Santo Tomas More: Patron ng Faculty of Arts and Letters Kilala si Santo Tomas More bilang patron ng mga

abugado. Isinilang siya noong Pebrero 7, 1478 sa Milk Street, London. Nakapagaral siya sa St. Anthony at kumuha ng abugasya sa Oxford. Pinakasalan niya si Jane Colt at nagbunga ang kanilang pagsasama ng apat na supling. Ngunit namatay ang kanyang kabiyak kayat nag-asawa siyang muli ng isa ring balo. Isinulat niya ang librong Utopia na nakilala bilang isang obra maestra noong 1516. Madalas na tumatalakay tungkol sa ibat ibang isyu ng simbahan ang kanyang mga sinusulat. Iginawad sa kanya ang titulong Lord Chancellor ni Henry VIII. Dahil sa kanyang pagtutol na kilalanin ang hari bilang pinuno ng simbahan, nahatulan siya at ang kanyang matalik na kaibigan na si San Juan Fisher na makulong at mapugutan ng ulo. Bago siya pinugutan ng ulo, nagbitiw siya ng mga salita at sinabi niyang isa siyang mabuting utusan ng hari ngunit inuuna pa rin niya ang Diyos. Ipinagdiriwang ang kanyang kapistahan tuwing Hunyo 22. The Greek Period Up to this time the great powers of the world had been in Asia and Africa. But looming ominously on the western horizon was the rising power of Greece. The beginnings of Greek history are veiled in myth. It is thought to have commenced about the 12th century B.C., the time of the Biblical Judges. Then came the Trojan War, and Homer, about 1,000 B.C., the age of David and Solomon. The beginning of authentic Greek history has usually been reckoned from the First Olympiad, 776 B.C. Then came the Formation of Hellenic States, 776-500 B.C. Then the Persian Wars, 500-3 31 B.C. And the famous battles: Marathon, 490; Thermopalyae and Salamis, 480. Then the brilliant era of Pericles, 465-429, and Socrates, 469-399, contemporaneous with Ezra and Nehemiah. Alexander the Great, 336 B.C., at the age of 20, assumed command of the Greek army, and, like a meteor, swept eastward over the lands that had been under the dominion of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia. By 331 B.C. the whole world lay at his feet. On his invasion of Palestine, 332 B.C., he showed great consideration to the Jews, spared Jerusalem, and offered immunities to the Jews to settle in Alexandria. He established Greek cities all over his conquered domains, and along with them Greek culture and the Greek language. After a brief reign he died, 3 2 3 B.C. On Alexander's death his empire fell to four of his generals, the two eastern sections going, Syria to Seleucus, and Egypt to Ptolemy. Palestine, lying between Syria and Egypt, went first to Syria, but shortly assed to Egypt (301 B.C.), and remained under control of Egypt until 198 B.C. Under the kings of Egypt, called the "Ptolemies," the condition of the Jews was mainly peaceful and happy. Those that were in Egypt built synagogues in all their settlements. Alexandria became an influential center of Judaism. Antiochus the Great re-conquered Palestine (198 B.C.), and it passed back to the kings of Syria, called the "Seleucids." Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 B.c.), was violently bitter against the Jews, and he made a furious and determined effort to exterminate them and their religion. He devastated Jerusalem (168 B.C.), defiled the Temple, offered a sow on its altar, erected an altar to Jupiter, prohibited Temple worship, forbade circumcision on pain of death, sold thousands of Jewish families into slavery, destroyed all copies of Scripture that could be found, and slaughtered everyone discovered in possession of such copies, and resorted to every conceivable torture to force Jews to renounce their religion. This led to the Maccabean revolt, one of the most heroic feats in history. The Ptolemies, Greek Kings of Egypt, were: Ptolemy I (3 2 3-2 85 B.c.). Ptolemy II (285-247) . Ptolemy III (247-222) . Ptolemy IV (222-205) . Ptolemy V (205-182) . Ptolemy VI (182-146) . Ptolemy VII (146-117). The Roman period The defeat of Perseus, last king of Macedonia, by Lucius Aemilius Paullus at the battle of Pydna (168 BC) ushered in a prolonged Roman occupation. After a period of nominal independence, Macedonia became a Roman province ('provincia Macedonia'). The new province was attacked by diverse barbarian peoples, became the theatre of Roman civil strife during the period of the Republic, and enjoyed a brief economic recovery -- afforded by the 'Pax Augusta' -- which was followed by political vacillations that ended with the accession of Diocletian. The new system of the Tetrarchy, the administrative reorganisation, and the spread and recognition of Christianity, all laid the foundations of a new historical era which was formally expressed in the person of Constantine the Great.

The Roman PeriodTo the Romans, the Greek civilization was a source of inspiration and as Athens prospered under the Emperor Hadrian, Rome prospered from the ideas of the ancient Athenians.

