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Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations

Section One—Geography &
Chronology
Classics When something is referred to
as ’a classic,’ it means that it has served
as a model or basis for later things that

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section 1—Geography & Chronology

came after it. For example, ’classic rock’
refers to some of the earliest rock ’n’ roll
music, which later artists have enhanced
to use as the basis for their own music. So
a classical civilization is a civilization which
later civilizations seek to emulate. Lots of modern rock music A civilization which
has been influenced by Led seeks to emulate
Zeppelin—thus making it a another will adopt
Each geographical area has its own classic rock band. many of the same
ideas and cultural
classical eras. For Western civilization (Europe and America), the
elements.
classical civilizations were those of the Greek city-states and
Roman Republic and Empire. In Indian history, the classical periods
were the Maurya & Gupta eras. And for China, the Qin and Han
dynasties served as classical models.

Geography It’s important to take a civilization’s geography into

consideration when studying its history, as it can often have an
effect on events.

Atlantic CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS

Ocean

Qin &
Han China
Maurya &
Roman Gupta
Pacific
Republic India
Greek Ocean
& Empire Indian
City-states
Ocean
Mediterranean Sea

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Greece—Mountains and Archipelagos Consider the mountainous
An archipelago is terrain and archipelagic formations of Greece. Geographic
a group or chain features made it difficult for Greek people to have extended
of islands. contact with each other, so the fact that they did not all share a
political system is understandable.
Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section 1—Geography & Chronology

Classical Greek regions and city-states—notice all the mountains!

Rome—Italian Peninsula and Mediterranean Sea The Roman

Republic began on the Italian peninsula, which is not as
mountainous, making it easier to unite. The Roman Empire

Roman Republic and early Empire

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centered around the Mediterranean Sea. This gave the Romans a
natural avenue for cultural diffusion.
Indian Sub-continent Physical
geography also affected Indian history.
India is often referred to as a sub-
continent, because of the features that
separate it from the rest of Asia. It is
bordered by oceans on three sides, and
then the Thar Desert and Himalayan
mountains serve as a natural barrier in

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section 1—Geography & Chronology

the north. This natural separation allowed
India to develop a distinct culture.
Indian Sub-continent

China—Varied Terrain
The plethora of different A plethora is a
landforms and climates large amount or
an excess of
in China led to creative
something.
agricultural and
building practices. For
example, the materials
used to make the Great
Wall of China vary
greatly in different
physical map of China
regions.

Chronology Use the chart below and the timeline on the next
page to get an idea of the chronology of Classical civilizations.
Greece Rome India China
Greek City- Roman Maurya Empire: Qin Dynasty:
states: 500 BCE Republic: 321-185 BCE 221 BCE-206
-338 BCE 509BCE -44 BCE BCE

Alexander’s Roman Empire: Gupta Empire: Han Dynasty:

Empire 44 BCE—476 CE 320 CE-550 CE 206 BCE-220 CE
(Hellenistic):
338 BCE-
323 BCE

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Timeline of
Classical
Civilizations

500 BCE
Greek City-
states 500
BCE-
338 BCE

Roman
Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section 1—Geography & Chronology

221 BCE–
Republic 300 BCE Maurya India 206 BCE
509 BCE— 321 BCE-
Alexander’s 185 BCE
44 BCE Empire Qin China
338 BCE—
323 BCE

100 BCE
Han
China
206 BCE-
220 CE
100 CE

Roman
Empire
44 BCE—
476 CE
300 CE

Gupta
India
320 CE-
550 CE
500 CE

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Section Two—Classical Democracies

A polis was a
Early forms of democracy developed and flourished in two Greek city-state.
Classical civilizations: the Greek city-state of Athens and the Poleis is the plural
form of polis.
Roman Republic.
Many modern
words, such as
‘political,’ ‘police,’
Athenian Direct Democracy As mentioned in section one, and ‘metropolis,’
Classical Greece was divided into separate political units, called are derived from
poleis (Greek for ‘cities’). Each polis had its own distinct this Greek root
word.
government. For example, Sparta was ruled by an oligarchy, and

