The Classical Era in World History

What exactly is an empire? Often used for more aggressive states, those that conquer, rule, and extract resources from other states and peoples.

Civilizations have flourished without a single all-encompassing state or empire.
Ex: Greece, Maya, Mesopotamia.

Some empires and civilizations have the tendency to collide. The distant civilizations did not directly encounter one another, as each established its own political system while organizing society.

Ex: The Persians and the Greeks shared opposite beliefs while organizing their societies.

Persians in 500 b.c.e were the largest, most impressive of the world’s empires. (Kingship). The Greeks had a different approach and were much smaller in size.

-          Rome had changed from a City-State to an Empire.

Roman aristocrats around 509 b.c.e threw off the monarchy and established a republic in which the wealthy class dominated. The values of the republic rule the laws of the citizens and were known as the way of the ancestors.

Between 264 and 146 b.c.e Romans extended their control over the western Mediterranean and made Rome a powerful nation. Rome also extended in southern and western Europe.

China was growing into an empire

Emerged in 2200 b.c.e under the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The Chinese process of empire formation war far more compressed than the centuries-long Roman effort, but it was no less dependent on military force and no less brutal.

Once the Romans and Chinese were established the two huge imperial systems shared a number of common features. They defined themselves in universal terms and invested heavily in public works. This was happening to built a stronger military bases to strengthen themselves. Romans had stronf beliefs in gods while the Chinese were, “strong under heaven.”

Crashing

What goes up must come down.

 For China the Han dynasty came to to an end in 220 b.c.e whereas the Roman fell in 476 b.c.e. The growth of large landowning families with huge estates enabled them to avoid paying taxes, turned free peasants to impoverished tenant farmers, and diminished the authority.

Eurasian Empires

China = Buddism.

Collapsing of empires
What is an Empie?
Reserved for larger and more aggressive states.
- Conquering rule
- extract resources from other states and people.

Civilizations have flourished without a single all-encompassing state or empire.
Civilizations were expressed in elements of a common culture rather then a political system.

Collision of Empires and civilizations
Classical era = witnessed the flowering of second-wave civiliazations in the Mediterranean World,Middle East, India, and China.

- distant civilizations did not directly encounter one another ( each established its own political system, cultural values, and learned how to organize their own civilizations.

Persian Empire: most impressive world empire in 500 B.C.E. Based on Iranian plataeu.
- Constructed imperial system- such as Babylonial and Assyrian cultures.
- Elaborate cult of Kingship (worshipping).

Greeks: 750 B.C.E as the new civilization and flourished for 400 years until incorperated into a succession of foriegn empires.
- Divided by steep mountains and Valleys.
- Greeks were expansive people like the Persians, but expansion took the form of settlement in distant places instead of conquest and empire.
- The greeks believed in citizenship. In the beginning only the wealthy and healthy had the right to full citizenship.

Greco-Persian Wars: The worlds largest empire grew out of their respective patterns of expantion.
Persians began to spread west as they began to class with Greek cities.
This resulted in the defeat of Persians from both land and sea.
- This was an enormous sence of pride for the Greeks.

Rome and how do Empires arise?

In rome, their empire took shape on the margins of the civilized world and began to become an enormous imperial state that encompassed the Med. Basin.
It also included parts of continental Europe, Britain, North Africa, and the middle east.

Values of republic, rule of law, rights, moral behavior were the ways of the ancestors.

China warring states to empire:

- Emerged as early as 2000 B.C.E.
Legalism- advocated clear rules and harsh punishments as a means of enforcing the authority of the state.
With this source, China had then launched a military campain to reunify themselves and create an eternal empire.
China and Rome shared a lot of common features and were defined as universal terms.
Both invested heavily on roads, aqueducts, canals, and protective walls ( this would stregthen their military).
Rome = Christianity

Collapse of Empires
- Empires may rise at certain points, but also have the tendency of falling.
China- the Hans dynasty came to an end in 220 C.E
Rome- 476 C.E

The states simply got to big, to overextended, and to expensive to be sustained by the available resources.
- People began to pay less taxes and diminish the authority of the central government.
- China had led to a major peseant revolt.
- Epidemic deseases began to spread killing many. Roman empire declined by 25 percent in the two     centuries following 250 C.E.