Classical Civilizations

• What held these civilizations together?• China – centralized politics, Confucian

hierarchy, Mandarin• India – Hinduism and caste system• Mediterranean – elite cultural achievements,

shared law, citizenship, military (vulnerable)

Fall of the Han – c. 150 CE

• Why?– Disease epidemics– Decline of Confucianism, rise of Daoism

(Yellow turbans)– Overburdened peasants and corrupt gov’t– Decline in trade and prosperity– Nomadic invaders from the north– Followed by 300 years of chaos– Medium strength collapse

Fall of Gupta – c. 500 CE

• Why?– White Huns invade– Regional princes ‘Rajput’ rule– Threat of Islam beginning in the late 600s– This fall was the least culturally disruptive

Hinduism and the caste system

– Mild collapse

Fall of Rome – c. 476 CE

• Moral and government decay from 180 CE• Economic, population, trade decline• Disease epidemics• Not enough soldiers – hired mercenaries• Couldn’t expand anymore – no more slaves

or tribute• Large farming estates

Fall of Rome – c. 476 CE

• Rome split into East and West by Emperor Constantine– East – Capital at Constantinople, Greek language– West – Capital at Rome, Latin Language

• Western Rome invaded by Germanic tribes• Europe falls apart – most dramatic collapse• Eastern Rome survives - Byzantine Empire• Emperor Justinian – Justinian Law Code• Orthodox Christian Church

Classical Mesoamerica

• Grew maize, beans, squash• Olmecs (1200-400 BCE)

– Central Mexico– Teotihuacan – city of successors (Toltecs)

• Maya (300 BCE–900 CE)– Yucatan Peninsula– Polytheistic; Legend of Quetzalcoatl– Pyramids– Writing, zero, astronomy, calendar– Small city-states fought each other– Prisoners sacrificed or enslaved

Civilization in Africa

• Agriculture, Livestock, and Iron – Horses, Camel from Asia– Tsetse fly - attacks horses and cattle– No bronze age

Stone to iron

• The Bantu Dispersal– Bring agriculture and iron– From Nigeria throughout continent by 1200 C.E.

– Culture - united by kinship

Bantu Migrations

Africa, Civilization, and the Wider World

• Axum: A Christian Kingdom– Urban center– Ge'ez - writing system– Used Arabic script– Controlled Red Sea trade– c. 350 C.E., King Ezana converts to Christianity

Golden Ghana: A Trading State

• Savanna peoples– Trade intermediaries– Salt for gold; gold for textiles, finished goods

• Trade leads to state formation– Gao, Ghana

Indo-Europeans

• 2nd millennium B.C.E.

• North of the Black and Caspian seas• Included the Hittites, Hyksos, and Hsiung-

nu (Huns) • Attack Chinese and Roman territories• Destroy the Gupta

The Celts and Germans

• Celts– Ireland to Russia– Culture

Small kingdoms Warrior elite Pastoralism, agriculture No cities, writing Oral literature Animistic religion

East Asia at the End of the Classical Period

Japan

• Mountainous islands

• Indigenous Culture and Society – Shintoism – worship of political rulers and

spirits of nature (esp. rice)– Society

Clans 90% peasants

• Politically independent of China– Cultural borrowings

Societies of Polynesia

• Australia, New Guinea settled• Polynesia settled

– Hawaii

• New Zealand – Maori people• Common culture with differences• Double canoes, triangular sails (pahi)

The Spread of Polynesian Peoples