Time Period II 600 BCE 600 CE 600

Time Period II 600 BCE – 600 CE

600 BCE to 600 CE: • Why 600 BCE? – Rise of classical civilizations (Greece, Rome, Qin, Han, Maurya, Gupta) – development of major world religions/philosophies (aka: Axial Age circa 500 BCE-ish) • Why 600 CE? – Islam • Begins a new round of universalizing religion & conquest • Collapse of most Classical Period Empires

• Big Picture Events: – Development of true empires (large, centralized land holdings containing diverse people groups) beginning with Persia in 500 BCE – Apex and fall of Classical empires – Development and spread of universal world religions and belief systems (mainly Buddhism & Christianity) – Major development and expansion of large trade networks

• Rise and fall of Empires • China • Zhou dynasty collapses in 256 BCE – Longest lasting dynasty, develop the Mandate of Heaven • Warring States Period marked the ending several hundred years of their dynasty • 3 Ways to harmony developed by 200 BCE Legalism, Daoism, Confucianism

• Qin dynasty (221 BCE-209 BCE) Really short period • Shi Huangdi- known as the first emperor of China – Unifies China after the warring states period – Uses legalism to straighten everyone up • • People are evil by nature Super strict Government is there to keep people from chaos Burned Confucius’ works

• Builds tomb guarded by Terra Cotta warriors and starts the Great Wall – Modern wall you can walk on today is from Ming Dynasty – Walls’ goals over the years: keep out Cent. Asian nomadic pastoralists! • Standardizes weights, measurements, currencies, laws and written language

• Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 200 CE) • Legalism out, Confucianism back in • Golden Age of China – Golden Age anywhere = Peace, culture, art • Established the Silk Road – Han trade out silk and Romans give up precious metals esp. silver – Tons of diffusion on the Silk Roads – Buddhism spreads into China via silk road toward the end of the Han around 200 CE • From India to China

• Civil Service Confucian Exam begins w/ Han – Based on teachings of Confucius • The Analects = his book – Government should be highly educated & strictly moral. – Ren & Xiao = basis of human interactions – Very hierarchical – Created a government bureaucracy skilled and stable • Based on merit – Possibility of social mobility through the test

– Society is male dominated due to Confucianism • Husband-wife, older brother-younger brother etc… – Technology • Paper manufactured, sun dials, calendars, compass, rudder, seismograph, water power

• India • Mauryan Empire (322 - 185 BCE) – First to unify much of South Asia (Indian subcontinent) – Ashoka • • • First super-violent, then converted to Buddhism Patron of Buddhism monasteries, etc. Larger geographically than Gupta Traded with outsiders Centralized bureaucracy & military w/ spies, etc. Hinduism doesn’t go away, but Buddhism is the statesponsored religion

Gupta Empire (320 - 550 CE) G=Golden Hinduism reemerges as main power Hinduism altered by interaction w/ Buddhism to be more about unity of soul w/ the Universal Soul (Upanishads & Bhagavad Gita = examples of this in holy writings) • Golden Age of India: 0 -9 Number system developed (what we call Arabic numerals), concept of zero, concept of pi, Sanskrit writing flourishes, predicted eclipses, figured out inoculation against diseases, surgeries and bone setting • • – Maya also have zero w/o interaction • Therefore, it must have been aliens. Yeah. Aliens.

– Not as centralized, smaller than the Mauryan – Hinduism VERY reasserted • Major continuity throughout Indian history = Hinduism just keeps holding strong b/c it can just subsume new religious ideas so easily. Example = Buddha becomes another incarnation of a previous Hindu god • Sati a strong example of patriarchal society in India – High caste women throw themselves on funeral pyre of husband – Way of women to purify her soul & move up in the system in her next reincarnation

600 BCE to 600 CE: Mediterranean Empires Persian Empire by around 500 BCE Cyrus the Great starts the Empire (modern Iran) Zoroastrian religion Known to take ppl over, but let them worship how they pleased • Leader known as “King of Kings” • Clever Qanat irrigation system of covered canals to avoid evaporation & salinization • Royal Road (1600 miles of roads comparable to eventual Roman roads) • • – Led to trade and ease of governing

