CLASSIC CIVILIZATIONS

RULES AND EXCEPTIONS

 POLITICAL

• RULE - CLASSIC CIVILIZATIONS HAD POWERFUL EMPIRES THAT RULED FROM A CENTRAL AREA AND THE EMPIRE RULED LARGE
AREAS FOR A LONG TIME. THEY ALSO HAD POWERFUL RULERS THAT RULED. BUREAUCRACIES WERE USED TO RUN THE DAY TO
DAY AFFAIRS OF THE EMPIRES. EXS. – ROMAN EMPIRE (ROME), HAN EMPIRE (CHANG’AN), PERSIAN EMPIRE (PERSEPOLIS), ETC.
ROME RULED WESTERN EUROPE AND EVERYTHING AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN. PERSIA RULED FROM GREECE TO INDIA.
ROMAN EMPIRE LASTED 1,000 YEARS. EMPIRES FELL BECAUSE OF A COMBINATION OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PROBLEMS.
• EXS. AUGUSTUS CAESAR (ROME), CYRUS THE GREAT (PERSIA), LIU BANG (HAN).
• EXS. ROMAN ROADS, CHINESE BUREAUCRACY AND EXAM SYSTEM, ROYAL ROAD (PERSIA), ASHOKA ROAD SYSTEMS (INDIA).
• EXS. ROME DECAYED FROM BAD LEADERSHIP AND CIVIL WARS. THIS WEAKENING HELPED GERMANIC TRIBES INVADE AND END
THE EMPIRE. GUPTA DYNASTY HAD TO SUPPORT EXPENSIVE ARMIES AND BUREAUCRACIES AND THEN FELL TO THE WHITE
HUNS.
• EXCEPTION EXAMPLES: INDIA WAS NEVER RULED BY ONE EMPIRE OVER ITS ENTIRE REGION. ANCIENT GREECE WAS NEVER
RULED BY ONE POWER. ROME WAS INITIALLY RULED BY A REPUBLIC THAT DID NOT INCLUDE ONE STRONG RULER.
 ECONOMIC

• RULE – CLASSIC CIVS HAD STRONG ECONOMIES THAT TRADED OVER A MAJOR GLOBAL NETWORK KNOWN AS
THE SILK ROAD. EACH OF THE SOCIETIES HAD A SPECIALIZED PRODUCT THAT THEY WERE KNOWN FOR.
MERCHANTS BECAME WEALTHY AND ROSE IN STATUS. TRADE WAS FACILITATED BY SAFETY OF EMPIRES, ROADS,
AND STANDARDIZED WEIGHTS AND COINS.
• EXS. – SILK ROAD TRAVELLED FROM ROMAN EMPIRE, THROUGH PERSIA AND INDIA, AND ON TO CHINA THROUGH
CENTRAL ASIA.
• EXS. ROME – COLORED SHAPED GLASS, CHINA – SILK, INDIA – COTTON, CLOTHING, AND SPICES.
• EXS. – ROMAN ROADS AND THE ROYAL ROAD PROVIDED THOUSANDS OF MILES OF PROTECTED ROADS FOR
TRAVEL. ROMAN COINS WERE FOUND IN INDIA. EMPEROR QIN STANDARD WEIGHTS AND MEASURES IN HIS SHORT
EMPIRE.
• EXCEPTION EXAMPLES – CHINESE MERCHANTS WERE VIEWED AS PARASITES DESPITE THE MONEY THEY MADE.
 RELIGIOUS

• RULE – CLASSICAL SOCIETIES DEVELOPED RELIGIONS OF SALVATIONS. THESE RELIGIONS WERE KNOWN FOR HAVING PATHWAYS
TO SALVATION THAT ALLOWED AN INDIVIDUAL TO GET THERE ON THEIR OWN AS LONG AS THEY FOLLOWED THE IDEAS OF THE
RELIGION. THESE RELIGIONS WERE MONOTHEISTIC OR CENTERED AROUND ONE POWERFUL FORCE. THESE RELIGIONS PROVED TO
BE VERY POPULAR TO THE PRESENT DAY.
• EXS. – BUDDHISM HAS THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS AND EIGHT FOLD PATH. HINDUISM CENTERS AROUND THE IDEA THAT ONE
SHOULD FOLLOW ONE’S CASTE DUTIES AND RULES. CHRISTIANITY HAS THE BIBLE.
• EXS. – CHRISIANITY – GOD, HINDUISM – VISHNU, ZOROASTRIANISM – AHURA MAZDA.
• EXS. CHRISTIANITY SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND IS TODAY THE LARGEST RELIGION AT TWO BILLION PEOPLE.
HINDUISM HAS NEAR ONE BILLION PEOPLE AND IS THE LARGEST RELIGION IN INDIA.
• EXCEPTION EXAMPLES – GREECE WAS POLYTHEISTIC WITH MANY POWERFUL AND HUMAN-LIKE GODS. ROME HAD THESE GODS
BEFORE EVENTUALLY EMBRACING CHRISTIANITY. CHINA DID NOT HAVE AN ORGANIZED RELIGION BUT INSTEAD USED
IDEAOLOGIES TO PROVIDE FOR WHAT THE OTHER RELIGIONS DID IN TERMS OF MORAL CODES ACTIONS IN DAILY LIFE. THESE
INCLUDED LEGALISM (RULES), CONFUCIANISM (SOCIAL ORGANIZATION), AND DAOISM (SUPERNATURAL).
 SOCIAL

