Unit 2: The formation of
Classical Societies
Chapter 7
• P. 160 What two groups migrated from central Asia before 1,000
B.C.E.?
• P. 160 How were these groups organized?
• P. 161 What did they excel at?
• P. 161-62 The Persian tribes stretched from where to where by
539 B.C.E.?
• P. 162 What was conquered which brought Persia wealth?
• P. 162 What allowed Achaemenids to survive?
• P. 162 What were governors appointed to do?
• P. 163 What did the Achaemenids do to hold power?
• P. 164 What fostered trade(2)?
• P. 164 Why were the laws codified?
• P. 164 What metal spread throughout the empire?
• P. 165 What group rebelled against the Persians?
• P. 166 What did the establishment of cities do for the Seleucids?
• P. 166 Where were the Parthians based?
• P. 167 How were the Parthians set up politically?
• P. 167 What did Parthians begin to do to their
horses?
• P. 167 What empire weakened the Parthians?
• P. 168 What did the Sasanid merchants trade
with?
• P. 168 What was the Persian social structure
like?
• P. 170 Who made up the free class?
• P. 170 What do women do?
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P. 170 What did free people have the right to do?
P. 170-71 What were ways a person would be enslaved(3)?
P. 171 Where did slaves work?
P. 171 What happened with the amount of agricultural
production?
P. 172 What spurred on trade?
P. 172 What 3 things were intermixed into Persian society?
P. 174 What were the teachings of Zaroastrian?
P. 175 In Zoroastrous beliefs the world should be enjoyed
in what way?
P. 177 Who adopted teachings of Zorathustra and
examples(5)?
• Chinese Empires
• Done to song
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• Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
• Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
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• Sui, Tang, Song
• Sui, Tang, Song
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• Yuan, Ming, Qing
• Yuan, Ming, Qing
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• Mao Tse Tung, Mao Tse Tung
Chapter 8: China
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P. 183 What did Confucius serve as?
P. 183 To Confucius how did harmony arise?
P. 185 What characteristics are emphasized(3)?
P. 185 What would good rulers do?
P. 185-86 What did Xunzi emphasize?
P. 186 What is the fundamental belief of the Dao?
P. 187 How did Wu Wei view government?
P. 189 What were the foundations of a state’s strength by
legalists?
P. 189 Why was strict punishment issued?
P. 190 How did Qin rule?
P. 190 What metal began to be used?
P. 191 What was formed to allow centralized rule?
P. 191 What was destroyed and why?
P. 192 How was unity enhanced in Qin?
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The Chief Minister Wang Wan and others said: “The states are newly defeated
and the territories of Yan, Qi, and Chu are distant, so if we do not establish kings
for them there will be no means of bringing order to them. We beg to set up your
sons in authority, but it is up to the Supreme One alone to favour us with his
agreement.” The First Emperor handed down their suggestion to the ministers,
and they all thought this would be expedient. But the Superintendent of Trials Li
Si advised: “Only after an extremely large number of sons and younger brothers
and people of the same surname had been enfeoffed by King Wen and King Wu
did they win the adherence of the distant, and then they attacked and somote
each other and behaved like enemies. And when the feudal state wrought
vengeance on each other more and more, the Zhou Son of Heaven was incapable
of preventing them. Now all within the seas has been unified thanks to Your
Majesty’s divine power, and everywhere has been turned into provinces and
districts….
So the Empire was divided into thirty-six provinces, and a governor and
army commander and an inspector were established for each. The people were
renamed “the black-headed people,” and there was great celebrations. The
weapons from all under Heaven were gathered in and collected together at
Xianyang and were melted down to make bells and stands and twelve statues of
men made of metal, each 1,000 piculs in weight, to be set up in the courts and
palaces. All weights and measures were placed under a unified system, and the
axle length of carriages were standardized. For writings they standardized the
characters.
Sima Qian(145-86) B.C.E., Grand Historian of China, The Annals of Qin
• P. 192 Why was script standardized?
• P. 194 What was used as a building meterial?
• P. 194 Why was government decentralized during the
early years of Han?
• P. 194 How was the empire divided?
• P. 194 What Qin policy was continued under the Han?
