Chapter 4
The Age of Great Empires
Alexander’s Empire and the Successor Kingdom
1. Alexander's army of 37,000 and cavalry of 5,000 had little trouble with the Persians at the battles of Granicus River in 334 B.C.E. and Issus in 333
B.C.E. Before pursuing Darius III (336-330 B.C.), Alexander had to gain the Syrian coast and Egypt in order to cut off the Persian navy from its ports
and secure his rear from disloyal elements in Greece. The most strategic point was the port of Tyre. Although it was well fortified, the city fell after a
siege of seven months. Tyre was then re-colonized and became the center of Alexander's control of the Syrian coast.
2. Alexander's dream of Hellenization found realization in the creation of Alexandria in Egypt as the center of Greek commerce and culture. The city
was built on a narrow spit of land between a lake and the sea. The lake harbor connected with the Nile while the Mediterranean port was protected
from the sea by an island. The city was thus a link between the valley of the Nile and the Mediterranean. Moreover, a canal previously built by the
Egyptians connecting the Nile and the Red Sea provided access to the trade of Arabia and the Far East. As a crossroad, the population of
Alexandria blossomed and by the first century B.C.E. the city had half a million inhabitants.
4. According to legend, at Siwah the oracle of Zeus-Amon addressed Alexander as "son of Amon", thereby suggesting his divine status.
5. Darius chose to meet Alexander at a wide plain on the left bank of the Tigris River. Coming from Tyre, Alexander’s army met that of Darius at
Gaugamela in 331 B.C.E. The army of Darius was defeated and the Persian king fled the field. Alexander proclaimed himself the king of Asia. At
Persepolis, the third great capital of the Persian Empire (Babylon and Susa the other two), Alexander passed the winter of 331-330 B.C.E.
According to Plutarch, the booty taken here loaded 10,000 mules and 5,000 camels. The city was burned in revenge for the aggression of Xerxes
against Greece in the sixth century B.C.E.
6. Entering India in 326 B.C.E., Alexander met a formidable army at the Hydaspes River. Emerging victorious, he founded the new city of Bucephala
named in honor of his beloved horse that had died. The circuit of the Persian Empire, however, was now completed as Alexander's troops rebelled at
going on any further. They had been away eight and a half long years and had traveled 11,000 miles. Reluctantly, Alexander acceded and the force
struck out from the Indus to the mouth of the Persian Gulf across the bleak coast of the Gedrosian Desert. The journey cost nearly half his force of
30,000 men. Alexander then proceeded to Persepolis and then to Babylon where he died of a fever in 323 B.C.E. at the age of thirty-two. The
following decades, Alexander’s generals divided his lands among themselves. Three Hellenistic kingdoms emerged: Egypt, the Ptolemaic Kingdom,
ruled by Ptolemy and his successors; Asia, comprising most of the remaining provinces of the Persian Empire, became the Seleucid Kingdom
founded by Seleucus; and Macedonia and Greece, the Antigonid Kingdom, ruled by the descendants of Antigonus.
9. Estimates are that Alexander summoned 60,000 to 65,000 additional mercenaries from Greece during his conquests. At least 36,000 became
residents of the garrisons and new cities, thereby serving as agents for the diffusion of Greek culture.
10. Unlike the other Hellenistic kings, the Ptolemies in Egypt were not city builders and made little effort to spread Greek culture. In the second
century B.C.E. the Greeks and Egyptians began to intermarry with each adopting the language and customs of the other thereby creating a GrecoEgyptian culture. The far ranging Seleucid Kingdom, on the other hand, established many cities and military colonies. Although the Seleucids had
no apparent plan for Hellenizing the population, the arrival of so many Greeks must have had an impact. Especially important in the Hellenizing
process were the military colonies located near native villages.
Alexander’s Empire and the Successor Kingdom
Questions:
1. How did Greek ideas penetrate the East?
2. How did cities act as a catalyst for the Hellenistic Age
 Macedonian Conquest and Hellenistic Empires
 Philip II, 359-336 B.C.E.
Army
Battle of Chaeronea, 338 B.C.E.
 Alexander, 336-323 B.C.E.
Crosses the Hellespont, 334 B.C.E.
