Download Civilization moves to the West

Civilization moves to the West...
Greek City States, The Roman
Empire, the Rise of Christianity, and
the Challenge of the Barbarians, 700
BCE – 500 CE
Timeline
Ancient Civilization
Europe and the Mediterranean
Today
Europe and the Mediterranean
Civilization Moves West to Europe
and the Mediterranean
Middle East
Europe and the Mediterranean
Today
Timeline
• 8th century - 4th century BCE (700s-300s):
Hellenic Era of Greek Civilization (rise of
the Greek city states, e.g., Athens, Sparta)
• 4th Century - 30 BCE: Hellenistic Era of
Greek Civilization: Alexander’s reign
• 6th Century BCE - 31BCE: Era of the
Roman Republic
Ancient
Greece
Ancient Rome, 218 BCE
Expansion of Rome
Timeline, cont.
• 31 BCE to about 476 CE: Era of the Roman
Empire: Octavian became Augustus Caesar and
initiated the Pax Romana, or Roman Peace.
• Palestine or Ancient Israel had lost its political
independence around 586 BCE. Palestine and the
Jews came under control of the Romans at the
time of the birth of Christ (CE 4).
• http://www.centuryone.com/rmnwrd.html and
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/firste
uro/roman.html for maps.
Significance for our purposes...
• The ‘center’ of civilization shifted to Rome
and the Mediterranean and social practices,
economic activity, knowledge were drawn
into Rome and ‘radiated’ from Rome to
provinces and frontiers.
• Roman world was pagan, i.e., polytheistic,
and embodied a variety of religions among
the many peoples it ruled.
Types of Households in Rome
• Population of Roman Empire at peak:
– Total: 70-100 million people
– City of Rome: 500-700,000
– Provinces: 75% of Total
• Latifundia: large scale plantations farmed
by gang slave labor
• Freehold farms: farmed by retired
legionnaires, or freemen.
Significance….
• Society continued to be organized into
nobility (in Rome: patricians), freemen of
lesser wealth (plebeians), and slaves
(captured in warfare).
Types of Households...
• Rome settled colonies at its frontiers, and
thus incorporated “foreigners” into the state.
• The “paterfamilias” “owned” his wife,
children, slaves and could dispose of them
at will.
The Challenge of Christianity
• Christianity,
– a monotheistic and
– missionary religion,
– articulated a new and different moral and
spiritual vision:
• including ideals of humility, charity, ecumenicism
and brotherly love: “do unto others as you would
have others do unto you…” and
• the hope of a “Second Coming.”
Jewish Diaspora
The Spread of Christianity
Timeline, cont
• The Christian religion spread within the
Roman Empire, faced persecution from
time to time from the first to the 4th
centuries of the Common Era (CE).
• Meanwhile, managing the expanding
Empire was administratively difficult:
Diocletian split the empire in the late 3rd
century to try to develop efficiency.
Roman Empire, 2d Century, CE
Timeline, cont.
• Emperor Constantine recognized
Christianity (313 AD), and the Christian
church modeled itself on the organizational
structure of the empire.
• Fifth Century (400s): Empire was attacked
by barbarians and Rome collapsed in 476.
Rome Divided
Germanic Invasions
Significance for our purposes...
• The ‘center’ of civilization shifted to Rome and
the Mediterranean and social practices, economic
activity, knowledge were drawn into Rome and
‘radiated’ from Rome to provinces and frontiers.
• Roman world before Constantine (4th century) was
pagan, i.e., polytheistic, and embodied a variety of
religions among the many peoples it ruled.
The Challenge of Christianity
and the Barbarians…
• Christianity, a monotheistic and missionary
religion, articulated a different moral and spiritual
vision: including ideals of humility, charity,
ecumenicism and brotherly love: “do unto others
as you would have others do unto you…” and the
hope of a “Second Coming.”
• The barbarian tribes of Europe and Asia presented
military threats to the “Holy Roman Empire.”