Download History 4A MidtermStudyGuide-ChapterSumaries

Chapter 2: Civilizations of the Ancient Near East (5000-1200 BC)
-Mesopotamia (“btw. the two rivers” [Tigris & Euphrates])
*first cities were in the southern region
-Uruk, urban settlement. Different architectural styles, connected to many
trade routes
-Ur (city in Sumer) had an elaborate tax structure
~Epic of Gilgamesh
* irrigation allowed for civilization and diversification of labor
- large scale agriculturepermanent settlementsstable, complex
societies (w/division of labor, social hierarchy and centralization of
political power)states or civilization
-large settlements depended on large scale agricultural surplus
-earliest writings were cuneiform in clay…Sumerian King List
- Warka Vase, procession of gifts to a goddess. Showed the figure of a king, implying
that these early settlements had established leadership w/in the community
-Akkadians:
*highly centralized peoples in southern Mesopotamia
* Sargon, emperor of Akkade
-Naram-Sim, grandson of Sargon, under whose rule the empire reached
its height
-Old Babylonian Period:
*Hammurabi, king of Babylon
-legal code, inscribed on a large cylinder
-state= confined space backed up by force and enables by agricultural surplus
Chapter 3: Egypt, the Gift of the Nile (3200-1500 BC)
-Irrigation was key
*Nile flooded twice a year, allowed a crop yield 3-4x normal amount
*Fayum Depression, fertile area south of the Delta
- Geographically isolated, considered outsiders to be enemies
-Many raw materials in Nubia
-Narmer (first king), unified Upper and Lower Egypt
*NARMER PALETTE
-kings considered descendant of gods, specifically Ra
* only kings could travel to the other world
~when they died their spirit, ka, went after death
*tombs contained all they needed for the afterlife
~many pyramids at Valley of the Kings, outside of Thebes
-during First Intermediate Period, there was a decline in the power of the king b/c
administrative posts became hereditary and afterlife was not longer reserved for the kings
*provincial power increased, nomarchs
-Middle Kingdom considered classical period
* ma’at= harmony achieved through justice and right living
~political ideology of the kings
*hieroglyphsallowed for a higher degree of social complexity. Used mainly for
sacred texts
-Hyksos= chiefs for foreign lands
*invaders who began to take over delta
Chapter 4: Egypt as an Imperial Power (1500-1000 BC)
-New Kingdom, empire has most power and wealth
- Hatshepsut, first ruling queen
-Imperial empire with a permanent army
-Akhentaten (Amenhotep IV) attempted to create a religious cult to worship the sun,
Aten
-19th century, Hittites invaded
*Battle of Quadesh, no decisive victory for either side
*Ramses II made a treaty with them
~also remembered for huge building projects
Chapter 5: Daily Life in New Kingdom
-family was the main social unit
-much of what we know is from descriptions in tombs or papyrus
-Mantho developed a chronology for the kings
*corroborated by the Turin King List from the 13th century
Chapter 6: The Ancient Near East (1200-500 BC)
- Many city-states went into decline
- Nebuchadnezzar II was the greatest king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire
-some scholars think that the Israelites were always present as roaming tribes
* no other documentation to confirm Bible, specifically the first 5 books known as
the Pentateuch
*settled in Canaan during the period of the Judges
* conquered and exiled by Nebuchadnezzar
~Persian king, Cyrus the Great, defeated Babylonians and allowed
Israelites to return
*David considered the great unifier
-Phoenicians had control of all important trade/shipping centers
-Persian Empire
*(Achaemenid Empire)
*Stable government for 200 years (550-323 BC)
*founded by Cyrus II
-CYRUS CYLINDER
*522 Darius I took control and created his lineage to connect to Cyrus
~had 20 satrapies = administrative regions
-generally were in the area of their previous state/central city
- high degree of local autonomy (govt’s used language of local
region)
*- NEAR EASTERN CIVILIZATIONS CAN BE CHARACTERIZED BY USE OF
MILITARY POWER TO SUPPORT ROYALTY
Chapter 8: The Early Greeks (2000-700 BC)
-terrain very mountainousseparation between citiesdivision and rivalries,
autonomous
-Minoans lived on island of Crete
*wrote in Linear A
*earthquakes destroyed many of the palaces, except Knossos
-Mycenaeans, invaders who took over after Minoan palaces destroyed
*wrote in Linear B script, ancient form of Greek
