AP Review Part I & II Review

Foundations: 8,000 B.C. – 600 A.D. THE BIG PICTURE
As you review the details of the ancient civilizations, stay focused on some big-picture concepts, including the following: 
1.	What are civilizations all about? Think about what makes a civilization a civilization in the first place. As you read through this review, I'll give you some ideas. Focus on things like the existence and development of cities, formal institutions (including political, economic, and religious), different social levels and occupations, the use of technology (basic and hugely important things such as wheels and weapons), the arts, and methods of communication and transportation. 

2.	How does change occur within a society? When change occurs, think about what caused it. Sometimes a society changed because it was exposed to a different way of doing things when it interacted with another culture (cultural diffusion). Other times a society changed because certain of its own members invented something new, or 	realized how to use something in a new way. Always pay attention to why things changed in a particular society or civilization.

3.	How are people impacted by, and how do they impact, geography and climate? Focus on the interaction between people and nature. We'll draw your attention to this issue constantly in this chapter. Geography and climate help to explain where people live and build cities, why people suddenly move from one place to another, and how early civilizations chose to defend themselves against attack. They also greatly influenced which civilizations interacted with, or were isolated from other civilizations. But people also use technology to impact their surroundings. Civilizations change the landscape by diverting water, moving natural resources, and building transportation networks. Nature impacts people; people impact nature. 
HISTORY REVIEW THROUGH 600 C.E. 
A. NOMADS: FOLLOW THE FOOD 
Imagine early people. They hadn't yet built cities. They didn't know how to farm. They didn't even have a language. Their sole focus in life was to satisfy their most basic needs:  shelter and food. Because they didn't have any advanced tools and hadn't yet developed anything as sophisticated as farming, the best way for them to get shelter was to find it, and the best way to get food was to follow it. 
You need to understand why the development of more stable civilizations (which you will be asked a lot of questions about) was so significant, and the best way to do that is to learn what came before them. As you review world history before the Neolithic Revolution, focus on only the major developments. During this time period, those include the development of spoken language, the ability to control and use fire, and the ability to make simple tools out of stone. 
Foraging Societies: Hunt and Gather 	 
Foraging societies (hunter-gatherer) were composed of small groups of people who traveled from point to point as the climate and availability of plants and animals dictated. Because they were tied to nature for sustenance, they were also at the mercy of nature. Climate changes, disease, famine, and natural disasters could endanger or eliminate entire communities. Members of these societies did not build permanent shelters and had only a few personal belongings. 

Pastoral Societies: Taming the Animals 
Pastoral societies were characterized by the domestication of animals. Many of these societies used small-scale agriculture to supplement the main food supply of animal products, such as milk. The extended family was a major institution, which was very male-dominated because men controlled the bulk of food supply. Women had very few rights. There was some stratification and social status in foraging societies and were based on the size of one's herd in pastoral societies. But as in foraging societies, people in pastoral societies had few personal possessions other than their herds. Even though they had domesticated animals (as opposed to having to hunt for animals), they couldn't settle down in towns because they had to continually search for food and water for the herds. 
As pastoral societies increasingly domesticated more and more animals, they also began to experiment with securing a more dependable food supply through the cultivation of plants. This was a revolutionary development that led to ...
B. SETTLING DOWN: THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION Agricultural Societies: This Is My Land 
In a span of several thousand years from approximately 8000 B.C.E. to 3000 B.C.E., groups of people moved from nomadic lifestyles to agricultural lifestyles to town and city life. This transition period is often called the Neolithic Revolution or the Agricultural Revolution. Keep in mind that we still aren't talking about full-blown civilizations. People still lived in relatively small, independent groups or communities. To be sure, the towns and cities that they built were bigger than anything else that came before them, but civilizations on a grand scale didn't get rolling until around 3000 B.C.E  (it varied depending on the region of the world). 
Here's how it worked: When people figured out how to cultivate plants, they could stay in the same place, as long as there was good soil and a stable source of water. Because they also knew how to domesticate animals and use simple tools, they could rely on a relatively varied and constant supply of food, and this encouraged them to stay in the same place for longer periods of time. I 
Staying in the same place changed things dramatically, because people in a community stayed within close proximity of each other, which added to their sense of unity and helped them build and sustain cultural traditions. What's more, unlike nomadic societies, agricultural communities were not just collections of people, but people tied to a particular piece of land. In other words, they began to think of property in terms of ownership. 
Important Consequence of Agriculture: A Food Surplus 
Imagine two people who only grow enough food for themselves. They both have to farm all day every day. There's little time left to do anything else. Now imagine that one person farms enough food for two people. The second person can do something else, say, make tools or dig an irrigation ditch or study to become a philosopher or religious leader. Now imagine that one person can farm enough food for five people, or ten people, or a hundred people. Now the other ninety-nine people can build towns, organize armies, develop a system of writing, create art, experiment, and discover new technologies. In other words, individual labor becomes specialized. Each person can get really good at doing a particular task because he or she no longer has to worry about where the next meal is coming from. 
As agricultural societies became more complex, organized economies, governmental structures, and religious organizations began to emerge to keep things as predictable and orderly as possible. Suddenly, there was a society, or the beginnings of what we'd call a civilization. 
With the invention of irrigation techniques, lands that previously couldn't be farmed could be used for additional surpluses. This would lead to more growth and complexity, which would lead to more agricultural advancements, which would lead to more growth and complexity, and so on. 
