Scientists have discovered references to the covering of the Sun by a “black cloud” in Byzantine chronicles from 536-540 AD. This “blackout,” according to the chronicler Procopius of Caesarea and other chroniclers, lasted several months. It was with this celestial phenomenon that other cataclysms of that time were associated, such as crop failures, famine, political unrest and the Justinian plague.
Death "black" and "red"
The so-called Plague of Justinian was the world's first recorded plague pandemic. It got its name because it began during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I and covered almost the entire civilized world. However, individual plague epidemics broke out for centuries after that - from 541 to 750.
Researchers believe that the source of the plague appeared in Ethiopia or Egypt, from where rats and fleas infected with the infection “arrived” through trade channels along with a cargo of grain to Constantinople. From there, the epidemic spread throughout Byzantium, and then spread to neighboring countries... By the end of 654, it reached North Africa, covering all of Europe, Central and South Asia and Arabia.
In Byzantium, the pandemic reached its climax by 544. If you believe the chronicles, in Constantinople alone up to 5 thousand people died from the plague every day, and sometimes the death rate reached 10 thousand people a day... 40 percent of the city’s population was destroyed.
In the East, about 100 million people died from the plague, in Europe - about 25 million. Irish sources speak of the crom conaill ("Red Death"), which became the cause of the death of many saints and monarchs in 549-550. So, it was from it that the Welsh king Gwynedd Maelgwn and Saint Finnian of Clonard died...
If desired, a prophecy about these events can be found in the Bible. This is what the ninth chapter of the Revelation of John the Theologian says:
“She opened the pit of the deep, and smoke came out of the pit like smoke from a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened from the smoke from the pit...
So I saw in a vision horses and their riders, who had armor of fire, hyacinth and sulfur on them; The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke and brimstone... From these three plagues, from the fire, smoke and brimstone coming out of their mouths, a third of the people died..."
Volcanic Horror
What happened? Scientists believe that the cause of solar darkening was volcanic eruptions, traces of which were found in the ice of Greenland and Antarctica.
“Each of these eruptions, which occurred in 536 and 540, must have had a profound impact on the lives of civilizations at that time, and their effect was magnified by the fact that they occurred only four years apart,” comments Kruger. We know which volcanoes were responsible, but we have several candidates in Central and North America, as well as Indonesia."
Volcanoes are believed to have released large amounts of ash into the atmosphere, causing what is known as a “volcanic winter.” Something similar, only on a local scale, happened in 1815 after the explosion of the Indonesian Mount Tambora.
Ice and sulfur
Kruger and her colleagues found confirmation of the “volcanic” hypothesis by analyzing the chronicles of the 6th century and examining samples of Greenland and Antarctic ice that formed during that era.
It turned out that these ice fragments contain sulfur and other compounds that are found in large quantities in volcanic gases and ash. Thus, scientists were able to build a climate model that allowed them to reconstruct the events of the late 530s.
It turned out that the consequences of the climate cataclysm were much more serious than expected. The combined force of the two volcanoes' eruptions was the highest in the last 1,200 years.
As a result, the average temperature on Earth dropped by two degrees Celsius for several years, but climate change affected the northern hemisphere the most. Scandinavia, the Mediterranean coast, the Middle East and North Africa were “affected”.
The events described in the chronicles and the data from excavations in northern Europe and Africa fit well into this theory. According to researchers from the Kruger group, the “apocalypse” of the sixth century was “triggered” by volcanoes. And there are no guarantees that this will not happen again...
A (y), sentence about the century, for the century; pl. centuries, ov; m. 1. A period of time of one hundred years; century. Twentieth century. In the last century. A quarter of a century has passed. In the mists of time; from the depths of centuries (about something that originates in the distant past). Many folk... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary
Husband. the lifespan of a person or the shelf life of an item; continuation of earthly existence. The century is an ordinary day; century of oak millennium. | Life, the existence of the universe in its current order. The end of the age is near. | Century. Now is the nineteenth century AD. Chr. |… … Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary
Noun, m., used. very often Morphology: (no) what? century, why? century, (I see) what? century, what? century, about what? about the age and forever; pl. What? century, (no) what? centuries, why? centuries, (I see) what? century, what? for centuries, about what? about centuries 1. A century is a time period... ... Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary
CENTURY, centuries (century), about a century, for a century, pl. century (agelids outdated), male 1. Life (colloquial). “Live and learn.” (last) Add age (lengthen life). In his lifetime he experienced many adventures. I have enough work for my lifetime. “Evil, girls have been around for a century.”... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
See time, long, life forever, forever and ever, live out a century, ruin a century, from time immemorial, from time immemorial, from time immemorial, forever and ever, forever and ever, from century to century, outlive your century, loom a century, loom a century, calm... ... Dictionary of synonyms
CENTURY, a, about a century, for a century, pl. a, ov, husband. 1. A period of one hundred years, conventionally calculated from the birth of Jesus Christ (Christmas). Third century BC. Twentieth century (period from January 1, 1901 to December 31, 2000). Beginning of the century (tenths... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
The Age of the Restless Sun... Wikipedia
The century will last forever
Century to die- A CENTURY TO LAST. A CENTURY TO END. Outdated Express 1. Live long; live life. So Alena remained alone for centuries (Bazhov. Ermakov’s swans). Well, brother, said Kustolomov, your apartment is, of course, unenviable, but you can’t live here forever... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language
century- to live forever the pastime of the century ends the action, subject, the end of the century the action began, the subject, the beginning of the century to live the end, the pastime of the century passed the action, subject, the end to live out the century the end,... ... Verbal compatibility of non-objective names
The Age of Stupid Genre ... Wikipedia
Books
- The Age of Joyce, I. I. Garin. If we write history as the history of the culture of the human spirit, then the 20th century should receive the name of Joyce - Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky of our time. Eliot compared his Ulysses to...
