Early civilizations could only arise in areas near natural
resources: lakes, forests, pasture land, and fertile soil. Because the success
of these civilizations depended vitally on their nearness to resources, the
most successful and thriving civilizations were those ‘of the Mediterranean
basin’ in the Nile Valley, ‘where annual floods left large tracts of land
moist and fertile under the Egyptian sun,” and the “valleys of the Euphrates
and Tigris rivers, which flowed through the Fertile Crescent, a region centered
on modern Iraq. Cities arose that became the hubs of politics, government, and
control of lands: Nineveh, Babylon, and Memphis (7).
Map of the Fertile Crescent (Wikipedia)
Development of cities depended on human (usually slave)
labor. In fact, most early civilizations relied on slaves for a variety of
purposes from manual labor on farms and construction of homes, the creation of
household items to caring for and educating children (6). The editors of our
text caution us not to “idealize” these ancient cultures and civilizations, as
they fully exploited and took full advantage of slave labor (6-7). Following
the second millennium, the civilizations of the Greeks and Romans emerged.
Cross-communication among these ancient cultures was common, as is made evident
in the languages, architecture, and art forms that existed in each separate
culture. “Greek sculpture,” our text observes “and architecture of the seventh
century B.C.E…show heavy debts to Egypt, and striking similarities between
Green and Near Eastern myths are probably the result of Mesopotamian influence”
(7-8). Through trade and commerce, these civilizations, like modern
civilizations, intersected and influenced one another in myriad ways.
Religion
Our text asserts that nearly all ancient cultures were
polytheistic: that is, they observed a pantheon of several gods, rather than
identifying a single, all-powerful god. The Great Hymn to the Aten suggests one
exception among early Egyptians whose rulers were creating ‘a new cult to the
sun god. The Hebrew Bible suggests a further exception, and, unlike other
religions of the time, insists an inter-connectedness between religious faith
and a moral code. Other polytheistic civilizations worshiped gods that
frequently demonstrated a level of immorality and misrule; however, the Hebrew god Jehovah
of the Old Testament aligned faith and morality as a principle of his followers
(8).
Origin of the Hellenes is still unknown.
Linear B: A writing system developed on continental Greece.
Contiguous culture on the island of Crete called Minoan
after King Minos of legend, and suggested the civilization of Mycenae.
Dark Ages of Greece:
Last century of the second millennium B.C.E., the “great palaces were destroyed
by fire” and the civilization seems to have disappeared, taking their writing
system along with it. During this ‘dark’ period, the Greeks initiated an oral
tradition of storytelling that would evince the great epics the Iliad and the Odyssey (9). By the 8th Century, B.C.E., the dark ages
came to a close and literacy returned, if in fits and starts.
Ancient Greece
The terrain of Greece of the eighth century B.C.E. was
geographically fragmented: cities were kept isolated from each other by walls
and mountains. The distribution of government among Greek city-states mirrored
this geographic outlay. There was not a single, unified body politic, but one
of ‘fragmented’ city-states that ruled themselves independently. Different
dialects flourished, as did differences in custom. Members of independent
city-states regarded one another not as neighbors, but as rivals.
Language and Writing
As the Greek civilization expanded across the Mediterranean
and Asia Minor, they adopted the Phoenician system of writing into their own
language. Here they added symbols designating vowel sounds, and, following the
same path of evolution as other language systems, the Greeks used this language
for contractual, civic, and economic purposes.
By the sixth century B.C.E, the Persian Empire was the
largest and most powerful civilization. Seeking to expand their empire, the
Persians launched a series of attacks on Athens and Sparta—chief cities of the
Greek civilization. However, the Greek troops managed to defeat the Persian
invaders at Salamis and Marathon (490-479 B.C.E). This triumph ennobled the
Greeks, and afterward followed a period of “literary and cultural achievements”
(10).
Greek Culture and
Politics, Fifth Century, B. C. E.
The city of Sparta was led by oligarchical rule, which “used
strict military discipline to maintain control over a majority of underclass.”
Conversely, Attica was ruled by a “Democracy.” In its conventional meaning, “Democracy”
indicates that all members of a state can participate in civic activity.
However, in Greece: women, slaves, and metics (‘resident aliens’) were denied
civic involvement (10). The startling victory over Persian attack resulted in record civic pride and enthusiasm: Greek architecture thrived during this period, resulting in monuments such as the Parthenon, built in honor of the goddess, Athena.
Though egalitarian in most regards, Athenian culture and politics--as well as intellectual life--barred much of its populace from their involvement in civic activity and education. While slaves were prohibited from civic life, women were denied both voting privileges and education. Young boys were trained in the classic literature of Homer and Virgil, and were prepared for life in the politics of the culture. Sophists (wisdom teachers) instructed young males in the "techniques of rhetoric, as well as the more substantial subjects...government, ethics, literary criticism, even astronomy" (13).
Perhaps the most important and renowned sophist of his time was Socrates: an Athenian citizen. Ordinarily, parents chose to employ their children's instructors from other parts of Greece. Socrates explored politics and philosophy through dialectic: a technique of finding truth and reason through a series of questions and answers (13-14).
Socrates (arquehistoria.com)
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