Download WHAP Teacher Copy Hierarchies of Power in Eurasia 500 BCE to

Hierarchies of Power in Eurasia, 500 BCE – 500 CE
WHAP/Napp
Objective: To compare and contrast class hierarchies in
China, India, and the Roman Empire, 500 BCE – 500 CE
Do Now: Describe the Hindu caste system.
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Cues:
Notes:
I. The Examination System in Dynastic China
A. World’s first professional civil service
B. Emperor Wu Di
1. In 124 BCE, established an imperial academy where potential officials
were trained as scholars
2. Immersed in Chinese classical texts with an emphasis on Confucianism
C. By the end of the Han dynasty, this imperial academy enrolled some 30,000
students who were by then subjected to a series of written examinations
D. In Theory
1. Open to all men but favored wealthy families, families who could afford
the years of education required to pass even the low-level exams
2. But sometimes village communities would support the education of a
bright young man from a commoner family
E. Provided a modest measure of social mobility
II. Importance of Land in China
A. In China, wealth meant land
B. When the Qin dynasty unified China by 210 BCE, most land was held by
small-scale peasant farmers
C. But by the first century BCE, population pressure, taxation, and
indebtedness had generated a class of large landowners as impoverished
peasants found it necessary to sell their lands to more prosperous neighbors
D. Landlords of large estates were often able to avoid paying taxes, thus
decreasing state revenues and increasing the tax burden on the peasants
E. The vast majority of China’s population has been peasants
III. Life for the Chinese Peasant
A. Nature, the state, and landlords combined to make life extremely vulnerable
B. State required taxes, demanded a month’s labor every year on various
public projects, conscripted young men for two years of military service
C. Yellow Turban Rebellion
1. About 360,000 armed followers by 184 CE
2. Floods along the Yellow River and epidemics compounded the misery of
the peasants
IV. Status of Merchants
A. Did not enjoy a favorable reputation in China.
B. Viewed as unproductive, making a shameful profit from selling the
work of others though wealthier than peasants, their status was
lower.
Summaries:
Cues:
V. Caste in India
A. Grew out of the interaction of many culturally different peoples on the
South Asian peninsula together with inequalities of “civilization”
B. By the beginning of the classical era, the idea that society was forever
divided into four great classes known as varna was part of Indian life
C. Brahmins or priests were followed by Ksatriya or warriors then Vaisya or
commoners then Sudras or native peoples
D. First three castes came to be regarded as pure Aryans and were called
“twice-born” because experienced not only physical birth but also formal
initiation into their respective varnas and status as people of Aryan descent
E. Vaisya varna, originally cultivators, evolved into a business class with a
place for merchants, while Sudra became the domain of peasant farmers
F. Finally, new category, ranking lower than Sudras, emerged in the so-called
untouchables, people who did the work considered unclean and polluting
VI. As urban-based civilization gave rise to specialized occupations, many
organized in guilds that regulated their own affairs
A. Over time, these occupationally based groups, known as jatis, blended with
the varna system to create classical India’s unique caste-based society
B. Hindu notions of karma, dharma, and rebirth became basis for viewing a
person born to a particular caste as reflecting the deeds of a previous life
VII. Because caste (jati) was a local phenomenon, India seldom experienced
an empire that encompassed the entire subcontinent
A. Caste provided a substitute for the state as an integrative mechanism
B. Caste facilitated the exploitation of the poor by the wealthy and powerful
1. Organized resistance across caste lines was more difficult to achieve
VIII. Slavery in the Roman Empire
A. Slavery played an immense role in the Mediterranean world
1. Athens was home to 60,000 slaves or about one-third of the population
2. In China, it was a minor element, amounting to perhaps 1 percent
B. Vast majority of Roman slaves had been prisoners captured in the many
wars that accompanied the creation of the empire
1. Roman slavery was not identified with a particular racial/ethnic group
2. The most famous uprising occurred in 73 BCE, when a slave gladiator
named Spartacus led seventy other slaves in a desperate bid for freedom
IX. Patriarchy in the Classical World
A. Favored dominance of men over women
B. Men regarded as superior to women - sons were preferred over daughters
C. China  “three obediences” – a woman was subordinate first to her father,
then to her husband, and finally to her son
X. With the collapse of the Han dynasty, pastoral and nomadic people invaded
A. In general, the culture of nomadic peoples allowed women more freedoms
B. Reign of Empress Wu (reigned 690-705 CE) caused distress to Confucian
orthodoxy
C. Patriarchies fluctuated but remained strong
D. In Athens, women were excluded from public life and subordinate to men
Summaries:
Strayer Question:
 How would you describe the social hierarchy of classical China?
