The Classical Empires AP World History Be able to compare political structures, religion, gender relations, trade relations, and the collapse between the classical empires

Population Growth

Urbanization

Afro-Eurasia in 500 BCE

Afro-Eurasia in 350 BCE

Afro-Eurasia in 200 BCE

Afro-Eurasia in 100 CE

Persian Empire

Persian Empire ( BCE)  Founded by Cyrus the Great  Darius I ( BCE) Balanced central administration & local governors Divided government into 3 districts ran by satraps Built the Royal Road Fought Persian Wars with Greece ( BCE)  Led to the decline of the Persian Empire

Persian Empire  Persian Society Women worked in textile manufacturing Government used slaves to complete public works projects  Persian Economy Government coined money, single currency Facilitated trade from Greece to India – the Great Royal Road  Persian Religion Zoroastrianism – worship of one god called Ahura Mazda. Monotheistic religion.

World in 350 BCE

Classical China  Zhou Dynasty ( ) Mandate of Heaven Feudalism  Decline of Zhou Dynasty Confucianism Daoism Legalism  Warring States Period Kingdom of Qin began expanding during the 3 rd century BCE

Qin Dynasty ( BCE)  Used Legalism to restore order  Land reforms weakened aristocracy Peasants were given land rights to farm remote territories  Centralized bureaucracy  Unified China Standardized script, laws, and weights & measures

Qin Shi Huangdi  Proclaimed himself “First Emperor” of China  Centralized Power Disarmed local militaries Built roads & defensive walls  Demanded burning of books  Used forced labor to complete public works projects

Terra Cotta Army

Early Han Dynasty (202 BCE-9 CE)  Founded by Liu Bang Longest dynasty in Chinese History  Conquered northern Vietnam, Korea, and Central Asia Tribute System  Monopolized iron, salt, and liquor

Han Wudi (Wu Ti)  Ruled from BCE Supported Legalism  Two Goals Centralize government Expand the empire  Reforms Expanded bureaucracy Started an imperial university Confucian examination system Expanded the Silk Roads

Mauryan Dynasty  Founded by Chandragupta Maurya Arthashastra

Ashoka ( BCE)  Conquered most of India Used elephants in warfare Battle of Kalinga  Reforms Pillars of Ashoka Centralized bureaucracy Expanded agriculture Built roads to promote trade  Promoted the spread of Buddhism  Empire declined after Ashoka’s death

Gupta Dynasty ( CE)  Founded by Chandra Gupta Used alliances, tribute & conquest  Gupta Government Coalition of regional kingdoms Policy & administration left to local rulers  Eventually destroyed by the White Huns

Ancient Greece  Geography prevented political unification Culturally unified  City-States Cities offered safety and wealth Different political systems  Unified when threatened Persian Wars  Wars weaken city-states Peloponnesian War ( BCE) between Athens and Sparta.

Ancient Greece.  Sparta was a rigid slave holding dictatorship.  Athens became a culturally and politically advanced city that gained wealth through trade and power due to naval strength.  Majority of Greek city-states were oligarchies – rich powerful families ruled.  Greek women were treated as social and political inferiors.  Athens created a democracy, rule from the people. Reached its peak under the statesmen Pericles.  Athens had the most representative government in the ancient world.

Greek Colonization

Alexander the Great ( BCE)  Father, Philip II, conquered most of Greece  Built a massive empire Conquered Persia & Egypt Threatened India  Empire divided into 3 parts after his death Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt Seleucid Empire in Persia Preserved Greek culture and spread throughout a vast portion of Eurasia and Northern Africa. Alexandria in Egypt became one of the Mediterranean’s world’s great centers of trade, learning, and culture.

Hellenistic Empire Indus

People to Know  Alexander the Great  Pericles  Aristotle  Socrates  Plato  Homer

Roman Republic ( BCE)  Political System Consuls Senate (patricians) Tribunes (plebeians)  Military expansion Assimilated conquered peoples  Twelve Tables Created a standardized system of laws Established rights for defendants

Rome  Plebeians were the lower classes. Patricians were the upper class  Slavery widely practiced. Slaves used as gladiators.  Social and economic functions depended heavily on slave labor.  Roman society was strictly patriarchal at the beginning of the Republican Period.  Women later gained more freedom to divorce, more economic rights, and greater influence over family financial affairs.

Expansion of Roman Republic

End of Republic  Growing tensions between rich & poor  Latifundias Large plantations in conquered lands controlled by aristocrats  Julius Caesar Dictator for life in 44 BCE Reforms  Sought to relieve tension between the classes Executed by aristocratic conspirators

Roman Empire (31 BCE-476 CE)  Established by Augustus Continued military expansion Pax Romana  NOT a dynasty Succession often depended upon military strength  Tolerated local customs & religions  Laws & patriotism held empire together

Similarities of the Classical Rome and Han China and Gupta India  agricultural-based economies  patriarchal family structures  complex governments – because they were so large, had to invent new ways to keep their lands together politically; each was still unique  Central government relied on local officials to regulate society  trade important – connected by land and sea  Social hierarchy  Income gap  Land distribution issues  Capital cities are the center of artistic and scientific innovation; easier during a time of peace/Pax

Similarities between Rome and Han  Expanded into terr. that brought a variety of char. but they also brought cultural unity to those territories  Educated bureaucracy  Built infrastructure (roads or canals) to promote commerce, help military move, etc.  Built walls/forts to protect against invaders which led to economic problems keeping up with the costs  Government lost loyalty of the people as they were asked for more money to pay for the military

