Standards Preview 10.1
Students relate the moral and
ethical principles in ancient
Greek and Roman philosophy, in
Judaism, and in Christianity to
the development of Western
political thought.
Chapter Focus Question
What are the main
historical sources of the
democratic tradition?
Focus Question
What ideas arose in ancient
Greece that contributed to the
development of democratic
values in the modern world?
The Rise of Greek City-States
 Geography & Power
 City-state – political unit made up of a city and the
surrounding lands
 Importance of city-states
 Geographical features
 Governing the City-States, 750-500 B.C.
 Monarchy – king or queen exercise central power
 Aristocracy – small ruling noble landowners
 Changes in warfare
The Rise of Greek City-States
Sparta: A Nation of Soldiers
 Sparta – military state
 Monarchy
 2 kings, council of elders, assembly of citizens, five ephors
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Citizenship – native born Spartan men over age 30
State-owned slaves
System of strict control over people’s lives
Emphasis on military virtues and discipline, fitness and health
Beginning of military training for boys at age 8
Prohibition against trade, travel, or mixing with other city-states
Scornful of wealth
Women expected to obey men; allowed to own property
The Rise of Greek City-States
Athens: A Limited Democracy
 Athens – development of democracy
 Glorification of individual
 Movement toward Democracy (government by the people);
limited citizenship; rise of tyrants
 Wealth and power of aristocracy
 Participation in government by male citizens
 Slaves with no political rights or personal freedom
 Military training and broad education for boys
 Trade with other city-states
 Limited rights for women
The Rise of Greek City-States
Athens: Rulers & Philosophers
 Solon – reformed Athens to ensure greater fairness &
justice, 594 B.C.
 Opened offices to more citizens
 Gave Athenian assembly more say in decisions
 Tyrants – leaders who gain power by force
 Pisistratus, 546 B.C.
 Seized power by force
 Gave farmers and poor citizens a greater voice
 Weakened the aristocracy
The Rise of Greek City-States
Athens: Rulers & Philosophers
 Tyrants (cont)
 Cleisthenes & Legislature (lawmaking body)
 Broadened the role of ordinary citizens in government
 Set up the Council of 500
 Made the assembly a genuine legislature
The Rise of Greek City-States
 What process took city-states from monarch to
aristocracy and, in Athens, to democracy?
 Defenders of the king (noble landowners) gradually
took power for themselves (aristocracy)
 Military changes increased the power of the middle
class (Iron weapons replaced bronze)
 Athens – leaders gave ordinary citizens control over
government
The Persian Wars
 500 B.C. – Athens is “Top Dog”
 Persians, Asia Minor
 490 B.C. – Battle of Marathon
 Use of geography
 480 B.C. – Battle of Thermopylae
 How did the Greeks meet the threat of invasion by the
Persians?
Athens in the Age of Pericles
 Pericles, Athenian Statesman
 Led a thriving economy and more democratic
government
 Believed all male citizens – regardless of wealth or
social class – should take part in government
 Stressed the rights and duties of individuals as citizens
of a democracy
 Expressed the earliest and greatest democratic ideals in
his Funeral Oration
Athens in the Age of Pericles
 Political Life
 Direct Democracy
 Jury – a panel of citizens who have the authority to
make the final judgment in a trial
 The Funeral Oration
 Power rested in the hands “not of a minority but of the
whole people”
 Rights & duties of the individual
Athens in the Age of Pericles
 Economic & Cultural Life
 Rebuild what the Persians had destroyed
 Create jobs
 Honor gods with temples & festivals
 The Peloponnesian War
 Sparta vs. Athens (27 years)
 What progress did the Greeks under Pericles make
toward democratic government?
Greek Philosophers
Philosophers = lovers of wisdom
Moral & Ethical Principles
 Idea of goodness
 Standards of human behavior
 Sophists – questioned accepted ideas
(Athens)
Greek Philosophers
Socrates & Citizenship
 Socrates – critic of the Sophists, Athenian
stonemason & philosopher
 “What is the greatest good”
 Socratic method – seek truth & self-knowledge
 Questioned his fellow citizens about their
beliefs
 Believed the unexamined life was not worth
living
 Plato – student of Socrates
Greek Philosophers
Plato & Reason
 Distrust of democracy
 Reason led to knowledge
 Republic – describes an ideal state
 Workers – produce the necessities of life
 Soldiers – defend the state
 Philosophers - rule
Greek Philosophers
Aristotle and the Rule of Law
 Aristotle – Plato’s most famous student
 Politics – rulers must be subject to the law
What did Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle think of democracy?
