Download Chapter 4 Overview

Chapter 4 Overview
Stearns
Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean: Greece and Rome
 Classical past- govt., architecture, philosophy
The Persian Tradition
 Classical Mediterranean civilization- rise of city-states in
Greece. Expansion of Hellenistic Period. Rome emerged as
separate republic. Roman expansion led to a decline of
republican forms and rise of a great empire
 Persians in the Middle East
 550BCE- Cyrus the Great- Persian empire from Middle East to
northern India
o Tolerant of local customs
o Advanced iron technology
o Developed Zoroastrianism
Patterns of Greek and Roman History
 City-states in Greece- around 800BCE- high point in 5th c. BCE
(Golden Age of Athens)
 Greek values spread during Hellenistic Period begun by
Alexander the Great
 Greek rise and decline, Hellenism, Roman Republic, Roman
Empire
Greece
 Crete 2000BCE (Minoan culture)
 Mycenae in Southern Greece around 1400BCE
 Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad
 Rise of Greek civilization 800-600 BCE- creation of strong citystates- each with own govt.
 Monarchy- Oligarchy- Tyranny- Democracy
 Geography- mountainous terrain prevented unification
 Trade important
 Alphabet from Phoenecians
 Olympic games
 Sparta: military, oligarchy, Hellots (slave population)
 Athens: slavery, trade, colonies
 Reasons for colonization: overcrowding, not enough arable land
 5th c BCE Pericles- Athenian politician- ruled w/ negotiation
 Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BCE)- Sparta vs. Athens- Sparta
won- then Thebes, weakened the Greeks and paved the way
for Philip II of Macedon to invade in 338BCE and then
Alexander the Great took over.
 Spread of Hellenistic culture: Greek=Hellenes
 Use of aristocratic assemblies
 Aristocracy: Greek meaning “rule of the best”
Rome
 Republic 1stc BCE to Empire
 Representative democracy- elect officials
Republic
 Senate: composed mostly of aristocrats- held most executive
offices in Roman State
 2 Consuls: ruled jointly- except in times of crisis/ war, then rule
by Dictator
 Importance placed in ethics, duties of citizens, incorruptible
service, and oratory
 Key Roman writer: Cicero- emphasized participation in
deliberate bodies that would make laws and judge the actions
of executive officers
 Empire: maintained Senate, but not powerful
 Hierarchy of Roman Army- officers had great political power
 63CE: forced dissolution of the independent Jewish state after
a major local rebellion- temple was dismantled, leaving only the
Western Wall in Jerusalem
 Legal codes important for administration of empire
 Tolerance of local customs and religions and strong military
organization
 450BCE- Roman republic- introduced 12 Tables:
o Purposes: restrain upper classes from arbitrary action and
subject all to common legal principles
o Roman law: emphasized judges and common-sense
fairness
Classical Mediterranean in Comparative Perspective
 India/China/Greco-Roman
 Each developed empires, relied primarily on agricultural
economy
 Greco-Roman science emphasized theory more
 Each had clear social hierarchy
 Roman law as regulation of social life
 Access to Roman citizenship
 Athens and Rome placed great premium on importance of
military conquest.
 Rome: Control of masses w/ entertainment “bread and
circuses”- cheap food and gladiator contests to prevent popular
disorder
 Government supported religion w/ gods and goddesses
o Ex: Pantheon added gods as Roman Republic expanded
 Roman Empire: persecution of Christians (ex: Nero), eventual
tolerance and then it was made official religion of Empire
 Sparta- extreme militaristic control- even down to raising
children
Religion and Culture
 Emphasis on philosophy and science an strong artistic tradition
 Pantheon of Gods:
Greek
Roman
Function
Zeus
Jupiter
Head God/father
Hera
Juno
Wife of King of Gods
Apollo
Apollo
Regulated sun
Poseidon
Neptune
Oceans
Ares
Mars
God of War
Aphrodite
Venus
Love/Beauty
Athena
Minerva
Goddess of wisdom
Artemis
Diana
Goddess of Hunting
 Gods were believed to be flawed and human-like
 Development of “mystery cults and religions”
 Philosophers- Aristotle emphasized balance in human behavior
(ex: felt Middle-class was ideal group to rule)
 Stoics: Hellenistic Period: inner moral independence
o Strict discipline of body and personal bravery
o Influenced Christianity
 Athens: Socrates (469BCE) encouraged pupils to questionSocratic Method- accused of corrupting the youth- chose
suicide over exile b/c believed in absolute rather than relative
truth (contrary to Sophists)
 Plato: student to Socrates- human reason could approach an
understanding of three perfect forms: absolutely True, Good,
and Beautiful
o Believed Philosopher-Kings should rule
 Geometry: Ex: Pythagorean Theorem
 Hellenistic Period: Galen (medical treatises)
o Euclid: Geometry
o Ptolemy: Geocentric Theory- fixed wisdom in Western
Thought
 Roman Achievements: great roads, aqueducts, arches
 Greek drama: comedy and tragedy
 Sophocles: Oedipus Rex- called most perfect example of
tragedy by Aristotle
o Oedipus is fated to kill his father and marry his mother
th
 8 c BCE: Iliad and Odyssey by Homer
 Vergil (Virgil): The Aeneid- sought to link Roman history to
mythology w/ Greek forerunner
 5th c BCE: Phidias (sculptor)
 Greek monumental architecture (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian
columns)
Economy and Society in the Mediterranean
 Featured commercial agriculture, trade, and slavery.
