Holly McCabe Classical Civilization Map

Cotton, textiles, jade, corn beans

Traded with Greece, Egypt, and Syria

• Traded silk, textiles, spices and exotic foods
• Silk, cotton, and elephants to Mesopotamia and Roman Empire

• India has natural ports and harbors- ideal for trade
• Monsoon winds

Traded along the Silk Road

• Tea, silk, and silver

Traded along Royal Road

• Greece traded mostly by sea routes in the Mediterranean Sea
• Traded wine, olives, and grain

Belief Systems

• Paganism at first
• Christianity
• Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God
• Bible- Old and New Testaments
• Resurrection of Christ
• Disciples
• Ten Commandments

Gender

Demography

• Patriarchal family structure
• Women could supervise a family business or estate
• Women could own property

• Patricians, plebeians, and slaves
• Representative republic- Senate and Assembly
• Twelve Tables of Roman Law
• Acquired slaves from conquered territories
• Pax Romana
• Architecture- arches
• Colosseum
• Engineering- aqueducts
• Astronomy, arts, and sciences

Roman Empire

509 B.C.E. to 476 C.E.

Gender

• Women in Sparta had more rights- they had to run households when men were in military
• Athens- women could not inherit property or appear in court
• Sparta- women had education and physical training- wanted women to be strong because they bear warriors

Belief Systems

• Polythestic
• Believed gods were more human-like: had emotions, got angry, sad, etc.

Classical Greece

Demography

500 B.C.E. to 300 B.C.E.

• Mountainous Land
• Powerful military
• City-states- Polis
• Athens- Golden Age
• Sparta- Militaristic
• Direct democracy- adult males could participate
• Philosophy- Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
• Architecture- columns
• Comedies, tragedies, and poetry
• Hellenistic culture

Gender

• Patriarchal family structure
• Women unequal to men- arranged marriages
• Mostly upper-class women were educated
• Confucianism in Han dynasty led to women be second to their husbands and other male relatives

Mauryan Empire

321 to 180 B.C.E

Gupta Empire

Qin Dynasty

320 to 550 C.E.

Qin Demography

Legalism

221 to 209 B.C.E.

• Qin dynasty
• Founded by Han Fei- wrote Vermin
• Rule with a strong, punishing hand
• People are born evil
• Harsh punishment and coercive labor
• Education is dangerous-leads to rebellion

Han Dynasty

Persian Empire

• Horsemanship
• Mandate of Heaven
• Centralized government
• Standardized currency and measurements
• Harsh conditions- coercive labor
• Engineering-levies
• No education- burning of books and records
• Terracotta soldiers
• Built Great Wall of China

Mauryan Demography

200 B.C.E. to 460s C.E.

Gupta Demography

• Centralized- ruled by kings and councils
• Organized tax system\
• Powerful military
• Engineering, architecture
• Education only for wealthy
• Irrigation, measurement system

• Ruled by kings
• Tributary states and councils, judicial system
• Guild system
• Writing- Puranas
• Metallurgy, plastic surgery, C-Sections, universities, math advancements- pi

Demography

Belief Systems

• Conquered early Mesopotamian civilizations
• Ruled provinces with satraps
• Built Great Royal Road
• Militaristic
• Standardized taxes and measurements, postal system
• Irrigation systems

Han Demography

Gender

Confucianism

• Main belief system of Han dynasty
• Started by Confucius- Analects
• Five Key Relationships: Ruler to Subject, Father to Son, Older Brother to Younger Brother, Husband to Wife, Friend to Friend
• Filial Piety- one should respect their elders
• People are naturally good
• Education instead of punishment
• Civil service Exam
• Ancestor Worship

• Women were given more respect
• Performed religious rituals
• Females in the military

• Centralized- Bureaucracy
• Civil Service Exam
• Large army
• Taxation
• Merchants were not valued as much as farmers
• Palaces, parks, markets, temples, zoos
• Lots of education
• Paper, stirrups, plow
• Astronomy, music, art

• Families were patriarchal
• Only education for affluent men
• Women had few rights- women lost more rights in the Gupta- lost the right to own/inherit property and right to participate in religious rituals and studies
• Child marriage

Zoroastrianism

• Hinduism
• Main god- Brahma- the Creator
• Vishnu- the Preserver
• Shiva- the Destroyer
• Life goal is to merge with Brahma- moksha
• Born into a role or caste
• Follow dharma, you will move up on the caste system- reincarnation
• Vedas, Upanishads

• Prophet Zoroaster
• Two gods- good and evil
• Ahura Mazda- good- triumph over chaos
• Avesta

Traded with Teotihuacan

Zapotec

Mayan Civilization

300 B.C.E. to 800 C.E.

Belief Systems

Gupta Dynasty traded with East Africa

• Believed Earth was flat
• Terrified of death
• Bloodletting: piercing a body part so a spirit could pass through wounds
• Three parts to the cosmos- Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld

Demography

Gender

• Built pyramids
• Wrote in hieroglyphics
• Had a Golden Age
• Complex calendar system
• Large city of Tikal- had 100000 people
• Large building projects
• No large animals- human labor
• Most people were peasants and slaves
• Ball courts
• Number system
• Decentralized city-states
• Maize- staple of diet
• Merchants had high status
• Agriculture techniques
• War-like
• Terrace Farming

• Women could hold some government positions
• Took part in religious rituals
• Performed domestic duties