China’s Geography, Predynastic China, and the Xia Dynasty

• China’s Geography

  • very isolating, hard to travel in western china

    • easier to travel in eastern china, but still extremely isolated

  • invasions are rare

• Rivers

  • 2 major rivers in chinese history

    • huang he (yellow river)

    • chang jiang (yangtze river)

  • monsoons cause rivers to flood

    • causes sediment deposition and fertile soil!

• Monsoons

  • multiple monsoon systems impact china

  • wet in summer, dry in winter

• Loess

  • fine sediment

  • deposited through wind, specifically from the gobi desert

  • winter monsoons start north, and winds blow south, picking up loess

  • most of eastern china is very fertile

• Climate of China

  • north

    • cooler

    • dry (10’’ rain per year)

    • good for growing grains like wheat and millet

  • south

    • warmer

    • wet (40’’ of rain per year)

    • perfect for growing rice

• Predynastic China

  • people began settling and starting agricultural societies in the huang he valley around 8000 BCE

    • staple foods = barley, wheat, grain, buckwheat, millet, etc

• Xia Dynasty (we don’t even know if it existed or not)

  • a dynasty is a line of hereditary rulers

  • first dynasty in chinese history (if it existed)

  • yellow emperor - mythical first emperor of china

  • yu the great

    • chinese folklore says there was a huge flood covering all of china, and yu tamed the Huang He to end the flood

  • yeah, we literally have no clue if any of this happened.

Shang + Zhou Dynasties

• Shang Dynasty

  • overthrow happened around 1700 bce

  • ruled until around 1000 bce

• Government and Social Class

  • strong central monarchy

  • moved the capitol

  • social classes

    • nobles/aristocrats

    • soldiers - split between infantry/cavalry

    • artisans

    • peasants

  • very large army (but not a standing army)

  • chariots were often used as cavalry

  • king as a ritual position - aristocrats and nobles did most of the actual governing

• Shang Elite

  • most of society was Focused on those at the top of the hierarchy

    • bottom half of social hierarchy is scared of the power that the upper classes have over them

  • leisure was very highly valued, and hunting was very fancy

  • people of the shang dynasty bury themselves with their belongings and even other bodies so that they could have stuff in the afterlife

  • bronze and jade were used (jade = very expensive) for tools and other belongings

• Religion (Animism, Shamanism, and Ancestor Worship)

  • everything has its own permanent soul or spirit

  • ancestor worship — ancestors were VERY respected

  • divine kingship: kings mostly just did rituals to please the spirits

  • communicated with ancestry and asked for advice

• Oracle Bones

  • questions were inscribed on animal bones or tortoise shells

  • hot piece of bronze was pressed against bone, causing it to crack

  • specially trained priests would interpret the cracks

• Shang Advancements

  • writing system

    • through oracle bones, progression from full pictographs to simpler symbols

  • bronzeworking

    • giant bronze vessels were used

• Zhou Overthrow

  • shang were overthrown around 1055 BCE by the zhou people

    • at this time, the zhou people were a ‘subject people’

  • zhou dynasty split into 2 periods

    • western zhou dynasty: zhou is strong, expanding territory, capital is in zongzhou

• Tian Ming - “Mandate of Heaven”

  • (the heavens give one person the right to rule china)

  • zhou argued that the shang had lost the mandate of heaven, and said that the heavens now wanted the zhou to rule

  • tian ming was reflected through ecology, politics, social ills, etc

  • ultimately, tian ming is the will of the people

• Dynastic Cycle

  1. new dynasty

  2. fixes social issues

  3. lives improve

  4. problems begin

  5. taxes increase

  6. government increases spending

  7. peasants lose respect for the government

  8. rebels fight, and one leader rises

  9. rebel and defeat current emperor

  10. repeat.

• Zhou Advancements

  • expanded territory

  • metallurgy, specifically iron working

  • siege weapons (independent of the assyrians)

  • agriculture - grains, etc

    • increased size of harvest

    • cities grew with surplus food

  • roads and canals

  • money system advancements

    • spade money

    • shovel money

    • knife money

Confucianism

• The Warring States Period

  • 7 states fighting to obtain power (zhou still currently in power)

  • hyperviolence

    • murder on/off the battlefield

    • immense death

  • new ideas arise; ideas for solutions

    • confucius

    • lao tzu

    • laozi

• “do not do upon others what you would not like done to yourself”

• Kung Fu Tzu - Confucianism

  • lived during the warring states period

  • was a ‘civil servant’ (failed); became a traveling teacher with his followers/disciples

    • his students/followers took notes on his teachings

• Filial Piety

  • respect and loyalty to your family

  • 3 degrees:

    1. being a credit to your parents

    2. not being a disgrace

    3. simply supporting your family

• 5 Constant Relationships

  • Ruler and Subject

    • love the ruler as a father

    • be a credit to the ruler

  • Husband and Wife

    • wife needs to listen and love her husband

    • the wife must obey the husband

  • Parent and Child

    • respect and duty paid to parent

  • Older and Younger Siblings

    • respect the older sibling

  • Peer to Peer

    • respect and love and pay duty to your peers

• Junzi

  • looking on past rulers to learn from their mistakes

  • sage kings of antiquity

    • yellow emperor

    • emperor yao

    • yu the great

    • duke of zhou

  • sage examples to achieve

    • promised

    • built

    • protected

    • overcame/improved

    • honesty and loyalty

    • truth

    • family

    • hard work

• Humaneness

  • confucius says its important for rulers to be humane; the government must benefit the people!