- A century of hopes and ruins, Oleg Volkov. 1990 edition. The condition is good. The main work in the collection “The Age of Hopes and Disruptions” by one of the elders of Russian literature Oleg Vasilyevich Volkov, published for his…
Imperial City: Constantinople in the 6th century AD
Abstract on the history of Oleg Pavlovsky, a 7th grade student at the “Vzmakh” school.
Introduction
Founding of Constantinople
Strategic importance
Defensive structures
City center
Providing daily life
Urban population
Constantinople - scientific center
Justinian and his reign
Conclusion
“We do not know whether we were in heaven or on earth:
There is no such view or such beauty on earth..."
Is this a legend, or was the delight experienced during the Orthodox service in the Church of St. really so strong? Sofia, but those who visited Constantinople managed to convey their feelings to the ruler of the ancient Russian state (Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich). And it was truly an amazing city with a long history, with architectural monuments that are striking in their beauty (many of which still adorn modern Istanbul). It was a city in which world-famous architects, artists and jewelers worked. Inquisitive young men went to Constantinople to study mathematics, medicine, and Roman laws. And it all started like this...
Founding of Constantinople.
The shores of the Bosphorus Strait turned out to be an ideal place to create a settlement. Here was everything you needed for life: excellent conditions for farming and fishing, a convenient, natural harbor for trading ships. During the era of the great Greek colonization (VIII-VI centuries BC), the first settlers appeared there. However, historical tradition dates the emergence of this city to the early 60s. VII century BC As the legend says, this city owed its name to a man named Byzant (he was a participant in the voyage for the Golden Fleece on the ship "Argo"). The city was named Byzantium. Historical sources report that Byzantium was first destroyed to the ground during the period of the Greco-Persian wars (VI-V centuries BC). Later the city became a bone of contention between Athens and Sparta. In the flesh until the beginning of the 4th century. AD Byzantium was experiencing a period of decline. As the legend says, the gods once showed the Greek settlers truly one of the most wonderful places on earth. The city built on this site, like a Phoenix from the ashes, was reborn again and again. Its new appearance to the world is associated with the name of Emperor Constantine, who was able to appreciate the exceptionally favorable location of the city and decided to move the capital of the Roman Empire here.
Tradition says that the boundaries of the future city were drawn directly on the ground with the spear of Constantine. The size of the territory of the new settlement was to be many times larger than the previous one. The opening ceremony of the new capital took place in 330, and it was built and equipped at an unprecedentedly high pace - in six years. The best craftsmen of the empire gathered on the banks of the Bosphorus: architects, builders, sculptors, artists. The movement of the trade and craft population from other regions of the Roman Empire to the new city was strongly encouraged. Imperial dignitaries with their families and large numbers of people were literally forcibly relocated from Rome. In addition to the tax and other benefits that merchants, artisans and other citizens useful for future development received who decided to settle in a new place, a rule was established: everyone who built a house in the city should be given free bread, butter, and wine. Largely thanks to Due to the fact that the authorities fulfilled their obligation for several decades in a row, the population grew extremely quickly and by the end of the 4th century. reached 100 thousand people. At first the city was called "New Rome", but this name did not stick. It went down in history, immortalizing the name of its creator, Emperor Constantine the Great, and until the middle of the 15th century. was called Constantinople (Fig. 1).
Strategic importance.
The main circumstance that for many centuries to come predetermined the significance of the city on the Bosphorus, regardless of who it belonged to and the center of which state it was, was its unique geographical location. However, being located at the junction of two continents, Europe and Asia, in a strategically important place (which has not lost its significance to this day), at the crossroads of world trade routes, it was equally doomed to prosperity, ruin, and even the destruction that it brought he has countless invaders. There were trade routes: land routes from Europe to Asia and sea routes from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. The abundance of convenient sea harbors favored navigation in Byzantium. Byzantine merchants grew rich in trade with Iran, India, and China. They were also well known in Western Europe, where they brought expensive eastern goods.
Defensive structures.
Much attention was paid to the construction of defensive structures. Even under Constantine the Great, stone walls were built. After they were damaged during the earthquake, they had to be strengthened and, in addition to them, more powerful new ones had to be built. Built during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II (first half of the 5th century), they crossed the entire Bosphorus Cape and stretched for 5.5 km (Fig. 2). The Theodosian walls were built in three rows. The first row, 5 m high, was protected by a deep ditch (20 m wide and up to 10 m deep). The second row (up to 3 m wide and 10 m high) had several 15-meter defensive towers. The last row of walls (about 7 m thick) was located 25-30 meters from the second row, its towers had a height of 20 to 40 m. The design of the fortifications practically excluded the possibility of undermining them, since the base of the walls was 10-10 meters below ground level. 12 m.
The sea walls of the city had one row and were also equipped with towers. The total length of all the walls of Constantinople was 16 km.
Several gates were built within the walls, some served military purposes, and some were used during peacetime and walled up during war. Wooden bridges led across the moat to the gate, which the townspeople used in peacetime. In case of danger, they were immediately burned. The main gate of the Theodosian walls was the Golden Gate, made in the form of a triumphal arch with three spans (Fig. 3). Remains of the former walls and towers remain in several places. During the assault on Constantinople by the Ottomans, the fortress was destroyed, but subsequently the Turks rebuilt it.
City center.
The capital on the Bosphorus was in no way inferior to the city on the Tiber. During the lifetime of its founder, 30 magnificent palaces and temples, about 4 thousand houses for the Roman nobility, a circus, two theaters, more than 150 baths, about the same number of bakeries, eight aqueducts and a hippodrome were built. The latter occupied an important place in the life of the townspeople and served only for horse-drawn chariot competitions and the organization of other popular spectacles, but also as a meeting area-forum (Fig. 4, Fig. 5).
