WHAP: AP Review

KBP 1

Period II: 600 BCE to 600 CE

15% of the AP Exam
Classical Civilizations:
Common Features of Classical Civilizations:
The classical civilizations developed their own beliefs, lifestyles, political institutions, and social structures; however,
there were important similarities among them.

Patriarchal family structures

Like the river valley civilizations that preceded them, the classical
civilization valued male authority within families, as well as in most areas of life.
Agricultural-based economies
Despite more sophisticated and complex job specialization, the most
common occupation in all areas was farming.
Complex governments
Because they were so large, these civilizations had to invent new ways to keep
their lands together politically. Their governments were large and complex, although they each had unique
ways of governing.
Expanding trade base
Their economic systems were complex. Although they generally operated
independently, trade routes connected them by both land and sea.

Civilization

Political Organization

Social Structure

Culture

Greece
(c. 800
300 BCE)

No centralized
government
Polis city-state
Democracy Athens
Military state - Sparta

Slavery widely practiced

Social status dependent on
land holdings

Art/Literature:
Sculpture,
plays
Science/Technology:
Emphasized the use of logic,
math
Religion/Belief:
Polytheism,
philosophy
Trade:
Mediterranean Sea

Rule by patricians
Senate most powerful
Two consuls chosen to rule
generally from the
military
Development of
overarching set of laws
Military expansion and
conquest
Declines due to
assassination of Julius
Caesar (44 BCE)

Pater familias male

dominated family structure
Basic division between
patricians and plebeians
Patron-client system
Slavery

Non-hereditary emperor
technically chosen by the
Senate but generally
chosen by predecessor
Military expansion and
conquest
First emperor Augustus

Pater familias male

dominated family structure
Basic division between
patricians and plebeians
Patron-client system
Emperor becomes the
ultimate patron
Slavery
Inequality increased during
this time

Roman Republic
(c. 500 27 BCE)

Roman Empire
(27 BCE 476 CE)

Women
: In Sparta women
had relative freedom
however neither Sparta nor
Athens allowed political
participation by women.

Women:
Considered
citizens but did not vote

Women:
Considered
citizens but did not vote.
Women retained their
property ownership after
marriage. Adultery

Art/Literature:
Virgil, Ovid,
arch, dome
Science/Technology:
Concrete, aqueducts, roads,
military advancements
Religion:
Polytheism
Trade:
Among Roman
provinces, Mediterranean Sea

Art/Literature:
Virgil, Ovid,
arch, dome, public
entertainment (i.e. circuses)
Science/Technology:
Concrete, aqueducts, roads,
military advancements
Religion:
Polytheism,
Christianity (becomes a state
religion under Constantine I)
Trade:
Among Roman
provinces as well as China and
India


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becomes criminalized
under Augustus.
Qin China
(221 207 BCE)

Han China
(206
BCE 220 CE)

Mauryan India
(332 -185 BCE)

Gupta India
(322
550 CE)

Political power centralized

under Qin Shi Huangdi
first emperor
Mandate of
Heaven/Dynastic cycle
Legalism

Family basic unit of society

Social divide between rural
and urban

Strong centralized
government
Civil service exams to
become a bureaucrat
Political authority
controlled by Confucian
values
Mandate of
Heaven/Dynastic cycle

Patriarchal society
reinforced by Confucian
values
Some slavery
Emergence of scholar
gentry

Founded by Chandragupta
Maurya
Divided into provinces
Formed based on military
conquests
Ashoka greatest emperor

Social hierarchy based on

the caste system
Occupations strictly
dictated by caste

Formed based on military

conquests
Theater state techniques
used to impress visitors,
conceal political weakness

Social hierarchy based on

the caste system
Occupations strictly
dictated by caste
Untouchables
discriminated against

Women:
Fathers planned
their daughters futures,
patriarchal society

Women:
Fathers chose
husbands for daughters,
patriarchal society.
Confucian values
emphasized obedience of
wife to husband.

Women:
Property rights
at beginning of time period
but rights will diminish
with increased emphasis on
inheritance of property

Women:
Rights diminish
under the Gupta, beginning
of the practice of sati

Art/Literature:
Terracotta
soldiers
Science/Technology:
Roads, canals, Great Wall
begun
Religion/Belief:
Legalism,
ancestor worship,
Confucianism suppressed
Trade:
Within the empire,
India, Europe
Art/Literature:
pottery, silk
Science/Technology:
Metallurgy, astronomy,
mathematics, compass, paper
Religion/Belief:
Confucianism, Daoism,
Legalism, Buddhism
Trade:
Along the Silk Road

Art/Literature:
Vedas,
Ashokas Edicts, Ramayana
Science/Technology:
Canals, roads, single currency
Religion:
Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism
Trade:
Silk Road, Indian
Ocean route

Art/Literature:
Mahabarata,
palaces and temples, music,
dance
Science/Technology:
10
based numeral system (Arabic
numerals), zero
Religion:
Hinduism,
Buddhism
Trade:
Silk Road, Indian
Ocean route

Basic Features of Major World Belief Systems

Belief System

Basic Tenets

Area of Origin

Diffusion

Polytheism

Numerous deities
Use the supernatural to
explain the natural (i.e.