  • rulers need to set a good example for their people

  • examples of humaneness

    • giving to the people

    • putting the people first

    • keeping peace (no wars!)

• Punishment

  • confucius believed the idea of punishment caused more destruction than the punishment itself

  • punishment causes a spiral/domino reaction of troble

  • INSTEAD:

    • help others to be good/improve

    • “shame and anxiety is punishment enough”

    • set a good example

• Ruling/Morality in Government

  • does not really rule by law but by moral example

  • women were not relevant in government or law

Qin Dynasty

• Rise of the Qin

  • qin people were expert horsemen

  • qin statesman Shang Yang develops a new idea to finally defeat the remaining 6 states and end the wars

    • throw out the “gentlemen’s rules” and win at any cost

    • idea was put into practice by qin ruler Ying Zheng who quickly defeated the other remaining states in 221 BCE

  • the victory established the qin dynasty, and ying zheng changes his name to Qin Shi Huangdi (first emperor of the qin)

• Early Qin Rule

  • qin shi huangdi began his rule by improving the lives of the common people

    • hired and paid peasants in great works projects, such as the first version of what would later become the great wall of china

    • further developed road and canal system (including 1st version of grand canal)

• Qin Progression

  • peasants stopped getting paid for their work on public projects

  • peasants enslaved (poor food, communal living far away from home)

  • eventually anyone could be forced to work on these projects

  • weapons were restricted heavily

    • only members of the army could have weapons

    • weapons were confiscated and used to make huge statues in glory of the qin dynasty

  • massive network of spies and secret police to prevent uprising

• Further Qin Tyranny

  • nobles feel pressure/lose trust as they no longer have unilateral support of the dynasty

  • confucians resist, writing texts on the tyranny of the qin dynasty and their failures through a confucian perspective

  • qin shi huang - upon suggestion from his prime minister Li Si - calls for book burnings, out lawing anything critical of the qin.

    • even mentioning anti-qin texts could result in your death

• Legalism

  • philosophical/government belief system created by Han Fei during the warring states period

    • further developed by shang yang and li si

  • system of many different rules and regulations: very brutal strict, and harsh

  • must have a standing military to enforce (over 800k soldiers at its peak)

  • built upon military matters and violence

    • promotions based on effectiveness as a soldier

• Qin Shi Huangdi’s Death

  • survived 3 assassination attempts

  • became paranoid and obsessed with preventing his death

  • decrees a new building project - a massive tomb the size of a city with everything needed to continue his rule in his death

    • included an army of clay soldiers (Terracotta Warriors)

  • dies form mercury poisoning in 210 BCE

    • elixir of ‘immortality’ ??

• Qin Dynasty post-Qin Shi Huangdi

  • after his death, his ‘second in command’ li si makes a plan

  • qin shi huangdi’s chosen successor is his son, Fusu

    • li si thinks fusu might replace him with someone else, so he changes the will

    • Hu Hai will now be leader

  • hu hai is a weak leader with a bad temper

  • hu hai’s former teacher Zhao Gao executes li si

  • hu hai killed in 207 BCE

  • zhao gao installs a new, weak emperor - tries to control him, doesn’t work

  • zhao gao killed hin the same year

  • rebellions topple qin dynasty in 206 BCE

Han Dynasty China and Silk Road

• Qin Collapse/Han Rebellion

  • qin dynasty collapses after QSHD death

  • 207 BCE - rebellions widespread

  • han people and Liu Bang (peasant) defeat other rebels and unite china under the han dynasty (206 BCE)

• Han Legalism

  • what is legalism?

    • belief that social and gov. harmony can only be achieved if there is state control and obedience

    • meritocracy: promotion based on merits, not connections

  • what was qin legalism built upon?

    • brutality and violence

    • meritocracy came from only military matters

  • how was han legalism different?

    • more focused on trade

    • blended with confucian ideals

• Meritocracy, Bureaucrats, and Civil Service Exams

  • han dynasty appointed 100s of regional governors to maintain order

  • appointed people through a series of written tests

  • civil service exams

    • open to men of all ages and social classes

    • focused on knowledge of confucius, laozi, and han fei

    • 3 different levels of degrees:

      1. lowest: taken locally; qualified you for the local government

      2. mid-level: taken in a provincial capital; qualified you for regional government

      3. highest: taken in beijing, qualified you for the country government

    • must pay to take the test

    • imperial academy was to prepare young men to take the CSEs

• Han Expansion

  • territorial expansions across east asia

  • military and political expansions

  • major wars against the xiongnu peoples in the north

  • han traded outside of country

• Silk Road

  • trading networks (not a singular road; a collection of routes)

