civilization • 1.an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of

culture, science, industry, and government has been reached. • 2.those people or nations that have reached such a state. • 3.any type of culture, society, etc., of a specific place, time, or

group: Greek civilization. • 4.the act or process of civilizing or being civilized: Rome's

civilization of barbaric tribes was admirable. • 5.cultural refinement; refinement of thought and cultural

appreciation: The letters of Madame de Sévigné reveal her wit and civilization.

• 6.cities or populated areas in general, as opposed to unpopulated or wilderness areas: The plane crashed in the jungle, hundreds of miles from civilization.

• 7.modern comforts and conveniences, as made possible by science and technology: After a week in the woods, without television or even running water, the campers looked forward to civilization again.

So…where is the West?

• http://techproject-education.blogspot.com/2007/11/west-wing-and-mercator-map.html

• http://www.searchforvideo.com/watchclip.php?title=West+Wing+%26amp%3Bthe+upside+down+world+map+scene+%5Bpart+1%5D&link=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideoplay%3Fdocid%3D8789017311410150315&description=West+Wing+%26amp%3Bamp%3Bthe+upside+down+world+map+scene+%5Bpart+1%5Dcookiemonster666662+min+-+Feb+9%2C+2007On+the+T&source=Google&image=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.youtube.com%2Fvi%2FefjcrbNcW6s%2F2.jpg&category=search&searchterm=west+wing+upside+down+map

Mercator Map…what you’re used to…

New World Map anyone?

How about McArthur?

Or does Peter have it correct?

WHAT IS THE “WEST”?

• A geographic area Ex. Europe and North Am.

• An idea Ex. Christianity, democracy

• People Ex. race, culture

• Origins of Western Civilization lay in the civilizations of:

• A) Ancient Rome• B) Ancient Greece• C) Ancient Egypt• D) Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia: Mesopotamia:

“The Cradle of “The Cradle of Civilization”Civilization”

Map of Ancient Trade Routes From Mesopotamia to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea

Earliest Civilization: the Fertile Crescent

• Categorized as the earliest of all civilizations as people formed permanent settlements

• Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means “between the rivers”

• Specifically, the area between the Tigris River and Euphrates River (present day Iraq)

Legacies of MesopotamiaRevolutionary innovations emerged in

Mesopotamia such as:

• codified laws• the concept of kinship and the city-state• the building of places of worship

(ziggurats)• the birthplace of writing (cuneiform)• Invention of the wheel• Oldest written records of a story of

creation date back to Mesopotamia• First civilization to make a prosperous living

based on large scale agriculture

                         

                                        

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

A Map of Ancient Egypt

Geography

Highlights of Ancient Egyptian History

•Death and the afterlife was an integral part of Egyptian life

•Science and technology: pyramids, chariots, army, expansion of empire

•Agriculture, city-states

Legacies of Greece

• Thought

• Language

• Politics

• Philosophy

• Art and architecture

• Myths and literature

Trojan War

• event or legend in Mycenaean history

• Two epic poems by Homer “Iliad” and “Odyssey” describe the Trojan War

• Approximately 1194-1184 BCE• Greeks vs Troy• Helen of Sparta + Paris of Troy

“the face that launched a thousand ships”

• Achilles, Odysseus, Hector, Agamemnon and the Trojan Horse

Origins of Democracy“Demos” = people; “kratos” = rule

• Monarchy and Kings• Rise in power of aristocracy• Hoplites c. 675-650 BCE• Age of tyrants• Democratic Reforms by Cleisthenes

= Three Pillars of Athenians Democracy: 1. Council of 500 2. Assembly 3. Courts

= policy of ostracism• Athens lived under a radically democratic government from 508

until 322 BCE. The People governed themselves, debating and voting individually on issues great and small, from matters of war and peace to the proper qualifications for ferry-boat captains

Timeline of Ancient Rome

Roman Republic (509 BCE)

• Roman Republic= Res Publica (public matter)

• SPQR = Senatus Populusque Romanus or the Senate and the People of Rome

• Resulted from discontent of tyrannical Etruscan monarchy

• A combination of aristocracy, oligarchy and democracy

Expansion & Trade• Over next 400 years, Rome’s expansion

was driven by its need to expand itstrade and eventually by greed

• defeated the Gauls 390 BCE

• gained resources in Sicily (grain); Spain(cooking oil); other cities in east (wine, produce, leather and woolen goods)