• P. 195 What was established to prepare men for
government?
• P. 195 What areas were invaded?
• P. 196 What group was problematic to the Han?
• P. 197 What did Han rulers do to prevent invasions?
• P. 197 What was the size of an average household?
• P. 197 What was the role of women?
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I, the unworthy writer, am unsophisticated, unenlightened, and by nature
unintelligent, but I am fortunate both to have received not a little favor from my
scholarly Father, and to have had a cultured mother and instructresses upon
whom to rely for a literary education as well as for training in good manner.
More than forty years have passed since at the age of fourteen I took up the
dustpan and the broom in the Cao family. During this time with trembling heart I
feared constantly that I might disgrace my parents, and that I might disgrace my
parents, and that I might multiply difficulties for both the women and the men of
my husband’s family. Day and night I was distressed in heart, but I labored
without confessing weariness. Now and hereafter, however, I know how to
escape from such fears….
The Way of husband and wife is intimately connected with Yin and Yang and
relates the individual to gods and ancestors…
If a husband be unworthy, then he possesses nothing by which to control his
wife. If a wife be unworthy, then she possesses nothing with which to serve her
husband. If a husband does not control his wife, then the rules of conduct
manifesting his authority are abandoned and broken. If a wife does not serve
her husband, then the proper relationship between men and women and the
natural order of things are neglected and destroyed. As a matter of fact the
purpose of these two is the same.
Lessons for Women: Ban Zhao
• A woman ought to have four qualifications: 1) womanly virtues;
2) womanly words; 3) womanly bearing; and 4) womanly work.
Now what is called womanly virtue need not be brilliant ability,
exceptionally different from others. Womanly words need be
neither clever in debate nor keen in conversation. Womanly
appearance requires neither a pretty nor a perfect face and form.
Womanly work need not be work done more skillfully than that of
others…
• To choose her words with care; to avoid vulgar language; to
respect at appropriate times; and not to weary others with much
conversation, may be called the characteristics of womanly words.
• To wash and scrub filth away; to keep cloths and ornaments fresh
and clean; to wash the head and bathe the body regularly, and to
keep the person free from disgraced filth, may be called the
characteristics of womanly bearing.
• Lessons for Women: Ban Zhao
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P. 198 What was made out of metal?
P. 199 What began to be used to write on?
P. 200 How did the different classes dress?
P. 200 What began to happen to bigger
farms?
• P. 201 What did the Han try to do socially?
• P. 202 What happened to the Han court over
time?
Chapter 9 India
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P. 208 What techniques of ruling formed?
P. 208 What were the Mauryan the first to do?
P. 210 Who controlled the traded routes of India?
P. 210 What did Ashoka encourage?
P. 210 What was provided for travelers?
P. 211 Who controlled the northwest part for two
centuries?
P. 212 How was Bactria important?
P. 212 What areas did the Kushan empire encompass?
P. 212 What was ensured for merchants?
P. 213 How did the Guptas govern locally?
P. 213 What group invaded the Guptas?
• P. 213 What was produced in the northwest part?
• P. 214 What was built to assist trade?
• P. 214 What were the two ways trade passed through
India?
• P. 215 What assisted seas trade?
• P. 215 Who established colonies in southern India?
• P. 215 Who were to be subordinate in Indian society?
• P. 215 At what age did girls get married?
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P. 216 How did trade change the caste system?
P. 217 How did one experience purification?
P. 218 What were practices of the Jains?
P. 218 How did Jains view all occupations?
P. 218 What group accepted the Jainest view?
P. 219 How many days was Gautama tempted?
P. 219-20 What are the 4 noble truths?
P. 220 What was the goal in Buddhism?
P. 220 Buddhism appealed to what class?
• “The fourfold division of castes was created by me according to
the appointment of qualities and duties…The duties of Brahmins,
Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, and of Sudras, too, O terror of your foes!
Are distinguished according to the qualities born of nature.
Tranquility, restraint of the senses, penance, purity, purity,
forgiveness, straight forwardness, also knowledge, experience,
and belief in a future world, this is the natural duty of Brahmins.