  • connected china to the western world

  • exchange of goods as well as ideas and philosophies

  • exchanges were in danger of theft along the road

  • han used political power and alliances to protect traders

  • paid by bartering

• Silk Road Trade Goods

  • West —> East

    • horses, dogs, camels, etc

    • animal furs and skins

    • honey and fruits

    • wool blankets

    • slaves

    • weapons

    • etc

  • East —> West

    • silk

    • tea

    • dyes

    • stones

    • porcelain

    • spices

    • bronze and gold

    • medicine

    • perfumes

    • rice

    • paper

    • gunpowder

    • etc

  • exchange of ideas influenced the world

  • spreaded diseases like the plague

  • some of the earliest ideas of a ‘global’ economy

  • ‘backbone’ of the han dynasty (held up the economy)

Minoan Civilizations

• Greek Geography (Minoan Civ)

  • bronze age civ

  • aegean sea to the east of greece

  • “minoan” because Minos’s kid is the Minotaur

• Minoan Mysteries

  • we have not cracked the language yet

    • linear A and B (writing systems)

• Minoan ‘Palaces’

  • center of the community

  • don’t know the overall political system

    • we do know they collected some form of tax

  • connected by roads

  • thought to be a peaceful civilization

    • no fortification or walls

  • palaces destroyed and rebuilt many times

    • volcanos and earthquakes

    • layers of techniques/building/architecture

• Minoan Civ Falls

  • yeah so we have no clue why.

    • invasion?

Greek Polis System

• Polis…?

  • translated to “city state”

  • basic unit of greek society

  • independent of its surrounding area

  • urban center

  • eventually there were 1k+ across greece

  • most influential:

    • athens

    • sparta

    • corinth

    • thebes

    • sycrause

• Common Features of a Polis

  • a sacred Acropolis OR

  • ‘heart’ of the city

    • temples

    • fortified/protected

  • an agora (market)

    • buy/sell

    • exchange ideas

    • recreation

  • a strong sense of identity

    • “i’m athenian” > “i’m greek”

    • polis-specific culture and political systems (each city-state had its own patron god/goddess)

    • law codes, coinage, specific goods, community history and more

• Polis Politics

  • different systems depending on city-state

  • oligarchy/aristocracy

    • small group rules/holds power

  • tyranny/monarchy

    • rule by one

  • democracy

    • rule by the people

  • citizenship = big deal

    • how you got the benefits of the city-state

City States

• Athens

  • POSEIDEN VS ATHENA (for athens)

  • poseidon struck his trident into rock

  • athena planted an olive tree — main food source

  • athena = patron goddess

  • athens fell to persia

  • egypt = major trade partner

  • advancements

    • geometry

    • science

  • many wars with sparta

  • invented democracy

  • lots of arts; obsessed with knowlege

• Corinth

  • center of ancient trade

  • oligarchy

  • marriage at 13 or 14 yrs old

  • black painted pottery

  • isthmian/panhellenic games (chariot races, music, festivals)

  • poseidon = patron god

  • influenced by/worshipped other gods as well

• Sparta

  • patron god=athena

  • sacrifices before and after battles

  • council and 2 kings

  • loved war —> hated cowards

  • women had businesses and property

  • anyone can be educated

  • didn’t like trade —> iron bars used as currency

  • invented an encryption device

Persian and Peloponnesian Wars

• Persian Wars Background

  • Achaemenid Empire under Darius I

    • expanded lots in late 6th century BCE

  • turkey=ionia=asia minor=anatolia

• Persian Wars Beginning

  • athenians are helping ionians - darius is mad

  • darius sends word to greece, telling them to surrender (greeks execute messengers)

  • athens + sparta vs persia

• Athens vs Persia Marathon

  • persian army = 90k men

    • lightly armored archers

  • greek army = 12k men

    • heavily armored

    • bronze and leather armor

    • bronze shield

    • short sword and many spears

• The Phalanx

  • revolutionary idea at the time

  • tightly compacted blocks of soldiers (usually 8 deep)

  • shield in left hand, spear in right

    • covered by your shield on left side, and right side is covered by the other man

  • required cohesive training

  • increased offense and defense effectiveness in battle

• Miltiades: Athens Gen.

  • persian archers not effective against the phalanx (they lose)

  • persians retreat

  • messenger sprints 26.2 miles to Athens, proclaims “Nike” and dies out of exhaustion

• Thermopylae

  • second invasion of mainland greece by darius’s successor (xerxes)

  • large persian army comes down on very small group of greeks led by Leonidas in the mountain pass

  • greeks lose, but held out for 3 days

• Salamis

  • athenian general Themistocles needed to destroy 500 persian ships with his 300 ships

  • greek ships = triremes

    • large, fast

    • 2 lvls of rowers

    • bronze ram

  • themistocles baits persians into dangerous waves (straights of salamis)

