Questions & Answers: World History – Classical Civilization of the Meditteranean

Discuss and describe Sparta in ancient Greece.
While Athens was known for its devotion to the arts and its democratic form of government, its rival city-state Sparta was devoted to agriculture and the military. Sparta was not located on the coast, and therefore the Spartans had little contact with distant peoples. Spartan society was governed by a strict class system. Most people (helots) worked the land of other people as virtual serfs. In the upper classes, participation in military training was compulsory. Indeed, Spartan youths left their families to begin military training at a young age. The Spartans did not produce any noteworthy philosophers, but as a culture they stressed the good of the group over that of the individual. This is in stark contrast to most Athenian thought, which celebrates the achievements of the individual.

Describe the city-state of Athens in ancient Greece.
Ancient Greece was dominated by two city-states, Athens and Sparta. These two had very distinct cultures. Athens was a coastal city with a democratic form of government which amassed wealth by trading overseas. Athens is also known as the city that gave life to philosophy and the arts. Socrates engaged in his famous dialogues in the streets of Athens, and though he was eventually executed by the Athenian government for supposedly corrupting the youth, his thoughts achieved immortality in the writings of his student Plato. In turn, Plato’s student Aristotle developed a strict form of reasoning that has formed the basis of much subsequent Western thought. Athens is also renowned for the architectural marvel that is the Parthenon.

Identify and explain the major wars of Greece in the Periclean and Hellenistic Ages.
During the Age of Pericles, an alliance of Greek city-states was challenged by the mighty Persians. Miraculously, the outnumbered Greeks were able to defeat the Persians at Thermopylae and Marathon, and staved off conquest. The war with the Persians impoverished the Greeks, however, and increased rivalries among the city-states. In Athens, the requirements for citizenship were loosened, though slavery remained. Conflict between Sparta and Athens culminated in the Peloponnesian War, won by Sparta. Eventually, the whole of Greece would be conquered by Philip of Macedon, who allowed the Greeks to maintain their culture and traditions. Alexander the Great was the son of Philip and became the master of an empire larger than any the world had ever seen. During his reign, he united many disparate peoples through a common law and exchange policy. He died at the age of 33, and his empire was divided into three parts amongst his generals.

Discuss and describe Greece in the Periclean and Hellenistic Ages.
The Periclean Age in Greece, so named because Pericles was the leader of Athens during the period, took place in the fifth century B.C. It was during this period that most of the great contributions to Western culture were made, including the philosophy of Socrates, the medical work of Hippocrates, and the great dramatic works of Aeschlyus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The Hellenistic Age (4th century B.C.), on the other hand, is more commonly known for the military conquests made by Alexander the Great. If it were not for the conquests of Alexander during the Hellenistic Age, many of the innovations and achievements of the Periclean Age may not have had such a great influence on the West. It should be noted that the Hellenistic Age was not without its own great thinkers; in fact, Alexander studied as a boy under Aristotle.

Review the Persian Wars.
The Persian Empire, ruled by Cyrus the Great, encompassed an area from the Black Sea to Afghanistan, and beyond into Central Asia. After the death of Cyrus, Darius became king in 522 BCE. The empire reached its zenith during his reign.
From 499-448 BCE, the Greeks and Persians fought in the Persian Wars. Battles of the Persian Wars included:
· The Battle of Marathon, in which heavily outnumbered Greek forces managed to achieve victory.
· The Battle of Thermopylae, in which a small band of Spartans held off a throng of Persian troops for several days.
· The Battle of Salamis, a naval battle that again saw outnumbered Greeks achieving victory.
· The Battle of Plataea, another Greek victory, but one in which they outnumbered the Persians.
The Persian Wars did not see the end of the Persian Empire, but discouraged additional attempts to invade Greece.