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Two—Classical Democracies

Athens itself went through phases of monarchy and tyranny before An oligarchical
arriving at democracy. government is one
in which a few
people rule.
Athenian democracy was a form of direct democracy, in that Sparta was ruled
citizens voted directly on issues. In order to be a citizen, a person by two kings and a
council.
had to be male, older than eighteen, free, and a native of Athens.
Women, slaves, and foreigners were excluded. In this way, A tyrannical state
Athenian democracy was limited, since not everyone could is ruled by
someone who has
participate.
taken power by
force, and usually
rules very harshly.
Every year, the names of
all citizens over thirty
were collected, and 500
names were drawn.
These people made up
the aptly named Council If something is
aptly named, then
of 500, which met every
its name perfectly
day and could propose explains what it is
new laws. In order to or what it does.
vote a new law into
effect, an Assembly of
6000 citizens had to
approve of the law. Any
citizen could attend and
speak at the Assembly.
Athenian speaker Demosthenes addressing the Assembly An archon was the
chief official in
Athens—kind of
Athenians considered it to be the duty of every citizen to like a mayor or
participate in democracy. In fact, the Athenian archon Pericles governor.

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To laud something lauded democracy in his famous speech, the Funeral Oration:
is to praise it.
“Our
government
does not copy
our neighbors’,
but is an
example to
them. It is true
that we are
Memory Trick
called a
Republic and
democracy, for
Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Two—Classical Democracies

representative
both start with the
‘rep,’ so that can administration is
help you
in the hands of
remember that a
the many and
republic is a
representative not of the few.” Pericles delivering the Funeral Oration
democracy. (notice the Acropolis in the background)

Denizens are Roman Representative Democracy In 509 BCE, the denizens

people who live in
of Rome established a republic. A republic is a type of
a city or region.
representative democracy, in which citizens select representatives
A plebeian was who vote on issues for them. This form of government has
any free person
influenced our American political system, which is also a republic.
who did not
belong to the
patrician class. A the Roman Republic The social structure of classical Rome
plebeian was not included patricians, plebeians, and slaves. In the early years of the
necessarily a poor
Roman Republic, only patricians could be members of the Senate,
person. In fact,
most plebeians which was the representative
were of the middle assembly.
class.

A patrician was a Every year, the Senate would elect

descendant of two consuls, who served for one year.
one of the original The consuls could propose laws,
seven tribes of
which the Senate then voted upon.
Rome.
The laws, which were carved into
A forum was a stone tablets, were then displayed in
public place in the the forum. (These are referred to as
middle of a
’the Laws of the Twelve Tables.’) This
Roman city where
was helpful in that the people could
people could
assemble. be aware of the laws they were Roman laws posted in the forum

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expected to follow. Additionally, the Senate could not change the
laws without the public’s knowledge.

In the 300s BCE, the office of the tribune

was created. A tribune was an official
who represented the interest of the
plebeians. Tribunes had veto power When a law is
over laws passed by the Senate. This is vetoed, it is
similar to the power that the US President blocked from
has over laws passed by Congress. being put into
effect.

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Two—Classical Democracies

renowned tribunes
Roman Justice In addition to the idea of
Gaius and Tiberius Gracchus
a republic, many of our American
practices regarding justice had their origins in Classical Rome. In
both American and Classical Roman justice systems, a system of Carthage was a
fairness called due process is used for any person accused of a city-state south of
crime. Due process includes such premises as a person is innocent the
until proven guilty, and is entitled to a fair trial. Mediterranean,
roughly the same
as modern-day
the Rise of Julius Caesar In the 200s BCE, Rome began to expand Tunisia.
by conquering other lands around the Mediterranean. In 146 BCE,
Rome conquered Carthage in North Africa at the conclusion the Gaul was a
Punic Wars. In 56 BCE, a general named Julius Caesar conquered Roman province
that covered most
what the Romans called Gaul.
of modern-day
France.
When Julius Caesar returned to Rome, a civil war erupted.
Caesar’s army had become personally loyal to him, and fought To prevail is to
beat out
with him against the senator Pompey. Caesar prevailed, and the
opponents.
Senate named him dictator in 48BCE. As dictator, Caesar passed
many reforms, such as ordering a census, making the calendar In ancient Rome, a
dictator
more accurate, and limiting the terms of governors of conquered
traditionally was
areas. Caesar was chosen only in a
assassinated in 44 BCE by time of war, and
political enemies who feared only for a six-
he was trying to make himself month term. So
the fact that
a monarch. This event is
Caesar was
traditionally considered to chosen as a long-
mark the end of the Roman term dictator was
Republic and the beginning in opposition to the
of the Roman Empire. ideals of the
assassination of Julius Caesar Republic.

