WHAP Chapters 2-5

Analects

Confucianism was primarily a system of ethics - do unto others as your status and theirs dictate - and a plea for loyalty to the community. It confirmed the distaste that many educated Chinese had developed for religious mysteries, as well as their delight in learning and good manners. Confucian doctrine, carefully recorded in a book called the Analects, was revived under later dynasties who saw the usefulness of Confucian emphasis on political virtue and social order. Confucian learning was also incorporated, along with traditional literary works, into the training of aspiring bureaucrats.

Caste System

A distinctive and enduring feature of Hindu society was a hierarchy of social classes, known as the caste system, that became the most rigid in the classical world. Likely originating from a need to regulate relationships between India's indigenous population and the more dominant Aryans who migrated to the region, the caste system took shape early in the Classical Age during India's formative period. At the top of the social pyramid stood the priestly caste, or Brahmins, signaling the importance of religious links in Indian life. The priestly caste was followed closely by a warrior or governing class, the Kshatriyas. At times, this group had more power and wealth than the Brahmins but could not rival Brahmin status. Next stood the Vaisyas, members of the traditional merchant caste. Although ranked below Brahmins and Kshatriyas, this was still a fairly elite group. Their near monopolization of long-distance trade and moneylending gave many Vaisyas ample opportunities to accumulate wealth. The majority of India's population fit into the fourth caste, that of the Sudras. Although the Sudras were composed of an especially large array of subcastes, most Sudras were associated with peasant farming, but others were based on artisan occupations. While Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras form the basic fourfold scheme of caste society, another groups that gradually evolved stood outside the caste system all together. A fifth group, the untouchables, were confined to a few jobs, such as transporting dead bodies or hauling trash, which were considered so dirty that they were often barred from entering Hindu temples. It was widely believed that touching these people would defile anyone from a superior caste. Thus, the essence of the caste system was the notion of social pollution. The lower one's position in the hierarchy, the more potentially polluting one's body and occupation supposedly was. Gradually, the five social groups became hereditary

Jesus

After the dissolution of the Jewish kingdom of David and Solomon in 10th century BCE, the Jewish people maintained their faith and communities in the eastern Mediterranean under the rule of various empires. The Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman empires usually tolerated different ethnic and religious groups, but in an effort to encourage political loyalty, these empires often created state cults that honored emperors as gods. These state cults created a serious problem for the strictly monotheistic Jews. As Romans conquered the eastern Mediterranean, tensions between the Jewish community and their overlords were steadily on the rise. Some Jews actively rebelled against the Romans, and others formed new sects or Jewish reform movements. A few of these sects preached about the coming of a savior who would deliver them from Roman rule so Jews could practice their faith without interference. Many of these movements also stressed the possibility of life after death for the virtuous, which was a new element in Judaism. It is in this context that a charismatic Jewish teacher, named Jesus of Nazareth, was born around the year 0 and was the dawn of the religion of Christianity.

Hellenistic Era

Alexander died in 323 BCE without returning to Greece, and his empire was soon divided into three kingdoms, ruled by leading Macedonian generals. From the viewpoint of world history, the chief significance of Alexander's amazing conquests lay in the widespread dissemination of Greek-like culture during what historians call the Hellenistic era (323-30 BCE). The major avenue for the spread of Greek culture lay in the many cities that Alexander and later Hellenistic rulers established throughout the empire. Complete with Greek monuments and sculptures, Greek theaters and markets, Greek councils and assemblies, these cities attracted many thousands of Greek settlers serving as state officials, soldiers, or traders. Alexandria in Egypt—the largest of these cities, with half a million people—was an enormous cosmopolitan center where Egyptians, Greeks, Jews, Babylonians, Syrians, and Persians rubbed elbows. A harbor with space for 1,200 ships facilitated long-distance commerce. Greek learning flourished thanks to a library of some 700,000 volumes, which inspired scholars and writers of all kinds. Elements of Mediterranean culture now penetrated the lands of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and India - resulting in one of the great cultural encounters of the classical world.

Siddhartha Gautama

Around 530 BCE, an Indian prince, Siddhartha Gautama, grew to question the fairness of earthly life in which so much poverty and misery abounded. Gautama, later called "Buddha" or "enlightened one," lived as a Hindu mystic, fasting and torturing his body. After six years, he felt that he had found truth, then spent his life traveling and gathering disciples to spread his ideas. Buddha accepted many Hindu beliefs, but he protested the caste system and Brahmin emphasis on worldly ceremonies. In a related sense, he downplayed the polytheistic element in Hinduism by focusing on the supreme divinity. Buddha believed that the ultimate goal was union with the divine essence, a state that he called "nirvana."

Christianity

As Buddhism was moved east from India, Christianity spread through the lands of the Roman Empire from its original center in the Middle East. Although initially less significant than Buddhism in terms of the number of converts, Christianity would ultimately prove to be immensely important in Europe following the fall of Rome and grow to be one of the two largest faiths worldwide. Despite important similarities to Buddhism in its emphasis on salvation and the guidance of saints, Christianity differed in crucial ways. It came to place more emphasis on church organization and structure, copying from the example of the Roman Empire itself. Even more than Buddhism, it placed a premium on missionary activity and widespread conversions. More, perhaps, than any other major religion, Christianity stressed the exclusive nature of its truth and was intolerant of competing beliefs. Such fierce confidence was not the least of the reasons for the new religion's success.

Twelve Tables

As a result, they gained two elected tribunes - executives outside of the senate-dominated offices - who could veto any laws passed by the Senate. But instead, the tribunes formed a plebeian nobility. Tribunes, once people's defenders, increasingly became co-opted into the Senate, first just to listen to debates, but gradually to join the ranks. A third political compromise was the codification of Roman laws in the Twelve Tables[s]. To avoid arbitrary legal decisions, plebeians demanded that laws be put into writing. The Twelve Tables were to be open to legislative change, to embody both precedence and experience. Up to this time Roman laws had been unwritten and connected with religious lore, with aristocrats believing that only they had sufficient understanding of the mysteries of religious lore. Punishments for breaking the laws expressed in the Twelve Tables were harsh and attempted to reinforce a strong commitment to virtue. So, the political compromises eased some restrictions on the plebeians, but tensions remained.

Humanism and Rationalism

Athens and other similar city-states developed very rich cultural heritage. While classical Greek mythology established a polytheistic religion, its emphasis on gods - like Zeus, Poseidon (god of the seas), Athena (goddess of wisdom & war) - and their stories meant that many educated Athenians did not take their gods very seriously. Quite capable of deceit, playfulness, jealousy, and anger, Greek polytheism offered its practitioners very little emotional comfort or connection. Instead, Greeks emphasized a philosophy[h] of humanism[i] and rationalism[j] that was interested in the ability of individuals to reason for themselves.

