EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE. I77 Gregory the Great (590-604), when besieged by the Lombards at Rome, employed the imperial army of Constantinople and acted as the defender of Rome, making common cause with the people against the Lombards and others. V. Social and Political. — On changing the capital of the empire from Rome to Byzantium in a.d. 324 Constantine prac- tically reigned as an absolute monarch till his death in a.d, 337, the old Roman political system coming to an end. The division of the Roman Empire first took place in a.d. 364, Valentian being Emperor of the West and his brother Valens of the East. Theodosius the Great, reigning between the years a.d. 379-395, reunited the Eastern and Western portions of the Empire. The series of emperors in the West came to an end in a.d. 476, and the empire was nominally again reunited, Zeno reigning at Constantinople over the Eastern and Western Empires. Theodoric the Goth reigned in Italy, a.d. 493-526, a period of peace and prosperity, in which Byzantine art influenced Early Christian art by way of Ravenna, which, from 493-552, was the capital of the Gothic dynasty. Kings of separate states were then elected in Italy, Spain, Gaul, and Northern Africa, Odoacer, the new king of Italy, recognizing the supremacy of the one Roman Emperor at Con- stantinople. The emancipation of the West from direct imperial control made possible the development of Romano-German civilization, which facilitated the growth of new states and nationalities, gave a fresh impulse to the Christian Church, and laid the foundations of the power of the Bishops of Rome. From the Roman or common speech several of the chief languages of modern Europe commenced to arise, and in conse- quence are called Romance languages. vi. Historical. — The Early Christian period is generally taken as lasting from Constantine to Gregory the Great, or from a.d. 300 to 604. The Teutonic invasions of Italy commenced about a.d. 376, and Teutonic settlements took place within the empire about this time, these movements being caused by the incursions of the Huns into Germany. The West Goths sacked Rome under Alaric in a.d. 410. The defeat of Attila, King of the Huns, at the battle of Chalons, A.D. 451, aided in consolidating Christianity in Europe. During the reign of Gregory the Great (..d. 590 to 604) the Latin language and Early Christian architecture, the latest phase of Roman art, ceased to exist, and for the next two centuries architecture was practically at a standstill in Europe, when the old Roman traditions were to a great extent thrown aside, and Romanesque architecture was gradually evolved. F.A. N