Patriarchal family structure was characteristic
 Most Greeks and Romans were farmers
 Roman Republic: many tenant farmers forced to work for
patrician landholders
o Latifundia System
o Many small farmers forced to become tenants or move
into cities causing overcrowding
 Need for grain led to colonization
o Soil more suited to grapes and olives
 Slavery was key ingredient of the classical economy
o Athens: household and silver mines
o Sparta: agricultural work (Helots)
o Roman: household, mines, agricultural work (part of
latifundia system)
 Greece and Rome: importance of paterfamilias
o Cases of female infanticide
Toward the Fall of Rome
 Rome began to decline after 180CE
 Fell in some parts more than other (ex: West before East:
Byzantines)
 Greek historian: Herodotus and Thucydides
 Germanic tribes: invasion: disloyalty of outsiders:
overexpansion
Chapter 4 Overview
Duiker & Speilvogel
 Pericles: Funeral Oration- ideals of democracy and importance
of the individual
 Early Greece
o Geography- mountainous terrain- isolating, sea
trading
 Minoan Crete
o 2000-1450 BCE = height
o Around 2800 BCE Bronze tools/ weapons
o Palace at Knossos
o Bull-leapers (gymnasts)
o Why did they decline? Invasion?
 Mycenaeans
o 1600-1100 BCE= height
o Homer
o Invasion by the Dorians?
 Dark Age (1100-750BCE)
o Migration due to declining population and falling food
production
o Iron replaced bronze
o Adoption of Phoenecian alphabet
 Homer
o Based Iliad and Odyssey on oral tradition of the
Trojan War
o “the gods strong and incalculable; that the quality of
a man matters more than his achievement, that
violence and recklessness will still lead to disaster,
and that this will fall on the innocent as well as on the
guilty.”
o Homer gave an idealized past- cornerstone of
education
 Greek City-States (c750-500BCE)
o Polis= small but autonomous political unit, town and
countryside
 Acropolis= fortified hill
 Agora= market and assembly (AGORAPHOBIC)
 Classes w/in polis: Adult males (full political
rights), women and children (citizens w/ no
political rights), noncitizens (slaves and resident
aliens)
 New Military- hoplites (heavily armed) Phalanx
formation
 Colonization (750-550BCE)
o Causes: poverty, land hunger, growing gulf between
rich and poor, overpopulation and development of
trade
o Effects: Establishment of colonies, spread of culture
throughout Mediterranean region, increased trade
and industry
 Govt.
o Monarchy-Oligarchy-Tyranny-Democracy
o Tyrants- usurpers of power in a coup d’etat- upheld
public works projects to enhance their popularity
 Sparta
o Peloponnesus- conquered the Laconians and subjected
theme to serfdom “HELOTS”- bound to the land
o Created a military state to control Laconian and
Messenian Helots
o Babies judged at birth- defective- left to die
o Boys- wet-nursed- taken away at 7 to military
barracks- military training- joined army at 20, lived at
Barracks until 30-could retire at 60.