With the development of large-scale agriculture, animals began to be used not only as a source of food and clothing, but also as a direct source of agricultural labor. For example, oxen were used to pull plows on ever-expanding farmland. This enabled farmers to increase the size of their fields dramatically because they no longer had to turn the soil by hand.

Technology: Metal Workers Deserve Medals 
During this period, hard stones such as granite were sharpened and formed into farming tools such as hoes and plows. Pottery was made to use for cooking. Weaving was invented to shape baskets and nets; more complex and comfortable clothing was designed. Eventually, wheels were invented for use on carts, and sails for use on boats. The list goes on and on. 
But perhaps one of the most significant advances of the Neolithic Era was the knowledge of how to use metals. This not only greatly advanced the development of tools, but also that of weapons. When people figured out how to combine copper with tin to create an even harder metal, bronze, the building of civilizations was well on its way. This development was so significant that some people call the latter part of the Neolithic Era the Bronze Age. It would later be superseded by the discovery of iron, but more on that later. 
C. THE BIG, EARLY CIVILIZATIONS: RIVERS DELIVER (RVC’s)
Most of the world's early great civilizations were located in river valleys. Rivers provided a regular supply of water, which is necessary for survival.  Also important is that the lands around rivers tend to be covered with soil that is loaded with nutrients, which are deposited when the river recedes after floods to nourish the soil. Rivers were also a vital means of transportation. 
Pay attention to the social, political, and economic developments of the civilizations in this section: These developments are what made them civilizations in the first place. 
A piece of advice: Do not assume that all civilizations were headed by a central authority. Many early civilizations, in fact, were composed of loosely connected city-states, which were made up of an urban center and the agricultural land around it under its control. 
Major early civilizations developed and became dominant starting at around 3000 to 2000 B.C.E. 
They were located in Mesopotamia (Tigris-Euphrates), Egypt, India, China, and the Americas. 
1. Mesopotamia: Lots of Water, Lots of History 
Mesopotamia literally means "land between the rivers"; the rivers were the Tigris and the Euphrates. A series of ancient civilizations-most notably Sumer, Babylon, and Persia thrived along their banks. Mesopotamia is part of a larger area of relatively arable land known as the Fertile Crescent, which extends westward from Mesopotamia toward the Mediterranean. 
Sumer: The First Major Mesopotamian Civilization 
In addition to successful agriculture and river management, the Sumerians developed a form of writing known as cuneiform. Scribes used this form of writing to set down laws, treaties, and important social and religious customs; soon the use of cuneiform spread over the trade routes to many other parts of the region. Trade was also enhanced by the introduction of the wheel. 
Sumerians also developed a twelve-month calendar and a math system based on sixty (as in sixty seconds and three-hundred-sixty degrees). They used geometry, as well, to survey the land and to develop architectural enhancements such as arches and columns. 
Sumerians were polytheistic, meaning that they worshipped more thal1 one god. The interesting thing about Sumerian polytheism was that each city-state had its own god that was worshipped only by its people. Sumerians built temples, called ziggurats, which were kind of like step-pyramids, to appease their gods. Religious kings ruled their city-state from here.  They believed that when disaster struck, it was because the gods were angry. 
No temple could stop the relentless flow of invasions of Sumer.  Remember that the Middle East is called the crossroads of the world and very open to invasion, because of no natural boundaries.  Its conquerors adopted many Sumerian traditions and technologies. 

From Sumer to Babylon 
As the Sumerian city-states declined, the city of Akkad, rose to dominate the region. The Akkadians major contribution was they developed the first known code of laws, which they wrote in cuneiform, which they learned from the Sumerians. The  Akkadians were overrun by a new powerhouse in Mesopotamia, Babylon. King Hammurabi of Babylon expanded on this idea of a code of laws by developing an extensive code that dealt with every part of daily life. The Code of Hammurabi, as it has come to be called, is often credited as, a significant step toward our modern legal codes.
But Babylon quickly fell due to the invasions of the Hittites. By 1500 B.C.E., the Hittites dominated the region, especially because they learned how to use iron in their weapons. Because iron is a lot stronger than bronze, the Hittites quickly became a military superpower. 
Information was passed via the trade routes to other groups, who would quickly adopt and adapt the new technology to suit their cultures. In this way, within a hundred years, the Assyrians had learned to use the very iron technology the Hittites had used to defeat them.  Highly disciplined, but cruel, the Assyrian army was hated by those it conquered. As a result, there were frequent uprisings against the Assyrian authorities, who, in response, sent large groups of people into exile, which led to further cultural diffusion.
In spite of their power, within a few hundred years, the Assyrians were defeated as well by the Chaldeans. The Chaldean king, Nebuchadnezzar, rebuilt Babylon as a showplace of architecture and culture; he extended his empire throughout the Fertile Crescent, as the Assyrians had done before him. But like all the civilizations before it, the new Babylon was doomed to fall. A new civilization, the Persian Empire, developed into a major world force. 
The Persians established a big empire-a really big empire-that, by 500 B.C.E., stretched from beyond the Nile River Valley in Egypt around the eastern Mediterranean through present-day Turkey and parts of Greece, and then eastward through present-day Afghanistan. Huge! 
To improve transportation and communication across the vast empire, the Persians built a series of long roads. The longest was the Great Royal Road, which stretched some 1,600 miles from the Persian Gulf to the Aegean Sea. 
We'll talk more about the Persian Empire later, because they butted heads with the other major world empires (like Greece & Rome). 
