The roadmap
Lessons
The history is told in 22 units, from the founding of Rome to the modern Church. Each unit opens with an overview, and detailed lessons are added over time.2 of 22 units started.
- 1
Romulus, Remus & the Seven Kings
The founding legends, the seven kings, and the birth of Roman religion under Numa.
- The Founding of Rome — Romulus & RemusDraft753 BC
- 2
The Founding of the Republic
The last king expelled, consuls and the Senate, and the struggle between patricians and plebeians.
- 3
Hannibal & the Punic Wars
Rome against Carthage, and how a city-state became a Mediterranean power.
- 4
The Fall of the Republic
The Gracchi, Marius and Sulla, Caesar, and Augustus becoming emperor.
- 5
Augustus & the Time of Jesus
Pompey takes Jerusalem, Herod, the Roman peace, Pontius Pilate, and the world of the Gospels.
- 6
The Persecutions
From Nero to Diocletian: martyrs, the catacombs, and the Church that grew anyway.
- 7
The Destruction of Jerusalem
The Jewish revolt, Titus and the fall of the Temple, and what it meant for the early Church.
- 8
Constantine
The Milvian Bridge, the Edict of Milan, Nicaea, Constantinople, and the first great basilicas.
- Constantine the GreatDraftAD 272–337
- Battle of the Milvian BridgeDraftAD 312
- The "Edict" of MilanDraftAD 313
- 9
The Fall of the West & St. Augustine
The sack of Rome, the City of God, Leo the Great meets Attila, and the last western emperor.
- 10
Justinian & Byzantium
The Hagia Sophia, the great law code, and the Roman Empire in the East.
- 11
Benedict, Gregory & the Monasteries
Monasteries preserve learning, and the papacy steps into the vacuum Rome left.
- 12
Charlemagne & the Holy Roman Empire
A Frankish king crowned emperor by a pope on Christmas Day, 800.
- 13
The Great Schism
How and why the Church in East and West divided.
- 14
The Crusades
Well known and much misunderstood: the Crusades from the sources.
- 15
Cathedrals & Aquinas
Gothic cathedrals, the universities, and St. Thomas Aquinas.
- 16
The Fall of Constantinople
The end of the Roman Empire, more than 2,200 years after the founding.
- 17
Renaissance Rome & the New St. Peter's
Bramante, Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel, and the building that helped spark the Reformation.
- 18
The Reformation
Luther, indulgences, and the division of Western Christianity.
- 19
Trent & the Catholic Reformation
The Council of Trent, new saints and orders, and the Baroque.
- 20
Rome & the American Founding
The founders modeled the Republic on Rome: the Senate, "Publius," and the Capitol.
- 21
The End of the Holy Roman Empire & the Papal States
Napoleon ends the Holy Roman Empire, and Italy takes Rome from the popes.
- 22
Vatican City & Vatican II
The smallest state in the world, and the council that shaped the modern Church.