Conquest of the Persian Empire
Defeats Indians at Hydaspes River, 326 B.C.E.
Return to Babylon, dies of fever, 323 B.C.E.
Hellenistic Kingdoms – Macedon and Greece;
Seleucid Empire; and Ptolemaic Empire
The World of the Hellenistic Monarchs
1. Unlike the other Hellenistic kings, the Ptolemies in Egypt were not city builders and made little effort to spread Greek culture. In the second
century B.C. the Greeks and Egyptians began to intermarry with each adopting the language and customs of the other thereby creating a GrecoEgyptian culture.
2. In order to attract Greeks, the far ranging Selucid Empire established many cities and military colonies in Mesopotamia. Although the Selucids
had no apparent plan for Hellenizing the population, the arrival of so many Greeks must have had an impact. Especially important in the Hellenizing
process had to be the military colonies located near native villages.
3. The great wealth Alexander found in the Persian capitals was used to finance the creation of new cities, building roads, and modernizing harbors.
4. Contact with India by sea was established by the Ptolemies who learned to utilize the monsoon winds. This route further stimulated the exchange
of ideas and goods. The commerce came by sea into the Persian Gulf, up the Tigris to Seleucia. From Seleucia, the trade would move by
caravan to Antioch and Ephesus on the west coast of Asia Minor. By land, the trip from the Indus to Seleucia took forty days and from Seleucia to
the Mediterranean another fifteen. The longer alternate southern route wound its way by sea along the coast from India, around Arabia, and up the
Red Sea. Goods would be transferred by caravan to the Nile and floated down to Alexandria and the Mediterranean.
5. The Hellenistic Age marked a shift in the center of eastern Mediterranean trade from Athens to Corinth and the new cities of Egypt and Asia.
The Black Sea's commercial importance was reduced due to the Gallic and Scythian invasions.
6. The despotism of Hellenistic kingdoms was countered by a city-state federalism established by the Aetolian League (stretching across central
Greece and parts of the Peloponnesus) and the Aechean League (including much of the Peloponnesus). These confederations were national unions
in the modern sense.
Questions:
1. After the breakup of Alexander's empire, how did the new kingdoms approach their political organization? How was it different from the polis?
2. How did trade contribute to the development of the Hellenistic Age?
The World of the Hellenistic Monarchs
The World According to Eratosthenes
1. Eratosthenes (c. 276-c. 194 B.C.E.), born in Cyrene, a Greek town in northern Africa, was a Greek mathematician and geographer who drew a
map of the then known world, relying on accounts by mariners, travelers, and his own observations. As the head librarian of the great library at
Alexandria established by the Ptolemies, Eratosthenes had access to a wide range of sources.
2. In Geographica, Eratosthenes brought together reports of travelers including voyagers around Britain and to Norway and perhaps the Arctic Circle.
He also sought to depict physical features of the lands and the character of the people. Eratosthenes thought many Greeks were scoundrels,
Persians and Hindus as refined, and Romans as proficient at social order and competent government. Nevertheless, he knew little of northern
Europe, India south of the Ganges River, and nothing of south Africa. He is the first geographer, however, to mention China. Significantly,
Eratosthenes declared that only the Atlantic Ocean separated Iberia (Spain) and India.
3. Assuming that the Earth is round and that the sun’s rays are parallel, Eratosthenes calculated that the circumference was about 24,662 miles (the
correct figure is 24,847 miles).
Question:
1. What does the map of Eratosthenes tell about the knowledge of the world in the third century B.C.E.
The World According to Eratosthenes
 Cosmopolitan Society and Economy
 Growth in manufacturing and international commerce
 Science
Euclid
Archimedes
Claudius Ptolemy
Eratosthenes
 Culture
Stoicism
Epicureanism
 Literature
 Art – sculptur
Ancient Italy
1. The geography of Italy is such that it naturally faces west, not east to Greece. Extending 750 miles north to south, the peninsula is dominated by
the Apennine Mountains which break off from the Alps and not only run the entire length but also span more than half the breadth. While the Alps
and Apennines form a natural barrier, the numerous valleys and passes permit people to migrate to Italy from the north. On the Adriatic side the
land is unattractive while that which faces the Tyrrhenian Sea has fertile valleys among the mountains and numerous rivers in addition to the fertile
coastal plain of Latium in central Italy and Campania to the south. The fertility of the land permits the support of a large population.