Greek Philosophers
 Plato
 Student of Socrates
 Set up his own school in
Athens
 Believed reason led to
genuine knowledge
 Described his vision of
an ideal state in The
Republic
 Rejected Athenian
democracy
 Believed the state should
regulate citizens’ lives
 Aristotle
 Was Plato’s most famous student
 Tutor to Alexander the Great
 Favored a constitutional
government ruled by the middle
class
 Believed the city-state re presented
the best form of human
community
 Believed good conduct meant
pursuing the “golden mean”
 Promoted reason as the guiding
force for learning
 Set up a school for the study of all
branches of knowledge
Alexander and the Hellenistic Age
 Conquest of Persia
 The Legacy of Alexander
 Hellenistic civilization – combination of eastern and
western cultures
 Greek, Persian, Egyptian, and Indian
 Stoicism – Zeno, calmly accept whatever life brought
 How did the ideas of the ancient Greeks
spread beyond Greece during the
Hellenistic age?
The Greek Roots of Democracy
Focus Question
 What ideas arose in ancient Greece that
contributed to the development of
democratic values in the modern world?
 Direct democracy
 A legislative assembly of citizens
 Juries staffed by citizens
 Moral & ethical principles
 Equality
 Rule of Law
Chapter Focus Question
How did the government
of Rome develop into an
empire?
Establishing a Republic
 Republic – “thing of the people”
 How does a republic differ from a monarchy or an
aristocracy of nobles?
 Is everyone in a republic considered equal?
 How did the Laws of the Twelve Tables help the plebeians?
 How did the tribunes serve as a check on the power of
government?
Establishing a Republic
 Geography & Unification
 Etruscan Rule
 800 B.C. – Tiber River
 Herders & Farmers
 Rome = city on the seven hills
 Etruscan king
Establishing a Republic
 A New Government
509 BC – Etruscan monarchy ends
Republic – “thing of the people”
Senate – most powerful body
Consuls – supervised the business of government and
commanded Rome’s armies
 Dictator – ruler who has complete control over a
government
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 Cincinnatus
Roman Senate
Establishing a Republic
 Common People Demand Equality
 Patrician – landholding upper class
 Plebian – common people
 Law of the Twelve Tables, 450 BC
 Course Syllabus
 Tribunes – plebeians rights to elect their own officials
 Veto – block
 How did the Roman Republic differ from government under the
Etruscans?
From Republic to Empire
 Roman Expansion
 How did continual warfare affect the plebeians?
 How did the rise of professional armies affect Rome?
 Some historians have said that the Roman empire
really began with Julius Caesar. Do you agree?
 How did the Roman republic become an empire?
From Republic to Empire
 Continuing Conquest
 Carthage – city state on the northern coast of Africa
Punic Wars
 Spain – Egypt
 Mediterranean “Our Sea” or mare nostrum
 Economic & Social Effects
 Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus
Distribute land to poor farmers
Public funds to feed the poor
From Republic to Empire
 Julius Caesar’s Rise to Power
 Julius Caesar – military commander
 Dictator – absolute ruler of Rome
 Reforms
Public works to employ the jobless
Public land given to the poor
Citizenship
 SAVE THE REPUPLIC
From Republic to Empire
From Republic to Empire
 Emperor Augustus Caesar
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Augustus Caesar – Caesar’s grand-nephew
Roman Empire
Civil service enforced the law
Jobs were awarded according to talent
Self-government of cities & provinces
 Pax Romana
 Roman Peace
 How did the Roman republic become an empire?
From Republic to Empire
Roman Law
 Justice through the law
 Describe a situation in which a person receives justice
 How does the law relate to justice?
 Roman law developed & grew along with the republic and empire
 Two Systems
 Civil Law – applied only to Roman citizens
 Law of Nations – laws of nature by using the human ability to
reason, applied to all people
 What was the difference between civil law and the law of nations?
Roman Law
 Key Principles
 Accused person presume
innocent until proven guilty
 Accused had the right to face
the accuser and offer a defense
against the charge
 Guilt “clearer than daylight”
through evidence
 Judges – interpret the laws &
make fair decisions
Roman Law
 Justinian’s Code
 Byzantine empire
 Justinian – Byzantine emperor best remembered for his
reform of the Roman law code
 Body of Civil Law AKA: Justinian’s Code
 How did Justinian’s Code improve the state of Roman law?