Athens

Athens experimented with the entire spectrum of government forms between 750 BCE and 400 BCE, but the trend was toward greater popular participation. The steady shift from the original monarchy to aristocracy to oligarchy and finally democracy was the result of class division and rebellion. An important social distinction in Athens, as in most city-states, was between citizens and non-citizens. Philosophically, equality was supposed to be core value extended to Athenian citizens. Despite the talk of equality, Athenians had no disdain for luxuries and developed a clear urban-based aristocracy. Most Athenians were simple farmers that lived outside the urban area, while a clear urban elite developed. Upper-class distinctions created by extra rules and privileges helped prompt the mass discontent that gave commoners more rights. As a result, Athens gradually became more democratic, but ironically the division between free men and slaves deepened. Due to the emphasis on citizenship in Athenian society, the status of non-citizens, like slaves and women, was particularly tenuous. Perhaps 30 percent of the total population was enslaved, although by most accounts they were generally well treated. Only in the silver mines near Athens were slaves abused on a regular basis. Most others were personal servants, and some were craftsmen who worked for pay but were not free to seek employment from anyone other than their owners. Slaveholders usually did not own more than one or two slaves, and friendships often formed between slaves and non-slaves. However, slaves had no political rights, nor could they serve in the military. Women gained status by passing citizenship down to their children. Without political rights, women also could not own property or businesses. In fact, respectable Athenian women were confined to the home and only ventured outside under the guardianship of slaves and servants. One or two rooms of a home were reserved for women's use, always away from the street. Rural women probably had more freedom of movement because of their many farm chores.

Direct democracy

Athens is famous for its democracy (derived from the Greek demos, "the people"). In 5th century Athens, the major decisions of state were made by general assemblies in which all citizens could participate. This was direct democracy, not rule through elected representatives. Athenian political life centered on these "town meeting"[n] assemblies of all free males, who were called together to make decisions affecting the future of the polis. The town meetings were held every ten days, and all could speak freely. Then, the vote by this collective assembly of citizens determined political actions. It is notable that Athenian democracy consisted of only free males, so women and slaves had no political power. In addition to town meetings, the Council of 500 was a group of citizens chosen by lot for one-year terms. The Council of 500 were the executive officers, including judges, who were responsible for implementing policy under the supervision of the town assembly. It was believed that the brief terms would avoid hereditary power from developing, and furthermore, since they were chosen by lot - not elected, it demonstrated the attitude that any citizen should be able to serve.

Pax Romana

Augustus' transformative reign ushered in the pax romana, or the "Roman peace," that lasted until the late 2nd century CE. The empire reached its largest extent during that era, and settled into a long period of peace and prosperity in which Roman strength was generally unchallenged. At the same time as the Han golden age in China, the pax romana facilitated trade and communication throughout the region from Mesopotamia to the Atlantic Ocean.

Sparta

Before the 7th century BCE the two city-states of Sparta and Athens probably were similar in many ways, but major rebellions in and around Sparta apparently influenced a highly militaristic society to develop there. In the 700s the Spartans had defeated a neighboring city-state, Messenia, and had taken their people as servants, called helots. They could not leave the land, and their role in society was to provide agricultural labor. During the 600s the helots rebelled over and over again, encouraging the Spartans to emphasize military control. The rebellions were put down, and the helots' conditions declined as they were forced to produce all of Sparta's economic needs. Since all Spartan men comprised the warrior class, the Spartans emphasized self-discipline and rigid obedience, and put a great deal of emphasis on physical fitness. In Sparta, the helots were a large subject-people that outnumbered citizens by perhaps ten to one. Beyond that basic distinction, all Spartan citizens were theoretically equal in status. To maintain this equality, Spartans wore simple clothing and no jewelry, nor did they accumulate possessions. Their houses were equally unadorned, and their lifestyle overall was frugal and austere. Distinctions among citizens were based on athletic prowess and military talent, and the Spartan educational system prepared boys, starting at age seven, to be soldiers.[g] They were removed from their families, placed in military barracks, and trained until they were ready at age twenty to join the military. Sparta also maintained self-sufficiency, believing that trade and the luxuries it brought were harmful to their purity. Although the Spartans lost some of their zest for equality overtime, with their aristocracy succumbing to luxuries, they still maintained a society based on military values. In regard to gender relations, Sparta and Athens provide an interesting contrast. Spartan women were free and equal with men, and they were encouraged to be as physically fit as the men, especially so they could have strong, healthy babies. Wives did not live with their husbands (who were away at war), so Sparta in many ways was run by women, who were left at home to take care of everything else except fighting.

gentry

Below the nobles were a class of moderately wealthy landowning families, known as the gentry. Because the gentry were not born into noble titles, they were less likely to develop their own power base that could usurp imperial authority and made good candidates for government office. The gentry typically sent its most able sons into careers in government and let its less able sons run the farm. Officials who served in government were given high status, much like the gentry.

Warring States Era

Between 475 and 258 BCE, the Zhou government disintegrated during a period aptly known as the Era of the Warring States. No one single incident or starting point inaugurated the Warring States era. The political situation of the period represented a culmination of historical trends, in which regional rulers formed independent armies and ultimately reduced the kings to little more than figureheads. The Warring States period was an era of intense warfare all around China.

Laozi

Most fully articulated by Laozi[s], who probably lived during the 5th century BCE, Daoism stressed that nature contains a divine impulse which directs all life. True human understanding comes from withdrawing from the world and contemplating this life force. Every feature is balanced by an opposite, every yin by a yang. Thus, for hot, there is cold; for male, there is female. According to this philosophy, an individual should seek a way, called Dao, to relate to this harmony, avoiding excess and appreciating the balance of opposites.

Peloponnesian War

But Athens's Golden Age was also an era of emerging empire. Athenian leadership in the struggle against Persian aggression had spawned its own form of imperialism. After the Greco-Persian Wars, Athenian assertiveness offended the Spartans and led to intense resentment. Sparta took the lead in defending the long-established independence and individuality of Greek city-states against Athens. What followed was the highly destructive Peloponnesian War[o] (431-404 BCE) between Athens and Sparta. In this bloody conflict, Athens was defeated, while the Greeks exhausted themselves and magnified their distrust of one another. Thus the way was open to their eventual takeover by the growing forces of Macedonia, a frontier region on the northern fringes of the Greek world. The glory days of the Greek experiment were over, but the spread of Greek culture was just beginning.

Huns

But, natural phenomenon, social decay, and growing political ineffectiveness formed only part of the decline. They do explain, however, China's inability to push back invasions from borderland nomads. First, an outbreak of war with the Xiongnu raged in the western regions of China - an area critical to Silk Road trade. The Han eventually crushed the Xiongnu state, but this victory came at such a high price that it helped to fatally destabilize the Han government. In the wake of defeat, half of the Xiongnu [d][e]moved west, absorbed other nomadic groups, and formed a formidable new ethnic group known as the Huns. It was the Hun invasions that was the final straw in the collapse of the Han in 220 CE.

