Big Picture
Unit I Themes! Unit II
 Foundations and Classical  Development of Empire and
eras of civilization spread of civilizations
 Classical Era – achievements in  Classical Civs collapse – Rise of Post
arts, architecture, science, Math, Classical Civs - continue to achieve in
weapons, metals, literature different ways.
 Nomads are major outside  Golden Age of Nomads!
threat to sedentary Continue to be biggest outside
peoples and impact Civs. threat to civilization and Empire
 Religion and goods spread
 Religion and goods spread
over Silk Road
over the Silk Road
 Extensive land routes and  Land and sea routes expand!
Indian Ocean, Trans-Saharan, River
regional water routes networks in Russia and Africa
 World Religions of Judaism,  Golden Age of Religion –
Christianity, Hinduism and
Power in government - Rise
Buddhism are established
and Spread of Islam

Classical Comparison: Roman Empire and Han Dynasty
Identity
Greek and Latin based – Greco-
Roman
Patrician and Plebeians – social
Citizenship – unifying Identity
History, Music, Drama, Art
Chinese – calligraphy
Confucianism – Filial Piety
Superior and Inferior
Stressed education – “Gentleman”
Ethnocentrism – Great Wall

 Well organized bureaucracy Government
based upon Legalist and
Confucian ideas and education
 Well organized bureaucracy
founded on Greco-Roman law and
classical learning

Beliefs
Patriarchical
Reliance on Patricians
Greek and Roman Mythological faith
Temples, Sacrificies, Olympics
Judaism and Christianity –
Persecuted at times
Patriarchical
Reliance on landed gentry
Ancestor Veneration – Oracle Bones
Daoism – “The Way” – Wu Wei
Confucianism – five relationships
Buddhism – Persecuted at times

Public Works
Wow! I wish
I could do a
hand stand!
“The Great Builders”
Great Wall of China
Columns, Dome, Arch
Bridges, Roads, Canals
Aqueducts, roads, bridges,
theaters, The Coliseum Tombs - Terra Cotta Warriors

 Grand Canal  Roman Roads

Expansion
And
Trade
Strong Military – led to expansion
Strong Military – professional Gave land and riches to soldiers –
army - led to expansion seen as very important figures in
Gave land and riches to soldiers Legalist China
- reward
Use of rivers – Huang He and Yangtze
Use of Mediterranean Sea
Built Roads, bridges, canals
Built roads, bridges, canals

Decline of Empire
Roman Empire Han China
Decline in Morals
and Values that
have upheld
society together
Public Health and
Urban Decay
Political
Corruption
Unemployment
and Inflation
Military
Spending- too
costly

Western Europe
UNIT I Unit II
 Classical Civilizations (Greece  Fall of Roman Empire from Visigoths
city-states, Rome – centralized leads to decentralized feudalism
empire)  Widespread education ends (Gothic
 Golden Ages = Great architecture, monasteries, weaponry.)
accomplishments (Democracy,  Barbarian threat limits trade (Dark Age,
Republic, Law, architecture, art,
philosophy, astronomy, science, manorialism)
military, engineering)  Roman Catholic Church dominates
 Nomads are biggest outside threat Europe (Political, Economic, and social)
to sedentary people (Germanic  Threat of Islam (Charlemagne,
Tribes, Huns) Crusades, Reconquista)
 Land routes begin (Roman roads  Rigid social structure (Kings, Nobles,
and Aqueducts)
Lesser Nobles, Knights, Serfs)
 Regional trade routes important
(Mediterranean Sea)
 Crusades = revival of trade = rise of
 Polytheistic Religion cities = power of kings = Nation-States
 Persecution, adoption and spread
 Commercial revolution – guilds, banks,
of Christianity monetary system, mercantilism.
 Decline due to corruption, no clear  Black Death = 1/3 pop dead = need for
succession, barbaric threat, loss of labor = wage labor of serfs = end of
identity, economic hardship serfdom

Western Europe – Important People
UNIT II
Socrates
Pericles King John
Charlemagne
UNIT I
St.Benedict
Alexander Joan of arc
the Great Augustus Pope
Caesar Urban II

THE WEST
 No longer unified politically and a loss of central
authority
 Development of Feudalism as a political and social
system
 Depopulation of urban centers – London is about
10,000 people
 The Catholic Church is the only institution to survive
the fall of the Western Empire. Becomes the only
unifying force in the West
 Little contact with the outside world
 Loss and in some cases rejection of Classical thought.

