Rome preserved many of Greek achievements
550 BCE Cyrus the Great – massive Persian Empire across Middle East
Tolerant of local customs
Advanced iron technology
Conquered by Alexander the Great
Persian language and culture survived into the 20th century
Greece
Crete – showed Egyptian influence by 2000
1400 Mycenae – kingdom Trojan War
Rise from 800-600 strong city-states
tyrant or aristocratic council
trade developed
written language came from Phoenician alphabet
athletic competitions – Olympic Games
Sparta/Athens rose to the top
Sparta – military tradition dominated slaves
Athens – commercial state, slaves, artistic/intellectual leadership
Pericles – most famous political figure
eventually Spartan/Athenian war weakens both sides
Philip II of Macedon came down and took over
Alexander the Great Philips son then kept going to Persia
13 years of conquests
Hellenistic period – Greek art/culture merges
Trade flourished
Scientific centers – Alexandria
Greece decline, but legacy carries on
Rome
Started under control of monarchy in 800 – defeated in 509
Across Sicily, conflict with Carthage
Leads to Punic War
3rd Punic War – salted fields – agriculture
August Caesar takes over in 27 BCE
Pax Romana – basic structure for Roman civilization
Gradual fall until 476 when invaders took over
government less effective – couldn’t take care of empire
unable to take over more land to finance empire
too spread out – undefendable
Constantine – 313 adopts Christianity
Governments became local in Western Europe
Roman armies needed foreign recruits
Politics crucial – polis original word for politics – Greek city-state
Unlike China, never had single set of political institutions
Monarchy was not preferred
General assemblies – all vote – direct democracy
Executive officers chosen like jury duty
½ citizens – slave/foreigners – women excluded
Lower class citizens want power and try to get it
Senate held executive offices -two counsels shared power
Dictator during emergencies
Ample political theory – Cicero main guy
Roman Empire – preserved Senate – relatively useless
Local autonomy prevailed – accept times like Jewish rebellion 63 CE
tolerance local customs, religion
Strong military organization
similar to Chinese bureaucratic structure
Focused on law courts and military force
Rome had roads, harbors for military transport, commerce
Public baths, stadiums
Religions tolerated as long as didn’t conflict with state
Problem w/ Christianity, state not first
Key elements
Localism, political focus, diversity of political systems, aristocracy, law
Lacked specific individual rights, instability showed system was flawed
Christianity spread, but not a product of Roman culture
Greek and Roman religion believed in many gods that for both civilizations were the same with different names
Many philosophers searched for explanations of life
Aristotle – Golden Mean and balance
Stoics – moral independence and discipline
Socrates – questioned things and accused of undermining
Plato – understand three forms True, Good, Beautiful
Importance in human ability to think, not human spirituality
Few inventions, many theories
Many theories wrong
Some geometry and incorrect astronomy
Romans more practical focusing on roads/aqueducts
Art and literature – far more important
Official religion inspired artists – temples, statues
Drama – comedy and tragedy
Sophocles – Oedipus
Romans known for athletic performances with Gladiators and charioteers
Greek literature consisted of epics and myths including homers epics Odyssey etc
Sculptures are a defining part of this age with heroic and realistic sculptures of people
Architecture in the Mediterranean civilizations consisted of columns and pillars
Rome was into building very big stadiums and monuments such as the colosseum
Economy and Society
Large land owners had the tendency to squeeze out small farmers in close proximity
Many farmer had a hard time because they were in debt
Difficulty in farming because of bad topography
Exported a surplus of grapes and olives
Manufactured products less advanced – exported animals/skins, metals
Merchants were better treated in the Mediterranean than China
Key components
Slavery
Agriculture
Military strength
The Mediterranean civilizations were behind China and India in technological progress
Tight family structure where women were inferior
Rome fell in parts over time as they could not support such a large empire for so long.
Alexander the Great expanded Greece from Macedonia to the borders of India.
Some Romans saw Greek literature as a waste of time and focused on more brutal/strict means of entertainment and learning.
Tolerant of local customs, but built Roman monuments
Believed there was little to nothing to learn from outside of their empire
Each had social hierarchy and laws to justify/protect upper class
India – priests, China – bureaucrats, Mediterranean – aristocrats
Social mobility
China – very hard to move up unless in government as a bureaucrat
Mediterranean – small amount of non aristocrats could move up
Lowest class
India – untouchables
China – “mean people”
Mediterranean – slaves
United by different things
India – Hinduism
Mediterranean – military force, local authorities
Chinese – Confucianism, patriarchy, obedience
China and India more successful in convincing poor of legitimacy of class structure
Mediterranean focused on giving some political rights to others