HISTORY OF POLITICS

1. EGYPT
- Government and religion were inseparable in ancient Egypt.
- The pharaoh was the head of state and the divine representative of the gods on earth.
- Religion and government brought order to society through the construction of temples, the creation
of laws, taxation, the organization of labour, trade with neighbours and the defence of the country's
interests.
- The pharaoh was assisted by a hierarchy of advisors, priests, officials and administrators, who were
responsible for the affairs of the state and the welfare of the people.
- The pharaohs began ruling Egypt in 3000 B.C., when Upper and Lower Egypt were united.
- During the Old Kingdom (2575-2134 B.C.), they considered themselves to be living gods who ruled
with absolute power.
- They built pyramids as testimony of their greatness but left no official records of their achievements.
- To reinforce their image as powerful divine rulers, the pharaohs represented themselves in writings
and sculptured reliefs on temple walls.
- They often depicted themselves as warriors who single-handedly killed scores of enemies and
slaughtered a whole pride of lions.
- Ramesses III, who was the second ruler of Egypt's 20th Dynasty, was the last of great pharaohs on
the throne.
- Not all the pharaohs were men, nor were they all Egyptian. Before the Graeco-Roman Period, at least
three women ascended the throne, the most important being Queen Hatshepsut.

2. ASSYRIAN (located in present-day northern Iraq)

- As with all Mesopotamian states, Assyria was a monarchy; the king was the divinely-appointed, all-
powerful ruler of the Assyrian people.
- His titles claimed universal sovereignty: “Great King, Mighty King, King of the Universe, King of the
country of Ashur”.
- Like all previous Mesopotamian monarchs, the king of Assyria was the national god’s appointed
representative on Earth (in this case, Ashur’s).
- He was the chief lawmaker, the chief administrator, and above all, the commander-in-chief of the
Assyrian army.
- Soon, however, this system was replaced with a more centralized bureaucratic rule made up of
governors and civil servants.
- The king and his high ranking officials had scribes who acted as their scholars and advisers and were
responsible for all correspondence and for documenting all work.
- The palace scribe was considered the most trusted official to the king and was in control of all state
records.
- The Assyrian story began in the city of Ashur in northern Mesopotamia.
- Although Ashur had been inhabited from 3000 B.C. onwards, scholars date the founding of the city
to 1900 B.C. since that is the date of the extant ruins.
- Its early kings, who worshipped the god Ashur, were called the “kings who lived in tents,” which
implies a nomadic people rather than a settled, agricultural one.

