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Ancient civilizations and their contributions
Ancient civilizations and their contributions
What civilizations were important in history
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Around 500 BCE, the “Classical Societies” started to arise. Classical societies were societies with sophisticated governments, interregional trade networks, social structures and hierarchy, and belief systems. These Classical Societies developed in Persia, China, India, and the Mediterranean basin. The Greece and China Societies stand out and are quite impressive. Though, Greece’s classical society was the most effective since it’s society was an era of unprecedented political and cultural achievement.
The Greece’s Classical Society was about 800-300 BCE. This society has caused a huge movement in human history. Greece’s society has arisen the questions and ideas of which form of government is best? Since Greece has many city-states which
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made it difficult to govern but they made it successful for some periods of time. Each city-state had it’s own importance and priority. Although, each city-state had it’s own way to govern, Greece believed in having a balanced power. For example, Athens was a democracy and Sparta was a Oligarchy. Athens allowed their citizens to vote while Sparta had two kings, these men had to be born in that city-state and a wealthy landowner. Some parts of Greece valued education, placed emphasis on the importance of human effort and believed in human ability to shape future events. Even though not all city-states were involved with education, Greece has been known for their highly developed form of sculpture, literature, math, written language, and record keeping. The political organization of Greece even inspired the United States’ government system. Both Athens and Sparta developed strong military organizations and established colonies around the Mediterranean. Sparta theoretically equal; wealth accumulation not allowed. Though, Sparta was a military state and Athens eventually a democracy for adult males. Lastly, the social structure has caused a change as well. In Greece, slavery was widely practiced. Athens encouraged equality for free males, but women and slaves had little freedom. Sadly, neither group was allowed to participate in polis affairs. The China’s Classical Society was around 500 BCE to 600 CE.
The society of China was developed from different religions like: Legalism, Confucianism and Daoism. Confucianism developed during the late Zhou; by Han times, it dominated the political and social structure. Han- “a gold age” with prosperity from trade along the Silk Road; inventions include water mills, paper, compasses, pottery, and silk-making. This is quite interesting that China did inspire and start the trading business. Though, China compared to Greece, Greece is better. Greece Classical Society is a primary example of what a government should be like and inspired the United States. China’s political organization has been based on the Mandate of Heaven. Zhou—emperor rules by the Mandate of Heaven, or belief that dynasties rise and fall according to the will of heaven, or the ancestors. The emperor was the “son of heaven.” Also, the political authority was controlled by Confucian values, with emperor in full control but bound by duty. China’s emperor was housed in the forbidden city, separated from all others. The social structure is very different from Greece. Family was a basic unit of society, with loyalty and obedience stressed. Some slavery, but not as much as Greece. Lastly, patriarchal society, reinforced by Confucian values that emphasized obedience of a wife to
husband. Both China and Greece had central features in their classical societies. China had a huge role of humans and their place in society has always been the main focus of Chinese thinkers. Chinese philosophy tends to be concerned with worldly affairs. Though, Greece was involved in one of the biggest wars, The Peloponnesian War. This classical period involved war and conflict between the Greeks and Persians. It was also an era of unprecedented political and cultural achievement. Although, these societies are quite different they do share some similarities. Both expansions were based on a combination of political stability, abundant rural manpower nourished by advanced agriculture, and disciplined infantry. They both experienced a flourishing of philosophers and schools at around the same period, which established the foundation for ethics, laws, and way of thinking for the entire region. Though, China did not allow freedom to women or the slaves that they had. Greece did have slaves, but it was viewed as a benefit since they did repair or help with the civilization. Although women in Greece could not go into the political route they did have an impact in Greece’s history. China and Greece are one the most inspirational classical societies. Though, Greece has shown a bigger impact on other civilizations and has brought down barriers for women and questioned everything around them. They were the godfathers of philosophy and science. The classical societies have really changed and shaped the future. In all categories: science, math, literature and religion.