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The adjective form
of ‘empire’ is
Section Three—Classical European Empires
‘imperial.’ Often
In addition to the democracy that flourished in Athens and the
historians will refer
Roman Republic, empires also developed in Greece, Rome, India,
to time periods in
which an empire and China. An empire is a group of states and peoples which
ruled as ‘imperial.’ stretches over a large geographical area. Empires are usually
ruled by an emperor or a oligarchy. Because empires are formed
Conquest is the by the military conquest of diverse groups of people, there is often
act of being
resistance to the empire among the conquered people.
conquered, or
taken over, by
Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Three—Classical European Empires

military force.
Greece—Hellenistic Empire From 431 to 404 BCE, the Greek
city-states had been fighting amongst themselves in the
Macedon was a
Peloponnesian War. King Philip II of Macedon took advantage of
kingdom just north the resulting weakness of the Greek poleis, and set out to create
of the Greek city- an empire for himself. In 338 BCE, Philip had conquered Greece.
states. His next goal was to conquer the Persian Empire in Mesopotamia,
but he was murdered before he was able to do so.

Philip’s son, Alexander the Great, took the

throne in 334 BCE and soon carried out his
father’s dream of conquering the Persian
Empire. Additionally, he overtook parts of
North Africa and Western India.

Alexander the Great

Hellenistic Culture While having conquered
such an extensive empire was an
accomplishment, it also created challenges. Alexander wanted to
be sure that his people accepted him as their ruler. As a student of
the Greek philosopher Aristotle, he was also a great admirer of
Greek culture and wanted to spread it throughout his empire. He
did this by having Greek-style cities built throughout the empire.
Having excellent self-esteem, he named each of the cities
‘Alexandria,’ in honor of himself. The most important of the
Alexandrias was in Egypt, where a fantastic library was housed.

Alexander also wanted to respect the customs of the people

whom he had conquered. This led to the diffusion of Hellenistic
culture—a blend of Greek, Egyptian, Indian, and Persian
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influences. This was Alexander’s most important accomplishment.

Decline of Alexander’s Empire Alexander died in 323 BCE without

having named an heir. The Greeks rebelled and Alexander’s
generals in Asia fought over who would take control. Meanwhile,
the Roman Republic was getting more and more powerful, and
soon became the dominant power in the Mediterranean.

Roman Empire Since its establishment in 509 BCE near the Tiber

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Three—Classical European Empires

River, Rome had expanded slowly. By the time of Julius Caesar’s
assassination in 44 BCE, the Roman empire stretched into Western
Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa, forming a ring of territory Consequently is a
around the Mediterranean. Consequently, the Romans began super-fancy way
calling the Mediterranean ‘Mare Nostra,’ which means ‘our sea.’ to say ‘as a result.’

the First Roman Emperor After Julius Caesar’s death, a power

struggle began
between
Caesar’s
nephew,
Octavian, and
his adversary,
Marc Antony. An adversary is an
opponent or
Octavian won
enemy.
control of the
empire at the
Battle of
Actium in 31
BCE.
the Battle of Actium

Though Octavian told the citizens of Rome that he was going to Henceforth means
restore the power of the Senate and the Republic, in reality he took that something
started at that
complete control. The Senate gave him the title of Augustus
time and then
which means ‘honorable one.’ Henceforth, he would be known as continued on.
Augustus Caesar, and is considered by historians to be Rome’s first
Pax Romana
emperor.
literally means
’Roman Peace.’ It
Augustus’s reign began a period called the Pax Romana. This was lasted from about
30 BCE to 180 CE.

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a two-hundred year period of
Prosperity refers to peace and prosperity for the
economic well- empire. As emperor, Augustus
being. established a strong government,
expanded the borders of the
empire, and promoted trade. He
also sponsored numerous building
projects to beautify the empire. In
reference to this, he once said, “I
found Rome brick, but left it
Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Three—Classical European Empires

marble.”

An ethnic group
Like Alexander’s Empire, the
shares a common Roman Empire was composed of
culture, language, many different ethnic groups, Augustus Caesar (aka Octavian)
religion, or history. many of whom were not happy
A legion was a unit about having been conquered by Rome. To ensure the peace
of Roman army and put down any rebellions, Roman army legions were stationed
composed of 5000 around the empire. Additionally, an intricate system of roads
soldiers.
connected the provinces, so the army could get where they were
The Roman Empire needed quickly. This road system also promoted trade and
was divided up cultural diffusion.
into provinces, or
territorial units.
(These would be
similar to states in
the U.S.