Civil service exam system

But, perhaps the most important political development of the Han was also an attack on local warrior-landlords. Under the Han dynasty, a large, highly skilled bureaucracy was created - one capable of carrying out the duties of a complex state through formal training. A civil service exam system[aa] was used to fill 130,000 bureaucratic offices, in which competitive tests were administered to determine the most qualified applicants. A school was established to train men of exceptional talent and ability in the values of Confucian philosophy, classical Chinese literature, and law in preparation for the national exams. Although most bureaucrats were drawn from the landed upper classes, who alone had the time to learn the complex system of Chinese characters, individuals from lower ranks of society were occasionally recruited under this system. China's bureaucracy thus provided a slight check on complete upper-class rule and even more so aristocratic rule by birth. It also resulted in Confucianism being seen as a vital supplement to formal, Legalist government. The trained professional bureaucrats tended to limit the exercise of arbitrary power by the emperor himself as well. It small wonder that the civil service exam system created a model of the scholar-bureaucrat[ab], an important element of China's political tradition, and confidence in the Han reign.

Julius Caesar

But, the Senate, dominated by the interests of its noble elite, failed to cope with the problems of governing an expanding territory. As Rome expanded, many diverse people came under its control, largely through conquests by a military force that relied on citizen-farmers to fight its battles. Military service required men to be away from their farms for long periods of time, and when they returned, often their land had been seized by large landowners or given as a reward to military officers. With no place to go, poor farmers poured into urban areas, and without enough work, demanded reform. Conservative aristocrats refused to change traditions, others pushed for change, and charismatic military leaders attracted the support of the poor. Without a written constitution, real power lay in informal alliances, which fostered a climate of political maneuvering. This led to civil war[t], and famed military general, Julius Caesar, appeared in the midst of this social and economic crisis to claim power. Hoping to restore law and order, Caesar used his sway over soldiers to declare himself dictator. But, Caesar's efforts to restore order failed, in part, because he was assassinated by senators on the Ides of March (March 15) in 44 BCE. Ultimately, the crisis of the 1st century BCE could not be solved by the republican government and led to the Republic's downfall in 31 BCE.

Gupta

By the early 300s CE, power in India was returning to the Ganges River valley as a young prince, Chandra Gupta (unrelated to Chandragupta Maurya of 320 BCE) consolidated his power when he married a princess from a neighboring kingdom. With control over rich veins of iron and a hold over northern India's commerce, Chandra Gupta steadily built a second great Indian empire of the Classical Period. In 320 CE, the Gupta Empire was born when Chandra Gupta gave himself the title King of Kings (Maharajadhiraja).

Reincarnation

By the first centuries of the common era, Hinduism became an increasingly formal religion with a few agreed upon doctrines. The basic holy essence, called Brahma, formed part of everything in this world. Every living creature participates in this divine principle. The spirit of Brahma enters several gods or forms of gods, including Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer), who could be worshipped or placated as expressions of the holy essence. The world of our senses is far less important than the world of the divine soul, and a proper life is one devoted to seeking union with this soul. However, this quest may take many lifetimes, and Hindus stressed the principle of reincarnation, in which souls do not die but are reborn into new bodies, either human or animal. Where the soul goes depends on how good a life the person has led. Ultimately, after many good lives, the soul reaches full union with the soul of Brahma, and worldly life ceases. Many Hindus also continued the idea of lesser natural spirits or local gods, which could be seen as expressions of Shiva or Vishnu. Worship of these divinities were believed to also aid reincarnation. As a result, Hinduism embraced a clear tension between the Brahmin view of a religion based on proper rituals to honor the gods and the guru view of a mystical religion with a divine force informing the whole universe.

Middle Kingdom

China generated the first of the great classical societies. The region remained rather isolated. This limited its ability to learn from other cultures, but also spared it frequent invasion and encouraged an intense, and distinctive, Chinese identity. This is seen in China's emerging worldview, calling itself the "Middle Kingdom[b][c]." This happened in part because the decline of the Shang dynasty did not result in as much internal chaos as did invasions of parts of the Middle East and particularly India. Hence, the Chinese could build more strongly on Hwang He River valley precedents.

Vedas

Most of what is known about early Hinduism (initially, the religion was simply called Brahminism) comes from the written hymns, philosophy, and guidance known as the Vedas.

Axial Age

China, India, and the Mediterranean were inspired by the common need to articulate central values, as part of a larger process of generating a shared culture in each of their expanding societies. Thus, it was not entirely accidental that in a single century (around 500 BCE) the seminal thinkers of Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, Buddhism, Greek rationalism, and Zoroastrianism all articulated philosophies central to classical civilizations - a time referred to as the Axial Age by historians. All three classical civilizations fostered great inequalities between men and women and between upper and lower classes. The nature of the inequalities varied, from Mediterranean slavery to the Indian caste system to the Confucian sense of hierarchy. Although the differences in these systems was significant, the assumption of inequality as normal was common to all three societies. And despite the exception of Buddha, leading thinkers did not oppose inequalities, writing openly of the need for deference. All the classical civilizations made some efforts to maintain a basic social cohesion and often argued that hierarchy was critical to such cohesion.

Monasticism

Christianity's success and organizational strength obviously now appealed to political leaders and elites as well. As a result, the new religion never became the creature of the lower classes alone. Latin remained the language of the church in the West, Greek the language of most Christians in the eastern Mediterranean. Christian faith was valued over intellectual rationales for religious practices. However, Christianity also developed its own complex intellectual system. In the western reaches of the Roman Empire, this impulse was partially met through monasticism. Monasticism is often a rural, religious way of life, in which men or women (known as monks or nuns) renounce worldly interests to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Western monasteries, for example, set forth disciplined routines for monks, with prayer and spiritual fulfillment alternating with hard work in agriculture and study. Through study, monasteries supported the intellectual pursuits of the mainstream church hierarchy. Through the patient librarianship of monks, monasticism played an immensely valuable role in preserving classical as well as Christian learning. As a result, monasteries often took charge of education and healthcare among surrounding communities from the early days of Christianity's spread.

Upanishads

Composed between 1500 BCE and 1000 BCE during an early formative period in India known as the Vedic Age, the Vedas constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. Under Brahmin leadership, Hinduism became more sophisticated over time. Between 1000 and 600 BCE, new epic poems like the Mahabharata, Ramayana[e][f], and Upanishads were added to holy texts of Hinduism. The great poems of the Epic Age increasingly emphasized the importance of gentle and generous behavior. The Upanishads, particularly, stressed the shallowness of worldly concerns--riches and even health were not the main point of human existence--in favor of contemplation of the divine spirit. Increasingly, mystical holy men, called gurus, sought communion with the divine soul.

Sanskrit

Developed by Aryans and first written down in Sanskrit (the first literary language of the new blended culture), Indian ideas about the gods gradually became more elaborate. Original gods of nature were altered to represent more abstract concepts. Thus, Varuna changed from a god of the sky to the guardian of ideas of right and wrong.

