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Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Kayla Verble
Professor Lark
HIST 134
Portfolio Refection
While taking the course History 134: Ancient World this semester, I have been immersed
and earliest of eras. Taking this course has proven true that being educated on events and
cultures from our past assists in contributing to how we presently view the world, and
how examining ancestors of our past help shape the future. Religion, morals and
traditions have ignited wars, constructed societies, and assembled people together.
Through the duration of this course we have focused on a number of civilizations and
individual or higher power then their ruler. Civilizations in these eras we gained
beliefs, militaries, and class systems of the society. In this paper, I will be focusing on
how religion, morals, and tradition significantly influenced individuals in history in their
Constantine the Great came to power as the emperor of the Western Roman Empire in
306 AD, and eventually known as ruler of entire Roman Empire in 324 AD after the
event of a civil war. Around the time of Constantine approaching into power, the religion
persecution. Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to follow and convert to
Christianity and embarked on making an effort to expand and advocate the new faith
for Christians and demanded church sanctuaries to be reestablished that had previously
been seized during the persecutions. Perhaps the most significant rule put in to practice
through the new legislation that affected the followers living under Constantines power
would be the termination of the persecution of Christians. Prior to this, Christians were
constantly persecuted by anyone that believed they had a right to because up until this
point in time it was sanctioned and in some cases even advertised, to persecute. In our
text in module ten we read, When Romans were persecuting the Jews and Christians,
this was relatively easy. Just practicing your faith while living in fear of being caught was
a struggle enough. (History 134 e-text: Module 10; Christian Suffering). Constantine
created a positive effect and immensely impacted numerous lives all because he insisted
on going a different route then his society had previously been cultured to. True, during
the time of Constantines conversion to Christianity, the population was not huge, but the
Christian people were still prosecuted based off of their faith. The result of the
conversion caused the people during this time to contribute to their society and have a
sense of responsibility.
Whenever I hear outstanding military and fighting skills I now immediately think of
Alexander the Great. Alexander became the King of the ancient Greek kingdom of
Macedon as well as a member of the Argead dynasty at a very young age. (Alexander
the Great). Because of his conquering and defeats a vast number of empires, he
allowed himself to construct one of the most massive empires known to the ancient world
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which happened to stretch from Greece to Egypt and even parts of northwest India (
Alexander the Great). As king of Macedon, Alexander did not always follow the ways
of his religion due to the countries and empires he conquered. He would adapt the beliefs
of these empires to form a connection with the people. Alexander the Great was known
for always keeping to his traditions and always did the right thing when it came to his
country. His intention for Macedon was for it to prosper and be known as a world empire
The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, in known in our history books as Gods last prophet.
Muhammad is the reason for Islam, which happens to be the second largest religion
today. It is believed that an angel from heaven came down to Muhammad and told him
to recite the scripture for the Quran (history 134 e-text; Module 13; Muhammad,
Prophet of Islam). After the angel appeared, Muhammad went on a journey to spread his
knowledge of Islam to the entire world. Muhammad definitely had his doubts in the
beginning; despite this he stayed true to his destiny and religion. Without the father of
Islam and remaining faithful through the duration of the adventures of spreading Islam
across the globe even when people didnt want to hear what he had to say, Islam would
In this paper, we viewed three different people who maintained their morals, religion, and
traditions and how their actions created a massive influence in their communities and
countries. Constantine, Muhammad, and Alexander the Great, shaped the world through
their morals, beliefs, and traditions. We may be faced with obstacles different then the
leaders during the ancient times and not worried about the same issues. Just like
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Muhammad though, when we are passionate about our religion and faith, we like to tell
our friends, family and peers just like Muhammad did when he was spreading Islam. In
order to better our current society, people need to have an open mind and take risks when
it comes to new ideas. Spread peace and accept everyone, even if they dont share the
same religion as you. Nations today are driven by religion, traditions, and morals.
Learning about these three highlighted topics in our reading has definitely made an
References
History 134- e-text Module 10; Crash Course: Christianity from Judaism to Constantine
History 134 e-text Module 15; What Can History Teach Us Today?