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As the semester began, I didn’t really have an interest in ancient world history.
However, as each week passed I began to take in interest of the topics. I found myself
enjoying the assignments, maybe not the nano research papers, but the character and
journal assignments struck an appeal to me. At the end I noticed many important themes
among several civilizations like arts, religion, economics, technology, and law. However
I think that there was one important topic that made or broke many civilizations. Politics
was a vital moral among most, if not all civilizations. The three civilizations that were
influenced by civilizations were the Persian, Roman, and Greek civilization. All of the
civilizations were influenced by politics the most. Some it led to wars while others it led
to conquest.
Politics influenced Persia the greatest in my opinion. Persia experience periods of
rough patches. The Achaemenid Empire was rule by several hereditary monarchs who
all helped the empire to grow and thrive. “The monarchs found a way to help unify its
desperate tribes and nationalities by constructing a complex system of roads.” (wikipedia
foundation.). The article under module describes how even the Persians got through some
internal issues. Politically, the monarchs decided to take action and create a road network
so that all tribes were connected with another. The goal of the monarchs was to unify
them under the empire in order to reduce the conflicts and battles. Even as the empire
grew in size through the conquests of others, a government of a centralized beaucratic
was formed which only inspired others to do the same. However, as the new governments
were formed, it began to weaken the king’s authority which led to rebellions and
Alexander The Great’s invasion in 334 B.C. Although politics may have weakened the
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authority, it helped assume greater responsibility during hardships such as the rebellions
and invasions. The Persian Empire picked themselves even after the decline of their
empire in 330 B.C. by “ eventually reclaimed their power and thrived by the 2nd century
B.C.” (wikipedia foundation.). In the Persia civilization, politics helped find their stable
ground by unifying their tribes together with the actions of monarchs and helped them
survive during battles.
The second civilization that was influenced by politics was the Romans. The
government in Rome was a republic. The republic was made of two upper classes: the
senators who were qualified by birth and wealth and the equestrians who were also
known as knights. There was a political change to a republic. At first, Rome was ruled by
a king where he held all the unequal power to commands both politically and militarily.
Then when the republic was formed, it created two consuls with equal powers elected
annually. “The consuls presided over the senate and over those assemblies which they
were eligible to attend as members; they also could propose laws for consideration by the
people. Their authority within the city was subject to provocatio (literally, a ‘calling
out’), whereby the people could formally appeal against a decision.” ( Kamm, Antony).
The republican government took responsibility of the people very seriously by letting
them participate in the law proposals of their empire. People in Rome actually had a
voice under the republican government in contrast to the older form of government where
king had absolute rule of everything in government and laws. Even in time of war during
the beginning of the first century B.C., the consuls would led their troops to fight in war.
This demonstrates how they took their roles in government as mentors and guides to the
empire, especially when having to protect their people in times of war.
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The last civilization I chose as an example who were influenced by politics was the
Greeks. Since the Greek civilization was split into two different societies: the Athens and
the Spartans, government and political systems were vital for them. The Athens had a
direct democracy. They had elected officials , council of 500, and an assembly where all
eligible citizens could participate in government. “Any male citizen 18 years or over
could speak (at least in theory) and vote in the assembly, usually with a simple show of
hands. Attendance was even paid for in certain periods which was a measure to
encourage citizens who lived far away and couldn’t afford the time-off to attend.”
(Cartwright, Mark). This example showed how the direct democracy in the Athens
society took the responsibility of the people in politics seriously in order to avoid
rebellions against each other with the encouragement to attend and take part in
government. They made the political decisions to encourage the citizens so that they
didn’t feel uncomfortable with decisions in society and no internal conflicts would spark
within the society. While the Spartan’s society had a government of an oligarchy. The
government for the Spartan society was on that was oppressive. It had a few nobles rule
and command the city-state. “The government said that the citizens served with loyalty
by committing themselves for the protection of society.” (Cartwright, Mark.) I think that
even though the Sparta society had a funny way of dealing with the responsibility of their
city-state and their people, they felt responsible for their state. Their way of taking
responsibility is having their lower class citizens defend their society by fighting for
them. The few nobles who ruled over them felt that it was there job to stand their grounds
at their posts in government to control society and people’s loyalties so that when needed
they could protect their society at all costs.
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I think that there is a connection to the responsibility that the ancient world
history civilizations felt to today’s modern society because in some of the civilizations
rulers and governments took their responsibility of trying to prevent battles within their
society. I feel that today we struggle with that responsibility as well. The president,
Obama, makes decisions daily to ensure the U.S. is protected against war externally and
internally. Even in the ancient civilizations, they have passed laws to reduce threat of
chaos in assembly. In comparison to today, where laws are passed to ensure the unity and
security of our people and our country. Honestly, the politics theme affects me personally
because I feel the sense of responsibility to elect the right and most sensible president for
election. I feel like even though citizens take their vote for granted sometimes, it can
make a difference because we have the responsibility as citizens in government to chose
the most fit to rule and guide the country through hardships. I think that my role in
society as a citizen is to live peacefully others within the guidelines and laws set by the
President because I feel that even in ancient times the best way to avoid war and conflict
is to stay unified with another by preventing threats of chaos to society.
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Bibliography
"Achaemenid Empire." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Apr. 2015. Web. 03 May
2015.
This source is credible because it was published by the Wikipedia foundation. I
found it on the module learning activites. It also mentions refrences to other
sources and articles where information was found on.
Cartwright, Mark. "Greek Government." Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May
2015.
He studied the Greek civilization with other articles and research books. He wrote
this article while giving credit to people he pulled idead from. He also uses the
ancient world encyclopedia to publish his works as a credible source.
Halsall, Paul. "Ancient History Sourcebook: Livy: The Rape of Lucretia, from the
History
of Rome." Internet History Sourcebooks. N.p., Aug. 2000. Web. 03 May
2015.
He has studied history for years using research and articles he has found on other
sites to accurately write and develop his article. He writes his article on the
Persian
civilization after studying for years about it at some universities.
Kamm, Antony. "The Romans." The Classics Pages: Antony Kamm's '': 2.1 State
Officials. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2015.
He has studied the Romans and other civilizations off of books and research
articles for a long time, until he finally had enough accurate and credible
information, he then decided to write an article about his findings of information.