After a success in battle, Roman emperors often

held a triumph (kind of like a parade) to celebrate.
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Fall of the Roman Empire The Roman Empire fell in 476 CE for
numerous reasons, many of which were related to military,
political, and social issues.

The population of
Rome began to
decline soon after
the Pax Romana
ended. Fewer

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Three—Classical European Empires

Romans were
being born, so
there were not
enough citizens to
serve in the army,
weakening it.

Meanwhile, warlike Asian tribe called the Huns began to migrate

The Germanic
into Europe in the 300s CE. The Huns forced the Germanic tribes
tribes came from
already living in Europe (whom the Romans called ‘barbarians’) to Central Europe,
move toward Rome. The weakened Roman army could not near modern-day
protect the people from these attacks. Germany. These
tribes are the
ancestors of many
Many of the later Roman emperors were weak or corrupt. Some of
ethnic groups in
these emperors followed a ‘bread and circuses’ policy. They Europe. Examples
would provide free bread and entertainment for the people, included the
which would merely distract them from their problems instead of Angles, who
migrated to Angle-
actually solving them. In order to finance such projects and to
land (now
pay for the expenses of the large army, these emperors raised
England), the
taxes, which hurt the economy. Franks, who
moved to modern-
One emperor attributed the political problems in Rome to its large day France, and
the Vandals, from
size. In 285 CE, the Emperor Diocletian appointed a co-emperor,
whom we get the
thus dividing the empire in half. Unfortunately, this led to further word ‘vandalism.’
disunity between East and West.

All of these issues weakened the Roman Empire and made it very
To encroach is to
difficult to deal with the encroachment of the Germanic tribes. In gradually
the 400s CE, these tribes attacked the city of Rome itself, and advance onto
drove the Western Roman emperor from his throne in 476 CE. property that
Though the Western part of the empire fell, the Eastern part of the belongs to
someone else.
remained, continuing on as the Byzantine Empire until 1453 CE.
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Section Four—Classical Asian Empires

Classical Indian Empires Two empires flourished in Classical
India—the Maurya Empire, from 321 BCE—185 BCE, and the Gupta
Empire, from 320 CE—550 CE.

Maurya Empire
As you will recall
from Section
Three, Philip of
Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Four—Classical Asian Empires

Macedon and his

son Alexander the
Great established
the Hellenistic
Empire, which
reached into
Western India,
from 338 BCE—
323 BCE. A young
Indian man,
Chandragupta
Maurya,
witnessed the
invasion of west India by Macedonian troops. After Alexander’s
death, his successors could not agree upon how to divide the
Hellenistic Empire amongst themselves. Chandragupta took
advantage of this disarray and conquered an empire united the
civilizations along both the Indus and Ganges rivers.
Chandragupta’s son, Bindusara, and his grandson, Asoka,
A bureaucracy is
an organized
extended the empire southward to include the entire sub-
system in which continent.
government
offices & workers
are responsible for The empire was characterized by an efficient bureaucracy. It was
specific tasks. divided into four provinces, each of which was ruled by a prince.
A contemporary The Mauryan military was one of the largest of the time period,
civilization is one and was famous for using war elephants in battle. During the reign
that exists at of Asoka, the Maurya developed a system of international trade,
around the same using the Khyber Pass as a trade route to gain contact with other
time as another
contemporary civilizations.
civilization.
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Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was founded much later, in 320
CE, by Srigupta. Unlike the Mauryan Empire, the Gupta did not
stretch across all of the Indian sub-continent; rather, it
encompassed only the northern half of India. The Gupta Empire
was remarkable for its developments in art, architecture, science,
and technology, which will be discussed in Section Six.

Pronunciation
Classical Chinese Empires The dynasties which reigned during Guide
China’s Classical period were the Qin and Han dynasties. Qin = ‘chin’

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Four—Classical Asian Empires

Qin Empire As you may recall from Chapter One, the time period
in which the Zhou dynasty ruled China was often called ‘the
warring states period.’ This was because there was not one
centralized government which ruled everyone. Instead, local
warlords fought with each other for power. This led to the
development of new philosophies about how to restore order—
Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism.

The dynasty which succeeded the Zhou

Shi Huangdi = ‘shur
was called the Qin. Only one emperor,
wong-DEE’
Shi Huangdi (pronounced ‘shur wong-
dee’) made up this dynasty. His policies
were very reactionary in comparison to
A reactionary is
the fighting that had characterized the someone who
Zhou period. He was a strict Legalist, supports policies
believing in strict laws and harsh which are the
punishments for disobedience. Though exact opposite of
the policies of the
this Legalism did restore order to China,
person or
Shi Huangdi was not very popular with government who
the people. came before.

