HISTORY CRAFTER - THE REAL AND SIMULATED HISTORY

  'MEETING' (Copyright 2020 Salvatore Puleio) ARABS AND CHRISTIANITY IN THE LATE ANTIQUITY   During the IV and V centuries of the Vulgar Era, the Arabs came to a close contact with the Empire of the Romans; this way, the immense territory of Syria and Mesopotamia met a religious tradition which was strictly linked to the political issues of power and control. In fact, the ‘throne and the altar’ have always been connected; after Constantine, however, Christianity shaped and influenced in a significant way the history of the Empire of the Caesars. The religious sphere pervaded thus every issue of the public life, in Constantinople as well as in the periphery; as a matter of fact, Christianity was used as a tool to subject people to the imperial ideology. Although framed as a religious discourse, it came to be a process of cultural assimilation; however powerful, this mechanism was not always so easy to perform. In fact, we have to bear in mind the particularities of the religions

ARABIA BEFORE ISLAM   When we think at the Arabian peninsula, we immediately associate it with Islam; Arabia is the cradle of Islam, and this is not only a Religion but a culture as well. Arabic culture and Islam are strictly associated, and it’s difficult to think at one without the other. Nonetheless, there was an Arabia before the advent of Islam, very different from what we know nowadays; it is so far in time that it is practically lost. However, historians can help us to rebuild that world, and, as a matter of fact, there were many religious traditions; among them, one can mention, above all, Christianity and Paganism. Judaism, Zoroastrism, and Manicheism were there as well, but played a secondary role; thus, while we acknowledge their existence, from an historic point of view, we have to focus on the two main groups that played a major role.   Christianity   The importance of Christianity, as a social and religious phenomenon, mainly relies upon its relevance in shaping the late