Everywhere

Similarity between Greek

and Roman gods
Commonalities among


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KBP 3

god of thunder)

River Valley pantheons

Trade routes

Confucianism

Five Relationships
Mandate of Heaven

China

Diffuses through Chinese

influence: Japan, Korea,
Vietnam

Daoism

Ying-Yang
Dualism in Nature
People are part of the
balance in nature

China

Diffuses through Chinese

influence: Japan, Korea,
Vietnam

Hellenism

Broad category for Greek

philosophy
Common culture
throughout
Mediterranean

Greece

Spread through Alexander

the Greats conquests
Trade routes

Hinduism

Caste system
Multiple deities
Emphasis on ritual prayer
Sacred texts

India

Mostly limited to India

Buddhism

Four Noble Truths

Eight-Fold Path

India

Buddhist missionaries
Silk Road

Judaism

Monotheistic
Emphasis on daily prayer
Sacred text: Torah

Middle East

Mediterranean world

Christianity

Monotheistic
Jesus Christ as savior
Sacred text: Bible

Middle East

Christian missionaries
Mediterranean world,
Ethiopia, India, Americas,
East Asia
Trade routes

Class/Social Systems:
Social System

Social Stratification

Family Structure

Role of Women

Caste System

Brahmin
Kshatriyas
Vaisyas
Shudras

Patriarchal and patrilineal

Ideal: Wife and mother

but their labor was needed
for agricultural work and
domestic industries

Confucian Social
Hierarchy

Rulers hereditary unless

overthrown and
challenger gains mandate
of heaven
Civil servants
Farmers
Craftspeople

Patriarchal and patrilineal

Ideal: Wife and mother

but their labor was needed
for agricultural work and
domestic industries
Rare cases of women
rulers (i.e. Empress Wu
during the Tang dynasty)

Pastoral Groups (i.e.

Bantu)

Head of clan, tribe,

lineage
Shepherds
Camel breeders and
trainers
Craftspeople

Combination of
matriarchal and
patriarchal
Matrilineal and patrilineal

Women included in
political decision making
and major economic
activities sometimes
including war


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Slaves

Trade Routes
The Silk Road
This overland route extended from Western China, across Central Asia, and finally to the
Mediterranean area. Chinese silk was the most desired commodity, but the Chinese were willing to trade it
for other goods, particularly for horses from Central Asia. There was no single route, but it consisted of a
series of passages with common stops along the way. Major trade towns appeared along the way where goods
were exchanged. No single merchant traveled the entire length of the road, but some products (particularly
silk) did make it from one end to the other.
The Indian Ocean Trade
This important set of water routes became even more important in later eras,
but the Indian Ocean trade was actively in place during the classical era. The trade had three legs: one
connected Eastern Africa and the Middle East with India; another connected India to Southeast Asia; and
the final one linked Southeast Asia to the Chinese port of Canton.
Saharan Trade
This route connected people that lived south of the Sahara to the Mediterranean and the
Middle East. The Berbers, nomads who traversed the desert, were the most important agents of trade. They
carried goods in camel caravans, with Cairo at the mouth of the Nile River as the most important
destination. There they connected to other trade routes, so that Cairo became a major trade center that
linked many civilizations together.
Sub-Saharan Trade
This trade was probably inspired by the Bantu migration, and by the end of the
classical era people south of the Sahara were connected to people in the eastern and southern parts of Africa.
This trade connected to the Indian Ocean trade along the eastern coast of Africa, which in turn connected the
people of Sub-Saharan Africa to trade centers in Cairo and India.
Americas Trade
Trade between the people of the Americas during this time period is not as extensive as
in period 3 however it is known that the tribes in the Americas had been trading goods and cultures since the
Olmec which would explain the diffusion of Olmec culture through Mesoamerica.

Major Migrations:
Phoenicians
By around 2000 BCE this small group of seafaring poepl from a coastal area of the eastern
Mediterranean Sea had set up colonies in North Africa and Southern Europe. The main economic activity of
the Phoenicians was trade and in order to facilitate trading they simplified the cuneiform system, producing
an alaphabet with 22 characters that was far easier to learn and use. Not only did the Phoenicians spread
their maritime skills, but their alaphabet became the basis for alphabets in Greece, Rome, and eventually for
many modern languages.
Israelites
According to Judaism, the Israelites actually orginated about 2000 BCE in the Mesopotamian
city of Ur with the founder of the religion, Abraham. The Jews migrated to Egypt to escape a spreading
drought where they became slaves to be eventually freed under Moses. The Jewish religion greatly
influenced the people that they contacted, although it did not actively encourage conversion. Jewish beliefs
and traditional stories were written down and later became basic tenets of Christianity and Islam.
Aryans
These herding peoples originated in the Caucasus area, but they began migrating in many
nd
directions about the mid-2
millennium BCE. Waves of Aryan migrants invaded the Indian subcontinent
were they eventually imposed their caste system on the natives. The Vedic religion brought by the Aryans
would become the basis for Hinduism.
Huns
Around 300-400 CE the Huns who originated in the Gobi Desert of China move to what we now call
Hungary. There they pushed the natives (Goths) out who then started to move into the Roman Empire. Attila
the Hun invaded Gaul (France) in 451 and Rome in 453 but their empire collapsed with Attilas death.
Germanic Peoples Peoples found from the area of the Black Sea to the Rhine River. These are the groups of
people who help the Roman Empire ultimately fall in 476.
Bantu
Group of peoples from Western Africa (Cameroon, Nigeria) who migrated between 1000 BCE to
300 CE into southern and eastern Africa. The primary evidence of their migration is that the languages of
Sub-Saharan Africa are remarkably similar to each other, as well as evidence of the spread of iron
metallurgy.
Practice Essay Questions
1. Compare and contrast the causes for the collapse of empires including the role of nomads.
2. Compare development of political systems in India and China.
3. Compare the role of nomadic groups in Central Asia with the impact of the Bantu migrations in Africa.
4. Compare Trans-Saharan trading with the Silk Road trading.


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