Dynastic Cycle

During the Classical Period, a pattern among dynasties, called the dynastic cycle, was set in motion that lasted until the early part of the twentieth century. Typically, when a new dynasty rose to power, it would start its rule of China with great vigor, developing strong political institutions and encouraging an active economy. Subsequently, the dynasty grew complacent, leading to weakening, diminished tax revenues, and increased social divisions. Internal rebellions and sometimes invasions from the outside hastened the dynasty's decline. As the ruling dynasty declined, another dynasty emerged, usually from the family of a successful general, invader, or peasant rebel, and the pattern would start anew. Small wonder that many Chinese conceive of history in terms of cycles, in contrast to the Western tendency to think of steady progress from past to present. Three dynastic cycles cover the many centuries of classical China: the Zhou, the Qin, and the Han

Confucius

During the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE, the philosopher known as Confucius wrote an elaborate statement on political ethics, providing the core of China's distinctive philosophical heritage. Confucius lived from roughly 551 to 478 BCE. His life was devoted to teaching, and he traveled through many parts of China preaching his ideas of political virtue and good government. Confucius was not a religious leader; he believed in a divine order but refused to speculate about it. Prior Chinese teachings maintained belief in a god or gods, but little attention was given to the nature of a deity. Rather, Chinese customs stressed the importance of a harmonious earthly life, which would maintain proper balance between earth and heaven. Harmony included carefully constructed rituals to unify society and prevent individual excess. Commonly, ceremonies venerating ancestors and even marking special meals were conducted. In this way, Chinese civilization was unusual, in the Classical Period and beyond, in that its dominant values were secular rather than religious.

Daoism

During the waning centuries of the Zhou dynasty, Daoism embraced traditional Chinese beliefs in nature's harmony and added a sense of nature's mystery. As a spiritual alternative to Confucianism, Daoism produced a durable new religion that was never exported but vital for China's philosophical culture.

Mandate of Heaven

Even during its strong centuries, the Zhou dynasty did not establish a powerful government, ruling instead through alliances with regional princes and noble families. The alliance system the Zhou used as the basis for their rule was fairly standard in agricultural kingdoms that lacked all the ingredients for "empire." Zhou rulers lacked the means to control their territories directly and so gave large regional estates to members of their family and other supporters, hoping that their loyalties would remain intact. The supporters, in exchange for land, were supposed to provide the central government with troops and tax revenues. This was China's feudal period, with rulers depending on a network of loyalties and obligations to and from their landlord-vassals. Despite these circumstances, the Zhou did, to some extent, heighten the focus on the central government in comparison to the earlier Shang. To strengthen the kings' power, Zhou rulers claimed to descend from the royal lineage of the Shang rulers. They also asserted that heaven had transferred to the Zhou kings a mandate to rule China. This political concept, a mandate of heaven[k], remained a key justification for Chinese imperial rule from the Zhou onward. Known as the Sons of Heaven, the Zhou kings further legitimized their rule as the leaders of ceremony in Chinese culture.

Byzantine Empire

Finally, in the eastern half of the empire, the Roman Empire did not fall in a sense. Centered on Constantinople, emperors continued to rule Greece, southeastern Europe, and parts of the Middle East. This Eastern Roman Empire (later known as the Byzantine Empire) was never conquered by Germanic invasions. So, while Constantine's splitting of the empire likely weakened the western half, it created a capital city and bureaucracy in the east that would allow Roman institutions to carry on there even after the capture of Rome, itself. The survival of the Eastern Roman Empire was also a result of fewer pressures from invaders; closer proximity to trade routes, which made the region more prosperous than its western counterpart; and an older heritage that meant civilization was more deeply entrenched here than in Western Europe. The Byzantine Empire did not control the whole of the Middle East, however. Around 227 CE, a new Persian empire (the Sassanid) developed in Iran. The Sassanid Empire directly revived the glories of the earlier Persian empire, so Persian religious ideas, artistic styles, and manufacturing experienced a brilliant resurgence. As the Roman Empire weakened, the Sassanids joined the attack, but the Byzantine Empire[f] managed to create a stable frontier. Ultimately, the Sassanid empire preserved an important strain of Persian culture in the eastern part of the Middle East, and its rivalry with the Byzantines continued to influence this region into the next period.

Shi Huangdi

Given the circumstances of the Warring States era, it was not inevitable that China would be reunified under a single government, but a new dynasty did rise to reverse the process of political decay. One regional ruler deposed the last Zhou emperor and within 35 years made himself sole ruler of China. He took the title Qin Shi Huangdi, or First Emperor.

Pope

Gradually, a formal organization was encouraged that paralleled the provincial government of the empire; local towns or neighborhoods were led by priests, large cities and several priests were led bishops, and larger regions were led by archbishops. In the eastern Mediterranean, where imperial rule remained strong from its center in Constantinople, state control of the church became a way of life. But in the West, where conditions were far more chaotic, bishops had a freer hand. A centralized church organization under the leadership of the bishop of Rome, called "Pope" from the word papa, or father, gave the Western Church unusual strength and independence. This organizational strength allowed the church to adopt some judicial responsibilities as it operated parallel to civil governors, and in turn, this leadership heightened Christianity's position amongst the populace. With a formal organization, early Christian leaders were also able to combat a number of controversies over doctrine. Faced with some teachings deemed heretical, the Christian church promoted certain standard beliefs and, in fighting heresies[t], strengthened its intolerance for any competing doctrine or faith. Yet, Christianity was willing to accommodate some earlier polytheistic traditions among the common people to ease conversion. The celebration of Jesus's birth was thus moved to coincide with winter solstice, a classic example of syncretism, which allowed the new faith to benefit from selective older rituals.

Homer

Gradually, there was a slow revival of some farming, trade, and economic activity. The use of iron was central to this revival. Iron replaced bronze in weaponry, and iron farming tools helped reverse the decline in food production. At some point during this dark period, Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, which made learning to read and write simpler. The works of Homer, one of the great poets of all time, appeared near the end of the Dark Age. Helping to mark the dawn of a new age, Homer's epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey[f], memorialized the Mycenaeans and the Trojan War. Homer's works proved to be of great value to later Greeks. He did not so much record history; he created it. These masterpieces gave Greeks an ideal past with a cast of heroes. The epics came to be used as basic texts for the education of generations of Greeks. As one ancient Athenian stated, "My father was anxious to see me develop into a good man...and as a means to this end he compelled me to memorize all of Homer." The values Homer taught were courage and honor. The classical incarnation of Greece that soon followed was held together by a common identity in Homer's epic stories. Although Greek city-states competed with each other, they had much in common - speaking the same language, reading the same stories, and worshipping the same gods.

