Development of classical civilizations

Source 1 — In 431 BCE, the Athenian leader Pericles gave a speech honoring soldiers who had died in war. The Greek historian Thucydides recorded it. The paragraph below is a summary in modern words written for this app. It is not an exact quotation.

Pericles said that Athens' form of government does not compete with the systems of other states. Athens does not copy its neighbors; instead, it is an example to them. Athens is called a democracy because the government is in the hands of the many and not of the few. Being poor does not stop a man from serving. A citizen can benefit his country no matter how humble his position.

Source 2 — A modern summary written for this lesson.

(1) In Athens, citizens did not elect representatives to make laws for them. Instead, any citizen could attend the Assembly, speak, and vote directly on laws and on questions of war and peace. Many public officials were chosen by lottery.

(2) However, citizenship was narrow. Only free adult men whose parents were both Athenian counted as citizens. Women, enslaved people, and foreign-born residents could not vote, no matter how long they had lived in Athens. Citizens were only a minority of the people living in Athens.

Hammurabi ruled the city of Babylon in Mesopotamia from about 1792 to 1750 BCE. His laws were carved on a tall stone pillar and set up where people could see them. The excerpts below come from a 1910 English translation.

From the Prologue

…Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak…

From the Laws

196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.

197. If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be broken.

198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.

199. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.

The map below places six ancient cities of the Mediterranean world and Southwest Asia on a latitude and longitude grid. Latitude lines run east–west and are labelled on the left side of the map. Longitude lines run north–south and are labelled along the bottom.

For more than a thousand years, merchants carried silk, spices, horses, paper, and ideas along a network of trade routes later called the Silk Road. The map shows one main route and six cities along it, placed on a latitude and longitude grid.

(1) Egypt gets almost no rain. Most of the country is desert. Yet one of the world's longest-lasting civilizations grew up there, because of a single river. The Nile flows north from the highlands of East Africa to the Mediterranean Sea.

(2) Every summer, heavy rains far to the south made the Nile rise and spill over its banks. When the water went down in the fall, it left behind a layer of dark, rich mud called silt. Egyptians called their farmland Kemet, "the black land," after this soil. They called the desert Deshret, "the red land."

(3) Farmers planted wheat and barley in the wet silt as soon as the flood went down. They dug canals and basins to hold the water and carry it to their fields. To plan the work, Egyptians created a calendar of 365 days. It divided the year into three seasons named for the river: the flood, the growing time, and the harvest.

(4) The land around the river also protected Egypt. Wide deserts lay to the east and west, and few armies could cross them. Inside these natural walls, the Nile served as a highway. Boats floated north with the current and sailed south, because the wind usually blows from the north.

(5) Good harvests produced more food than farmers needed. This surplus fed people who did not farm, such as priests, scribes who kept records, and the thousands of workers who built the pyramids for the pharaohs.

(1) Egypt gets almost no rain. Most of the country is desert. Yet one of the world's longest-lasting civilizations grew up there, because of a single river. The Nile flows north from the highlands of East Africa to the Mediterranean Sea.

(2) Every summer, heavy rains far to the south made the Nile rise and spill over its banks. When the water went down in the fall, it left behind a layer of dark, rich mud called silt. Egyptians called their farmland Kemet, "the black land," after this soil. They called the desert Deshret, "the red land."

(3) Farmers planted wheat and barley in the wet silt as soon as the flood went down. They dug canals and basins to hold the water and carry it to their fields. To plan the work, Egyptians created a calendar of 365 days. It divided the year into three seasons named for the river: the flood, the growing time, and the harvest.

(4) The land around the river also protected Egypt. Wide deserts lay to the east and west, and few armies could cross them. Inside these natural walls, the Nile served as a highway. Boats floated north with the current and sailed south, because the wind usually blows from the north.

(5) Good harvests produced more food than farmers needed. This surplus fed people who did not farm, such as priests, scribes who kept records, and the thousands of workers who built the pyramids for the pharaohs.

Hammurabi ruled the city of Babylon in Mesopotamia from about 1792 to 1750 BCE. His laws were carved on a tall stone pillar and set up where people could see them. The excerpts below come from a 1910 English translation.

From the Prologue

…Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak…

From the Laws

196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.

197. If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be broken.

198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina.

199. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.

(1) In 509 BCE, the people of Rome overthrew their last king. They vowed never again to let one man hold all power. In place of the monarchy, they created a republic, a government in which citizens elect officials to make decisions for them.