o Could marry and visit wife at night, but couldn’t get
caught
o Spartan women unique- had more rights- trained in
wrestling and gymnastics to make them strong and
bear healthy children- married later
o Spartan Govt. (oligarchy)
 2 kings- military affairs and supreme priests
 Gerousia= council of elders
 Ephors= supervised education
 Apella= assembly of all male citizens
o isolationist
o Leader of Peloponnesian League
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o Spartans valued their strength as justification for
their militaristic ideals and regimented society
Athens
o Monarchy-Oligarchy (7thcBCE)-Tyranny-Democracy
o 7thcBCE- political and social discontent- rival factions
w/in aristocracy- many farmers sold into slavery when
they couldn’t pay debts
o 594BCE- Solon- reforms- cancelled land debts,
outlawed new loans based on human collateral and
freed people from slavery
o Tyrants: Pisistratus & Clisthenes
 Created new Council of 500 chosen by lot
Classical Greece (500-338BCE)
o Greece vs. Persia
 Ionian colonies revolt against Persians 499BCE
aided by Athenian navy
 490BCE Persian king Darius attacked Greece
Battle of Marathon
 Xerxes renewed plans for invasion of Greece
 Battle of Thermopolae- Leonidas (Spartan king)
9,000 Greeks and 300 Spartans held off Persians
for 2 days
 479BCE Persian army defeated at Platea
o 478-477BCE Delian League founded w/ Athens
o “Age of Pericles”- height of Athenian power and the
culmination of its brilliance as a civilization
o Athens was sacked and burned, Greek naval fleet
won decisive victory over Persian navy at Salamis.
o 479BCE Greeks defeated the Persians at Plataea
Athenian Empire
o Athens formed the Delian League
Age of Pericles
o Assembly “will of the people”= all male citizens over
18- passed all laws and made financial decisions on
war and foreign policy
o Direct Democracy
o Pericles expanded suffrage: lower-class citizens
eligible for public offices formerly closed: state pay
for office-holders
o City magistrates chosen by lot
o “Generals”=directors of policy (10 officials)= elected by
public vote
o Ostracism- person receiving 6,000 votes could be
exiled for 10 years
o Used treasury of Delian League to rebuild Athens
 The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE)
o Sparta v. Athens
o Athen’s plan to stay behind walls but plague struck
o Athens defeated= walls torn down, navy disbanded,
empire destroyed
o Interfighting b/w Athens, Sparta, and Thebes weakens
the Greek city-states while Macedonia became
stronger.
 Culture of Classical Greece
o Herodotus (484-425BCE) History of the Persian Wars
 Central theme struggle b/w Greeks and Persians
for greek freedom
 Divine intervention in Greek victory
o Thucydides (460-400BCE)
 Greatest historian of ancient world
 Scientific, methodical, and objective account of
Pelop. War
o Greek Drama
 1st were tragedies- suffering of hero (tragic flaw)
ex: Hubris
o Aeschylus (525-456BCE)
 1st tragedian
 Oresteia Trilogy- evil acts breed evil actsReason Triumphs
o Sophocles (496-406BCE)
 Oedipus Rex- man is fated to kill father and
marry his mother
o Euripedes (485-406BCE)
 The Bacchae
 Critical of view that war was glorious- showed war
as brutal and barbaric
 Greek Comedy
o Aristophanes (450-385 BCE)
 The Clouds, Lysistrata
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 Comic but effective message against the
Peloponnesian War (women have sex strike
until war is ended)
The Arts: The Classical Ideal
o Architecture- the Temple
o Doric- Ionic- Corinthian columns
o Parthenon- Temple of Athena
Sophists
o Wandering teachers
o Truth is relative to everyone
Socrates
o Socratic Method
o Sentenced to death for corrupting the youth of
Athens- hemlock
Plato
o The Republic
o Ideal state: Population divided into 3 groups
o Upper-class – Philosopher-Kings
o Men and women have same education and equal
access to all positions
Aristotle
o Student of Plato, tutor to Alexander the Great
o Book: Politics: constitutional govt.
o Marriage impt for mutual support
o Women biologically inferior to men and therefore
should be subordinate to men in marriage
Greek Religion
o Social and practical
o Civic cult necessary for well-being of state
o 12 Olympian gods (Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo,
Aphrodite, Poseidon, etc)
o Each polis had a patron god
o Afterdeath spirits to a gloomy underworld- Hades
o Ritual important along w/ prayer and sacrifices
o Oracles (at Delphi)
Daily Life
o Males part of public life
o Slavery common
o Limited arable land- trade very important especially for
grain
o Women as wives, primary duty to have children
o Homosexuality accepted
 The Rise of Macedonia
o Philip II (359-336BCE)- King of Macedonia
 Built efficient army and conquered the Greeks
 He was assassinated
o Alexander the Great (336-323BCE)
 Became king of Macedonia at 20
 Invaded the Persian Empire
 Asia Minor-Syria, Palestine, EgyptMesopotamia (Babylon)-Persepolis-Indus River
 His troops mutinied at Indus River, forced to
turn back
 On return trip, Alexander died in Babylon
 Legacy: Hero or Villain?