Differences of the 3 Classical Empires (Rome, Han, Gupta)  Groups at the top reflected different values systems priests in India scholar-gentry/bureaucrats in China aristocrats in Greece and Rome  Status of merchants varied Low status in China High status in Rome and Gupta  Opportunities for mobility varied India’s caste system had the most limitations – created at birth China’s – opportunities through education Rome - wealth

Differences of the 3 Classical Empires (Rome, Han, Gupta)  Religion No Roman equivalent to Confucianism—no ideology of political organization and social conduct that could survive the ending of the Roman state  Society Chinese believed the individual was deeply embedded in the larger social group, respect for authority remained important (family served as the model for the organization of society and the state); Romans were more aware of the right of individuals, so citizens were more willing to want and ask for more from the government  Who rules Chinese believed their emperor was divine and mandated by heaven, so there was a basis to revive the position of emperor in their society Roman emperors were chosen by the Senate during the Republic period; from the military during the Empire period  Women were considerably freer and less oppressed than Chinese or Gupta women

Decline and Fall of Empires  Nine major factors led to the decline of the classical empires Dynastic Succession Bureaucratic Corruption Inequitable Economic Burdens Regional, Racial, or Ethnic Tension Decline of Martial Sprit Moral Decline Escapist or Otherworldly Religions Costly Technology External Enemies

Dynastic Succession  Rome did not have a clear line of succession Murders and disputes over succession undermined the credibility of the empire From CE twenty-six emperors claimed the imperial throne  Finally stabilized by Diocletian and Constantine  Dynastic empires experienced a decline in quality of rulers as time went on Decline of the quality of rulers led to uprisings, usurpations, and civil wars Factions emerged amongst elites in Han China

Regional, Racial, or Ethnic Tensions  Alexander the Great was unable to unify Greek, Egyptians, Persians, and others  India reverted back to regional states based on language and ethnicity after fall of Mauryan Empire  Diocletian divides Roman empire into four separate administrations each with its own capital

Map of Empire after Diocletian

Costly Technology  Cost of maintaining engineering wonders put a strain on already impoverished economies Roman aqueducts, roads, arenas, etc.

Escapist or Otherworldly Religions  Christianity stressed heavenly rather than earthly rewards Religious strife also contributed to chaos in Rome  Many Chinese began to follow Buddhism or escapists Taoists (Daoism)  Ashoka’s emphasis on pacifist Buddhism alienated many Hindus

Moral Decline  Roman emperors became increasingly self- indulgent and hedonistic Nero, Caligula, et al.  Hedonism and extravagance of the upper class blamed for the decline of the Han dynasty

External Enemies  Han dynasty experienced repeated invasions by the Xiongnu (Huns)  Germanic tribes lived on northern plains of Europe for centuries Visigoths settled, developed agriculture, and served in the Roman military

External Invasions  In the 4 th century, Huns migrated from their homelands in central Asia Led by Attila the Hun, the Huns attacked the Romans and the Germanic homelands  Germans sought refuge in the Roman empire Established permanent settlements in Roman territories Visigoths sack rome in 410 CE Overthrow last Roman emperor in 476 CE

Germanic Invasions

Effects of Collapse  Han dynasty divided into three rival kingdoms in 220 CE Three kingdoms would fight for control of China for centuries  Christianity was most prominent survivor of Roman collapse Rise of the church as an institution  Most Roman institutions disappeared as Germans were unwilling or incapable of continuing them

Similarities of the falls  Attacks by nomadic groups attacks from the Huns – nomadic people of Asia that began to migrate south and west during this time period (probably caused by drought and lack of pasture and the invention and use of the stirrup facilitating their attacks on all three established civilizations Romans attacked by Germanic tribes both Roman and Han capitals overrun  deterioration of political institutions - all three empires were riddled by political corruption during their latter days, and all three suffered under weak-willed rulers; moral decay also characterized the years prior to their respective falls; nepotism Rome  The barracks emperors: series of generals seizing throne ( C.E.)  The emperor Diocletian ( C.E.) - Divided the empire into two administrative districts; A co-emperor ruled each district to try to solve problems  The emperor Constantine and new capital Constantinople – political, econ. and rel. center

Similarities of the falls  protection/maintenance of borders – all empires found that their borders had grown so large that their military had trouble guarding them (Great Wall did not keep out the Huns—they went around it)  tax issues Roman – tax revolts by upper class and church exempt Han – officials exempt; difficult to collect from peasants Gupta – not enough taxes to pay for military defense  Political fragmentation Gupta - regional princes took local power Han - military generals took charge of the Western Roman empire totally gone

Differences between the falls  Cultural continuity western Roman Empire totally collapsed China’s system took some time to recover - Common culture (Chinese script, Confucianism, assimilation) prevented as drastic a collapse as in Rome India’s system was not based on political unity (Hinduism remained)  Economic The Chinese economy was based more completely on crop agriculture; cities and commerce played a lesser role in China than in the West much more commerce in Roman Empire proportion of slaves in Roman Empire hurt the economy; less productive but more people to feed  Demography whereas, major migrations primarily of Germanic tribes changed the demographic make-up of the Roman empire, China assimilated nomadic invaders Roman landowners bought up more and more land and staffed it with slaves; small farmers were pushed out and had no land to

Maya (300–900 CE)  Heirs to Olmec traditions  Culturally unified city- states Never form a unified political system  Built elaborate religious and commercial centers Tikal & Chichen-Itza  Traded luxury products  Advanced math & science Zero, solar year, etc.

El Castillo at Chichen-Itza

Mayan Architecture

Mayan Oberservatory

Mayan Decline  Maya city-states were abandoned or destroyed between CE  Causes for decline include: The disruption of trade after the decline of Teotihuacan in Central Mexico Environmental degradation caused by overpopulation Epidemic disease