Chapter 4 Overview
Stearns
Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean: Greece and Rome
 Classical past- govt., architecture, philosophy
The Persian Tradition
 Classical Mediterranean civilization- rise of city-states in Greece.
Expansion of Hellenistic Period. Rome emerged as separate
republic. Roman expansion led to a decline of republican forms and
rise of a great empire
 Persians in the Middle East
 550BCE- Cyrus the Great- Persian empire from Middle East to
northern India
o Tolerant of local customs
o Advanced iron technology
o Developed Zoroastrianism
Patterns of Greek and Roman History
 City-states in Greece- around 800BCE- high point in 5th c. BCE
(Golden Age of Athens)
 Greek values spread during Hellenistic Period begun by Alexander
the Great
 Greek rise and decline, Hellenism, Roman Republic, Roman Empire
Greece
 Crete 2000BCE (Minoan culture)
 Mycenae in Southern Greece around 1400BCE
 Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad
 Rise of Greek civilization 800-600 BCE- creation of strong city-stateseach with own govt.
 Monarchy- Oligarchy- Tyranny- Democracy
 Geography- mountainous terrain prevented unification
 Trade important
 Alphabet from Phoenecians
 Olympic games
 Sparta: military, oligarchy, Hellots (slave population)
 Athens: slavery, trade, colonies
 Reasons for colonization: overcrowding, not enough arable land
 5th c BCE Pericles- Athenian politician- ruled w/ negotiation
 Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BCE)- Sparta vs. Athens- Sparta wonthen Thebes, weakened the Greeks and paved the way for Philip II of
Macedon to invade in 338BCE and then Alexander the Great took
over.
 Spread of Hellenistic culture: Greek=Hellenes
 Use of aristocratic assemblies
 Aristocracy: Greek meaning “rule of the best”
Rome
 Republic 1stc BCE to Empire
 Representative democracy- elect officials
Republic
 Senate: composed mostly of aristocrats- held most executive offices
in Roman State
 2 Consuls: ruled jointly- except in times of crisis/ war, then rule by
Dictator
 Importance placed in ethics, duties of citizens, incorruptible service,
and oratory
 Key Roman writer: Cicero- emphasized participation in deliberate
bodies that would make laws and judge the actions of executive
officers
 Empire: maintained Senate, but not powerful
 Hierarchy of Roman Army- officers had great political power
 63CE: forced dissolution of the independent Jewish state after a
major local rebellion- temple was dismantled, leaving only the
Western Wall in Jerusalem
 Legal codes important for administration of empire
 Tolerance of local customs and religions and strong military
organization
 450BCE- Roman republic- introduced 12 Tables:
o Purposes: restrain upper classes from arbitrary action and
subject all to common legal principles
o Roman law: emphasized judges and common-sense fairness
Classical Mediterranean in Comparative Perspective
 India/China/Greco-Roman
 Each developed empires, relied primarily on agricultural economy
 Greco-Roman science emphasized theory more
 Each had clear social hierarchy
 Roman law as regulation of social life
 Access to Roman citizenship
 Athens and Rome placed great premium on importance of military
conquest.
 Rome: Control of masses w/ entertainment “bread and circuses”cheap food and gladiator contests to prevent popular disorder
 Government supported religion w/ gods and goddesses
o Ex: Pantheon added gods as Roman Republic expanded
 Roman Empire: persecution of Christians (ex: Nero), eventual
tolerance and then it was made official religion of Empire
 Sparta- extreme militaristic control- even down to raising children
Religion and Culture
 Emphasis on philosophy and science an strong artistic tradition
 Pantheon of Gods:
Greek
Roman
Function
Zeus
Jupiter
Head God/father
Hera
Juno
Wife of King of Gods
Apollo
Apollo
Regulated sun
Poseidon
Neptune
Oceans
Ares
Mars
God of War
Aphrodite
Venus
Love/Beauty
Athena
Minerva
Goddess of wisdom
Artemis
Diana
Goddess of Hunting
 Gods were believed to be flawed and human-like
 Development of “mystery cults and religions”
 Philosophers- Aristotle emphasized balance in human behavior (ex:
felt Middle-class was ideal group to rule)
 Stoics: Hellenistic Period: inner moral independence
o Strict discipline of body and personal bravery
o Influenced Christianity
 Athens: Socrates (469BCE) encouraged pupils to question- Socratic
Method- accused of corrupting the youth- chose suicide over exile b/c
believed in absolute rather than relative truth (contrary to Sophists)
 Plato: student to Socrates- human reason could approach an
understanding of three perfect forms: absolutely True, Good, and
Beautiful
o Believed Philosopher-Kings should rule
 Geometry: Ex: Pythagorean Theorem
 Hellenistic Period: Galen (medical treatises)
o Euclid: Geometry
o Ptolemy: Geocentric Theory- fixed wisdom in Western Thought
 Roman Achievements: great roads, aqueducts, arches
 Greek drama: comedy and tragedy
 Sophocles: Oedipus Rex- called most perfect example of tragedy by
Aristotle
o Oedipus is fated to kill his father and marry his mother
th
 8 c BCE: Iliad and Odyssey by Homer
 Vergil (Virgil): The Aeneid- sought to link Roman history to mythology
w/ Greek forerunner
 5th c BCE: Phidias (sculptor)
 Greek monumental architecture (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian columns)
Economy and Society in the Mediterranean
 Featured commercial agriculture, trade, and slavery. Patriarchal
family structure was characteristic
 Most Greeks and Romans were farmers
 Roman Republic: many tenant farmers forced to work for patrician
landholders
o Latifundia System
o Many small farmers forced to become tenants or move into
cities causing overcrowding
 Need for grain led to colonization
o Soil more suited to grapes and olives
 Slavery was key ingredient of the classical economy
o Athens: household and silver mines
o Sparta: agricultural work (Helots)
o Roman: household, mines, agricultural work (part of latifundia
system)
 Greece and Rome: importance of paterfamilias
o Cases of female infanticide
Toward the Fall of Rome
 Rome began to decline after 180CE
 Fell in some parts more than other (ex: West before East:
Byzantines)
 Greek historian: Herodotus (Persian Wars) and
Thucydides(Peloponnesian Wars)
 Germanic tribes: invasion: disloyalty of outsiders: overexpansion