Ch 2 Notes
World History
2-1
- small area
- isolated by ocean, mts.- causes culture to develop with little outside influence
Homer-
- wrote stories based on semi-true events- Greeks treated them as history
- The Illiad and The Odyssey
-
The Illiad is based on the war with
o the
story begins with the kidnapping of Helen (the face the launched 1000 ships)
from
o this is the big Trojan Horse story
o an Epic Poem- long poem about a great hero
o taught them to be proud of their heritage and gave them role models
Early Greek City States- the polis
- acropolis- hill in the center of the polis
o temples, place of refuge if attacked
- 3 groups citizens with rights, citizens w/o rights (women) and non-citizens (slaves)
- citizens- rights and responsibilities (like public service)
- Gov’t
o Democracy- gov’t by the people
o Oligarchy- rule by a small group
- males get military training as children
o in army from 20-60
- women- more control in house than other places b/c husband in barracks
o also received physical training
o reinforced the tough Spartan values to their children “come home with your shield or on it.”
- Gov’t- oligarchy- 2 kings, select few participated in gov’t
- Isolation- cut themselves off from other groups so they didn’t influence them
o Discouraged from studying arts, philosophy
-
Cleisthenes- leader that
started reform in
o Gave more authority to the citizens
o Assembly- debated/voted on all laws
Classical
- rise of Greek culture (500-338 BC)
-
fought off two invasions by the Persians (Spartans and
-
Pericles- led
o Direct democracy- all citizens participate in gov’t decision making
-
o Peloponnesian
War-
o
o
Greek Culture- becomes the basis for western (European culture)
- art- focused on the human body, depicted balance, moderation
o tried to depict idea beauty, not realism
- architecture- mainly in temples to gods
o columns instead of walls, makes it open- Parthenon to Athena
o influences gov’t buildings today
- drama- plays, tragedies
o outdoor theaters
- philosophy- learning
o Socrates- real knowledge is already inside each person
1. used Socratic Method- question and answer sessions (maybe answer a question with a question)
o Plato
1. explored the idea of the ideal gov’t
2. all people should have equal access to education and opportunity to achieve any position
o Aristotle
1. studied politics, physical sciences, astronomy, all kinds of things
o other people
1. Archimedes- scientist that devised many inventions (screw, worked with levers, flamethrower?, buoyancy/water displacement?)
2. Hippocrates- medicine, oath doctors take today is named after him
Conquered-
-
-
- Alexander the Great
o Takes over when Philip is murdered (by Alex’s mother?) at age 20
o Eventually
conquers
o Invasion
stops in
o Dies at age 32 after conquering most of the known world
Hellenistic Age- Greek-like Age
- empire falls apart after Alexander’s death, but the impact remained
- Greek language became the common language for most of the area (New Testament), ¼ of English words have Greek roots, Greek architecture spreads as well as Greek stories and religion
-
2-2
Birth of
- supposedly in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus
- early Italian group- the Latins, spoke Latin
- republic established around 500 BC
o form of gov’t in which people elect leaders to rule for them (Senators)
- drove out the Greeks
Punic Wars- Rome v. Carthage (Libya, N. Africa)
- 3 wars, trade rivals
- #2 Rome almost beaten, Hannibal leads invasion to close to Rome (took elephants through the Alps)
- #3, Carthage totally destroyed, salt spread around city
- Rome controls Mediterranean Sea (Mare Nostrum)
Roman Gov’t-
- two groups
o Plebeians- average Joes (merchants, farmers)
o Patricians- the ruling class
- Consuls- 2 that ran the army and ran the gov’t
- Senate- at 1st only advised the Consuls, later gained more power
- Initially, only patricians were in the senate, the two classes couldn’t inter-marry
o Over time, plebeians gained rights and were to be equal under the law, but really weren’t
Road to the Empire-
- Senate divided by power hungry members
-
Senators recruited private armies that owed loyalty to
the leader (general) not to
o Leads to civil wars as generals fought each other for power
- 3 leaders emerge as top and run things- the 1st Triumvirate (headed by Julius Caesar)
o Caesar- defeats the other two and declares self dictator for life in 44 BC
1. assassinated in 44 BC (et tu Brute?)