Four Noble Truths

Great stress was placed on self-control and following the middle way between sensual indulgence and withdrawal from the world. A holy life could be achieved through individual effort from any level of society. Buddhism taught that a person's soul would be reincarnated endlessly until they mastered the Four Noble Truths: (1) All life is suffering, (2) Suffering is caused by desire, (3) There can be an end to desire, and (4) Desire is ended through the Eightfold Path[j]. The Eightfold Path is one of Buddha's sermons articulating practical guidance on how people should live their lives. Traditionally the teaching is seen as highlighting eight areas of right practice, such as right speech, right action, and right resolve.

Aristotle

Greek interest in rationality carried over to a curiosity in the underlying order of physical nature. While great Greek philosophers were interested in finding natural laws, the belief that humans could rationally discover answers often hindered accuracy and true scientific process. The Greeks were not outstanding empirical scientists. Relatively few new scientific findings emanated from Athens, although philosophers like Aristotle did collect large amounts of biological data. The Greek interest lay in speculations about nature's order. In practice, the Greek concern translated into a host of theories, some of which were wrong, about the motions of the planets and the organization of the elemental principles of earth, fire, air, and water, and into a considerable interest in mathematics as a means of rendering nature's patterns comprehensible.

Dynasty

Of all the societies in the world today, it is China that has maintained the clearest links to its classical past--a past that has been a source of pride but also the cause of some problems of adaptation. The trend of tracing Chinese history by ruling family became firmly established. Each "dynasty," or family line of kings, was described as ruling a separate period in Chinese history.

Peloponnesus

Groups that were clearly predecessors to Greeks like the Phoenicians, Minoans, and Mycenaeans dominated the waning years of the Ancient Period. One of these began on the island of Crete and is referred to as the Minoan society. Minoans built lavish palaces[e] that were the nerve centers of their society, serving as both residences of rulers and storehouses where officials collected taxes. Minoans were also important commercially in the eastern Mediterranean. Another society, the Mycenaeans, developed in the southern part of the Greek peninsula, known as the Peloponnesus. Influenced by the Minoans, the Mycenaeans began building fortresses around 1500 BCE that offered protection and attracted agricultural settlers. Powerful monarchs controlled each fortress town through extensive trade networks and fierce militaries. The Mycenaeans spread outward militarily conquering Minoan Crete. The most famous of their military adventures was the supposed conflict with the city of Troy in modern-day Turkey, known as the Trojan War.

Bactria

Having conquered the eastern Mediterranean and much of the Middle East, Alexander the Great entered northwestern India in 327 BCE. Although he briefly invaded India, Alexander was not able to establish a durable empire. Instead, Alexander's central Asian border state, Bactria[m], and short-lived intrusion did allow important Indian contacts with Greek artistic styles and political concepts.

Aryan

Hinduism, the religion of India's majority, developed gradually over a period of many centuries. Its origins lie in the syncretism, or blending, of the indigenous Indian population with the Aryan [a](Indo-European) migrants around 1500 BCE[b]. The merging of these cultures around the time of transition between the Ancient and Classical Periods led to a religion of great intricacy that united ideas about an overarching divinity with polytheistic beliefs and rituals. This theological complexity led to a group of priests, known as Brahmins, being highly valued.

Brahmins

Hinduism, the religion of India's majority, developed gradually over a period of many centuries. Its origins lie in the syncretism, or blending, of the indigenous Indian population with the Aryan [a](Indo-European) migrants around 1500 BCE[b]. The merging of these cultures around the time of transition between the Ancient and Classical Periods led to a religion of great intricacy that united ideas about an overarching divinity with polytheistic beliefs and rituals. This theological complexity led to a group of priests, known as Brahmins, being highly valued.

Syncretism

Hinduism, the religion of India's majority, developed gradually over a period of many centuries. Its origins lie in the syncretism, or blending, of the indigenous Indian population with the Aryan [a](Indo-European) migrants around 1500 BCE[b]. The merging of these cultures around the time of transition between the Ancient and Classical Periods led to a religion of great intricacy that united ideas about an overarching divinity with polytheistic beliefs and rituals. This theological complexity led to a group of priests, known as Brahmins, being highly valued.

Plato

However, the Socratic principle of rational inquiry by means of skeptical questioning became a recurrent strand in classical Greek thinking and in its heritage to later societies. Socrates' great pupil Plato accentuated the positive somewhat more strongly by suggesting that human reason could approach an understanding of the three perfect forms--the absolutely True, Good, and Beautiful--which he believed characterized nature. Thus, a philosophical tradition arose in Greece, although in very diverse individual expressions, which tended to deemphasize the importance of human spirituality in favor of a celebration of the human ability to think.

Han Dynasty (Rome Golden Age)

In 202 BCE, imperial dynastic rule was restored when peasant rebel, Liu Bang, claimed the mandate of heaven and founded the Han dynasty[z]. Lasting for over 400 years, the third Chinese dynasty of the Classical Period is considered a "golden age" of Chinese civilization. Marking the historical influence of the Han dynasty, China's majority ethnic group refers to themselves as the "Han Chinese" to this day.

Bible

Initially, there seems to have been no intent by Jesus or his followers to found a new religion. But, after Jesus' execution, his close followers still strongly felt his presence and proclaimed that that he had triumphed over death by rising from his grave. Citing this miracle as proof of his divinity, early Christians taught that Jesus was the son of God, believed he was the savior who would bring individuals into the spiritual kingdom of God, and called him "Christ," meaning "the anointed one." Faith in these teachings clearly distinguished Christians from Jews. But, as an outgrowth of Judaism, Christianity maintained a strong belief in one all-powerful god and a demanding moral code. Christians adopted the spiritual prophets of Judaism, the Jews' Hebrew scriptures (which Christians referred to as the Old Testament), and the Jewish ethical code, known as the Ten Commandments. They also compiled a body of writings - accounts of Jesus' life, reports of his followers' works, and letters outlining Christian teachings - that gained recognition as the New Testament. Together, the Old Testament and New Testament became the holy book of Christianity, the Bible. The message of Jesus and his disciples seemed clear: There was a single God who loved humankind despite their immorality. A virtuous life was one dedicated to the worship of God and fellowship among other believers. Worldly concerns were secondary, and a life of poverty might be most conducive to holiness.

Silk Road

In 25 CE, the Han dynasty was restored, but its rule never regained the full authority the Han exhibited in its first few generations. But, the second half of the Han dynasty did have several important achievements, including rounding out China's economic and social institutions. The government sponsored research in astronomy and the maintenance of historical records. Other important advances included papermaking, the ship rudder for nautical steering, the use of negative numbers in mathematics, and a seismometer for measuring earthquakes[ad]. Under the Han rulers, the government played a major role in promoting Confucian philosophy as an official statement of Chinese values and in encouraging the worship of Confucius himself. The imperial government was also active in the economy and facilitating trade throughout the vast empire. It directly organized the standardization of currency, weights, and measures. The government additionally sponsored public works, including complex irrigation and canal systems. Han rulers even tried to regulate agricultural supplies by storing grain and rice in good times to control price increases--and potential popular unrest--when harvests were bad. Furthermore, the Han Empire's earlier westward expansion began to pay more dividends. Exploration and exchange of envoys between China and states to the west opened a 4000-mile trade route that became known as the Silk Road.[ae] In exchange for Chinese silk and artisan manufactures, the Han began importing a superior breed of horses, new crops like alfalfa and grapes, Roman glassware and raw materials, and precious stones like jade.