The famous hippodrome, built under Constantine the Great, was located where the Sultan Ahmed Mosque currently stands and on the adjacent territory (Fig. 6). The length of the hippodrome is 370 meters, width 118 meters. At the same time, 100 thousand people gathered could watch the spectacle. The arena was surrounded by 40 thousand rows of benches supported by arches. The passages to the tiers and galleries were decorated with statues. Even during the life of the founder, many wonderful works of art from different parts of the empire began to be brought to Constantinople.
Thus, a bronze twisted column from Delphi appeared on the hippodrome square, which once served as the foot of the famous golden tripod in the Temple of Apollo. Once upon a time, the column was presented to the temple as a gift from 31 Greek people. The Greeks thanked their gods for the fact that with their help they were able to defeat the Persian army. The eight-meter column consisted of three intertwined snake bodies. The heads of snakes at a height of 6.5 meters formed a capital. The column stands in a recess. Its base is more than 2 meters below the surface of the earth (Fig. 7).
A granite obelisk dating back to the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III (1525-1473 BC) was brought from Egypt. The obelisk is a porphyry monolith about 18.5 m high, placed on 4 bronze cubes, which are located at the corners of the pedestal. On each side of the pedestal there are bas-reliefs representing scenes from the life of Emperor Theodosius. The height of the column including the base is 25m. The obelisk was brought from Egypt by sea and delivered to the place where it now stands along the road laid for this occasion. With the help of specially constructed scaffolding, the obelisk was placed vertically. It took 32 days. On each face of the obelisk there are inscriptions in Egyptian hieroglyphs.
The magnificent column of the Roman Temple of Apollo became a pedestal
for a bronze image of Constantine. It was brought to Constantinople from Rome. The column is made up of eight drum-shaped granite blocks. The seams between them were hidden under the bronze laurel wreaths that surrounded the column. At the top there was a statue of Apollo. Emperor Constantine ordered his own image to be placed instead of the statue of God.
On the terrace, located in the middle of the hippodrome arena, there is a statue of Hercules by one of the most famous sculptors of the 4th century. BC, Lissipus. There were also four gilded bronze horses of his work.
Byzantine emperors constantly decorated their capital. The construction of the church of St. dates back to the reign of Justinian I (527-565). Sophia (Fig. 8), which, according to the emperor, was supposed to surpass the splendor of Jerusalem. The history of the creation of the temple, like every event taking place on this earth, was surrounded by numerous legends. But any fiction pales in comparison to the very real information about how much money and precious materials went into the construction of this Christian shrine. The work lasted 5 years, 11 months and 10 days and absorbed almost all state income during this time. The temple itself was made of brick, but expensive ornamental stone was used for its interior decoration (Fig. 9). The eight red porphyry columns were brought from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. From all over the empire, marble of the most exquisite colors was brought to the capital: snow-white, pink, soft green, white and red. Thanks to the art of the old masters, the walls lined with this cold stone looked as if they were covered with expensive carpets. The eyewitness accounts that have reached us allow us to conclude that the splendor of the decoration and sacred utensils used for worship was truly fabulous and amazed with the abundance of gold, ivory, rare wood, precious stones, pearls and expensive fabrics.
Byzantine architects attached great importance to the interior decoration of the temple and developed to perfection the art of mosaic, inherited from the ancient world. Unlike ancient craftsmen, who used cubes carved from natural materials, the Byzantines began to use smalt-glass alloys of different colors along with them. In the manufacture of tinted glass, it was possible to achieve unusual shades; in particular, smalts with the finest gold lining created an exceptional effect.
The second achievement of Byzantine masters was the skillful use of temple lighting. Smalt cubes and pebbles of different shapes and sizes were fixed on a special base at different angles. Therefore, the rays of light that penetrated into the temple through the windows, as well as the reflections of lit candles, were reflected many times in the glass and made the colors literally shine. The images turned out to be alive, floating in space.
Golden smalt, which was used to create the background of mosaic images, created the illusion of a supernatural world,
from which figures of saints appeared before the viewer.
The main decoration of the cathedral is the dome in a shape close to a circle (diameter 32m, height 55m). It is made of brick and stone and decorated with marble sculptures and mosaics (later whitewashed). It's like he's floating in the air. The “floating” effect is created by the under-dome space (length 68 m), consisting of 40 arches with windows.
For a thousand years, the cathedral has been the largest religious building in the entire Christian world.
The Roman emperors paid no less attention to the construction of port facilities, harbors, and shipyards, since one of the main goals was to revive the business activity of the city, which dominates the straits and is located at the intersection of overland trade routes
Ensuring daily life.
The Byzantine rulers took care of the construction of water pipelines and drinking water storage facilities, which were so necessary for the huge city. Under the emperors Valens and Justinian, several underground reservoirs and aqueducts were built. In order for water to flow into them, lakes were specially created in the mountains. The two-tiered arched water supply system of Valens towered above the houses and streets and stretched from one end of the city to the other. During the reign of Justinian, an aqueduct was built, through which water was delivered from the Kidaris River to the city. Underground reservoirs, so-called cisterns, were also built. Built under Emperor Justinian, the Basilica Cistern was an engineering structure with architectural merits. The vaulted ceiling was supported by 336 columns 15.5 m high. The tops of the columns were decorated with capitals, which gave the structure the appearance of a palace hall.
Urban population.
Speaking about the city, one cannot help but recall those people who lived in Constantinople (in the 6th century AD).
Georgians, Alans, and Vikings came to serve in Constantinople, and communication with Western Europeans took place everywhere. All the inhabitants of Constantinople spoke, sang, told fortunes, danced, cooked and dressed in their own way. Despite their cultural arrogance, the Greeks believed that the mixing of different bloods was beneficial for the human race. Even the main character of the Byzantine epic, the hero Digenis Akrit, was half Arab. In Constantinople, Greek and foreign monasteries coexisted peacefully: Georgian, Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Italian. In one life there is such a parable: once in a Greek church, Georgians sang in their native language, and the priest drove them away; The Mother of God appeared to him in a dream and said that all languages were equally dear to her.