 What lasting principles of law did Romans develop?
Greco-Roman Civilization
 What is Greco-Roman civilization?
 Why didn’t Greco-Roman civilization disappear when
the western Roman empire collapsed?
 Do you think Greco-Roman ideas survive today in our
culture?
 What cultures contributed to Greco-Roman
civilization?
Greco-Roman Civilization
 Roman Culture
Greek art, literature, philosophy, and scientific genius = height
of cultural achievement
Greco-Roman civilization – blending of Greek, Hellenistic, and
Roman traditions
 Philosophy
Importance of duty
Well-being of all people
 Preserving Greco-Roman Ideas
Muslim scholars
Chapter Focus Question
 How did the government of Rome develop
into an empire?
 Rome started as a city-state controlled by an aristocracy and
led by a king
 Romans overthrew this monarch and established a republic
that expanded into neighboring lands
 Roman expansion created strains in Roman society that
eventually led to civil wars and a powerful dictatorship
 The republic waned as powerful rulers continue to expand
their realm, creating an empire
Principles of Judaism
 Focus Question: What
moral and
ethical principles lie at the core
of the Jewish religion?
 63 B.C. Pompey & Jerusalem
 Capital of the independent Jewish state of
Judea
 Polytheistic vs. Monotheistic
The Ancient Israelites
 Hebrews or Israelites (people of Israel)
 Torah – sacred religious text
 Abraham – founder of the Israelite nation
 2000 B.C. – Mesopotamia
 Canaan
 Famine forced migration to Egypt
 Moses – Israelite led the escape from Egypt
The Ancient Israelites
1000 B.C. – Israelites est. kingdom – Israel
David – unites a single nation
Solomon – Jerusalem, capital
Price of ambition
High Taxes & Forced Labor
Split in the kingdom
The Ancient Israelites
 Rulers of the Israelites
 Egyptians – enslaved the Israelites
 Assyrians (722 B.C.)
 Babylonians & exile
 586 B.C. – Nebuchadnezzar destroys the
great temple
 Persians – Cyrus frees Israelites from
captivity
 Judea = Jews
 Rebuild Solomon’s temple
The Ancient Israelites
 What role did migration play in the history
of the Israelites?
 Series of migrations
 Abraham’s journey to Canaan
 Famine & migration to Egypt
 Exodus (Moses) from Egypt
 Babylonian captivity
God’s Covenant With the Israelites
 One God – Monotheistic
 Belief in one God as supreme
 God’s Promise (Covenant)
 Protect the Israelites and provide them a
homeland
 People of Israel would remain faithful
and obedient to God
God’s Covenant With the Israelites
 The Torah “instruction”
 Five Books – early account of the Israelites
 God’s teachings – moral standard
 Oral Torah – unwritten laws
 How did the Jews’ beliefs differ from those
of other nearby peoples?
 Monotheistic
 Covenant with God to obey God’s laws
Teachings on Law and Morality
The Ten Commandments
Mount Sinai & Moses
1-4 religious duties (Sabbath)
 Holy day for rest and worship
5-10 rules for individual conduct
toward other people
 “Honor your father and mother”
Teachings on Law and Morality
The Seven Universal Laws
Set of rules that applied to all people
Basic human rights in international
law
Teachings on Law and Morality
An Ethical Worldview
 Responsibility to obey God’s laws vs.
freedom to make individual moral choices
 Prophets – spiritual leaders who interpreted
God’s will and emerged to remind the Jews
of their duties
 Ethics – moral standards of behavior
 Political Equality – equality before the law
 Democratic Concept – The Rule of Law
Teachings on Law and Morality
What is the source of basic moral laws
that Jews must obey?
 Ten Commandments
 Found in the Torah’s Book of Exodus
The Scattering of the Jews
Diaspora – scattering of the Jews
586 B.C. – Babylonian Captivity
Land of Israel
Center of their culture and religion
How did the scattering of the Jewish
people begin?
Babylonian Captivity
Not all Jews chose to return to Judea
Principles of Judaism
 Focus Question: What
moral and
ethical principles lie at the core
of the Jewish religion?
 Ten Commandments
 Responsibility to obey God’s laws
 Equality before the law
The Rise of Christianity
Focus Question
How did Christianity develop
from Judaism into a powerful,
independent religion?