Review the numerous major contributions of Ancient Greece to cultural development.
Ancient Greece made numerous major contributions to cultural development, including:
· Theater—Aristophanes and other Greek playwrights laid the groundwork for modern theatrical performance.
· Alphabet—the Greek alphabet, derived from the Phoenician alphabet, developed into the Roman alphabet, and then into our modern-day alphabet.
· Geometry—Pythagoras and Euclid pioneered much of the system of geometry still taught today. Archimedes made various mathematical discoveries, including the value of pi.
· Historical writing—much of ancient history doubles as mythology or religious texts. Herodotus and Thucydides made use of research and interpretation to record historical events.
· Philosophy—Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle served as the fathers of Western philosophy. Their work is still required reading for philosophy students.

Discuss and describe the Grand Alliance of Julius Caesar in Rome.
As Rome continued to expand, class conflicts developed between the nobility and the poor. In this era of unrest, it became possible for individual leaders to claim more power than the law had allowed previously. In 60 B.C., the famous general Julius Caesar formed a three-person alliance (often mis-termed the “First Triumvirate”) to govern Rome. The other two members were Gnaeus Pompey Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus. During this period, Caesar led a successful campaign against the Gauls (a people in modern-day France) and made himself richer than the entire Roman State on the proceeds from his conquest. After Crassus was killed in battle, Caesar pushed Pompey out and assumed total control of Rome, crowning himself dictator-for-life. Though Caesar was very popular with the mob, his decision to claim lifelong power alienated him from the nobility in the Senate. He was assassinated by a group of senators, led by Marcus Iunius Brutus, in 44 B.C.
 

What were the basics of the Roman Republic?
Roman civilization dates from the founding of the city in 753 B.C. until the defeat of the last Emperor, Romulus Augustus, in A.D. 476. The republic itself lasted from the overthrow of the monarchy in 509 B.C. until the empowering of the first Emperor, Octavian Augustus, in 27 B.C. The area along the Tiber River where Rome would be built was previously inhabited by a group known as the Etruscans. Rome took its name from the legendary Romulus, who is said to have founded it after triumphing over his brother Remus. The basic structure of Roman society consisted of patricians at the top of the social hierarchy, who were descendants of the founders of the republic and often wealthy. Beneath the patricians were the plebeians, which consisted of all other freemen. Finally, at the bottom of the social hierarchy were slaves. Women were not included in most social or economic business, although a Roman woman’s rights were often significantly preferable to her contemporaries in other civilizations. The Roman Republic, which was the first political arrangement of Rome, was led by two consuls who were chosen annually. The Consuls presided over the Senate, made up of a permanent group of those who had been previously elected to a high-ranking magistracy (originally primarily patrician in composition); and the Assembly, which was solely for the plebeians. Rome had extensive laws covering individual and property rights.
 

What was the Pax Romana?
After the ascension of Augustus, Rome entered a period of relative tranquility. Augustus dubbed this era, which lasted about forty years, the Pax Romana. Rome remained an empire, although the conquered peoples were able to obtain Roman citizenship without having to forfeit their native customs. It was at this period that Rome reached its greatest geographic proportions, stretching all the way up to present-day Scotland. This was also the greatest period for Roman artistic achievement; both Virgil and Ovid were active during the Pax Romana, and, indeed, the Aeneid of Virgil was written in part to glorify Augustus. It was at this time that the polytheist religion of Rome was challenged first by the Judaism of the conquered Hebrews, and later by the early Christians.

Describe the first Roman Triumvirate.
After the assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C., Rome was mired in chaos. Those who had conspired to kill Caesar had hoped to return to the republican form of government, but instead another trio of leaders came to the fore, this time as a governmental commission of “three men for reconstituting the Republic,” known as the Triumvirate. The Triumvirate was composed of Marc Antony, one of Caesar’s greatest generals and a Consul at the time; Octavius, the nephew and testamentary heir of Caesar; and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, a third wheel who was quickly made a non-entity. While Octavius stayed in Rome, Antony left for Egypt, where he stayed for a time as the guest and lover of Cleopatra. Eventually, infighting between Octavius and Antony led the former to mount a campaign against Egypt. When they realized that they were defeated, Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide to avoid the shame of being paraded in Octavian’s triumph. Lepidus, having been marginalized, Octavius (now known as Augustus) became the first Emperor.

