Professional Documents
Culture Documents
World Civilization
World Civilization
World Civilization
Asia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia was found between the Tigris and the Euphrates River. Mesopotamia means
“between the rivers”. Fertile Crescent was the eastern end of Mesopotamia. The creators
were the Sumerians. By 3000B.C. Sumerians established independent cities in south
including Eridu, Ur, and Uruk. They formed the basic units of Sumerian civilization city states.
The cities were surrounded by walls Uruk was surrounded by six miles long with defense
tower. City dwellings, built of sun dried bricks, including both the small houses of peasants
and the larger buildings of the city official, priests, and priestesses. Mud bricks were used for
building. The temple dedicated to the chief god or goddess of the city was well known
buildings called ziggurat. Much of city wealth would go to the temples and for the priests
and priestesses. The temple was the physical, economical, and political center of the city.
The Sumerians believed the gods made the state a theocracy (ruled by divine authority).
Sumerians viewed kingship as divine in the origin. Kings led armies, supervised public works,
and organized workers for irrigation projects. Their economy was based mainly on farming,
even though trade and industry were important. They were specially known for woolen
textiles; pottery; and metalwork. Imported copper, tin and timber .In return for dried fish,
wool, barley, wheat, and the metal goods. Traders would travel as far as India. The transport
of good got easier by 3000B.C. Because of wheel inventions which led to carts with wheels.
The society is divided into three main groups: nobles, commoners and slaves. Nobles are
royal and priestly officials and their families. Commoners worked for the palace and temple
estates. Slaves belonged to palace officials who used them for building projects.
Code of Hammurabi
The best known achievement of Hammurabi is the law code a collection of 282 laws. Code of
Hammurabi varied according to social class of the victim and was based on strict justice
system. A crime against the lower class was served less punishment rather the upper class.
The fundamental part of the justice system was the principle of retaliation (“an eye for an
eye, tooth for a tooth”). According to the code duties of public officials were taken seriously.
If the officials failed to catch burglars they had to replace the lost property. If they failed to
catch a murder they were supposed to pay a fine to the relatives of the victim. The code also
encouraged consumer protection laws. If house was collapsed and it destroyed goods the
builder were supposed to build and pay the goods at his own expenses. If a building
collapsed and the owner died the builder would be killed if the owners sons would die
because of the collapse the builder sons will be killed. The main focus of the code was
marriage and family. Parents arrange marriages where the two parties must sign contract.
The society was a patriarchal; the code makes it clear that women had far fewer privileges
and rights in marriage than men. If a wife fail to fulfil her expected duties or was not able to
bear children or tried to engage in business her husband could divorce, and could be
drowned if she was a “gadabout” neglecting her house and humiliating her husband. A
father ruled their wife s as well as their children. If a son has struck his father he shall cut off
his hands. A son code also be disinherit if he committed a serious offense to his father.
Obedience was expected.
Importance of religion
As a result of ferocious floods, heavy downpours, scorching winds, and oppressive humidity
Mesopotamians were assured the world was controlled by supernatural forces. The
Mesopotamians religion was polytheistic since they identified 3000 gods and goddesses.
According to Sumerian myth humans were inferior to gods and humans were created to do
manual labor the gods were unwilling to do.
The Phoenicians
Phoenicians lived in the area of Palestine along the Mediterranean coast. The down fall of
the Hittite and Egypt power and expanded their trade. They were well known traders and
sailors. They occupied cities along eastern Mediterranean coast in present day Lebanon and
Syria. With various people moving about a new state the Cannan city shrank and the virtues
along the coast become important. By the first millennium they Phoenicians established
their empire. The people didn’t call themselves Phoenicians since it was a name given by the
Greeks rather they named their selves after their cities. Tyrians (Tyre city),Sidonians (Sidon
city)and Byblians(Byblos city). The people were dominant in trade around the eastern
Mediterranean. The cities weren’t unified in other words there wasn’t a unified Phoenicia.
Instead the cities were independent; they have their own kings/rulers, trading merchants,
fleets, fighting ships and their own defenders. However the cities would often opposed each
other than cooperating, even sometimes they would help foreign attackers opposing one
other. Even there were conflict between them they maintained a peaceful relationship with
neighbors and served as producers, merchants, and middle men. They exported purple dye,
glass and lumber. They created a trade empire by developing sea ships. They also set new
trade routes in western Mediterranean, Atlantic Ocean, reached Britain and sailed south
along the west coast of Africa. They also had a famous colony located in the North Africa
coast called Carthage. Carthage literally means new city. Carthage was found by Tyre
aristocratic class who moved because of political conflict. They maintained trade supremacy
and have their own colonies in North Africa, Spain, Sicily, and large islands near Italy and
France. They are best known for their writing system that consisted twenty two different
signs to represent sound. The alphabet was important because it passed to Greeks and
Romans and the Americans and most of the world use today
Persian Empire
They were an Indo European speaking people who live in the present day of south western
Iran. Persians were nomadic people organized in tribes until Achaemenid family unified
them. In 539B.C. Cyrus the great controlled Babylon which showed restraint and wisdom. He
kept the officials of Babylon in their positions. Also issued and edict permitting the Jews to
return to Jerusalem and rebuilt their temples. He was accepted as a king by Mende, Babylon
and Hebrews. Jews see him as the one sent by God. Cambyses son of Cyrus extended their
territory further to Egypt. Darius stretched the territory to Indus River and in Europe Thrace
creating the largest territory. He also undertake invasion of the Greek mainland which
resulted the Battle of Marathon in 490B.C. He divided the empire into twenty provinces
called satrapies each with a ruler called satrap (means protector of the kingdom). Satraps
collected taxes, provided justice and security and recruited soldiers for the royal army.
Roads made easy for officials to travel through the empire. The Royal Road stretched form
Lydia in Asia Minor to Susa. The Persian king “Great King” occupied an exalted position. The
king was source of justice. The empire and the rulers were dependent on the military.