3. BABYLONIAN
- Babylon is the most famous city from ancient Mesopotamia whose ruins lie in modern-day Iraq 59
miles (94 kilometres) southwest of Baghdad
- Babylon -> The name is thought to derive from bav-il or bav-ilim which, in the Akkadian language of
the time, meant ‘Gate of God’ or `Gate of the Gods’ and `Babylon’ coming from Greek.
- Amorite dynasty established in Babylon.
- The known history of Babylon, then, begins with its most famous king: Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE).
 - This obscure Amorite prince ascended to the throne upon the abdication of his father, King Sin-
Muballit, and fairly quickly transformed the city into one of the most powerful and influential in all of
Mesopotamia.
- Hammurabi’s law codes are well known but are only one example of the policies he implemented to
maintain peace and encourage prosperity. (earliest codes of law in the world)
- Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605/604-562 BCE) was the greatest King of ancient Babylon during the period
of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (626-539 BCE), succeeding its founder, his father, Nabopolassar (r.
626-605 BCE).
4. MEDO-PERSIA
- The Medo-Persians, led by King Cyrus II, invaded Babylonia from the east in June of 539 B.C. and
captured its capital, Babylon, in July of the same year.
- The first Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 B.C., became one of the largest
empires in history, stretching from Europe’s Balkan Peninsula in the West to India’s Indus Valley in
the East.
- This Iron Age dynasty, sometimes called the Achaemenid Empire, was a global hub of culture,
religion, science, art and technology for more than 200 years before it fell to the invading armies of
Alexander the Great.
- The first Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great soon became the world’s first superpower.
- It united under one government three important sites of early human civilization: Mesopotamia,
Egypt’s Nile Valley and India’s Indus Valley
- The first Persian Empire was shaped by a different religion: Zoroastrianism.
- Named after the Persian prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra), Zoroastrianism is arguably
the world’s first monotheistic religion.
5. GREEK
- It was in Greece, and particularly Athens, that democracy was first conceived and used as a primary form
of government.
- Ancient Greece was made up of city-states. A city-state was a major city and the surrounding areas.
Each city-state had its own rule and government. Sometimes the city-states fought each other. Athens
and Sparta were the two largest city-states and they had many wars and battles.
- In order to vote, you had to be a citizen. However, not everyone who lived in Athens was a citizen. Only
men who had completed their military training were counted as citizens.
- Alexander III was born in Pella, Macedonia, in 356 B.C. to King Philip II and Queen Olympias—
although legend had it his father was none other than Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods.
- At age 12, Alexander showed impressive courage when he tamed the wild horse Bucephalus, an
enormous stallion with a furious demeanor. The horse became his battle companion for most of
Alexander’s life.
- When Alexander was 13, Philip called on the great philosopher Aristotle to tutor his son. Aristotle sparked
and fostered Alexander’s interest in literature, science, medicine and philosophy.
- In 336 B.C., Alexander’s father Philip was assassinated. Just 20 years old, Alexander claimed the
Macedonian throne and killed his rivals before they could challenge his sovereignty.
- He also quashed rebellions for independence in northern Greece. Once he’d cleaned house, Alexander
left to follow in his father’s footsteps and continue Macedonia’s world domination.
- Thanks to his insatiable urge for world supremacy, he started plans to conquer Arabia. But he’d never
live to see it happen. After surviving battle after fierce battle, Alexander the Great died in June 323 B.C.
at age 32.
- Alexander the Great is revered as one of the most powerful and influential leaders the ancient world ever
produced.
6. ROMAN
- Rome entered its Republican Period in 510 BC. No longer ruled by kings, the Romans established a new
form of government whereby the upper classes ruled, namely the senators and the equestrians, or
knights.
- However, a dictator could be nominated in times of crisis. In 451 BC, the Romans established the “Twelve
Tables,” a standardized code of laws meant for public, private, and political matters.
- While Rome continued to be governed as a Republic for another 50 years, the shift to Imperialism began
to materialize in 60 BC when Julius Caesar rose to power.
- By 51 BC, Julius Caesar had conquered Celtic Gaul and, for the first time, Rome’s borders had spread
beyond the Mediterranean region.
- Although the Senate was still Rome’s governing body, its power was weakening.
- Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC and replaced by his heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus
(Octavian) who ruled alongside Mark Antony.
- Although Julius Caesar is often regarded as the first emperor of Rome, this is incorrect; he never held
the title `Emperor' but, rather, `Dictator', a title the Senate could not help but grant him, as Caesar held
supreme military and political power at the time.
- Augustus ruled the empire from 31 BCE until 14 CE when he died. In that time, as he said himself, he
"found Rome a city of clay but left it a city of marble."
- Augustus reformed the laws of the city and, by extension, the empire’s, secured Rome's borders,
initiated vast building projects (carried out largely by his faithful general Agrippa, who built the first
Pantheon), and secured the empire a lasting name as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, political
and cultural powers in history
7. ANGLO-AMERICAN
- Society and the State:
- 13 Atlantic American Colonies, Declaration of Independence, Drafting of the United States Constitution,
Consolidation of the structures of Government in the US
- Problem: Monarchy, Federalism, Regional Differences (state vs. State)
- Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) Born in Virginia to a prominent family, American governor of Virginia,
United States Secretary of State, Vice-President of the United States, President of the United States
(1801 – 1809), Principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776, Anti-Federalist (particulalry
fiscal intrusion) Founded the Democratic-Republican Party with James Madison
- Alexander Hamilton (1755 – 1804) Born on the island of Nevis in the West Indies Artillery
- captain in the War of Independence, United States Secretary of the Treasury (1789 – 1795)
- Believed in a strong a strong central government Created the 1st US national bank
- Created the Federalist Party – later the Whig or Democratic party
- Wanted friendly relations with Britain, industrialisation, extensive federal fiscal authority
- Was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr
- Pres. James Monroe and The Monroe Doctrine: The Monroe Doctrine (1823) -> a constitutional
amendment where European powers could no longer colonise or interfere in the Americas
- The US will not intervene in European affairs unless its rights are disturbed
- It is a moral objection to colonialism
- It complements US recognition of South American countries struggling for independence from Spain
- Manifest Destiny -> term coined in 1845 by journalist John O’Sullivan
- Idea supported by Andrew Jackson’s Democoratic Party to justify annexation of Texas and Oregon and
expansion of territory west of the Mississippi
- “... our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of
your yearly multiplying millions.”