2. The Po Valley in the north is the most fertile region of Italy. While the Etruscans expanded early into the region, Rome did not until late in the
Republic.
3. The people who settled the upland valleys of the western Apennines (Sabines and Samnites) found well-protected areas and thus there was little
to persuade the scattered settlements to combine for defense or politics. However, on the plains, especially Latium, no such natural defenses
existed. Therefore, there was inducement to not only come together for protection but also to carry on trade. By the seventh century B.C.E. there
were about forty city-states in Latium.
4. Italy has few good harbors but those that do exist are found in the south. It was natural that the seafarers from Greece beginning in the eighth
century B.C.E. should make use of these. They founded Cumae in the Bay of Naples, Naples, Tarentum, Brindisi and Syracuse in Sicily. So
heavily occupied was the southern boot by Greeks that the Romans came to call it Magna Graecia. The trade, however, did not go only east and
west but also extended north and south. This brought the Greeks into contact with the Etruscans of Eturia. By the seventh century the Etruscans
were not only in Rome but also had established a settlement at Capua near the Greek city of Naples.
5. The location of Rome was ideal. The area was a crossroad for trade since it was here that the Tiber River could be forded. Established eighteen
miles up the river from the coast, Rome was as far as ships could safely navigate. For building, there was plenty of timber. The land was rolling with
several hills, which were easily defensible, especially Capitoline Hill. A defensive wall of stone and earth built by Servius Tullius surrounded the
settlement in a six-mile circuit. The center of city life was the paved Forum that was originally a marketplace but later became the center of
government. Found here was the Temple of Saturn where the treasury was kept, the House of the Vestal Virgins, and the Basilica Aemilia and Julia
where the most important legal cases were heard. At the north end of the Forum was the curia (Senate house) and the cometium (meeting place of
the assemblies). The cura was a small and simple building with three rows of uncomfortable marble seats for the senators. Immediately next to the
curia was the comitium, a paved space featuring a platform from which an orator might speak. The streets were lined with shops. The population of
Rome was about one million and included about 400,000 slaves and 300,000 free workers. Perhaps 200,000 were on the state dole for bread.
Blocks of tenements near the heart of the city ranged six to ten stories high. By the fourth century there were fewer than 2000 private homes.
3. South of Palatine Hill was the great chariot arena, the Circus Maximus that was first built during Etruscan rule. It was 2200 feet long and 705 feet
wide with seats enough to sit 180,000. Near to it was the Hippodrome that served the same purpose.
4. The Great Fire of Rome in 64 started in the shops where the Palatine reaches the Circus Maximus. Because much of Rome at this time was made
of wood, the fire spread rapidly and burned for six days, stopping just short of the Forum. Two-thirds of the city was destroyed. When rebuilt, a plan
was utilized specifying building materials (marble and cement) and street layouts.
Ancient Italy
Questions:
1. What geographical features of Italy influenced its development?
2. Compare and contrast the physical conditions of Greece and Italy.
Roman Conquests
 Rise and Decline of Roman Power
 Early Roman Republic
Greeks, Etruscans, and Italic people
Patricians – hereditary aristocracy
Plebians – masses, lived in poverty and oppression
 By strikes secured individual rights and freedoms
The Twelve Tables (449 B.C.E.)
Slavery
Government
 Two Conusuls, Magistrates
 Pontifex maximus
 Senate
Women
Religion
Expansion of Roman Territories to 100 C.E.
1. The first war between Rome and Carthage (264-241 B.C.E) centered on Sicily and the Straits of Messina between Sicily and Italy. The defeat
of Carthage forced it to surrender Corsica and Sardinia. In a second conflict, Hannibal, a Carthagenian general, in 218 B.C.E. organized in Spain
an invasion force of 30,000-40,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and about forty war elephants. Crossing the Alps, Hannibal annihilated the Roman army
at Cannae in 216 B.C.E. thereby gaining control of most of Italy. The city of Rome, however, did not fall. In 202 B.C.E., Hannibal was forced to
abandon Italy and defend Carthage from a Roman army. The Carthagenian defeat at Zama resulted in the surrender of Spain to the Romans.
