annotated notesheet

oetzi

chalcolithic (lived between 3400 and 3100bc) man discovered, mostly still frozen, in the mountains between Austria and Italy in 1991

dani

a late Neolithic people found in Papua-New Guinea, studied as a modern parallel for earlier Neolithic cultures. A film, “Dead Birds”, was made about them in the 1960s

egyptians

the first settlers of the Nile Valley, originally in two regions, Upper and Lower Egypt

king min/menes

Consolidator of Upper and Lower Egypt c.3000bc (possibly mythical).

ramses II

(c.1303-1213bc) Egyptian pharaoh and general at the battle of Kadesh (1274bc)

jean-francois champollion

(1790-1832ad) French decipherer of hieroglyphics

hitties

Indo-European-speaking kingdom c.1600-1200bc, originally in northern Asia Minor; clashed with New Kingdom Egypt in 1274bc at Kadesh

sumerians

first settlers of Mesopotamia; possibly came about 7000bc from the Zagros Mountains to the east; inventors of the wheel, the plow, and a writing system (cuneiform); first civilization in the lower valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers

sargon i akkad

(c.2340-2284bc) founder of Akkadian kingdom after the conquest of Sumer

assyrians

Semitic-speaking founders of an empire centered originally upon the northern Tigris river— survived in various forms from 2500bc to c.600bc—noted for their professional army and its siege techniques, as well as their use of terror to intimidate their enemies

medes

one of two Indo-European-speaking cousin peoples (along with the Persians) who invaded the Iranian plateau about 1000bc

persians

one of two Indo-European-speaking cousin peoples (along with the Medes) who invaded the Iranian plateau about 1000bc; later, the name for the combined Mede/Persian group collectively—see “Cyrus the Great”

cyrus the great

(C.600-530bc) Persian nobleman, founder of the Persian empire which combined the

two cousin peoples, Medes and Persians

darius I

(c.550-486bc) Persian king, sent the first punitive expedition against Eretria and Athens in 490BC, only to have it driven off at Marathon.

xerxes I

(519-465bc) son of Darius I, led the second expedition against Greece in 480bc

minoans

non-Indo-European-speakers, first civilization in Greece, c.2000-1500bc; the first Greeks built upon their framework, including certain structures and their writing system (Linear A); their current name was given to them by their first archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans.

mycenaeans

the first Greeks in Greece; Indo-European-speakers who invaded, took over, and expanded Minoan civilization c.1600-1100bc; adapted Linear A to write their language (Linear B); given their current name by Sir Arthur Evans.

sir arthur evans

(1851-1941) first archaeologist of Minoans and Mycenaeans on Crete; establisher of first method of dating early Greek civilizations

michael ventris

(1922-1956) leader in research which proved that Linear B was actually a form of very

early Greek

philip II of macedon

(382-336bc) king of a united Macedon, defeated a combined Theban/Athenian

army at Chaeronea in 338bc

alexander the great

(356-323bc) son of Philip II, eventual conqueror of the Persian empire after only three battles: Granicus (334bc), Issos (333bc), and Gaugamela (331bc); supposedly left his empire to “the strongest”.

darius III

(c.380-330bc) last king of Persian empire; opponent of Alexander the Great; murdered by arelative, Bessos

ptolemy I

Ptolemy I (366-282bc) one of Alexander the Great’s generals; seized Egypt after Alexander’s death; founded a dynasty which lasted till 30bc, with the suicide of his last descendant, Cleopatra VII

romulus and remus

mythical twins, children of Mars and the priestess Rhea Silvia, cared for as babies by a she-wolf; after killing Remus, Romulus was said to have been the founder of Rome

anonymous she wolf

the lupine foster-mother of Romulus and Remus in Roman mythology

etruscans

a non-Indo-European-speaking people who had settled in Italy on the west coast; Rome’s “big brother”, from whom Rome borrowed certain elements of its culture

celts

an Indo-European-speaking people who colonized, among other places, the valley of the Po River, as well as modern-day France and Britain

samnites

an Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the region south of the Romans, eventually conquered and assimilated

carthaginians

inhabitants of the Phoenician colony of Qart-hadasht, “New City” (founded between 814-811bc); rivals of the Romans for control of the western Mediterranean; fought and lost three wars with Rome, 264-241, 218-202, 149-146bc

pyrrhus of epirus

(319-272bc) king of Epirus in western Greece; waged an ultimately unsuccessful war against Rome, 280-275; introduced the Romans to elephants (neither was pleased).

