Download File - Don Dickinson

CHAPTER FIVE:
DECLINE OF
CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS
AP World History
University High
CLASSICAL TRADE
• Due to large-scale empires, volume and distance
of trade increased
1) Indian Ocean Trade
• East Africa to Southern China
• Items traded: Chinese pottery, Indian spices, and
Indian/African ivory
• Depended on monsoons and currents; lateen
(triangular) sail developed to maneuver; small boats
3
4
CLASSICAL TRADE
• Due to large-scale empires, volume and distance of
trade increased
2) Silk Road Trade
• Han China to Mediterranean
• Exchange of Western/Eastern goods, religions,
technology (horse stirrup), disease
• Caravanserai (inns) develop
6
CLASSICAL TRADE
• Due to large-scale empires, volume and distance of
trade increased
3) Trans-Saharan Trade (pre-Islamic)
• Across the Sahara: camels (1st c. CE) and camel saddle
• Items traded: salt, palm oil, olives, wheat, wild animals,
slaves
8
COMMON THEMES IN CLASSICAL
CIVILIZATIONS
Territorial expansion
Efforts to integrate new territories (Rome, India, Han)
• Create territorial and social cohesion
Unification
• China (centralization; Confucianism)
• India (religious values)
• Greece (cultural achievements)
• Rome (citizenship)
Decline
CLASSICAL INDIA
Expansion
• Mauryans expanded to almost all of Indian subcontinent
• Guptas used localized governments in new territories
Integration
• Used Hinduism to expand (Buddhism unappealing)
• Used the caste system to create social distinctions
Decline
• Invasions by White Huns
• Decentralization grew weak; independent kingdoms created
• After 600, Islam enters India
CLASSICAL CHINA
Expansion
• West and south, rice-growing regions
Integration
•
•
One language (written and spoken)
Strong centralized government (Qin and Han)
Decline
•
•
•
•
•
100 CE – 220 CE
Heavy taxes; poor harvests; weak emperors
Nomadic invasions by Huns (Xiongnu) and other
nomadic tribes
184 CE: Yellow Turban Rebellion
Three Kingdoms Era (disorder and political
decentralization), then Sui dynasty by 589 CE
CLASSICAL GREECE
Expansion
• Expansion was cultural, rather than territorial
Integration
• Use of common language
• Persian War helped to integrate city-states, unite against
common enemy
Decline
• Ultimately defaulted to city-state identity, geographic unity
is challenging
• Peloponnesian War weakened Athens
• Macedonian invasion weakened all city-states
• Greek culture (Hellenism) continued
CLASSICAL ROME
Expansion
• Massive expansion under Roman Republic
Integration
• Cultural tolerance, common law, and citizenship
(males) for conquered peoples
• Allowed regional diversity
Decline
• Golden Age ended 180 CE
• Decline was complex (economy, plague, leadership,
latifundia, invasions)
• Split of East and West (4th century)
RELIGION DURING
THE CLASSICAL DECLINE
• Buddhism
– Rejected by Gupta India
– Rapid expansion into
Southeast and East Asia
• Christianity
– Rapid emergence and
expansion into Mediterranean
and Europe
– 313 CE: Constantine issued
Edict of Milan to permit
Christianity in Rome
RELIGION DURING
THE CLASSICAL DECLINE (CONT.)
• Islam
– 610 CE: Created by
Muhammad
– Religion spread rapidly
through conversions
– Empire spread through
conquering
• Hinduism
– Supported by Gupta India
– Supported by caste system
RELIGION DURING
THE CLASSICAL DECLINE, CONT.
• All major religions saw an
increase in participants
– Why? Chaos of classical
decline caused people to
gravitate towards a religion that
focused upon afterlife, leaving
chaos of current world behind,
and salvation
• Religions spread through
missionaries (monks, nuns),
merchants
RELIGION DURING
THE CLASSICAL DECLINE, CONT.
• Belief systems affected gender roles
– Change in women’s roles: Christian and Buddhist
nuns were able to exercise power and influence
within their communities
• Other religions continued outside of core
civilizations
– Shamanism and animism
– Ancestor veneration
OTHER CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS
• Japan
– Developed in great isolation
• Language is unrelated to Chinese
– As populations grew, communities were
separated by mountainous terrain
– Eventually developed into various aristocratic
clans
– Agricultural; excellent iron-work
– Shintoism developed: “way of the gods,”
animistic religion (spirits are imbedded within
nature)
POLYNESIAN COMMUNITIES
• Polynesia
– People originated from
Southeast Asia
– Remarkable migrations
(gradual)
– Between 1500 BCE - 1000
BCE: Migration to islands
(Fiji, Samoa)
– Continued to move to Hawaii
by 300-400 CE using giant
canoes
POLYNESIAN COMMUNITIES
(CONT.)
• Polynesia
– Isolated development, and
no written records
– Highly stratified class system
under powerful kings
– Agricultural communities,
limited technology
– Cultivated transplanted
foods and domesticated
animals as they moved
MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• Olmecs (1500 BCE – 100 BCE)
– First major civilization in Mexico; “mother civilization”
– 800 BCE: Settled in Central Mexican river valley
– Agriculture (corn, potatoes)
– Domesticated animals
– Religious statues (Olmec heads)
– Disappeared by 100 BCE
MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• Maya (2000 BCE – 900
CE)
– On Mexican peninsula by
400 CE
– Most advanced culture in
region
– Pyramid shaped temples
– Only writing system of
Meso-America
– Religion was very complex