Achaemenid

In 550 BCE, the first Persian Empire (the Achaemenid dynasty) rose in the area of present-day Iran, mostly a high, dry plateau between Mesopotamia and India. Under the leadership of the famous monarchs Cyrus (r 557-530 bce) and Darius (r 522-486 bce), Persia's superior military conquered lands from Egypt to India - encompassing in a single state an immensely diverse realm containing dozens of peoples, states, languages, and cultural traditions.

Socrates

In 5th century BCE Athens, Socrates encouraged his pupils to question conventional wisdom, on the grounds that the chief human duty was "the improvement of the soul." Socrates himself ran afoul of the Athenian government, which thought that he was undermining political loyalty.

Legalism

In opposition to Confucianism's reliance on virtue and disapproval to legal codes, an alternate system of political thought, called Legalism, sprang up during the Warring States era. Legalist writers prided themselves on their pragmatism[t][u], largely ignoring morality or questions on how a society ideally should function. In contrast to Confucianism, they favored an authoritarian state that ruled by force. Human nature for the Legalists was evil and required restraint and discipline. In a proper state, the army would control, and the people would labor; the idea of pleasures in educated discourse or courtesy was dismissed as frivolity. As opposed to the Confucian view that organizational details were beneath rulers and such matters should be left to underlings, Legalism attempted to teach rulers techniques to outlast competitors through administrative reform: strengthening the central government, increasing food production, enforcing military training, or replacing the aristocracy with a bureaucracy. The goal of the Legalist ruler was conquest and unification by discarding benevolence and reason and ability, instead subduing the people through laws.

Aristocracy

In the hierarchical social order created by agriculture and Confucianism, the emperor was at the apex of Chinese society and government. Ranked immediately below the emperor were the various levels of the upper class, each successive rank with greater pensions and legal privileges. The highest rank was made up of the aristocracy, or nobles whose heredity led them to be born into their elite status. Many aristocratic families held titles of king or marquis[ai] that remained from the feudal arrangements of the Zhou period. Due to their position in society, sometimes these large landowners acted as regional governors in their fiefs[aj], especially in times of political disorder.

Pericles

It was also during the fifth century BCE that the most famous Greek political figure, Pericles, dominated Athenian politics. Pericles was an aristocrat, but he was part of the democratic political structure in which each citizen could participate in city-state assemblies to select officials and pass laws. Pericles ruled not through official position, but by wise influence and negotiation. He helped restrain some of the more aggressive views of the Athenian democrats, who urged even further expansion of Athenian influence to garner more wealth and build the economy.

Empire

Large political unit that unites diverse cultural and geographic areas.

Confucianism

Looks to tradition to solve problems

Kushans

Of the invaders, an Indo-European speaking tribal people from Central Asia, known as the Kushans, were the most notable. The Kushans pushed into central India from the northwest. In the second century CE, the Kushans expanded and built a large but short-lived kingdom[p] from Bactria to the center of the Ganges valley. The Kushans adopted aspects of the civilization they had conquered, including Buddhism. Like other so-called barbarian invaders, the Kushans found Buddhism more accessible than Hinduism. But, Kushan conversion to Buddhism actually hurt the religion's popularity in India by associating it with foreign rule. Ultimately, the Kushan state collapsed in 220 CE, ushering in another hundred years of political instability.

Monsoon

One important reason for India's distinctive path is its geography. India's location was much closer to the orbit of other civilizations than China. Periodic influences from the Middle East forced India to react and adapt in ways that China, more isolated, largely avoided. Additionally, India's topography shaped a number of vital features of its civilization. The vast Indian subcontinent is partially separated from the rest of Asia by northern mountain ranges, notably the Himalayas. Important passes through the mountains in the northwest allowed links between India and other civilizations, but the Indian subcontinent was somewhat set apart within Asia. At the same time, a diverse topography within the subcontinent made full political unity difficult. India was thus marked by greater cultural diversity than China's Middle Kingdom: north fringes where a herding economy took root, river valleys where important agricultural regions developed, and a southern coastal rim where an active trading and seafaring economy arose. India's separate regions help explain not only economic diversity but also the racial and language differences that, from early times, have marked the subcontinent's populations. Lastly, much of India has a semitropical monsoon climate. With fairly warm temperatures year-round, India's climate is dominated by two monsoons: the wet monsoon that blows from the south bringing moist oceanic wind and rain during June, July, and August; and the dry monsoon that blows from the north bringing dry continental air from September to May.

Zoroastrianism

Persia was also pioneering due to the development of a new religion, Zoroastrianism[r], in the 6th century BCE. Zoroastrianism arose in the eastern region of the Persian Empire, when the religious philosopher Zoroaster[s] simplified the pantheon of early Iranian gods into two opposing forces: the progressive mentality and the destructive mentality under the one God, Ahura Mazda. Zoroaster's ideas seem to have cemented the growth of monotheism as well as the belief of free will in Christianity. In particular, Zoroastrianism's view of salvation and the afterlife seems to be critical influences, along with Judaism, on the teachings of Christianity.

Augustus Caesar

Rome's crisis in the 1st century BCE was finally ended by Julius Caesar's nephew, protégé, and adopted son - Octavian in 31 BCE. In a naval battle at Actium in Greece (31 BCE), Octavian defeated his principal rival and fellow Roman general, Mark Antony, who had joined forces with Cleopatra, the last of the Hellenistic rulers of Egypt. Octavian moved quickly to consolidate his rule. In 27 BCE, the Senate bestowed on him the title Augustus, a term with strong religious connotations suggesting the divine or semi-divine nature of its holder. During his forty-five years of virtually unopposed rule, Augustus Caesar, as Octavian was now called, fashioned an imperial government that guided Roman affairs for the next three centuries.

Alexander the Great

Throughout much of Indian history, the Indian plains were divided among powerful regional states. This was true during the early Classical Period as well with sixteen major states in existence by 600 BCE. Some states were monarchies and others republics dominated by assemblies of priests and warriors. As a result of this diversity, Indian political development typically did not take on the convenient structure of rising and falling dynasties characteristic of Chinese history. The rhythm of Indian history was irregular, but a consistent theme was the importance of invasions through the mountain passes of the subcontinent's northwestern border. One of the most important such invasion arrived in 327 BCE and kicked off a series of important developments. Alexander the Great, a Macedonian of Greek influence, was one of world history's greatest conquerors.