hannibal barca

(247-c.181bc) brilliant Carthaginian general who destroyed Roman armies at Trebbia

(218bc), Lake Trasimene (217bc), and Cannae (216bc); eventually defeated at Zama (202bc).

scipio africanus

(236-183BC) Roman general; defeated Hannibal at the battle of Zama (202bc)

sulla

(138-78bc) Roman nobleman and general; used his army to force the government to make him dictator (82-79bc).

julius caesar

(100-44bc) Roman general, member of the 1st Triumvirate, eventual victor in a civil war after which he had himself appointed “dictator for life”; assassinated by his own lieutenants

octavian/agustus

(63bc-14ad) Roman politician, heir of his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, member of the

2nd Triumvirate; eventually victor in a final civil war, leaving him in control of the entire Mediterranean basin; although never called “emperor”, was, in fact, the first Roman emperor.

diocletian

(244-311ad) Roman officer and emperor (284-305ad); reorganizer of the empire into East and West halves, each ruled by an Augustus, assisted by a Caesar.

constantine I

(c.272-337bc) son of the western Augustus, Constantius, made Augustus by his troops; eventual victor in a long civil war, when he became sole emperor (324ad); founded new capital, Constantinople, on the site of an ancient Greek town, Byzantium; the eastern half of his empire became separated from the western to become the Byzantine Empire.

paleolithic era

(2.5 million years BC to 10,000BC) first period of human development; humans as

foragers, inventors of stone tools.

neolithic era

(10,000 to 2000BC, depending upon the area) the era in human history in which we see the beginnings of the domestication of plants and animals, widely-developed trade, villages.

hunter-gatherer/forager

older and newer terms for Paleolithic peoples and their levels of technological

and social development

domestication

the taming of animals for human use; the conversion of plants from wild to human use

chalcolithic era

(5500-3000BC) period in which people began to make tools and weapons from copper

bronze age

(3500-1000BC) the period in which people created an alloy of copper and tin to make a new metal for tools and weapons [NOTE: the dates for things like the Bronze Age and the Iron Age are only rough approximations and may differ in different regions of the earth].

iron age

(1000BC to the present) the period in which people began to employ iron along with bronze for tools and weapons—in a sense, we’re still in that period, as steel is common and is derived from iron

nome

Egyptian “county”—there were 42 in all, 22 in Upper and and 20 in Lower Egypt, each overseen by a nomarch (these are based upon later Greek terms now commonly used and which replace the original Egyptian “sepat” and “heri tep a’a”)

cataract

one of the sets of rocky rapids to the south which end the Nile river’s easy navigation

dynasty

a ruling family (ancient Egypt’s history could be divided up into its dynasties, as well as into Old/Middle/New Kingdom eras).

intermediate period

one of the eras when the ancient Egyptian government lost control—in the First

and Second periods it was loss of control of the Nile delta.

hyksos

invaders from the north who controlled the Egyptian delta during the Second Intermediate Period (called in Egyptian “heka haswut”—“princes of foreign lands”)

mummy

in Egypt, a body which has undergone a long process of preservation after death.

pyramid

a large stone structure with its four sides tapering to a point; a tomb for a few early pharaohs

old/middle/new kingdom

the major divisions of ancient Egyptian history

hieroglyphics

the formal writing system of ancient Egypt.

rosetta stone

stone with a Ptolemaic inscription from 196BC written in hieroglyphics, demotic (a scribal writing system), and Greek, which enabled scholars in the early 19th century to be able to decipher hieroglyphics for the first time

khopesh

an Egyptian bronze sickle sword

chariot

commonly a two-wheeled vehicle with a team of from two to four horses, plus a team of two to four riders, used in early warfare

dibble stick

an early agricultural tool—simply a pointed stick used to poke holes in the ground in order to plant seeds.

mudbrick

a building material commonly made of mud mixed with straw or horsehair or anything else to increase tensile strength

ziggurat

a step temple, used in mesopotamia from the Sumerians on

cuneiform

wedge-shaped writing, first invented by the sumerians

indo-european

a language system, originally probably from north of the Black Sea, the speakers of which gradually expanded from that homeland as far west as Ireland and as far east as Nepal. Early