• Expansion in south led to clashes with the trading peoples called the Carthaginians (North Africa)

• Increase in military activity led to massive increase in the trade in arms and armour

• Creation of colonies that were composed of full Roman citizens who remained loyal (ie. discharged soldiers) and were linked by roads and a unified currency

Daily Life in the Republic• Very religious and superstitious tendencies

(integrated Greek, Etruscan and Roman deities)

• Belief in werewolves and all forms of magic, laying curses, casting spells and foretelling the future and astrology

• All actions (political and military) were made with omens of nature which would signal approval from the gods

• Inheritance of property was most important element

• Adoption of males was very common (ie. Caesar adopted Octavian, the son of his niece)

• Arranged marriages were common

Latin• Romans spoke Latin,

which spread throughout the Mediterranean (only Greek survived)

• For next thousand years, Latin was the language ofRoman government, legal system and became the international language of the Christian church, education and scholarship

• Latin still to this day has a strong presence in language of medicine and law

Examples of Latin

• Veni, vidi, vici• “I am, I saw, I conquered”• Alter ego• “another I”• Bona fide • “in good faith”• Et cetera • “and other”

• Exit or exenut• “He / she / they go out”• Habeas corpus• “you must have the fact /

body of the crime”• Via• “by way of”• Vice versa• “the other way around”

The First Triumvirate• In 60 BCE, three Roman Generals: Pompey,

Crassus and Caesar formed the First Triumvirate: Rule of Three Men

• Plan was to usurp the Roman Republic, backed with the power of their armies

• Crassus was killed in battle, and then Caesar set out to defeat Pompey (which he did)

• 46 BCE, Julius Caesar, appointed himself dictator for 10 years andthen extended it for life; as well appointed himself PontifexMaximus (Chief Priest)

• 44BCE- March 15th, the Ides of March, Caesar was assassinatedby self proclaimed “defenders ofliberty”

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Successors to Augustus: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

• Tiberus• Caligula• Claudius• Nero• Trajan• Hadrian• Contantine• Diocletian

TRAJAN

HADRIAN

CONSTANTINE

NERODIOCLETIAN

Architecture• Roman sculptures developed

own styles with triumphal arches, columns and symbols and figures that celebrated the victories of conquering emperors

• Hadrian’s Wall• Roman Aqueducts• Pantheon• Thermal Baths• Colosseum (Flavian

Amphitheatre) built in 80 CE by Emperor Titus

• Circus, theatres

Arch of Titus

Religions in the Roman Empire• Cult of Isis- Egypt religion that worshiped

Isis (wife of Osiris and mother of Horus) was very popular in Roman Empire (Pompeii there was a temple)

• Mithraism- Persian deity was popular among soldiers and merchants as they traveled to far East (ritual killing of bull)

• Christianity- became popular as it preached equality (slave, noble ) could achieve salvation but Christians were the most persecuted among the rising religions (ie. Nero and Great Fire in Rome)

• Judaism- Diaspora (dispersion) in 586 BCE spread out Jews but by 4th century CE, there were 11 synagogues in Rome

Fall of West• By 5th century CE, successive

invasions by the barbarians fromnorth (Germanic tribes consisting of Goths, Visigoths, Alans, Franks,Vandals and Huns)

• Effort by Roman Emperors to accommodate and settle them, but eventually the barbarians swept through the Roman empire creating smaller kingdoms run by Germanic monarchs

• 476 CE, 1200 years after the founding of Rome, the Western Empire came to an end

• Main reasons: menacing movements of barbarians, high inflation and crashing economy, slavery, rise of Christianity and decline of idea of an eternal Rome and Roman supremacy

Judaism influence on the West

• Bible; Creation story

• Monotheism – belief in one God

• Jesus - prophet

A New Era• After the fall of the West,

the Roman Empire centred in Constantinople and was transformed into Byzantium (until 1453)

• Despite the fall of Rome, its influences transcended to the Middle Ages (language of Latin, laws, religion of Christianity and culture)

• People of Europe became more “Romanized” after Rome fell than ever before