Name ____________________
World History 9H Per ______
Date _______________
Classical Civilizations
Classical Civilizations Review
1. Indian History: Geography and Culture
a. Aryans
i. Indo-European pastoralists
ii. Into Asia Minor, Europe, Iran from 2000s B.C.E.
iii. Social Classes (varnas)
1. Untouchables
iv. Sanskrit epics of the Vedic Age
1. Rig-Veda
v. Epic Age, 1000–600 B.C.E.
1. The Upanishads
2. Patterns in Classical India
a. End of formative era, c.600 B.C.E.
i. From c. 600 to c. 300 B.C.E. plains divided among
rulers
ii. Sixteen major states
iii. 327 B.C.E., Alexander the Great
b. The Mauryan Dynasty
i. Chandragupta Maurya, 322 B.C.E.
1. Autocratic rule
ii. Ashoka (269–232 B.C.E.)
1. Grandson of Chandragupta
2. Conversion to Buddhism; belief in dharma
a. Pacifist and vegetarian
b. Infrastructure: roads, hospitals,
inns
c. The Guptas
i. Autocratic rule
ii. From 320 C.E.
iii. Long period of stable rule
iv. create taxation system, claim divine sanction
v. Overthrown by Huns in 535 C.E.
vi. Political Institutions
1. Social organization
a. Caste system becomes more rigid
Map 4.1 India at the Time of Ashoka
Although, as the map shows, the Mauryan
monarchs claimed to rule most of presentday South Asia, much of the subcontinent
was only loosely controlled.
Name ____________________
World History 9H Per ______
Date _______________
Classical Civilizations
Classical Civilizations Review
b. Yet social mobility existed
c. Rulers could rise from lower castes
d. No slavery
d. Religion and Culture
i. The Formation of Hinduism
1. Origins in Vedic and Epic Eras
2. No single founder, develops
gradually
3. Mystics (gurus)
4. Brahma, holy essence
5. Aspects of brahma as gods
a. Vishnu
b. Shiva
ii. Hinduism
1. Different paths for a good life
a. Yoga
b. Brahmans' ritual
c. Personal devotion
2. Dharma
a. Moral law
b. Not prescriptive
iii. Buddhism
1. Siddhartha Gautama, born c. 563 B.C.E.
a. Takes to wandering life, asceticism
2. Four Noble Truths
3. Escape suffering by renouncing worldly things
a. Achievement of nirvana
4. Spread through work of monks
a. Conversion of Ashoka
iv. Literature
1. Strong traditions of storytelling
2. Drama
v. University center under Guptas
1. Some borrowing from Greeks
vi. Mathematics
1. Originated "Arabic" system, including zero
2. Negative numbers, square roots
vii. Architecture
1. Stupas
viii. Lively murals
Map 4.2 The Gupta Empire
Not only was the territory claimed by
the Gupta dynasty a good deal
smaller than the empire of their
Mauryan predecessors, even the
area controlled was ruled to a far
greater extent by local lords than the
Gupta emperors.
Name ____________________
World History 9H Per ______
Date _______________
Classical Civilizations
Classical Civilizations Review
e. Economy and Society
i. Society
1. Caste system influences many aspects of life
2. Status of women diminishes
ii. Economy
1. Strong manufacturing
a. Textiles
b. Steel
c. Guilds, selling from shops
2. Trade
a. Greater status than in China
b. Trade with East Asia, Middle East, Roman Empire, Southeast Asia
f. Indian Influence and Comparative Features
i. Influence
1. Indian Ocean a hub for contacts
2. Buddhism carried to China
3. Influence on Greeks and Romans
3. The Persian Tradition
a. Cyrus the Great, 550 B.C.E.
i. Persian Empire
ii. Political Styles
1. Tolerance for other cultures
2. Authoritarianism
3. Infrastructure, especially
roads
4. Bureaucracy
b. Zoroastrianism
i. Zoroaster (c. 630–550 B.C.E.)