Constantinople is a scientific center.
In 425, a Christian higher school (Auditorium) was created in Constantinople, sometimes called the Constantinople School in literature.
university, and in the 6th century another school under the Patriarch of Constantinople. In the hands of the church, all sciences turned into branches of theology. Along with philosophy, this was most clearly manifested in the field of natural sciences. In the middle of the 6th century, the monk Cosmas Indicopleus (Indicopleustos, i.e., a sailor to India) wrote “Christian Topography.” Considering the Ptolimian system incorrect and contrary to the Bible, Cosmas represents the shape of the earth as a flat quadrangle, surrounded by an ocean and covered with a vault of heaven on which “paradise” is located. This work was widespread in the Middle Ages not only in Byzantium, but also in the West, as well as in Ancient Rus', and hampered the progress of science. In Byzantium, alchemy dominated with its mystical commentaries on ancient manuscripts, with the search for the “philosopher’s stone”, with the help of which it was possible to turn metals into gold, cure diseases, and restore youth. True, along with this, the chemical craft received some development, especially the production of paints for dyeing fabrics and for painting, as well as the production of ceramic products, mosaics (Fig. 11), and enamels. Among physicians, only Alexander of Trallsky tried to defend the achievements of ancient science. His most important work was the therapy of internal diseases. His works have been translated into Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Hebrew. In the 6th century, mathematicians and builders of the St. Sophia Cathedral were known: Isidore, Meletsky and Anfimius of Tralles (author of the essay “On Amazing Mechanisms,” which explains the optical properties of burning mirrors).
The deep crisis of the culture of the slave-owning society, the acute class struggle reflected in the works of historians of the 6th century Peter Patricius, Agathius of Myrinea, Menander Protictor, Procopius of Caesarea - a representative of opposition groups of the nobility, who left a number of works important for characterizing the internal and external situation under Justinian.
Justinian and his reign.
The empire expanded its borders during the reign of Justinian (Fig. 12). Smart, energetic, well-educated, Justinian skillfully selected and directed his assistants. On the one hand, he was approachable and courteous, on the other hand, he was a merciless and insidious tyrant. Justinian's main rule was: “one state, one law, one religion” (Fig. 13). The emperor, wanting to enlist the support of the church, granted it lands and valuable gifts, built many temples and monasteries, and unprecedented persecution of pagans began. To introduce uniform laws for the entire empire, the emperor created a commission of outstanding jurists. In a short time, she collected and published the laws of the Roman emperors (the Code of Justinian). It was studied by lawyers in the Middle Ages and modern times. In 532, during the aggravation of the class struggle, Justinian suppressed the uprising of the urban masses "Nika" (translation: "Conquer"). Government troops treacherously surrounded the rebels in the circus, where a terrible massacre was then carried out during
which killed about 35 thousand people.
Throughout his reign, Justinian waged bloody and extremely unsuccessful wars for Byzantium.
Conclusion.
Byzantium has not existed for a long time. Today, not everyone can immediately answer where this state was located or who lived in it. True, they often talk about “Byzantine” pomp and ceremony, about “Byzantine” intrigues, sycophancy and bureaucracy. All this happened in Byzantium, but there was much more. Traces of Byzantine influence are still preserved over a vast area - from Veliky Novgorod to Ethiopia, from the Caspian Sea to Gibraltar. Now, on the territory that once belonged to Byzantium, there are 26 states.
This ancient civilization played a special role in the history of our culture. Byzantium introduced Rus' to many objects that our ancestors did not know about before, and new words appeared in the Russian language (from the cultural sphere this is, for example, the alphabet, paper, literacy, notebook, from cooking - Easter cake, pancakes, sugar, vinegar. And also names of plants: cucumber, beet, cherry; names of animals - buffalo, cat, mackerel.). The main areas where the influence of Byzantium on Rus' was comprehensive are rightfully considered to be the state and the Church. Tsar and tyrant, crown and hard labor, Bible and Gospel, patriarch and monastery, icon and scepter - all these words were borrowed from the Byzantines. But, perhaps, no less important was the communication between the two peoples at the everyday level (hence the bathhouse, lime, rope, fireplace, ship, bed, doll, tub, oil, plinth, chamber, bench, brake lift, lantern, crystal and much more .). When talking about Constantinople, you inevitably run the risk of being caught repeating commonplaces or being overly enthusiastic. And yet, it is impossible not to mention that this is the only city in the world located in two parts of the world at once - in Europe and in Asia. This is a city that four times in its two-thousand-year history was the capital of empires: Roman, Byzantine, Latin Crusader pseudo-empire and Ottoman. This is a city that changed its name many times: Byzantium, New Rome, Constantinople (or Constantinople in Russian chronicles) and, finally, Istanbul. This is a city that has always been reborn renewed, unlike any other and always beautiful.
In this essay, I wanted to tell you everything about this amazing country, European and at the same time Asian, victorious and yet not warlike, cynical and at the same time extremely simple-minded. An empire that lasted an incredibly long time: 1123 years and 18 days.
I hope that for you, as for me, Constantinople has opened up in a new way and struck me with its unusualness and attractiveness.
(VI century BC)
ancient Greek philosopher, religious and political figure, founder of Pythagoreanism, mathematician. Pythagoras is credited with studying the properties of integers and proportions, proving the Pythagorean theorem, etc.
Pythagoras was born on the island of Samos, one of the most prosperous islands of Ionia, in the family of a wealthy jeweler. Even before birth, he was dedicated by his parents to the light of Apollo. He was very handsome and from childhood he was distinguished by reason and justice. From a young age, Pythagoras strove to penetrate the secrets of Eternal Nature, to comprehend the meaning of Existence. The knowledge he received in the temples of Greece did not provide answers to all the questions that worried him, and he went in search of wisdom to Egypt. For 22 years he studied in the temples of Memphis and received initiation of the highest degree. Here he deeply studied mathematics, “the science of numbers or universal principles,” which he later made the center of his system. From Memphis, on the orders of Cambyses, who invaded Egypt, Pythagoras, together with the Egyptian priests, ends up in Babylon, where he spends another 12 years. Here he has the opportunity to study many religions and cults, to penetrate the mysteries of the ancient magic of the heirs of Zoroaster.