Han China was an empire that expanded over a vast territory and Classical Athens was only a small city-state. Inevitable, there were differences in all aspects of life. The documents provided plenty of information on demographics, government structures, individual roles and duties of a citizen, an view on physical life. Overall, the 64 million differences in population, the democracy that arose in Athens, the importance of a father-son relationship in Han China, and the interests in nature by the Hans were the key facts in the two’s differences.
Han China and Ancient shared bureaucratic governments. This means that they had a government ruled by unelected officials, giving the people little to no say in government. In Rome the ruler was once a king but then their government transitioned to an oligarchy, which would put the rich people in the highest place in society. On the other hand in Han China, which was an imperial dynasty, and emperors were decided by the Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate gave the common man a chance to become a major ruler during the Han period. The Han government was mainly influenced by confucian government while Romes was based on Roman law and the classics. The Han government spread Confucianism since that was the basis for their government. Rome also relied on local rulers to make sure that their many lands were following rules and not plotting against them. Both the Han and Rome shared a bureaucratic government which affected their social structures in different ways.
Similarly to many ancient societies, the Chinese dynasties and societies flourished along the fertile land around rivers. The societies were based on agriculture, and engaged in trade networks along the Silk Road. The societies were ruled by semi-divine monarchies, with a class system. Unlike many of the other ancient societies, China’s rulers were chosen by The Mandate of Heaven, thus creating the dynastic cycle. China began to spread it’s ideals and products along the Silk Road, therefore influencing societies such as Persia, Greece and Rome.
Ancient Greece and China had similar problems. They both had to deal with civil wars. They also dealt with rivers flooding. Lastly, they both had to deal with plague that killed a lot of the population in the Ancient lands.
The Classical Era was a time of greatness. Great empires rose to power, the likes of which the world had never seen before. In the west, Rome emerged as the dominant power. Originating in the Italian peninsula, the Roman Empire would eventually stretch from Britain to Mesopotamia and Egypt, a huge empire maintained through a vast network of roads. This empire was made of hundreds of different cultures. In the east, the Han dynasty ruled China, Vietnam, and northern Korea. Han China was united not only by government, but also by culture. Confucianism, a belief system focused on maintaining order, was extremely influential, as was another belief system called Daoism, to a lesser extent. During the Classical Age, the creation of powerful empires allowed for safer trade. Safer trade allowed huge amounts of cross-cultural interaction, trade and the sharing of ideas. But as other empires had done before, and as many did after, the empires of Rome and Han China fell. Rome and Han China had both similarities and differences. The most important similarity was plagues and diseases, and the most important difference was the destruction of culture.
It is surprising indeed that Even today, tyrannies and dictatorships exist in the world when more than two and a half thousand years ago the ancient Athenians had developed a functional and direct form of democracy. What contributed to this remarkable achievement and how it changed the socio-political. scene in Athens is what will be considered in this paper. The paper will have three sections, each detailing the various stages. of political development from the kings of Attica to the time of Pericles when, in its golden age, Athens was at the height of its. imperial power.
Although Rome and China both had a centralized government, their method of centralization differed. Han China built their system using bureaucrats, or state officials. Their method was based upon the Confucian system, whereas the Romans based theirs on Greek and Republican Roman values. Both Rome and China had vast empires controlled in a patriarchal manner. Both had the notion that men should be in control; however, the Chinese supported the notion through filial piety whereas the Romans supported it through families. Both had a singular leader with support, but Rome’s leader was considered to be at least partially divine while China’s
The Han Dynasty governed China for more than four hundred years. It rose to power in 206 BC and stayed until 220 AC. The Han Dynasty played a vital role in China’s development. This dynasty pioneered a political system and social structure that lasted in China for almost 2,000 years. The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were considered two of the most strongest civilizations at that time. The Roman Empire lasted from 27 BC to 393 AD. This empire changed the way Romans lived. The Romans made rapid advancements in science and technology. Both of these civilizations successfully took control of their countries. While they both have an abundant amount of similarities, they is an overwhelming amount of differences that set these two empires apart. The decline of these two civilizations were both caused by internal affairs. The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire both ruled close to the same time span, they both had highly centralized political systems, and they both were the most advanced civilizations in their region of the world. Their similarities did not overshadow their differences however. The Roman Empire had a senate that served as their legislative body and in China, the emperors ruled over the city. The Han Dynasty implemented national equality, and used Confucianism thoughts to keep the country united, while the Romans divided their citizens into different social classes and kept ethic discrimination. While both civilizations had strong social class separators, the Roman Empire made their’s more apparent. Both civilizations were strong and advanced for their time, however, they both ruled their countries differently.
