The Classical Period
AP World History
2007
China before Qin Dynasty
• Zhou Dynasty
– Mandate of Heaven
– Feudalism
• Decline of Zhou
Dynasty
– Confucianism, Taoism,
Legalism
• Warring States Period
– Kingdom of Qin began
to expand during 3rd
century BCE
Zhou Dynasty
1098 – 258 B.C.E.
Qin Dynasty
• Qin Shi Huangdi
proclaimed himself
First Emperor in 221
BCE
• Ruled through
centralized
bureaucracy
• Used Legalism to
gain control of China
• Established tradition
of centralized rule in
China
Legacy of the Qin Dynasty
• Helped unify China
Standardized laws, currency, weights, and
measures
Standardized Chinese script
China continued to use different languages
• Demanded burning of books
• Great Wall of China & Terra Cotta Army
• Qin Dynasty fell after death of Qin Shi
Huangdi in 207 BCE
Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army
Han Dynasty
• Founded by Liu Bang
in 202 BCE
• Reforms of Han Wudi
(141-87 BCE)
Built a large bureaucracy
Confucian examination
system
Started an imperial
university
Established gov’t
monopolies on iron,
salt, and liquor
Han Expansion
• Under Wudi,
China conquered
northern Vietnam
and Korea
• Defeated
Xiongnu and
expanded
towards Central
Asia
Rise of Mauryan Dynasty
• Chandragupta
Maurya created by
conquering northern
India
Depiction of the court of Chandragupta
Maurya
Under
Chandragupta,
Kautalya wrote
Arthashastra, a
handbook on the
principles of
government
Reign of Asoka (268-232 BCE)
• Conquered most of
India
Battle of Kalinga
• Political Reforms
Created an organized
bureaucracy
Established a central
treasury for tax
collection
• Economic Reforms
Expanded agriculture
Built roads to promote
trade
Mauryan
Empire
under
Asoka
Legacy of Mauryan Dynasty
• Fell 47 years after Ashoka’s death (185
BCE) to economic turmoil
• First dynasty to unify most of Indian
subcontinent
• Played major role in exchange of goods
and culture along the Silk Roads
• Spread Buddhism to territories outside of
Indian subcontinent
Gupta dynasty (320-565 CE)
• Founded by Chandra
Gupta in 320 CE
• Expanded by his
grandson Chandra Gupta
II (375-415 CE)
• Ruled a coalition of
regional kingdoms
• Left local government and
administration in hand of
local rulers
• Eventually destroyed by
Huns (late 5th century)
Ancient Greece
• Collection of citystates
– No unified government
– Different political
systems
• Monarchy
• Oligarchy (Sparta)
• Democracy (Athens)
• Tyrants
• Culture unified Greece
Greek Colonization
Wars Weaken Greece
• Persian Wars (500-479 BCE)
• Greeks form the Delian League
• Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE)
– Athens and its allies vs. Sparta and its allies
– Weakens Greek city-states against outside
invasion
• Alexander the Great (332-323 BCE)
Empire of Alexander the Great
Roman Republic (509-44 BCE)
• Established broad base of political
participation in Rome by 5th BCE
– Consul
– Senate
– Tribunes
• Republic used powerful military to expand
– Assimilated conquered peoples
• Twelve Tables
– Foundation of Roman Law
Roman Republic
From Republic to Empire
• Tensions between
social classes
weaken the Republic
• Julius Caesar
– Ends republic by
creating a dictatorship
in 44 BCE
• Augustus Caesar
– Turns Republic into a
dictatorship masked
as a republic in 27
BCE
Roman Empire
• Expansion of Empire
– Egypt, Anatolia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Gaul,
• Germany, Britain, and Spain
– Local elites would ally with Roman
representatives
• Pax Romana
– Augustus brought peace within the empire
that would last two and half centuries
Roman Government
• Never established a dynasty
– No clear method of succession
– Succession often depended upon military
strength
• Depended upon a powerful military
• Considerable tolerance for local customs
and religions
• Emphasized laws to hold the empire
together
Roman Empire
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