• Capital Persepolis (comparable to Chang’an, Athens, Rome, Teotihuacan) – Really rich city, lots of gold • Persian War = v. Greeks • Kicked out of Greek area by Delian League of Greeks in Persian War and finally defeated by Alexander the Great of Macedonia

• Greece – Adopted Phoenician alphabet – Geography makes them unique • Mountains, crappy soil = turn to trade & cultural interactions w/ others – City-states • Athens- democracy (limited), science, arts, philosophy, architecture (Parthenon) • Sparta- militaristic • Join together in Delian League to fight in the Persian War

• Culture- Olympics, mythology, epic poems of the Odyssey and Iliad (Homer), drama and comedy, development of philosophy (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander) X taught Y – Aristotle model of Greek thought by use of logic • Reason, logic, truth is based on observations • Peloponnesian War – Delian League falls apart – Athens v. Sparta (Civil war) – Sparta wins – All of Greek city-state = Weakened; power vacuum – Taken over by Alexander

• Alexander the Great • Conquered Greece, Egypt, Persia, all the way to Indus River and spread Greek culture (Hellenism) – Awesome @war – Empire facilitated interaction and spread of culture (Greece, India, Persia, and Egypt) – Hellenistic Empire – Golden Age • Library of Alexandria in Egypt center of learning (good comparison to later Timbuktu, Mali) – Geometry, medicine, anatomy, circumference of the earth, Pythagorean theorem, geocentric thought of Ptolemy

• Rome (Greatest achievements are law and engineering) – Roman Republic • Senate, Twelve Tables Law Code (comparable to Hammurabi’s law code) • Concrete & roads & aqueducts! • Patricians (rich) and Plebeians (poor) • Military domination and expansion with the Punic wars v. Carthage (N. Af. )

• Empire • First Emperor: Julius Caesar killed (44 BCE), Octavian Augustus becomes emperor in 31 BCE = EMPIRE PERIOD BEGINS • Empire stretches from England to Middle East • Pax Romana (Roman peace) – Golden Age – Comparable to Golden age of Athens, later Pax Mongolica – Law- innocent unless proven guilty by court – Engineering (Coliseum), aqueducts (for clean water) – Roads (comparable to Persian royal road and later Incan roads)

• Roman culture influenced by Greek cultural diffusion – Roman/Greek gods the same; Hellenistic building style, young Roman men go to study in Athens at Plato’s Academy • Slavery- Both Greek and Roman society heavily dependent on slavery (comparison to Chinese dependency on the peasants) – China had peasants, not slaves – Slaves did all jobs, not just regular labor less motivation to innovate new technology to save labor • Silk Road – Rome traded precious metals with the Han for silk

600 BCE to 600 CE: The Americas • Americas – Maya (200 s BCE – 900 s CE) – Develop later than Mediterranean and Chinese classical civs b/c not in river valley & difficulty in domesticating maize – “ 3 Sisters” ag system of maize, beans, & squash • Warring city states under one ruler (Tikal, Chichen Itza) • Writing system-glyphs (comparable to Egyptian hieroglyphics) – Pictographs + syllabrary – Means “carving”

• Super complex calendars able to predict solar eclipses, etc. Both ritual calendar & solar calendar. • Developed zero as a placeholder like Gupta India • Popol Vul = religious text ball games are reenactments of sacred myths • Steppe pyramids of Tikal (Guatemala) and Chichen Itza (Yucatan, Mexico) – Compare with ziggurats in Mesopotamia and Egyptian pyramids

• Teotihuacan – Huge City in valley of Mexico (later model for Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan) – Based on grid – Similar time as Mayas – Turquoise & quetzal feathers = trade goods throughout Americas – Perhaps 100, 000 people