Lydians, Phoenicians, and Hebrews…
Within and near the Persian Empire, many smaller societies existed and kept their own identities. Among these were the Lydians, Phoenicians, and Hebrews. 
The Lydians are important because they came up with the concept of using coined money to conduct trade with, rather than using the barter system, in which goods are exchanged for other goods. 
The Phoenicians are important, first, because they established powerful naval city-states all along the Mediterranean and second, because they developed a simple alphabet that used only 22 letters as opposed to the much more complex cuneiform system. The Greeks later adopted the Phoenician alphabet, and from there it spread and changed, and eventually led to the system of letters you are reading on this page. 
The Hebrews are significant because of their religious beliefs called Judaism. The Hebrews were monotheistic, meaning they believed in one god. By around 1000 H.C.E., the Hebrews had established Israel in Palestine on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Although they were frequently invaded by neighboring empires they managed to maintain their identity, in large part because they believed they were God's chosen people. 
2.  The Egyptians
The ancient Egyptian civilization developed along the Nile River, where the soil was rich and the agricultural opportunities were plentiful. The Nile cuts through an otherwise desert landscape, so the people clustered along the riverbanks, where, in addition to farms, they constructed towns and cities. Though we often think of ancient Egypt in terms of massive construction projects, such as the pyramids, most Egyptians lived in smaller towns. Unlike the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the Nile flooded at a predictable time of the year and in relatively predictable stages. This made it possible for the ancient Egyptians to follow a very stable agricultural cycle and compile substantial food surpluses. 
Three Kingdoms in One Civilization 
As various dynasties rose to and fell from power, ancient Egypt was reorganized into different kingdoms. You don't need to remember all the details about the many kingdoms, but you should know that there were three major ones-Old, Middle, and New-and that it was during the New Kingdom that the ancient Egyptian civilization reached its height. By 1400 B.C.E., it stretched from the upper Nile River valley through the eastern Mediterranean regions of Palestine and parts of Asia Minor (present day Turkey). 
Egyptian Achievements 
Even before the Old Kingdom, the entire river valley united under King Menes, who led efforts to manage the floodwaters and build drainage and irrigation systems. As a result of the unification, the civilization became wealthy and powerful. Rulers, known as pharaohs, directed the construction of obelisks and the pyramids, enormous tombs for their afterlife. In addition, the Egyptians used an advanced writing system to communicate. Known as hieroglyphics, this system consisted of a series of pictures (hieroglyphs) that represented letters and words. The Egyptians were also very interested in astronomy, which led to their creation of a reliable calendar. 
Over time, the civilization became dependent on trade because its people needed a constant supply of timber and stone for their many ambitious building projects, and because their culture valued luxuries such as gold and spices. 
You Can Take It with You 
Like most Mesopotamian societies, the Egyptians were polytheistic. The most significant aspect of their religious beliefs was the focus on life after death. The Egyptians were convinced they could take earthly belongings with them to the afterlife, where they would be happy and well-fed and would continue doing many of the same things they did while in their earthly lives. They also believed that they would be able to use their bodies in the afterlife, and this led to the invention of mummification, a process of preserving dead bodies. The pharaohs, as you know, built huge pyramids to house their mummified bodies and earthly treasures. 
Egyptian Women
The very first female ruler known in history was Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled for 22 years during the New Kingdom. The relatively high status of women extended beyond royalty with most Egyptian women enjoying more rights and opportunities to express individuality than their counterparts in Mesopotamia. During the New Kingdom in particular, women could buy and sell property, inherit property, and choose to will their property how they pleased. Women also had the right to dissolve their marriages. That said, women were still expected to be subservient to men and were valued most when they bore children. Young girls were also not educated nearly as well as young boys. 
Egyptian Social Structure: Another Pyramid 
Egyptian social structure was in the form of a pyramid as well.  At the top of the pyramid was the pharaoh, below him were the priests. Below the priests were nobles, followed by merchants and skilled artisans, which included physicians; at the bottom of the pyramid was the largest group: peasants. The peasants worked the land and generated most of the wealth for the kingdom. Specifically, the pharaoh owned all the land in the kingdom, so the goods produced on the land were considered his property. Typically, the peasants were expected to give over half of what they produced to the kingdom (tribute). Also at the bottom level of the pyramid were the slaves, who were either prisoners of war captured during conquest, or the descendents of those prisoners. 
Ancient Egypt in Decline 
By 1100 B.C.E. and for the next thousand years, ancient Egypt fell into decline, and both the Assyrian Empire and the Persian Empire conquered parts of this once-great civilization. Later, the Greeks occupied Egypt, and eventually the Romans completely absorbed Egypt into their empire. 
3. Indus Volley Civilization
Like Mesopotamia and Egypt, the Indus Valley civilization was built along the banks of a river system. But because of the huge mountains north and west of the Indus River, contact with outside civilizations was more limited there than in Mesopotamia. That is not to say that the Indus Valley was entirely cut off. The Khyber Pass through the Hindu Kush Mountains (in the NW) provided a connection to the outside world and was used by merchants on trade excursions. Later it also gave invading forces a way into the subcontinent of Asia (i.e. Aryans/Alexander the Great). 
From approximately 2500 to 1500 B.C.E., the ancient Indus Valley civilization stretched for more than 900 miles along the Indus River. Its two major cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, were each home to perhaps more than 100,000 people---enormous cities by ancient standards. There is strong evidence that the cities were master-planned (grid), uniformly constructed, and had sophisticated wastewater systems. This indicates that the Indus people had a strong central government. 
