Classical Civilization 600 BCE – 600 CE WHAP Review: Unit 2 Classical Civilization 600 BCE – 600 CE

Classical Civilizations

How were Classical civilizations different from Ancient civilizations? Larger and more powerful – empires More complex cultures – world religions, advanced art and literature Written records (more and better) – introduction of phonetic alphabets More complex long-distance trade More contact between nomads and sedentary people

Greece Political Minoans Mycenaeans “Dark Ages” (conquest by the Dorians) Persian Wars Classical Greece (Delian League) Peloponnesian War Hellenistic Greece (Alexander the Great) City-states (a.k.a. polis) -Athens (aristocracy  democracy); Age of Pericles -Sparta (oligarchy) Economic City-states set up colonies around the Mediterranean Religious Mythology  Secularism (more focused on the natural world) Social Women more equal in Sparta, helots in Sparta (conquered people = serfs) Intellectual Law code (Solon), Democracy (Cleisthenes), Philosophy (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), Artistic Drama (tragedy and comedy), sculpture, Literature (Homer) Near (Geography) Mediterranean, sea travel/trade very important, mountainous terrain  isolated city-states

Persia (a.k.a. Achaemenid Empire) Political Cyrus the Great (founded) Darius I (expanded) Xerxes (Persian Wars) Highly organized administration of the empire: Satraps (Governors), Royal Road Conquered by Alexander the Great Economic Standardized taxes and currency (first standardized coins), center of trade routes Religious Zoroastrianism (first monotheistic religion… kind of?) Social Tolerance Intellectual Artistic Near (Geography) Turkey and surrounding southwest Asia, capital: Persepolis

Rome Political Etruscans Roman Republic – Senate, 2 consuls, tribunes (plebeian reps) Punic Wars vs. Carthage 3. Triumvirates First: Caesar, Pompey, some other guy Second: Octavian, Antony, some other guy 4. Roman Empire Augustus (Octavian), Diocletian (divided) Economic Farming, taxes, trade Religious Polytheistic  Christianity (Constantine) Social Two main classes: patricians (aristocrats) and plebeians (commoners), Intellectual Law of the Twelve Tables, Artistic Virgil (Poet, The Aeneid) Near (Geography) Mediterranean, Alexander’s empire (including Persia and Egypt), Germanic invasions from the north

Classical China Qin Dynasty Han Dynasty Political Legalism Shi Huangdi Confucianism Strong, nonhereditary bureaucracy (like the Romans) – civil examination system Economic Standardized currency, built roads Urban empire ruling a peasant population, silk, expansion of trade Religious Confucianism + Daoism + Buddhism (later) Social Standardized laws Scholar-gentry at top, women’s status highest than any other dynasty Intellectual Standardized written language, burned books, anti-Confucianism Interest in scientific experimentation Artistic Growth of artisans Near (Geography) Great Wall of China Expanded China

Classical India Vedic Age Maurya Gupta Political Aryan invasion Little overarching organization, politically fragmented Ashoka Chandra Gupta Economic Religious Hinduism Buddhism founded by Siddhartha Gautama Buddhism Social Caste system based on varna (skin color) Caste system Intellectual Vedas (religious texts) Upanishads (Brahman and basic beliefs of Hinduism) Artistic “Golden Age of Hindu culture” Near (Geography) Ruled most of India Ruled north India

Trade Networks Silk Road Indian Ocean Trade Saharan Trade Location China to Rome Red Sea to India/southwestern China Africa to Mediterranean What is traded? Silk (duh), fruits/grains/spices, ideas (Christianity and Buddhism) Spices, pottery, ivory Salt, gold Traders Pastoral nomads on horses (using stirrups) Ships (using the lateen sail), harnessing monsoon winds Caravans on camels

Compare/Contrast: Fall of Great Empires Similarities Attacks by nomadic groups Internal problems Interdependence Differences Rome – does not retain cultural identity (like China, India) – because Christianity came too late to be the “glue”? (China – Confucianism, India – Hinduism)

Compare/Contrast: Rome and Han China Similarities Huge empires with long borders to defend Nonhereditary bureaucracy Economies based on agriculture but with urban capital Homogenous core controls diverse population Differences Slavery less prominent in Han Confucianism provides “glue” (Christianity too late)

CCOT – Mediterranean (600BCE – 600CE) Change Political Center of power shifts from Greece to Rome Decentralized city states > empire Religion: polytheism > monotheism Continuity Trade – sea trade in Greece, Silk Road in Rome Conflict with external forces Greeks vs. Persians and Macedonians Romans vs. Carthage and Germanic tribes

The Discobolus of Myron, 450 BCE

Possible Documents “Our purpose is to grant both to the Christians and to all others full authority to follow whatever worship each person has desired, whereby whatsoever Divinity dwells in heaven may be benevolent and propitious to us, and to all who are placed under our authority.” Edict of Milan, 313 CE