  • greek navy eliminates persian navy

  • persians burn athens

• Plataea

  • largest battle of the war

  • persians still control most of greece at this point

  • greeks field largest hoplite army

  • greeks win

• Persian War - Results

  • persian army goes home

  • peace signed in 449 BCE

  • persian empire lasts for 200+ years

  • golden age in greece

  • alliance formed - Delian League

• Peloponnesian War - Background

  • athens and sparta = primary powers

  • athenians built allies and dependent states

  • small first war (athens and corinth)

  • athenians start resource dispute

• Pelop. War Beginning

  • Megarian Decrees

    • bans megara from using athenian ports (making them more dependent on athenians)

    • megara=long time spartan ally

    • sparta asks for decrees to be removed

    • pericles (athenian leader) convinces them to keep the decrees

  • colonies attatch to eachother

    • thebes and plataea

  • spartan military invades attica (region where athens is) in 431 BCE

• Delian League

  • led by athens

  • over 300 members paid tribute to athens through $$ or ships

  • protective alliance

  • essentially the athenian empire

  • naval power

• Peloponnesian League

  • led by sparta

  • smaller # of city states

  • corinth = main ally

  • mainly a land power

• Invasion of Attica

  • sparta and pelop. league start annual invasions (burnt fields, orchards, towns)

  • no decisive battles

  • siege of athens many times (athens=siege resistant; connected to ports)

  • spartans wanted battle, athens doesn’t take bait

  • athenians raided pelop. coastlines

  • plague in athens in 430 BCE postpones invasion

  • pericles is ostracized, athenians sue for peace

• War

  • war becomes familiar to normal citizens

  • brutality unknown to the area at the time

    • ‘rules’ of war thrown aside

    • sparta murders all men in the city

• Sicilian Expedition

  • both sides want to break stalemate

  • athens needed good timber from Sicily to shore up the fleet

  • larges polis on sicily=sycrause (corinthian ally)

• Alcibiades’s Adventures

  • helps spartans raid farms and helps broker a deal with persians

  • says ‘hold up yall lemme roll with the persians they’re lit’

  • says ‘wait guys im cooked lemme go back’

  • bro cannot make up his mind

• Victory

  • spartans corner athenian navy

  • 3000+ soldiers killed

  • delian league is cooked, spartans and pelop. league win

• Aftermath

  • athens is broke af and have to pay tribute to sparta

Alexander and Hellenistic Greece

• Macedonia

  • small kingdom

  • northern greece

  • strayed from peloponnesian war conflicts

• Rise of the Macedonian Kingdom

  • King Philip II had different ideas

  • wants expansion

  • won battle of Chaeronea - gain most of greece

  • planning to go to war with persian empire

• Alexander III

  • son of philip II

  • trained by aristotle - very influential in his life

  • trained the untamable horse

  • helped his dad with war and politics

  • assumes throne when philip is assassinated

  • wants to continue plans to invade persia

• Asia Minor

  • army of 32000 infantry and 5100 cavalry

  • invaded asia minor

  • ruthless conquest

• Gordian Knot

  • in phrygia

  • mythological knot — no person has untied

  • alexander slices it in half

• Tyre

  • island city off the coast of lebanon —> walls

  • naval blockade, builds a causeway

  • breaks city, executes 8000

• Gaugamela and Persian Campaigns

  • chasing darius iii

  • alexander wins battle; no capture of darius

The Roman Empire

• Caesar’s Early Life

  • patrician class

  • effective soldier in his youth

  • focused on keeping his word

    • pirate ransom - really good w/ people, really violent

  • rose in political ranks

  • creates first triumvirate with pompey and crassus

    • aligned with populare faction against optimate faction

    • caesar and pompey = smart, crassus = rich

• Caesar and Civil War

  • governor of Gaul when triumvirate dissolves

    • crassus killed, pompey betrays

  • pompey convinces senate to take away all of caesar’s powers and orders him back to rome alone

  • caesar decides to march on rome with his army crossing the rubicon river saying “alia icta est!”

  • pompey flees to spain, then greece, where his army is defeated in battle but pompey escapes to egypt

  • egyptians betray and kill pompey

• Caesar Leading Rome

  • caesar is “outraged” and declares martial law

    • takes over egyptian palace

  • optimate forces arrive, caesar spends next 6months in palace with the pharoah;

    • but caesar is literally married to calpurnia … marriage was weird back then

  • defeats optimate forces

  • returns to rome with cleopatra and his new son (never fully accepts him)

  • despite this scandal, the senate names him dictator perpetuus

  • never held the title of emperor

• Caesar’s Reforms (very popular!)

  • names his grandnephew, octavian, his successor

    • grants citizenship in gaul and hispania to roman sibjects

  • land redistribution

  • land reform for veterans

  • political reforms removing powers from senators

    • mostly disregarded the senate

  • calendar

  • police force

  • changed the tax system

• Assassination of Caesar

  • ides of march; assassinated by many, but led by brutus

  • stabbed 23 times

  • cousin + 2nd in command is not killed

  • marc antony allies with octavion to defeat brutus and his forces

  • m.a. then allies with cleopatra to try to kill octavian and take the throne for himself

    • they fail. defeated at the battle of actium

• Octavius/Octavian/Augustus

  • caesar adopts him, and he changes his name to match

  • establishes a triumvirate after caesar’s death with m.a. and cepidus

    • kills any political rivals or supporters of caesar’s killing

  • gains power after killing m.a.