Shi Huangdi
Shi Huangdi was very concerned with
defending China against the Mongols, a group of nomadic
horsemen who lived to the north. In order to do this, he sponsored
Necropolis literally
the building of the Great Wall of China. Another architectural means ‘city of the
work associated with Shi Huangdi was the underground necropolis dead.’ Root
in which he was buried. words: necro =
death, polis = city.

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Terra cotta is a It includes an army of 8000 soldiers made of terra cotta, which was
type of pottery
made to protect him after his death.
made of baked
clay.
Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Four—Classical Asian Empires

Shi Huangdi’s terra cotta army

Pronunciation Han Empire The Han dynasty, which was founded by Emperor
Guide Gao Zu succeeded the Qin dynasty. In contrast to the harsh
Gao Zu = ‘gow Legalism which characterized the Qin, the Han emperors preferred
ZOO’ to use Confucian policies. According to Confucius, a wise ruler
serves as a good example to his subjects.

The Han dynasty was a time of great economic prosperity for

China. This was due in part to the opening of the Silk Road—a
network of trade routes which connected China to India,
Mesopotamia, and even parts of Europe. This network was used to
trade silk, slaves, jewels, glassware, and spices. Additionally, like
most trade routes, it served as an excellent avenue for cultural
diffusion.

the Silk Road

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Section Five—Spread of Classical Religions

During the Classical period, two new religions sprang up and
spread rapidly to other areas—Buddhism and Christianity.

Buddhism Buddhism originated in India around 500 BCE, and is

based on the teachings of Buddha. Buddha’s original name was
Siddhartha Gautama. He was an Indian prince who had lived a
very luxurious and hedonistic life. One day he went on a walk and A hedonist is a

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Five—Spread of Classical Religions

witnessed various people suffering, and wondered what causes person whose
people to suffer. main goal in life is
to find pleasure.

In order to figure out the root

of suffering, Siddhartha began
An ascetic is a
to live as an ascetic. person who denies
According to early Buddhist himself of worldly
texts, he fasted and comforts (like food,
meditated under the Bodhi sleep, furniture,
etc.) in order to
Tree for 49 days before he
clarify the mind,
reached enlightenment. After usually for religious
this occurred, he took on the purposes.
name ’Buddha,’ which means
Enlightenment is
’Enlightened One.’ the state of having
found some sort of
spiritual
Buddha came to understand knowledge.
the following during his Siddhartha being all ascetic
under the Bodhi Tree with some
meditation, known as the Four
miniature deer
Noble Truths:
 suffering is a part of everyone’s existence
 wanting things causes suffering
 suffering can be ended
 the way to eradicate suffering is to follow the Middle Way To eradicate
something is to
completely get rid
Following the Middle Way involved moderation in all things. Thus, of it.
a person should not live as an ascetic or a hedonist, but rather try
to stay right in the middle (hence the name!).

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Comparing Buddhism to Hinduism Like Hindus, Buddhists believe in
reincarnation—the idea that a soul gets reborn over and over
again into different bodies. This is very tiring, so the goal of
Buddhism is to reach nirvana. Nirvana is a blissful state in which a
soul is freed from the cycle of birth and rebirth. (In Hinduism, this
state is known as moksha, but it’s the same general idea.) Both
religions also emphasize non-violence.

Spread of Buddhism The third Mauryan

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Five—Spread of Classical Religions

emperor of India, Asoka, reigned from

270 BCE to 232 BCE. About ten years
A pillar is a tall thin after becoming emperor, he converted
monument made to Buddhism. He then set out to spread
out of stone. the teachings of Buddha around his
empire (though he was tolerant of other
An edict is an
order or a religious beliefs). One way that he did
pronouncement this was by having inscriptions that
made by a ruler. promoted Buddhist ideas carved into
pillars or rocks around the empire. These
Emperor Asoka are known as the Rock Edicts. Asoka also
sent Buddhist missionaries to other areas.
Because of Asoka’s actions, Buddhism eventually spread
throughout most of Asia, and became especially popular in China.
The spread of Buddhism is another example of cultural diffusion.

