Not getting there yet

Um, I still have not started writing my essay. Still. It's 2 PM on Sunday, and I have absolutely no words written down for my essay. I have, however, collected almost all of my evidence together for the ssay, and I have a really good idea of how I am going to organize myself (aristocracy, religion, and the response of these two to the new forces of the Late Antique World). Essentially, the entire Roman empire encounters the same general changes, a move from paganism to Christianity, a redefinition of the elite, and a reconnection with traditional forces in conjuction with the new Christian movements, but drastically different events to correspond to their experiences. The Western empire in the face of such changes utterly sinks, as it is an agrarian society, devoted to local governments, and subject to the constant change of the German. With these efforts, Christianity hardens into this rigid organization that seeks not only to keep the German out, but also to cement the bishops' role as the new aristocracy of the west. Since education played a more minor role in the West than in the East, the synthesis of tradition and the new is somewhat more difficult to find, but essentially Christianity of the West assumes the tried and proven conservatism of the countryside. The common man becomes the serf at this time, completely subservient and at the same time, loyal, to his local landlord.

The East is an entirely different story. The ideas of State transform to the loyalty of the Emperor. The Church, having to organize a vast number of different ideas, maintains itself as a compromising organization, attempting to find solutions to problems without dogmatic assertion, yet flexibility. The Roman Empire survives here, even though the changes still result in new definitions of loyalty, of religion, and of aristocracy. The aristocracy of the East completely dedicates itself to the salvation of the emperor and the empire in the face of the Germans, the Persians, and the Muslims. The West on the other hand, abandons its only line of defense.

Then there is the ascendance of Islam, which takes on this model of religious forces and ideas of loyalty into forming their own empire. Initially, it is a very Arab thing, but with time, Islam too is assumed into the synthesis of new ideas and traditional forces.

In the end, all three find themselves rising into the Middle Ages, where man identifies himself by his religion and by his very personal loyalty ties.

So I basically just wrote the outline of my paper. I'll have to use this as I write it tonight/this afternoon/whenever I get the rest of my evidence together for the paper. I have to have this two-fold thing where I both analyze the author's argument and how he uses his evidence and develop a timeline for the Late Antique period. I think I've got the second part down pat, but the first is going to take a little bit of work.

I should be able to do it...I think. I don't know, to be honest.

I think I should go back to reading my other history book once I finish collecting my evidence, so I can let it sink into my mind more freshly. Then I'll write.

Au revoir mes amis.