Analyze the Theodosian establishment of Nicene Christianity as Roman state religion 380 CE — Edict of Thessalonica + ban on polytheist sacrifices 391 CE + the death of Hypatia of Alexandria 415 CE — per Ramsay MacMullen and Bart Ehrman scholarship
Exercise Difficulty 4 ~8 min hist.g6.s.ex_08

Rubric Response

MG-9 Illustration
16x24 inch classroom poster, warm-amber background with deep-bronze serif text: 'WE PROMISE: Every person we study — emp

16x24 inch classroom poster, warm-amber background with deep-bronze serif text: 'WE PROMISE: Every person we study — emperor or enslaved, scribe or farmer, scholar or stonemason, named or anonymous — was first a human being. We say their names when we have them. We honor the anonymous when we don't. We refuse to reduce any person to a footnote, a statistic, or a chattel.' Includes silhouetted procession of named-and-anonymous figures across the bottom: emperor figure, enslaved figure carrying a stone block, scribe figure with bronze stylus, mother figure with child, farmer figure with sickle, monk figure with scroll. Frame: simple wood, classroom-display-ready.

MG-10 Illustration
16x24 inch classroom poster, deep-evergreen background with silver-gold serif text: 'WE PROMISE: When we study difficult

16x24 inch classroom poster, deep-evergreen background with silver-gold serif text: 'WE PROMISE: When we study difficult content — persecution, plague, slavery, conquest, displacement — we name it honestly AND we open and close with resilience. Before naming the difficulty, we name the people's strength, art, family, religion, music, language, mathematics, science, and continuation. After naming the difficulty, we return to resilience. We never end a lesson on devastation alone.' Includes border motifs: olive branch (Late Roman), lotus (Gupta), bamboo (Han), pomegranate (Sasanian), Ge'ez cross (Aksum), ceiba tree (Maya). Frame: simple wood, classroom-display-ready.

Prompt

Apply MG-9 Humanity-FIRST + MG-10 Resilience-FIRST to the Christianization period 313-415 CE. Write 3-5 sentences naming TWO communities who experienced violence during this period AND TWO communities who continued unbroken.

How it's presented
mode text
Answer criteria
type rubric scored
rubric
Communities experiencing violence: Christians (Diocletian Great Persecution 303-313 CE); polytheists (post-Theodosian suppression 391 CE onward); Hypatia and her circle (415 CE); Jewish communities of the diaspora across the period. Continuing communities: Roman Jewish community (continuous since pre-Christian Republican Rome); Eastern Roman / Byzantine continuation; Coptic Christianity in Egypt; Aksum Christianity 350 CE onward
Hints
  1. MG-9 Humanity-FIRST means every person is first a human being.
  2. MG-10 Resilience-FIRST returns to descendant communities.
Misconceptions to watch
  • Treating Christianity as monolithic
  • Forgetting Jewish continuation through the period
Used in lessons