Map 5.1 The Persian Empire in Its Main Stages
At its height the Persian empire stretched through
much of the Middle East to the shores of the
Mediterranean, into Egypt, and into the northeast
part of the Indian subcontinent.
Name ____________________
World History 9H Per ______
Date _______________
Classical Civilizations
Classical Civilizations Review
ii. Individual salvation
iii. Monotheism
c. Later Persian Empire
i. Dominated Middle East
1. Conquests into Africa and Indian subcontinent
ii. Conquered by Alexander the Great
4. Patterns of Greek History
a. City-States, 800–600 B.C.E.
i. Common culture
ii. Some periods of unity, cooperation
b. Domination of Sparta and Athens, 500–449 B.C.E.
i. High point of Greek culture
c. Fifth Century B.C.E.
i. Pericles dominates Athenian
politics
ii. Peloponnesian Wars (431–
404 B.C.E.)
d. Greek Political Institutions
i. The Polis
ii. Athens
1. Direct democracy
2. The assembly
3. Lottery for positions
4. Citizen body a minority of the population
iii. Most city states were oligarchies
1. Aristocratic assemblies
2. Sparta
Map 5.2 Greece and Greek Colonies of the
World, c. 431 B.C.E.
On the eve of the Peloponnesian War,
Greek civilization had spread throughout
the eastern Mediterranean.
e. Religion and Culture
i. Philosophy
1. Provided a system of ethical behavior
2. Aristotle, Cicero
a. Stressed balance
3. Stoics stress inner life
ii. Science and Philosophy
1. Socrates
a. Encouraged questioning
2. Speculation on the physical world
a. Theories about the universe, the nature of matter
Name ____________________
World History 9H Per ______
Date _______________
Classical Civilizations
Classical Civilizations Review
3. Mathematics, especially geometry
4. Hellenistic period
a. More empirical work in physics
b. Euclid, Galen
iii. The Arts
1. Drama: comedy and tragedy
a. Balance between virtue and emotions
b. Sophocles, Oedipus Rex
2. Epics, the Iliad, Odyssey
3. Architecture
a. Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles
f. The Hellenistic Period
i. Philip II of Macedonia
1. Defeats Greeks, 338
B.C.E
ii. Alexander the Great
1. Extends empire
iii. Period of merging of cultures
5. Patterns of Roman History
a. Roman republic from 509 B.C.E.
i. Military emphasis
ii. Punic Wars, against Carthage
Map 5.3 Alexander’s Empire and the Hellenistic World, c.
(264–146 B.C.E.)
323 B.C.E.
1. Hannibal
b. Roman Political Institutions
i. Balance
ii. Senate
1. Dominated by
aristocrats
iii. Consuls
iv. Dictator
v. Romans developed law code
1. Twelve Tables, by 450
B.C.E.
2. Law comes to take the
place of fathers
3. Spread of code to
empire, and
citizenship
Note the movement through Persia and other parts of the
northern Middle East, and into the Indian subcontinent
and North Africa.
Map 5.4 The Expansion of the Roman
Republic, 133 B.C.E.
By the end of the Punic Wars, Rome
dominated much of the Mediterranean
world.
Name ____________________
World History 9H Per ______
Date _______________
Classical Civilizations
Classical Civilizations Review
c. Empire
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Julius Caesar victory over rivals, 45 B.C.E.
Augustus Caesar, rules from 27 B.C.E.
Empire strong until about 180 C.E.
Renewed vigor under Diocletian, Constantine
1. Constantine's conversion to Christianity
6. The Classical Civilizations in Comparative Perspective
a. Each classical civilization distinctively defined the position of the lowest orders.
b. Different elite values
i. India: priests; little mobility unless wealthy
ii. China: bureaucrats; education
iii. Mediterranean: aristocrats; money
c. Differing community bonds for a sense of common purpose
d. Greek and Roman Political Institutions
i. Political Theory in Ancient Greece and Rome
1. Duties of citizens, political ethics, oratory
2. Participation stressed
3. Comparison of the merits of different forms
ii. Roles of Government
1. Public works
a. Help to unite empire
2. Maintaining law courts, police power
3. Official religion