Sometime around 1900 B.C.E., the cities of the Indus Valley were destroyed, for reasons that remain unknown today. All that is known is that, by 1500 B.C.E., the civilization crumbled with the arrival of the Aryans. 
The Arrival of the Aryans 
The Aryans were nomadic tribes from north of the Caucasus Mountains (near the Black and Caspian Seas). Using horses and advanced weaponry, they easily defeated the populations in the Indus Valley. They began to settle in the Indus Valley, where they would give up their nomadic lifestyles. 
The important thing to remember about the Aryan conquest of the Indus Valley is the establishment of their religious beliefs on the Indian subcontinent, in particular their belief in reincarnation. The Aryans, another polytheistic people, recorded their beliefs and traditions in the Vedas and the Upanishads. Over centuries, these early Aryan beliefs evolved to form the basis for what later became Hinduism. 
The Aryan social structure also had a major impact on later developments in India. Combined with Hinduism, it formed the basis of what later became the caste system. Initially, the Aryan social structure divided its people into three classes, in this order from top to bottom: warriors, priests, and peasants. Later, a class of landowners and merchants would be added above the peasant class; and the priest class (known as Brahmans) would be moved above the warrior class because they were considered closer to the gods. 
As the system became more complex and ingrained in society, it became more rigid and allowed for less social mobility. Therefore, members of different castes could not marry, so children were born into the same castes as their parents, and there they stayed. 
4. Early China: Shang on the Hwang 
Shang China rose in the Hwang He River Valley (also known as the Yellow River Valley), and like other river-basin communities, used its stable agricultural surplus to build a trade-centered civilization. At its height, Shang controlled large parts of northern China. Thousands of its workers built walls around the towns and cities along the river; its warriors used chariots to defeat their enemies. The Shang dynasty controlled the Yellow River Valley from around 1600 to around 1100 B.C.E. 
However, Shang China had limited contact with the rest of the world, though it did conduct limited trade with Mesopotamia (a very long journey!). The Shang were so isolated, in fact, that they believed themselves to be at the center of the world, which explains why they called their civilization" All Under Heaven." This belief contributed to the Shang's ethnocentric attitude, which means they considered themselves superior to all others. 
They accomplished bronze workers and they used horse-drawn chariots, developed the spoked wheel, and became experts in the production of pottery and silk. What's more, they devised a decimal system and a highly accurate calendar. 

Focus on the Family 
An important institution in many ancient civilizations across the globe was the extended family, but nowhere was it more important than in Shang China. There, multiple generations of the same family lived in the same household., which was patriarchal.  Shang religion believed that people could call on the spirits of dead family members to help them in their daily lives.
Enter the Zhou 
Around 1100 B.C.E., the Shang were ousted by a man, who established the Zhou Dynasty, though the Zhou maintained many of the traditions and customs developed under the Shang Dynasty (sound familiar? Sumerians!). The Zhou ruled China for nearly 900 years, longer than any other dynasty. Think of how long the United States has existed as an independent country, and then multiply it by four. Now you have an idea how long the Zhou dynasty existed. 
The Zhou Dynasty believed in what was called the Mandate of Heaven, meaning that heaven would grant the Zhou power only as long as its rulers governed justly and wisely. Put another way, the Zhou Dynasty would remain in power only as long as it had the blessing of heaven. 
The Zhou developed a feudal system in China, similar to that of Europe during the Middle Ages.  The king was the ruler of the entire empire, but because it was too big for one person to manage, nobles were given power over smaller regions within the empire. The king gave each noble protection as long as the noble remained loyal to him. But as time passed, a number of the nobles built up a lot of wealth and power within the regions under their control and eventually split off into independent kingdoms. The most complex kingdoms developed bureaucracies within their governments (a way of organizing government tasks by department so that different parts of the government could specialize and stabilize). A bureaucratic form of government remained popular in China for thousands of years. Eventually, fighting and warfare among the feudal kingdoms brought an end to the Zhou Dynasty in 256 B.C.E. 
5. Mesoamerica and Andean South America: For Every Rule There's on Exception 
In the Americas, the major early civilization that existed was the Olmec, in what we know today as Mexico from 1200 to 1400 B.C.E.
The Olmecs were an urban society supported by surpluses of corn, beans, and squash. Like most early societies, they mastered irrigation techniques and constructed large-scale buildings; they were polytheistic, and developed a system of writing and a calendar. 
If much of this sounds familiar to you, it's because the Olmec developed similarly to other early civilizations discussed previously. Key point #1: demonstrate that the same patterns of development occurred in an entirely different part of the globe, one that had no contact with the other civilizations discussed. This suggests that developments within civilizations can occur independently-not necessarily as a result of exposure to other civilizations. 
Key point #2, the Olmec civilization developed in a river valley (not an RVC). True, the Olmec had access to water from streams and small rivers, but no major river system served as the generator of agricultural production or as the hub of culture and transportation. Their existence, therefore, disproves the hypothesis that river valleys are essential for the emergence of early civilizations. That's not to say, however, that rivers aren't extremely important-after all, the civilizations in the river valleys were among the most powerful and wealthy in all history. 

THE CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: INDIA AND CHINA 
The AP World History Exam will likely focus on four empires in India and China that existed from around 300 B.C.E. to around 500 C.E. These four empires are the Maurya and Gupta in India, and the Qin and Han in China. Keep in mind that to fully understand these four empires, you will also need to review some of the major belief systems. 