Around 530, Pythagoras finally returned to Greece and soon moved to Southern Italy, to the city of Croton. In Croton he founded the Pythagorean League, which was at once a philosophical school, a political party and a religious brotherhood. Here philosophy was combined with life practice, showing a person a worthy path to the fate that awaits him after death. The school lived in communities with strict discipline of morals, chastity and abstinence were required from students. However, asceticism was not the ideal of the Pythagoreans; marriage was a sacred concept for them. Along with boys, girls were also accepted into the school. The training was multi-stage and not everyone was given secret knowledge. Only those who successfully passed all the tests were allowed into the courtyard of the Teacher's house. Here Pythagoras instructed his closest students. This is where the names esoteric (i.e., what is inside) and exoteric (i.e., what is outside) originate. The strict way of life of the Pythagoreans, their contemplative philosophy, benevolence towards people and the desire to do good and help, attracted many people to them. The union soon became the center of the political and spiritual life of all of Croton.
The Pythagorean school gave Greece a galaxy of talented philosophers, physicists and mathematicians. Their name is associated in mathematics with the systematic introduction of proofs into geometry, consideration of it as an abstract science, the creation of the doctrine of similarity, the proof of the theorem bearing the name of Pythagoras, the construction of some regular polygons and polyhedra, as well as the doctrine of even and odd, simple and composite, figured and perfect numbers, arithmetic, geometric and harmonic proportions and averages. In acoustics, the Pythagoreans discovered the dependence of the laws of sound harmony on the numerical ratio of the lengths of the strings producing sounds. Quite definitely, the Pythagoreans recognized the earth as a sphere and taught about the rotation of the earth, as well as other luminaries, around a central fire, “the altar of the universe, invisible due to the fact that between it and the earth there is a dark celestial body. Later, in Efkant we find the doctrine of the rotation of the earth around its axis, and in Aristarchus of Samos (280 BC) a well-defined heliocentric system.
Pythagoras first introduced the term “philosopher” when, when asked who he was, he answered: I am not a sage (sophos), I am a lover of wisdom (philosophos), that is, a philosopher. The main thing in the teachings of Pythagoras is the doctrine of number as the essence of the whole world. The diversity of physical phenomena will obey the law, which is unity, the cosmos (the use of this name is attributed to Pythagoras), i.e. order, and the basis of this order is number. Not an arithmetic number, but a number as a metaphysical reality, a connection, a law of the world, in relation to which the arithmetic number is only a form of knowledge. The basis of numbers is one, the embodiment of the unity and harmony of the Universe. God, as an indivisible essence, has one as its number. From the moment of manifestation, God is dual (matter and spirit, male and female). The entire manifested world is symbolized by the number three: for just as a person consists of body, soul and spirit, so the Universe is divided into three spheres: the natural world, the human world and the divine world. Just as the world trinity is concentrated in the unity of God, so the human trinity is concentrated in consciousness and will, forming thus. notebook.
In each number, Pythagoras defined one or another principle, law, one or another active force. The opposition between odd (higher) and even (lower, generated from higher by doubling) numbers manifests itself in nature in the form of a number of other opposites: light and darkness, limitless and limited, good and evil, moving and resting, male and female, etc. . The natural world is actually built from numbers: the body is limited by planes, the plane by lines, the line by points. The point - the last element of the Universe - is identical to one. That. a correspondence arises between the spatial world and numbers: line - “2”, plane - “3”, body - “4”. The world of the spirit is also reduced to a number: love and friendship are identified with eight, justice with multiple numbers. Pythagoras attached particular importance to the numbers “7” and “10”. Composed of three and four, seven signifies the union of man with the deity. The number ten, formed from the first four numbers, containing the number seven, is a perfect number, a unit of the highest order, for it expresses all the principles of the Divinity, first developing and then merging in a new unity.
The teachings of Pythagoras continue the teachings of Orpheus about the immortality of the soul, about reincarnation, about the means of salvation and purification of the soul, bringing it into a harmonious scientifically based system. Pythagoras defines the task of human earthly life as introducing order, “number”, and harmony into the inner world. The family of Pythagoras also personified divine harmony.
At the age of 60, Pythagoras married his student Theano, a girl of amazing beauty who won the heart of the wise philosopher with her pure and fiery love, boundless devotion and faith. Theano gave Pythagoras two sons and a daughter, all of them were faithful followers of their Great Father. One of the sons of Pythagoras later became the teacher of Empidocles and initiated him into the secrets of Pythagorean teaching. Pythagoras entrusted his daughter Dano with the storage of his manuscripts. After the death of her father and the collapse of the union, Dano lived in extreme poverty, she was offered large sums for the manuscripts, but true to her father’s will, she refused to give them into strangers’ hands.
Pythagoras lived in Croton for 30 years. During this time, he managed to realize what remained the dream of many initiates: he created, on top of political power, a wise power of higher knowledge, similar to the ancient Egyptian priesthood. The Council of Three Hundred, created and headed by Pythagoras, was the regulator of the political life of Croton and extended its influence to other cities of Greece for a quarter of a century. But nothing irritates mediocrity so much and causes envy and hatred as the dominion of a great mind. The rebellion against the rule of the aristocratic party that broke out in Sybaris was the beginning of the persecution of the Pythagorean alliance. Many of the students died under the rubble of the burning school building, others starved to death in the temples. No reliable information has been preserved about the time and place of death of Pythagoras himself. The memories of the Great Teacher and his teaching were preserved by those few who managed to escape to Greece. We find it in the Golden Verses of Lysias, in the commentaries of Heraclitus, in passages by Philolaus and Archytas, and in Plato's Timaeus. The beautiful, harmonious system given to the world by Pythagoras has never been forgotten. It became the basis of Plato’s metaphysics and was revived in the Alexandrian school and in the works of many later ancient philosophers.