Jesus – founder of Christianity
Pax Romana & Rome
Jesus of Nazareth
 Gospel – “good news”
 Information about the life of Jesus
 Early Life
 4 B.C. Bethlehem (Nazareth)
 Mary & Joseph
 King David of Israel
 “the Son of the Most High God”
 Messiah – the savior sent by God to lead the
Jews to freedom
 If some Jews believed that Jesus was the messiah but
the Jewish leaders did not, what might happen?
Jesus of Nazareth
 Ministry
 Apostles – close followers of Jesus “a
person sent forth”
 Message of Jesus
 God’s love and the need for justice,
morality, and helping others
 Emphasized the importance of
forgiveness
Jesus of Nazareth
 Death & Resurrection
 Jesus was a threat to Roman authorities
 Jesus arrested and crucified
 Disciples confused – dead or alive?
 Carry teachings to “all nations” and then
ascended into heave
Jesus of Nazareth
 What roles did love, justice, and service
play in the teachings of Jesus
 Central role
 Emphasized God’s love and told people
to love God and to “love your neighbor
as yourself ”
 Encouraged people to love their enemies
Christianity Spreads
 Break from Judaism
 Christians – followers of Jesus Christ
 Christ – Greek for “the anointed one” another
word for messiah
 Peter & Rome
 Paul – key figure in the spread of Christianity
 Helped separate Christianity from Judaism by attempting
to convert non-Jews
 Set up many Christian churches throughout the
Mediterranean
Christianity Spreads
 A New Covenant
 New covenant helps distinguish Christianity from
Judaism
 Writings of the New Testament went beyond observance
of God’s law to focus on faith in Jesus Christ
 Persecution
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Tolerance – acceptance
Rome & varied religious traditions
Scapegoats for social/economic ills
Martyrs
Christianity Spreads
 Jesus welcomed all people
 Comfort found in message of love
 Belief in equality & dignity of all
 Better life beyond the grave
 Christianity spread throughout the Roman empire
 Greek philosophy appeals to educated Romans
 Missionaries & extensive system of Roman roads
 Writings in Greek & Latin (understood by many people)
Christianity Spreads
 Triumph, 313 A.D.
 Emperor Constantine and the Edict of Milan
 Freedom of worship
 What factors contributed to the spread of Christianity?
 Jewish roots of Christianity attracted Jews
 Ethical principles attracted common people
 Missionaries like Paul spread Jesus’ message to Jews and
Gentiles
 Paul and others incorporated Greek ideas into the religion,
which appealed to educated Romans
The Christian Church
 Middle Ages
 Christian Church most powerful force in Europe
 Leaders of early Christian Church
 Role of Women
 Clergy – people authorized to perform religious
ceremonies
 Priests & Bishops
 Patriarchs (leading bishops) of the most important
cities in the Roman empire
 Pope
The Christian Church
 Split between Eastern and Western Churches (1054)
 Patriarch of Rome (pope) claimed authority over the
other patriarchs, who rejected his claim
 Eastern – Orthodox Church
 Western – Roman Catholic Church
 Only way to avoid eternal suffering was sacraments
 Roman Catholic Church gains secular power in
Europe
 Officials owned large tracts of land
 Held high government positions
The Christian Church
 Spread of Learning
 Conflict between faith and reason
 Aristotle taught the use of reason to discover basic
truths
 Christians accept many ideas on faith
 Thomas Aquinas – Christian scholar
 Faith and reason exist in harmony
The Christian Church
 How did the Christian church exert control
over Europeans in the Middle Ages?
 Church officials owned large tracts of land
 Served in high government positions
 Church controlled people’s spiritual lives =
absolute power over religious matters, its laws, and
its system of courts
The Judeo-Christian Tradition
 Shared elements of Judaism, Christianity & Muslims
 Honor Abraham, Moses, and the prophets
 Teach the ethical world-view developed by the Israelites
 Judeo-Christian tradition becomes influential in the west
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Christianity incorporated much of Judaism
Christian missionaries spread Christianity throughout Europe
Christian Church became a powerful spiritual and secular force
Europeans carried their religion with them when they settled in the
Americas
 Judeo-Christian & Democratic Tradition
 Jewish and Christian Bible’s moral and ethical principles form the
basis for many democratic ideals such as equality and human rights
The Judeo-Christian Tradition
 Where did the principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition
come from?
