Ch. 3: State & Empire in Eurasia/ North Africa
Main Ideas of this chapter-
Ancient Greece- There were many Greek city states. Greeks relied highly on trade. They relied on trade so much because of rough terrain which resulted in little agriculture. Greece was a very powerful civilization.
Ancient Persia- Cyrus the Great was the founder of this empire. They used the Royal road. There religion was Zoroastrianism. There army was built around the phalanx.
The Roman Empire- Julius Caesar is named dictator. He creates the Julian calendar, (365.25 days), he also began many massive building projects. On March 15, he was killed by the senate was stabbed 23 times, the ides of March. Octavian takes over.
Classical Mesoamerica- There were four main civilizations, the Chavin, Olmec, Moche, and the Mayan. They constructed walled cities around common temples. Climate change will bring an end to the Moche civilization. The Mayan civilization will start up following.
Key Concepts-
- Phoenicians - Ancient Civilization, was trade based. established colonies around the Mediterranean
- Mycenae - Was a great trade empire. Est. on mainland Greece
- Hoplites -Citizen soldiers of the Polis that helped defend the city- state
- Polis - Individual local governments of Greece including the city and its surrounding land
- Spartan - Soldier trained since a young boy to be a warrior for the Spartan army. This is why Sparta was so powerful
- Phalanx - a military formation created which defeated many individual warriors. Used by the Greeks
- Chavin Civilization- A mighty civilization of South American Andes mountains. They were advanced in metallurgy.
- Olmec Civilization- A mighty civilization of Central America. They created the first writing system.
- Moche Civilization- This civilization constructed walled cities around common temples. Organized my the Ayllus, small comunities built around the idea of common work.
- Mayan Civilization - This had the largest urban population in the western hemisphere. City is in a grid pattern. They are a Polytheistic civilization.
Key Overview of this lesson
- Ancient Greece relied on trade and on a city-state model due to Geography. The Spartans adopted a militaristic approach while the Athenians focused on trade. And the rise of Greek colonies were then established throughout the Mediterranean.
Persia combined 3 major regions of the world, India, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. The Greeks successfully conquered Persia. The Greek culture and history became infused into the Middle East.
- The Roman Republic fell after a series of Civil Wars started because of innate problems within Rome. The roman emperors made Rome much more successful, wealthy and more of a stable empire. Christianity ended up spreading thought the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire eventually collapsed due to in huge size and internal conflicts.
Advanced civilization will come about in the American continents during the classical era. The Moche civilization created a organization with a strong central government and advanced religious practices. The Mayan civilization had greatly advanced science and technology of there region. Both The Moche and Mayan civilization will collapse after their impact of the environment will cause shifts in the region.