• Comparisons – Maya and Gupta develop the concept of zero independently

• Rome and Han • Politically centralized but Han had centralized bureaucracy based on merit rather than local elites • Economically both used the silk road to exchange goods • Religiously Rome was first polytheistic later adopted Christianity (380 CE) while the Han relied on Confucianism and later Buddhism filters in – Both adopted foreign religions • Social: Coerced labor in Rome = slaves, Han = peasants • Intellectual: Roman law and engineering/ Han civil service exam, export goods, & labor-saving tech • Artistic: state sponsored art

• Greeks and Romans much more dependent on slavery than the Han • Maya were warring city states similar to that of Greece • Classical empire capitals – (Athens, Persepolis (Persia), Teotihuacan, Chang an, Rome) • Golden Ages(Rome Han Gupta) – Peace – Art/Science – Trade

• Fall of Empires • Maya- possible exhaustion of fragile tropical rain forest environment; wars over limited resources desired by upper classes • Han China- (220 CE) – Internal - population increases, land problems, corruption, peasant rebellion called Yellow Turban (184 CE), disease – External- conflict with nomadic Xiongnu • People from Cent. Asia w/ good horses

• Roman Empire (Western Rome falls in 476 CE, East survives as the Byzantine Empire) – Internal- tax revolts, poor leaders, division of empire, violent death of emperors, over expansion, decrease in trade, reliance on mercenaries, disease – External- Huns and Goths (Cent. Asian nomads) Gupta- Invasion by the White Huns- cost weakened state and eventually overrun – Hinduism and caste system survived – China & India = cultural elements remain after centralized political authority falls

600 BCE to 600 CE: Belief Systems, Part 1 • Polytheism- most early civilizations were polytheistic (belief in many gods) – Animism- Africa, Americas – objects can have spirits (ANIMATE) – Shamanism- Americas, Central Asia (Shamans go between real and spirit world)

Hinduism • Began with Aryan invaders and is the oldest of the major religions • No founder & no cohesion a set of hugely diverse practices we stick under one label • Caste system established and priests are at the top of the social hierarchy • Goal = reincarnation up the “ladder”

• Follow dharma (rules of your caste) next life determined by karma • Karma – what you do this life (following your set caste dharma or duties) will determine your caste next life • Reincarnation- cycle of life and death • Moksha- release from the cycle of life and death

• Hinduism keeps India together through different empires • Vedas and Upanishads sources of prayers that guide Hindus – Rig Veda = impersonal gods – Baghavad Gita = makes religion personal

• Patriarchal – Sati – Women could not achieve moksha • Always serves as a continuity in South Asia & India • Hinduism & Buddhism both diffuse to SE Asia – On sea roads (600 -1450)

Buddhism • Symbols include the 8 spoked wheel & water lotus • Spawned out of Hinduism like Christianity out of Judaism – Reaction against Hinduism’s impersonal nature (rituals are run by top caste) & strict hierarchy • • Can reach nirvana in this life (anyone can) Not about castes Personal effort counts a lot! Appeals to the poor

• Founder was Siddhartha Gautama (500 s BCE during Axial Age) • Four Noble Truths- – life is suffering – Suffering is caused by attachment to stuff and ppl (desire) – There is a way to end suffering – It is the Eightfold Path

• Follow the Eightfold path-right conduct/meditation (being good and nice) • Nirvana (peace/bliss through release of all desires)- comparable to Moksha in Hinduism • Appealed especially to the poor since nirvana could be achieved in one lifetime • Offers a monastic life for men and women (like Christianity)

• Universalizing Religion (like Christianity and Islam) – Easily adapted to other cultures • Monastic (like Christianity) – monks and nuns – Escape society to worship

• Split Theravada (monks in monasteries) (lesser vehicle) and Mahayana (new, all people, personal devotion to deities done outside a monastery) (greater vehicle) • Ashoka- Fosters Buddhism in India • Silk Road spread Buddhism to China and on to Korea and Japan

600 BCE to 600 CE: Belief Systems, Part 2 • China • Confucianism • Developed during the Warring State period – Need to bring order during this time • Emphasis on education, respect, reciprocity, virtue and order • Filial (family) piety (respect) – Respect for elders, respect a child should show for parents