Persian had created an international army of composed of people all over the empire as
cavalry force and infantry force called Immortals were its core.
The Persian Empire weakened after Darius. The kings become isolated at their courts and
surrounded by luxuries. As taxes increased the loyalty to empire began to decline and the
struggle over throne affected the monarchy. Persian Kings had many wives and children as
an example Artaxerxes the second had 115 sons which made them engage in plots to gain
the throne. After Darius six kings were murdered as a result of court intrigue. The bloody
struggle for throne encouraged the Alexander the Great to conquest.
Persian religion
Zoroaster was born in660B.C. He had a vision that caused him to believe himself as a
prophet of the “true religion”. His teachings were written down in the Zend Avesta the
sacred book of Zoroastrianism. The religion was monotheistic. According to Zoroaster
Ahuramazda was the only god and the religion was perfect. Ahuramazada possess qualities
all human should aspire and hew was supreme however he was opposed by the evil spirit
called Ahriman. Ahuramazada had given the freedom to choose between good and evil and
eventually on the last judgment day the final separation of good and evil would occur. If a
person performed good deeds he/she will get to paradise if not they would be thrown into
an abyss.
India
India is a country in south Asia whose name comes from the Indus River. The name
‘Baharata’ is used as a designation for an ancient mythological emperor, Baharata, whose
story is told, in part, in the Indian epic Mahabharata.
According to the writings known as the Puranas, Baharata conquered the whole sub-
continent of India and ruled the land in peace and harmony. The land was, therefore, known
as Baharatavarsha. Hominid activity in India stretches back over 250,000 years, and it is,
therefore, one of the oldest inhabited regions on the planet.
Excavations have discovered artifacts used by early humans, including stone tools, which
suggests an extremely date for human inhabitation and technology in the area. While the
civilizations of Mesopotomia and Egypt have long been recognized for their celebrated
contributions to civilization, India has often been overlooked, especially in the west, though
its history and culture is just as rich. The Indus valley civilization (700-600 B.C) was among
the greatest of the ancient world, covering more territory than Egypt or Mesopotamia and
producing an equally vibrant and progressive culture.
Ancient Indians lived by hunting and gathering. The men of India liked gambling,
storytelling and fighting while the woman took care of the home and children.
It is the birthplace of four great world religions as well as philosophical schools. The
inventions and innovations include many aspects of modern life taken for granted today
including the flush toilet, drainage and sewer systems, public pools, mathematics, veterinary
science, plastic surgery, board game, yoga and meditation, as well as many more.
Ancient India
The ancient history of India is marked by the Indus valley civilization and the Aryans which
Guptan Empire
The Empire is believed to have been found by Sri Gupta. Sri was of the Vasihya (merchant)
class, his rise to power was a remarkable feat. He laid the foundation for the government
which would so stabilize India that virtually every aspect of culture reached its height. Under
the reign of the Guptas, philosophy, literature, mathematics, architecture, astronomy,
technology, art, engineering, religion, and astronomy flourished, resulting in some of the
world’s greatest achievements.
Many great leaders emerged during this age like Chandragupta. He based his empire at a
city known as Pataliputra, the site of the old palace of Maurya. His successor and son
Samudragupta, expanded the empire into surrounding areas. Samudragupta was a believed
king. Some were fond of his strength and others of his beauty. It’s said that he could wage
hundreds of battles with just his hands and his beauty was further enhanced by the wounds
and injuries he had endured.
The Guptan Empire became the greatest power in Europe since the decline of the Maurya.
The Guptan Empire was the prominent force in northern India and also had some control
over Central India.
Under Chandragupta II a new age of Indian civilization was created. The greatness of this
civilizations culture was famed all around the world and was even documented by a Chinese
man by the name of Fa Xian, who was a Buddhist monk and had spent many years in India.
He admired the Empires tolerance of Buddhism and strong rule and culture.
The Empire conducted frequent trades with China, Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean.
These strong relations helped in the formation of prosperous cities with great temples. They
also conducted a different form of trade known as religious trades. They travelled as pilgrims
to Chinese religious centers and conducted a series of trades.
With the rise of trade the Empire saw a growth in the private sector. However, the trade
was still managed by the Guptan government. The Guptan’s had control over large silver,
gold and iron mines. They made huge profits and live a luxurious and prestigious life.
The rise and success of the Empire was cut short by invasions by nomads known as the
Huns from the northwest which gradually reduced the power of the Empire. In the mid-
seventh century the Empire had been revived by a military general known as Harsa.
Indian Literature
The earliest known literary development is dated back to the Aryan tradition of the Four
Vedas. The Vedas were passed down orally from generation to generation but after Aryans
over run the subcontinent of India it started being written down. The earliest of the Vedas,
Rigveda dates back to the second millennium B.C and consists of 10 mandalas/chapters and
over ten thousand verses. It is a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It has four major layers
known as Samhita, Brahmana’s, Aranyakas and Upansihads. The Rigveda Samhita is the core
text and is a collection of 10 books with one thousand hymns. In the eight books (two
through 9), the hymns predominantly discuss cosmology, rituals and praise while the other
two, Books 1 and 10 discuss psychology and virtues. The other three Vedas were written
later and talk about religious ceremonies connected to Aryan religious beliefs.
The Vedas were mainly written in Sanskrit, a member of the Indo-European language
family. With the coming of Aryans use of Sanskrit had declined but it was still used in
governmental bureaus.
After the development of a new writing system in the first millennium B.C it was used to
create literary works written on palm leaves that were stitched together. The earliest of
these writings are the two great Indian epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana.
The Mahabharata consisted of over ninety thousand stanzas, series of lines of poetry,
making it the longest poem in any written language. It is assumed that it was written in 100
B.C. The poem describes a war between cousins in Aryan tribal society for control of the
Kingdom. It shows the moral dilemmas between the two. The most section of the book is
the Bhagavadgita, a sermon of Krishna, one of the incarnations of the god Vishnu, on the eve
of a major battle. In this sermon Krishna sets forth a major pillar in the Indian society. He
stated, in taking action one must not worry about success or failure. One should only be
aware of the moral rightness of the act itself.