• RULE - CLASSIC CIVS HAD A SIMILAR SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF EARLY CIVS. RULERS, ELITES, AND PRIESTS WERE AT THE TOP. COMMONERS WITH LAND,
COMMONERS WITHOUT LANDS, DEPENDENT CLIENTS AND EVENTUALLY SLAVES ROUNDED OUT THE SYSTEM. BUREAUCRATS WERE A NEW GROUP
THAT FELL BELOW THE ELITES BUT ABOVE THE COMMONERS. THIS WAS DUE TO THE IMPORTANCE OF BUREAUCRACIES. MERCHANTS ROSE IN
WEALTH AND OFTEN STATUS WITH EXPANSION OF TRADE. A GAP IN WEALTH OCCURRED THAT LED TO SOCIAL UNREST AND THIS CONTRIBUTED TO
THE FALL OF SOME OF THE EMPIRES. ALL THE SOCIETIES WERE PATRIARCHAL.
• EXS. – BUREAUCRATS ROSE TO STATUS IN ROME, INDIA, PERSIA, AND CHINA (ESPECIALLY WITH EXAM SYSTEM).
• EXS. ROME AND SPARTA IN GREECE HAD EXTENSIVE SLAVE SYSTEMS. INDIA HAD THE UNTOUCHABLES GROUP BELOW THE OTHER FOUR CASTES.
• EXS. MERCHANTS IN INDIA DID NOT CHANGE THEIR CASTES BUT THEIR SUBCASTES (JATI’S) ROSE IN STATUS AND WEALTH WITH TRADE.
• EXS. ROMAN GENERALS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF LANDLESS POOR TO BUILD LARGE ARMIES THAT WERE NOT LOYAL TO THE STATE. WANG MANG
REBELLION GREATLY WEAKENED THE HAN EMPIRE..
• EXS. ROMAN FATHERS WERE CONSIDERED ABSOLUTE RULERS OVER THEIR FAMILIES. LAW BOOK OF MANU IN INDIA ENCOURAGED WOMEN TO BE
SUBSERVIENT TO MEN.
• EXCEPTION EXAMPLES – AGAIN CHINESE MERCHANTS WERE CONSIDERED PARASITES. ROMAN WOMEN COULD POWERFUL IN RELATION TO THEIR
HUSBANDS. THIS INCLUDES NERO’S MOTHER. CLEOPATRA WAS ALSO A VERY POWERFUL RULER DURING THE TIME OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
 INTELLECTUAL/ARTISTIC

• RULE – LITERACY INCREASED WITH THE NEED FOR BUREAUCRATS. THIS STILL LARGELY FAVORED THE RICH BUT OTHER
CLASSES ALSO BENEFITTED. ART STILL FOCUSED ON RELIGION AND THE POWERFUL. SOCIETIES INCREASED IN MATH AND
SCIENCE KNOWLEDGE. THIS LED TO AMAZING ADVANCES AND THE BUILDING OF INCREDIBLE STRUCTURES.
• EXS. – CHINESE EXAM SYSTEM FAVORED THE RICH AS STUDENTS COULD GET TUTORED. POORER CLANS MIGHT POOL
THEIR RESOURCES IN ONE CHILD.
• EXS. – INDIAN WRITINGS FOCUSED MOSTLY ON RELIGIOUS STORIES AND SONGS LIKE THE UPANISHADS
• EXS. – GREEKS FIGURED OUT A VERY ACCURATE THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE EARTH. INDIA DEVELOPED A BASE TENTH
MATH SYSTEM THAT IS CRUCIAL TO USING ADVANCED MATHEMATICS.
• EXS. – COLISEUM, AQUEDUCTS, AND PANTHEON IN ROME. GREAT WALL IN CHINA. PARTHENON IN GREECE.
• EXCEPTION EXAMPLES – GREEK AND ROMAN PLAYS AND THEATER OFTEN CENTERED ON AVERAGE PEOPLE LIKE THE
ILLIAD OR OEDIPUS REX. ROMAN HAD SINGULAR COMBAT WITH GLADIATORS.