– Five Relationships: Mutual respect keeps both in harmony • Superior and inferior • Ruler to ruled, Father to Son, Husband to Wife, Elder brother to younger brother, friend to friend – Gov and dads love it • Embraced by governments as ruler superior to ruled • Civil Service Exam based on Confucian Analects – Government bureaucracy based on merit – Allowed for the possibility of social mobility

• Patriarchal society develops as a husband superior to wife – Eventually see foot binding in Time Period III • Eventually combines with Buddhism to form Neo-Confucianism during the Tang dynasty

• Daoism (Yin Yang) – Founder Laozi – Harmony with nature (escape to the forest!) – Influence on Chinese culture with chemists, botanists and astronomers

• Legalism – Philosophy of Shi Huangdi and Qin dynasty (221 BCE) • Terra cotta warriors and great wall

• Axial Age – means “pivot” or “turning point” – Confucius, Buddha, Socrates and Laozi all around the same time • Jesus around 400 years after these thinkers • Mohammed around 1000 years after these thinkers

• • • Middle East Judaism (Star of David) First great monotheistic faith Influenced Christianity and Islam Covenant with God – Contract says Jews are His special people • Founder Abraham • Follow the laws of Moses in the Torah • Deuteronomic Code to remain intentional unassimilated (so they can remain monotheistic among so many polytheists) • Not universal because it stays in the same area

• Christianity • Developed out of Judaism • Jesus – Crucified under the Roman Empire – Religion was spread by his followers, especially Peter & Paul • Universalizing religion (like Buddhism and Islam) • Offers a monastic lifestyle (like Buddhism)

• Most populous religion today • Spread of Christianity – Paul, Roman roads, Roman dominance – Spread through Mediterranean & N. European world through trade, war, migration

• Roman Empire embraces Christianity • Constantine issued the Edict of Milan (stopped persecution) • Made Official Roman Religion in 380 CE • Too late to save and unify Rome • Western Rome falls in 476 CE, Christianity will be a continuity in Europe (like Hinduism in India) • Christianity keeps Western Europe together through Dark Ages

600 BCE to 600 CE: Trade Networks • Interactions of the Classical period (Silk Roads, Sea Roads and Sand Roads) • Silk Road • Three Golden Ages of the Silk Road – Started with the Rome and Han – Tang/Song in China with the Abbasid dynasty – Pax Mongolica • Silk a desired commodity throughout the silk road • Facilitates diffusion of disease, technology, beliefs and ideas – Buddhism from India to China

• Indian Ocean (Sea Roads) • Route linked India, East Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia and China in flourishing trade – Arab merchants and India early leaders of the trade – Knowledge of the monsoon winds vital – Lateen sail – Dhow & Junk Ships • Silk, salt, metals and spices (pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg) a trading continuity • Diffusion of beliefs – Hinduism and Buddhism & later Islam to Southeast Asia

• Trans-Saharan (Sand Roads) • Camel (ship of the desert) in 100 s BCE significant • Camel saddle in 300 s CE greatly increases trade across the Saharan • Trade connects Sub-Saharan Africa with North Africa and Mediterranean

• Mediterranean – Carthage, Phoenicians, Greeks, Berbers, Romans and Egyptians all traded • Sub-Saharan – Bantus culture & language is a common link – Connect Sub-Saharan Africa with East Africa and the IOMS • Americas – Trade during this time is limited and is regional unlike Afro-Eurasian world – Continents are vertical unlike Afro-Eurasia (Horizontal) • Different crops • Crops can’t spread north to south as easily • Mountains, climate regions

• Review • Rise and fall of classical empires – China- Qin/Han, India- Mauryan/Gupta, Mediterranean- Persian/Greek/Roman, Americas- Mayans • Compare Rome, Han and Maurya/Gupta • Development of world belief systems – Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, Judaism and Christianity • Trade Routes • Silk Road, Indian Ocean, and Trans-Saharan