1. & 2. The Mauryan & Gupta Empires in India  
Around 330 B.C.E., Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire and continued into India. During this time, the Aryan culture and belief systems (caste system/Hinduism) continued to spread throughout India. Then, around 321 B.C.E., a new empire arose in India, one that would come to be the largest in that country to date.  The Mauryan Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, a soldier who unified the smaller Aryan kingdoms into a civilization. But it would be his grandson, Ashoka Maurya, who would take the empire to its greatest heights. 
A major reason that the Mauryan Empire became so powerful and wealthy was trade. Indian merchants traded silk, cotton, and elephants (among hundreds of other items) to Mesopotamia and the eastern Roman Empire. Another reason was its powerful military. Interestingly, it was its military strength that eventually caused a dramatic change in the empire. Stricken with disgust by, and filled with remorse for over very violent and bloody victories, Ashoka converted to Buddhism. For the rest of his reign, Ashoka preached nonviolence and moderation. (Buddhism had recently taken root in this otherwise Hindu region.) 
Ashoka is also known for his Rock and Pillar Edicts, which were carved on-you guessed it-rocks and pillars throughout the empire. These edicts reminded Mauryans to live generous and righteous lives. Following Ashoka's conversion and commitment to Buddhism, the religion spread beyond India into many parts of Southeast Asia, where it better adapted to non-caste system areas.
Upon Ashoka's death in 232 B.C.E., the Mauryan Empire began to decline rapidly, primarily due to economic problems and pressure from attacks in the northeast. But between 375 and 415 C.E., it experienced a revival under the Gupta Empire. This was more decentralized (means it won’t last) and smaller empire than its predecessor, but it is often referred to as a "golden age" because it enjoyed relative peace and saw significant advances in the arts and sciences. For example, Gupta mathematicians developed the concepts of pi  and of zero. They also devised a decimal system that used the numerals 1 through 9 (which were diffused to the Arabs and became known as Arabic numerals). And like all the great civilizations, the Gupta people became adept at fashioning iron for many uses, in particular, as weapons. 
By the time of the Gupta Dynasty, Hinduism had again become the dominant religion in India. Buddhism remained a strong influence but was essentially absorbed back into Hinduism. Hinduism reinforced the caste system, meaning that Indian social structures were very rigid. Totally under the control of men, Indian women lost the right to own or inherit property, and could not participate in sacred rituals or study religion. And stemming from an increasingly urban society that placed a growing importance on the inheritance of property, child marriage also became the norm during this era, involving girls as young as six or seven. 
The Gupta Dynasty collapsed under pressure from the Huns in 550 C.E. 
3. The Qin Dynasty in China (221 to around 209 B.LE.) 
Unlike the Zhou Dynasty that preceded it, the Qin Dynasty was extremely short. Lasting about twenty years, it was, nevertheless, very significant. 
Same story, new time and place. So what earned it its spot here?  The story of the Qin Dynasty is similar to all the other civilizations we've reviewed, in that it developed a strong economy based on agriculture; it organized a powerful army equipped with iron weapons; and it conquered the surrounding territories and unified the region under a single emperor.? 
The Qin Dynasty is the empire that connected separate fortification walls that eventually became the Great Wall of China. This is highly significant because it suggests that the empire was incredibly well organized, centralized, and territorial. Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor, recentralized the various feudal kingdoms that had split apart at the end of the Zhou Dynasty; standardized all the laws, currencies, weights, measures, and systems of writing; and refused to tolerate any dissent whatsoever. If dissent occurred in a book, he had it burned; if dissent occurred in the mind of a scholar, he had the scholar killed. Legalism was the dominant belief system of the Qin rulers. 
Although the emperor believed the Qin Dynasty would last forever, it fell only one year after his death, at the hands of the peasants, who resented the Qin Dynasty's heavy-handedness. The new dynasty that took its place lasted for more than 400 years. 
4. The Han Dynasty in China (around 200 B.LE. to around 200 LE.) 
During the Han Dynasty, due to the skills of Wu Ti (who is often called the Warrior Emperor), were able to halt the Huns. The Huns were a large nomadic group from northern Asia that invaded territories extending from China to Eastern Europe.  Stopping the threat of invaders allowed Wu Ti to greatly enlarge the Han Empire to central Asia.   Trade thrived along the Silk Road to the Mediterranean; more significantly, along this same route, Buddhism spread. As usual, the trade routes carried far more than luxury items; they carried culture. 
One of the most significant developments that took place during the Han Dynasty was the civil service exam. The Han believed that those involved in government service should be highly educated and excellent communicators. To ensure strong candidates, the Han developed a civil service examination, a very difficult test lasting for several days. The exam was open to everyone, but generally only the wealthy could afford to prepare for it. The consequence was a government bureaucracy that was highly skilled and that contributed to stability in the system of government for centuries. 
Also during this time, the Chinese invented paper and highly accurate sundials and calendars.  And, like all the other major civilizations, they continued to broaden their use of metals. 

THE CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: MEDITERRANEAN 
From approximately 2000 B.C.E. to around 500 C.E., two Mediterranean civilizations, Greece and Rome, dominated the region. Countless books have been written on these two empires and you know that your AP textbook dedicated a considerable chunk to the details of these two powerhouse civilizations. Why all the fuss? Western civilization as we know it today essentially began with these two empires. The Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Hebrews, the Persians, and the Phoenicians, among others, laid the groundwork, but the Greeks and the Romans left the most long-lasting and obvious influence behind. Perhaps their most important contribution is the concept of representative government, but the Greeks and Romans also made lasting contributions to art, architecture, literature, science, and philosophy. 