Byzantium
 The truly important part of the Roman Empire.
Contained the biggest portion of the population
and wealth.
 Continues with its classical tradition and becomes
the major power in the Mediterranean area.
 Orthodox Christianity is the main faith and is
controlled for the most part by the emperor
 Significant influence on the emerging civilization
of Russia.
 Constantinople was considered the endpoint of
the Silk Route.

China
UNIT I Unit II
 Classical Civilizations (Qin –  Fall of Han= 400 years of warring states =
Legalist, Han – Confucianism) Sui, Tang, Song (Centralized gov’t)
 Mandate of Heaven  Mandate of Heaven
 Development of meritocracy (civil  Meritocracy (civil service exams, Neo-
service exam, scholar-gentry) Confucianism)
 Golden Ages = Great  Golden Ages = gunpowder, Grand
accomplishments (Great Wall, canal, compass, moveable type, junks,
Terra Cotta Warriors, Paper, Silk,
Rudder) porcelain, paper money)
 Nomads are biggest outside threat
 Nomads are biggest outside threat
to sedentary people (Xiongnu) (Mongol invasion= Yuan Dynasty)
 Land routes begin (Silk Road)  Pax Mongolica = increased trade along
 Merchants looked down upon, Silk Road, merchants gained prestige
eunuchs gained power  Ming Dynasty – erased Mongol rule,
 Polytheistic Religion – Chinese folk, developed navy, Zheng He
Daoism  Spread, adoption, and persecution of
 Decline due to corruption, Buddhism, foot binding of women
barbaric threat, loss of identity,  Decline due to corruption, barbaric
economic hardships, internal strife
threats, economic hardships, internal
strife

China – Important People
UNIT II
Shi Huang di Confucius Hongwu
UNIT I Tang Taizong
Marco Polo
Laozi Kublai Khan
Han Wudi Zheng He

CHINA
 Unlike Europe, China recovers from nomadic
invaders.
 New “classical” era begins with the Tang and
Song dynasties.
 Mongols do more to spread Chinese culture
under the Yuan dynasty
 Continues to be a major influence on Japan,
Korea and Southeast Asia
 Many overseas Chinese communities begin
during this time period

India
UNIT I Unit II
 Classical Civilizations (Maurya-  Decentralized Hindu provinces, Rise of
Buddhist, Gupta-Hindu) Delhi Sultantate in North (Muslim), Chola
 Centralized bureaucracies and Vijayanagar in South (Hindu)
 Laws and society structured  Semi-feudal Kingdoms
around religious beliefs (Rock Pillar  Built mosques, castles, roads – Temples,
Edicts) sculptures, literature
 Golden Ages = Great  Nomads are biggest outside threat
accomplishments (military,
mathematics –pi, zero, numerals - (Conquered by Tamerlane, Mongol)
astronomy, medicine, literature)  Extensive trade network (Silk Road,
 Nomads are biggest outside threat Indian Ocean, central location,
to sedentary people (White Huns) monsoons)
 Extensive Trade (Silk Road, Indian  Islam brought by force, replaces
Ocean, central location, Buddhism (Claimed to be high caste)
monsoons)
South remains Hindu (Caste system)
 Buddhism in Maurya (Ashoka)
Hindu revival with Gupta (Caste
 Decline due to corruption, barbaric
system) threats, poor leadership, economic
 Decline due to corruption, poor hardships, internal strife
leadership, barbaric threat, land
too vast and diverse to control

India – Important People
UNIT II
Buddha Ashoka
Hakka and Tamerlane
UNIT I Bukka
Chandra Chandragupta Mahmud Harsha
Gupta I Maurya Ghaznavi

Middle East
UNIT I Unit II
 Classical Civilizations (Persian)  Decline of Persian Empire led to period
 Centralized bureaucracies (Satrap of decentralization – controlled by
= governors) Byzantines at times
 Laws and society structured and  Islamic Empires centralized the region,
enforced, secret police, Immortals Dar-al-Islam (Umayyad, Abbasid)
 Golden Ages = Great  Golden Age: Built mosques, hospitals,
accomplishments (Royal Road, libraries- achievements in Math,
military, coins, postal service)
literature, medicine, calligraphy
 Unified diverse region with
tolerance, trade, strong leadership
 Unified diverse region with Islamic law,
 Extensive Trade in Mediterranean – strong military, expansion=Crusades
attempt to take Greece led to two  Extensive trade network (Silk Road,
major wars- Persia lost Indian Ocean, Med sea, Trans-Saharan,
 Zoroastrianism developed – central location)
Dualism – mostly tolerant of other  Islam was dominant faith –tolerant of
faiths
other religions. (Jiyza tax)
 Decline due to corruption, poor
leadership, intolerance, foreign
 Decline due to corruption, Mongol
invasion led by Alexander the attacks, poor leadership, religious
Great schism (Sunni/Shiite), Rise of Ottoman

