Urban Councils In Cities Of Roman Empire example essay topic

The Roman Empire had started at Anatolia. Byzantine Empire had lived between 330 and 1453. The Seljuk Empire had started with having most of Anatolia in the early part of 11th century. The Roman Empire, Byzantine and The Seljuk Empire, all of them have a special place in history.

Also there are some similarities and differences among them in terms of their political and administrative structures, socio economic organization, daily life and regional hierarchy. A-) Roman Empire consisted of kings, magistrates, and senators. The king had a big power. He could accept, reject, or overrule ' dec ions because he was sen as a God of the earth. In Roman cities, councils transformed city states to central government officials. So urban councils' functions were separated two parts.

These were civil and military authorities because of centralization. Value of political power and situation of city councilmen diminished with the transformation of authority. The consuls were not the only kings in Roma. Also Roman Empire gave importance to army. They had very organised army, military and farmer soldiers.

The farmer soldiers were given grain and they made it such as porridge and wheat. Because of centralization urban councils in cities of Roman Empire. Central government had to divided to separate civil and military authority. The Roman Empire, political organization was highly centralized and administration structure of the The Roman Empire had an ecclesiastic property so that the emperor was accepted as the representative of God.

The church had a close relationship with the emperor of The Roman Empire because of this belief. Also christianity became state religion in the beginning period of The Roman Empire. For instance, one of the criteria's to be citizen of Roman Empire was belonging to the christian church. The Roman Empire had continued with the Byzantine so major of characteristics of both empires were similar. The Byzantine Empire had city-states as a heritage from The Roman Empire. The main changes between The Roman Empire and The Byzantine Empire were establishment of the political center and tendency to growing centralization and relative compactness of Byzantines' borders that contrasted with the basic pattern of The Roman Empire.

In The Byzantine Empire, church had a big importance at the political of senate, the court, and bureaucracy. Also political organization was very centralized and the major pivotal forces of the centrality was the emperor, , the army and the church in Byzantine. They became very strong and a part of Byzantine's forces at centrality. Also in The Byzantine Empire, the army had merchants were in the form of travelling they did not stay in Byzantine. Additional, senates of The Byzantine Empire behave as counselor of the emperor and very similar to the Roman senate. Monarch was divine justice.

The Byzantine Empire had an ecclesiastic administration structure. Elements of ecclesiastic administration were metropolitan etes, archbishoprics, bishoprics, monasteries in the country side. The Byzantine Empire had very centralized political organization. So emperor, church, army, and bureaucracy were focal elements of the centrality. In the early 1th century, The Turks conquered most of Anatolia and established The Anatolian Seljuk state as a part of great The Great Seljuk Empire, which is the first Turkish Empire in Anatolia. The Seljuk Empire was an islamic empire and feudal.

State was the common property of dynasty, like in the Byzantine. When The Seljuk Empire's sultan died, the son of sultan was taking place of his father. This situation caused quarrels and rebellion of sultan sons. For the administrative structure of the Seljuk society, the sultan was the first and most important power because the whole population was under the control of central authority which was the sultans own.

However there were other high level administrators except the sultan although he was the only owner of The Seljuk Empire. Moreover, the army was belonging to the sultan. The army of Seljuk Empire included five main groups: Kap', t'y marl'y, ", 'yz, uc. To sum up, christianity began to lose importance in Anatolia when The Byzantine Empire collapsed.

Then, in Anatolia began to spread. Islam ization affected the al urban development such as social structure and street patterns. In islamic civilizations, city administration was in the control of officials determined by the emperor, there were very close relation between them. B-) In Greco Roman societies, military and economic conditions made the families group themselves into large groups, which called the phratries, the phratries into tribes and finally the tribes into a city. The clans, the phratries and the tribes incorporated by the polis which became a political. The social classes in Greco Roman society from the highest to the lowest was cavalry (landlords), hoplite (small land owners), the third social class (workers, landless people) and Tyrians.

In Roman Empire, Roma was the centre of trade which gives the city an urban culture. Professions and businesses are transferred from father to his sons. Beside these productive groups, there was the upper class who doesn't take place in army, law and politics. Status was very important in Roman Empire. People were gaining prestige with slaves. The more slave, the more prestige.

Slaves were used in mines and state's public works. With the rise of Christianity, slavery system began to loose importance. Slavery is the difference between Byzantine Empire and Roman Empire. At every five year, each male Roman citizen had to register in Rom e for the census. He had to declare his wife, children, slaves. Registration meant freedom.

If you want to free your slave you only need to enter him in the censor's list as a citizen. In Roman Empire very wealthy lived in private homes called do mus, which were usually single stor red houses with several rooms and a central courtyard. The other Romans lived in multi stor red apartment buildings called insula. Buildings were hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

Roman society was a society of status. C-) When we look at the Roman Empire we can see that all sorts of trade was centred around the Rome. Rome although important as an industrial city, was largely a city which consumed goods, rather than producing them. Education was in the hand of the family. The very wealthy provided greek tutors for their children. For less wealthy there were private schools in which Greek educated slaves would instruct students.