Christianity As we learned in Chapter

One, the Jewish religion originated near
Mesopotamia in Babylonian times. After
the nation of Israel fell to invaders, it
eventually became the Roman
province of Judea. Christianity
developed in this province about 2000
years ago. This makes sense, because
Christianity is partially based on the
teachings of Judaism.

Christianity is based on the teachings of

a painting of Jesus from
Jesus, a Jewish man who was born in
a 3rd century tomb

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Judea. Christians believed that Jesus was the messiah, or son of A messiah is a
God, who had come to save them from their sins. Jesus and his religious figure who
can help people
apostles, or followers, traveled around the Roman Empire,
attain salvation.
teaching the ideas of Christianity. The most important of Jesus’
followers was Paul of Tarsus, who wrote copious amounts of letters A copious amount
and made many trips to spread the religion—yet another instance is a large amount.
of cultural diffusion.

When Christianity first began, the Roman government was tolerant

of it. But as it began to become more popular, emperors began

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Five—Spread of Classical Religions

to persecute Christians, creating martyrs. Christianity continued to A martyr is
spread anyway. Finally, in 313 CE, Emperor Constantine issued the someone who dies
Edict of Milan. This document made it illegal to persecute for his or her
Christians. Later, in 380 CE, Emperor Theodosius made Christianity beliefs.

the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Comparing Christianity to Judaism Christianity grew out of the

teachings of Judaism, so both religions share many similarities.
They are both monotheistic religions, and consider themselves to
be worshipping the same god. Judaism and Christianity share
many religious texts. For example, the Jewish Torah is roughly
equivalent to the Old Testament, the first half of the Christian Bible.
The most significant difference is that Christians believe that Jesus
was the messiah, while Jews believe that the messiah is yet to
come (though they consider Jesus to have been an important
prophet).

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Section Six—Classical Art, Literature, and Architecture

Greco-Roman Civilization The Classical Greeks were
innovative in the areas of art and literature, while the Romans
made innovations in law and engineering. Roman art and
literature tended to mimic that of the Greeks. As a result, Greek
Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Six—Classical Art, Literature, and Architecture

When things are

and Roman art and literature are often referred to collectively as
referred to ‘Greco-Roman.’
collectively, they
are being viewed
together as a Visual Art Sculptures tend to be most enduring form of visual art
group. from ancient times, which makes sense, as an object made from
stone generally lasts longer than an object painted on paper.
Idealized bodies Both Greek and Roman Classical sculptures shared some or all of
represent
the following characteristics: muscular or idealized bodies, natural
whatever is
considered poses, and realistic cloth draping. This contrasts sharply with
beautiful in the sculptures from earlier time periods, which tend to feature
time period. unnatural or stylized poses and disproportionate bodies.
Greeks and
Romans valued
muscular male stylized
bodies and
rounded female
bodies.

Stylized art tends idealized

to look unnatural, body
and humans are
represented
according to a
certain style rather natural stance
unnatural pose
than how they
actually look.
realistic
Prose is the cloth
opposite of poetry, draping
and refers to non-
rhyming fiction
and non-fiction.
pre-Classical Egyptian sculpture Classical Roman sculpture

Pronunciation
Guide Literature Greek and Roman literature included epic poems,
Iliad = ‘ILL-ee-add’ drama, and prose. Fictional literature was usually written in verse
Aeniad = ‘uh-NEE- form. Epic poems, such as Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeniad, tell
add’ the tales of heroes and their adventures. Dramas could take the
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tragedies, like Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. This play is about a hero Pronunciation
Guide
who tries to change his fate, but is unsuccessful. Other dramas
were written in comedic form, such as Aristophanes’ Lysistrata. In Sophocles = ‘SOFF-
this play, a group of wives decide to withhold affection from their uh-klees’

husbands until they stop going to war. All of these examples are
of fictional literature, so they do not give factual accounts of Oedipus Rex =

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Six—Classical Art, Literature, and Architecture

‘EDD-a-pus
events. However, they are still useful to historians because they tell
wrecks’
us about Greek and Roman society and values.