2. In order to protect Rome's ally Massilia (Marseille) from the Gauls, the southern region of Gaul in was annexed 121 B.C.E. After Julius Caesar
became the governor of Cisalpine and Narbonese Gaul in 58 B.C.E., war was waged on the Gauls for two years. Caesar proclaimed conquest in 56
B.C.E. and the Senate prematurely declared it a Roman province. The region was not fully conquered by Caesar until four years later.
3. In 67 B.C.E. Pompey was sent against the pirates of the Cilician coast who were ultimately defeated. Pompey then turned his attention to
Bithynia, Pontus, Syria, and Judea that were soon conquered, much to the joy of Roman businessmen and merchants.
4. In late summer 31 B.C.E. the forces of Octavian defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. Following the death of Cleopatra, Octavian
took the Egyptian throne for himself and did not make Egypt a province. Also after Actium, Augustus personally completed the conquest of Spain
and between 19 B.C.E. and 9 B.C.E. Illyricum, Pannonia, and Rhaetia were subjugated. Rome expanded into Germany in 15 B.C.E when its forces
crossed the Rhine River. By 9 B.C.E. they had reached eastern Germany. In 9 C.E., the Roman governor of Germania led three legions (16,200
men) into a trap at Teutoberg Forest and all were killed by a coalition of Germanic tribes. In the aftermath of the defeat, the army on the frontier was
reorganized and by the order of Augustus withdrawn to the Rhine River, which was to be the boundary between the Germans and Gaul. The
Danube River would serve the same purpose further east.
5. The provinces were divided into two classes by Augustus (Octavian), those that did not require active defense and those that did. The first
category, ruled by the Senate, included Sicily, Baetica, Narbonensis, Macedonia, Achaia, Asia Minor, Bithynia, Pontus, Cyprus, Crete, Cyrenaica,
and North Africa. Augustus’s own representatives governed all the other provinces. This division allowed Augustus to retain control of the army in
difficult provinces and draw upon their wealth.
6. The defensive imperialism established by Augustus was generally pursued by his successors. Claudius (41-54) made Britain a province and
annexed Mauritania, Lycia, and Thrace (all of which had been dependencies left under native princes). Vespasian (69-79) annexed the angle
between the Rhine and the Danube Rivers. Trajan (98-117), after a prolonged war with the Dacians, made Dacia a province. In the east, he warred
against Parthia annexed Arabia Petraea and made provinces of Armenia, northern Mesopotamia, and Syria. Overextended and facing revolts by
Jews in the east and counterattacks by the Parthians, Rome had to withdraw its troops from Armenia.
7. During the Empire some cities grew to be quite large, particularly in the east, Alexandria in Egypt had over 300,000 inhabitants; Ephesus in Asia
Minor counted 200,000; and in Syria, Antioch had about 150,000 residents.
Questions:
1. What will be the consequences of an empire so spread out in the Mediterranean?
2. What were the barriers that prevented further expansion of the Roman
Expansion of Roman Territories to 100 C.E.
 Roman Conquest of Italy and the Mediterranean
 By 290 B.C.E. Rome controlled half the Italian Peninsula
Conscripted militia
 First Punic War, 264-241 B.C.E.
 Second Punic War, 219-201 B.C.E.
Hannibal (247-183 B.C.E.)
Battle of Zama, 202 B.C.E.
 Third Punic War, 146 B.C.E.
 Roman successes in Greece
 Conquests expand slavery
The Later Empire
 Breakdown of the Republic and Rise of Augustus
 Populares and Optimates
 Gaius Marius (157-86 B.C.E.)
 Sulla
 Gnaeus Pompeius, Pompey (104-48 B.C.E.)
 Marcus Lininius Crassus (c. 112-53 B.C.E)
 Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.E.)
Gallic Wars, 58-50 B.C.E.
Civil War
Dictator perpetius (dictator for life), 45 B.C.E.
Octavian (63 B.C.E.-14 C.E.), Augustus
Conquest to secure borders
Pax Romana
Products of the Roman Empire, c. 200 C.E.