The Ramayana on the other hand is much shorter. It is written on the accounts of King
Rama. As the story goes, he was banished from the kingdom and forced to live as Hermit in
the forest. He then faces the demon king Ceylon, who had kidnapped his wife Sita. The book
was meant to teach people life and moral lessons.
The Indian Shakespeare, Kalidasa was majorly known for his hundred verse poem, The
Cloud Messenger. It tells of an exiled male spirit who misses his wife and shares his grief
with a passing cloud.
Architectural Development
There were three main types of religious structures: The pillar, the stupa and the rock
chamber. The pillar was the most famous of the three. During AShokas reign, many stone
pillars were erected alongside roads to mark sites related to Buddha’s life, as well as
pilgrims’ routes to holy places. Weighing up to fifty tons each and rising as high as thirty feet,
these polished sandstone pillars were topped with carvings, usually depicting lions uttering
Buddha’s messages. Ten remain standing today.
A stupa was originally mean to house a relic of Buddha and was built in the form of a burial
mound. Eventually the stupa became a place of devotion. It is said that Ashoka ordered the
construction of 84,000 stupas.
The rock chamber was developed by Ashoka to provide a series of rooms to house monks
and to serve as a hole for religious ceremonies. The rooms were carved from rock hills on
the side of mountains. Both the interior and exterior were carved as sculptures.
Buddhism
Arabs in India
The first Arab invasion of India was an expedition by sea to conquer Thana near Mumbai as
early as 636 A.D. It was undertaken during the vigorous expansionist regime of the second
Caliph, Umar-bin-Akhtab, who was on a proselytizing mission to spread Islam to all corners
of the world. He appointed Usman, of the tribe of Sakif, to capture Bahrain and Oman.
Usman sent his brother Hakam to Bahrain and himself proceeded to Oman. Upon reaching
Oman, Usman sent a naval expedition to capture Thana on the western coast of India.The
Arab army was repulsed decisively and returned to Oman and the first ever Arab raid on
India was defeated.
A second naval expedition was sent to conquer Barwas or Barauz (Broach) on the coast of
southern Gujarat by Hakam, the brother of Usman. This attack too was repelled and the
Arabs were driven back successfully.
The third wave of military expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate lasted from 692 to 718 A.D.
The reign of Al-Walid I (705–715 A.D) saw the most dramatic Marwanid Umayyad conquests.
In a period of barely ten years, North Africa, Spain, Transoxiana, and Sindh were subdued
and colonised. Sindh, controlled by King Raja Dahir of the Rai dynasty, was captured by the
Umayyad general Muhammad bin Qasim. Sindh, now a second-level province of the
Caliphate (iqlim) with its capital at Al Mansura, was a suitable base for excursions into India.
But, after bin Qasim's departure most of his captured territories were recaptured by Indian
kings.
During the reign of Yazid II (720 to 724 A.D), the fourth expansion was launched to all the
warring frontiers, including India. The campaign lasted from 720 to 740 A.D. During Yazid's
times, there was no significant check to the Arab expansion. However, the advent of Hisham
ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 691–743 A.D), the 10th Umayyad Caliph, saw a turn in the fortune of the
Umayyads which resulted in eventual defeat on all the fronts and a complete halt of Arab
expansionism. The hiatus from 740 to 750 A.D due to military exhaustion, also saw the
advent of the third of a series of civil wars, which resulted in the collapse of the Umayyad
Caliphate.
After conquering Brahmanabad in Sindh, Bin Qasim co-opted the local Brahman elite,
whom he held in esteem, re-appointing them to posts held under the Brahman dynasty and
offering honors and awards to their religious leaders and scholars. This arrangement with
local Brahman elites resulted in the continued persecution of Jatts, with Bin Qasim
confirming the existing Brahman regulation forbidding them from wearing anything but
coarse clothing and requiring them to always walk barefoot accompanied by dogs. The
eastern Jats supported the Sind ruler, Dahir, against the Arab invaders, whereas the
western Jats aligned with Muhammad bin Qasim against Dahir. Having settled the question
of the freedom of religion and the social status of the Brahmans, Muhammad bin al-Qasim
turned his attention to the Jats and Lohana.
Significant medieval Muslim chronicles such as the Chach Nama, Zainul-Akhbar and Tarikh-
I-Baihaqi have recorded battles between Jats and forces of Muhammad ibn Qasim.
Following his success in Sindh, Muhammad bin Qasim wrote to `the kings of Hind' calling
upon them to surrender and accept the faith of Islam. He dispatched a force against al-
Baylaman (Bhinmal), which is said to have offered submission. The Mid people
of Surast (Maitrakas of Vallabhi) also made peace. Bin Qasim then sent a cavalry of 10,000 to
Kanauj, along with a decree from the Caliph. He himself went with an army to the prevailing
frontier of Kashmir called panj-māhīyāt (in west Punjab). Nothing is known of the Kanauj
expedition. The frontier of Kashmir might be what is referred to as al-Kiraj in later records
(Kira kingdom in Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh), which was apparently subdued.
Bin Qasim was recalled in 715 A.D and died en route. Al-Baladhuri writes that, upon his
departure, the kings of al-Hind had come back to their kingdoms. The period of Caliph Umar
II (717–720) was relatively peaceful. Umar invited the kings of "al-Hind" to convert to Islam
and become his subjects, in return for which they would continue to remain kings. Hullishah
of Sindh and other kings accepted the offer and adopted Arab names
During the caliphates of Yazid II (720–724) and Hisham (724–743), the expansion policy
was resumed. Junayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Murri (or Al Junayd) was appointed the
governor of Sindh in 723 A.D.
After subduing Sindh, Junayd sent campaigns to various parts of India. The justification was
that these parts had previously paid tribute to Bin Qasim but then stopped. The first target
was al-Kiraj (possibly Kangra valley), whose conquest effectively put an end to the kingdom.
