...Decline of the Roman/Han/Gupta Empires Diverse Interpretations Assignment COMPARISONS TO FOCUS ON: * The causes for the decline of the Roman, Han and Gupta Empires * Understanding of how and why the collapse of the empire was more severe in Western Europe than it was in the Asian Empires. * Comparison of the role that religions played in the declines * The impact of missionary outreach of the Christians and Buddhists in these empires RESOURCES * Upshur – “The Decline of Empires” * Stearns - Decline of Empires. * Frank Smitha - “Decline and Fall” * Johnson and Johnson – “Why Don’t Empires Last?” * Spodek – “China and Rome: How do they compare?” * Bulliet pages 168-170 and 186-189. ASSIGNMENT 1. Construct a Venn comparing and contrasting the causes for decline of the Roman, Han and Gupta empires. Information will come from the documents and not the lecture…you already wrote the lecture notes once, why write them again? Rome Han similarities Gupta 2. Write 3 comparative analytical mini-paragraphs about the decline of empires. (generalization, facts, analysis…) Remember that analysis answers the question “why?” Example: The AP World History teachers have very different tastes in beverages. Ms. Forswall likes tea while Ms. Patch likes cola. Green tea and Earl Grey are Ms. Forswall’s favorites; they taste nothing like Pepsi or Coke because soft drinks are much sweeter. Ms. Patch usually chooses a diet style of...
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...Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity (c. 600 AD). Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in ancient Greece is the period of Classical Greece, which flourished during the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Classical Greece began with the repelling of a Persian invasion by Athenian leadership. Because of conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of the Mediterranean Basin and Europe. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered as the cradle of Western civilization. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. Literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. From about the 9th century BC written records begin to appear. Greece was divided into many small self-governing communities, a pattern largely dictated by Greek geography: every island, valley and plain is cut off from its...
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...American schools do teach a little about ancient greece and there are actually movies out now that provide great information on wars for example the movie 300. Although sometimes you want to expand your knowledge on certain things and I thought that’d be great for Greece. In this essay I will hit key points like the beautiful Greek geography and how it affected trade, some politics and how the government and religion played a part in life, and the periods and mighty wars fought. hopefully i will succeed in this essay and get a good grade. The purpose of this essay is to provide informational facts on ancient greek civilization/culture and give the reader a sense of how it was then. Enjoy. My background knowledge about ancient Greece is that good. From movies I've seen that Greece had some type of problem with Persia. Im not sure what the problem was but i know it was two major city-states/ empires, Athens and Sparta. I know the one army fought on land & the the other on ships in water. I also know that europe is known for wine and oil so i would like to know if those are some resources Adding that I did know that Greece was surrounded by water so I wonder how that affected the crops? Well to continue on I’d like to answer some of my questions and get to know this cool place a little better. Let’s begin. Greece is the South Eastern region on the European continent. It is defined by a series of mountains, surrounded on all sides except the north by water, and had countless...
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...History Final Part 1: 1. Before civilizations could emerge there had to be proper means of food that the people of the early ages could survive on. Agriculture was an important factor in the growth of civilizations and so was the domestication of animals to provide not only food but also clothing, tools, needs, or accessories people needed during the early stages of the establishment of civilization. Chapter 2 of “A History of World Societies” talks about the need for written communication whether it be pictures, symbols, codes, or actual words. A civilization also needs rules and laws to obey by in order to create a stable surviving civilization. A good example of an emergence of a civilization is the emergence of China during the Shang...
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...foundations of western civilization. During the Middle Ages, the city experienced decline and then recovery under the Byzantine Empire, and was relatively prosperous during the Crusades, as they benefitted from Italian trade. After a long period of decline under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Athens reemerged in the 19th century as the capital of the independent Greek state. Tradition relates that Sparta was founded by its first king, Lacedaemon, son of Zeus and Taygete, who named the city after his wife, the daughter of Eurotas, around 1000 BCE. Some eighty years after the Trojan War, according to the traditional chronology, Dorian migration from the north took place and eventually led to the rise of classical Sparta — famous as a martial power, foe of the Persian Empire, and eventual conqueror of Athens. After conquering many kingdoms and warring with many communities, Sparta spread to a major empire around 400 BCE. This was also the time of Athens' fall, which proclaimed Sparta superior in the constant war of the two empires. In medieval times, the city of Sparta was destroyed by many invasions. Modern day Sparta, which is known as Sparti in Greece, was rebuilt around 1834. History Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 3,000 years, becoming the leading city of ancient Greece in the first millennium BCE; its cultural achievements during the 5th century BCE laid the foundations of western civilization. During the Middle Ages, the city experienced decline and then recovery...