1. Italy was poor in minerals, having no gold and little silver but a fair supply of iron, some copper, lead, tin, and zinc. All, however, was inadequate
to support industrial development. Moreover, metallurgy and technology made few advances; therefore, during the Republic bronze was employed
more frequently than iron. The most prosperous industries were bronze work in Capua, manufacture of weapons and tools in Campania, and
pottery in Arretium.
2. One of the most significant problems holding back early Rome from industrial production was the difficulty of transport. Traffic moved along canals
and rivers while coastal towns imported by sea rather than from the interior. This was alleviated during the republic when Rome began to build a
road system. The Appian Way between Rome and Capua was eventually extended as far as Brundisium thereby facilitating greater trade with
Greece and the East.
3. Goods from the Far East came by two routes. One route was by sea from India to the Persian Gulf, up the Tigris River to Seleucia and then on to
Antioch. The second route also came from India by sea but went around the Arabian Peninsula, up the Red Sea, overland by caravan to Coptos on
the Nile, and then to Alexandria.
4. Movement of goods by sea was very risky at best. The ships were small and made only about six miles an hour by sail or rowing. They typically
hugged the coast since the compass did not yet exist and navigation was very rudimentary. Because the weather in the Mediterranean could be
treacherous in the winter, most ships stayed in port from November to March. When the ships did sail, typically it would take nine days to travel from
Ostia, the port for Rome at the mouth of the Tiber River, to Gades (Cadez); five days from Ostia to Carthage; twenty days from Ostia to Caesarea
in the East; and fifteen to twenty days from Puteoli on the Bay of Naples to Alexandria.
5. Internal peace and a single currency throughout the provinces during the Empire brought unprecedented levels of trade and accompanying
prosperity. The trade, however, was unbalanced. Exports included Arretine pottery, some wine, olive oil, metalware, glass, and perfumes from
Campania, and, significantly, silver to pay for vast imports. One of the most important imported products was grain needed to feed the burgeoning
population of Rome. This primarily came from Spain, North Africa, Egypt, and Asia Minor. Some of the other imported products included black
slaves and wild beasts for the arena from Africa; gold, silver, and horses from Spain; timber, textiles, wine, and pottery from Gaul; amber, slaves,
and furs from Germany; fine linen and woolen fabrics from Asia Minor; wine, silk, and linen from Syria; and textiles, perfumes, and drugs from
Palmyra.
Questions:
1. What would be the consequence of Rome's dependency on imported grains and luxury goods?
2. What factors inhibited Roman industrialization?
Products of the Roman Empire, c. 200 C.E.
 Roman Culture
 Cultural consequences of conquest of Greece
 Epicureanism and Stoicism brought to Rome
 Mystery cults
 Roman literature
Plautus and Terence
Cicero (106-43 B.C.E.)
Lucretius (c. 84-c. 54 B.C.E.)
Vergil (70-19 B.C.E.)
Horace (65-8 B.C.E.)
Tacitus (c. 56-c. 120 B.C.E.)
Juvenal (c. 60-c. 135)
 Architecture
 Engineering
Imperial Rome
1. The center of Rome and the empire was the Forum that housed the Temple of Saturn where the treasury was kept, the House of the Vestal
Virgins, and the Basilica Aemilia and Julia where the most important legal cases were heard. At the north end of the Forum was the curia (Senate
house) and the cometium (meeting place of the assemblies). The cura was a small and simple building with three rows of uncomfortable marble seats
for the senators. Immediately next to the cura was the cometium, a paved space featuring a platform from which an orator might speak. The streets
were lined with shops.
2. Overlooking the Forum to the south was Palatine Hill. Of the seven hills of Rome, this was by tradition the first to be settled, probably because
there is an island at its foot which allowed easy fording of the Tiber River. Here were found the homes of the leading patricians.
3. South of Palatine Hill was the great chariot arena, the Circus Maximus that was first built during Etruscan rule. It was 2200 feet long and 705 feet
wide with seats enough to sit 180,000. Near to it was the Hippodrome that served the same purpose.
