CLASSICAL WORD
ASSOCIATION
A VOCABULARY GUIDE TO KEY THEMES, DEVELOPMENTS
AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD
LET’S START
• Mandate of Heaven
• Divine right
• Dictator for life
JUSTIFICATIONS OF POLITICAL
AUTHORITY
NAMES?
• Qin Shi Huang ti,
• Lui Bang
• Wu Ti
CLASSICAL CHINESE RULERS
MORE NAMES
• Confucius
• Socrates
• Siddhartha Gautama
PHILOSOPHICAL RULERS
THESE ARE NOT PEOPLE’S NAMES
• Brahmins
• Kshatriyas
• Vaisyas
SOUNDS SOCIAL TO ME
• Outcastes
• Plebeians
• Slaves
LOWER SOCIAL GROUPS
IF YOU BUILD IT…
• Temple of the Sun
• Great Wall
• Stupas
MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE
• Inspired by religion, way to illustrate strength,
economic power and glorify the classical world
THIS SOUNDS DIVINE
• Quetzalcoatl
• Vishnu
• Apollo
IMPORTANT CLASSICAL GODS
SIGNS OF…
• Strong Military
• Control of lucrative trade routes
• Belief system
A GOLDEN AGE
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
• Mediterranean
• Indian Ocean
• Silk Routes
SIGNIFICANT TRADE ROUTES
PRETTY GIRLS HATE…
• Gobi Desert
• Himalayan Mts
• Pacific Ocean
NO LONGER ISOLATED AFTER THE
HAN
TEXTS?
• Vedas
• Ramayana
• Bhagavad-Gita
RELIGIOUS TEXTS
WHAT COULD THESE THREE THINGS
POSSIBLY HAVE IN COMMON?
• Caste System
• Confucianism
• Athenian Democracy
ALL PROVIDED SOCIAL ORDER AND
AIDED ON POLITICAL DECISIONMAKING
MORE DUDES
• Pericles
• Asoka
• Constantine
LEADERS OF GOLDEN AGES
THESE ARE RELIGIONS BUT THERE’S
GOTTA BE MORE
• Buddhism
• Hinduism
• Jainism
OH, WHOSE ORIGINS ARE IN INDIA
4+8=NIRVANA
• 4 Noble Truths
• 8-Fold Path
• Nirvana
BASIC BUDDHIST TENETS
WHICH RELIGION?
• 10 Commandments
• Gospels
• Council of Nicaea
CHRISTIANITY ADOPTED IN ROME
• 10 commandments started with the Hebrews
• Gospels of Matthew, Mark Luke and John discuss
the story of Jesus
• Council of Nycea creates a universal Christian
creed
THIS IS GEOGRAPHY
• Monsoons
• Deccan Plateau
• Thar Desert
INDIA’S GEOGRAPHY WHICH LED TO
ITS FRAGMENTATION
LANGUAGES?
• Latin
• Greek
• Sanskrit
WRITTEN LANGUAGES WHICH WERE
USED FOR
• Governmental administration
• Economic records
• Latin for Rome, Greek for Greece and Rome and
Sanskrit for Mauryan and Gupta
ANOTHER GEOGRAPHY
• Mountainous Peninsula
• Mediterranean
• Infertile soil
GREECE IS THE WORD
THIS IS A TOUGH ONE
• Sinica
• Mauryana
• Romana
PAX=PERIOD OF RELATIVE PEACE
• Sinica= Chinese peace
• Mauryan= under Asoka
• Romana= 200 years of Roman
• Generally were golden age where focus was on
commerce and development
COMBINE THEM WITH EGYPTIAN AND
YOU HAVE…
• Greek
• Persian
• Indian
HELLENISTIC
TYPES OF GOVERNMENTS BUT THERE’S
MORE
• Monarchy
• Aristocracy
• democracy
EVOLUTION OF ATHENIAN DIRECT
DEMOCRACY
• Tyrants like Salon and Draco worked toward reforms
to allow more people to participate in government
and Pericles worked to strengthen Direct
Democracy
THIS ONE IS TRICKY
• Phalanx
• Trireme
• Helots
MILITARY MEASURES
• Helots were actually slave farmers who made it
possible for military to focus on fighting
IF YOU CAN GET ONE OR TWO YOU
MIGHT MAKE AN EDUCATED GUESS
• Analects
• 5 Relationships
• Mencius
CONFUCIANISM
THIS ONE IS FOR THE GENIUS
• Arathustras
• Art of War
• Histories
PRIMARY SOURCES OF THE CLASSICAL
WORLD
NOW THEY’RE GETTING HARDER
• Herodotus
• Pliny the elder
• Mayan priests
HISTORIANS
GOVERNMENTS?
• Direct Democracy
• Republic
• Civil Service Bureaucracy
SUCCESSFUL MEANS OF GOVERNMENT
SUCCESS
WHAT DO THESE RELIGIONS HAVE IN
COMMON?
• Judaism
• Christianity
• Zoroastrianism
MONOTHEISTIC
WHAT DO THESE RELIGIONS HAVE IN
COMMON?
• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Jainism
POLITICAL LEADER’S CONVERSION
• Constantine to Christinaity
• Asoka to Buddhism
• Chandragupta Maurya to Jainism
WHICH CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION?
• Astronomy
• Zero
• Chichen Itza
THE MAYA OF COURSE
WHAT DO THESE THREE HAVE IN
COMMON?
• Corn
• Beans
• Squash
STAPLE CROPS OF THE AMERICAS
• Some called them the three sisters
YOU HAVE TO THINK HARD FOR THIS
ONE
• Olmecs
• Minoans
• Shang
MOTHER CULTURES OR BLUEPRINT
CULTURES
• Olmec-Maya
• Minoan-Greece
• Shang-Zhou-Chin-Han
SOUND FAMILIAR
• Toltecs
• Huns
• Ostrogoths
NOMADIC INVADERS “BARBARIANS”
WHAT DO THESE HAVE IN COMMON?
• Corruption
• decaying infrastructure
• nomadic attacks
VARIOUS REASONS FOR THE DECLINE
AND FALL OF CLASSICAL
CIVILIZATIONS
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•
•
•
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Along with corruption
Peasant rebellions
Plagues
Civil war
Famine
Inability to deal with environmental damage