Discuss and describe Constantine and the Christians.
The Roman Emperor Constantine, in response to the inconvenient vastness of his dominion, established an eastern capital: Constantinople, in A.D. 330. Having received a sign in the heavens which promised him victory over his rivals for the office of Emperor should he convert to Christianity, Constantine famously issued the Edict of Milan, in which he called for the end of the persecution of Christians, after a sound victory as promised. After this act, Christianity flourished in the Roman Empire and became the official religion of the state. A movement called monasticism developed within the religion, advocating the renunciation of worldly goods in favor of contemplation and prayer. After the death of Constantine, the empire once again proved unwieldy for one man, and therefore it split as it had previously, with the western half being governed from Rome, and the eastern half from Constantinople. This arrangement would prove untenable, however; a Germanic tribe of barbarians eventually sacked Rome, and the western Roman capital fell in A.D. 476.

Describe the rise of Christianity.
Early Christianity was a mass of competing doctrines, including various groups such as the Gnostics and Arians who all sought to have their view legitimized as the truth. Eventually, the orthodox church through an ecumenical council of bishops created in the fourth century A.D. the canon of New Testament texts which exists today. The apostles had created a hierarchy of bishops, priests, and deacons who stressed obedience to duly constituted church authority. By the middle of the second century, Christianity began to attract intellectuals in the Roman Empire. Although Christians were still liable to be persecuted in the farther reaches of the empire, many turned to the Church as the empire crumbled, as the Church was all that was left of civilization, and would rebuild Europe over the next millennium.

Discuss and describe the importance of the Byzantine Empire.
In the early fourth century, the Roman Empire split, with the eastern portion becoming the Eastern Empire, or the Byzantine Empire. In 330 CE, Constantine founded the city of Constantinople, which became the center of the Byzantine Empire. Its major influences came from Mesopotamia and Persia, in contrast to the Western Empire, which maintained traditions more closely linked to Greece and Carthage.
After the fall of Rome and the western Roman Empire, a series of Emperors, including the Emperor Justinian, led the Byzantine Empire from Constantinople and even managed to successfully reconquer large parts of the former western empire for a number of years. The Justinian era is especially remembered for the contributions to law and religious art work, in particular the development of mosaics. In the years after the fall of Rome, the Catholic Christian Church gradually rose to fill the power vacuum. In what had been the western Roman Empire, the Church acted completely independent of any political body, while even in the Byzantine Empire the Church was increasing in power. Only the influence of the Byzantine Emperor kept the Church from being the most powerful group in Europe.

Review the significance of the Huns and their leader Attila.
One of the major barbarian tribes to challenge the Roman Empire in its decline were the Huns. The Huns were a nomadic people who moved east across central Asia during the 4th century A.D. The Huns were divided into several branches: the White Huns overran the Sasanian Empire and conquered many cities in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent; another group roamed eastern Europe and established a strong empire on the Hungarian Plain around A.D. 400. The Huns were known for their amazing horsemanship and for being aggressive on the battlefield. It was under the guidance of Attila (440s) that the Huns reached their highest level of prominence. During this period, they collected tribute from many of the areas within the Roman Empire. Soon after the death of Attila, however, the Huns became complacent and lost most of their territory.

Explain the significance of the Nicene Creed and events that led to uniform doctrines in Christianity.
The Byzantine Empire was Christian-based but incorporated Greek language, philosophy and literature and drew its law and government policies from Rome. However, there was as yet no unified doctrine of Christianity, as it was a relatively new religion that had spread rapidly and without a great deal of organization.
In 325, the First Council of Nicaea addressed this issue. From this conference came the Nicene Creed, addressing the Trinity and other basic Christian beliefs. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 stated that any rejection of the Trinity was blasphemy.