Valor, glory, courage, dexterity, not slinking away from battle,
gifts, exercise of lordly power, this is the natural duty of
Kshatriyas. Agriculture, tending cattle, trade, this is the natural
duty of Vaisyas. And the natural duty of Sudras, too, consists of
service. Every man intent on his own respective duties obtains
perfection.”
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-the Bhagavad Gita
• “Which, O Bhikhus, is this Middle Path the knowledge of
which the Tathagata has gained, which leads to insight,
which leads to wisdom, which conduces to calm, to
knowledge, to the Sambodhi, to Nirvana? It is the Holy
Eightfold Path, namely, Right Belief, Right Aspiration, Right
Speech, Right Conduct, Right Means of Livelihood, Right
Endeavor, Right Memory, Right Meditation…is the Middle
Path the knowledge of which the Tathagata has gained,
which leads to insight, which leads to wisdom, which
conduces to calm, to knowledge, to the Sambodhi, to
Nirvana.”
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• “…And this knowledge and insight arose in my mind: the
emancipation of my mind cannot be lost; this is my last
birth; hence I shall not be born again!”
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Setting in motion the wheel of law
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…And this is the Noble Truth of Sorrow. Birth is sorrow, age is
sorrow, disease is sorrow, death is sorrow; contact with the unpleasant is
sorrow, separation from the pleasant is sorrow, every wish unfulfilled is
sorrow---in short all the five components of individuality are sorrow.
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And this is the Noble Truth of the Arising Sorrow. It arises from
craving, which leads to rebirth, which brings delight and passion, and
seeks pleasure now here, now there---the craving for sensual pleasure,
the craving for continued life, the craving for power.
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And this is the Noble Truth of the stopping of Sorrow. It is the
complete stopping of that craving, so that no passion remains, leaving it,
being emancipated from it, being released from it, giving no place to it.
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And this is the Noble Truth, of the Way which Leads to the Stopping
of Sorrow. It is the Noble Eightfold Path---Right Views, Right Resolve,
Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right
Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
• Buddha’s First Sermon
• P. 221 What religion was accepted by Ashoka
and why?
• P. 222 What did monasteries begin to accept?
• P. 222 Who else began to be attracted to
Buddhism?
• P. 223-4 What was provided for people in
monasteries?
• P. 226 What were the Hindu aims in life?
• P. 226 What religion became less popular?
Chapter 10 Greeks
• p. 233 Who experienced a series of earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions?
• P. 233 Who overpowered Minoan society?
• P. 234 What restored order in Greece?
• P. 235 What became the two most important
poleis?
• P. 235 What was the role of the helots in Sparta?
• P. 235 What were the Spartans devoted to
building?
• P. 236 What was used for money and why?
• P. 236 When did women get married?
• P. 236 Under what principles was Athens
established?
• P. 237 How was everyone involved in holding
office?
• P. 237 What was done to relieve the population?
• P. 238 What areas were good for colonization?
• P. 238 What did Greece never do politically?
• P. 239 What did the Greek poleis do after the
Persian wars?
• P. 240 Why did the alliance end?
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Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a
pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours the many
instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws,
they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; it to social standing,
advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations
not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if
a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his
condition. The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our
ordinary life. There, far from exercising a jealous surveillance over each other,
we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbor for doing what he likes,
or even to indulge in those injurious looks which cannot fail to be offensive,
although they inflict no positive penalty. But all this ease in our private relations
doe not make us lawless as citizens. Against this fear is our chief safeguard,
teaching us to obey the magistrates and the laws, particularly such as regard the
protection of the injured, whether they are actually on the statute book, or
belong to that code which, although unwritten, yet cannot be broken without
acknowledged disgrace.
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War; Pericles Funeral Speech
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Now property is part of a household and the acquisition of property part of the
economics of a household; for neither life itself nor the good life is possible
without a certain minimum standard of wealth. Again, for any given craft the
existence of the proper tools will be essential for the performance of its task.