Alexander the Great

The Macedonian takeover of Greece in 338 BCE, led by Philip II, forced the political unification of Greece - something the Greeks themselves had been unable to achieve. Previously Macedonia was a border state in the northern part of the Greek mainland, but now the Macedonian king was able to conquer the Greek city-states one by one since the Greeks had grown leery of alliances, which cost them their much prized independence. Poised to invade Persia, Philip II was assassinated[p], and leadership of the budding empire fell to his 20-year-old son, known in history as Alexander the Great.

Ashoka

The Maurya Empire's third ruler, Ashoka (269-232 BCE), was one of the greatest leaders in Indian history. First serving as a governor of two provinces, Ashoka enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, with frequent horseback riding and feasting. However, he also engaged in a study of nature and was strongly influenced by the intense spiritualism not only of the Brahmin religion but also of Buddhism. Ashoka extended Mauryan conquests, gaining control of all but the southern tip of India through fierce fighting. His methods were bloodthirsty; in taking over one coastal area, Ashoka himself admitted that "one hundred and fifty thousand were killed (or maimed) and many times that number later died." But, Ashoka could also be compassionate. The suffering created by the war disturbed Ashoka. He found relief in Buddhism and became an emperor with values that differed from those of his predecessors. Ashoka ultimately converted to Buddhism, seeing a kind of ethical guide that might unite and discipline the diverse people under his rule. Ashoka vigorously propagated Buddhism throughout India, while also honoring Hinduism, sponsoring shrines for its worshippers. Buddhism benefited from the association with state power.

Xiongnu

The strength of the Han Empire was also demonstrated in its dealings with neighboring societies. Early Han rulers pushed into Korea, Vietnam, and Central Asia. In 108 BCE, for the sake of control in the northeast, the Han launched a campaign and conquered a kingdom in northern Korea. This was a kingdom equal in many ways to the Chinese states that existed prior to the Qin unification, and it was a kingdom with many Chinese migrants. Han armies were also sent southward and with heavy fighting, conquered northern Vietnam. Here, too, Chinese migrants came and introduced the water buffalo, metal tools, and written language. But, it was the Han interactions in central Asia that revealed a theme that would recur in Chinese history: pressure from militant nomads along their northwestern border. In the Classical Period, the menacing group was the Xiongnu[ac], a confederation of Turkish-speaking, nomadic herders. The Xiongnu, like other pastoral nomads, had a warrior tradition, and their warriors grew up in the saddle. Always a threat to raid, the Xiongnu were initially pacified by bribes of food, clothing, and strategic marriages. In time, as the Han became stronger, the empire sent armies to the west in an effort to permanently remove the Xiongnu threat. Achieving some temporary success, the Han's western campaigns proved widely influential, especially in launching contacts with other societies.

Patricians and Plebeians

The Roman Republic was dominated by the conflict between two groups of citizens: the elite landowning aristocrats, or patricians, and the commoners, or plebeians. The patricians monopolized political power, and provided all the members for the Senate. Plebeian resentment of this hierarchy led to a series of violent conflicts over the course of the Republic's history, which resulted in the creation of political compromises. The plebeians were about 90% of the population and fought for an elective, representative body known as the General Assembly. Even though this political structure looks democratic, in practice, the Assembly met only when summoned by the Consuls and could only vote, without discussion, on measures put before them. Still, this compromise seemed to address plebeians main interest in being protected from unjust nobles. In time, this protection was not sufficient, and the plebeians protested their lack of political power.

Senate

The Roman Republic was not a democracy, even though it was not ruled by a monarch. Instead the most important ruling body was a Senate composed of a group of aristocrats, prominent men, and elite heads of households who passed their positions down to their sons. Magistrates in the Republic entered the Senate after serving a year in the lowest bureaucratic office. Once there, they held their seats for life. The Senate held formal powers to select candidates for executive offices, but the Senate's real power lay in its informal authority and prestige to advise. The executive was headed by two consuls, elected from among the members of the Senate to serve together for one-year terms that were not to be repeated in an attempt to prevent despotism. Each consul had veto power over the other, and because they were usually military generals, they were often fiercely competitive and keen to challenge each other's power. These generals came to have great sway over the republic, especially after the Senate discontinued the practice of replacing the consuls every year.

Mahayana Buddhism

This idea created the fertile ground for growing notions of saints, multiple Buddhas, heavens, and devotional formulas. Buddha himself became a god to whom one could appeal for emotional solace. Proponents of this new type of Buddhism called their teaching "Mahayana," or the teaching of the "big boat," because the beliefs were more inclusive. In Mahayana Buddhism, self-cultivation came to involve more than meditation; one could approach nirvana now through doing good works, chanting holy scripture, praying to scores of Buddhist saints, and contributing gifts to Buddhist monasteries. And nirvana too was gradually redesigned into a sort of heaven-like space in which the souls of perfected people enjoyed the company of the gods and saints for eternity. These developments greatly enhanced the attractiveness of Buddhism's salvational message, and Buddhism supplied itself with tools that enabled it to sweep over all of East Asia.

Hellenic Period

The classical Greece of historical fame emerged around 750 BCE as a new civilization that flourished for about 350 years. Based on the Greek name for their homeland, Hellas, this period is often known as the Hellenic Period of classical history. During this early portion of the Classical Period, the civilization of Athens and Sparta, of Plato and Aristotle, of Zeus and Apollo took shape. The rapid rise of civilization in Greece was based on the creation of independent city-states, rather than a unified empire. Each city-state, or polis, had its own government, with diverse forms including monarchies (hereditary rule by one), oligarchies (rule by a few), aristocracies (rule by leading families), and democracies (a new form of popular government). One outcome of these conflicting governing styles was the emergence of tyrants, who were often military leaders who wielded popular support of the masses against the aristocracy. Another consequence of Greece's varied and competitive city-states was a need to maintain cultural coherence.

Dharma

The diverse interpretations of Hinduism resulted in several paths to achieve a good life. For gurus and their followers, there was the meditation, which freed the mind to concentrate on the divine spirit. For Brahmins and their faithful, there were ceremonies that included the cremation of bodies at death, appropriate prayers, obedience to vegetarianism, and treating cows as sacred animals. Hinduism also provided an essential, if complex, ethic that helped supply some unity amid the various forms of worship. A key emphasis was on the moral law of dharma. The concept of dharma directed attention to the moral consequences of action and at the same time the need to act. Each person must meet the obligations of life: serving the family, serving in the army when needed, and producing a livelihood - even earning money. This ethic urged that honorable behavior, even pleasure seeking, is compatible with spirituality and can lead to unity with the divine essence. The ethical concept of dharma was far less detailed and prescriptive than the ethical codes associated with most other world religions, including Christianity and Islam. Dharma stressed inner study and meditation, rather than following a fixed set of moral rules. This explains how many ordinary Hindus could be extremely spiritual and place a lot of importance on prayers, sacrifices, and gifts to the gods, while also aggressive merchants or eager warriors. So, its flexibility accommodated the devotion of monotheism, retention of polytheistic practices, satisfying rules of conduct for ordinary life, and intellectual emphasis on good and evil.