A large campaign was carried out in Rajasthan which included Mermad (Maru-Mada,
in Jaisalmer and north Jodhpur), al-Baylaman (Bhillamala or Bhinmal) and Jurz (Gurjara
country—southern Rajasthan and northern Gujarat). Another force was sent
against Uzayn (Ujjain), which made incursions into its country (Avanti) and some parts of it
were destroyed (the city of Baharimad, unidentified). Ujjain itself may not have been
conquered. A separate force was also sent against al-Malibah (Malwa, to the east of Ujjain),
but the outcome is not recorded.
Towards the North, Umayyads attempted to expand into Punjab but were defeated
by Lalitaditya Muktapida of Kashmir. Another force was dispatched south. It
subdued Qassa (Kutch), al-Mandal (perhaps Okha), Dahnaj (unidentified), Surast
(Saurashtra) and Barus or Barwas (Bharuch).
The kingdoms weakened or destroyed included the Bhattis of Jaisalmer, the Gurjaras of
Bhinmal, the Mauryas of Chittor, the Guhilots of Mewar, the Kacchelas of Kutch,
the Maitrakas of Saurashtra and Gurjaras of Nandipuri. Altogether, Al-Junayd might have
conquered all of Gujarat, a large part of Rajasthan, and some parts of Madhya
Pradesh. Blankinship states that this was a full-scale invasion carried out with the intent of
founding a new province of the Caliphate.
In 726 A.D, the Caliphate replaced Al-Junayd by Tamim ibn Zaid al-Utbi (Tamim) as the
governor of Sindh. During the next few years, all of the gains made by Junayd were lost. The
Arab records do not explain why, except to state that the Caliphate troops, drawn from
distant lands such as Syria and Yemen, abandoned their posts in India and refused to go
back. Blankinship admits the possibility that the Indians must have revolted, but thinks it
more likely that the problems were internal to the Arab forces.
Governor Tamim is said to have fled Sindh and died en route. The Caliphate appointed al-
Hakam ibn Awana al-Kalbi (Al-Hakam) in 731 who governed till 740.
Al-Hakam restored order to Sindh and Kutch and built secure fortifications at Al-Mahfuzah
and Al-Mansur. He then proceeded to retake Indian kingdoms previously conquered by Al-
Junayd. The Arab sources are silent on the details of the campaigns. However, several Indian
sources record victories over the Arab forces.
The king of Nandipuri, Jayabhata IV, documented, in an inscription dated to 736 A.D, that
he went to the aid of the king of Vallabhi and inflicted a crushing defeat on a Tājika (Arab)
army. The Arabs then overran the kingdom of Jayabhata himself and proceeded on
to Navsari in southern Gujarat. The Arab intention might have been to make inroads
into South India. However, to the south of the Mahi River lay the
powerful Chalukyan Empire. The Chalukyan viceroy at Navsari, Avanijanashraya Pulakeshin,
decisively defeated the invading Arab forces as documented in a Navsari grant of 739 A.D.
The Tājika (Arab) army defeated was, according to the grant, one that had attacked
"Kacchella, Saindhava, Saurashtra, Cavotaka, Maurya and Gurjara" kings. Pulakeshin
subsequently received the titles "Solid Pillar of Deccan" (Dakshināpatha-sādhāra) and the
"Repeller of the Unrepellable" (Anivartaka-nivartayitr). The Rashtrakuta prince Dantidurga,
who was subsidiary to Chalukyas at this time, also played an important role in the battle.
The kingdoms recorded in the Navsari grant are interpreted as follows: Kacchelas were the
people of Kutch. The Saindhavas are thought to have been emigrants from Sindh, who
presumably moved to Kathiawar after the Arab occupation of Sindh in 712 A.D. Settling
down in the northern tip of Kathiawar, they had a ruler by the name of Pushyadeva.
The Cavotakas (also called Capotaka or Capa) were also associated with Kathiawar, with
their capital at Anahilapataka. Saurashtra is south Kathiawar. The Mauryas and Gurjaras are
open to interpretation. Blankinship takes them to be the Mauryas of Chittor and Gurjaras of
Bhinmal whereas Baij Nath Puri takes them to be a subsidiary line of Mauryas based
in Vallabhi and the Gurjaras of Bharuch under Jayabhata IV. In Puri's interpretation, this
invasion of the Arab forces was limited to the southern parts of modern Gujarat with several
small kingdoms, which was halted by the Chalukyan Empire.
Indications are that Al-Hakam was overstretched. An appeal for reinforcements from the
Caliphate in 737 is recorded, with 600 men being sent, a surprisingly small contingent. Even
this force was absorbed in its passage through Iraq for quelling a local rebellion. The defeat
at the hands of Chalukyas is believed to have been a blow to the Arab forces with large costs
in men and arms.
The weakened Arab forces were driven out by the subsidiaries of the erstwhile kings.
The Guhilot prince Bappa Rawal (734–753) drove out the Arabs who had put an end to the
Maurya dynasty at Chittor. A Jain prabandha mentions a king Nahada, who is said to have
been the first ruler of his family at Jalore, near Bhinmal, and who came into conflict with a
Muslim ruler whom he defeated. Nahada is identified with Nagabhata I (730–760), the
founder of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, which is believed to have started from the Jalore-
Bhinmal area and spread to Avanti at Ujjain. The Gwalior inscription of the king Bhoja I, says
that Nagabhata, the founder of the dynasty, defeated a powerful army of Valacha
Mlecchas (foreigners called "Baluch’s") around 725 A.D. Even though many historians
believe that Nagabhata repulsed Arab forces at Ujjain, there is no authentic information
about where precisely he encountered them.
Baij Nath Puri states that the Arab campaigns to the east of Indus proved ineffective.