Chronology of the most important events in world history
–From ancient times to the 6th century BC–
VIII - III millennium BC Neolithic, the period of transition from an appropriating economy (gathering, hunting) to a producing economy (agriculture, cattle breeding). In the Neolithic era, stone tools were ground and drilled; pottery, spinning, and weaving appeared.
V - first half of the 4th millennium BC. The first agricultural communities, the decomposition of primitive communal relations in Ancient Egypt.
IV - III millennium BC Copper Age. Stone tools predominate, but copper ones appear. The main occupations of the population are hoe farming, cattle breeding, and hunting.
End of the 4th millennium BC The unification of the nomes of Ancient Egypt into two large kingdoms - Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.
end of the 4th century - rocked the 1st millennium BC. Bronze Age. The spread of bronze metallurgy, bronze tools and weapons. The emergence of nomadic cattle breeding and irrigated agriculture, writing, and slave-owning civilizations. Replaced by the Iron Age, which came with the spread of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools and weapons
OK. 3200 - approx. 2800 BC Early Kingdom in Ancient Egypt; reign of the 1st and 2nd dynasties. The unification of Egypt into a single strong centralized state.
OK. 2850 - approx. 2450 BC Reign of the first dynasty of Ur in Sumer. Economic rise of Sumer,
OK. 2800 - approx. 2250 BC Ancient kingdom in Egypt; reign of the III - VI dynasties. Expansion of territory and political influence of Egypt. Three pyramids were built at Giza.
OK. 2800 - 1100 BC Aegean (Creto-Mycenaean) culture - the culture of Ancient Greece of the Bronze Age. Geographical variants of the Aegean culture are distinguished: on Crete - Minoan, on mainland Greece - Helladic, on the islands of the Aegean Sea - Cycladic culture,
Oh. 2500 BC Sumerian king Eannatum conquers Ur and Kish. 2316 - 2261 BC Reign of Sargon, King of Akkad. Sargon’s conquest of Babylonia, Elam, Assyria and part of Syria and thereby uniting all of Mesopotamia under the rule of one ruler and the creation of the largest Mesopotamian power in Western Asia with its center in Akkad,
OK. 2300 - oh. 1700 Indus civilization in the Indus River valley.
OK. 2250 - approx. 2050 BC The reign of the VII - X dynasties in Egypt. The period of internal fragmentation and decline of Egypt,
OK. 2140 - approx. 2030 BC The reign of the Ur dynasty brings the Sumerian-Akkadian kingdom to the greatest heights of its power. In the next 100 - 150 years, the Sumerian-Akkadian kingdom declines and the Sumerians disappear as a nation,
OK. 2050 - approx. 1750 BC Middle Kingdom in Egypt, reign of the XI - XVII dynasties. The unification of Egypt and its transformation again into a large and strong state,
OK. 2000 BC The Hellenes (Greeks) - a people speaking an Indo-European language - begin migrating from the north to the territory of modern Greece. Indo-Europeans related to the Greeks trade from the north to the Apennine Peninsula,
OK. 2000 - approx. 1000 BC Aryan tribes from the north-west infiltrate India. 1894 - 1595 BC Reign of I Babylonian, or Amorite,
dynasties. The Rise of Babylon. 1813 - 1781 BC The reign of the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad I. Assyria conquers all of Upper Mesopotamia and turns into a large Central Asian state.
OK. 1800 - approx. 1300 The highest flowering of the Trojan kingdom. Ended with the earthquake Troy experienced (1300).
1792 - 1750 BC The reign of the sixth king of the 1st Babylonian dynasty, Hammurabi, who united Babylon under the rule; throughout Mesopotamia, carried out large-scale programs of civil reform and construction, and established the first systematic legal code. Rise of Babylon
OK. 1742 BC e. Kassite invasion of Babylonia
OK. 1710 - approx. 1560 BC Egypt under Hyksos rule. The Hyksos introduced the Egyptians to chariots on light wheels (on spokes) drawn by horses, previously poorly known in Egypt.
OK. 1680 - approx. 1650 BC Reign of the Hittite king Labarna. Completion of the unification of the Hittite kingdom.
1620 - 1590 BC The reign of the Hittite king Mursili I. Strengthening centralization in the Hittite kingdom. The Hittite conquest of Babylon (1595), which contributed to the final establishment of the Kassite kings on the Babylonian throne.
XVI - XV centuries BC The period of the heyday of the Mitanni state and the creation of a strong power in Mesopotamia. Mitanni influence spread over a significant part of Assyria and began to penetrate into Asia Minor, Syria, Phenicia and even Palestine.
~ 1595 - ca. 1155 BC. Kassite rule in Babylon. Regular use of horses and mules in military affairs and transport, use of a combined plow-seeder in agriculture, creation of a road network, activation of foreign trade,
OK. 1580 - 1085 BC The period of the New Kingdom in Egypt. The reign of the three most powerful dynasties - XVIII, XIX and XX. The rise of ancient Egyptian civilization, c. XV century BC The budding of Proto-Slavic tribes from the Indo-European massif.
1490 - 1436 BC The reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III from the XVIII dynasty, one of the most successful Egyptian conquerors. In history he is known as the first commander to carry out an offensive according to a pre-planned plan. As a result of the victorious campaigns of Thutmose III, Palestine and Syria, the lands of Mitanni to the west of the Euphrates, and in a southern direction - vast areas up to the fourth cataract of the Nile, were conquered. A grandiose Egyptian power was formed, stretching from north to south for 3200 km. Libya, Assyria, Babylonia, the Hittite kingdom and the island of Crete became dependent on Egypt, paying tribute to it.