Qin Dynasty

The dynastic name, Qin, conferred on the whole country its name of China. Shi Huangdi was a brutal ruler, but effective given the circumstances of internal disorder. Schooled in Legalist philosophy, he understood that China's problem lay in the regional power of the aristocrats, and like many later centralizers in world history, he worked vigorously to undo this force. He ordered nobles to leave their regions and appear at his court, assuming control of their feudal estates. China was organized into large provinces ruled by bureaucrats appointed by the emperor; and Shi Huangdi was careful to select his officials from non-aristocratic groups, so that they would owe their power to him and not dare to develop their own independent bases. Under Shi Huangdi's rule, powerful armies crushed regional resistance.

Parthenon

The fifty years or so after the Greco-Persian Wars were not only the high point of Athenian democracy but also the Golden Age of Greek culture. During this period, the Parthenon, that marvelous temple to the Greek goddess Athena, was built; Greek theater peaked under the work of Sophocles and Euripides; and Socrates was articulating the central philosophies of classical Greece.

Zhou Dynasty

The first dynasty to rule China during the Classical Period was the Zhou. The dynasty initially came into China from the west, displacing its Shang predecessors before establishing a reign that lasted from 1045 to 258 BCE. Although lengthy, the Zhou flourished only until about 700 BCE, when it was weakened by frequent invasions and crumbling political infrastructure.

Secular

The idea of a philosophy separate from the official religion, although not hostile to it, informed classical Mediterranean political theory, which made little reference to religious principles. It also considerably emphasized the powers of human thought. This secular worldview, or non-religious, led them to seek answers to the dilemmas of human existence in philosophy, in much the same way that the ancient Chinese embraced Confucianism.

Bodhisattvas

This new interpretation of Buddhism coincided with its transmission to China by Central Asian traders and Buddhist monks during the Han dynasty. Buddhism was altered as it traveled beyond India's borders, shifting from an original emphasis on ethics to become a more emotional cult stressing the possibility of popular salvation. A key to the new and emotionally warmer Buddhism was the acceptance of bodhisattvas, or Buddhist saints. Based on Buddha's own life as a teacher, bodhisattvas were enlightened individuals who remained on earth to help Buddhist practitioners.

Bactria

Ultimately, the cultural interactions of Hellenistic Age resulted in a synthesis, where cultures melded into cosmopolitan societies[q] connected by trade. Alexander himself had taken several Persian princesses as his wives and actively encouraged intermarriage between his troops and Asian women. In both Egypt and Mesopotamia, Greek rulers patronized the building of temples to local gods and actively supported their priests. A simplified form of the Greek language was widely spoken from the Mediterranean to India. The Mauryan emperor Ashoka published some of his decrees in Greek, while an independent Greek state was established in Bactria in what is now northern Afghanistan. In India, Greeks were assimilated into the hierarchy of the caste system as members of the Kshatriya (warrior) caste, while in Bactria a substantial number of Greeks converted to Buddhism, including one of their kings. A school of Buddhist art that emerged in the early centuries of the Common Era depicted the Buddha in human form for the first time, but in Greek-like garb with a face resembling the god Apollo. A growing number of native peoples were able to become Greek citizens by getting a Greek education, speaking the language, dressing appropriately, and assuming a Greek name. Clearly, not all was conflict between the Greeks and the peoples of the East.

Franks

When invasions by Germanic groups began in the 400s, there was scant basis to resist. In the 4th century CE most Germanic peoples in Europe were living east of the Rhine and north of the Danube. These groups were seminomadic, herding their flocks and tilling the soil. Large and vigorous, the people prized strength and courage in battle. For hundreds of years the Germans had exerted pressure on the frontiers of the empire. At the same time, the nomadic Huns became restless in Asia during the 4th century and invaded Eastern Europe. Mounted on swift horses, they attacked with lightning ferocity all tribes in their path. Crossing the Volga River, they conquered one Germanic group, the Ostrogoths. Fearing that the Huns, neighboring Germanic groups implored Roman authorities for sanctuary in the empire. The Roman officials agreed, promising them lands for settlement provided they came unarmed. Neither side lived up to the agreement, however. The Germanic barbarians, without land and facing starvation, began to sack Roman settlements. And, the Roman army attempted to wipe out the threat on the battlefield of Adrianople in 378 CE. The Roman forces were routed, and the empire was rendered defenseless. German tribes outside the frontiers - like the Franks, Angles, Saxons, Visigoths, and Vandals - began to round up their cattle, mobilize their fighting men, and move toward the Roman borders. Many peasants, burdened by the social and economic pressures of the decaying empire, actually welcomed the barbarians. German kingdoms were established in many parts of the empire by 425 CE. In 476 CE, the last of the Roman emperors was deposed, and this date, 476 CE, is often cited as the date for the "fall" of Rome.

Indian Numerals

With the increase in prosperity came a greater liberality. The cruel punishments during the Mauryan Dynasty had been abolished, and the government operated without the earlier system of espionage. Law breaking was punished without death sentences - mainly by fines. The increase in India's trade and tax revenue also led the state to sponsor general services, such as road building, and patronize cultural activity, including university life. Hospitals offered care free of charge to everyone, rich and poor. There were rest houses for travelers along India's highways. One of the most important advances produced by Gupta universities were discoveries in mathematics. Indian numerals are still in use today, although we call the number system Arabic because Europeans imported it secondhand from the Arabs. Indians invented the concept of zero, and through it they were able to develop the decimal system. Indian advances in numbering rank with writing itself as key human inventions. Indian mathematicians also developed the concept of negative numbers, calculated square roots and a table of sines, and computed the value of pi more accurately than the Greeks did. As a result, these achievements were more than enough to qualify the Gupta Empire as India's most impactful, despite ruling a territory smaller than the Mauryan emperors had.

Punic Wars

While Alexander held the focus of civilization around the eastern Mediterranean Sea, a city-state in Italy began expanding its power and influence in the western Mediterranean. Rome was once a sleepy city-state in the Italian peninsula that was influenced by the spread of Greek culture, which it combined with Italy's native Etruscan culture. Although Rome established a famous representative government in 509 BCE, Rome's greatness was not assured until victory in the Punic Wars[r] between 264 and 146. As the Roman Republic expanded on the Italian peninsula, their trade interests increasingly clashed with Carthage, a former Phoenician colony, located on the southern shore of the Mediterranean. Carthage controlled maritime shipping lanes in the western Mediterranean prior to the Punic Wars. Roman victory greatly expanded their economic and political power in the region. The Romans burned the city of Carthage to the ground and took control of the lands, rich in grain, oil, wine, and precious metals. These resources fed Roman expansion, and as a result, the Roman Republic reached its peak about 200 BCE.