*palaces were more like fortresses
-Homer’s stories thought to have originated as songs or oral poems
*focused on heroism and kleos (“fame & glory”)
* historically accurate accounts in reflecting Bronze Age in the Iliad and the Dark
Age in the Odyssey
-in both Homer’s and Hesiod’s accounts, the gods play an active part in the story
*”Works and Days”-move through five phases in human history
(gold, silver, bronze, heroic, iron [current phase, unhappy and
morally lax])
-polis, social and political unit w/in Greek life
*community living in a city drawing on the surrounding lands
*gave the citizens a common identity
Chapter 10: Hoplites and Tyrants, the Emergence of City States
-cities obsessed with their survival
*could not afford standing armies, so farmers also acted as hoplite soldiers
* fought in phalanx, cooperation was vital
*most important virtue was courage used in service to the community
-Tyrants:
*after 650 BC many cities were overthrown by ambitious men who exploited
common resentments w/ aristocracy to seize power
~ defended the people from aristocrats and took power unconstitutionally
(often part of the aristocratic class themselves…)
~Sparta never underwent tyrannical rule
*tyrant= an individual who exercised absolute rule contrary to customary law in
the interest of the ruler himself
* Persia would align itself w/ tyrants during wars
* Tyrant of Corinth Cypselid tyranny= Cypselus and his son, Periander
*tyranny ended in about 550 BC b/c it could not be sustained (never succeeded in
created lasting loyalty that spanned generations)
~could not break down cohesion of citizenry
~taken over by oligarchies or democracies
-Sparta:
*dual kingship, gerousia (council of elders) and citizen assembly
~oligarchic constitution
~elected 5 ephors annually
*took over nearby lands, perioikoi (“those living around”)
~those living in Messania became the helots, had their land taken away
and became serfs for their Spartan masters (and soldiers during war)
~always concerned about helot revolts…
*extreme paranoia and isolation, everything was in service to the state
-Athens:
* surrounding area, Attica
* ruled by a monarchy, replaced by an aristocracy
~3 annually elected officials (archons): eponymous archon, polemarch
and archon basileus
*Draco made legal reforms, which were deemed to be too harsh by Solon
(archon)
~Solon abolished all debt, reformed law code and class structure
*Peisistratid Tyranny
-regional association, men from beyond the hills
-Peisistratus made many attempts to take over Athens
~finally succeeded on third try w/mercenary army
-sons, Hippias and Hipparchus continued tyranny after P death
*aristocracy took back power, Cleisthenes worked to establish democracy
-reorganized Attica into demes, groups of villages within trittyes
~provided men for the council of 500
-demes were locally autonomous
-introduced ostracism
- Cleisthenes is important b/c he has a plan for a fairer society, which was
successfully implemented and sustained
Chapter 11: Cultural Changes in the Archaic Age
- Increasing wealth as a result of trade
* a city’s wealth was best shown through their ornate temples
- use of coins, first by the Lydians
- in art, statues (kouroi) were made with more natural and relaxed poses
*immortalization of a hero at the height of his powers and represents the
aristocratic male at his most confident
-Ionian Revolution: (Presocratics)
*logos= word, speech, discourse
* new ideas as a result from exposure, through trade, to different cultures
*emphasis on finding truth through nature
-believed that the human senses were untrustworthy
-sought to explain the natural world through observation
*Thales & Anaximander single substance of which the universe was made of
-T= logos (measure, proportion)
-A= apeiron (boundless, infinite)
*Heraclitus explored the contradictions in natural world and their overall
coherence
-SocratesPlatoAristotle
*All of S works written down by P
* S put to death for corrupting the youth of Athens
* Socratic Method, enclenchos (“cross examination”)
*P emphasized the immortality of the soul
~forms: perfectly conceptualized things that prove the existence of
afterlife (ex. Perfect circle)
~cynics did NOT believe in an underlying truth, like forms, but agreed
w/Platonian idea of dependence on senses for perception of reality
*A was a student at P Academy
~moral and scientific approach to truth
-Religion:
*no such thing as orthodoxy or correct beliefs (no central organ.)