4. The Great Fire of Rome in 64 started in the shops where the Palatine reaches the Circus Maximus. Because much of Rome at this time was
made of wood, the fire spread rapidly and burned for six days, stopping just short of the Forum. Two-thirds of the city was destroyed. When rebuilt,
a plan was utilized specifying building materials (marble and cement) and street layouts.
5. The population of Rome was about one million and included about 400,000 slaves and 300,000 free workers. Perhaps 200,000 were on the state
dole for bread. Blocks of tenements near the heart of the city ranged six to ten stories high. By the fourth century there were fewer than 2000 private
homes.
6. The Campus Martius (Field of Mars) featured theaters, baths, and stadiums. On this field athletes competed and the legions practiced. The
assemblies would meet here to go through the motions of democracy.
7. The Walls of Servius were the first to protect Rome. Rebuilt after the raid of the Gauls in 390 B.C., they eventually lapsed into ruins as peace
came. The new Walls of the Emperors was erected in 270.
8. By the fourth century there were 856 baths and 1352 public swimming pools. The Baths of Nero could accommodate 1600 people, the Baths of
Caracella, 3000. Baths were opened from daybreak to one P.M. for women and from two to eight P.M. for men. Nevertheless, most emperors
permitted mixed bathing. (Will Durant, Caesar and Christ, p. 375)
Questions:
1. What urban problems could be expected in Rome?
2. How did the city of Rome express the greatness of the empire?
Imperial Rome
 Politics, Society, and Economy
 Cosmopolitan collection of 5000+ towns
 50-60 million population
 Empire spread Roman culture
 Decay and Temporary Recovery
 235-284, more than 20 emperors
 Defensive problems
 Diocletian, 284-305, splits empire into four sectors
 Constantine, 306-337
Constantinople
The Empire of Asoka
1. As a result of conquests about 500 B.C.E., the Indus valley became a satrapy (province) of the Persian Empire. Alexander's defeat of the
Persians was followed by a march through the Hindu Kush into the upper Indus valley in 327-326 B.C.E. He crossed through the Punjab and
eventually installed Macedonian officials in the area. The death of Alexander (323 B.C.E.) and the ensuing confusion gave Chandragupta Maurya
(332-298 B.C.E.) from the Ganges valley an opportunity to expel the Macedonian officials. He then turned on the Magadha kingdom, defeating and
killing its ruler. Proclaiming himself ruler, Chandragupta established his capital at Pataliputra on the Ganges. His army consisted of an infantry of
600,000, a cavalry of 30,000 and 9000 elephants. In 304 B.C.E., this army defeated that of the Seleucus (successor to Alexander in Syria and
Persia) and forced cession of Baluchistan and part of Afghanistan. With control over northern India, the Mauryan Empire was created.
2. The greatest of the Mauryan rulers was Chandragupta's grandson Asoka (269-232 B.C.E.). Like his grandfather, Asoka began his career as a
warrior. When his father died in 274 B.C.E, Asoka rebelled against his older brother, the rightful ruler. After four years of bloody fighting, Asoka
gained the throne in 269 B.C.E. He continued his wars until 260 B.C.E. when he conquered the last independent kingdom in northern India, Kalinga,
in a savagely bloody campaign that witnessed the killing of hundreds of thousands of people. The slaughter so appalled Asoka that he forswore
violence and embraced Buddhism. The empire was now used to spread Buddhist teachings throughout India and even reached Tamraparni
(modern Sri Lanka). Asoka used diplomatic means to win submission from most of the remaining states until his empire extended from Afghanistan
to Mysore in the southern Deccan plain.
3. The pious Asoka had inscriptions carved throughout his empire on rocks and on thirty monolith stone pillars. The messages were exhortations to
moral conduct. It is in these that the earliest examples of writing are found in India. This writing system is the ancestor to classical Sanskrit and
modern Hindi.
Questions:
1. How was northern India brought under the control of a single ruler?
2. What were the contributions of Asoka to Indian civilization?
The Empire of Asoka
 The Mauryan Empire
 Chandragupta Maurya, 313 B.C.E.
