Changes and Second-Wave Civilizations; State and Empire in Eurasia and North Africa (500 B.C.E. -> 500 C.E.) Flashcards
What are some Second-Wave Civilizations that collapsed?
The Mayan Civilizations, Han China, the Olmec Civilizations, and some more.
What is a very important topic to focus on in this period of history?
The differences and changes in civilizations, these things can tell us why some civilizations collapsed and why many didn’t.
What is China very famous for doing during this time period?
Making tons of inventions, they made things like silk-handling machines and gunpowder.
What important things developed during this time period all around the world?
Many trade routes, alliances, languages, writing techniques, technologies, and cultures.
Why is the United States sometimes compared to Rome?
Like Rome, the United States is the most powerful and owns a lot of land (and has the ability to conquer more places.) Many think that the US might have the same fate as Rome.
What is an Empire?
A huge area of land generaly ruled by one Emperor.
What are some distinctive features of early Chinese government?
Had exams to determine political positions, Confucianism/Daoism, focused on a “Mandate of Heaven” concept, strong hierarchy, rebelling peasants.
What are some distinctive features of South Asian Civilizations?
Frequent political fragmentation, Hinduism/Buddhism, social position based off of “spiritual development.”
What are some distinctive features of Middle Eastern Civilizations?
Zoroastrianism/Judaism/Christianity, great tension with Greeks
What are some distinctive features of Mediterranean Civilizations?
Greek and Roman empires, Greek rationalism and Christianity, very high slave use
What are some characteristics of the Persian Empire?
It is one of the largest empires of all time and it spread a lot of culture and many ideas.
What happened in the beginning of the Greco-Persian Wars?
Surprising to many, the Greeks actually defeated the much larger Persian Empire on both land and sea.
What was the Peloponnesian (civil) War?
A civil war in Greece where Sparta defeated and took over Athens.
What happened shortly after the Peloponnesian War?
The weakened Greek empire was invaded by the Macedonians.
What happened to Greece during it’s control by Macedonia?
Macedonia unified Greece politically.
What very famous conquest happened during Macedonian control of Greece?
Alexander the Great went on a ten-year expedition where he conquered all Persian lands.
What happened when Alexander the Great died?
All of the land he conquered was split up and taken by three Macedonian generals.
What was a good result of Alexander the Great’s conquest?
His conquest resulted in one of the greatest cultural spreads of all time.
What is the Hellenistic Era?
A long time period where Greek power and influence was at its peak.
What started to happen in non-primarily-Greek areas after Alexander’s conquest?
There was a lot of inequality (people weren’t being payed because they weren’t Greek, for example) and things like this caused a lot of rebellion.
What was a huge impact of mass urbanization and the wide-scale use of farms?
Many new diseases such as smallpox and the famous bubonic plague arose from all of the animals and dirtiness.
What were some of the important developments made during this time?
The invention of saddles, wheels, more advanced architecture, Greek drama, better boats, the Greek and Latin languages, and much more!
What was a huge political development that was made during this time?
The first republic and democratic systems.
How did Rome start up and how did it grow?
It started as a very small and poor city, but it eventually grew. The monarchy was overthrown and starting at about 500BC the empire started conquering nearby areas.
What are Plebeians?
Poor people.
What were some results of Rome’s big conquest?
Many people could become soldiers which was a good job opportunity but Rome also turned into a warrior-society, which meant less equality for women.
What happened in Roman society soon after the start of the Common Era?
Women started to be treated more equally, and they were more free in what they could do.
What happened to Rome’s political system later on?
It became an empire; it was ruled by an emperor instead of a republic now.
What is Pax Romana?
A small time period, which in latin means “Roman peace.”
What is Confucianism?
A Chinese belief system based off of Confucius’s philosophies.
What are the Analects?
Documents containing all of Confucius’s teachings.
What is Confucius’s philosophy based on?
A big family, where elders must be respected, for example.
What is Daoism?
A belief system where the universe is governed by Dao, an invisible and all-powerful force.
What is a rather strange characteristic about Daoists?
They seek harmony so they practically ignore politics and they don’t desire anything.
What is the Yin-Yang?
A famous Daoist symbol that represents balance.
What is Christianity?
A very popular religion created by Jesus that is based off of Judaism.
How did Christianity become popular and what important events occurred?
It became popular with poor people and commoners (I wonder why) and many people started believing in it because miracles happened.
What is the Bible?
A big old book that contains the stories of God and other christian peoples.
What big split occurred in Christianity?
The Orthodox group was created by Easterners and many followed it.
What mathematical advancements were made between 600 and 200 B.C.E.?
The decimal system, the concepts of ‘pi’ and ‘zero,’ and Arabic numerals; to name some.
Why did it take much less time to form the Chinese Empire compared to other empires?
The area that eventually turned into the empire was already mostly Chinese, it was just scattered apart and not unified.
How long did it take the Qin to reunite China?
About 10 years.
How was the Roman Empire different on different sides of it? (different lifestyles)
In some of the Empire everything kept its Greek roots with it but in other areas it was very urban, which was new for Europe.
How did Rome collapse?
The empire’s west half crumbled while the east lasted much longer.
Why did China collapse?
Living conditions became very bad at one point and this caused the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 C.E.
What were some reasons why both China and Rome collapsed?
Barbarians, disease, religious disagreement, harsh living conditions, and the erosion of state authority by factions and nobles.
Why did Indus Valley Civilization collapse?
It was eventually invaded by the Aryans (we don’t know for sure, but this is widely accepted)
What was the Mauryan Empire?
An empire established in India that didn’t last for very long.
Who is Ashoka (India)?
One of the Mauryan Empire rulers, he famously wrote many things on stone all over India.
What is the Gupta Empire?
Another short-lasting empire that started up after the Mauryan Empire ended.
What were some advancements made during the time of these second-wave civilizations? (writing and architecture)
New writing types, many poems and books and plays and such, philosophy, and new Greek and Roman architecture styles.
What is Cultural Borrowing?
The borrowing of another culture’s styles/ideas.