However, they had the unintended effect of integrating the Indian kingdoms in Rajasthan
and Gujarat. The Chalukyas extended their empire to the north after fighting off the Arabs
successfully. Nagabhata I secured a firm position and laid the foundation for a new dynasty,
which would rise to become the principal deterrent against Arab expansion. Blankinship also
notes that Hakam's campaigns caused the creation of larger, more powerful kingdoms,
which was inimical to the caliphate's interests. Al-Hakam died in battle in 740 A.D while
fighting the Meds of north Saurashtra.
China
The history of the area now known as China has alternated between periods of
prosperity. Political unity, and peace and periods of war and statehood. The Yellow River
nurtured Chinas civilization. Between areas of multiple kingdoms and warlords, Chinese
dynasties have ruled parts of all of China; in some eras control stretches as far Xinjiang, Tibet
and Inner Mongolia. The regions were occupied by other people of the steppe identified as
Mongolic, Turkic and Khitan. With a continuous history, China is regarded as one of the
oldest civilizations in the world.
According to Chinese historians, Xia dynasty (2070-1600 B.C) is said to be the first dynasty
although no written records imply its existence. But although no written records are known
from the period and Shang writings do not indicated the existence of Xia, Neolithic
civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze
River, and these Yellow River and Yangtze River civilizations arose a millennia before the Xia
and Shang.
The earliest written record of history in China date from as early as 1250 B.C, from the
Shang dynasty during the reign of King Wu Ding. The oracle bone script depicts and recorded
various events of the Shang dynasty. The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is
commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization.
Zhou Dynasty
Successor of the Shang dynasty and the longest reigning dynastic regime in Chinese
history. In 1122 B.C a new state centered around the bend of the Huang river dethroned the
Shang dynasty. The new dynasty, known as Zhou lasted for almost nine hundred years (1122
to 256 B.C). It was sub-divided into the Northern Zhou, Southern Zhou, Eastern Zhou and
Western Zhou.
The Zhou rulers ruled in the western frontiers of the Shang state. As the legend goes, the
last king was wicked, evil and tyrant. He ruled over the people harshly, led an over the top
lavish life and ruined the morale of the nation. He swam in “ponds of wine” and ordered the
writings of lustful which were considered to have ruined morale of the nation. This caused
the Zhou king to rebel and establish a new dynasty.
The Zhou established their capital at present day Xian. Later on they established another
capital at present day Luoyang which was much farther to east so as to make governance of
captured Shang dynasty cities easier. This resulted in the creation of capital in both the west
and east which lasted for nearly 2000 years.
The Zhou dynasty had a similar political system and structure to the Shang dynasty. The
head of the social structure was the king, who made use of the bureaucracy under him. In
the Zhou period, the bureaucratic system had grown in size and complexity when compared
to the Shang. The king was an important figure in the dynasty. He was assumed to be the
link between man and god, heaven and earth, living and dead and people and nature. Rituals
were carried to strengthen that link.
The Zhou’s continued the division of territories and appointed officials ruling them. The
officials were appointed by the king and were subjected to his authority. The Zhou system
was considered as an extended family because every princely official had an allegiance to
the king. The other responsibility of the Zhou king was defense and leading the army.
As according to a written document, Rites of Zhou, the Chines had begun development a
theory of government. According to the writing, the Zhou house possessed power due to the
mandate of Heaven. It was believed that the law of nature was kept in order by the Zhou
king. The mandate was expected the king to rule in the right and proper way and it was also
his duty to please the gods. This system was then embodied by a ritual ceremony at the
temple of Beijing.
The mandate on the other hand also provided the people with the “right to revolution”
towards the kings they deemed evil.
The later Zhou kings were powerful and please the people but in the later stages the kings
began to decline intellectually and morally. The states into which the Zhou had been divided,
grew in power and challenged the Zhou. In 403 B.C civil war broke out and the start of the
“period of warring states”. The powerful states battled against one another and completely
ignored the Zhou court.
The nature of the Chinese war had changed since chariots were not useful in high lands or
in the damp of Yangtze valley. New forms of warfare emerged with new iron weapons that
were much more powerful than bronze weapons. Infantry and Cavalry also made their first
appearance. Members of the cavalry were armed with crossbows which was invented in
seventh century B.C. The development of the crossbow came because King Chi’n deemed
the bow not useful for battle.
The Zhou appear to have spoken a language that wasn’t much different from the Shang.
The Zhou inherited extensively Shang cultural practices, perhaps to legitimize their own rule
and became the successors to Shang culture.
The basic feature of the economy was a continuation of the Shang’s pattern of land
ownership. The peasants worked on these lands but also had lands of their own. The outer
plots of the land is where the peasant family farmed for their own use while the inner plot
was farmed by man families for the use of their lord.
There was also an extensive use of poetry to express emotions like discernment, joy, anger
and many more.
In addition to the upper and the lower class there was also the merchants and artisans
class. They lived in walled towns under the direct control of a lord. With the increase of
trade merchants and artisans shifted from local trade to long distance trade, bringing goods
from distant regions. The goods were usually salt, iron, cloth and luxury items.
There was also another additional class made up of slaves who could be bought and sold.
Most of them were prisoners of war captured during conflicts. They made a very low
percentage of the population.
The major technological innovations of the dynasty were the introduction of iron weapons,
Ox-drawn plows, crossbows and horseback riding (cavalry) as well as large-scale irrigation,
canal construction and water-control projects which increased the crop yield of northern
China.
With the political changes happening in the empire, new revolutions started appearing.
States directing the local economies and impose new taxes for their growing armies. The
later Zhou rulers brought great economic growth.
The farmers that were highly reliant on rainfall started planting millet and other crops that
require little moisture. In the south, on the Yangtze River delta or along the southern coast,
irrigation was in wide use. The construction of canals was important to transport goods from
one region to another.
The change in farming practices improved crop production. By the mid-sixth century B.C
the use of plowshares made it easier to plow lands that hadn’t been used for farming. This
helped in the increase of arable lands.
