Comparing Classical Civilizations of the Eastern Mediterrean

Comparing Classical Civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean: Greece / Rome / Persia

AP World History Mr. B (The Slim Ninja)

Premise: OK guys...here is the stuff you need to know about these guys...Point #1 ? Persian Empires....we covered these guys already so you should be good with them...you also have to know the "impact" that Zoroastrianism had on the development of Judaic thought and then later Christian (that's a new AP theme)...with regards to the Greeks ? Key Concept 2.2 III / B and D ? basically the concept of social structures, treatment of women and the institution of slavery and looking back at Key Concept 2.1 / II / E ? Greco-Roman philosophy. With Rome...the funny thing is...you only have to know ONE classical empire good enough to write an essay on...we covered the Qin-Han in China...we covered the Mauryan and Gupta in India and we covered Persia...so...you should be good with any of those...here are the notes on the Eastern Mediterranean society of Persia, Greece and Rome ? put them along with the notes you take in class....buenos...

Greece

Rome

Persia

Political Structure I. 800 ? 300 BCE:

No centralized government ? concept of the polis (or a fortified site that formed the centers of many city-states.

Governments varied ? Athens in comparison to Sparta.

Athens ? first dominated by tyrants ? or strong rulers who gained power from military prowess ? later came to be ruled by an assembly of free men who made political decisions.

Major decisions made by general assemblies in which all "citizens" could participate ? although usually only a minority attended ? this was a "direct" democracy not rule through elected representatives.

Individuals not considered to be "citizens" in Athens were: Women, slaves or foreigners ? only about 30% of all males in Athens were considered to be citizens.

Sparta: Known as an Oligarchy ? two kings were primarily responsible for military affairs and served as the leaders of he Spartan army on its campaigns.

Two eras: Republic ? rule by aristocrats ? with some power shared with assemblies ? Senate most powerful ? with two consuls chosen to rule ? generally elected from the military.

The head of state were (2) consuls ? who had 1 year terms / could not hold the position twice in 10 years ? could veto the other consul's ruling. Election to these positions required extensive campaigning ? which in turn necessitated money and connections ? were time consuming jobs and offered no salary ? thus only a wealthy elite few could afford to be consuls.

In times of crisis ? a dictator ? a leader with absolute power ? who could make laws and command the army ? for a period of 6 months ? could be nominated by the consuls and approved by the Senate ? could be named.

Highly centralized government ? with king ruling from Persepolis.

The governmental system of ruling the empire was the division into provinces known as: Satrapies.

The governor ? who was likely to be related or connected by marriage to the royal family. The majority of the other officials in those regions were individuals from local areas. This was done to create a sense of order ? as the argument was that if locals were included in the government ? then they would be less likely to rebel. The Persians would become known for the "toleration" for rule.

Each Satrap governor would have a large military to protect their authority within their region.

Social Structure

The two Kings shared power with a body called the gerousia ? a council of elders. It consisted of 28 citizens over the age of 60 who were elected for life ? the purpose of the gerousia was to prepare proposals that would be presented to the paella ? an assemble of all male citizens.

Athenian Society:

The Greeks emphasized the importance of a tight family structure ? with a husband and father firmly in control ? this was a very patriarchal society.

Athenian women had vital economic functions particularly in farming and artisan families but in law and culture ? women were inferior.

Women in many Greek cultures sometimes wore veils. Athenian marriages were "unequal" affairs ? a new husband might be 30 ? reasonably well educated ? experienced in business and politics ? while the wife was probably a teenager with minimal training in household choirs.

The primary function of the marriage was to produce children ? preferable male. Families burdened with too many children sometimes put female infants to death because of their low status and their potential drain on the family economy.

Husbands and wives had limited daily contact ? men spent the day outdoors and dined with male friends ? and most often slept alone in the men's quarters ? while women stayed home. The inequality of men and women posed obstacles to creating a "meaningful" relationship between the sexes ? and to find his intellectual and emotional equal a man often

The Empire: non-hereditary emperor ? technically chosen by Senate ? but generally chose by predecessor.

Extensive colonization and military conquest during both eras.

Development of an overarching set of laws, restrictions that all had to obey ? Roman law sets in place principle of rule of law ? not rule b whim of the political leader.

Like in Greece ? Roman society was a patriarchal one ? with the husband firmly in control. An early Roman law stated, "the husband is the judge of his wife ? if she commits a fault he punishes her ? if she has drunk wine he condemns her ? if she has been guilty of adultery ? he kills her". If divorced because of adultery a woman lost a third of her property and had to wear a special garment that set her apart lie a prostitute (but it must be noted that women were most likely treated better in Roman society than in China or Greece).

The head of the familia was the paterfamilias ? the oldest living male. He had the right to sell family members into slavery and could have a wife or child killed.

A son ? no matter how old he was always legally subject to his father ? but the father was legally responsible to support his sons. Roman women never became legally independent (even when she got married she was still under the authority of her father) ? and fathers only had to support their first daughter ? creating the situation in which there was female infanticide as well as

A system of spies would go around the empire to make sure that royal edicts and laws were being observed.

Each governor would be responsible for the collection of taxes in their region ? the standardization of coinage made tax collection easier ? and facilitated trade and commerce.

They attempted to create a series of laws which were based on imperial wants as well as respecting local laws and customs.

Family and clan relationships were extremely important ? and were headed by the male warriors.

At the top of Persian society was the King surrounded by his political advisors ? which were a mixture of the old warrior aristocracy and the new literate professionals (bureaucrats).

Underneath the ruling elite were the free classes of: artisans, craftsmen, merchants and low-ranking civil servants.

A large class of slaves worked in both the cities and the countryside ? slaves were either captured from other societies or individuals sold themselves into slavery to pay debts.

