10/17 [TU], 2017

 SOME ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
What happened to the people, lands, and cultures of Europe after the fall of the Western half of the ancient Roman Empire? What was life like?  Education?  Trade?  Science and Art?
What "thread" is generally credited with holding Western Europe together?
What happened to the Eastern half of the ancient Roman Empire?
How did the plague interrupt or stop the reuniting of both halves
          of what used to be the ancient Roman Empire?

I.  DARK AGES DVD continued  (Spiral Notes)
- Chapter 6 "The Empire Strikes Back"
- Constantinople, capitol of the Byzantium empire (eastern Romans)
- Greek-Speaking half
- Emperor Justinian attempts to reunite
- Empress Theodora saves empire from crumbling
- the plague stops a very successful march into Western Europe