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...that happened during that time. This gives the present person a good understand on what events took place during that era. Some of the most prominent artwork of the western civilization is Greek, Etruscan and Roman art. That historical artwork has paved the way for modern art to have a place in art history world. I will compare and contrast the Greek, Etruscan and Roman characteristic and traits of its historical artwork. During the Geometric and Orientalizing art in the 900-600 BCE, the human shape returned to Greek art in the structure of bronze statuettes and simple silhouettes and other motifs on Geometric vases. One art example is the Dipylon krater, Athens, ca 740 BCE. During the Archaic Art, 600-480 BCE the earliest real-life stone statues appeared in Greece. The first Greek kouroi copied the frontal poses of early Egyptian statues, however designed the young men nude the same way that the men competed in the Ancient Olympics. In the beginning of the early 6th century BCE, Greek sculptors recreated the magnitude of the shapes and included “Archaic smiles” to their faces to make them more human-like. An example of Archaic Art is Kroisos, kouros from Anavysos, 530 BCE. During the early and High Classical Art, ca 480-400 BCE it was considered as the Golden Age of Greece. During the early classical period sculptors set a new...
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...“Escaping Current Time, and Exploring Ancient Time Periods” Miranda Kirkley World Culture and the Arts (HUM 205) January 19, 2013 James Slama Ancient History. (2013). The History Channel website. Retrieved 12:51, January 21, 2013, from http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history We’ve been in the business of reinventing storytelling since 1984. We took history out of the history books, and we brought biography to life. For our viewers, we’ve invented new genres, told untold stories and broken barriers. For our partners, we’ve offered new networks, new audiences, and new ways for brands to talk to customers. Benton, J. R., & DiYanni, R. (2008 2005 1998). Arts and Culture (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Offering an exploration of Western and World civilization's cultural heritage, this book is richly illustrated, beautifully designed and engaging. Readers move chronologically through major periods and styles–from prehistoric culture to 20th Century America–to gain insight into the achievements and ideas in painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, philosophy, religion, and music. Sakoulas, T. (2003-2012). Ancient Greece. Retrieved from http://www.ancient-greece.org/history/classical.html Associate Professor of Art at the State University of New York, College at Oneonta where he teaches Sculpture and Computer Art. He studied sculpture in the USA at Florida International University, and did his graduate work at the Maryland Institute...
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...AP World History - Stearns Chapter 2 – Classical Civilization: China I. Introduction – longest-lived civilization in history A. Isolated 1. Couldn’t learn from other cultures 2. Rare invasions 3. Distinctive identity 4. Relatively little internal chaos w/ decline of Shang dynasty a. Greatest links to classical society B. Intellectual theory 1. Harmony of nature – yin and yang – balance 2. Seek Dao – the way a. Avoid excess b. Appreciate balance of opposites c. Humans part of world, not on outside – like Mediterranean Thesis: China emerged with an unusually well-integrated system in which government, philosophy, economic incentives, the family, and the individual were intended to blend into a harmonious whole. II. Patterns in Classical China A. Pattern of rule 1. Dynasty, family of kings – create strong politics, economy 2. Dynasty grew weak, taxes declined 3. Social divisions increased 4. Invasion or internal rebellion 5. Another dynasty emerged – general, invader, peasant rebel B. Zhou Dynasty – 1029-258 BCE 1. Started decline in 700 BCE 2. Ruled w/ local princes – alliance system a. Successful in agricultural communities – ie manor system Europe b. Princes received land for troops/tax 3. Eventually local leaders ignored central gov’t 4. Contributions a. Extended territory to “Middle Kingdom” – wheat north, rice south 1. Transportation/communication...