The advances in farming enabled the population of China rise as high as fifty million during
the late Zhou period. They also played a major role in the increase of trade and
manufacturing. During the later period economic wealth replaced noble birth as a prime
source of power and influence.
One of the most important trading items in China was silk. Silk was not only used to make
cloth but also to wrap the bodies of the dead. Chinese silks have been found as far as Greece
and Rome.
Confucius (孔子)
Confucius was and is a major figure in Chinese history. The people of China usually refer to
him as the First Teacher. His name is the Latin form of Kung Fuci (Master Kung as he was
called by his students). Confucius was born in 551 B.C. He was a Chinese philosopher and
politician of the spring and autumn period who is traditionally considered as the head of
Chinese sages. During his life time China had been divided into many principalities and war
and decay had settled in. He was a devout man that sought to change this course. He
attempted to persuade the political leaders to be pacifists by travelling around the regions.
His sayings and teachings were written by his students in a document called the Anadects.
Most of his teachings revolved around strong family loyalty, Veneration of ancestors and
respect of elders by their children, husbands by their wives, lord by slaves, elder friend by
younger friend, rulers by their subjects and brother by younger brother. His golden rule was
“Do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself”. Until the twelfth century,
almost every pupil in China had studied his sayings. This made Confucianism an important
pillar of Chinese society.
His lifetime was filled with Chinese battle and warfare and he wanted to stop it. To do this,
he developed basic ideas of ethics based on three important aspects of life: a) ceremonies
associated with sacrifice to ancestors and deities of various types, b) social and political
institutions and c) the etiquette of family behaviors. The major theories of his belief were
known as li and yi. Li was doing the proper thing at the proper time; balancing norms and
actions while yi is translated as righteousness; doing what is ethically best to do in a certain
context.
His political thought was based upon his ethical thought. He argued that the best
government is one that ruled through people’s natural morality. He was quite nostalgic upon
earlier days and urged the Chinese, particularly those in power to model themselves on
earlier examples.
He also promoted the use of music with rituals and rites order. Rite serves as the starting
point for each individual and that these sacred social function allow each person’s human
nature to be harmonious with reality.
Taoism (道教)
Taoism is one of the most popular rivals to Confucianism. Taoism refers to teachings based
on the ideas of Lao Tzu or the old master. It is unknown if Lao actually existed. The Tao
teaching is not straightforward although the followers of the doctrine try to be. Taoism does
not concern itself with speculating the truth of the universe. Instead it tries to list proper
form of behavior for humans. The general belief of Taoism is very different from
Confucianism. While the latter beliefs it is the duty of the individual to work hard to improve
life, Taoists belief to follow the will of Heaven is not action, but inaction.
The ideas of Taoism are listed in a work known as Tao Te Ching (道德经, the way of Tao).
The document states the life of Lao Tzu in his older age. Seeking solitude, Lao got on a water
buffalo and rode westward to Tibet. A gatekeeper at the Hanko pass, recognizing him asked
him to turn back and not leave China. Lao refused, which prompted the gatekeeper to ask
him if he would at least make a record of his beliefs before he left civilization. Lao returned
three days later with Tao Te Ching.
Popular Taoism is less a philosophy than a religion. It consisted of a variety of rituals that
were seen as a means for achieving heavenly salvation. Taoist magicians practice many
exercises for mind and body control in hopes of achieving power and a longer life. It was in
this form that Taoism survived for long.
Legalism (法家主义)
Unlike Confucianism and Taoism, Legalism was a belief that humans were evil by nature.
Human beings can only be made to follow the right path through harsh rules and stiff
punishments. Legalism countered Confucianism’s belief that a government made up of
capable men would solve society’s problems. They believed that a system of impersonal
laws is what would solve these problems.
Legalists believed that only a state could bring social order instead of earth’s moral core, as
stated in Confucianism. They believed that because of humans being corrupt rulers could not
be trusted and only a strong ruler could bring order to society. All human actions should be
subordinated to the effort to create a strong and prosperous state that was subject to the
will of the strong ruler. To the legalists, people were not capable of being good. Only fear of
harsh punishment would cause the common people to serve the interests of the ruler. They
believed in a strong authoritarian ruler who governed by punishment. Only this system could
maintain peace and stability.
The Rise and fall of the Chinese Empires: Qin and Han
During the later period of Zhou, many powerful states ignored the Zhou kings and fought
one another in a bloody civil war. Out of the states, Qin defeated their chief rivals. In 221 the
Qin ruler declared the creation of a new dynasty.
Silk Road
In 138 B.C., a man named Zhang Qian was sent on a mission by Emperor Wu to make
contact with tribes to the west. He and his party were captured by the Xiognu tribe, but
Zhang Qian escaped and continued west. He reached Afghanistan, in an area known as
Bactria, which was under Greek control.
In Bactria, Zhang Qian saw bamboo and textiles brought from China and asked how they
had gotten there. He was told that the items came from a kingdom in Afghanistan called
Shendu.
Thirteen years after he had left, Zhang Qian made his way back to the Emperor, told him of
what he had seen and mapped out a route to send an expedition back there. The map and
this route was used more and more, and developed into the international trade route known
as the Silk Road.
The Silk Road served as a bridge between people and cultures. Religious, intellectual,
scientific and artistic ideas, as well as disease, have been spread from one part of the world
to another by merchants who travelled from one region to another carrying goods. The Silk
Road mainly linked Chinese and Roman Empires.
In the time between 200 B.C and 100 A.D, caravan merchants from China and
Mediterranean countries were conducting constant trade. The trade stretched from
Chang’an, China and went across central Asia to Mesopotamia. The Silk Road got its name
from the most valuable exchanged, Silk. The road covered about four thousand miles. Men
and camels carried their goods and stopped in Syria at Antioch, a port city on the
Mediterranean. At Antioch, luxury goods from the west were traded for luxury goods from
the east. The eastern goods were then shipped across the Mediterranean to Greece and
Rome. Only luxury goods were carried on the Silk Road, because travel by camel was difficult
and dangerous and thus expensive.
