CH 3 DOCS

Germania

• Germans = aboriginal 
• says Germany isn't worth going to
• bland
• sullen
• Tuisco (earth born god), Mannus (son)
• origin of race
• Describes them as all looking the same since they don't intermarry
• also says they look weak
• kings--->birth, general---->merit
• priests punish
• women
• certain sanctity and prescience
• Mercury
• a god who they sacrificed for
• chiefs
• fight for victory
• vassals
• fight for chief
• pass time by hunting
• no cities
• strict marriage code
• adultery came with great punishment
• no one laughs

Question 2:

Reliable: 

-no intermarriage

-kings come from birth while generals from merit

These seem very likely.

Not

-He says they don't laugh. How would he even know that? Especially since he has never even gone. Just sounds like a stereotype to me.

(My Thoughts...) I thought this was a very weird document, but I found it quite interesting. If I was alive during this time I would not want to live here. When a woman cheated they shaved her head and publicly humiliated her. It sounds like a scene straight out of Game of Thrones (where women are also treated terribly). Also i find it strange that the man that wrote this document has so much to say even though he has never been there. I don't think he should have an opinion on Germania since he has never been there. He is just writes about others opinions on it.

CHAPTER 3 STATE AND EMPIRE IN EURASIA/NORTH AFRICA

CHAPTER 3

STATE AND EMPIRE IN EURASIA/NORTH AFRICA (500 BCE - 500 CE)

Empires and Civilizations in Collision: The Persians and the Greeks

• Civilizations encountering each other directly was rare
• Greece/Persia exception
• Persia
• largest most impressive empire
• Greeks
• popular participation in political life of all citizens before the law
• Collision
• Greco-Persian Wars
• Greece won
• defeated Persians on both land and sea
• Collision
• Romans take over and replace Greek rule

Comparing Empires: Roman and Chinese

• had little direct contact
• both flourished 
• Rome
• stated small and grew after each conquest
• Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and present-day France and Britain
• rise of empires changed society 
• pax Romana (Roman peace)
• secret
• prosperity
• China
• warring states to empires
• unification by Shihuangdi 
• ruler of Qin 
• 1st emperor
• Formed much quicker than Rome
• security
• Great Wall
• Military
• Brutality
• Similarities
• absorbed foreign religious tradition 
• supernatural sanctions
• effected the environment 
• The Fall?
• excessive size
• tax
• disease
• no great tech advancements to enlarge resources
• China more successful in assimilating invaders than Romans
• greater homogeneity
• stronger bureaucratic tradition 
• more productive agriculture 
• confucianism put emphasis on politics 
• metallurgy more advance

Intermittent Empire: The Case of India

• idea of empires less prominent
• Mauryan Empire
• broke after Ashoka's death
• Gupta Empire
• short lived
• Failed to maintain empire
• no loyalty
• cultural diversity
• invasions
• caste system made local loyalties 
• Trade flourished 

CLASS NOTES:

Classical- 500 BC------->(1)PERSIANS--------->(2)GREEKS
                                                                                    ROMANS
EMPIRE

• large
• conquest (usually)
• multiple civilization
• successful empires had:
• security------>army
• trade-------->goods

(1)

• Brought together all the major ancient civilizations of Afro Eurasia into one big Empire

(2)

• Greeks are what inspired to Renaissance (rebirth of classical Greek humanism in Modern Era
• Greek humanism
• philosophy 
• art (precise/realistic human body)
• mythology
• explores human qualities/flaws
• democracy-------->rule by the people
• drama/theater 

(My thoughts...) I find it interesting how when the Romans took Greece they also took on their culture. The Romans were one of the biggest conquers. No one was safe. They weren't the first to conquer others but they are considered one of the best. Conquering is not something that should be taken lightly. When the Europeans conquered America they forced them to adapt to their culture and/or killed them. Now as  Americans we somehow find it ok to use their culture for silly things like household decorations and halloween costumes. Just because you conquer another civilization does not mean their culture is yours for the taking.

Source 2.3

Question: What features of this state may have provoked such observations?

• She was a dancer.
• I can see why they would think that. The woman who is statued is in great shape. Not only that she has long legs and her hair is up in a bun like a dancer. The woman is also standing in a dancer's pose.
• She looks confident.
• Her eyes are closed and her chin is pointing up into the sky. That alone screams confidence or that she feels like she is better than everyone else. Also the hand on the hip is a sign of confidence as well.

FIRST CIVILIZATIONS

Chapter 2

First Civilizations 

Notes:

Something New 

• Mesopotamia, one of the earliest civilizations 
• 3500-3000 B.C.E.
• first written language

• Indus Valley civilization in Indus and Saraswati river valleys 
• 3000-2000B.C.E.
• unlike other civilizations
• no palaces, temples, elaborate graves, kings, or warrior classes
• uncertain as to how society was organized
• First civilization took shape in China
• 2200 B.C.E.
• ruler was the “Son of Heaven”
• Urban Revolution
• cities
• new societies with greater specialization and inequality

The Erosion of Equality

• inequalities in wealth, status, and power
• upper and lower class
• most of the population was lower class
• commoners
• supported the upper class
• slaves at bottom of hierarchies 
• Societies started to differentiate men and women
• male labor favored for intensive agriculture
• women associated with nature
• restrict sexual acts
• Patriarchy emerged in Mesopotamia 
• Egyptian patriarchy gave women greater opportunities 

The Rise of the State

• organization and stability
• filled roles 
• conflict
• defense
• irrigation
• served upper class
• used force

(My thoughts...) Equality was very short lived. Humans can't help but to see our differences. Even if we didn't have any differences people would still treat other people differently. Societies thrive off of the social hierarchy. Some people suffer so others rise. This still happens in todays society. The poor suffer while the rich get richer. I think humans were just meant to be the failures they are but I believe we can change. I sadly probably won't be alive to see it, but I hope to at least see change in my lifetime.

Chapter 1 CONT.

CHAPTER ONE CONTINUED...

Agriculture

(MY THOUGHTS...) Without agriculture societies would have never been possible. In order  to provide and settle down it was needed. Also, humans relationships with nature and our surroundings would have been a lot different. Agriculture has its ups and it has its downs. Yes it provides and aids well being, but it also led to conflict. Agriculture required land and as populations grew more and was needed by that group of people. Everything has its ups and downs. Even so, agriculture was needed in order for humans to advance. Without it our world as we know it would not even exist.

• 2nd greatest human process
• Neolithic/Agricultural Revolution
• started about 12 thousand years ago
• animals domesticated
• new relationship with nature
• dependence on plants/animals
• "intensification" of living
• Ag. Rev. happened in different regions
• around sam time
• 12,000-4000 y.a.
• coincided with end of Ice Age
• women were the innovators 
• led to permanent settlements
• bigger populations became possible
• spread through diffusion and colonization/migration
• field replace forests
• made more work
• health deteriorated 
• led to tech advancements
• stared pastoral societies that relied on it
• led to conflict with land settlement 
• agricultural societies were equal for the most part
• no classes yet in earlier times
• later led to division
• chiefdoms, ect.