  • has caesareon with cleopatra, and m.a.’s son is killed

    • “2 caesars too many”

• Augustus Imperator

  • played the political game of rome masterfully

  • calls himself ‘first citizen’

  • gave up his power, only for it to immediately be returned

    • ‘the illustrious one’

  • imperium maius - greater imperium

    • complete control over empire

  • pater batriae - father of the country

• Pax Romana

  • golden age of peace and development

  • culture flourishes

  • Vergil writes the aeneid

  • really big public baths and temples built

  • passes laws pertaining to marriage and family life

    • aiming to raise roman birthrate

  • made adultery illegal

• Death of Augustus

  • “i found rome a city of clay, and left it a city of marble”

  • deified and added to the pantheon

• Caligula

  • one of rome’s worst emperors

  • raised by soldiers

  • adopted by previous emperor Tiberius

    • tiberius’s brutality and harshness rubs off on caligula

  • becomes co-emperor with tiberius’s son Gemellus

    • gemellus soon dies….. interestinggg…..

  • well liked at first

• Caligula’s Downfall

  • has a brush with death

  • becomes paranoid

  • raised taxes

  • executing enemies (including wife?)

  • gave horse huge necklaces and tried to make him a member of the consul

  • frivolous military campaigns

  • once told his army they would fight neptune

  • assassinated by bodyguard

• Nero

  • Agrippina marries emperor Claudius

  • birth father calls him ‘unlikeable and a disaster’

  • one of the worst emperors

  • claudius dies from poisoned mushrooms

  • agrippina = very protective

• Nero’s Early Reign

  • early years are good

  • bread and circuses

  • restored senator's power

  • large spectacles were cover for nero to pursue his interests

    • nero was crap at singing

    • it was illegal to leave his performances unless he was done

• Nero and Agrippina

  • mom is telling people she calls the shots

  • nero removes her from the palace and denies her the protection of a guard

  • agpna. tries to install new emperor - he is killed

• Nero’s Downfall

  • plans assassination for his mom

  • ends up stabbing her to death; leaves him destroyed inside

  • people hate this guy

  • senators try to assassinate him and fail

  • nero=very paranoid

• Nero and The Fire

  • rome begins burning

  • many dead, or homeless/unemployed

  • diff. theories on what nero was doing meanwhile

  • rome was rebuilt with:

    • wider streets

    • brick buildings

  • nero raised taxes

  • declared enemy of state, and senate removes him from emperor

    • EVERYONE hates nero.

• Trajan

  • born in italica

  • first provincial born emperor

  • young life full of military victories

  • previous emperor (nerva) was about to die and was childless

    • adopted trajan

  • gains power

  • well loved - popular reforms:

    • care for children of the poor

    • repairing roads

    • builds ports

  • main passion is war

  • wins many campaigns; expands roman territory

    • takes money and uses it to build

  • the forum

    • large open air market/shop center

    • center of politics, commerce, and religion (cults)

  • trajan’s column

    • 100ft column; details his victories

  • dies childless

• Hadrian

  • son of a senator - adopted by trajan

    • senate questioned the legitimacy of his succession

  • spent most of his life in the military

    • strong general

    • loved by the troops

    • spent a lot of time as emperor with the troops

  • traveled around the empire; which was at its peak

• Hadrian’s Wall

  • most famous building project

  • wall across britannia to protect roman territory

  • building lasts 6 years

  • forts around wall

  • “peace through strength”

    • parallels to modern nuclear weapons

• Diocletian

  • rome is in significant decline before his reign

  • losing money and territories

  • not truly a soldier, more an administrator

  • thought the empire was way too large for one emperor to manage

  • splits empire ½, then ¼ for efficiency

    • selects a new leader for each chunk

  • ¼ goes back to ½ western roman empire and eastern r.e.

  • build of power in byzantine

  • ‘caesar’ and ‘augustus’ for each

• Diocletian and Christianity

  • christianity on the rise (‘alternative’ religion)

  • christians persecuted in the empire many times

    • physically punished for faith

    • executed

    • officially unallowed

  • late in Diocletian’s reign — last major persecution

    • influence from a zealot ?

    • desire to restore unity??

    • rear of christians creating a state w/i a state?

  • promised not to spill blood — did not follow through

  • saw himself as a god

  • created another series of christian martyrs

  • kills anyone who doesn’t make a sacrifice to the gods

  • persecution ends with diocletian’s death following his only visit to rome

• Constantine

  • diocletian’s plan comes with a problem…

  • who rules after diocletian and the others die?