 What class conflicts disrupted Chinese society?
 What set of ideas underlies India's caste-based society?
 What's the difference between Varna and jati as expressions of classical India's
caste system?
1. Which of the following was NOT a state
4. In Greek civilization, women
concern in Han China?
(A) Held slave status in every household
(A) Expanding educational opportunity for
(B) Enjoyed political equality with men
elite women
(C) Were afforded the same rights no
(B) Sponsorship of scientific inquiry
matter the city-state in which they
(C) Maintenance of the Great Wall
happened to reside
(D) Grain requisition from the peasantry
(D)
Dominated trade
(E) Suppression of banditry
(E) Were considered inferior to men in
both the private and public spheres
2. Which is the closest similarity between
the Roman Empire and the Han dynasty
of ancient China?
(A) Both aimed for and experienced long
periods of isolationism in world affairs.
(B) Both created a government run by
elected officials known as Senators.
(C) Both achieved long periods of
centralized government and expanding
economies.
(D) Both rejected social hierarchy.
(E) Both afforded women equal
opportunities to wield political power as
men.
3. Which of the following was NOT an
important basis for the higher
socioeconomic status of the Chinese
gentry?
(A) Control of ownership of extensive
farmland
(B) Ability to afford preparation of
gentry youth for civil service exams
(C) Durable positions as local tax
collectors and intermediaries for the
imperial center
(D) Commonplace advancement of
women of the gentry class in the
imperial bureaucracy
(E) Ability to call in military resources
of the imperial state to put down
local peasant rebellions
5. Which choice best describes the
position of women in classical Athens
in terms of divorce and property
rights as compared to women in
classical Roman society? Greek
women had
(A) Far greater rights
(B) Somewhat greater rights
(C) About the same level of rights
(D) Somewhat fewer rights
(E) Far fewer rights
6. What was a common feature of
classical civilizations in India, China,
and the Mediterranean?
(A) Agricultural systems dependent on
monsoon rains
(B) Social hierarchy
(C) Absence of coerced labor
(D) Elimination of patriarchy over time
(E) Maintenance of highly centralized
governments throughout the entire
classical period 1000 BCE to 600 CE
Excerpt from pbs.org
Slavery in ancient Rome differed from its modern forms in that it was not based on race.
But like modern slavery, it was an abusive and degrading institution. Cruelty was
commonplace.
Slavery had a long history in the ancient world and was practiced in Ancient Egypt and
Greece, as well as Rome. Most slaves during the Roman Empire were foreigners and,
unlike in modern times, Roman slavery was not based on race. Slaves in Rome might
include prisoners of war, sailors captured and sold by pirates, or slaves bought outside
Roman territory. In hard times, it was not uncommon for desperate Roman citizens to
raise money by selling their children into slavery.
All slaves and their families were the property of their owners, who could sell or rent
them out at any time. Their lives were harsh. Slaves were often whipped, branded or
cruelly mistreated. Their owners could also kill them for any reason, and would face no
punishment. Although Romans accepted slavery as the norm, some people – like the poet
and philosopher, Seneca – argued that slaves should at least be treated fairly.
Slaves worked everywhere – in private households, in mines and factories, and on farms.
They also worked for city governments on engineering projects such as roads, aqueducts
and buildings. As a result, they merged easily into the population. In fact, slaves looked so
similar to Roman citizens that the Senate once considered a plan to make them wear
special clothing so that they could be identified at a glance. The idea was rejected because
the Senate feared that, if slaves saw how many of them were working in Rome, they might
be tempted to join forces and rebel.
Another difference between Roman slavery and its more modern variety was
manumission – the ability of slaves to be freed. Roman owners freed their slaves in
considerable numbers: some freed them outright, while others allowed them to buy their
own freedom. The prospect of possible freedom through manumission encouraged most
slaves to be obedient and hard working. Formal manumission was performed by a
magistrate and gave freed men full Roman citizenship. The one exception was that they
were not allowed to hold office. However, the law gave any children born to freedmen, after
formal manumission, full rights of citizenship, including the right to hold office.
Informal manumission gave fewer rights. Slaves freed informally did not become citizens
and any property or wealth they accumulated reverted to their former owners when they
died. Once freed, former slaves could work in the same jobs as plebeians – as craftsmen,
midwives or traders. Some even became wealthy. However, Rome’s rigid society attached
importance to social status and even successful freedmen usually found the stigma of
slavery hard to overcome – the degradation lasted well beyond the slavery itself.
Thesis Statement: Comparative Essay – Social Hierarchies in the Classical World
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________