Tools may be animate as well as inanimate; a ship’s captain use a lifepoint of
view of the craft, one of its tools. So any piece of property can be regarded as a
tool enabling a man to live; and his property is an assemblage of such tools,
including his slaves; and a slave, being a living creature like any other servant, is a
tool worth many tools…
The “slave by nature” then is he that can and therefore does belong to
another, and he that participates in the reasoning faculty so far as to understand
but not so as to possess it. For the other animals serve their owner not by
exercise of reason but passively. The use, too, of slaves hardly differs at all from
that of domestic animals; from both we derive that which is essential for our
bodily needs…It is clear then that in household management the people are of
greater importance than the material property, and their quality of more account
than that of the goods that make up their wealth, and also that free men are of
more account than slaves. About slaves the first question to be asked is whether
in addition to their as tools and servants there is some other quality or virtue,
superior to these, that belongs to slaves. Can they possess self-respect, courage,
justice, and virtues of that kind, or have they in fact nothing but the serviceable
quality of their persons?
Aristotle, Politics
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P. 241 Who focused on taking over Greece?
P. 241 Who invaded India?
P. 241 Alexander established cities and named them?
P. 241 How did he set out to unite the conquered?
P. 242 What was important about the Hellenistic Age?
P. 244 With trade who was attracted to the cities?
P. 245 What religion did some Greeks convert to?
P. 247 Why did the Olympics take place?
P. 247 Who was the head of the household?
P. 247 What did fathers have the right to do?
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P. 248 How was Sparta different?
P. 248 How did Greeks view sexual relationships?
P. 248 How did one become a slave?
P. 249 How were slaves treated and viewed?
P. 250-52 Who were the 3 Philosophers and how were
they important?
• P. 252 How were gods viewed?
• P. 253 What did some religions provide women?
• P. 254 What did Hellenistic philosophers focus on(3)?
Chapter 11 Rome
• p. 260 When did people cross the Alps into
Italy?
• P. 261 Who migrated to Italy?
• P. 261 How was Rome ruled early on?
• P. 262 What was built in the heart of Rome?
• P. 262 Who was elected by the wealthy?
• P. 262 What did Plebeians gain the right to do?
• P. 262 Why would dictators be appointed?
• P. 264 What rights did conquered people
have(4)?
• P. 264 Who became the main threat to Rome?
• At first the legion stood its ground, using the narrowness of the defile as
protection. When the enemy got closer, the legion discharged its javelins
with unerring accuracy and then rushed forward in a wedge-like
formation. The auxiliary troops made a similar charge, and the cavalry,
with lances extended, shattered whatever serious opposition stood in
their way. The rest of the Britons turned their backs, but escape was
difficult because the circle of wagons blocked their flight.
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The troops showed no mercy, not even to the women. Even
baggage animals, their bodies studded with javelins, were added to the
head of corpses. The glory won that day was remarkable and equal to
that of victories in days gone by. Indeed, there are those who claim that
a bit fewer than 80,000 Britons were killed, while about 400 of our
soldiers fell, with not many that number wounded. Boudica ended her
life with poison.
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• Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Roman Historian, Annals, rebellions in the
Provinces.
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P. 264 What wars were fought?
P. 265 Who gained control of conquered lands?
P. 265 Who tried to have social reform?
P. 266 Why were the reforms not successful?
P. 266 Who began moving into the cities?
P. 267 What did Caesar do to confiscated land?
P. 268 What title was given to Octavian?
P. 268 How did Augustus rule?
• The People of the Far East
• To the east, at the far end of the borders of India near the
source of the Ganges, Megasthenes places the Astomi, a
people who have no mouth and a body that is totally
covered in hair. They dress in wool made from leaves and
subsist only by breathing and through the scent that they
draw in through their nostrils. They have no food or drink
except for the various aromas of roots, flowers, and wild
apples that they carry with them on their longer journeys,
lest they lack a supply of scent. He writes that they can
easily be killed by an odor that is a bit stronger than usual.
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• Pliny the Elder, Natural History, late 1st Century C.E.
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P. 269 Why did invaded areas grow?
P. 269 What cities can be traced to Rome?
P. 271 What did Pax Romana facilitate?
P. 271 What was built to increase trade?
P. 271 What was built to increase trade?
P. 271 What were the 12 tables?
P. 271 What judicial principles were established?
P. 274 What was developed for building purposes?
P. 274 Who was the head of the house?
P. 275 How were women important?
P. 275 Who rivaled nobility?
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The law said that no woman might own more than half an ounce of gold nor
wear a multicoloured dress nor ride in a carriage in the city or in a town within a
mile of it, unless there was a religious festival. The tribunes, Marcus and Publius
Junis Brutus, were in favour of the Oppian law and said that they would not
allow its repeal. Many noble men came forward hoping to persuade or dissuade
them; a crowd of men, both supporters and opponents, filled the Capitoline Hill.