Economic Develop ments

looked to other men ? bisexuality was common in ancient Greece.

Spartan Society:

In theory Spartan citizens were equal in status. To discourage the development of economic and social distinctions, Spartans observed an extraordinarily austere lifestyle as a matter of policy. They did not pamper themselves with private wealth on a large scale. Social distinction in Sparta was not about the acquisition of wealth but by prowess, discipline and military talent. Because of creating the most powerful war machine of Greece the lives of men was severely restricted. Boys left their homes at age 7 when they moved into the army barracks where they stayed until they reached 30. They spent their days marching, exercising and fighting.

Women also received some military training, ran, wrestled and played sports. Surprisingly Spartan women had considerable freedom compared to women in Athens ? with their husbands were on active duty they ran the family estate.

Most Greeks were farmers ? main crops were olives and grapes to produce olive oils and wine ? which was then traded to different regions in the Mediterranean for food stuffs ? Athens had to import as much as 70% of its grain.

Merchants enjoyed a somewhat ambiguous status in classical Mediterranean civilization ? many of them were foreigners. Overall, the fared better in Mediterranean society than in China in terms of official recognition but worse than in Indian.

daughters being sold into slavery.

Despite the social restraints placed on women in Roman society ? many were able to wield influence and power within their family units and society as a whole. With men off in war, politics or financial business ? women were left to take care of he household ? which meant taking care of the numerous slaves / and managing the estates ? for upper class women.

Some Roman upper class women were educated in the liberal arts and were free to engage in intellectual and artistic pursuits ? some wrote poetry and studied philosophy.

Some aristocratic women had portraits painted or chiseled in stone ? busts of several emperors' wives or daughters even appeared on Roman coinage. In Roman society women or men could as for a divorce.

They also had the right to own, inherit and sell property.

Upper class Roman women in the Early Empire had considerable freedom and independence ? unlike the Greeks ? they were NOT segregated from males in the home.

Women could attend races, the theater, and event in the amphitheater.

80% of the 50 to 60 million people living within the borders of the empire engaged in agriculture and lived in villages or on isolated farms in the countryside.

However ? the Roman Empire did have an elaborate network of towns and cities.

Agriculture was the foundation of the Persian economy.

Long-distance trade grew rapidly during the course of the Persian empires and linked lands from India to Egypt.

Standardized coins ? the availability of good trade routes, newly constructed

 Slavery was a vital component to Greek

highways such as the Persian

economy and thus impacted Greek society.

Royal Road and sea routes

Slaves were mostly foreign in origin ? and its

through the Red Sea, Persian

existence was supported and justified as an

Gulf and Arabian Sea.

important aspect to a proper society ? a stance

produced by philosophers such as Aristotle.

Most slaves were used in household activities as

well as farmers and miners. In Sparta slaves

were used extensively for agricultural work.

Cultural The Greeks did not create a significant world class

Develop

religion ? in this they differed from India and to some extent China.

ments "Greek Religion" had no uniform faith or creed.

Like the Greeks ? the Romans did not create a significant world class religion ? even though towards the end of the empire ? Christianity arose within the

During the classical period Persian religion was shaped with the arrival of Zarathustra ? who is credited with the emergence of

Although the Greeks usually worshiped the same

limits of the Empire ? and got a huge

Zoroastrianism.

deities ? Zeus / Hera / Apollo / Athena ? the cults of

boast with Emperors choosing

The premise was that there was

these gods varied from polis to polis. The Greeks had no sacred books such as the Bible,

Christianity as their religion at the end of the 4th century CE.

an all powerful god named ? Ahura Mazda ? who was the

nor did they have a priesthood like the Egyptians The Greeks and Romans had different

creator god who was good ? and

and Hebrews.

names for their pantheon ? but the

that he would overcome the god

Their religion was often a matter more of ritual

objects of worship were the same ? for

than belief. The Greeks did not have to follow any

example ? the creator or main deity ?

particular rule of life, practice certain virtues or

Zeus / Jupiter.

even live decent lives in order to participate ? there Regular ceremonies to the gods had real

called ? Angra Mainyu ? the god of evil ? after thousands of years of battle. At the end of ones' life ? human

was no ethical code of conduct. The priests that

political importance ? and many

souls would undergo judgment

existed were merely to care for the temples and to

individuals sought the gods' aid in

and would experience rewards or

conduct the proper rituals but not to make religious

foretelling the future or in ensuring a

punishments according to the

rules or doctrines, much less to enforce them. In

good harvest or good health.

holiness of their thoughts, and

short, there existed in Greece no central

Roman religious policies allowed a great

deeds ? the moral individuals

ecclesiastical authority and no organized creed. The

deal of flexibility ? for the most part ? as

would enter into a heavenly

temples were for individual worship as a person

long as the emperor was venerated and

paradise and those who did not

would visit by themselves without a congregation.

the legitimacy of the state was not

make it to paradise went to a

The gods of Greek religion left many upper-class people dissatisfied ? they provided stories about

questioned ? then diverse practices were allowed to flourish.

hellish realm of pain and suffering.

how the world came to be ? but little basis for a systematic inquiry into nature or human society. And since there was no ethical code ? many thinkers sought a separate model for ethical behavior and hence ? moral philosophy. The time period in which the great philosophers emerged in Greek history came after the Peloponnesian Wars when some became disillusioned with how society had become and began to question their values and

Many believe that particular elements of Zoroastrianism ? such as the idea that a purely evil being worked against the creator god, the belief that human beings must strive to observe the highest moral standards and the doctrine that individual will undergo judgment ? where the morally upright will experience rewards in paradise while evildoers will suffer punishment

their government. Some of these individuals sought "truth" ? in order to find order ? this would be done by "inquiry" "questions" using "reason".

in hell ? heavily influenced the development of Christianity and Islam.

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