OK. 1405 - 1367 BC Reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep 111 from the XVIII dynasty. Under him, the power of Egypt reached its apogee, the temple of Amon-Ra in Luxor and a mortuary temple with huge statues of Amenhotep III - the “colossi of Memnon” - were built.
OK. 1400 - approx. 1200 BC The heyday of Mycenae, a major center of Achaean culture, the capital of one of the Achaean states.
OK. 1400 - 1027 BC Ancient Chinese state of Yin.
1380 - 1340 BC The reign of the great Hittite king Suppiluliuma I, a skilled diplomat, capable commander and far-sighted politician. Expelled the Egyptians from Syria, conquered Mitanni, turned the Hittite kingdom into a powerful military power stretching from the Chorokh and Araks basin to Southern Palestine and from the shores of Halys to the borders of Assyria and Babylonia.
1368 - 1351 BC The reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV from the XVIII dynasty. Trying to break the power of the Theban priesthood and the old nobility, Amenhotep IV acted as a religious reformer, introducing a new state monotheistic cult of the god Aten, who personified the solar disk. He himself took the name Akhenaten, which meant “pleasing to Aten.”
1351 - 1342 BC The reign of Pharaoh Tutankhamun from the 18th dynasty. Under him, the religious reforms of Amenhotep IV - Akhenaten were canceled. (Tutankhamun’s tomb, excavated in 1922, revealed valuable monuments of ancient Egyptian culture to the world.)
OK. 1340 - 1305 BC Reign of the Hittite king Mursili II. The apogee of the military power of the great Hittite power.
1307 - 1208 BC The period of the reign of the Assyrian kings Adad-nerari I, Shalmaneser I and Tukulti-Ninurta I, during which the Assyrian state achieved great growth and major foreign policy successes.
1290 - 1224 BC The reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II of the 19th dynasty. As a result of the victorious wars with the Hittites, Egyptian power was restored in Palestine and Southern Syria. Large temple and economic construction is underway.
OK. 1260 BC In the tenth year of the siege, Troy, a city in the north-west of Asia Minor, was captured and destroyed by cunning. The ten-year Trojan War, waged against Troy by a coalition of Achaean kings led by Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, ended. The events of this war have come to us thanks to Homer’s Iliad.
1225 - 1215 BC The reign of Pharaoh Mernepta from the 19th dynasty. It was under him that Moses probably led the Israelites out of Egypt.
OK. 1200 BC The Israelites and Philistines invade Canaan (Palestine).
OK. 1200 BC The Dorians, one of the main ancient Greek tribes, begin moving from Northern and Central Greece to the southwestern regions of the Peloponnese, and then populate the islands of Rhodes, Crete and others.
1198 - 1166 BC The reign of Pharaoh Ramses III from the XX dynasty. The last pharaoh, under whom Egypt was still able to repel the invasion of the Libyan tribes and the “Sea Peoples”.
OK. 1190 BC Under the pressure of the “peoples of the sea,” the Hittite state collapsed and ceased to exist forever.
1155 BC The Elamite king Kutir-Nahhunte II captured Babylonia. The height of Elam's power, its power extended from the Persian Gulf in the south to the area of the modern city of Hamadan in the north.
1126 - 1105 BC The reign of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar I. A crushing victory over Elam (1115) leads to the overthrow of the Elamite rule over Babylon. Brief heyday of Babylonia.
1085 - 945 BC The reign of the XXI dynasty in Egypt. More and more Libyans, mostly former mercenaries, are settling in Egypt. Some noble Libyans occupy high priestly and military positions.
OK. 1030 BC Saul becomes king of Israel.
1027 - 771 BC Western Zhou era in China.
OK. 1013 - 974 BC The reign of David, king of Judah, and later of the entire kingdom of Israel and Judah. He pursued a policy of creating a centralized monarchy. Having conquered Jerusalem, David made it his capital. X - VIII centuries. BC The period of the highest prosperity of the Phrygian kingdom.
969 - 936 BC The reign of the Phoenician king Ahiram (Hiram). The rise of the Tyro-Sidonian kingdom.
950 - 730 BC The reign of the XXII (Libyan) dynasty of pharaohs in Egypt. The founder - Shoshenq I - one of the Libyan leaders who seized the royal throne. Unstable internal situation, separatism of nomarchs, weakening of central power. The looming threat of an Assyrian invasion.
OK. 900 - approx. 800 BC The Etruscans arrived on the Apennine Peninsula by sea, probably from Asia Minor.
883 - 824 BC The reign of the Assyrian kings Ashurnasirpal II (before 859) and Shalmaneser III (after 859), during which the aggressive foreign policy of Assyria sharply intensified.
864 - 845 BC The reign of King Aramu, the first ruler of the united Urartu.
825 BC Carthage was founded by Phoenician colonists from the city of Tire.
825 - 810 BC The reign of the Urartian king Ishluini. Marked by active efforts to strengthen a unified state.
817 - 730 BC The reign of the XXIII dynasty of pharaohs in Egypt. The founder, Petubastis, one of the nomarchs who did not obey the pharaohs of the XXII dynasty, declared himself the pharaoh of all Egypt. The XXIII Dynasty ruled simultaneously with the XXII Dynasty, but neither of them had real power during this period.
786 - 764 BC The reign of the Urartian king Argishti I. The zenith of the power of the Urartian state. The beginning of the decisive battle between Urartu and Assyria for dominance in Western Asia.
776 BC The first Olympic Games. (Organized in honor of the god Zeus at Olympia once every 4 years. Lasted 5 days. Canceled in 394 AD)
770 - 256 BC Eastern Zhou era in China. The rise of Chinese culture (the emergence of philosophical schools - Confucianism, Fajia, Taoism, etc.).
753 - 715 BC The reign of Romulus, the first (according to legend) king of Rome. Together with his twin brother Remus, he founded Rome (753 BC).
