The HebrewsGreece and Rome

*Ethical monotheism
-one God Hebrews
-He is a just God
-He takes a personal interest in His people
*Covenant between God and the
people
-If the Hebrews followed God’s laws and
worshipped only Him, He would protect them
as His chosen people and He would give them
land
*Individual choice/moral autonomy
-One could chose to follow the laws or go
against them, but there would be consequences
Important contribution to Christianity
and Islam, the three major
monotheistic religions
Greece
Major contributions: democracy, philosophy, humanism,
but also art, architecture, history, drama, science and medicine
Hellenic Age 800-323 B.C.E.
*Greece made up of independent city states -the polis
*Athens: democracy
-Right and obligation to participate directly in governing
-Only free adult male citizens of Athens could participate
(excludes women, children, slaves, foreigners - most of the population)
-Direct participation in assembly to debate questions and make decisions
-Passed all laws and made final
decisions on war and foreign
policy

School of Athens by Raphael

*Philosophy: rational thought (reason)/science, humanism:
Organizing how you understand the world
-Focus: human solutions for human problems (humans as proper subject of
study - humanism)
-Requires understanding origins and nature of human beings
-Physical rational explanations for the world (not myth)
-Nature is not in chaos - there are general rules that could be learned and
understood by men
-Beginning of scientific enquiry: theoretical thinking and systematization of
knowledge: rational thought
-Ethics and politics are important questions examined by the Greeks
*Three Major Greek Philosophers:
*Socrates ( 470-399 BCE) in Athens
-Socratic method: discussions with anyone willing to discuss
-Focused on humans and their environment
-Search for self-knowledge, human happiness (practical ethics)
-Moral excellence achieved through rational thought- examine principles of
proper conduct, for their own sake and for the good of society as a whole
-Reason is only guide to differentiate good and evil.
*Plato (427-347 BCE)
-Witnessed the death of his mentor, Socrates; this led to a distrust of democracy
-Perfect form of government: The Republic - ruled by philosopher kings,
wise and above corruption, supported by warriors, those who showed courage.
-They ruled the masses, those who were driven neither by wisdom nor courage
-First proposal of a utopian society
-Education is the basis for a perfect society
*Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
-Theory comes from fact, from observing natural phenomena
(Politics based on examination of 158 constitutions)
-Highest good consists in harmonious functioning of the individual human
mind and body. Good conduct is rational conduct and consists in acting
moderately.
-Divided knowledge into 3 categories: ethics (principles of social life),
natural history (the study of nature), metaphysics (primary laws of the universe)

*Example of scientific thought: Hippocrates of Kos (460-379 BCE): Father

of diagnostic medicine: Diseases had natural causes and could be determined
by observation.
*Art and architecture in Ancient Greece (art, science and
humanism are all present)

Socrates Artemis Pottery

Parthenon in Athens
*Women in Greece
-Women were expected to remain in the home - not participate in
economic or political life. Pale skin was a sign of status
-In reality, whether one worked or not would depend on the social class of the
individual
-Wealthier women would be confined to the home: directing the servants,
supervising their children’s education, spinning and weaving
-Working-class women would have to work – as servants and other work
-Poor farmer’s wives would also have to work with their husbands
-These women would have dark skin because of their time spent outside
*Wealthier men often sought other men for intellectual and sexual companionship
*One form of work could be prostitution, for both women and men:
-Most were lower class prostitutes
-Some women became hetaera – could be sexual and intellectual
partner
-Pericles, one of the political leaders of Athens, had a 20-year
relationship with Aspasia, a hetaera.

Aspasia of Miletus
 Hellenistic Age 323-30 B.C.E.

