Chapter 5 The Classical Period: Directions, Diversities, and Declines by 500 CE

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Chapter 5The Classical PeriodDirections,
Diversities, and Declines by 500 CE
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In Depth Nomads

• Key agents of contact
• Silk routes
• Important channels of contact
• Inventions
• Weapons, technology
• New foods
• Disease
• CULTURE (language, religion, art, etc)

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Nomads (cont.)

• Indo-Europeans and Huns
• Animals influence culture
• Courage cultures
• Kin-related bands family ties important
• Excellent warriors time to practice
• Valued honor, courage, loyalty, hospitality
• Male-centered w/ some exceptions
• Polytheistic and animistic w/ shamans

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Nomads (cont.)

• Contacts w/others
• Regular and peaceful
• Trade
• Hostile and destructive
• Invasions
• Mercenaries
• Empire builders

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• Basic themes of classical civilizations
• Expansion and integration
• Those stop which leads to decline and collapse
• Response of major world religions to decline
• Developments outside the classical orbit become
  more prominent as decline occurs
• China greater centralization
• India localized, diverse, key religious values
  help unify
• Med. culture spreads but involves less of pop.
  so makes vulnerable to division

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Territorial integration

• China settled northerners in south
• India spread of caste system and Hinduism
• Rome common laws, expanded citizenship
  guidelines, commercial network
• Social all three subordinated women to men

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Other civilizations

• Bordering areas had some relations to class. civ.
• SE Asia, NE Africa and Sub-Saharan, Japan, and
• N. Europe
• Americas independent evolution of civ.
• Polynesia

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Japan

• Agricultural
• Regional political organization?sophisticated
  regional states
• Ironworking (skipped copper/bronze)
• Role of women ?
• Shintoism
• Imperial system becomes stronger
• Influence from Chinese produces a blend of
  Japanese and Chinese culture (women ?)
• Buddhism

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Northern Europe

• Culturally behind others
• Lack of cities
• Much fighting
• Loose political organization (tribes, etc)
• No written language
• Primitive agriculture
• Paganism/animism
• Role of women ? / matrilineal

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Americas

• Cultural hearths Mesoamerica and Peru
• Contact with others???????????
• Olmecs mother civilization
• Corn and potatoes
• Little pastoralism (no animals)
• Art (jade)
• Calendar system
• Monumental architecture

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Americas cont.

• Maya
• Hopewell
• Desert
• Chavin/Moche
• Inca

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Africa

• Kush/Axum
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Bantu migrations

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Decline of empires

• Han
• Outside invaders (Huns)
• Confucianism decreases
• Government corruption
• Local landlords want more power
• Peasants ?
• Social unrest
• Daoists (Yellow Turbans)
• Epidemics

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Gupta

• Less drastic decline
• Nomadic invasions (related to Huns)
• Regional princes (rajput) take more power
• Buddhism ? Hinduism ?
• Islam threatens culture and economy

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Roman Empire

• Political confusion
• Weak rulers and unclear line of succession
• Plagues ? population ? ? economy ?
• Moral decay and decline of culture
• Decentralization of political authority
• Army ?
• Diocletian and Constantine
• Rise of new religions (Christianity)

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Rome cont.

• Fall splits unity of Mediterranean
• 3 zones
• East Byzantine and Sassanids
• N. Africa
• Western Europe civilization ?

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Religions

• Comparison of Buddhism to Christianity
• Both
• Move from original centers
• Unimportance of this world stress spiritual
  world
• Monastic movement
• Possibility of afterlife and role of holy leaders
• Emphasize salvation and rituals
• Religious images and saints/bodhisattvas

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Buddhism

• Changes as it spreads
• Buddha seen as god (Mahayana)
• Role of women
• Believed women could achieve salvation
• Chinese change some Buddhist ideas (syncretism)
• Possible threat to emperor
• Exists along with Daoism

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Christianity

• More emphasis - church structure/organization
• Missionary activity/widespread conversions
• Stressed exclusive nature of truth/single belief
• Intolerant of competing beliefs??
• Started as Jewish reform movement
• Idea of Trinity
• Formal theology/philosophy (Augustine)
• Accommodates earlier polytheistic beliefs
  (syncretism)

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Christianity cont.

• Successful because
• Blind devotion to all-powerful God
• Complex intellectual system (Benedict of Nursia)
• Appeals to all social classes
• Appeals to women
• Modified classical beliefs (role of state)
• Classical values discipline, work, art,
  architecture

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Conclusion

• Last major world religion-Islam
• Response to collapse of classical forms
• Need to react to new religions
• Other parts of world prepare for new developments