Ancient Egypt and Ancient China often seem like polar opposites in almost every way. However, in one way, they are more similar than most people think. The beliefs of both of these civilizations were remarkably parallel, yet perplexingly different at the same time. Religion before 600 B.C.E. varied from society to society all around the globe, with just a few major religions taking hold in large areas. In both Egyptian and Chinese religions, they adhered to a polytheistic religion. Boths religions believed there were many gods who individually ruled over the many different parts of life, instead of one god ruling over all. Both Egyptian and Chinese cultures believed in life after death. Each one of these religions believed in some form of
“With the Polis, the Greeks established a new type of political structure” (McKay 119) where poleis with it’s own distinctive system of government. While the Poleis were not the first forms of city-states to emerge, they were more than a political institution. Communities of citizens with their own customs and laws and after 800
Athens and Sparta were both city-states in Classical Greece. While Athens embraced democracy, Sparta was a dictatorial fierce warrior state. Sparta was a militaristic community, Athens was a freethinking, and commerce minded city-state. Modern societies have modeled their government organizational structure and military discipline practices from lessons learned of these ancient city-states. There is much is to be praised regarding Classical Greece for their courage, their progressive thinking and the birth of democracy. However, I think it is important to remember that in both cases, Athens and Sparta were able to sustain their lifestyle on the backs of countless slaves, non-citizens and women and that there is a darker and less romantic side to the past.
Between the years of 508 BCE and 322 CE, Greece flourished under democracy. However, some question if the flourishing of Athens is due to the democracy that was in place as opposed to other factors relevant in building a successful community. This investigation will examine the effectiveness of Athenian democracy in Greek society. Relevance of Athenian democracy can be seen in foundation of many democracies found worldwide. In this investigation the right to vote, protection of minorities, use of social class, the structure of democracy and how Greek democracy has influenced the world will be addressed. The place investigated will be Greece, specifically the capitol Athens. The effectiveness of Athenian democracy can be seen in social structure, protection of minorities, and right to vote, as well as its structure and influence of other countries around the world.
These governments came in different styles such as a monarchy which was led by a king. Another form of government that was seen among the Greeks was aristocracy in which the polis was ruled by a small group of noble, land owning families. One of the more notable polis of ancient Greek was that of Sparta in which they used the oligarchy as there form of government. This type of government is where the people are ruled by a few powerful people. Finally, there was democracy which means “rule of the people” (The Legacy of Ancient Greece and Rome 1-7). This was the government that Athens utilized and helped establish. These varying types of government can be seen throughout governments today, however, it is the government established by the Athenians and their political structure that had a greater impact on the west than that of its Greek polis counterparts.
Since the early beginnings of society, in which people began living in gathered communities, there can be seen a constant progression, upon a steady time line, of the increased order of the organization of society. However, this is not the kind of progress that was sought by two widely known philosophers and teachers, Plato and Confucius. The kind of social reform and alteration displayed in the teachings and writings of both of these men, examine a movement from societies viewed as chaotic and barbaric toward societies consisting of gentleman, practicing prescribed values, morals, and actions. Confucius and Plato both emphasized a moral conduct that went above and beyond the socially accepted norms of their times. Despite the concentration on these factors in Chinese and Grecian cultures, the progress attempted by both of these philosophers was not achieved by their own standards within their own societies.
The ancient Greece was divided among several hundreds of city-states called “Poleis”. Within this poleis, Athens and Sparta were the most powerful, significant, largest and significant states.