The Mediterranean World
States and empires in Unit II
BCE . . .
The Ph________
_________ city-states
P_______empire
H_________________
C_____________
Roman_____________
Diasporic communities of ____ ______
CE . . . Roman _______________
birth and spread of C_________
Acorn: Key concept 2.3
Trans regional Trade . . . .
Mediterranean sea lanes
Eurasian Silk Roads
What is the title? Hint it starts with a “c”
The Phoenicians (1500–300 b.c.)
The Phoenicians were masters of the
s_______. Their economy was based on trade.
Rather than moving goods over the land in
massive caravans, the Phoenicians built large
sailing ships.
An early Phoenician coin, showing a Phoenician galley ship. An expert on the subject of
Phoenician history and shipwright states: "Nor were these boats tiny. The galley fighting
ships, with their rows of galley oars, could have a crew of over a hundred people ... But
even those were small compared to the Phoenician cargo ships with their vast, rounded
hulls. These ocean-going ships were built for huge loads and long hauls. They made the
extended trips from Mediterranean ports out to destinations on the Atlantic Ocean
coasts of Spain and Morocco ....
CONTRAST Med ships to IO ships
Innovations in maritime technologies, as well as advanced knowledge of the
monsoon winds, stimulated exchanges along maritime routes from East Africa to
East Asia.
Teach one illustrative example of innovations in maritime technologies, either
from the list below or an example of your choice:
• Lateen sail • Dhow ships
• Add east weast point from ap curriculum
Greek city states . . . . And colonies
One major reason why ancient Greece was
dominated by small city-states and independent
towns, rather than by one all-powerful king, is its
geography. The country's mountainous terrain, many
isolated valleys, and numerous offshore islands
encouraged the formation of many local centers of
power, rather than one all-powerful capital.
And colonies
Another key factor influencing the formation of citystates rather than kingdoms was the Mediterranean.
Such a calm and easily navigable sea provided the
Greeks with an opportunity to found new colonies
in times of crisis and overpopulation. . . . .These
colonies remained in contact with their mother
cities, and acknowledged their 'blood ties' with
them, but in most other respects they soon acted
independently of them.
See also
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/ca/boo
ks/bkf3/imaps/AC_12_389_citystates/AC_12_3
89_citystates.html
Greek Golden Age . . .
Date
5th century BCE
Before or after life of Buddha, Confucius and Laozi?
The Parthenon (/ˈpɑrθəˌnɒnˌ nən/; Ancient Greek: Παρθενών;
Modern Greek: Παρθενώνας) is a
temple on the Athenian Acropolis,
Greece, dedicated to the goddess
Athena, whom the people of
Athens considered their patron.
Construction began in 447 BC
when the Athenian Empire was at
the height of its power. It was
completed in 438 BC although
decoration of the building
continued until 432 BC
The number and size of key states and empires grew dramatically by imposing political unity on areas where
previously there had been competing states.
Required examples of key states and empires (Student should know the location and names):
,. . . Mediterranean region: Phoenicia and its colonies, Greek city-states and colonies, and Hellenistic and Roman
Empires
Hellenistic Era: Time period where Greek (and then Roman) culture spread and blended
with civilizations conquered by A__________ the __________.
The Hellenistic period is the period of ancient Greek and eastern
Mediterranean history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC
and the emergence of the Roman Empire in 30 BCE.
Greco-Buddhism,
cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism,
developed between the 4th century BCE and the 5th century CE
cultural consequence of a long chain of interactions begun by Greek forays into India from the
time of Alexander the Great, carried further by the establishment of Indo-Greek rule in the area
for some centuries, and extended during flourishing of the Hellenized empire of the Kushans.
The convergence of Greco-Roman culture and Buddhist beliefs
affected the development of unique sculptural developments.
The Buddha, in Greco-Buddhist style, 1st-2nd
century CE, Gandhara (Modern Pakistan).
(Standing Buddha (Tokyo National Museum)).
During the mid-3rd century BC,
Carthage was a large city located on
the coast of modern Tunisia.
Founded by the Phoenicians in the
mid-9th century BC, it was a
powerful thalassocratic city-state
with a vast commercial network. Of
the great city-states in the western
Mediterranean, only Rome rivaled it
in power, wealth, and population.
While Carthage's navy was the
largest in the ancient world at the
time, it did not maintain a large,
permanent, standing army.
Carthage and its dependencies in 264 BC
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars
fought between Rome and Carthage from 264
to 146 BC. At the time, they were probably the
largest wars that had ever taken place.[ . . . . The
Roman victories over Carthage in these wars
gave Rome a preeminent status it would retain
until the 5th century AD.
Then . . . . ROME
Mare Nostrum
First a republic . . .
And then an empire
Dates?
Roman provinces on the
eve of the assassination
of Julius Caesar, 44 BC
The Pax Romana:
The Roman Empire at its Height
Concept 2.2, III
C. Imperial societies relied on a range of methods to maintain the production of
food and provide rewards for the loyalty of the elites.
Teach one illustrative example of such methods, either from the list below or an
example of your choice: • Corvee • Slavery • Rents and tributes • Peasant
communities • Family and household production
• Corvée unfree and unpaid labor imposed by the state for work on
public projects or by a landlord
• Early form of taxation
• differs from chattel slavery in that the worker is not owned
outright and the work is usually intermittent; typically only a
certain number of days' or months' work is required each year.
• Used by Imperial China , in the Egyptian Old Kingdom (ca 2613
BCE) for construction projects such as pyramids, temples, quarries,
canals, roads, and in the Late Roman Empire the citizens
performed opera publica in lieu of paying taxes in goods; often it
consisted of road and bridge work.
Slavery in China
• Slaves (nuli 奴隸) comprised roughly 1% of the
population, a proportion far less than the
contemporary Greco-Roman world which
relied on the labor of a large slave population.
Slaves were classified into two categories:
those who were privately owned, and those
who were owned by the state
Long banks of oars propelled the Roman
warship swiftly through the water and into
battle. Roman cargo ships featured the same
distinctive square sails, but warships often
had additional protective coverings to shield
them from fire and missiles.
Towns in the Diaspora
The association of monotheism with Judaism was further developed with the
codification of the Hebrew Scriptures, which also showed reflected the influence of
Mesopotamian cultural and legal traditions. The Assyrian, Babylonian and Roman
empires conquered various Jewish states at different points in time. These conquests
contributed to the growth of Jewish diasporic communities around the Mediterranean
and Middle East.
The Spread of Christianity during 200400 A.D
________’s Missionary Activities
The Fall . . .
The Roman, Han, Persian, Mauryan, and Gupta empires created political, cultural,
and administrative difficulties that they could not manage, which eventually led to
their decline, collapse and transformation into successor empires or states.
A. Through excessive mobilization of resources, imperial governments
caused environmental damage (such as deforestation,
desertification, soil erosion or silted rivers) and generated social
tensions and economic difficulties by concentrating too much
wealth in the hands of elites.
B. External problems resulted from security issues along their frontiers,
including the threat of invasions. (such as between Han
China and Xiongnu; Gupta and the White Huns; or between
Romans, and their northern and eastern neighbors)