1. Greece 
Ancient Greece was located on a peninsula between the waters of the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. Because the land in Greece was mostly mountainous, there wasn't much possibility for agricultural development on the scale that marked the ancient river valley civilizations. But Greece did have natural harbors and mild weather, and its coastal position aided trade and cultural diffusion by boat, which is why the Greeks were able to conduct a lot of commercial activity. The Greeks could easily sail to Palestine, Egypt, and Carthage, exchanging wine and olive products for grain, and soon Athens became a wealthy city at the center of all this commercial activity. 
Greece's limited geographical area also contributed to its dominance. Land was tight, so Greece was always looking to establish colonies abroad to ease overcrowding and gain raw materials. This meant that the Greeks had to be militarily powerful. It also meant that they had to develop sophisticated methods 'of communication, transportation, and governance. 
Social Structure and Citizenship 
Like the other early civilizations, Greece wasn't a country then in the way that it is now. Instead, it was a collection of city-states, very much like those of early Mesopotamian civilizations in Sumer or Babylon. Each city-state, known as a polis, shared a common culture and identity. 
The two main city-states were Athens and Sparta. Athens was the political, commercial, and cultural center of Greek civilization. Sparta was an agricultural and highly militaristic region. Most citizens in Sparta lived a very strict, highly disciplined existence. All the boys, and even some of the girls, received military training, which stressed equality but not individuality.
Athens was composed of three groups: (1) citizens, composed of adult male land owners (2) free people with no political rights and (3) noncitizens (slaves, who accounted for nearly one-third of the people in Athens, and who had no rights). Among the citizens, civic decisions were made openly, after engaging in debates. All citizens were expected to participate. This practice led to Athens being regarded as the first democracy. 
In Sparta, not Athens, women held a higher status and were granted greater equality than women of other city-states.
Ironically, it was slavery that enabled the Greeks to develop their democracy. It was by slave labor that Greek citizens gained the time to meet and vote, and to create great works of art and philosophy. 
Greek Mythology: Many Gods 
The Greeks were polytheistic. The myths surrounding their gods, like those of Zeus and Aphrodite, are richly detailed and still hold our interest to this day. As you know by now, most early civilizations were polytheistic (the Hebrews being a notable exception), but Greek polytheism was unique in one major respect: The Greek gods were believed to possess human failings-they got angry, got drunk, took sides, had petty arguments and the people were subjected to the daily intervention of these wackos. 
War with Persia: Greece Holds On 
Prior to the development of the democracy in Athens, Greece was involved in a series of wars that threatened its existence. The Persian Wars united all the Greek city-states against their mutual enemy, Persia. (Recall that the Persian Empire was the largest empire in the eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamia to date.) Much of Athens was destroyed in these wars, but Greece held on and the wars ended in a stalemate. Two huge victories by the Greeks, one at Marathon and the other at Salamis, allowed the Greeks to maintain control of the Aegean Sea. With Persia held back, Greece was free to enter into an era of peace and prosperity, which is often called the Golden Age of Pericles. 
The Golden Age of Pericles: Athens Wows the World 
Under the leadership of Pericles, Athens became a cultural powerhouse. It was under Pericles that Athens was rebuilt after its destruction by the Persians (the Parthenon was built during this reconstruction). And it was under Pericles that Athens established the Delian League with the other city-states, an alliance against aggression from its common enemies. Under Pericles, philosophy and the arts flourished, and continued to do so for the next two centuries. 
In philosophy we find the names many would regard as the most famous of all the ancient Greeks: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They believed that truth could be discerned through rational thought and deliberate and careful observation, and that virtue and the quest for goodness would lead to internal peace and happiness. Although our modern understanding of the world differs in many ways from theirs, these brilliant minds are still revered today as the fathers of rational thinking. 
During the Golden Age, Greek drama was dominated by the comedies and tragedies and Greek architecture earned its place in history with its distinctive Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns. Math and science thrived under the capable instruction of Archimedes, Hippocrates, Euclid, and Pythagoras. Cultural achievement of course existed in Greece prior to the Golden Age. Homer, for example, wrote the epic poems The Illiad and The Odyssey a few centuries earlier; they are widely regarded as western civilization's first two masterworks of literature. The accomplishments of this period served as the inspiration for the European Renaissance and the Enlightenment nearly two millennia later-which is why they are such a big deal. 
Trouble Ahead for Athens 
Athens and Sparta as leaders of their respective alliances, became increasingly fearful and envious of each other's power. After years of increasing tensions, a trade dispute pushed Athens and Sparta into the Peloponnesian War in 431 B.C.E. Athens attempted a defensive strategy, hiding behind its great walls while allowing the Spartan army to ravage its farmlands. This worked well for the Athenians for a time until two tragedies occurred. First, a great plague afflicted the city, killing vast numbers of the population including Pericles. Then, Athen's navy suffered a devastating defeat at Syracuse on the island of Sicily. Athens was never the same again. 
Sparta, though, didn't destroy Athens, out of respect for the defeated city's former role in the Persian War. But Sparta failed to dominate the region for long, because in spite of its victory, it also was so weakened by the war that it became vulnerable to outside aggression. The Macedonians, under the rule of Philip of Macedon (Alexander’s Father), who reigned from 359 to 336 D.C.E., invaded Athens from the north and conquered the entire region. Fortunately, Philip respected Greek culture and, rather than destroy it, encouraged it to flourish. 
