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NOTES 9-1: “CLASSICAL EUROPE”
I. Introduction
A. Classical Europe is the term historians use to describe the ancient
civilizations of Greece and Rome.
B. These civilizations existed from about 800 B.C. to A.D. 400.
II. The Golden Age of Greece
A. The Classical period of Greece reached its “Golden Age” in the 400s
B.C.
B. By that time, the city-state, or polis, had grown from being ruled by a
king to the almost direct rule of the people, or democracy.
C. Athens was the home of the world’s first democratic constitution.
D. Athenian artists produced famous and influential works of philosophy,
literature, and drama.
E. Philosophy is Greek for “love of wisdom.”
F. Three great philosophers were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
G. During this period, city-states like Athens and Sparta often fought
against each other because they wanted to expand their empires.
H. In the 300s B.C. Phillip II and his son, Alexander the Great, conquered
all of Greece.
I. Alexander went on to conquer a large empire, and his successors spread
Greek culture everywhere.
J. The center of Alexander’s empire was Alexandria in northern Egypt.
K. This empire lasted until 200 B.C. when it was defeated by the Romans.
III. The Rise of Rome
A. Rome was settled sometime around 1000 B.C. and dominated much of
the Italian Peninsula by 700 B.C.
B. The Romans were a mostly farmers and were less likely to live in cities.
C. Romans built a strong army to defend their land.
D. Romans borrowed from other cultures.
E. From the Greeks they borrowed art, religion, mythology, and an
alphabet.
F. Rome started as a monarchy, but changed to a republic.
G. In a republic, people choose their leaders.
H. The foundation of Roman law was the Twelve Tables.
I. The “tables” were actually bronze tablets on which laws regarding wills,
courts, and property were recorded, and the laws applied to all citizens
of Rome.
J. Republican government and Roman law played an important part in
Western civilization.
IV. From Republic to Empire
A. From 246 to 146 B.C. a series of wars transformed the Roman Republic
into the Roman Empire.
B. The peoples conquered by Rome were given Roman citizenship and
equality under the Roman law.
C. Under the empire, Senators lost power to emperors, or absolute rulers,
of Rome.
D. A Roman general, Julius Caesar, tried to become an emperor.
E. Senate supporters killed him in 44 B.C.
F. In 31 B.C. Caesar Augustus became the first Roman Emperor, and he
initiated the Pax Romana.
G. Jesus Christ was born a citizen of Rome.
H. Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the
A.D. 300s.
I. The Roman Empire began to decline in the early A.D. 300s.
J. In the A.D. 400s, various groups of Germanic peoples, called
Barbarians, invaded from the north.
K. The invaders captured more and more territory.
L. Eventually they ruled much of Europe.
M.
The Roman Empire had fallen.