  • messy power struggle — co-agustus go to war

  • “constantine the great”

    • augustus of the east

    • wants to end the tetrarchy

• Battle of Milvian Bridge

  • constantine “sees” something in the stars

    • chiro

    • goes to sleep and has a vision

    • jesus says “in this sign, you have victory”

  • victory

  • rejoins the roman empire

  • credits victories to the christian God — still isn’t christian

  • mother was perhaps influential

• Conversion to Christianity

  • edict of milan — tolerate christians

  • constantinople —> instanbul

  • leaves rome heading east

  • church builder

    • church of holy sepulcher

    • beginning of Hagia Sophia

  • becomes christian on his deathbed (officially)

  • donation of constantine

    • said that he donated a bunch of land to the pope….but we really don’t think it happened

• Fall of Rome

  • many causes of the fall of rome

  • “fall of the roman empire” refers to the western part

  • invasion of barbarian tribes contributed to the fall

  • some argued christianity weakened rome

• Barbarian Invaders

  • “dramatic peoples native from their native lands”

  • goths; light hair, light eyes

  • huns invade goth territory - rebellion

  • visigothic kingdom!

  • settle in germany

Christianity

• Disciples and Chartering

  • peter (1 of 12 disciples) is selected to lead Jesus’s church

  • after jesus dies, his disciples spread out all over

• Constantine and Nicaea

  • controversy surrounding arianism

    • arianism says that jesus isn’t God, he’s just a representation

    • this goes against holy trinity

  • council rules that arianism is a banned belief

    • nicene creed - statement of catholic beliefs

• Council of Nicaea

  • impacted everyone - ecumenical

  • showed how the church would come together to make big decisions

• “Official” Foundation of Catholic Church

  • have been christians in rome since peter

  • christians are led by priests with different levels of authority

  • bishops on top

  • constantine doesn’t give up entire western roman empire but he donates large amounts to the church

  • establishes vatican city

• Power Changing

  • bishops of rome gain power as roman culture/power declines

  • rome is sacked by visigoths under Alaric

  • atilla (hun) is tearing through the empire, sacking the cities

  • current bishop Leo I sent to negotiate - convinces huns to retreat and not sack rome

  • title of pope is given to bishop of rome

Franks

• Franks

  • loose confederation of tribal groups (live along rhine river)

    • not a cohesive group

    • “franks” used when they ally together

  • kept out of roman territory

  • breakdown of roman authority allowed them to invade into gaul

  • technically barbarians

  • deep and developed culture

  • complex society

• Clovis I and Merovingian Dynasty

  • leader of salians (tribe of franks)

  • converts—> catholic

    • franks become catholic

  • conquered rest of frankish tribes in gaul

  • dies as “king of all the franks”

  • his four sons succeeded him

• Fall of Merovingian Dynasty

  • succession was messy

  • causes lots of civil wars w/ people trying to consolidate power

  • edict of paris gave power to regional

  • merovignian rulers slowly lose influence

  • regional elites gain power

  • end up ruling thru puppet kings

    • most famous=charles martel

• Carolignians

  • pepin the short secures papal support and overthrows the last mero. king

    • secures thrown for himself

    • founds the carolignian dynasty

  • pepin dies, frankish lands divided between sons

    • charles and carloman I

    • rule together for a while

    • Charlemagne (charles) takes sole power

• Charlemagne

  • ruled with support of aristocracy and the church

  • conquered lombards

  • crowned ‘holy roman emperor’ by pope leo iii on christmas

  • probably an attempt from the church to exert more influence on him

  • also increased the pristege and power of carolignian dynasty

• Post-Charlemagne

  • leaves empire to his son; louis the pious

  • empire is divided into 1/3 to prevent civil war between louis’s sons

The Black Plague

• Black Death - Europe

  • contagious bacteria that attacks the immune system

  • 1 in 3 died from it

• Plague Spreads

  • spread by fleas on rats

  • became a pandemic

    • outbreak of rapidly spreading disease

  • trade routes and cities affected

• Life and Economy Breakdown

  • thought plague was sent from God as a punishment

  • fled cities or hid

  • Jews were blamed

  • inflation

  • peasant revolts

• Church Looks Weak

  • priests and monks die

  • church unable to provide answers

  • there was a schism; split the churches

    • eastern orthodox

    • roman catholic

  • people who questioned the church were called heretics and were arrested and killed

• Change of Economy

  • 1. feudalism declines in europe

  • 2. labor force dies

  • 3. survivors paid more

  • 4. treatment is better

  • repeat

• The Disease

  • black, bloody boils

  • swelling lymph nodes

  • wool shortage - sheep dead

  • 50-70 mil dead in europe

  • treatments failed to help

    • blood letting

    • boil-lancing

    • herb burning

    • rose water

• Plague Doctors

  • “balance of 4 humors”

    • blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile

  • Miasma = ‘bad air’