The Macedonians didn't stop with Greece. Philip's son, Alexander the Great, who was taught by Aristotle, widely expanded Macedonian dominance. Under Alexander, they conquered the mighty Persian Empire and then moved eastward to the shores of the Indus River, in what today is India, eventually creating the largest empire of the time. Along with its size, the Macedonian Empire is notable for the fact that it adopted Greek customs and then spread them to much of the known world. Consequently, much of the world became connected under a uniform law and common trade practices. Therefore, Hellenism-the culture, ideals, and pattern of life of Classical Greece-didn't perish as a result of the victories over Athens and Sparta; instead, it came to be influential far beyond its original borders. 
When Alexander the Great died at 33, his empire was divided among bickering generals and it started to crumble. With the Macedonians focused on the East and on Egypt, the door was open in the West for a new power to rise to the world stage. That power was the Romans. 
2. Rome (509 B.LE.-476 CE.) 
Geographically, Rome was relatively well-situated for empire, because it was more connected than Greece. The Alps to the north provided protection from an invasion by land (although, ultimately, not enough). The sea surrounding the Italian peninsula limited the possibility of a naval attack unless a large armada floated across the sea. Although somewhat isolated, Rome was also at a crossroad. It had easy access to northern Africa, Palestine, Greece, and the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal), which meant easy access to the rest of the world. 
Roman Mythology: More Gods 
Like the Greeks, the Romans were polytheistic.  Many of their gods were of Greek origin, though appropriately renamed to suit their culture and language. 
Political and Social Structure in Rome: Organized and Patriarchal 
The political structure in the Roman Republic consisted of patricians (land-owning noblemen), plebeians (all other free men), and slaves. Does this sound familiar? It should. It's very similar to the social structure of ancient Greece. Roman government was organized as a representative republic. In a republic, the people have representatives, so they don't have to vote on every issue. This is similar to the constitutional democracy we have in the United States. Everyone in this country votes for representatives, so it's correct to call our system a democracy; however, our representatives in Congress vote on all the major issues, so our system of government is also very much a republic. Indeed, the structure of our government was modeled on the system used in the Roman Republic. 
Early on, Rome developed civil laws to protect individual rights (in some ways similar to our Constitution). The laws of Rome were codified (remember that the idea of a code was Hammurabi's, in Babylon) and became known as the Twelve Tables of Rome (the concept of "innocent until proven guilty" originated here). Later, these laws were extended to an international code that Rome applied to its conquered territories. 
The social structure of the Roman family centered on the oldest male in the family-though women did have considerable influence within their families, with some supervising a family business or family estate. Roman women could own property, as well, but they were, nevertheless, considered inferior to men, just as in Greek society. And, as in Greece, slavery was an important element of the social structure of Rome-at one point, slaves comprised one-third of the population, most of whom came from conquered territories. 

Roman Military Domination: All Directions, All the Time 
As Rome expanded, Carthage, a city-state in North Africa with powerful ambitions of its own, became its first enemy. It didn't take long for this conflict to escalate into full-fledged wars, which came to be called the Punic Wars. These lasted on and off from 264 through 146 B.C.E. 
The First Punic War (264-241 B.C.E.) was fought to gain control of the island of Sicily; Rome won this one. The Second First Punic War began in 218 B.C.E. with an attack by Hannibal, a Carthaginian general, considered one of the great military geniuses of all time. In an amazing feat, Harmibal led his army all the way to northern Italy, crossed the Alps on elephants, and surprised the Romans, who were expecting an attack from the south. Hannibal's army destroyed many towns and villages to the north of Rome and were on the verge of destroying Rome. But a Roman army had landed in North Africa, forcing Hannibal to return to Carthage to defend his city. Carthage eventually agreed to sue for peace, and this made Rome the undisputed power in the western Mediterranean. Fifty years later, in 149 B.C.E., the Third Punic War was instigated by Rome. Rome invaded Carthage and burned it to the ground and tilled salt in the fields. With Carthage out of the picture, Rome continued its expansion throughout the Mediterranean. 
Part of that expansion was to obtain Greece by defeating the Macedonians. The Romans also fought the Gauls to the north and the Spaniards to the west. Warfare aided the spread of Roman culture (which, you'll recall, was linked to Greek culture) throughout much of western Europe and the Mediterranean. To maintain their vast empire, the Romans built an extensive road network and aqueducts. 
Collapse of the Republic and the Rise of Imperialism 
Following the Punic Wars, Rome became unsettled. Several events caused this restlessness. Overcrowding among the plebeians and not enough jobs to support them. Second, was inflation. This meant that the plebeians did not have enough money to buy the things they previously could afford. Third, political leaders began fighting amongst themselves. The result was that the power of the Senate weakened, ultimately to be transferred to three men, who came to be known as the first triumvirate: Pompey, Crassus, and Julius Caesar. 
Caesar was given power over southern Gaul (France) and other parts of Europe. He chose not to conquer Germany, which would later prove significant. (Germany developed a different culture and would ultimately serve as a training ground for groups intent on conquering Rome.) Civil war between the Senate and Caesar's followers resulted in pushing Pompey and Crassus out of the picture, after which Caesar became "emperor for life." But his life didn't last long. His angry senators assassinated him in 44 B.C.E. 
After the death of Julius Caesar, a second triumvirate, composed of Octavius, Marc Antony, and Lepidus, came to power. Power again shifted to one person, Octavius (Julius Ceasar’s nephew or grandson), who rose to power, assumed the name Augustus Caesar, and became emperor. The days of the Roman Republic were over once and for all. Rome was now an empire led by a single emperor. 