(2) Each year, Roman citizens elected two consuls to run the government and command the army. Because there were two, either consul could block the other's actions. Consuls served for only one year. The Senate, a council made up mostly of wealthy, experienced men who served for life, advised the consuls and controlled public money.

(3) At first, wealthy landowning families, called patricians, held nearly all power. The common people, called plebeians, pushed back. They won the right to elect their own officials, called tribunes, who could veto — Latin for "I forbid" — actions that harmed plebeians. Around 450 BCE, Rome's laws were written down on twelve tablets, the Twelve Tables, and displayed in the Forum so that every citizen could know them.

(4) The republic lasted nearly 500 years. But as Rome conquered lands around the Mediterranean Sea, generals with loyal armies grew powerful, and civil wars followed. In 27 BCE, Octavian, who took the name Augustus, became Rome's first emperor. The Senate still met, but real power belonged to one man.

(5) The founders of the United States studied Rome closely. They named the upper house of Congress the Senate, gave the president a veto, and designed government buildings with Roman columns and domes.

(1) In 509 BCE, the people of Rome overthrew their last king. They vowed never again to let one man hold all power. In place of the monarchy, they created a republic, a government in which citizens elect officials to make decisions for them.

(2) Each year, Roman citizens elected two consuls to run the government and command the army. Because there were two, either consul could block the other's actions. Consuls served for only one year. The Senate, a council made up mostly of wealthy, experienced men who served for life, advised the consuls and controlled public money.

(3) At first, wealthy landowning families, called patricians, held nearly all power. The common people, called plebeians, pushed back. They won the right to elect their own officials, called tribunes, who could veto — Latin for "I forbid" — actions that harmed plebeians. Around 450 BCE, Rome's laws were written down on twelve tablets, the Twelve Tables, and displayed in the Forum so that every citizen could know them.

(4) The republic lasted nearly 500 years. But as Rome conquered lands around the Mediterranean Sea, generals with loyal armies grew powerful, and civil wars followed. In 27 BCE, Octavian, who took the name Augustus, became Rome's first emperor. The Senate still met, but real power belonged to one man.

(5) The founders of the United States studied Rome closely. They named the upper house of Congress the Senate, gave the president a veto, and designed government buildings with Roman columns and domes.

(1) China's earliest dynasties grew up along the Huang He, or Yellow River, in northern China. The river's yellow silt made the soil rich, but its floods were so deadly that the river was called "China's Sorrow." Controlling the river required leaders who could organize thousands of workers to build dikes and canals.

(2) Around 1046 BCE, the Zhou people overthrew the Shang dynasty. To explain why their takeover was right, Zhou rulers taught the idea of the Mandate of Heaven. Heaven, they said, gave a ruler the right to govern as long as he ruled wisely and fairly. If a ruler became cruel or careless, Heaven would take the mandate away and give it to someone else. Floods, famines, earthquakes, and rebellions were seen as signs that a dynasty had lost Heaven's favor.

(3) This idea created a pattern that historians call the dynastic cycle. A new dynasty rises, brings order and prosperity, slowly weakens, faces disasters and revolts, and is finally replaced by a new dynasty that claims the mandate.

(4) The Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) became one of the most successful. Han emperors chose many government officials partly by testing their knowledge of the teachings of Confucius, a thinker who taught respect for family, duty, and good government. This was an early form of the civil service examination, which later dynasties expanded. Under the Han, the Silk Road trade routes linked China with Central Asia and, indirectly, with Rome, and Chinese workers developed paper.

(1) China's earliest dynasties grew up along the Huang He, or Yellow River, in northern China. The river's yellow silt made the soil rich, but its floods were so deadly that the river was called "China's Sorrow." Controlling the river required leaders who could organize thousands of workers to build dikes and canals.

(2) Around 1046 BCE, the Zhou people overthrew the Shang dynasty. To explain why their takeover was right, Zhou rulers taught the idea of the Mandate of Heaven. Heaven, they said, gave a ruler the right to govern as long as he ruled wisely and fairly. If a ruler became cruel or careless, Heaven would take the mandate away and give it to someone else. Floods, famines, earthquakes, and rebellions were seen as signs that a dynasty had lost Heaven's favor.

(3) This idea created a pattern that historians call the dynastic cycle. A new dynasty rises, brings order and prosperity, slowly weakens, faces disasters and revolts, and is finally replaced by a new dynasty that claims the mandate.