In 168 BC the Romans defeat the Macedonians in the battle of Pydna. In 146 BC and 86 BC the Romans seize rebellious Corinth, killing all the men, selling the women into slavery and destroying the city as an example. When Athens joins King Mithridates in another rebellion against the Romans in Asia Minor they invade the city, destroy the walls and leave with the most valuable sculptures. When Octavion becomes emperor with his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra (of the line of Greek Ptolemaic Pharaohs) the period of peace which follows is known as Pax-Romana, lasting 300 years. It is the longest period of peace in the history of Greece. The Roman emperors Nero and Hadrian take a special interest in Greece. Nero begins work on the Corinth Canal, using slave labor. Hadrian builds the Roman Agora (market) and the library that bears his name. On the archway, built by the Athenians to honor their emperor there are two inscriptions. On the side facing the Acropolis it says: This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus. On the other side it says: This is the city of Hadrian and not of Theseus. It is Hadrian who completes the massive temple to Olympian Zeus(photo) in 124 AD continuing the work that had been begun in 515 B.C. by Peisistratos the Younger. Adrianou (Hadrian) street still exists, leading from Hadrian's arch to the Roman Agora. The wealthy Herod Atticus, aka Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes is the most celebrated orator of his time. In the poem Herodes Atticus by the great Alexandrian poet C.P. Cavafy he writes of a visit to Athens by the great sophist, Alexander of Seleucia who arrives to find the city empty because Herod Atticus had gone out to the country and all the young men have followed him to hear him speak. The theater he builds at the base of the Acropolis in 161 AD is in honor of his Roman wife Annie Rigillia. It is destroyed in 267 AD, the ruins excavated in 1858 and restored in 1961. (Today It is still used for concerts and theatrical performances.) Greek is the primary language spoken in the empire and Greeks are participants in the Roman senate. The city of Athens is still a center of knowledge for the empire and Hellenism is spread throughout the Roman world. Now known as the Roman province of Achaia, the Hellenes are the primary influence on the Romans, morally, intellectually, and through art and architecture. It has been said that the Roman civilization was an attempt to mimic the ancient Hellenes, though the Romans did not believe that the Greeks of their time were the equals of the ancient Greeks, or of the Romans themselves. During the Roman period the schools of Athens flourish with the young men of many Roman noble families coming to the city to get an education. In the 2nd century the Romans endow the University of Athens, paying their teachers generously and exempting them from taxes, letting them know that they are free to speak their

minds without fear of prosecution. Roman emperors came to Eleuesis to take part in the ancient mysteries. The process known assyncretism gives Roman names to the Greek Gods. Simultaneously the Jews who have spread throughout the RomanHellenic world introduce their form of monotheism, a jealous God, who favored the 'Chosen' people above all others. To the Greeks the idea of a God favoring one group of people over another seems irrational. The cult of Christianity which mixes some of the ideas of Jewish monotheism with Platonic metaphysics, Aristotelian logic and the ethics of the Stoics, is much more palatable to the Greeks. During this period of Roman rule the people known as Hellenes are spread throughout the Mediterranean. In the library of Alexandria all the writings of the world were kept, translated into Greek. People communicated in Greek and followers of Jesus Christ had written the gospels and the other books of the New Testament were in Greek. In the first century AD the Apostle Paul, who has been ordained as a missionary in the church at Antioch comes to the island of Cyprus, preaching that Jesus Christ is the savior of all mankind and not just a chosen few. He is teaching a form of monotheism that allows everyone to take part and be saved. From Cyprus he returns to the Greek cities of Asia Minor, then crosses to Neapolis (Kavala) and establishes the first Christian community in Philippi. In Thessaloniki he establishes a church of Jewish and Greek converts, then when he is nearly arrested, escapes to Veria and preaches in the synagogue. From there he begins his journey to Athens by sea, landing in Glyfada and preaches his sermon on the 'Unknown God' on the Aeropagos hill under the Acropolis. From there he moved on to Corinth where he lived for almost two years and set up another Christian community. Paul has been called the Apostle of Greece and the second founder of Christianity. It is through the Greeks that Christianity spreads through the world. The first Christian church in Rome was Greek. In fact all the first churches of the west are Greek, their services in Greek, their scriptures and liturgy in Greek. In 64 AD the city of Rome burns and the Emperor Nero blames the Christians. This begins a long period of persecution but by the 4th Century the Christian Church is the most popular institution in the world. Another group in Greece are the Romaniotes, an obscure branch of Judaism who arrived in Greece after the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem. They were slaves on their way to Rome when their ship was forced ashore by bad weather. They were easily integrated, as they already spoke the Greek language. The Romanites were overwhelmed by the influx of Spanish Jews in 1492 and most of them were absorbed into the Shephardic culture. Several pockets of Romaniote culture remained, most notably in Yanina and Crete though the group was eventually sent to Auschwitz during the Nazi Occupation. A small number survive scattered throughout Greece and there is a small synagogue and museum in New York City founded by survivors from Yanina.