The matrons, whom neither counsel nor shame nor their husbands’ orders could
keep at home, blockaded every street in the city and every entrance to the
Forum. As the men came down to the Forum, the matrons besought them to let
them, too, have back the luxuries they had enjoyed before, giving as their reason
that the republic was thriving and that everyone’s private wealth was increasing
with every day. This crowd of women was growing daily, for now they were even
gathering from the towns and villages. Before long they dared go up and solicit
the consuls, praetors, and other magistrates; but one of the consuls could not be
moved in the least, Marcus Porcius Cato, who spoke in favour of the law:
“If each man of us, fellow citizens , had established that the right and
authority of the husband should be held over the mother of his own family, we
should have less difficulty with women in general; now, at home our freedom is
conquered by female fury, here in the Forum it is bruised and trampled upon,
and, because we have not contained the individuals…”
Livy, Roman Historian, “Women Demonstrate against the Oppian Law” (59
B.C.E.-17 B.C.E)
• P. 276 What was the role of slaves?
• P. 278 What did Romans do in relation to other
deities?
• P. 280 Who did the Cult of Isis allow?
• P. 280 Why was there religious toleration?
• P. 280 What did the Jews do in the 3rd and 1st
Centuries B.C.E.?
• P. 281 Who did Christians recognize?
• P. 282 How was Jesus viewed to the Romans?
• P. 282 Who worked to bring Christianity to the
masses?
• P. 283 What did the Romans do from time to time?
• P. 283 Why did Christianity gain in popularity?
• I was never present at the trials of Christians. Therefore, I am
unacquainted with what is customary as to the method and extent of
punishing and examining them. I am more than just a little uncertain of
on several points: Whether any discrimination is made for age; whether
the weak are treated differently from the stronger; whether repentance
earns a pardon; or whether, if someone was ever a Christian, his ceasing
to be one does not gain him anything; whether the very name itself is
punishable, even when it is not associated with any crimes; or whether
crimes, which are associated with the name, are the punishable
offenses.
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Meanwhile, I have followed this procedure in regard to those who
were brought before me as Christians. I interrogated them as to
whether they were Christians. If they confessed, I asked a second and a
third time, adding the threat of capital punishment. If they persevered,
I ordered them executed. For I did not doubt that, whatever it might be
that they believed, certainly their stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy
merited punishment. There were others of similar madness, who,
because they were Roman citizens, I directed to be remanded to the
City.
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• Pliny brother of Emperor Trajan(early 100s C.E.), Letters regarding
Christians.
• You have acted properly, my dear Secundus, in your handling of
the cases of those denounced to you as Christians. For there is no
general rule that can be set down as if it were a fixed standard for
every case. These people should not be sought out. If they are
charged and convicted, they must be punished. Yet if someone
denies being a Christian and provides proof in this matter, namely
by praying to our gods, however much be might have been under
suspicion in the past, he shall secure pardon by virtue of his
repentance. Anonymous accusations have no place in criminal
proceeding. They are exceedingly bad precedents and do not
conform to the standards of our age
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• Emperor Trajan to his brother Pliny(early 100 C.E.) Letters
regarding Christians.
• If it is certain that we are the most criminal of people, why do you treat
us differently from others of our kind, namely all other criminals? The
same crime should receive the same treatment. When others are
charged with the same crimes imputed to us, they are permitted to use
their own mouths and the hired advocacy of others to plead their
innocence. They have full freedom to answer the charge and to crossexamine. In fact, it is against the law to condemn anyone without a
defense and a hearing. Only Christians are forbidden to say anything in
defense of the truth that would clear their case and assist the judge in
avoiding an injustice. All that they care about is a confession to bearing
the name “Christian,” not an investigation of the charge. Now, let us
assume you are trying any other criminal. If he confesses to the crime of
murder, or sacrilege, or sexual debauchery, or treason—to cite the
crimes of which we stand accused—you are not content to pass sentence
immediately. Rather, you weigh the relevant circumstances: the nature
of the deed; how often, where, how, and when it was committed; the
co-conspirators and the partners-in-crime. Nothing of this sort is done in
our case.