*Homer & Hesiod est. geneologies of gods
*approached gods through prayer or oracles (to test if the gods agree with
intended plans)
~oracle at Delphi (believed to be the center of the world)
* communal religious practices that relied heavily on ritualsbound communities
together
~important celebrations: Panathenaea, Anthesteria
Persian War:
-described in Herodotus’ Histories (historia= inquiry/research)
~seen as first real historian, did not emphasize the gods’ role
~underlying propaganda: victory of Greeks and consequences of
unrestricted pride
~moral victory for the Greeks
*Ionian cities under Persian rule (through the manipulation of tyrants) came
together to get rid of tyrants and Persians
* Athens and Eretria came to help, destroyed the Persian capital Sardisrevolts
in Greek cities in Hellespont
- Persians regained control after quelling the revolts
* Persians pushed into Greek mainland, with help of Hippias, and landed at
Marathon
-Battle of Marathon: Greeks outnumbered 2:1, yet they were victorious
b/c use of hoplite soldiers, also managed to destroy Persian navy when it
tried to escape…
*Xerxes (Darius’ son) planned revenge, assembled huge army & built a bridge
across Hellespont
-Sparta was the first to call the Greek cities into action, had control of land
and sea forces
- Battle of Thermopylae: Persian victory as a result of Greek treachery.
Small defensive Greek force withheld huge Persian army for 2-3 days
- Battle of Salamis: Greek naval victory
-Battle of Plataea: Spartan victory over Xerxes’ general Mardonius
-Persian Wars helped define Greek culture and revived old aristocratic values
* arête=glory, manliness and valor
Chapter 13: Everyday Life in Classical Greece
-erosion of the political power and status of aristocrat challenged by development of
middle class as a result of trade
*aristocrats had to prove their worth through participation at games
-symposia= drinking parties of the elite in formal, ritualized settings
- relationships between older men and younger boys (pederasty)
*eromenos= the loved one, young boy
* erastes= the lover, older man
-household was the primary unit for production, specifically agricultural (“oikos”)
*soil was poor and rainfall was unpredictable
-Slavery was widespread, usually war captives and their families
* (ex.) helots in Sparta
*use of slaves reinforced Greek social identity, emphasized their status as free
citizens and allowed them to participate in political life
* element of racism
- Citizenship was a highly guarded element of social identity
*seen through a range of communal activities, like participation in Assembly
~Assembly: mainly landed elite participated, male citizens, passed
legislation & elected 10 military generals (only elected position in
Athens…all others were drawn randomly)
* defined as ownership of land in Sparta, in Athens those whose parents were
citizens could only by citizens (could then participate in gov’t or own land).
~Athenian women were citizens, but stayed mainly in the home
~Spartan women had more control over household activities
-Demokratia “the people” + “rule/power”
*Athens is the world’s only example of a successful and sustained direct
democracy.
Chapter 15: Athens, Democracy and Empire
- Athens was destroyed by Persians, rebuilt slowly
-Aegean city states came together to form the Delian league in 477, under the leadership
of Athens
*alliance was intended to be permanent and the members would provide ships or
cash (held in treasury on island of Delos)
*Athens used the league to further its own interests
~wanted to dominate the Isthmus and keep the Peloponnese closed off
(thus protecting herself from Sparta)
~Leader, Cimon, successfully attacked Persians and left them w/out
offensive forces in Aegean
-Battle of Eurymedon
~held tight grip over fellow members (when Naxos tried to leave league
forced back into joining by Athens)
- hostility between democratic Athens and oligarchic Sparta
-democratic coup when Cimon was not in Athens, supported by Pericles
*P became the leader of the democratic party
~elected general 15 years in a row
- all male citizens had the right to participate in the Assembly (but only 1/5 could fit)
* made laws on all subjects, raise taxes and conduct foreign policy
* attendance was biased, only rich/slave owners could participate
- Council of 500 (Boule) was comprised of representatives from each of the 10 tribes
*prepared business for the Assembly
-most valued political skill was rhetoric
*Demosthenes
- during second half of the 5th century, Acropolis was transformed and Parthenon was
built under the supervision of Pericles
*used League $ to pay for it…
-446/445 Athens and Sparta made a formal peace: Thirty Years Peace
-Athens begins to act like and imperial power (had control over Aegean)
Chapter 17: The Struggle For Power (431-338 BC)
-Thucydides recorded the events of the Peloponnesian War as a documentary account
*gods play no part in his understanding about how events unfolded