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...the cause of changing society in a positive way [pic] [pic][pic] [pic] Social Change could be: o Slow, gradual, incremental, and evolutionary (in this it might be barely noticeable) o Fast, radical, sudden, and revolutionary (it might even take people by surprise) o Wide in scope, affecting all people in a society o Limited in scope, affecting only a small number of people Four major Theories of Social Change: 1. The Evolutionary Theory - explain how one social form evolves into another - society progresses from a simple beginning to a more complex form; from homogeneity to heterogeneity; from archaic to civilized; from primitive to modern; from rural to urban [pic] [pic] Classical evolutionary theorists: Emile Durkheim Herbert Spencer Modern evolutionists: Leslie White Julian Steward Gerhard Lenski ❖ Emile Durkheim [pic] -proposed that simple societies progress to complex ones by the action of social forces a. Mechanical Solidarity Simple societies have relatively homogenous culture, undifferentiated structure and minimal division of labor. People share a common set of values, beliefs, customs, and mores which provide the chief source of solidarity b. Organic Solidarity As population grows, division of labor and specialization is needed. More formal means to hold the society together are developed such as the central government. ❖ Herbert Spencer [pic] -views...
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...Dr. Malmude Monday/Tuesday, September 28/29, 2015 HY 101 D, E, F, J Western Civilization I Areas Covered by Next Week’s Exam Textbook Chapters: 1 and 2 Classroom Content Through Thursday-Friday September 24, 25, 2015 Content Areas Covered (26 Theme Areas): 1. Periods covered in Western Civilization, Parts 1 & II, from pre-historic times to the present (names of the main periods, with dates). 2. Neolithic, hunting and gathering, nomadic, mobile, non-rooted tribal societies. 3. The characteristics of the riverine environment. 4. Transitioning into a settled-irrigation-based systematic farming society with city walls and social/functional classes. 5. Warrior tribes, their common hunting and gathering ancestry, which they share with the very river-based societies whom they attack. The warrior tribes’ role in the creation of land empire. * 6. Four stages of writing and data recording. * Oral tradition- little writing passed down by word of mouth * Syllabic writing- focuses on the sound of word * Alphabet- phonecians roughly 26 symbols 7. Tangible and intangible infrastructure. * Tangible is physical infrastructure; intangible infrastructure is things such as language or attitude. Everyone has infrastructure. 8. Systematic farming and population increase. * Systematic farming leads to population increase. But how? * Systematic farming is an efficient way to feed people, it raises grain and grain...
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...The Classical and Renaissance art periods are two of the most important and celebrated art periods in our history. The two periods were alike in many ways with only a few differences setting them apart. In the end, the Renaissance was a “rebirth” of the Classical art style, architecture and beliefs. The Classical period was a time of spectacular architecture, philosophical pondering, and human development; taking place between 500 – 323 BC, Ancient Greece enjoyed wealth and power. The arts, literature, and drama thrived. The Classical Period made world changing discoveries in medicine, mathematics, physics, and astronomy. The city of Athens, one of the most powerful and influential cities in the Classical period introduced the world to Democracy and has shaped today’s western governments. Some of the philosophers of the Classical Period have become the most well known philosophers know to man today and have had influence on Western thought and civilization. To this day the teachings of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are still pondered today. Classical art focused mainly on five forms: architecture, sculpture, pottery, painting, and music. Ancient Greece was dominated by religion. This resulted in the temples being big and beautiful. The Classical period brought change in the style of sculptures. The Greeks believed in humanism and their art displayed this. The Greeks took great pride in the importance of the individual in society in the forms of art, philosophy and government...
