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Chapter 4 Greece and Iran (Persia) Classical Societies 1000 BCE to 600 CE • • • • • The formation of enduring cultural communities Connected by roads built for trade and ocean routes The growth of cities and vigorous economies The exchange and spread of great ideas, and disease TRADITIONS and ENCOUNTERS—the big events within and between societies • Greece and Persia 1000-30 BCE • Roman Empire and the Han Empire 753 BCE to 600 CE • India and SE Asia 1500 BCE to 600 CE Real Estate—Let’s Give a Grade • • • • Agricultural Possibilities, e.g. river valley…? How easy is it to invade? Access to trade and the exchange of ideas Mesopotamia D (bad river, easy to invade, access to trade good) • Egypt A (great river, hard to invade, access to trade) • China C (fair rivers, somewhat easy to invade, difficult to trade) • Indus A (great river, very hard to invade, good to trade) maybe a great people need some obstacles, but not too many… • Mesopotamia struggles to catch a break, they will be at their greatest during the golden age of Islam, during the Abbasid Empire 700-1250, when surrounded by friends… • Egypt is the breadbasket of the ancient world, but, I would argue, they tend to not be leaders or innovators • Indus—when the end comes it comes big… • China has to struggle, has to innovate, and therefore does, I would put Iran in this camp • How about the US? Iran’s Geography • Mostly protected by mountains, deserts and the sea—hard to invade, just a couple of times • Earliest settlements along small streams and springs • Many parts dry, so irrigation a necessity as populations increased • To avoid evaporation the people developed underground irrigation with channels and shafts • This required a great deal of labor and the organization of labor • Well connected by ocean trade routes, the Persians will build roads • But hard to invade—C+ Hostile Greeks • Relatively little survives from the Persians except what the Greeks tell us of the Persians • And they warred over control of the Eastern Mediterranean • But there is no question that the Persians developed the greatest empire the world had ever seen • And the people of Iran know this Aryans-Iranians • Based on language similarities, historians and linguists have hypothesized the migration of people from somewhere north of the Black Sea in Russia to Europe, to North India and to Iran, between 2000 and 1000 B.C.E. • Thought to have arrived in Iran around 1000 B.C.E. • Domesticated horses, chariots, herders Achaemenids • Cyrus (around 550 B.C.E.) consolidates and conquers the neighbors—Mesopotamia, Turkey • His son conquers Egypt • Distant relative (Darius I) conquers the all the way east to the Indus, all the way west to the Danube, north to the Black Sea • Warriors were landowners and dominated society. • Priests (Magi) and peasants Persian Empire, around 500 BCE Governance • Darius created 20 provinces governed by a satrap, who was often a relative, and the position often became hereditary • The Persians did not interfere with the internal workings of the societies they conquered, tolerant, cultivated cooperation of those conquered • The further from the capital the more autonomy the satrap had in actual governance • The satrap collected tribute (taxes) to the king • Some used for expenses, but most hoarded • Which led to scarcity and made it increasingly difficult for provinces to come up with the tribute • Plus corruption… • Great roads built to connect the empire • Irrigation maintenance and expansion • Workers had to be fed, housed, paid • Ceremonial capital at Persepolis, administrative capital at Susa Court • Moved with the seasons • Lots of wives, who were politically influential and owned substantial property, and children • Children of noblemen, held as semi-hostages to ensure good behavior from their parents • Central administrators • Bodyguards • Slaves • The kind controlled a great deal of land and gave it for service • Walled areas of gardens and luxury scattered throughout the empire, paradayadam, became the English word paradise 300 Feet Above the Road is… Behistun Inscription Religion-Zoroastrianism • Empire and the will of God • Darius constructed the idea that God had given him a mandate to bring order to the world and to ensure all people were treated justly • Ancient hymns, called Gathas, thought to have been written by Zoroaster, explain ideas of the religion • The world created by Ahuramazda • Describe the world as a battle between good an evil, with goodness destined to prevail • Individuals rewarded or punished in the Afterlife • Sensitive to the beauty of nature, prohibited the pollution of water or the earth • Corpses laid out on platforms to be picked clean by carrion birds • Parsis today, largest population in Mumbai, India 5 Themes? • • • • • Interaction with the environment* State-Building*** Social classes* Economics* Culture* Greeks--Geography • Poor soils, quickly eroded, no rivers, but adequate rainfall, generally poor agriculture— goats, sheep, olives, grapes • Mountainous, rugged landscape, internal travel difficult • But the sea provided protection from invasion and, once they could navigate it, forced them to trade and interact with the rest SW Asia and their Mediterranean neighbors • Overall grade of C The Polis • After the Mycenaeans, a dark age of poverty and isolation 1150-800 B.C.E. • I think is important to note that Homer is thought to have lived just after the end of this period • And I believe his epics are meant to be a profound comment on the waste and