Organized and autocratic government
 Emperor Asoka
 Conquest of Kalinga creates remorse
 Buddhist teachings in law and deeds
 Culture of the Asokan Age
Stone pillars, stupas, and cave shrines
Writing
 Mahabharata
 Life under the Mauryans
Farmers, herders, and hunters
Artisans
Water transportation
 The Kushan Empire
 Kingdom of Kanishka
 Yueh-chih people
 Northern India to the Caspian Sea
 King Kanishka, 78-111
 Culture
Buddhism
Gandharan
Bamiyan valley
The Qin and Han Empires
1. From their position in the valley of the Wei River that controlled access to the Yellow River plain, the Qin launched attacks on other states. By
221 B.C.E., Shih Huang-ti had defeated the states and proclaimed the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.E.). He was the first to call himself the equivalent of
a western emperor. Having conquered north China and the lands of the Yangtze, the Qin pushed south to the edge of the Red River and southeast
to the coast. To tie these lands together, the emperor ordered construction of a system of roads. To this end, carts using the roads were required to
have standard length axles so the ruts they made would he uniform. Administratively, the land of the Qin was centralized into thirty-six (later fortytwo) commanderies (provinces). These were further divided into districts.
2. In the north and northwest, the Qin faced a nomadic Hun people called the Xiongnu (Hsing-nu) who were troublesome in the lands south of the
Gobi Desert where for years the Chinese had been driving out the nomads and taking their pasture lands. In retaliation, the Xiongnu struck back at
the Chinese by raiding their towns and farms. Masters at fighting on horseback, the Xiongnu had significant advantages over the Chinese infantry
defending the frontier. To stop the raiders, states in the late Chou began erecting walls and fortifications. The Qin emperor had these joined into a
single Great Wall that stretched some 1400 miles from the Yellow Sea to central China. The Great Wall would he rebuilt of granite and extended
three thousand miles during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
3. Near the Chou capital of Hao, a new capital, Hsienyang, was built in the Wei valley where access from the rest of China was limited to the narrow
strip of land between river and hills at the great bend of the Yellow River. Productivity of the valley was enhanced by an irrigation and transportation
canal.
4. A canal was dug linking a tributary of the Yangtze River with the Pearl River in the extreme south to facilitate bringing supplies to an army
campaigning there. Later, the Grand Canal linked the rice-growing Yangtze basin with northern China.
5. The death of the emperor in 210 B.C.E. was followed by factional rivalry and the overthrow of the Qin. The victor was Liu Bang (Liu Pang), a
commoner who founded the Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.-221 C.E.). The new capital was built at Ch'ang-an. Like their predecessors, the Han
aggressively expanded China's borders, especially Emperor Han Wudi (Han Wu Ti, 141-87 B.C.E.). In the south, Han armies brought the Red River
delta under control in 111 B.C.E. The armies similarly swept northeast into southern Manchuria and then to northern Korea in the last half of the
second century B.C.E. In the west, the Han armies penetrated as far as the Caspian Sea in 97 C.E. However, it was in central Asia the Han had
their most difficulty. The Xiongnu were still troublesome. The Han rulers tried pacification through gifts and titles but these failed as raids continued,
almost reaching Ch'ang-an. In 129 B.C.E., Han Wudi ordered armies against the Xiongnu. By 119 B.C.E., Xiongnu power south of the Gobi Desert
was broken. To hold the territory, Han Wudi sent 700,000 colonists and extended the Great Wall westward. Later, in 89 C.E., Han armies crossed
the Gobi Desert to defeat the northern Xiongnu. This defeat may have caused migration of the Xiongnu to the Russian steppes and eventually to
Europe in the fifth century C.E. as the Huns.
6. The Silk Road ran from Ch'ang-an and Luoyang west to Tunhuang (the last Chinese settlement) along the fringes of the Taklamakan Desert,
through the Pamir Mountains into the Indus valley, and then to the Arabian Sea. Goods such as silk would travel through the Persian Gulf or Red
Sea on its way to Rome. The trade through the desert wastes of Xinjiang province in China was primarily directed by Turkish speaking Uighurs
whose caravans of two humped camels carried goods between China, South Asia, and the Middle East. The best route of the Silk Road was north
of the Tian Sham (Heavenly Mountains) but because of banditry most of the caravans followed the southern route which passed the fringes of the
Taklamakan Desert to Kashgar and down the into northwest India.