Chinese merchants made large fortunes by sending luxury goods, such as silk, spices,
porcelain and lacquerware. These goods were exchanged for woolen and linen clothes, glass
and precious stones from the Roman Empire. Silk was especially desired by Romans, who
considered it worth its weight in gold. The Romans knew China as Serica, which means “land
of silk”.
terra-cotta soldiers.
Europe
Greece
Ancient Greece was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization that existed from the 12th-
9thc B.C the end of the times of the ancient world (600 A.D). Ancient Greece was comprised
of culturally and linguistically related city states and other territories. The only time most of
these regions were officially united was for 13 years, under Alexander the Great’s empire
from 336-323 B.C.
A group of Greek speaking Indo-Europeans had moved into Greece from the north at
around 1900 B.C but “Greece” wasn’t an actual entity yet. Greece emerged in the 8 thc B.C
from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. In the Dark Ages,
Literacy had been lost and the Mycenaean scripts had been forgotten, but the Greeks
adopted the Phoenician alphabet and modified it into the Greek alphabet. The fact that the
Greeks had used the Phoenician alphabet for a time is evident in the objects found in Greece
that were inscribed with Phoenician writing dating back to the 9 thc B.C. The earliest evidence
of Greek writing comes from graffiti’s on Greek pottery from the mid-8thc B.C.
Sparta
Sparta was one of the prominent city states located in Laconia. In ancient times its name
was Lacedaemon. Sparta was a settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia, in
southeastern Peloponnese. At around 650 B.C Sparta became the most dominant military
land power in ancient Greece. Just as the other states Sparta was faced with the need for
more land. However, Sparta didn’t send its people abroad instead, starting from 740 B.C,
Sparta conquered the neighboring state of Messina, Italy despite the states large size and
population. After 600 B.C, Sparta transformed itself into a military camp. The lives of the
Spartans became rigid and military based. The Spartans spent their entire life time in military
service. Spartans were trained with combat and military skills since childhood (the age of 7)
until the age of sixty. The Spartans also had a simple meal ration. They usually ate Pork
chops boiled in salt and vinegar. In Sparta, only Spartan males were allowed to vote in
assembly. Spartan women usually stayed at home and had a greater freedom of movement
than those in the other states.
The chain of command was linear. Gods passed unto the Kings, The kings unto Polemarchs,
The polemarchs unto the Spartiates and the Spartites unto the light armed skirmishers.
The soldiers of Sparta were known as the best in all of Greece. Due to their fame in
strength the Spartan soldiers were appointed as the leading force of the unified Greco-
Persian wars and also listed as the number one enemy and rival to Athenian power.
The girls of Sparta also underwent physical training in order to strengthen them for their
role as mothers.
On the other hand Athenian citizens raised their children very differently. The children
were carefully nurtured by their mothers until the age of seven. After reaching seven a boy
of the upper class was turned over to a male servant, known as Peolagogue, who became
the Childs constant companion until his late teens. The peolagogue was responsible for the
child and accompanied him to school and taught him good manners. The education of the
children focused on creating a well-rounded son. The boys had three teachers each. One for
reading, writing and arithmetic. Another for physical education and the last for music.
Formal Athenian education was only for boys, the girls remained at home. Nevertheless,
some mothers taught their children how to read and write.
Athens
Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium B.C, and its
cultural achievements during the 5thc B.C laid the foundation for the western civilization.
Early Athens used to be ruled by a king and by the 7thc B.C it had become an oligarchy. The
aristocrats had control of all the good lands and had a political power which they were able
to use at councils.
At the end of the 7thc was in a bad state due to economic and political problems. Many
farmers became slaves because they were unable to pay their debts and Athens was on the
verge of civil war. This problems were solved in 594 B.C after the ruling aristocrats gave full
power to a man name Solon. Solon was a reform minded aristocrat who made many
changes. He canceled all land debts and freed the slaves. In 560 B.C a new aristocrat came to
power by the name of Pisistratus. He revived the Athenian trade and was very popular
among the merchants because he had taken the land from the nobles and given it to the
merchants and peasants. He gained popular support among the poor. Pisistratus was
succeeded by his son but he didn’t rule because he was rebelled against and his tyranny
ended in 510 B.C. Following him a man named Cleisthenes came to power. He was another
reformer just like those before him. He formed a council of five hundred that supervised
foreign officials, the treasury and proposed the law that would be voted on by the assembly.
This reform he made created the foundation for the Athenian democracy.
The Athenian democracy was developed around the 6thc B.C in Athens and the surrounding
land of Attica. Although Athens was the famous democratic city state, it was not the only
one nor the first. Multiple other cities had adopted similar democratic constitutions before
Athens.
Athens practiced a political system of legislation and executive bills. Participation was open
to adult and free male citizens (30% of the total adult population). The Athenian democracy
elected rulers. The longest lasting ruler elected by a democracy was Pericles. After his death
the democracy was interrupted twice by oligarchical revolutions in 411 and 404 B.C. The
Periclean democratic system was again interrupted by Macedonia in 322 B.C.
The council of 500 represented the full time government of Athens. It consisted of 500
citizens, 10 from each of the ten Athenian tribes, who served for one year. The council could
issue decrees on its own, regarding certain matters, but its main function was to prepare
agendas for meetings of the Assembly.
The Assembly was a place of discussion and liberty of ideas. It gave a regular opportunity
for all male citizens of Athens to speak their minds and exercise their votes regarding the
government of their city. Ecclesia was a place of assembly of the citizens in the city states of
ancient Greece.
Golden Age of Greece (5thc B.C)
It was a period of around 200 years in Greece. It marked much of Greece culture gaining
independence from the Persian Empire, the peak of democratic Athens, the first and second
Peloponnesian war, the Theban hegemony and the expansion of Macedonia under Philip II.