And also there were libraries to hold boys. Greece and Roman were thought in the schools. In addition working Roman men would usually get up early and work six hours a day while women stayed at home. They live in bric built houses which are not so different from what people live in today. They were also using streets names and house numbers.

They had a central heating by circulation hot air under the floors and through hollow bricks in walls. Some problems like dark were not solved, lack of illuminating was seemed. Health is important for Romans they have professional health team. Constantinople was the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. Because of its location it had a very important role. Constant'y nople, in which all of the functions of the urban system were concentrated, unchallenged by any other city in the empire.

It was the imperial center, the center of the empire's political, administrative, religious and economic life. It appeared as a great commercial and industrial city. It was a christian city filled with churches, monasteries, convents, orphanages and old age homes maintained by the church's and reflect the features of the Byzantine. The street pattern of Constantinople had two distinct levels. The upper level which was planned and directed by the central authorities and the lower level street system which has narrow and winding alleys and well fitted to topography. Church dominate the social life and also had played educational role.

And moreover the cities of the Byzantine Empire were the centers of regional distribution and collection. They were the points of transfer for international or inter regional commerce. In Byzantine Empire daily life was under control of church. Religion has an very effective power on people. The capital city Constantinople was including many churches and monasteries. They have an important educational role independent from the emperor.

Constantinople was an important trade center so church's market role has an important advantage for supplying foods and agricultural products. Trade and the industry were two main elements that shape the economy of Byzantine Empire. In Seljuk Empire a guild like a system called Ahi was observed. Merchants craftsmen who escaped from pressure in east came and settled in Seljuk cities establishing soma structure systems called Ahi Tethkilat'y which were depending on the master-apprentice relationship. An active transit trade was seen there. This structure had direct effects on trade so that Seljuk sultans established caravansarais on the main trade routes for the aim of developing trade, and trade was occuring in private-closed places.

Because of its geographic situation, Seljuk Empire has an active enhanced trade. Many inns and caravanserai's were constructed on the roads which connect the cities and towns. These large commercial buildings helped the enhancement of transportation and trade system. After Seljuks consolidate the security and union, international trade ways started to pass through Seljuk's land. Ports of some cities developed and they become a commercial center. At first trade was made with the Exchange but then they started to use Money.

There was a guild system called "Ahi" and this system was controlling the quality and the price of the things which were selling at the market places. With developed money system and increasing trade number of markets increased and markets took place not only outside the city also inside the city. With the changing trade ways Konya became one of the important trade cities. After the 14th century, eastern trade wasted away. D-) The invention of central heating, by circulating hot air under floors and through hollow bricks in walls encouraged the construction of huge thermal buildings, large baths, often combined with gymnasia were built into all major Roman cities of Asia minor. Ecclesiastic system, which was started with bishops, was significant in Byzantine Empire.

The next level is constituted by Council of Nicea. Patriarchate and Patriarchate of Constantinople were formed the third and top layers, respectively. Church acquired the responsibility of society's welfare functions. As a result of this, rural areas had the chance to be served. Constantinople was a truly Christian city which consists of churches, monasteries, convents, orphanages and old age homes.

With the Christian dominance in daily life temples were disappeared, churches were appeared. Administrative structure modifications and reforms increased the number of capital cities, however, their zone of influence decreased. Quasi-primacy urban system became visible. Different from the Roman times, city was full of churches, monasteries and monuments due to in the popularity of Christianity. The effects of the ecclesiastic network system were seen dominantly in Byzantine Empire at urban hierarchy. Bishops were the lowest of this system.

Then the council of Nicea stands at next level Patriarchate finally. Functions of welfare transformed municipality to church. According to these services supplied rural areas. But this situation, weakened the small and medium sized cities. The reforms in administrative structure caused the number of capital cities increase, but their zone of influence decreased and with the increase in number of the capital cities the economy weakened and administrative functions got more dominant in cities. Economic stabilization emerged by this situation.

We shall examine Constantinople to understand the morphology of cities. The tradition of the sacred monumental street was continued in Byzantine cities. Unlike the Rome times city was full of church's, monasteries, monuments. In Constantinople, the street pattern had two levels.

The upper level was planned and controlled by central authorities. Main streets were focusing on the August eum at the meeting point between the main church Ha ghia Sophia and the palace. The other major street was Mesh which was a monumental sacred axis lying in the upper level and including shops, forums, and squares. The forums were the center of entertainment, trade, and political life. This property was giving the city a Greco Roman character. The social ecology of Constantinople was relatively undifferentiated and neighbourhood was quite heterogeneous unlike Roman times.

The only differentiation was the con centralization of Latin elements in Golden Horn. The lower level street system was not reflecting an urban network. In Seljuk Empire, the city was consisting of two major element sone of which was the inner castle, and the other was the outer castle. Inner city was fulfilling the military purposes and the outer was where the residential quarter was located. Public structures with mosques were also located in this part of the city.

Outside the walls near the Gates were locating the markets and other large structures such as K"ulli ye. At those times, trade routes were crucial, and large cities near these trade roads were monumentally. But, this was not seen in small sized cities. The Seljuk State en rise the country with monumental mosques, madrassahs, hospitals, fortresses, tombs, and caravansarais, usually covered with finest stones and tiles.