The Height of the Roman Empire 
Under Augustus, Rome became the capital of the western world. Augustus established the rule of law, a common coinage, civil service, and secure travel for merchants. With all these elements in place throughout the empire, stability returned to its people, and for 200 years, they enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana (Roman Peace). 
Under imperial power, the Roman Empire expanded to its largest geographical proportions through additional military conquests. But more important in the history of the Roman empire was the growth of the arts and sciences during this time. For centuries, Greece had been the arts center of the Western world. With the Roman peace, however, the arts in Rome flourished, especially literature (notably, Ovid's Metamorphoses and Virgil's Aeneid) and architecture (marked by the building of the Pantheon, Colosseum, and Forum).
Religious Diversity
Throughout the days of the Roman Republic and during the early days of the Roman Empire, paganism was the state religion. Roman citizens were required to make sacrifices to traditional Roman gods. But shortly after the reign of Augustus, a new religion developed in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions. That religion was Christianity. 
Christianity grew out of Judaism, which had been practiced by Hebrews in Palestine for thousands of years. Judaism was the first major monotheistic religion. Initially, both Judaism and Christianity were tolerated by the Romans. The Romans allowed the conquered territories to practice their own faiths as long as doing so didn't interfere with the functioning of the empire. Eventually, however, Jewish resistance to Roman control led to the suppression of Judaism. And as the apostles of Jesus and missionaries extended the influence of Christianity throughout the empire, the Romans began to see the new religion and its leaders as threats to both paganism and their power. To make it clear who was in charge, Emperor Nero began to persecute Christians, even killing them in open spectacles at the Colosseum. These acts of violence failed to stop the spread of Christianity. Only when Emperor Constantine himself converted to Christianity did the persecution end. And with the Edict of Milan, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Since then, it continues to be one of the world's most influential religions. 

LATE CLASSICAL PERIOD: EMPIRES COLLAPSE 
 During the late Classical Period (200 c.E.-600 C.E.), all the greatest civilizations that the world had known collapsed. This included the fall of Han China, the Gupta Empire in India, and the western part of the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean. 
1. Collapse of Han China 
Attempted reforms of land ownership and the currency were unsuccessful and caused chaos in the local economy among both the rich and poor. Waging war on the edges of the empire led to conscription of a resentful population and heavy taxation of landowners, which forced them to pay farmers less money for more work. Persistent famines, devastating floods along the Yellow River, and increasing commodity prices added to the resentment and fueled peasant uprisings.
The Han Dynasty was restored a couple of years later, but full recovery proved impossible and, in 220 C.E., the government collapsed. For the next 400 years, China was divided into several regional kingdoms. 
2. Collapse of the Gupta Empire 
The Gupta Empire fell for one simple reason: It was invaded by the Huns. The Gupta were able to hold off the Huns for the first half of the fifth century but at a tremendous cost, which weakened the state. By the end of the fifth century, there were Hun kingdoms in western and northern India. Though the underlying culture of India, including Hinduism and the caste system, survived the invasion, the empire did not. 

3. Collapse of the Western Portion of the Roman Empire 
The Division of the Roman Empire 
One historical event that has been endlessly debated over time is the fall of the Roman Empire. Many try to assign a single cause to this momentous occurrence, but the situation was much more complicated. 
In short, however, it can be said that it was internal decay, in combination with external pressure that brought about the fall of the Roman Empire. The sheer size of the empire and the huge expense of maintaining it, coupled by a succession of weak leaders, and a series of epidemics, are all factors that caused the empire to collapse. 
In 284 C.E., Diocletian had become emperor. He attempted to deal with the increasing problems by dividing the empire into two regions run by co-emperors. He attempted to deal with the economic problems by strengthening the imperial currency, forcing a budget on the government, and capping prices to deal with inflation. Despite Diocletian's innovations and administrative talents, civil war erupted upon his retirement. 
Constantine defeated his rivals and came to power in 322 C.E. He ordered the building of Constantinople at the site of the Greek city of Byzantium.  Constantine, too, was an able emperor, but the problems of shrinking income and increased external pressures proved insurmountable. After his death, the empire was again divided into two pieces, east and west. The eastern half thrived from its center at Constantinople; the western half, centered in Rome, continued its spiral downward. 
On its borders, Rome faced external pressure from groups of Germanic invaders. The Visigoths sacked Rome in 410 C..E., and by 476 C.E., the last Roman emperor had been deposed. The fall of the western half of the Roman Empire was complete. The eastern half would survive, but not as the Roman Empire. It was later renamed the Byzantine Empire. 

4. Cultural Diffusion from around 200-600 CE. 
Around the same time that major empires were collapsing, the known world was becoming an increasingly smaller place. Trade routes were flourishing, bringing cultures, religions, and invading tribes into constant contact with each other. Major trade routes over land, like the Silk Road from China to the Roman Empire, took months to traverse. 
Unfortunately, disease traveled the same trade routes. To give just a couple of examples, the Mongols carried the Black Death to China; Rome and China suffered from measles and smallpox epidemics, which quickly spread through the empires. 
And, as we mentioned earlier, religion also followed the roads of the merchants. Buddhism spread through East and Southeast Asia by way of trade routes. Christianity spread rapidly in the Mediterranean via both land and sea. Even the invading Germanic tribes were converted. By 600 C.E., Christianity had taken root as far away as Britain. 
The world was clearly changing. The stage was set for entirely new developments, which is what the next handout is all about.