2nd wave civilizations across Eurasia

Persian Empire

• Accepting of many cultures

• Satraps among 23 provinces

• Royal road, advanced communication & trade

• Cyrus the Great, conquered a lot

• 35-50 million people

• Lower level officials from local populations, spies watch officials

• Cult of kingship (ruler seen as divine)

• Effective bureaucracy model for others

• Underground irrigation system

• Infrastructure (royal road, coinage, canal)

Ancient Greece

• Small, competitive city-states

• 2-3 million

• Hard on environment (deforestation, metallurgy)

• The polis city: city and surroundings acting independent

• In common: language, religious beliefs, Olympics

• Varied political systems (monarchy, oligarchy [Sparta], tyranny, and democracy [Athens, direct demcracy])

• Expansive people: trade and farmland

• Citizenship 3 levels

Collision

• Greek city-states repelled the Persian invasion; Athens’ postwar dominance led to the Peloponnesian War, which left Greece weakened.

• Macedonia under King Philip II conquered Greece; his son Alexander the Great then defeated Persia and built a vast empire.

• Alexander spread Greek culture (Hellenism) from Greece to India, promoted cosmopolitan cities like Alexandria, and adopted a god-like persona.

• After his death the empire fractured, but Hellenistic culture endured and influenced later empires, including Rome.

Roman Empire

• Maintained republicanism

• Elaborate bureaucracy - depended on aristocrats and military

• Infrastructure

• Body of law applied to all

• Slave labor to build up stuff

• Razors edge (patrician/plebian relationship, plebes had no rights but rebelled and gained some)

• Women had rights, lose as Rome was constructed, gain again (wealthy women)

• Pax Romana: Roman peace, 200 year golden age

China: Qin Empire

• Developed bureaucracy, subordinate aristocracy to emperor

• Legalism, strict laws + strict punishments

• Executed scholars who disagreed, burned books

• Constructed most of the great wall in a 10 year period

• Standardized everything: weights, measures, currency, written script

• Tried to unify China through conquest

• Brutal policies led to downfalls

China: Han Empire

• Centralization of Qin

• Confucian ideals

• Invested in infrastructure

• Assimilated non-Chinese

Consolidation

China:

• Idea of Heaven

• Buddhism from Indian traders

• Made up the majority, assimilated barbarians to be Chinese

• Chinese culture spread a lot, still relevant today

• Chinese did not inspire many other languages, difficult characters

• Civil service system, even if you were poor you could get a govt job with talent

Rome:

• Deceased emperors = gods

• Christianity spread, eventual state support

• Minority due to beginning as small city state

• Citizenship from service, and eventually given to almost all free people, more of a legal status than assimilation so it did not erase other identities

• Greek culture more prominent

• Latin inspired other languages

• Administration relied more on regional aristocratic elites and the army for cohesiveness

Similarities

• Both spoke in universal terms

• Both damaged the environment

• Both had lots of infrastructure (roads, canals, etc.)

• Both had centralized power over huge regions

Collapse

• Han China: Resource strain, corruption, and powerful regional warlords weakened the government; diverse cultures made control harder, though Confucian ideals and technology later helped recentralize.

• Rome: Only the Western empire fell as Germanic tribes disrupted stability; East renamed to Byzantine, Western Europe never recentralized due to cultural, environmental, and Christian influences.

• Shared Factors: Both empires were overextended, resource-poor, disease-stricken, and burdened by tax-dodging elites and class divisions.

India: Mauryan Empire

• Ashoka era

• Use of military to unify empire

• Civilian bureacracy to rule local areas

• Spires monitored areas

• Arthashastra provided pragmatic guidance on ruling

• State operation of many industries

• Rock and Pillar Edicts of Ashoka (spread Dhamma)

India: Gupta Empire

• Very peaceful time

• The arts,science, mathematics,art, literature

• A lot of trade with China, reached as far as Rome

• Caste system still present 

• Buddhist and Hindu culture took hold in the late part of the empire

India: Post Gupta

• History looks more like western europe due to cultural differences and constant fighting internally and externally.

• more local loyalty due to caste system

• Thrived on trade

• The arts and science continued to grow despite lack of centralized authority.