1. Chapter 4: Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean: Greece and Rome
AP World History I

2. Classical Civilization -Mediterranean shore line -800 bc- 476ad

3. Persia
By 550 BCE, Cyrus the Great had established a massive empire from the Middle East to India
Mesopotamia successor
Preserved local customs (cuneiform)
Tolerant- empire diverse in languages and cultures
Development of Zoroastrianism

4. Persian achievements 1. Darius (after Cyrus)- worked hard to centralize laws and tax collection 2. Infrastructure- roads reduced travel time, simplified commerce and troop movement 3. Inns provided rest stops This would help Middle East connect to central and eastern Asia

5. Zoroastrian -Zoroaster religious leader -monotheism -individual salvation through the free choice of God over evil - battle: good vs evil -”House of Song” vs eternal pain

6. Persian empire was toppled by Alexander the Great
Persian empire was toppled by Alexander the Great -Greek educated conqueror -Impressed by Persian political structure -Persian language and culture survived in NE ME

7. Persian Empire

8. Greece RVC ME and Africa spread to some islands near Greek Peninsula
Crete- Egyptian influence
Greeks were an indo-European people who took over the Balkan Peninsula by 1700 BCE
Early kingdom of Mycenaeans (S Greece) around 1400s
Kingdom in Homer’s epics about the Trojan War
Rapid rise in Greek Civilization from 800 BCE to 600 BCE

9. Indo/European Migrations

10. Greek Development
City-state concept, rather than a single political unit.
Trade and economy flourished
Alphabet based off of Phoenician alphabet

11. Greek Development City-state celebrations (Olympic games)
Athens and Sparta become the two most powerful city-states
Sparta
Strong military aristocracy dominating a slave population
Athens
Strong commercial, intellectual, and artistic state (also with slaves)

12. Athens and Sparta
Both city-states cooperated between 500 and 449bc to defeat a huge Persian invasion
After this, Athenian and Greek civilization in general reached its zenith- more colonies spread
In Athens, Pericles sets the model for democratic negotiation

13. Peloponnesian War 431-404 BCE Athens v. Sparta
Sparta technically wins, but both city-states are so weak that ambitious kings from Macedonia soon conquer the cities.
Philip II of Macedon
Alexander

14. Greece at Peloponnesian War (Athens and Sparta colors are backwards!)

15. Hellenistic Empire
Alexander expands Greek influence beyond the peninsula, to…
Asia Minor
Egypt
Middle East
India
Short-lived…Alexander dies at 33 after 13 years of conquest.

16. Hellenistic Period
Greek Art and Culture merge with other Middle Eastern forms during this time period.
Trade flourished
Important scientific centers were established like Alexandria, in Egypt

17. Hellenistic Empire

18. Greek Politics Politics comes from “polis,” Greek for “city-state.”
Citizens felt that the state was theirs…rights and responsibilities
Participation in the military too
Diversity in political forms
Unlike China’s elaborate bureaucracy

19. Greek Politics “demos” = “the people”
Democracy
General assemblies in which all citizens could participate
Direct democracy…not elected representatives.
Met every 10 days
Only a minority were active participants

20. Greek Politics
The most widely preferred political framework centered on aristocratic assemblies
Sparta: Singularly militaristic aristocracy
Other city states were aristocratic, but not necessarily bent on the impact of the military
Aristocracy comes from Greek terms, meaning “rule of the best”

21. Rise of Rome Last phase of Classical Med. Civ
The Roman state begins around 800 BCE as a local monarchy in central Italy.
Aristocrats drive out monarchy in 509 BCE and the Roman Republic was born
Extends influence over the Italian peninsula

22. -Strong military -3 Punic Wars bc Carthage (North Africa) Hannibal- Carthaginian General (not this guy) -brutal/bloody -salt to harm agriculture -Roman Empire-Greece to Egypt

23. -Politics in Rome unstable -Civil Wars -Julius Caesar 45 bc took power -Grandson Augustus Caesar 27 bc -Marcus Aurelius 180 ad -Empire now Spain, North Africa- Germany (p87) -Decline of empire

24. Rise of Rome
Roman conquest spread quickly during the Punic Wars from 264 to 146 BCE.
Fought armies of the Phoenician city of Carthage under leadership of Hannibal
Romans seize the entire western Mediterranean along with Greece and Egypt

25. Punic Wars

26. Rise of the Roman Empire
Politics in Rome grew unstable
Julius Caesar takes power in 45 BCE
Following his assassination, Augustus Caesar takes power in 27 BCE
200 years of peace, known as Pax Romana through the reign of Marcus Aurelius in 180 CE.

27. Pax Romana Empire maintains great vigor
Spreads peace throughout the Mediterranean world
Expansion of trade, culture, arts, architecture, etc.