(4) The Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) became one of the most successful. Han emperors chose many government officials partly by testing their knowledge of the teachings of Confucius, a thinker who taught respect for family, duty, and good government. This was an early form of the civil service examination, which later dynasties expanded. Under the Han, the Silk Road trade routes linked China with Central Asia and, indirectly, with Rome, and Chinese workers developed paper.

(1) Around 2600 BCE, large cities grew up along the Indus River in what is now Pakistan and northwestern India. The best known are Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. At its height, this civilization covered a larger area than either ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia.

(2) The Indus cities were carefully planned. Main streets ran in straight lines and crossed at right angles, like a grid. Builders used baked bricks that were made in the same standard proportions across hundreds of miles. Many houses had their own bathing rooms, and covered drains under the streets carried waste water away.

(3) Like the Nile, the Indus River flooded each year and spread fertile silt over the plains. Farmers grew wheat, barley, and cotton. Indus people were among the first in the world to spin cotton into cloth. Merchants traded with Mesopotamia; stone seals carved by Indus craftworkers have been found in Mesopotamian cities.

(4) Much about this civilization remains a mystery. Short inscriptions appear on thousands of seals, but no one has been able to read the Indus script. Archaeologists have not found grand royal tombs or palaces like those of Egypt, so we do not know who ruled the cities.

(5) After about 1900 BCE, the large cities were slowly abandoned. Scholars point to several possible causes. Rivers may have shifted their courses, and the yearly monsoon rains may have grown weaker, leaving less water for farms. Scholars still do not agree on a single cause.

The timeline lists selected events from early and classical civilizations. Dates marked "c." (circa) are approximate. Remember that BCE years count down toward year 1, so 509 BCE is earlier than 27 BCE.

For more than a thousand years, merchants carried silk, spices, horses, paper, and ideas along a network of trade routes later called the Silk Road. The map shows one main route and six cities along it, placed on a latitude and longitude grid.

For more than a thousand years, merchants carried silk, spices, horses, paper, and ideas along a network of trade routes later called the Silk Road. The map shows one main route and six cities along it, placed on a latitude and longitude grid.

(1) Egypt gets almost no rain. Most of the country is desert. Yet one of the world's longest-lasting civilizations grew up there, because of a single river. The Nile flows north from the highlands of East Africa to the Mediterranean Sea.

(2) Every summer, heavy rains far to the south made the Nile rise and spill over its banks. When the water went down in the fall, it left behind a layer of dark, rich mud called silt. Egyptians called their farmland Kemet, "the black land," after this soil. They called the desert Deshret, "the red land."

(3) Farmers planted wheat and barley in the wet silt as soon as the flood went down. They dug canals and basins to hold the water and carry it to their fields. To plan the work, Egyptians created a calendar of 365 days. It divided the year into three seasons named for the river: the flood, the growing time, and the harvest.

(4) The land around the river also protected Egypt. Wide deserts lay to the east and west, and few armies could cross them. Inside these natural walls, the Nile served as a highway. Boats floated north with the current and sailed south, because the wind usually blows from the north.

(5) Good harvests produced more food than farmers needed. This surplus fed people who did not farm, such as priests, scribes who kept records, and the thousands of workers who built the pyramids for the pharaohs.

Source 1 — Life in Athens (a summary written for this lesson)

(1) In Athens, sons of citizens went to school to learn reading, writing, music, and poetry, and they trained their bodies in exercise grounds. Older students studied public speaking, because every citizen was expected to speak and vote in the Assembly. Athens built a large fleet of ships, traded across the Mediterranean, and became a center of drama, philosophy, and architecture.

(2) Only free adult men born to Athenian parents were citizens. Women, enslaved people, and foreign residents could not vote. Athenian women spent most of their lives at home and could not own much property in their own names.

Source 2 — Life in Sparta (a summary written for this lesson)

(1) Sparta was ruled by two kings, a council of elders, and an assembly of citizen men. At about age seven, Spartan boys left home to live in military barracks. There they trained for years in fighting, endurance, and obedience. Adult citizen men served as soldiers, and they were not allowed to work as merchants or craftsmen.

(2) Spartans depended on the labor of the helots, a conquered people forced to farm the land. Helots greatly outnumbered Spartan citizens, and Spartans feared a helot revolt. Keeping a strong army at all times helped Sparta control them. Spartan women could not vote, but they could own land and had more freedom outside the home than Athenian women.