    • bad smells will make you sick

Foundations of Islam

• Early Life of Muhammad

  • born in mecca

  • part of a respected clan

  • orphaned at 6

  • raised by his uncle - Abu Talib

  • became a caravan trader

    • known for his honesty

• Marriage to the mother of Islam

  • at 25 he was proposed to by a wealthy widow Kadija

    • she was 15 yrs older

  • he didn’t take additional wives

• Becoming a Prophet

  • begins meditating alone in a cave

  • receives a message from the angel Gabriel

    • first message from Allah

    • he is terrified; runs home to his wife

  • kadija takes him to her cousin - an abrahamic christian scholar

    • cousin says it is a call to prophecy

• Prophethood

  • continues to hear messages from gabriel

  • starts practicing/preaching with friends and family

    • first conversion is kadija, second is close friend Abu Bakr

  • goes to public with his teachings

  • message is not received well by Meccans

  • Ka’ba

    • black stone cube where various idols were stored

• Muhammad in Mecca

  • meccans try to stop the spread of message

  • year of the sorrow

    • kadija and abu talib die

• Medina

  • medina (nearby city) had converted to islam

  • they invite muhammad and followers

    • want him to lead city

  • muhammad encourages followers to migrate

  • muhammad and abu bakr are the last to migrate

• Meccan Conflict

  • muhammad and followers want to strike back on mecca

    • conduct raids

  • meccans want to eliminate islamic faith forever

  • Battle of Badr

    • muslim troops defeat larger meccan army

    • victory attributed to muhammad’s brain - and/or divine intervention

• Rise of Islam

  • muhammad doesn’t stop there

  • followers are now a part of a military force as well as a religion

  • mecca surrendered and welcomed muslims

• Death of Muhammad

  • islam continues to grow

  • at time of death in mecca, he was the most powerful political and religious leader in arabia

• The Quran

  • his teachings are revelations from gabriel

  • they have been memorized before death

  • after death, they are written down for the first time

  • the Quran = his teachings (holy text)

Pillars of Islam

• Pillars

  • MUST ADHERE IF U ARE MUSLIM

• Shahada

  • declaration of faith in the 1 true god, Allah

  • concept of Allah is beyond all imagination, beyond all power, everything is his, everything submits to his will

• Salah

  • praying of specific prayers 5x a day, facing mecca

  • men are required to do so in a mosque

  • women can pray at home

  • recitation from the quran and Sunnah

• Zakat

  • giving of ‘alms’ or charity

  • done yearly by all that are able

  • goes to underprivileged muslims

  • charity to non muslims does not count as zakat

• Sawm

  • required fasting during ramadan

    • there are personal exceptions

  • when the sun is out, you can’t eat or drink or do any worldly pleasures

  • encourages believers to grow closer to Allah and reevaluate priorities

• Hajj

  • pilgrimage to ka’aba in mecca (holiest site in islamic culture)

  • only have to do this once in lifetime

  • series of rituals and rites to do

Early Islamic Conflict

• Post-Muhammad Muslim Leadership

  • after mumd. death, there is confusion thru the ummah

  • Ali=son of M’s uncle, married M’s daughter

  • most muslims support abu baker over ali

  • party of ali=shia’t ali (shia)

  • supporters of abu bakr=sunnis (followers of the sunna - ‘way of the prophet’)

• First Caliph

  • abu bakr becomes first caliph/successor

  • fatima and ali reject his authority

  • abu bakr sends men to convince them to accept abu bakr

  • AB calls for jihad (holy war)

    • jihad means struggle - does not always mean violence

• Early Expansion

  • muslim armies defeat rebels

    • increase in territory

  • AB calls armies to byzantine and sassian to consolidate power over arab people (this doesnt really happen)

  • AB codifies quran

  • AB expanded territory significantly while being caliph

• Second Caliph - Umar ibn Kattah

  • continues AB’s campaigns

  • conquers most of sassian empire and east. provinces of byzantine

  • huge reformer

  • assassinated by persians

• 3rd Caliph - Uthman ibn Affan

  • came from a powerful clan

  • unpopular ruler

  • relied on clan connections to rule

  • unable to maintain support for his military campaigns

  • different groups rebel

  • refused to put down rebellions - didn’t want to spill muslim blood

  • murdered by egyptian soldiers

• 4th Caliph - Ali ibn Abi Talib

  • ali comes into power and immediately removes certain governors from power

    • thought to be corrupt

  • Uthman’s cousin Muawiyya - gov of syria - wants revenge for death of uthman

    • takes blood stained clothes and puts them on display

  • mua and other muslims are also pushing for revenge

  • ali=conflicted; doesn’t want to spill muslim blood

• Battles of Camel and Siffin

  • captures aisha (M’s wife) in battle of camel

    • first time muslims fight each other

  • ali wants to stop mua’s resistance as well

  • armies meet at siffin - fight for a few days

  • eventually, ali’s army convinces him to ceasefire - as a stalemate has developed

• Arbitration of Ali and Muawiyya

  • ali and mua go into arbitration

  • said neither were fit to be caliph

• Capital and Challenges

  • ali moves capital to kufa

    • support

    • centralization

    • protect medina from civil state

  • very controversial

  • further expansion halted

• Death and Aftermath

  • kharijites have been growing in power

    • until ali defeats military

  • abandon open conflict - resort to secrecy

  • assasinate ali w/ poisoned sword

• Mua Becomes 5th Caliph

The Crusades

• Crusade=Journey to retake holy lands

• Context

  • christianity

    • byzantium feeling pressure from islamic expanison

    • europe; not enough land, too many nobles (feudalism in place still)