Middle East – Important People
UNIT I
UNIT II
Xerxes
Genghiz Khan
Muhammad
Darius
Jesus
Hammurabi Harun al- Saladin
Zarathustra
Rashid

MIDDLE EAST/ARAB WORLD
 Rise of Islam in the 7th century breathes new life
into this area.
 Like Christianity in Northern Europe there is some
“conversion by the sword”.
 More tolerant than their Christian counterparts.
 Because Muhammad was a merchant – trade is
a respectable profession unlike in China and
Japan
 Arab merchants become the heart of the Indian
Ocean trade
 Islam expands into North and East Africa as well
as Persia, India and Southeast Asia

SILK ROUTES AND INDIAN OCEAN TRADE
 Silk Road trade was indirect. Goods changed
hands many times before reaching final market.
 Items had to be mostly small luxury goods.
 Large profit margin on a few small items.
 Limited number of buyers – mostly the wealthy
 Arab merchants were the key to most of the
trade.

West Africa Russia
Unit II UNIT II
 Sundiata – founder of Mali in 1230 CE  855 – First Russian King was Rurik
 Ruled by powerful kings called Mansas -  Monarchy forms with its center at the
Converted to Islam city of Kiev
 Professional army  Russian King, Vladimir I, converts to
Christianity but did not want to be
 Expanded territory and appointed governors to under the control of the Roman
rule areas and collect taxes – strong local Catholic Church and the Pope
government, somewhat decentralized
 Two brothers, Cyril and Methodious,
 Women could hold government positions were sent to Russia as missionaries.
 Laws based on Muslim system of justice (The  Introduced the Russians to Orthodox
Quran) Christianity – thereby cementing
 Mansa Musa: Most powerful leader, converted Russia’s relationship with the
to Islam and made pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) Byzantine Empire.
 Developed the city of Timbuktu which became  Created the Cyrillic Alphabet for the
a great trading city and center of Muslim Russians – unifying them
learning. Invited Muslim Scholars to Mali linguistically.
 Conversion to Islam and Mansa Musa’s  Because of its proximity to the Black
pilgrimage to Mecca brought world wide Sea, Russia always leaned more
attention to West Africa towards Byzantium than the Islamic
 Made the need of a large population and a world.
large army a permanent necessity for states in  Kievan Russia declined in the 12th
West Africa. century due to internal problems and
Mongol invasions

West Africa Russia
UNIT II
UNIT II
Cyril and
Mansa Musa Askia Vladimir I Methodious
Muhammad
Sundiata Rurik
Sunni Ali

Japan Mongols
Unit II UNIT II
 The Yamato Emperor established a capital in Nara  Genghis Khan united the tribes of the
and ruled there until 794 CE steppe under the Mongol banner.
 The Japanese “selectively borrowed” from China  Horsemanship, archery, terror, and military
 Capital city and Emperor’s court was moved to strategy were keys to the Mongols quick
Heian (Kyoto) rise to power.
 Emperor became more isolated and simply stayed  Established the largest continual land
in Heian and oversaw Shinto rituals - figurehead empire in history.
 Lords controlled the political realms of Japan  Local rulers kept in place as long as order
was kept and sufficient tax revenues were
 Led to the rise of powerful families with private delivered to Mongol authorities.
armies – the Fujiwara, Tairo, and Minamoto
 Took over Russia In 1237-1241,known as
 Oversaw an artistic and cultural flowering at the the Golden Horde.
court
 Kublai Khan defeated the Song Dynasty in
 Political Developments: Attempts at centralizing 1279 – Yuan Dynasty.
the Japanese state were relatively unsuccessful.
Copied bureaucracy in the image of the Chinese  Established centralized rule via the use of
Confucian model. Emissaries and scholars were foreign ( Persian) bureaucrats.
sent to China to study.  Confucianism declined, civil service
 The Rise of Feudalism: eliminated.
 Eventually a system of feudalism developed in  Chinese were segregated from Mongol
which a central figure, the Shogun, reigned as population. Intermarriage was outlawed.
supreme military general and political authority  Chinese were not allowed to learn Mongol
over Japan. The power of the shogun was Language.
depended on the loyalties of the local daimyos and
samurais.

Japan Mongols
UNIT II
UNIT II
Kublai Khan
Prince Shotoku
Genghiz Khan
Yoritomo
Minamoto