Chapters 3-6

Ch 3

Empires and Civilizations

                500 bce-500ce had a second wave of civilizations

Persian Empire – largest and most impressive

                Held together with conquest and royal decree but also by effective administrative system

                Power was centralized

                Led by monarchy

                Strong military

 

Greek

                Hundreds of city-states and small settlements

                Small peninsula and 2-3 million people

                Led by citizenship

 

Greco-Persian Wars

                Greeks held off the Persians, against all odds, on land and sea

                Victories led to a Golden Age for Greece

 

Roman/Chinese Empires

                Roughly the same time 200 bce-200ce & similar size 50-60 million (half of the world’s population)

                Dimly aware of e ach other

 

Fall of the Roman Empire

                Many invasions/fewer soldiers

                Infrastructure broke down/less food

 

India 600 bce…Mauryan Empire

 

Ch 4

China

                Legalist View – clear rules and strictly enforced

                Confusion – thinker/teacher…social harmony through moral example. Secular outlook

                Daoist – Laozi – withdrawal from the world, simple living, end of striving

 

Buddhist – enlightenment…simplified and more accessible version of Hinduism

Hinduism – Brahma, karma, rebirth

Zoroastiasm – single high God…cosmic battle of good and evil

Judaism – High God…covenant with chosen people

 

Classical Greece – rational knowing

                Thinkers – Socrates, Plato

 

Christianity – revitalize traditions from which Jesus came from

 

Ch 5

China

                Elite of officials – landlord, peasants merchants

Castes

                India – Varna (priests/warriors/merchants/labor)

 

Roman Empire had slavery

Subordination of Women continued – even within same empire (Athens and Sparta)

 

Ch 6

Civilizations of Africa – differences grew out of environmental variations

Egypt – Nubian and Meroe

Axum- Christian kingdom – economy based on highly productive agriculture

Niger River – urbanization with no state structure

 

Maya- concept of zero and complex math

Teotihuacan – largest urban complex in the Americas

Andes – Incas

Chavin – desert coastal region and rain forests

Moche – governed by warrior-priests…excellent craftspeople