destruction of war—not so much about heroism • The Greeks begin to trade and prosper after 800, when the Phoenicians begin to visit, and bring their nifty alphabet… • Which was an enormously efficient new technology More Polis • It is thought their population explodes after 800, perhaps an increase as much as 5 fold • Increasingly dense populations led to a consolidation of populations in the little plains of rocky Greece—cities which controlled the agricultural areas around them • They never unite to become a “Greek Empire” just too tough given the geography • Various sizes, from a few thousand to a few hundreds of thousands (Athens) More Polis • How are they run? Here is the thing, they try lots of different types of governance, and then they argue and write about it. What are the pros and cons of different arrangements? • An Acropolis and an Agora • Free farmers formed the basis of their fighting force, called hoplites • Frequent battles between neighboring city-states that took place during times they could get away from the farm Overpopulation, Migration and Instability • City-states frequently sent their excess populations to other parts of the Mediterranean, where they subdued or intermarried with the indigenous population • But there was an increasing instability in city states due to debt slavery • And an evolving tension between oligarchy or democracy Sparta v. Athens • Sparta invaded and subdued their agricultural neighbors of the Peloponnesian plain, made them exploited, state-owned serfs, called helots • The helots outnumbered the Spartans 8 or 9 to one • Which meant the Spartans had to be in a constant state of readiness to put down a helot revolt More Sparta • At age 7 boys were sent to the barracks where they began a lifetime of military training an discipline • There was no other life for a Spartan male • A merit based military, they enforced social equality within Spartan society, banned coins and commerce Athens • On the verge of civil war between the wealthy and powerful and the majority of the population • Solon in 594 proposes a peaceful resolution • To give all males Athenians access to political power, breaking the monopoly of power of a few • And to abolish debt slavery • In return the powerful and wealthy avoided a bloody uprising in which they would be murdered and their property confiscated Persian v Greek Wars • 499-479 off and on • Rivalries over Greek city states on Persia’s western border, then over the Greek mainland • Darius and then his son Xerxes made massive invasions of the Greek mainland and were twice defeated • Once because of the bravery and fierceness of the Spartans • And the second time because of the luck and skills of the Athenian navy The Golden Age of Greece 480-323 • Athen’s naval victory led to the creation of the Delian League—the other city-states paid Athens to maintain their navy • Which made Athens rich and powerful • The Parthenon and other great buildings • The great plays, the great sculptures • Socrates, Plato and Aristotle—more on them later Polykleitos Doryphoros Inequality • Of Athens 300,000 population only about 3040,000 were free males allowed that political participation • One third of the population were slaves, ultimately lots of theories about how all those slaves kept them from making much headway with technology—why bother? • Woman expected to bear children an run the household • Most of the fun took place away from home, away from women And War • In 431 war broke out between Sparta and Athens. Most of the other city-states lined up on one side or the other. And enormous civil war. It was obvious to both that they would win • Sparta wins and Athens is destroyed • Conflicts between city-states continue off and on throughout the 4th century, until The Macedonians invade • Philip of Macedon an innovator, used horses, a cavalry, siege weapons (the first catapults) • Defeats the bickering Greek city-states • Is murdered • And his son Alexander (356-323) takes over and defeats Persian forces, campaigns as far as the Indus River, takes Egypt • He establishes Greek city-states throughout the lands he conquers, and dies at 32—suspicious circumstances The Hellenistic World • 323-30 B.C.E. • Alexander’s vast empire divided and ruled by 3 generals • The Seleucids rule Persia, the Ptolemaics rule Egypt (Cleopatra is the last of the Ptolemaics) and the Antigonids rule Greece • Called Hellenistic because of the powerful influence of Greek society on western Asia and Northeastern Africa Seleucids • Soon lost the eastern areas • Ruled Syria, Iran and most of Turkey using the structures of Persia • With Greek style cities • Intermarriage Ptolemaics • The wealthiest, because Egypt was wealthy • And easiest to rule, centralized by the Nile • The greatest city of this time was Alexandria in Northern Egypt • Because of its massive library • Significant advances in mathematics, medicine, an astronomy • The Ptolemaics did not bother to learn Egyptians, except Cleopatra Antigonids • Based in Macedonia, with garrisons throughout southern areas of Greece • Athens maintained neutrality, and became the place the elites of the Mediterranean world sent their children to be educated • Sparta mounted various unsuccessful campaigns against the Macedonian armies Legacy of the Hellenistic World • Many ethic groups, but the elites learned Greek • And Greek ideas such as mathematics, rhetoric and the value of learning • The alphabetic writing of the Greeks made widespread literacy possible • The most powerful cultural influence on the middle east until Islam