Aristophanes = ‘air-
iss-TOFF-uh-nees’

Lysistrata = ‘la-siss-
TROT-uh’

Illustration of a Greek play being performed in an amphitheatre

Unlike Greco-Roman fiction, Greco-Roman non-fiction was written

in a prose, or non-rhyming, style. Several innovative accounts of
history were written during the classical period. The Greek historian
Herodotus = ‘heh-
Herodotus wrote the aptly named Histories in the late 5th century RA-duh-tuss’
BCE, recounting the events of the Persian Wars and presenting
history as a series of moral lessons. Herodotus’ successor,
Thucydides = ‘thoo
Thucydides, penned the History of the Peloponnesian War, around
-SID-uh-dees’
411 BCE. Unlike Herodotus, Thucydides viewed history as being
wholly political, and not concerned with morals or ethics. A
Roman historian, Livy, who wrote during the reign of Augustus
Caesar, used his writings to make a political statement. He
promoted the glory of the Roman republic in his History of Rome.

The differing styles of these Classical European historians represent

an important idea: history can be presented in various ways to

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serve various purposes. By emphasizing some facts and omitting
others, historians can use their writings as a persuasive tool. It is
important to remember this as you read different accounts from
history.

Maurya & Gupta India

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Six—Classical Art, Literature, and Architecture

Visual Art Mauryan visual art was usually religious in nature. The
remaining sculptures from the time period often represent Hindu or
Buddhist themes. The most sophisticated sculptures decorated the
capitals of the pillars which the Buddhist Emperor Asoka had built
to display the Rock Edicts. The pillars were carved from sandstone
and were topped with lifelike carvings of animals such as lions or
elephants.

The paintings of the Ajanta Caves, which are located in Central

India, include two phases of paintings, which respectively
represent the Maurya & Gupta time periods. Many of these
murals, which are painted on the walls and ceilings of the caves,
illustrate Buddhist and Hindu tales or morals.

Architecture As was the case with visual art, Classical Indian

architecture was also closely tied to religion. The entrances to the
Ajanta caves, which were carved directly into the face of the
rock, feature decorative carvings of gods and goddesses. They
also include columns and arches, much like Roman architecture.
Stupas, or shrines which contained Buddhist relics, also
Relics are the
belongings or
physical remains
of a holy person,
and are
sometimes
believed to have
spiritual properties.

the entrance to Ajanta Cave #9

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represented another religious use of architecture in Maurya India.

Qin & Han China

Visual Art Paintings
from the Qin and
Han periods in China
were done on both

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Six—Classical Art, Literature, and Architecture

silk and paper.
Chinese painters
strove to capture
both the outward
appearance of an
object and its inner
essence. It was
painting of Han merchants Metallurgy refers to
believed that this
the technology
could best be done
used in a society
by creating simple lines, often in black and white. Many paintings
for working metal
also include calligraphy inscriptions.
and forming it into
tools, weapons,
Though the Chinese had been
and decorative
employing bronze metallurgy since
objects.
ancient times, bronze working reached
its zenith in the Han period. Bronze
When something
work was used to make both ritual and
has reached its
practical items. As time passed, more
zenith, it is at the
and more items represented scenes
highest point of
from the daily achievement.
lives of
ordinary
people.
bronze horse with gold
and silver decorations

Architecture Not very many buildings from

the Han period survive today. Though
some builders were beginning to use
baked brick to create buildings, most
buildings were made of wood, so were
not as durable. Much of what we know
about Han architecture comes from This military watchtower
models of buildings found in graves. model from the Han period
These models show that Han architects shows soldiers using
were beginning to experiment with more crossbows, which gives us
complicated styles of roofs, using an idea of the military Eaves are the parts
overhanging and curled eaves. technology available at the of a roof that hang
time. over the walls.
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Section Seven—Classical Ideas & Inventions

Greek Philosophy The word ’philosophy’ literally means ’lover
of wisdom.’ To study philosophy is to question things like what it
means to exist, where knowledge comes from, how government
should work, or what things in life are ideal. Three Classical Greek
philosophers—Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—greatly influenced
the ideas of European civilizations which came after.
Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Seven—Classical Ideas & Inventions

Socrates Socrates was a Greek

Pronunciation
Guide philosopher who lived in Athens. He is
famous for saying, ‘The unexamined
Socrates = SOCK-
ruh-teez’ life is not worth living.’ This means that
the most important thing a person
can do is to think about and analyze
as many aspects of his/her life as
possible.

Socrates believed that the best way

to get people to examine their
thoughts and beliefs was to ask them Socrates’ last beverage

questions. This process of questioning people to get them to think

is called the Socratic Method. You are probably familiar with it
because teachers use it often!

The leaders of the polis of Athens were not fond of Socrates,

because he basically went around teaching people to question
everything, including their authority. They put Socrates on trial for
corrupting the youth of Athens and executed him by making him
drink hemlock, a kind of poison.