The Qin and Han Empires
Question:
1. What was the impact of the Xiongnu on the rulers of China?
 Western Han Dynasty, 202 B.C.E.-9 C.E.
 Han Kao-tsu, 202-195 B.C.E.
 Changan
 Hsiung-nu people
 Empress Lu, 195-180 B.C.E.
 Emperor Wu, 141-87 B.C.E.
Chang Ch’ien,138 B.C.E.
 Eastern Han Dynasty, 23-220 B.C.E.
 Power and prosperity restored after weak leaders
 Peasant revolt, generals seize power, 220 B.C.E.
The Great Wall with tower, north of Beijing
 Han Government
 Centralized, bureaucratic government headed by a prime
minister
 County; 10-20 counties made up a commandery
(province)
 Ambitions of wives, mothers, and in-laws
 Professional civil service; exams
 Efficiency rating
 Military
 Land and the People
 Most Chinese were farmers
 Agricultural innovations
 Taxes, corveé labor
 Difficulties of small farmers
Ruins of Jiaohe, Turphan depression. Han dynasty
outpost in Central Asia
The Western terminus of the Great Wall at Jiayugan
Trade Routes of the Ancient World
1. The oceanic trade of Asia was conducted primarily by the Indians who sailed the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin. Nevertheless, during the
Han the Chinese also became increasingly involved in the ocean trade. Especially important was the invention of the rudder as well as fore and aft
sails that permitted Chinese ships to sail into the wind. These vessels carried goods throughout Southeast Asia and into the Indian Ocean. By the
first century C.E., Chinese sailors had mastered the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean that blow from the southwest in the summer and the
northeast beginning in October.
2. The conquest of northern Vietnam resulted in Chinese and foreign merchants setting up trading stations. Moreover, new routes were opened from
southwestern China to the Bay of Bengal utilizing the river systems of Vietnam and Burma. In this and other trade, the Chinese generally had an
advantage due to the high price commanded by the main export, silk. Gold and precious stones were usually used to pay for the silk.
3. The Mauryan road system that ran the length and breadth of India provided a sound base for trade. Both China and Rome had a high demand for
such goods as jewels and semiprecious stones, sandlewood and teak, cotton and silk textiles, and spices. Roman trading communities were
established in the Tamil south. The demand for the Indian luxury goods by the Romans resulted in the influx of gold coins, silver, perfume, slaves,
glass, and Egyptian cloth. In southern India there were small colonies of Romans, Jews, Arabs, and Nestorian Christians from Syria and Persia.
4. The Silk Road ran from Chang'an and Luoyang west along the fringes of the Taklamakan Desert, through the Pamir Mountains into the Indus
valley, and then to the ports on the Arabian Sea. Goods such as silk would travel through the Persian Gulf or Red Sea on its way to Rome. The
trade through the desert wastes of Xinjiang province in China was primarily directed by the Turkish speaking Uighurs. The Uighur caravans of two
humped camels carried goods between China, South Asia, and the Middle East. The best route of the Silk Road was north of the Tian Sham
(Heavenly Mountains) but due to banditry, most of the caravans followed the southern route that passed the fringes of the Takiamakan Desert to
Kashgar and down the into northwest India.
5. Han emperor Wudi opened the Silk Road to Parthia. An elaborate network of roads linked Parthia to China in the east, eastern India, and
southern India. The Roman eastern provinces were tied to this network through Seleucia on the Euphrates River.
Questions:
1. What were the implications of the trade along the Silk Road?
2. How did the goods traded affect the economies of India, China,
Persia, and Rome?
Trade Routes of the Ancient World
 Cities, Manufacturing, and Commerce
 Urban centers
 Manufacturing and trade flourish
 The Silk Road
Connected Chinese and Roman Empires in trade only
not government communication
 Religion and Intellectual Life
 Emperor Wu declares Confucianism state philosophy, 136
B.C.E.
 State university established under Wu
 Tung Chung-shu (c. 179-c. 104 B.C.E.)
 Taoism
 Buddhism
 Writing of history
Buddhist carving on hillside at Hangzhou