 The Bible
The Rise of Christianity
Focus Question
How did Christianity develop from
Judaism into a powerful, independent
religion?
Christianity was spread by missionaries
and had widespread appeal
Christian communities organized a
structured hierarchy, which helped
make the Church a powerful force
Democratic Developments
in England
Focus Question:
How did Parliament emerge
victorious in the struggle for
political power in medieval
England?
Growth of Royal Power
 Feudalism – loosely organized system of
rule in which powerful local lords divided
their landholdings among lesser lords
 Vassals pledged service & loyalty
 Knights – mounted warriors
 Peasants/Serfs – lowest
 Means of protection & control
 King – greatest lord
Growth of Royal Power
King
Vassal
Knights
Peasant
Serf
Growth of Royal Power
 Monarchs – equal power of Nobles &
Church
 Nobles & Church – courts, taxes, &
armies
 Guarded their rights & privileges
 Resisted effort by monarchs to increase
royal authority
Growth of Royal Power
 Battle of Hastings, 1066
 William vs. Harold
 William the Conqueror
 Required every vassal to swear first
allegiance to him
 Built an efficient tax-collecting system
 Complete census, 1086
 Increased royal wealth & authority
Growth of Royal Power
Henry II, 1154
 Broadened the system of royal justice
 Expand customs into law
 Common Law – a legal system based on
custom and court rulings
 Applied to all of England
 Jury – “sworn to oath”
 Grand jury vs. Trial jury
Growth of Royal Power
What new practices did strong
monarchs introduce in England?
 William the Conqueror required vassals to
be loyal to him & he introduced a census
for tax purposes
 Henry II set up a justice system that came
to rely on common law & juries
Evolving Traditions of
Government
 King John
 Oppressive taxes and abuses of power
 The Magna Carta
 Document that affirms the nobles’ feudal
rights and some rights of townspeople
and the Church
Evolving Traditions of
Government
 The Magna Carta, cont.
 Limit on King’s power
 Listed rights that the king had to respect
 Declared that the king had to consult with
Great Council of lords and clergy before
raising taxes
 Cornerstone of democratic tradition
 Asserted that people had rights
 Monarch must obey the law
Evolving Traditions of
Government
 Magna Carta makes rule of law a key
principle of government
 Great Council evolves into Parliament
 Parliament wins the right to approve new
taxes, which limits the power of the
monarch
Evolving Traditions of
Government
 Development of Parliament
 Great Council = Parliament
 House of Lords – Nobles & Clergy
 House of Commons – Middle-class
 Parliament Gains Strength
 “Power of the Purse”
 How did the English Parliament limit the
power of the monarch?
Triumph of Parliament
 Parliament revolts against Charles I
 James I = absolute monarch
 Charles I, son of James
 Petition of Right
 Long Parliament, 1640-1653
 The Royal Challenge
 Absolute Monarch – a ruler with complete
authority over the government and the lives
of the people he or she governs
Triumph of Parliament
 The English Civil War, 1642-1649
 Oliver Cromwell – leader of the army
that fought against Charles I
 Cromwell’s army defeats the king’s
troops in the English Civil War
Triumph of Parliament
 The Commonwealth
 The House of Commons abolishes the
monarchy, and Parliament declares
England a republic, known as the
Commonwealth
 From Restoration to Glorious Revolution
 Created a limited monarchy
Triumph of Parliament
 English Bill of Rights
 Did not create a democracy, established a
limited monarchy
 Constitution or legislative body limits the
monarch’s powers
 Parliament and the monarch governed in a
partnership
Triumph of Parliament
 Contribution to the development of
democratic tradition
 Restated traditional rights of English
citizens
 Habeas Corpus – no person could be
held in prison without first being charged
with a specific crime
 Principle that a person cannot be held in
prison without first being charged with a
specific crime
Triumph of Parliament
 What principles did the English Bill of Rights
establish?
Ensured superiority of Parliament
Required the monarch to summon Parliament regularly
House of Commons “power of the purse”
Prohibited the monarch from interfering in parliamentary
debates or suspending laws
 Barred Roman Catholic monarchs
 Abolished excessive fines and cruel or unjust punishment
 Affirmed the principle of habeas corpus
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Democratic Developments
in England
How did Parliament emerge victorious
in the struggle for political power in
medieval England?
Magna Carta
Power of the Purse
Petition of Rights
English Bill of Rights
Chapter 1 Focus Question
What are the main
historical sources of the
democratic tradition?