Foundations of Western Civilization

The Roman Empire was a great empire full of riches, a massive army, and a wide area of land, but they also were plagued by disease, poverty and corruption. After many years of Roman rule the empire lost its final battle. Luckily the Roman dream was preserved through many new empires, events and groups of people which included the Muslims, the Catholic Church, the Barbarian invasion, and the Byzantium Empire. These people and events influenced the way Western civilization has developed today.

One period in history that had many contributions to the way western civilization has developed today is the middle ages. The idea that the Middle Ages were "dark ages" has been exaggerated a lot. In fact the middle ages are split into three distinct time periods, which were all quite different from each other. There are the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Despite the reputation for being a time when there were no moves forward in Europe, there were actually many important achievements.

During the middle Ages there was as much cultural turmoil as in the periods prior to it, if not more. Each new conflict and war, each new voyage, each new opened trade route brought new ideas, new worldviews, broadened the medieval people’s perspective and laid the base for the beginning of the Renaissance later. And of course, looked on its own