(1) For more than two centuries, rival states fought for control of China in a time called the Warring States period. In 221 BCE, the state of Qin conquered the last of its rivals. Its ruler took a new title, Shi Huangdi, meaning "First Emperor."

(2) The First Emperor set out to turn many former kingdoms into one country. He ordered everyone to use the same system of writing, the same coins, and the same weights and measures. He even set a standard width for cart axles, so that carts could use the same road ruts everywhere. He divided the empire into districts run by officials he appointed, instead of by local noble families.

(3) Qin rulers followed Legalism, the belief that people obey only strict laws and harsh punishments. According to later historians, the emperor ordered many books burned and punished scholars who criticized him.

(4) Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to work on roads, canals, and long defensive walls in the north, which became an early part of the Great Wall. Many workers died.

(5) The First Emperor died in 210 BCE. Within four years, revolts swept the country and the Qin dynasty collapsed. The Han dynasty that followed kept the single writing system, the standard money, and the appointed officials, but it softened the harshest laws.

Source 1 — In 431 BCE, the Athenian leader Pericles gave a speech honoring soldiers who had died in war. The Greek historian Thucydides recorded it. The paragraph below is a summary in modern words written for this app. It is not an exact quotation.

Pericles said that Athens' form of government does not compete with the systems of other states. Athens does not copy its neighbors; instead, it is an example to them. Athens is called a democracy because the government is in the hands of the many and not of the few. Being poor does not stop a man from serving. A citizen can benefit his country no matter how humble his position.

Source 2 — A modern summary written for this lesson.

(1) In Athens, citizens did not elect representatives to make laws for them. Instead, any citizen could attend the Assembly, speak, and vote directly on laws and on questions of war and peace. Many public officials were chosen by lottery.

(2) However, citizenship was narrow. Only free adult men whose parents were both Athenian counted as citizens. Women, enslaved people, and foreign-born residents could not vote, no matter how long they had lived in Athens. Citizens were only a minority of the people living in Athens.

(1) In 509 BCE, the people of Rome overthrew their last king. They vowed never again to let one man hold all power. In place of the monarchy, they created a republic, a government in which citizens elect officials to make decisions for them.

(2) Each year, Roman citizens elected two consuls to run the government and command the army. Because there were two, either consul could block the other's actions. Consuls served for only one year. The Senate, a council made up mostly of wealthy, experienced men who served for life, advised the consuls and controlled public money.

(3) At first, wealthy landowning families, called patricians, held nearly all power. The common people, called plebeians, pushed back. They won the right to elect their own officials, called tribunes, who could veto — Latin for "I forbid" — actions that harmed plebeians. Around 450 BCE, Rome's laws were written down on twelve tablets, the Twelve Tables, and displayed in the Forum so that every citizen could know them.

(4) The republic lasted nearly 500 years. But as Rome conquered lands around the Mediterranean Sea, generals with loyal armies grew powerful, and civil wars followed. In 27 BCE, Octavian, who took the name Augustus, became Rome's first emperor. The Senate still met, but real power belonged to one man.

(5) The founders of the United States studied Rome closely. They named the upper house of Congress the Senate, gave the president a veto, and designed government buildings with Roman columns and domes.

(1) Around 2600 BCE, large cities grew up along the Indus River in what is now Pakistan and northwestern India. The best known are Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. At its height, this civilization covered a larger area than either ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia.

(2) The Indus cities were carefully planned. Main streets ran in straight lines and crossed at right angles, like a grid. Builders used baked bricks that were made in the same standard proportions across hundreds of miles. Many houses had their own bathing rooms, and covered drains under the streets carried waste water away.

(3) Like the Nile, the Indus River flooded each year and spread fertile silt over the plains. Farmers grew wheat, barley, and cotton. Indus people were among the first in the world to spin cotton into cloth. Merchants traded with Mesopotamia; stone seals carved by Indus craftworkers have been found in Mesopotamian cities.

(4) Much about this civilization remains a mystery. Short inscriptions appear on thousands of seals, but no one has been able to read the Indus script. Archaeologists have not found grand royal tombs or palaces like those of Egypt, so we do not know who ruled the cities.

(5) After about 1900 BCE, the large cities were slowly abandoned. Scholars point to several possible causes. Rivers may have shifted their courses, and the yearly monsoon rains may have grown weaker, leaving less water for farms. Scholars still do not agree on a single cause.