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... * People * Philosophy * Religion * Society * Technology edit The Ancient Rome Portal Ancient Rome was a civilization which began as a small agricultural community on the Italian Peninsula in the 8th century BC. Rome became a large empire which straddled the Mediterranean Sea. In its twelve centuries of existence, Roman civilization was firstly a monarchy, then a republic that combined oligarchy and democracy, and finally became an autocraticempire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate Western Europe, the entire Mediterranean Basin including the Near East and North Africa, the Balkans, and the Black Sea.The Roman empire went into decline in the 3rd century AD, and began to collapse in the 5th century AD. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the western part of the empire, includingHispania, Gaul, and Italy, broke into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. The eastern part of the empire, governed from Constantinople, survived this crisis, and remained intact for another millennium, until its last remains were finally annexed by the emerging Ottoman Empire. This eastern, medieval stage of the Empire is usually referred to as the Byzantine Empire by historians.Roman civilization was part of the period of classical antiquity, alongsideancient Greece—a civilization that inspired much of the culture of ancient Rome. Ancient Rome made significant contributions to the development oflaw, war, art, literature...
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...Egypt Ancient Egypt is one of the first pristine states. Before Egypt there were many ancient civilizations that were considered secondary states and not pristine states. The secondary states only met some of the criteria needed, not all six. Egypt has been well documented in which it provided the ways of becoming a pristine state. The six criteria needed to become a pristine state were population pressure, intensification of agriculture, warfare, hereditary leader, storable grains, and impaction/circumscription. By becoming a pristine state in ancient times, it meant that Egypt would be a powerful civilization for many years. Egypt was one the first major pristine states in ancient times. Egypt was an ever growing population, which had population pressure from the need to support all of the people in the society. To be able to support the population, they needed to intensify the agricultural aspect of the society. Food is one of the basic needs for life to sustain itself, especially for all types of population. They used the Nile extensively for the water to help the production of crops. After they planted the crops there was a time of harvest in which they were able to gather food and store them for future use. They also had a hereditary leader because most, if not every Pharaoh had the throne passed from one generation to another. Warfare is also needed to expand the boundaries to help give more land to support a growing population. Egypt was also surrounded by deserts and...
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...the area in which they lived. As civilization developed, polytheism, or worshipping many gods, became quite common. Often cities, such as Athens, Greece, would worship patron gods who were seen as their protector. In the Middle East, the Hebrews first established the concept of monotheism, or the belief in a single god. This laid the foundation for later religions such as Christianity and Islam. In Asia, many philosophies were developed in order to establish a way of life for people. Some of these philosophies stressed order and structure in society, while others taught that humans should find harmony in nature, and be devoid of artificial rules on behavior. Thus are the influence of belief systems and superstitions around the world. Personal Response Personally I do have any belief in belief systems and superstitions. Belief systems do not influence me and I do not follow any of these above given superstitions. I always believe in scientific reasons rather than superstitions. Belief systems affect the mindset of a person. I feel belief systems and superstitions are crazy and bizarre. Superstitions need to be controlled and scientific reasons need to be developed if any because these systems can harm a person’s life in different ways. Thus I strongly support for banishing belief systems. Conclusion With the decline and fall of classical civilizations the great world religions became the defining characteristics of culture and civilization. Their spheres of influence and...
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...continuity of the Renaissance and the Middle ages. His critics especially stress the still strongly Christian character of Renaissance humanism. 2) The term of Renaissance in fifteenth and sixteenth- century Italy meant “re-birth” or “revival”. In the 14th century many Italian scholars believed that the arts had been declining in quality for 1,000 years. They admired the art and writing of the Classical Age (400 B.C.-A.D. 400), the time of the Greek and Roman empires. To revive the glory and grandeur of the ancient past, these scholars eagerly studied classical literature, architecture, and sculpture. 3) Renaissance humanism is simply the focusing on the individual and learning. Before the Renaissance, people of Europe focused on the city-states and the knowledge they had attained before not worrying what new knowledge was out there. Then came the Renaissance and brought focus to those things. 4) The Renaissance was a break from the Middle Ages because it brought new ideas and new ways of thinking into society, but without the Middle Ages (medieval civilization), the Renaissance wouldn’t have been necessary. The Middle Ages had the same ways of thinking and the people didn’t question anything – which was completely changed by the Renaissance. 5) Some of the many famous literary and artistic figures of the Italian Renaissance include Thomas More, who wrote Utopia, Erasmus, Castiglione, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael and many more. 6) The ideas that...
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