-Peloponnesian War:
* began after Sparta (olagarchic, proto-communist) declared war on Athens
(democratic, proto-capitalist)
- Spartan troops raided Attica annually for 6 yrs
~ Athens was safe b/c long walls, protected provisions
-Athens captured Spartan soldiersPeace of Nicias in 421 BC
* Athenian aristocrat, Alcibiades, began to provoke Sparta, ended up being a
crushing Spartan victory
-A supported idea for Athens to expand into Sicily…BAD IDEA (Pericles
tried to keep the war defensive, but once he died (429 BC), Alcibiades
turned it into an offensive war)
~defected to Sparta after defeat in by Syracuse
~Athenian defeat led to overthrow of democracy (oligarchic
revolution) govt of Four Hundred, oligarchic. Thirty tyrants
~morale still remained strong
* Persia intervened several times between A & S ( both city states vied for
Persia’s support)
* under Lysander’s command, Spartan navy crushed Athenian forces and forced
them to surrender
~Sparta now had control of the Hellespont…difficult to maintain (no
cultural links)
-Corinthian War: (395-386 BC)
*Persians stimulated a revolt against Sparta by Thebes and Corinth
*series of inconclusive land battles, continuation of Peloponnesian War
* King’s Peace (386BC) between Sparta and Persia, no decisive victor
*Peace was short lived… Sparta crushed an uprising in Thebes
~spurred many city states to form Second Athenian League, in which
Thebes, not Athens, had most of the power
~Battle of Leuctra, Thebians destroyed Spartan forcescollapse of
Spartan rule in Peloponnese
-with Sparta no longer a threat, Second Athenian League ceased to
exist (Athens was not happy…)
*use of mercenaries became more commonneed for booty and
treasureruthless warfare after material possessions instead of territory
-Macedonia:
*lots of resources, cultural hybrid
*not considered Greek by Greeks
-kings claimed Greek lineage
* Philip II came to power in 360/359 BC
-used mercenary soldiershighly disciplined and flexible lineups
- defined the borders of his country and began to expand down the coast to
take Athenian dependencies
~Athens eventually entered into an alliance
-Demosthenes argued vehemently against Athenian surrender to Phillip
Chapter 18: Alexander of Macedon & The Expansion of the Greek World
- Battle of Chaeronaea- Athens declared war against Macedonia. Felt their survival
(grain supply) was threatened
-Phillip crushed the Greek forces and forced them (except for Sparta) to
join an alliance with him; League of Corinth
- Phillip’s monarchy resembled a feudal system, where troops and nobles pledged their
alliance to him
*power depended on military successes
* strengthened empire by taking wives from other nationalities/ethnic
groups
-Alexander was often jealous of his father’s victories
*legitimacy as heir threatened b/c was not of pure Macedonian blood
-became king @ 18 when Phillip was murdered
- had to immediately quell a rebellion
-Conquest of Persia:
*Darius III was king of Persia
-empire was not as strong as it used to be…but still formidable
*Alexander claimed that his invasion of Persia was to avenge the Greeks
(personal conquest)
-offered sacrifices to Homeric heroes at advent of invasion
*Alexander was ambitious, petulant and impatient- took risks and was prideful
*Victory at Granicusaccess to Ionian coastline
*Gordium….wagon yoke/knot myth
* Alexander had many military victories and Darius was willing to negotiate
- Offered A empire to the west of the Euphrates
-Many Asian cities welcomed Alexander as a liberator and did not put up
a fight
*Went into Egypt…oracle at Temple to Ammon led Alex. to believe that he was
part divine
*HUGE Persian defeat at the Battle of Gaugamela, A could claim himself to be
the ruler of Asia
-moved into Babylon and then Persepolis (spiritual center of Persian
empire and also had a lot of treasure)
- Darius fled to Ecbatana where Bessus, a local satrap, killed him
~A. then went after Bessus as the avenger of Darius
* As Alex moved eastward, his campaign began to crumble
- execution of Philotas& Parmenion b/c assassination plot
- death of Cleitus & Haphaestion
- erratic behavior by Alexander
~decision to move into India…troops disgruntled
~march across Makram desert
-
cultural differences w/in empire (ex. Prostration)
*after death of Alexander, empire was politically unstable & split into three
kingdoms
- Egypt, ruled by Ptolemy
- Asia, ruled by Seleucus
- Macedonia, ruled by Antigonus Gonatas
Chapter 19: The Hellenistic World
- Monarchs carved kingdoms from conquests of Alexander
* boundaries between kingdoms remained fluid
* had to be military commanders
-lots of internal and external fighting
-Altar of Zeus at Pergamum was one of the great sculptural pieces of the period
- Ptolemies of Egypt were successful at exploiting surplus resources for propaganda
- Alexandria= capital of Ptolemaic empire
* Extravagant and intellectual capital of Hellenistic world
* Library was the largest in the ancient world