• examples: Hittite, Greek, Latin, Celtic languages, Germanic languages

linear b

a writing system, developed from Minoan Linear A, and used by the Mycenaean Greeks, the name coming from Sir Arthur Evans, who noted that, on many tablets, the symbols were written in/on lines

hoplite

(from hoplon, “shield”) a Greek heavily-armored warrior

phalanx

a shield-wall; a formation used by hoplites in which soldiers are densely packed and which uses the pressure of that packing behind its wall of spears and shields to push against and, hopefully, through, an enemy line.

psiloi

Greek skirmishers, made up usually of slingers, archers, and peltasts (these are javelin men, named after their lunate shield, called a pelta in Greek

oligarchy

rule by the few—usually a few families or individuals

democracy

ule by the demos, that is, by the people (although “people” is often restricted to property-owning males)

delian league

a group of Greek city-states who banded together after the Persian defeat at Plataea to carry the war to the islands and to Asia Minor—the Athenians eventually turned it into the Athenian Empire

long walls of athens

Long Walls of Athens the long stretches of stone walls which connected inland Athens to its threeports. The Spartans made the Athenians knock holes in them as a sign of submission after the Athenians lost the Peloponnesian War in 404BC.

successor/Hellenistic kingdoms

states set up by Alexander’s generals after his death. (The generals are

sometimes called the “Successors”).

sarissa

the Macedonian pike, reportedly can be over 16 feet long (and made up of at least two pieces which could be joined by a bronze collar before battle).

consul

one of two yearly-elected officers who headed the Roman state during the Republic

senat

the consultative body of the Roman government, based upon the previous Etruscan kings’ council of elders

gladius

the Roman short sword, with which its infantry was armed. (Formally known as the “gladius hispaniensis”—the “Spanish sword”)

pilum

the standard Roman military javelin, with a softened iron shaft and head so that, when striking an enemy, it would bend and become useless to re-use. Roman infantry normally began an attack by hurling these, then drawing their swords and moving forward.

scutum

the Roman soldier’s large, rectangular shield

legion

the big basic unit of Roman infantry. In earlier times, made up of groupings called maniples (“handfuls”); later divided into cohorts

triplex acies

the basic Roman battle formation (the Latin means “three-fold battle line”). Roman troops marched to battle in an agmen (maybe something like “grouping”, from the verb ago, (here) “to drive”) and then spread out into an acies (from the root ac- “point/edge”—think of the English word “acute”)

velites

Roman skirmishers—lightly-armed infantry who fought individually in front of the triplex acies

hastati

the front line of the triplex acies

principes

the middle line of the triplex acies

triarii

the rear line of the triplex acies (and also part of a Roman proverbial expression that somethingwas “down to the triarii”, meaning “it was time for desperate measures”)

triumvirate

rule by three men—there were two of these in the last century BC, each of which preceded a period of civil war.

good emperor

an emperor who puts the state before himself and his family

bad emperor

an emperor who puts himself and his family before the state

assimilation

literally, “becoming like/similar to”—what happened to various peoples the Romans added to their empire: in time, they lost their foreignness and became increasingly Roman.

neolithic era

(begins about 10,000BC)

kin min unites upper and lower egypt

(c.3000BC).

sumerian kingdoms fall

c2300BC) to Sargon I and his Akkadians

akkadian kingdom

(2300-2000BC) which falls to the Babylonians perhaps after an extended drought

battle of kadesh

(1274BC) in which New Kingdom Egyptians fight Hittites to a standstill, but don’t defeat them—and the Egyptians withdraw to the south afterwards

invention of the wheel by the sumerians

which leads to the invention of the war wagon and then the chariot

the ancestors of the persians invade the

Iranian Plateau (c.1000BC) in two groups, Medes and Persians

Dark Age of Greece

(c.1000-700BC), which is part of the general collapse of civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean (Mycenaean Greece, the Hittite kingdom, New Kingdom Egypt) during the period 1100-1000BC

battle of marathon

(490BC) in which the army of Athens drives Persian raiders back into the sea

battle of salamis

(480BC)—a naval battle just south of Athens in which a combined allied fleet defeats a Persian fleet, slowing the Persian invasion of Greece

battle of thermopylae

480BC)—a delaying action by a small Spartan force which slows the Persian

advance into Greece for only a few days

battle of plataea

(479BC)—the defeat of the Persian invasion

peloponnesian war

(431-404BC)—an all-out war between Sparta and its allies and Athens and its empire in which Athens is ultimately defeated. As a symbol of that defeat, the Athenians are forced to knock holes in their long walls

battle of leuktra

(371BC)—Epaminondas’ Thebans, using a rebalancing of their phalanx, defeat a

Spartan army