745 - 727 BC The reign of the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III. In 734 he conquers Israel, in 732 Damascus, and in 729 he takes over the crown of Babylon, which remains under the Assyrian yoke almost continuously until 627 BC. Under the rule of Tiglath-pileser III, Assyria reaches the zenith of its power.
743 - 724 BC First Messenian War. The Spartans capture Messenia. The vanquished must give Sparta half of the harvest.
735 - 713 BC The reign of the Urartian king Rusa I was marked by the growth of the power of Urartu, but ended with the final and irrevocable defeat of Urartu from Assyria (714) in the struggle for political hegemony in Western Asia.
730 - 715 BC The reign of the XXIV dynasty of pharaohs in Egypt (the Sais prince Tefnakht). Unification of the Delta and Upper Egypt regions.
722 - 705 BC The reign of the Assyrian king Sargon II. Assyria defeated the Kingdom of Israel (722) and defeated Urartu (714), lost and again regained power over Babylonia.
715 - 664 BC The reign of the XXV (Ethiopian) dynasty of pharaohs in Egypt. Complete unification of the country.
705 - 681 BC The reign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. Suppression of the resistance of the states conquered by Assyria. Babylon was stormed and destroyed (689).
692 - 654 BC The reign of the Lydian king Gyges. The beginning of the heyday of the Lydian kingdom.
685 - 668 BC The Second Messenian War was a rebellion of the Messenians led by Aristomenes against the rule of Sparta. The rebels, in alliance with some cities of Arcadia, inflict a number of defeats on the Spartans. However, Sparta manages to defeat the Messenians, who turn into disenfranchised members of the Spartan community - helots.
681 - 669 BC The reign of the Assyrian king Esarhadzon. Restoration of the previously destroyed Babylon (679 - 678); wars against the Phoenician city-states of Tire (676) and Sidon (671); transformation of Egypt into an Assyrian province (671). The Assyrian power extends from the first cataracts of the Nile to Transcaucasia, from the Iranian plateau to Anatolia, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.672 BC. Having expelled the Assyrians from the western part of their territory, the Medes created an independent state.
669 - approx. 633 BC. The reign of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. Wars with Egypt, Elam, Babylonia in an attempt to keep them under Assyrian rule. Final fall of Egypt (around 655).
664 - 525 BC The reign of the XXVI (Sais) dynasty of pharaohs in Egypt. Liberation of Egypt from the yoke of the Assyrians. The last flowering of the statehood and culture of Ancient Egypt.
657- 627 BC Tyranny of Cypselus in Corinth. Economic, political and cultural flourishing of Corinth.
650 BC Huan Gong, the ruler of Qi, is officially proclaimed hegemon on the Central China Plain. After his death (643), the Qi kingdom lost its position as hegemon.
636 - 628 BC Reign of Wei-gun, King of Jin. The period of the highest power of the Jin kingdom, the hegemon on the Central Chinese Plain.
632 BC The Athenian aristocrat Kilon, winner of the Olympic competitions, tried to establish tyranny in Athens, but without success (Kilon's Troubles).
627 - 585 BC The tyranny of Periander in Corinth. He continued the policies of his father, Kypsel, eliminated many ancestral remnants, and organized extensive construction.
OK. 625 - 584 BC The reign of the Indian king Cyaxares. In alliance with Babylonia, he destroyed the Assyrian power (605), annexed the territories of Mana, Urartu and the eastern part of Asia Minor to Media.
626 - 605 BC Division of the Assyrian state between Babylonia and Media. The Assyrian nobility was exterminated, cities were razed to the ground, the ordinary population scattered and mixed with other peoples.
626 - 539 BC Chaldean (Neo-Babylonian) power in Babylonia.
621 BC The appearance of the first written laws in Ancient Greece. Compiled by the Athenian archon Draco. The laws were cruel (hence “draconian laws”, “draconian measures”).
616 - 510 BC Reign of the Etruscan kings Tarquin in Rome 613 - 591 BC. The reign of Zhuang Wang, the king of Chu, was the first hegemon on the Central China Plain who did not recognize the supreme supremacy of Zhou.
612 BC The Assyrian capital Nineveh was destroyed, and its inhabitants were massacred by the troops of the Babylonian (Chaldean) king Nabopolassar and the Median king Cyaxares.
610 - 595 BC Reign of Pharaoh Necho II. Major work on the construction of a canal between the Nile and the Red Sea. By order of Necho, Phoenician sailors made a voyage around Africa unprecedented in history.
605 - 562 BC The reign of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. Captured the territory of Syria and Palestine (605), made a campaign in Northern Arabia (598). Twice he destroyed the rebel Jerusalem (597 and 587), liquidated the Kingdom of Judah and took a large number of the inhabitants of Judea into captivity. The so-called Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens were built under it.
594 BC Solon, a poet, military leader and statesman, was elected Archon of Athens. Solon carries out reforms to speed up the elimination of the remnants of the tribal system. All debts of peasants and debt slavery were cancelled.
OK. 590 BC. The first "holy war" in Greece (for control of the Delphic sanctuary).
590 - 585 BC The war between Lydia and Media ended in peace, the conclusion of which was influenced by the total solar eclipse of May 28, 585, recognized as a bad omen (during the battle, both sides threw down their weapons in horror).
578 - 534 BC Reign of the sixth Roman king Servius Tullius. He is credited with carrying out the centuriate reform, according to which the plebeians were introduced into the Roman community and the entire population of Rome was divided into 5 categories according to property qualifications.
562 - 546 BC The reign of the Lydian king Croesus. The period of Lydia's foreign policy heyday; ended in military disaster (546). Lydia became part of the Persian state as one of its satrapies.
560 - 527 BC Reign (with interruptions) of the Athenian tyrant Pisistratus. He carried out reforms in the interests of farmers and the trade and craft layers (distributing land to the rural poor, minting state coins, etc.), created a mercenary army, organized public construction (market, water supply system, Piraeus harbor, temples, etc.).
