How Did Aristotle Influence Western Civilization

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Aristotle
Who: Aristotle, one of the greatest minds in Western history, was a scientist, and philosopher. He is seen as the founder of formal logic.
Where: He was born in Macedonia, a peninsula in northern Greece. After his father’s death, he migrated to Athens, where he studied under Plato.
What: Aristotle made an impact in almost every branch of human knowledge, ranging from biology to ethics. He taught many great minds such as Alexander the great. Although he was often overshadowed by his teacher Plato, much later after his death, his work was very influential. Aristotle created a model for the cosmos. In this model he made the Earth in the center of the universe, stars at the outermost parts of the sphere, and concluded that everything …show more content…
He reconquered the parts of lost territory, spread Christianity, and was the first to codify Roman law.
Where: Justinian ruled his empire from the capitol, modern day Istanbul, or back then Constantinople.
What: To regain parts of the Holy Roman Empire that was lost, he united with the Franks, a barbarian. During his time, the emperor was also the head of the Roman Catholic church, and during his rule, he had immense cathedrals built, such as the notorious Hagia Sophia. Justinian was the first to codify Roman law, which served as a basis for many other codifications that came after.
When: He lived from 483 to 565 AD, and ruled Byzantium from 527 until the day he died.
Why: The regaining of the lands lost is significant because Justinian almost restored the Holy Roman empire by regaining all the territories lost. Since much of western culture is derived from the Roman empire today, if it was not restored to what it was before, the Roman Empire may not have had as much influence on us as it does today. Many improvements made to Constantinople resulted from the public works of Justinian, many of which are still standing today, such as the Hagia Sophia. Justinian’s wife, Theodora, had much influence on her husband, especially when it came to women’s rights. This leads us to see women have more equal opportunities when it came to divorce and such, which is practically unheard of at the
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