 Hellenistic Era “to imitate Greeks”
o “Hellenic” culture= Greek culture
o Extension of Greek language and ideas to non-Greek
world of Middle East
o Spreading of Greek language, art, architecture, and
literature
o Urban centers key for diffusing Greek culture
 Non-Greeks restricted from high positions so that
Greeks could maintain their dominance
 Ex: Alexandria in Egypt
 Many Greek colonists moved to the Middle East
 Economic and Social Trends
o Agriculture
o Commerce increased trade between west and east
o Key trade item= grain
o New opportunities for women
o Education for upper class women
o Ptolemaic rulers in Egypt= return to kings marrying own
sisters
 Culture in Hellenistic World
o Hellenistic sculptures tried for more emotional and
realistic art rather than idealized
o Menander (342-291BCE)= New Comedy “Pretty
Woman” Stories
o Polybus (203-120BCE)= chief historian of Hellenistic
Age
 A Golden Age of Science
o Separation of science from philosophy
o Archimedes (287-212 BCE)= famous scientist
 Worked on geometry in spheres and cylinders
 Pi
 Science of hydrostatics
 Archimedian screw
 Philosophy
o Epicurus (341-270BCE)- founder of Epicureanism
 Human beings were free to follow self-interest
as a basic motivating force.
 Happiness was goal of life- pursuit of pleasure
 Pleasure= freedom from emotional turmoil,
freedom from worry
 Remove from public activity
 Friendship important
o Stoicism- founded by Zeno (335-263BCE)
 Happiness, the supreme good, could only be
found by living in harmony with the will of God
 You could bear whatever life offered
 Public service important and noble
 Religion in Hellenistic World
o Decline in population of traditional Greek Olympian
Religion
o Mystery cults= individuals could pursue a path to
salvation and achieve eternal life by being initiated
into a union with a savior god or goddess who had
died and risen again.
Duiker & Spielvogel
Chapter 5: The World of the Romans
 Similarities b/w Rome and China= empires lasted for centuries,
remarkable success in establishing centralized control over their
empires, and throughout their empires they maintained their law
and political institutions, their technical skills, and their
languages.
Location:
 Italian peninsula had good arable land & important trade route
on Med. Sea
 Rome built on 7 hills, easy to defend
Early Rome:
 Legend of Romulus and Remus
 Influence of Greeks and Etruscans on Early Rome
Roman Republic:
 Livy: History of Early Republic
 Roman Confederation: Latins=full citizenship, other groups could
eventually gain citizenship
 Established colonies w/ fortified towns in strategic locations
connected by roads
 Govt: 2 consuls chosen annually “right to command”administered govt. and led army into battle.
 Praetor- execution of justice and “right to command” when
consuls were away
 Roman senate: 300 men served for life
 Struggle of orders: b/w the plebeians and patricians- result=
Council of Plebs
 Patricians= aristocratic governing class
 Plebeians= majority of population, could vote, but couldn’t hold
office
 Tribunes= office to represent the plebeians
 Eventually pats and plebs could intermarry- new aristocratic class
Roman Conquest in Mediterranean
 Punic Wars
 Cato “And I think Carthage must be destroyed”
 Eventually took over Macedonia and Greece
 3 Stages: Conquest of Italy, conflict w/ Carthage and expansion
into western Med., involvement w/ and domination of the
Hellenistic kingdoms in the eastern Med.
Decline and Fall of Roman Republic
 Disparity b/w rich and poor
 Elite class called Nobiles (nobles)
 Latifundia were large plantations using slave labor that forced
small farmers out of business. Many farmers moved to cities
resulting in overcrowding. Also, membership in the Roman army
declined
 Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus worked for land-reform for small
farmers, but both were assassinated.
 Marius: general that recruited army by offering land, army swore
allegiance to him= more power in the hands of individual generals
 Sulla- used his army to seize power in Rome, purge, and strengthen
the Senate
 Jostling for power by a number of powerful individuals and civil wars
generated by these conflicts.