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• Tertullian, Christian writer, 195 C.E., Apologia
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Being convinced, however, that he needed some more powerful aid than his
military forces could afford him, on account of the wicked and magical
enchantments which were so diligently practiced by the tyrant, he sought Divine
assistance, deeming the possession of arms and a numerous soldiery of
secondary importance, but believing the cooperating power of Deity invincible
and not to be shaken. He considered, therefore, on what God he might rely for
protection and assistance. While engaged in this inquiry, the thought occurred to
him, that , of the many emperors who had preceded him, those who had rested
their hopes in a multitude of gods, and served them with sacrifices and
offerings, had in the first place been deceived by flattering predictions, and
oracles which promised them all prosperity and at last had met with an unhappy
end, while not one of their gods has stood by to warn them of the impending
wrath of heaven; while one alone who had pursued an entirely opposite course,
who has condemned their error, and honored the Supreme God during his whole
life, has found him to be the Saviour and Protector of his empire, and the fact
that they who had trusted in many gods has also fallen by manifold forms of
death, without leaving behind them either family or offspring, stock, name, or
memorial among men; while the God of his father had given to him, on the other
hand, manifestation of his power and very many tokens…
He said that about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline,
he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a crass of light in the heavens, above the
sun, and bearing the inscription, CONQUER BY THIS. At this sight he himself was
struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which followed him on this
expedition, and witnessed the miracle.
Eusebius, the emperor’s historian(260-339 C.E.) Life of Constantine
Chapter 12 The silk road
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p. 288 What was built because of trade?
P. 289 What winds were discovered?
P. 290 Where did merchants begin to sail?
P. 290 What routes began to form to increase trade(2)?
P. 292 What came from China and India?
P. 293 What two empires sent people along the silk road?
P. 295 Who came to the oasis communities?
P. 296 When did the Chinese begin to accept Buddhism?
P. 297 How did the Silk road assist Christianity?
P. 298 Who were some Christians inspired by?
P. 298-99 Who was the prophet Mani?
• P. 300 What did the Romans and Han suffer from in 2nd
and 3rd Centuries C.E.?
• P. 302 Where did it appear first?
• P. 303 What took place in China in 184 C.E.?
• P. 303 How was China divided?
• P. 303 What did nomadic people begin to do?
• P. 304 What did the nomads begin to do?
• P. 305 What religion became established in China?
• P. 306 What city was created by Constantine?
• P. 306 What happened to the Roman empire?
• P. 307 What groups weakened the Romans?
• P. 308 What leader formally recognized Christianity?
• P. 309 What developed in the church?
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…The reason for this was that after the Vandals were defeated, Justinian
planned, not how he might be strengthen his hold on the country, not how by
safe-guarding the interests of those who were loyal to him he might have the
goodwill of his subjects: but instead he foolishly recalled Belisarius at once, on
the charge that the latter intended to make himself king, and so that he might
manage affairs there himself and be able to plunder the whole of Libya. Sending
commissioners to value the province, he seized, and prohibited the Arians from
observing their religious ceremonies. Negligent toward sending necessary
supplies to the soldiers, he was over-strict with them in other ways; wherefore
mutinies arose resulting in the deaths of many. For he was never able to abide
by established customs, but naturally threw everything into confusion and
disturbance.
Italy, which is not less than thrice as large as Libya, was everywhere
desolated of men, even worse than the other country, and from this the count of
those who perished there may be imagined. The reason for what happened in
Italy I have already made plain. All of his crimes in Libya were repeated here;
sending his auditors to Italy, he soon upset and ruined everything.
The rule of the Goths, before this war, had extended from the land of the
Gauls to the boundaries of Dacia…the Germans held Cisapline Gaul and most of
the land of the Venetians, when the roman army arrived in Italy…
Procopius, a Palestinian courtier(553-54 C.E.) The Secret History