    • pilgrims killed by seljuks

  • islam

    • caliphates large expansion gave more land, but less unity

    • sunni/shia split

    • islam spreading into levant, egypt, and iraq

• Urban II and the Franks

  • council of clermont in 1095 - urban gives an inspiring speech

    • seljuks barred christians from jerusalem

    • clerics moblilzed to preach crusade

    • “deus vault!” (god wills it)

    • 10,000 head towards holy lands

• Saladin vs Baldwin

  • saladin

    • destroys fatamid caliphate

    • muslims can’t unify

      • haven’t united since sunni/shia split

    • support from his family

  • baldwin

    • king of kingdom of jerusalem

    • born with leprosy

    • christians are not unified

    • jerusalem is many different religions

• Saladin’s Genius

  • unites muslims

  • destroys assasins

  • battle of hattin - baldwin dead prior

    • one of the greatest victories in history

  • takes jerusalem

    • is surprisingly lenient with C’s and J’s

  • saladin=idol of chivalry

• 3rd Crusade - king’s crusade

  • saladin, richard the lionheart, philip augustus, fredrick barbarossa

• Gregory VIII - pope

  • retake jerusalem

  • retake true cross

    • kings swear to stop bickering

    • focus on holy lands

• Getting to Holy Land?

  • barbarossa dies

  • richard attacks sicily; conquers cyprus

    • creates supply chain

  • philip=upset

    • plotting

    • they have beef

• Siege of Acre

  • richard = sick

    • asks doctors to carry him as he fights

  • german, french, english, crusader kingdom present

    • comp. to see who will take acre first

    • banners trampled, germans leave crusade 4eva

  • richard treats muslims harshly

  • philip leaves crusade b/c political problems at home

    • richard hates him for leaving

• Arsuf —> Jaffa

  • richard wanted jaffa

    • must conquer arsuf first

  • battle; richard vs saladin

    • shows richard is better general

• War or Crusade?

  • richard wants to go to egypt

    • cut saladin off of supplies?

  • takes jaffa

    • rick can control sea w/ navy

  • saladin

    • losing support, caliph telling him to stop

    • MUST ANSWER TO CALIPH

  • christian soldiers want jerusalem

    • bro is missing whole point

• TREATY OF JAFFA

  • muslims keep jerusalem; christians get access.

  • ends 3rd crusade

• Chivalry

  • saladin and richard bromance

Islamic Golden Age

• Golden Age —> 8-13 Century

  • Muhammad

  • Rashidun Caliphate

  • Umayyad C

  • Abbassid C (partial)

  • Fatamid C

• Baghdad

  • city created by abbassid

  • gateway between east and west

• Cordoba

  • in modern spain

  • conquered by abbassid from umayyad

    • abbassid ends up taking all of umayyad land

  • richest city in the world

    • trade routes

    • textiles

  • streets paved

  • clean water

  • great mosque of cordoba

  • very large library

• Education

  • obligation

  • learned abt religion, but also math, medicine, etc

  • Madrasas

    • official muslim schools

    • law, theology, sciences

    • teachers were hired based on character

    • have to pay for this education

    • ‘memorize then analyze’

      • quran

      • hadiths (stories of prophet)

      • fatwas (legal cases)

    • goal of education=CREATE GOOD LEADERS

• House of Wisdom

  • originally al-mansur’s private collection

  • al-rasmid opens it to scholars

  • al-mahmoun made it a public translation center

• Translations

  • classical arabic becomes official language of abbassid caliphate

  • important texts translates—> arabic

    • studied

  • greek classics analyzed

• Math

  • al-khwarizmi creates algebra and the hindu-arabic number system

• Medicine

  • translate hipocrates

  • al-razi creates an encyclopaedia on diseases

  • al-zahrawi - med scientist focused on tools and techniques

  • ibn cina/avicenna - writer of al-Qanun

    • scientific book used worldwide

• Philosophy

  • al-kindi - studied, questioned, and compared platonic and aristotillian thought with the quran

• Sufism

  • individualism with islamic beliefs

  • ‘closeness to Allah doesn’t just come from the quran’

  • they believe you need to view allah in your everyday life

  • worship in their own way

  • worship for the right reasons

  • ‘whirling dirvish’ = dance = worship

Ottoman Empire

• Turks (11th Century)

  • steppe people move west

  • seljuks accept sunni islam and spread west thru persia

  • settle in anatolia

  • seljuks rule

• Mongol Invasion

  • steppe peoples expand

  • largest contiguous ‘empire’ in history

  • sacked baghdad and destroy house of wisdom

    • ends abbassid caliphate

  • only manage to capture eastern anatolia

  • quickly lose control

• Osman

  • leader of ottoman tribe

  • took control of his Bey after father’s death

  • begins wars of expansion

  • very successful expansion even after death

  • ottoman empire named after osman

• Mehmed II

  • mehmed the FIRST reunifies ottoman holdings

  • mehmed the SECOND, or mehmed the conqueror wants to finish off byzantines

  • sieges constantinople

  • fall of byzantine empire ‘ends ancient history’