike voice he heard telling him to “take up and read” which he took as a divine command to open the Bible and read the first thing he saw. He opened the bible at a random page and read from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans chapter 13, verses 13 and […]

The post #15 – City Of God appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

* Let’s talk more about Augustine of Hippo, aka St Augustine. * He’s one of the most important figures in all of Christianity. * Through his sheer intellectual power, and enormous output of work , he has come to be seen as the cornerstone of the western Christian tradition. * it has been said that […]

The post #14 – Augustine of Hippo appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

After three days of pillage, Alaric left Rome. * Instead of heading for Ravenna, he headed for southern Italy. * He took with him lots of gold and hostages, including Honorius’ sister, the daughter of Theodosius. * They sacked many cities in southern Italy and were preparing to go on to Sicily and Africa when […]

The post #13 – The Blame Game appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Stilicho and the chief ministers of his party were treacherously slain on Honorius’ orders. * Stilicho had been accused by one of his enemies at court, Olympius, of treason and wanting to put his own son on the throne. * So Stilicho went to Ravenna to meet with the Emperor to protest his innocence. * […]

The post #12 – The Sack Of Rome appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

⁃ Theodosius’ army rapidly dissolved after his death. ⁃ And as he apparently hadn’t given the Goths the rewards they expected for helping him defeat Eugenius at the Battle of the Frigidus, they decided to just TAKE their rewards – and more. ⁃ As his heir in the East, Theodosius left his son Arcadius, who […]

The post Episode 11 – The Rise Of The Goths appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

• Ambrose had Theodosius so whipped that he was able to publicly declare that the emperor had recognised the moral supremacy of the church over the actions of an emperor. • It’s from this point onwards that the church decides it has the power to make and break emperors. • It was soon after the […]

The post Episode 10 – Crushing The Pagans appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

* Theodosius appointed his young children as his co-emperors, but he’s the sole emperor * He died a few months later, leaving the empire in the hands of his two young children. * Before we get on to what happened next, we need to talk about “Cunctos populos” * the so-called “Edict of Thessalonica” * […]

The post Episode 9 – The Whipped Dog appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

Vally went to Theodosius in Thessalonica, agreed to marry off his sister Galla to him to cement their alliance, and together they invaded from the east the following year and defeated Maximus in battle. He surrendered, pleaded for mercy as one good Christian to another… and was executed. His young son was also strangled by […]

The post Episode 8 – Theodosius appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

At the end of episode 6, the Augustii Valens and Gratian were dead. Valens burned alive in a cottage by the Goths. Gratian assassinated by a rebel general under Magnus Maximus. One story about that. While he was hunting down Gratian, The general, Andragathius, apparently hid himself in a litter carried by mules. He ordered his […]

The post Episode 7 – Ambrose of Milan appeared first on The Renaissance Times.

So let’s move on to Julian. Julian’s personal religion was both pagan and philosophical; he viewed the traditional myths as allegories, in which the ancient gods were aspects of a philosophical divinity. He was tutored by Eusebius of Nicomedia, the same guy who baptised Constantine on his death bed. He was apparently a vegetarian. The […]

The post Episode 6 – The Imperial Threesome appeared first on The Renaissance Times.