Source 1 — Life in Athens (a summary written for this lesson)

(1) In Athens, sons of citizens went to school to learn reading, writing, music, and poetry, and they trained their bodies in exercise grounds. Older students studied public speaking, because every citizen was expected to speak and vote in the Assembly. Athens built a large fleet of ships, traded across the Mediterranean, and became a center of drama, philosophy, and architecture.

(2) Only free adult men born to Athenian parents were citizens. Women, enslaved people, and foreign residents could not vote. Athenian women spent most of their lives at home and could not own much property in their own names.

Source 2 — Life in Sparta (a summary written for this lesson)

(1) Sparta was ruled by two kings, a council of elders, and an assembly of citizen men. At about age seven, Spartan boys left home to live in military barracks. There they trained for years in fighting, endurance, and obedience. Adult citizen men served as soldiers, and they were not allowed to work as merchants or craftsmen.

(2) Spartans depended on the labor of the helots, a conquered people forced to farm the land. Helots greatly outnumbered Spartan citizens, and Spartans feared a helot revolt. Keeping a strong army at all times helped Sparta control them. Spartan women could not vote, but they could own land and had more freedom outside the home than Athenian women.

(1) For more than two centuries, rival states fought for control of China in a time called the Warring States period. In 221 BCE, the state of Qin conquered the last of its rivals. Its ruler took a new title, Shi Huangdi, meaning "First Emperor."

(2) The First Emperor set out to turn many former kingdoms into one country. He ordered everyone to use the same system of writing, the same coins, and the same weights and measures. He even set a standard width for cart axles, so that carts could use the same road ruts everywhere. He divided the empire into districts run by officials he appointed, instead of by local noble families.

(3) Qin rulers followed Legalism, the belief that people obey only strict laws and harsh punishments. According to later historians, the emperor ordered many books burned and punished scholars who criticized him.

(4) Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to work on roads, canals, and long defensive walls in the north, which became an early part of the Great Wall. Many workers died.

(5) The First Emperor died in 210 BCE. Within four years, revolts swept the country and the Qin dynasty collapsed. The Han dynasty that followed kept the single writing system, the standard money, and the appointed officials, but it softened the harshest laws.

Source 1 — Life in Athens (a summary written for this lesson)

(1) In Athens, sons of citizens went to school to learn reading, writing, music, and poetry, and they trained their bodies in exercise grounds. Older students studied public speaking, because every citizen was expected to speak and vote in the Assembly. Athens built a large fleet of ships, traded across the Mediterranean, and became a center of drama, philosophy, and architecture.

(2) Only free adult men born to Athenian parents were citizens. Women, enslaved people, and foreign residents could not vote. Athenian women spent most of their lives at home and could not own much property in their own names.

Source 2 — Life in Sparta (a summary written for this lesson)

(1) Sparta was ruled by two kings, a council of elders, and an assembly of citizen men. At about age seven, Spartan boys left home to live in military barracks. There they trained for years in fighting, endurance, and obedience. Adult citizen men served as soldiers, and they were not allowed to work as merchants or craftsmen.

(2) Spartans depended on the labor of the helots, a conquered people forced to farm the land. Helots greatly outnumbered Spartan citizens, and Spartans feared a helot revolt. Keeping a strong army at all times helped Sparta control them. Spartan women could not vote, but they could own land and had more freedom outside the home than Athenian women.

(1) For more than two centuries, rival states fought for control of China in a time called the Warring States period. In 221 BCE, the state of Qin conquered the last of its rivals. Its ruler took a new title, Shi Huangdi, meaning "First Emperor."

(2) The First Emperor set out to turn many former kingdoms into one country. He ordered everyone to use the same system of writing, the same coins, and the same weights and measures. He even set a standard width for cart axles, so that carts could use the same road ruts everywhere. He divided the empire into districts run by officials he appointed, instead of by local noble families.

(3) Qin rulers followed Legalism, the belief that people obey only strict laws and harsh punishments. According to later historians, the emperor ordered many books burned and punished scholars who criticized him.

(4) Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to work on roads, canals, and long defensive walls in the north, which became an early part of the Great Wall. Many workers died.

(5) The First Emperor died in 210 BCE. Within four years, revolts swept the country and the Qin dynasty collapsed. The Han dynasty that followed kept the single writing system, the standard money, and the appointed officials, but it softened the harshest laws.