Hannah Draplin

History 134
Alec Thomson
June 26, 2016
Portfolio Reflection
As a historian of the ancient world, there is a lot that can be learned and applied from my
ancestors to my own role in contributing to and acting responsibly for the betterment of society.
Religion, morals and traditions were important factors that significantly influenced an individual
from the ancient world to act responsibly and contribute to society.
People that are highly religious are often associated with having values of gratitude,
forgiveness and honesty1. They also have traditions such as family gatherings on holidays, going
to church at least once a week and praying. These factors all provide for a more stable lifestyle.
Of course religious people are not perfect and still may do bad things but their religion has
consequences for those that sin. In Christianity, when a person sins they must ask for forgiveness
and believe the Jesus is their Lord and Savior and if they dont they spend eternity in hell2. In
Islam, those that sin may not get to Paradise and are not reincarnation as something better.
With these consequences in place the people are more willing to do good in this life so that their
afterlife is better.
The first example of how religion and morals positively influenced the way people acted was in
the Roman Empire. Roman religion was polytheistic with many Greek gods and foreign cults.
They believed that everything was created by and associated with different spirits. Their religion
was not based on any central belief, but on a mixture of fragmented rituals, taboos,
superstitions, and traditions (roman-empire.net). Romans spent much of their time worshipping

their gods, in fact each god had their own holiday3. They made sacrifices as as performed rituals
often. Although their religion was not so much a spiritual one, it still made them focused on
doing good for all the gods.
Another example relating religion to the way people acted in society was during the rule
of the Byzantine Empire. Christianity was the main religion practiced in the empire. The
government and and religion were closely connected. Patriarchs, bishops and priests were
instructed to deliver sermons which supported imperial policy and encouraged obedience to the
government (historydoctor.net). There were of course those that protested these sermons
because they did not agree with the government. A group that was very devoted to the religion
were the monks and nuns that belonged to the Monasteries of the Byzantine church
(historydoctor.net). These people believed they were living their life for a holy purpose for their
God. Other people became curious and began to follow their teachings. This made the society
grow with spiritual people that had morals and everyone in the community dedicated oneself to
work and prayer (historydoctor.net).
Arabian Peninsula
A final example of how religion influenced people to contribute to society was during the
spread of Islam. In 632, the religion of Islam quickly spread under the rule of the first four
caliphs (history-world.org). An appealing factor that influenced non-Muslims to convert was that
it took away racial barriers, allowing anyone to practice the religion. This allowed diverse
relationships between people of other cultures to form. Those that converted became more aware
of how they treated others because of the teachings of Islam. Islam teaches that there is one God,
Allah and that they must live and do good in order to reach Paradise. They believed in karma, if
you do good you will get good in return and vice versa.

Understanding the way these cultures held their empires together with religion helps us
learn more about the way we are today. Religion united the people and brought them closer. In an
article by William McNiell for the American Historical Association, he compares the loss of
individual and collective memory with not knowing the history of our ancestors (McNeill). This
is a great analogy because if we could not remember anything we did yesterday it would affect
how we act today. Same as for knowing history about our ancestors. There has been a lot we
have learned from them and even things they invented that we still use today. One example of
this was a medieval voting system of Constantinople that was made to elect a new emperor
(Perry), similar to how the citizens of America voting for a new President. History shapes who
we are; it provides us different cultural perspectives through a lesson of intentions, movements,
experiments and human production (Postma).
Although I am not a very religious person, I do follow the faith of Christianity. I can
relate mostly to the Byzantines and their morals and traditions that the religion has teaches. I
think it makes me a better person and encourages me to forgive others. These are important
things for a society that is filled with bad people and crime but also good people with similar
values.

Endnotes

1 For more about research on highly religious people in everyday life visit
pewforum.org/2016/04/12religion-in-everyday-life/
2 About Christian beliefs see religioustolerance.org/sin_over.htm
3 For more about ancient Roman religious beliefs see historylearningsite.co.uk/ancient-rome/ancientrome-and-religion/

Works Cited
"Byzantine Religion and Influence." Historydoctor.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2016.
This article is about the Byzantine Empire and its religious beliefs.
McNeill, William M. "Wy Study History?" American Historical Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 26

June 2016.
This is an article written by William McNeill about Why it is important for us to study
history. He is a professor at the University of Chicago and has written more than twenty
books related to history.
Perry, David M. "How History Can Help Us Predict the Next Pope." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media
Company, 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 June 2016.
This article was written by David Perry, an associate professor at the Dominican University. It
is about how history can help us predict the next

Pope.

Postma, Michael. "What Can History Teach Us Today?" ASCD Express. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June
2016.
This is an article about What history teaches us today. It was written by Michael Postma.
On ASCDs website it says that he is the coordinator of High Potential Services and the
Minnetonka Navigaotr Program at Minnetonk Public Schools.
"Roman Religion." Roman-empire.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2016.
This article is about the Roman Empire and its religious beliefs.
"The Spread of Islam." History-world.org. N.p., 2002. Web. 26 June 2016.
This article was written for the World History Project. It was also given as an
informational piece in one of the modules about Islam.