“Classical” Culture

An ancient and enduring culture like the Greeks or Romans.

Cultural DiffusionSpread of ideas, customs, or technology from one culture or people to another.

Persian Empire

522 to 486 B.C.

Darius the road builder

Geography of GreeceMountains made it difficult for unity among Greeks and led to the formation of city-states like Sparta and Athens. The sea was and still is their vital link to the world.

Greek polis

Greek City-States from 750 BC.

Minoans of Crete

Inhabitants of the Island of Crete, whose rulers lived in the Palace at Knossos which had important frescoes of Minoan life. They were a sea-going culture or thalassocracy. By 1400 BC, they were destroyed by a volcanic eruption.

AthensAn aristocracy dominated by noble landowners. Solon reformed Athens into the world’s first democracy with limited rights.

SpartaA nation of warrior-soldiers in Southern Greece that was ruled by kings and a council of elders. From childhood, all Spartans were prepared to be soldiers or support the warrior culture.

Democracy

Athens was a direct democracy where the people voted through a legislature or law-making body.

OligarchyRule by a few, usually wealthy, people. Sparta was ruled by more than one king.

Delian League

A military and economic collaboration of Greek city-states.

Peloponnesian Wars

Wars between Athens and Sparta from 431 BC to 404 BC.

Socrates

Outspoken critic of the Athenian government, who expressed his philosophy and encouraged his students to examine their lives.

Plato

Great works: The Allegory of the Cave and The Republic in which he emphasized the importance of reason.

AristotleWas the teacher of Alexander the Great and promoted learning and reason as the guiding forces of life.

Euclid

His “Elements” were the foundation of Geometry

Pythagorus

Pythagorean Theorum - The sum of the areas of the two squares on the legs (a and b) equals the area of the square on the hypotenuse (c). Contributions to philosophy, science and mathematics.

Parthenon

Eratosthenes

Calculated the circumference of the

Earth

Archimedes

Alexander the Great

Took the throne of Macedonia when his father, Phillip was assassinated – built the Hellenistic Empire.

HellenismBlending of Eastern and Western cultures because of the conquests of Alexander the Great. The city of Alexandria in Egypt was the heart of the Hellenistic Empire.

Geography of Rome

Seven Hills of Rome – the Palentine Hill was the most important.

The Punic Wars“Carthage must be destroyed,” was the cry of Cato the Elder in the Senate of Rome. Carthage was a rival of Rome during it’s empire. Hannibal Barcus tried to defeat the empire but came up short when a war of attrition was fought at the gates of Rome.

Twelve Tables

Rule of Law

Roman Republic

Government by elected representatives – limited government.

PatriciansUpper class landholders of

Rome

Plebians

Farmers, merchants, artisans and traders made up the bulk of Roman citizens.

Senators

Dominated Roman government and elected Consuls or leaders to supervise business and the military.

Emperor

The Roman Emperor was committed to establishing control over foreign lands and people. Called princeps (first citizen).

Roman Empire

Led in the beginning by Octavian (Augustus); ushered in a period of justice and peace.

Julius Caesar

Defied the Senate by crossing the Rubicon saying, “the die is cast.” He was assassinated in the Senate of Rome.

Emperor Augustus

Ushered in the Pax Romana – time of peace.

Pax Romana

Greek and Roman Mythology

Very similar, but Greek gods were believed to interfere in the daily lives of citizens.

Christianity In Judea, declared himself the Son of God and was crucified in Jerusalem.

Emperor Constantine

Moved the capitol of Rome to the Bosphorus and named it Constantinople. In the Edict of Milan, declared the Christian religion the official religion of Rome.

Emperor Diocletian

Split the Roman Empire into the East and Western Empires. The Eastern Empire flourished while the Western Empire fell to barbarians and entered the Dark Ages.

Greco-Roman Culture

It was the ancient Roman culture that was greatly influenced by Greek culture.

Indian Ocean TradeIn the Roman Empire, long distance trade in dhows and sailboats made it a dynamic zone of interaction between peoples, cultures, and civilizations stretching from Java in the East to Zanzibar and Mombasa in the West.