*Alexander the Great

(r. 336-323 BCE)
-Conquest of territories
as far as border of India

*Spread of Greek culture and ideas

-Founded cities throughout the conquered territories
-Soldiers, administrators, merchants brought Greek culture, philosophy, science
-Language, laws, institutions, art
*Science in Hellenistic Age
-Euclid of Alexandria: geometry
-Aristarchus of Samos: Heliocentric theory
-Archimedes of Syracuse: pi, principles of mechanics, lever, displacement of
water, war machines.
*Hypatia (Approx. 370-415/16 CE)
-Woman mathematician/astronomer/philosopher who worked at the library in
Alexandria. She worked on a design for an astrolabe
-She was killed by Christian zealots who also burned down the library
 An example of Alexander’s legacy

Al Khanum:
military outpost
in far East
This outpost included a gymnasium, a library and a
theatre.
 Rome
Two periods of Roman history:
Republic 509-31 B.C.E.: what is a republic?
Empire 31 B.C.E.-476 C.E.: what is an empire?
-two meanings of word “empire”: geographic area outside of a
Nation controlled by a state, or a form of government

Territory controlled under the Republic Territory controlled under the Empire
Roman contributions to Western Civilization
*Law
Civil law: Law for Roman citizens: written and unwritten
Law of nations: Combination of Roman civil law, Greek law and laws of
local conquered people
-For the whole empire – especially for non-citizens and foreigners
-Authorized slavery, protected private ownership of property
-Defined mechanism of purchase, sale, partnership, contract.
Natural law: All men are by nature equal and entitled to certain basic rights that
governments cannot go against
-Basis for our concepts of human rights

*Principles of Roman law

-Innocent until proven guilty
-The right to defend yourself before a judge
-Responsibility of judge to weigh the evidence to make his judgment
-Torture can not be used to extract confessions
Justinian: Emperor of Eastern Empire (527-565) had Roman law revised.
The result was the basis of all law in European states (except Britain), including the
Napoleonic Code and Latin American law
In 212 CE all conquered peoples were given citizenship
*Language (Latin) and culture (Roman and Greek)
-Common language and elements of common culture spread across Roman
Empire
*Administration
-Provincial administration: tax collection, building roads, local government
*Women in Rome
-Rome was a male-dominated society
-the father was the head of the family with extreme
powers over the family
-he could even sell family members into slavery
Roman mothers were expected to be strong figures
within the household
-supervising education of children
-running the household and supporting the father/husband

Aristocratic woman in Augustan period

Poorer women had to work
-their lives were like those of men with inferior legal status
-women did not have citizenship, could not vote or run for office, or make
public speeches
Upper class women were housebound, educating the female children:
spinning, weaving
-outside the home they would be transported in curtained litters carried by
slaves
Women’s husbands were selected by their father, often for economic or
political reasons
-husbands controlled their wives’ property
-they had the right to kill their wives, for adultery, for example (men could
cheat on their wives)
There were exceptions:
During the Empire, women worked in medicine, as midwives and as wet
nurses
 Architecture, roads, aqueducts

* Architecture: Roman Colosseum

*Architecture and built environment
-Roman arches, concrete, water systems (aqueducts), roads
*Roman Roads: more than 50,000 miles of roads built Necessary
for maintaining control of the empire
*Roman Aqueducts

-Rome during reign of Emperor Trajan (98-117 CE) had eleven aqueducts
bringing to the city water for over 1 million people
For drinking, bathing, flushing a sewage system, for
fountains and pools of the rich
 Development of Christianity
*Origins of Christianity-Jewish sect in Palestine
*Spread throughout Mediterranean region
-Attractive because very inclusive of groups usually left out – e.g. women,
slaves, the poor, the powerless
-Paul of Tarsus (approx. 5-64 CE): an early missionary spreads Christianity
-It is outlawed in the Roman Empire, but spreads nonetheless
*Christianity goes from a threat to Roman state to being embraced
by Roman emperors
-Constantine, 312: allows the practice of Christianity
-He converts on his death bed
-Theodosius, 392 is a Christian and makes Christianity the state religion of the
Empire (now other religions and sects are persecuted)
Christianity takes on the same organizational structure as the Roman civil
structure. Territory was divided into dioceses, with bishops in charge of major
communities, in charge of all aspects of church life – finances to spiritual
guidance.
*Reason versus Faith: Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian traditions