Plato = ‘PLAY-toe’
Plato Socrates’ student, Plato, witnessed Socrates’ trial and
execution. The fact that this travesty occurred in Athens, a
democratic polis, led Plato to have great contempt for
democracy.

Plato believed that the best kind of ruler was an educated man
who had studied philosophy, and was thus enlightened. So,
instead of democracy, he supported rule by a philosopher-king.

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Plato used a story called ‘the Allegory of the Cave’ to illustrate the
reasoning to support rule by a philosopher-king.
Imagine some prisoners who have been imprisoned in a
cave for their entire lives. They are chained so that they
cannot turn their heads. Behind them are a bright light, and
some puppeteers who are casting shadows on the wall in
front of the prisoners. All the prisoners can see—all they

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Seven—Classical Ideas & Inventions

have ever seen—are the shadows. Because all they have
ever seen are shadows, they think shadows are real.

One day, one of the prisoners escapes, and leaves the

cave. He realizes that shadows aren’t real. He then goes
back to the cave to tell all of his friends of his discovery. But
since the prisoners still in the cave can still only see shadows,
they don’t believe him.

the Allegory of the Cave

In the allegory, the prisoners, who are literally ‘in the dark,’
represent uneducated or unenlightened people (most people, in
Plato’s opinion). The prisoner who escapes represents a
philosopher who has ‘seen the light.’ Since the prisoner who
escapes is the one who truly knows the nature of reality, he is best
equipped to rule.
Pronunciation
Guide
Aristotle Plato’s student, Aristotle, was another influential Classical
Greek philosopher. Interested in many branches of knowledge, Aristotle = ‘air-iss-
TOTT-uhl’

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Aristotle studied politics, ethics, and biology (among quite a few
other things).

In his book Politics, Aristotle discussed the nature of cities and

governments. He believed that a small city-state, not a huge
empire, was the most natural kind of political set-up. (Interestingly,
Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Seven—Classical Ideas & Inventions

Aristotle’s most famous student was Alexander the Great, who

created a huge empire. Alexander must have been absent on
the day when Aristotle taught that empires were unnatural.)
According to Aristotle, the function of a city was to allow its citizens
to live a good, virtuous life.

The scientific teachings of Aristotle greatly influenced modern

scientific ideas. Aristotle believed that observation was the best
way to learn about the way the physical world works. This
influenced our scientific method. He was also very interested in
plants and animals, and created a system for classifying them that
was used until the 1800s
CE.

Hellenistic Science During

the rule of Alexander the
Great, Greek thinkers
came up with many
influential ideas about
math and science. The
The Hellenistic physicist Archimedes
mathematicians Euclid and claimed that, with a long enough lever,
Pythagoras taught the anyone could move the Earth.
fundamentals of modern
geometry. Similarly, Archimedes, who studied simple machines like
levers and pulleys, laid the foundation for the modern study of
physics. Eratosthenes, an astronomer, argued that the Earth was
round and estimated its circumference.

Roman Engineering In many intellectual areas, such as

philosophy and visual arts, the Romans simply emulated the
Greeks. However, in the area of engineering, Classical Rome
made many innovations. Engineering is the use of findings from
math and science to create structures and machines.

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One innovation that helped to further Roman engineering was the
invention of concrete. Earlier building methods had emphasized
cut stone, which was expensive and not very flexible, or wooden
beams, which were not fireproof. Concrete was less expensive
and more flexible, and the Romans used it to create durable
roads, architecture, and irrigation systems.

Chapter Two—Classical Civilizations; Section Seven—Classical Ideas & Inventions

The famous quote ‘all roads lead to Rome’ has its basis in fact. The
Romans created an extensive network of roads that connected all
parts of the empire. This system of roads made it easy for the army
to travel from place to place, which helped to unify the empire. It
also allowed for trade and the spread of ideas.

Roman architecture combined elements of Greek architecture,

with two new elements—the arch and the dome. These features
are present in two most iconic examples of Roman architecture,
the Coliseum and the Pantheon. Arches can also be seen in
Roman aqueducts, which were structures used to carry water
across long distances. Ruins of Roman architecture can be seen
throughout Europe even today. The fact that these structures
have survived for more than 2000 years is a testament to the
quality of the engineering techniques used to create them.

a Roman aqueduct

the Appian Way, a road which

the Pantheon connected the city of Rome to
(a temple for all the Roman gods) southern Italy
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