- next 2nd Triumvirate (headed by Caesar’s nephew, Octavian)
o Octavian defeats other 2 (like Mark Antony/Cleopatra
1. gets title Emperor from the Senate (1st Roman Emperor) and takes the name Augustus
Early Empire- AD 14-180
- after Augustus, some really bad emperors
o Nero- crazy, Rome burns and blames the Christians (starts massive persecutions)
o Caligula- crazier, fights as a gladiator himself, wins every time, put himself in plays
- 5 good emperors
o time called the Pax Romana- Roman Peace
1. 100 year period of prosperity, little war with outsiders
2. Emperor continued to gain power, and Senate lost power
3. lots of building programs (Coliseum, roads, aquaducts, bridges, etc)
4. Hadrian-
wants to hold on to empire, not expand, builds big wall in
5. lots of trade as far E as China, Middle East,
6. lots of food around, farmers did well and that helped keep things good
Law-
- basic rights for citizens
- charged with a crime, can defend yourself
- judge judges you
o judge must weigh all evidence
o innocent until proven guilty
- lots of our legal terms come from Latin
o corpus delecti, habeus corpus, in flagrante delicto
Slaves- not many rights, usually people captured in other lands
- major slave revolt led by Spartacus
o slave army keeps the Roman army at bay for quite a while
1. eventually put down, 6000 crucified along a major road
Daily Life in
- Rich/poor- huge gulf between the 2
o Poor
lived in crowded apartments in
- Public programs
o Buildings- temples, baths, markets, theaters, Coliseum
o Mass entertainment- chariot races, gladiator events
Culture-
-
Literature- Virgil- epic- The Aeneid- virtuous hero, glory of
- Language- Latin- foundation for 5 Romance languages (Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian)
- Art- copied Greek art, collected Greek statues, but also made realistic art
- Architecture- copied rectangular Greek style
o Also- curved styles- arches, domes
o Used concrete on large scale, so bigger buildings
o Aqueducts, bridges, roads (lots of roads), paved even
Christianity-
-
- Romans allowed Jews to practice their religion, but forced them to also honor Roman gods
o Caused the monotheistic Jews to revolt later
- Some people convince Romans Jesus is a revolutionary that will lead a revolt against the Romans
o Pontius Pilate sentenced him to death
- Spread-
-
Apostles, especially Peter and Paul, spread the message
around the
- First Christians were mainly Greek-speaking people or Jews, but by 200, spreads to Latin speaking people
- Christians- refuse to worship the Roman gods as required by law- leads to persecution, executions
o Nero-
blames Christians for fire that burned
-
Helping the spread- the
o it spreads within the areas controlled by the Romans first
o common languages (Latin/Greek) makes it easier to spread the word
o Roman roads makes it easy for Apostles and others to travel the empire to spread the word
- Triumph-
o Message appealed especially to the poor (and there were lots of them)
§ Some willing to convert, but don’t want to give up their pagan festivals/celebrations
§ Result- celebrate Christmas on Dec 25, day of an existing pagan festival
o Gave people a purpose for life (as opposed to Roman mythology)
o Constantine- Roman Emperor that converts (believes earlier but not totally converted until time of his death)
§ Proclaims Romans to be tolerant to Christians
o Theodosius- Emperor that declares Christianity official religion
Decline of the Empire-
-
after Pax Romana
emperors were more concerned with themselves, not the glory of
- reforms to save the empire
o Diocletian- thought the empire was too big for one ruler, divided it into 4 units each with a ruler
o
Fall of
-
invaders in the west- Huns (like Attila) move in from
-
reasons
o army weakened
§
people join more personal gains, not glory of
§
Germanic people accepted in army, don’t care
about
o Borders weakened
o Population decline- low birthrate, war, plagues
§ Fewer farmers, soldiers
§ Economy down, tax base down
o Oppressive gov’t
§ Raises taxes to pay for stuff since fewer people to pay taxes
§ People forced into certain jobs
Legacy of
-
provides unity for many people in
- culture- laws, language, buildings
-
spread of Chrisitianity