28. Roman Empire

29. Provinces of the Roman Empire

30. Roman Empire
Slow, decisive fall, lasting over 250 years, finally falling in 476 CE
Emperor Constantine adopts Christianity as official religion in 313 CE to attempt to unite empire
Specifically in the western half of the Roman Empire, effective government became local.
Invasions from nomadic peoples from the north
Loyalty of non-Roman army recruits were suspect

31. Roman Politics
In the Roman Republic, the constitution guaranteed that citizens would gather in periodic assemblies
To elect magistrates entrusted with the will of the common people
Legislative body was the SENATE

32. Roman Politics Senate was comprised of mostly aristocrats
Two consuls shared primary EXECUTIVE power
In times of crisis, the senate could choose a dictator to hold emergency powers
Cicero, a Roman Senator, engaged in political theory by writing on the issues of political ethics, duties of citizens, and importance of incorruptibility.
Represents Confucianism, but with less hierarchy and obedience, or bureaucratic virtues.
During the Empire, the Roman senate became rather meaningless.

33. Roman Law
By 450 BCE the Roman Republic introduced its form of codified law, the Twelve Tables of Roman Law.
Restrain the upper classes from arbitrary action against the lower
Subject all citizens to common legal principles.
LAW takes over characteristics of families, fathers, or landlords
Common sense doctrine…

34. Roman Law
With citizenship in the Roman empire came full access to Rome-appointed judges and uniform laws.
Property rights
commerce

35. The Roman State Placed great premium on military service/conquest
VAST PUBLIC WORKS
Roads/harbors (military/commerce)
Stadiums
Public Baths
Gladiator contests
Theaters
Aqueducts

36. Roman Coliseum

37. Roman Aqueducts

38. Roman Theaters

39. Roman Religion
Government sponsored official religious ceremonies etc, but were tolerant of different strains
Attacked Christianity, but only because they didn’t put they allegiance to the state first
In difference to China and India, the Romans did not create a “great world religion”

40. Greco/Roman Religion
Christianity was aided by the Romans, but was not a product of Rome.
In Greco/Roman Religion, there was a complex system of gods and goddesses
Names different, but organization the same…

41. Greco/Roman Religion Zeus or Jupiter: preside over the gods
Apollo: Sun
Neptune: Oceans
Mars: War
Venus: Love/Beauty
Other gods were patrons of other human activities.
Gods were depicted as human

42. Greco/Roman Religion
Gods did not necessarily elevate people to higher planes of spirituality, they merely regulated life…
Lack of spiritual passion
Leaves a sense of dissatisfaction
Leads to the development of philosophy as a separate form of thinking and behavior regulation

43. Greco/Roman Philosophy
Philosophers like Aristotle and Cicero urge moderation an balance in human behavior.
Stoics emphasize inner moral independence, strict discipline of the body, and personal bravery…
Will mix with Christianity later…

44. Greco/Roman Philosophy
Philosophy emphasized the power of individual rational thought…
Socrates (b. 469 BCE) encouraged pupils to question conventional wisdom
Rational inquiry
Plato (student of Socrates) suggests that human reason could understand the absolutely true, good, and beautiful.

45. Greco/Roman Intellectualism
Not necessarily scientists…but emphasis on rational thought
Try to find balance in the universe…try to explain everything
Theories…some wrong…about the motions of the planets, elemental principles of earth, fire, air, and water.
Impressive work in Geometry (Pythagoras’ theorem)

46. Greco/Roman Intellectualism
Ptolemy: produced an elaborate theory of how the sun revolves around the earth
Geocentric theory (Hellenistic)
Contradicts middle east thought of the time

47. Roman Intellectualism
More practical than the Greek…
Engineering achievements
Roads, aqueducts
Arches

48. Greco/Roman Literature
Music/Dance festivals
Greek Drama
Comedy and tragedy
Sophocles: Oedipus Rex
Homer: Iliad and Odyssey
Virgil: Roman Poet

49. Greco/Roman Aesthetics
Greek artists excel in ceramic work
Roman painters decorate the homes of the wealthy
Greek columns develop three different ornamentations…
Doric
Ionic
Corinthian

50. Greco/Roman Aesthetics
Roman architects adopt the Greek themes and use engineering skill to build upon them.
Romans learn how to add domes to rectangular buildings
Empire adopts a taste for massive monuments and public buildings
Demonstration of the empire’s size and strength

51. The Greco/Roman Economy
Substantial portion of the population were farmers (not in the cities!)
Poor soil conditions
Conversion of economy to market economy because of the wholesale production of olives and grapes.
Required substantial capital
Conquered territory to get access to grain producing fields
Sicily and Northern Africa

52. The Greco/Roman Economy
Trade with civilizations outside of the Mediterranean was less profitable…
Goods were inferior to Asian (China/Indian) goods
Most traders were foreigners from the middle east, or descendants of Phoenicians and Lydians.
Merchants had higher status in Rome (forming class underneath landed Patricians)
Merchants fare better in the Mediterranean than they did in China

53. Greco/Roman Slavery
Aristotle produced elaborate justifications for the use of slavery
Athens used slaves for housekeeping and in silver mines
Sparta uses slaves in agriculture
Rome expands use of slavery, also as tutors for children
Neither Greece or Rome were particularly interested in technological innovations.
Slave reliance impacts this…
The Mediterranean world lags behind India and China in technological innovation, which accounts for its trade imbalance with Asia