Passion Is Passe

FIRST thing that happens…

Aladdin and Jasmine decide to ride the Magic Carpets with us and ask us about ourselves.

Aladdin insists on driving.

Aladdin drives while Jasmine threatens him to make sure she doesn’t get wet.

Best experience at Disney, ever.

Then I will legally change my first and last name to Elagabalus.

And my name will be Elagabalus Elizabeth Elagabalus.

Here’s a toast to hoping that doesn’t have to happen.

Let me tell you.

Religion marked a new era for the Roman Empire. It paved the way for a new sort of political and social elite as well as reversed much of what was accomplished socially and politically by the pagan rulers prior to Constantine.

After the Council of Nicaea, which was the first ecumenical council regarding the theology of the Holy Trinity, the role of Bishop became a much more prominent political power. In fact, this council’s decision shaped what we know of Orthodox Christianity today. It was decided there that Christ was not God’s creation, but rather a part of God Himself. After this council, clergymen grew to become key elements of the imperial power structure.

None would have been possible were it not for the Edict of Milan, established by Constantine and Licinius - an edict which made it lawful to practice Christianity (and really, any religion) and enforced tolerance throughout the entirety of the Empire. However, it did pose a problem during the Donatist Schism in 314.

All this religious freedom was just too much for some people!

Constantine’s role as a religious figurehead went beyond establishing councils and creating edicts. After converting to Christianity, Constantine began to insert his theology into his empire. He built churches in Jerusalem - the most prominent of which being the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He also had Christian buildings built in Rome and Constantinople, the city he had built as a personal capitol run by a senate of its own.

Also, while Constantine allowed for pagan temples to be built, he placed important restrictions on them. He even went so far as to allow imperial cult temples to be built in honor of his family as long as no blood sacrifices were performed there (a direct influence of his conversion to Christianity, since Christ was viewed as the last blood sacrifice.)

Christians continued to be a minority, but at least they were a privileged one! They were no longer in danger of being killed or having their land taken away from them. In fact, in a sense, Christianity became the thing to do. Clergymen were legitimized and granted immunity from taxation. Christian alms were seen often as a direct road to public honors, so many people converted to Christianity in order to gain political favor in their cities and were exempt from certain local duties.

The Chi Rho, Christ’s monogram, even became the symbol of the Roman military. Constantine’s deciding battle against Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge changed the face of the army entirely. As reported by historians present at the time, Constantine had a dream in which he encountered this symbol and was told “in hoc signo vinces,” or “by this sign you shall conquer.” Although this did not necessarily mark Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, it certainly was an important milestone.

Hey. Thanks for helping me study.

Since I’m skipping Kenpo to study tonight (which I wish I didn’t have to do, considering this is my last week in Tallahassee), I’m going to hit the gym in a few to make up for my lack of workout time in the past two weeks.

Damn theatre, stealing all my health time.

Anyway, today’s going to be a rough day simply because I’m about to hit it hard. I’m feeling spectacularly lazy this week, so to make up for it, I’m going to kick my own ass today and tomorrow and Thursday so that I can head home on Friday feeling good. Of course, in between all of this physical activity, I have to take my exams, which could honestly go either way. SO…I’m just winging it.

No Kenpo over the summer means studying my notebook and non stop practice so that I don’t have to suffer from any learning curves when I start up again in August. Also gym time. Lots of gym time to keep my body lookin’ fly. It’s just going to be weird switching back to horseback riding, since I’m going to be working muscles that haven’t seen the light of day in about a year and a half.

Also, I’m going to try to work into reining again. It’s going to be hard to try schooling myself and my friend’s horse without a formal trainer…unless of course I get a job at the barn, which means I will be able to afford lessons and lalalala wonderful things will happen.

Here’s hoping for not only a rocking summer bod, but also a rocking summer.