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Lecture 4.1 Persia and Greece
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Classical Civilizations in the Mediterranean and Middle East
The Persian Empire: A New Perspective in the Middle East ca 800 BCE- Patterns of Greek and Roman History Greek and Roman Political Institutions Religion and Culture Economy and Society in the Mediterranean Toward the Fall of Rome
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The Indo-Europeans- Where Is Their Chapter?
The Indo-European people were a pastoral people whose culture developed in central Eurasia in present-day Russia/Iran (c.a 2000 BC) Grasslands suited pastoral economy No cities or written artifacts Most enduring artifact- spoken language As groups migrated from central heartland cultures differentiated
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Indo-Europeans and Classical History
Indo-European migrations would “shock” ancient civilizations and sow the seeds of classical civilizations in South Asia Middle East and The Mediterranean Aryans of Classical India The Persians of Southwest Asia The Romans and Greeks of the Mediterranean Those cultures would impose or diffuse Indo-European culture through huge swaths of the earth
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Indo-Europeans: On The Move
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The Indo-European Origins of the Persians
Indo-European people settling in Central Iran would challenge and replace the Assyrian Empire and smaller kingdoms of the Middle East by 550 BC Restored Hebrew people of Babylon back to Palestine Heroes of Old Testament (Cyrus as doing God’s work) Persians adopted the evolving “civilized” agricultural cultures of the Middle East Cuneiform writing United and connected cultures from India to Egypt
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The Persian Empire: A New Perspective in the Middle East
Cyrus the Great, 550 B.C.E. Persian Empire Political Styles Tolerance for other cultures Local autonomy Authoritarianism- Infrastructure, especially roads- postal service Communication and government Bureaucracy Achaemenid Period of Persian History to conquest by Alexander the Great 330 BCE
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The Persian Empire in Its Main Stages
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The Persian Empire: A New Perspective in the Middle East
Zoroastrianism Zoroaster ( c B.C.E.) Individual salvation Monotheism- Ahura Mazda Force of light in a cosmic battle betwen good and evil Loving- ethical- much different than Mesopotamian religions Magi, priests Great influence Impact on Judaism A relatively small religion today- persecuted in Iran
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The Persian Empire: A New Perspective in the Middle East
Later Persian Empire Dominated Middle East Conquests into Africa and Indian subcontinent Language of Aramaic adopted by Persians to facilitate communication in Empire Based on Semitic Assyrian spoken language and Phoenician alphabet (cultural fusion to meet needs of diverse Empire) Conflicts with Hellenic Greek City-States Conquered by Alexander the Great More cultural fusion
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Patterns of Greek History
Stages in Greek Development Literate settled cultures in Greece and Aegean Basin go back to nearly 3000 BC Like Harrapan cultures if India, they mysteriously disappeared by 1100 BC- followed by “Dark Age” Like the Vedas of India, this history remembered through oral tradition- written much later Hellenic Period BCE Age of Greek City-States Literacy through trade with Middle East (Phoenician Alphabet) Basis of our modern Fraternity system… Hellenistic Period BCE Greek culture spreading and mixing with cultures of the Middle East
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Some Characteristics of Hellenic Culture
Hellenic culture centered on the development of a number of independent city states Shared common language and religion Most cities had similar features Acropolis- fortified hill in center of polis (city-states) Agora- market place Interest in politics- civic virtue- jury system Large slave populations Civic architecture adopted by the west in modern history Political rivalries sparked cooperation and competition among city-states Establishing colonies from Italy to Turkish coast
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Hellenic Culture Valued athleticism and competition
First Olympics at base of Mt Olympus 776 BCE- religious festival Wars would be suspended if during the Olympiad (4 year cycles) Considerable experimentation in government Oligarchy and Democracy Rationality and religion: Foundation for modern science
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The Acropolis of Athens
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Inquiring Minds: Greek Rationality
Greeks would go beyond tradition and mythology to explain the natural and social world. Basic rationality in the universe Thales- Father of science- predicted eclipse before 600 BCE Euclid- Father of geometry Hippocrates- Father of Medicine Ideas would fade with collapse of western Classical History and re-emerge later as basis of western science Rational rather than empirical (observation-based) Some errors in Greek science stubbornly defended
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Philosophy- The Love of Wisdom
Like other classical civilizations, Greek thinkers pondered social problems and challenges of creating a better order Socrates (roughly contemporary with Confucius) Encouraged people to question what they take for granted (tradition and religious beliefs)- skepticism Inspired by Greek skepticism in understanding the natural world Ideas written by his pupil Plato Plato’s student Aristotle approaches science and politics Based on observation and organization
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The Decline of Hellenic Greece
Greek city-states unite to defeat two Persian Invasions in 490 and 479 BCE Battle of Marathon (490 BCE) Thermopylae (a mountain pass) and Salamis (a bay) in BC Athens leads anti-Persian alliance claims to be the leader of Greece- Builds up navy and city Sparta becomes Athens bitter rival- a 30 year inner-polis war tears Greece apart- Peloponnesian Wars
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Greece and Greek Colonies, c. 431 B.C.E.
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Patterns of Greek and Roman History
The Hellenistic Period Philip II of Macedon Defeats Greeks, 338 B.C.E Alexander the Great Extends empire- from Egypt to India Idealized by later Roman leaders Period of merging of cultures- Hellenistic Culture Alexandria- The Jewel of Hellenistic Culture
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Alexander’s Empire and the Hellenistic World, c. 323 B.C.E.
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Religion and Culture Religious Values: Greeks and Romans shared a general religious point of view Religion largely concerned with the here and now Mystery religions offered a more spiritual approach- diffused from Middle East Division between elite and popular belief Romans largely tolerant of different religions as long as it recognized the civic religion Tradition of rational inquiry strongest in ancient Greece
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Religion and Culture Science and Philosophy
Socrates – encouraged questioning Speculation on the physical world Theories about the universe, the nature of matter Mathematics, especially geometry Hellenistic period More empirical work in physics Euclid, Galen
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Religion and Culture The Arts Geography and history
Drama: comedy and tragedy Balance between virtue and emotions Sophocles Oedipus the King Epics, the Iliad, Odyssey- The Vedas of Greece? Architecture- refined work from Egypt and Middle East Geography and history Herodotus explores culture and history through travel Comparative cultural geography Historical research through interviews Map-making (The world was round…)
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Economy and Society in the Mediterranean
Agriculture and Trade Constant trend to market farming Led to trade Grain from Egypt Connects India with Atlantic by the time of the Roman Empire Merchants Officially, legally respected Not socially esteemed
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A Complex Legacy: Greece and Persia
What Survived? Enduring ideas- basis of the rise of western science in early modern period Focus on material world Social framework for Christianity and indirectly Islam Cultural fusion through trade and conquest Cultural Identities Resurrected Greek nation (1830) Persia in many forms
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Global Connections: Persia, Greece, Rome, and the World
Maintained contact between East and West Greece Traders, expansionist Alexander the Great New contacts between Mediterranean, Persia, India
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