 60BCE: First Triumvirate: Julius Caesar, Crassus, Pompey
 Crassus dies, Caesar’s forces vs. Pompey’s forces after J.Caesar
“Crossed the Rubicon” J.Caesar won
 47BCE J. Caesar= dictator 44 BCE Dictator for life
 Land reforms, increased senate to 900 members, new calendar,
citizenship
 March 15th 44BCE “ides of march” Caesar was assassinated
 2nd Triumvirate: Octavian, Marc Antony, Lepidus
 Battle of Actium, Octavian won and Marc Antony and Cleopatra
committed suicide
 END of REPUBLIC
The Age of Augustus 31BCE-14CE
 Augustus- 1st Emperor
o Stable frontiers
 Social stratification
o Senatorial
o Equestrian
o Lower classes
 Free grain and public spectacles to keep them
distracted
The Early Empire (14-180CE)
 Augustus-to Stepson Tiberius (Julio-Claudian Dynasty)
 Emperors took more power
 Nero(54-68): murdered mother “played fiddle while Rome burned”
 The Five Good Emperors (96-180)
 Trajan 98-117- alimentary program (state funds to assist poor parents
in raising and educating their children)
 Trajan and Hadrian: Building projects
 Large Empire= difficult to defend
 Cities were important for the spread of Roman culture, law and
the Latin language
 Development of towns and cities- based upon agricultural
surpluses of the countryside
Culture and Society in the Roman world
 conflict over Greek Culture- pervasive, but controversial
 Roman Literature
 Cattilus “best lyric poet”- letters to Lesbia
 Cicero- great prose writer and oratory
 Virgil: The Aeneid- moral Rome was on a divine mission to rule
the world
 Horace: Satires- “follies and vices of his age”
 Ovid: Amores: The Art of Love
 Livy: History of Rome- human character was the determining
factor in history
 Seneca- Stoicism
 Tacitus: Annals & Historia & Germania= history had moral
purpose
 Roman Art: realistic sculptures and architecture projects (roads,
aqueducts)
 Roman Law
o 450BCE Twelve Tables: 1st code of laws
 influenced by Stoicism
 Innocent until proven otherwise
 People could defend themselves before a judge
 Roman Family
o Led by paterfamilias (dominant male)
o Divorce eventually allowed and became extensive
o Legal min age for girls to marry was 12 but 14 was common
o Roman women eventually gained more freedom
 Roman conquest of Med. Brought drastic change in use of slaveslarge #’s of foreign slaves were brought back to Italy
o Cato the Elder “cheaper to work slaves to death, and then
replace them than to treat them favorably.”
o Murder of master by slave could mean the execution of all
other household slaves
 73BCE Spartacus Rebellion: Led by a Thracian slave- managed
to defeat several Roman armies before he was finally trapped and
killed in southern Italy-6,000 of his followers were crucified along
the Appian Way
 Imperial Rome
o Gap b/w living conditions for rich and poor
o Gladiatorial Games- fought to the death
o Trajan- spectacles are necessary for the “contentment of the
masses”
 The Development of Christianity
o Greco-Roman gods
o Polytheistic- tolerant of other religions
o Jewish background
 Divided Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots
 Jewish revolt 66-70CE crushed by Romans and
Jewish temple in Jerusalem destroyed (Western Wall
remained)
The Rise of Christianity
 Jesus of Nazareth (6BCE-29CE)
 Reassured fellow Jews- did not plan to undermine their
traditional religion: fulfill the prophesies
 Jesus was crucified
 Belief in Jesus’ resurrection became an important tenet of
Christian doctrine
 Important figure: Paul of Tarsus
o Jewish Roman citizen- preached to Jews and Gentiles
o Founded Christian communities throughout Asia Minor
o Accept Jesus as savior, they could be saved
 Early Christians suspicious b/c of their secret meetings
o Accused of cannibalism
o Christians refused to participate in the worship of the state
gods & imperial cult= act of treason= death
 Nero- fire in Rome- Christians scapegoated- used as human
torches
 Christian church created a well-defined hierarchical structure in
which bishops and clergy were salaried officers separate from the
laity, or regular church members
 Christianity- promise of salvation- initiation w/ baptism
 New roles for Woman in Christianity
 Constantine (306-337) 1st Christian Emperor
o Edict of Milan- tolerated the existence of Xty
 Theodosius 378-395
o Christianity made official religion of Roman Empire
Decline and Fall of Roman Empire
 235-284: Roman Empire in continuous Civil War
o 50 years: 22 Emperors!
 Invasions: Persians and Germanic Tribes
 Military dependent upon mercenary soldiers and not as loyal
 Diocletian 284-305: Divided empire into 4 administrative units
 Constantine 306-337 new capital city in Byzantium
(Constantinople)
o Basic jobs hereditary
Fall of Western Roman Empire
 2nd ½ 4th Century- Huns (Xiongnu)-to- Eastern Europe-Visigoths
to south and west
 410 Visigoths attached Rome
 476: Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus deposedseries of Germanic kingdoms
 Factors
o Christianity’s emphasis on spiritual kingdom
o Traditional Roman values declined
o Lead poisoning
o Plague
o Rome hindered technologically by slavery
o Didn’t achieve a working political system
o Key Factor: INVASION in West