It was the period of Greece’s development in politics, architecture and sculpture, scientific
thought, theatre, literature and philosophy of the western civilization. It also expresses the
period of Greek history which had a powerful influence on the later Roman Empire. This era
of classical antiquity came to an end after Philip II’s unification of most of Greek against the
common enemy, the Persian Empire which was conquered within 13 years during the wars
of Alexander the Great.
Decline of Sparta
The Peloponnesian war had left Sparta as the dominant power in Greece. However, the
war had also taken a toll on Sparta, and in the following years, the city began to decline.
Sparta’s population decreased and its economy was no longer able to support its large
army. In addition, many of Sparta’s allies became resentful of its dominance, and they began
to rebel against Spartan rule. By the mid-fourth century B.C, Sparta’s power had declined
significantly, and it was no longer the dominant force in Greece.
Although the Spartans were often held up as an example of military prowess and strength,
they were not invincible. In fact, the Spartan state was eventually brought down by a
number of factors, including internal strife, economic decline and foreign invasion.
Sparta’s military dominance came to an end with its defeat at the Battle of Leuctra in 371
B.C. The city-state continued to decline in power over the next few centuries, culminating in
its incorporation into the Roman Empire in 146 B.C.
Despite its eventual fall from power, Sparta remains one of the most iconic and influential
societies of antiquity. Its legacy can be seen in many modern militaries, which continue to
promote the values of discipline courage, and patriotism that were first espoused by ancient
Spartans.
Classical Athens
Classical Athens was a major urban center of the other polis of the same time. Athens was
located in Attica, Greece. They also led the Dilean League in the Peloponnesian war against
Sparta and the Peloponnesian league. The Athenian democracy was established in 508 B.C
under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably
stable, and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, until 322 B.C. The
peak of Athenian was achieved in the Age of Pericles.
In the classical period, Athens was a center for the arts, learning and philosophy. It was also
home of Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates,
Plato, Pericles, Aristophanes, Sophocoles and many other prominent philosophers, writers
and politicians of the ancient world. It is widely referred to as the cradle of western
civilization, and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and
political achievements during the 5th and 4thc B.C on the then known Europe.
Athens had also become the chief producer of painted pottery using slave labor.
Many religious festivals were also conduct from time to time.
Religions of Greece
Religious practices in ancient Greece were a collection of beliefs, rituals and mythology, in
the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. It’s unknown if the different Gods
worshipped belong to different religion but according to Herodotus the Hellenes had
common shrines of the gods and sacrifices and the same kinds of customs.
Most ancient Greeks recognized 12 major Olympian gods and goddesses- Zeus was the god
of the sky and thunder, Hera was the goddess of marriage, Poseidon was the god of the
oceans, Demeter goddess of harvest, Athena was the goddess of wisdom and warfare, Ares
was the god the underworld, Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, Artemis was
the goddess of the wilderness, Apollo was the god of music and archery, Hephaestus was the
god of blacksmiths, Hermes was the messenger god and Hestia was the goddess of Hearth.
Athena was worshipped in Athens and had a temple there. Ritual was important activity
because the people wanted the gods to look down on their actions honorably and not send
them into eternal damnation in the underworld which was ruled by the god Hades. In the
Hellenes religion prayer was usually accompanied with gifts to the gods based on the
principle “I give so that you will give”. Rituals also meant sacrifices. Festivals also developed
as a way to honor the gods and goddesses. The festivals were held at specials like Worship of
Zeus at Olympia or to Apollo at Delphi. The first Olympics games were held during the
Olympia festival in 776 B.C. The Greeks were eager to know the will of the gods and so they
made use of oracles, a sacred shrine dedicated to a god or goddess and used to reveal the
future.
Pax Romana
The rulers of this age (the five good emperors: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Anotnimus Pius and
Marcus Aurelius) treated the ruling class with respect, ended arbitrary executions, and
maintained peace in the empire and supported domestic policies. Although an absolute
monarchy, the period was known for tolerance. By adopting capable men as their sons and
successors, the first four good emperors reduced their succession problems.
Under these rulers, the powers of the emperor continued to expand at the expense of the
Senate. Officials of the government were appointed by the emperor. They also made new
reforms and developed programs and policies. Trajan, for example, created a program that
provided state fund to poor parents in raising and education of their children. The emperors
were also praised for their construction programs.
At its height in the 2ndc, the Roman Empire was one of the greatest states the world had
ever seen. It covered about three and a half million square miles and had an estimated
population of fifty million. The imperial administration provided a sense of unity with local
customs still in place. Roman privileges of citizenship were given out. In 212, Emperor
Caracalla gave Roman citizenship to every free person in the empire. Latin was the language
of the western part of Europe, whereas Greek was used in the east (due to Alexander’s
conquests). Roman culture spread throughout the empire and freely mixed with Greek
culture, creating a Greco-Roman civilization.
Roman Literature
Virgil was a sophisticated writer who delighted in pointing out to his fellow Romans the
“follies and vices of his age.” In the satires, Horace directed his attacks at job dissatisfaction.
Horace mostly laughed at the weaknesses of humans. In his final work, the Epistles, he used
a Greek form to provide a portrait of the things he held most dear: a simple life, good friends
and his beloved countryside.
The most beloved work of Latin literature was written by historian Livy, whose mastery was
the history of Rome. In a collection of 142 books, he wrote down the history of Rome from
its formation to the 9thc B.C. However, only 35 of those books have survived.
Livy celebrated Rome’s greatness and wrote in great detail. But not only did he write about
the figures of the age but also the virtues that uphold Rome.
Roman law
The Twelve Tables (aka Law of the Twelve Tables) was a set of laws inscribed on
12 bronze tablets created in ancient Rome in 451 and 450 B.C. They were the beginning of a
new approach to laws which were now passed by government and written down so that all
citizens might be treated equally before them.
Although not perhaps a fully codified system, the Twelve Tables was a first step which would
allow the protection of the rights of all citizens and permit wrongs to be redressed through
precisely-worded written laws known to everybody. Consequently, the Roman approach to
law would later become the model followed by many subsequent civilizations right up to the
present day.
According to tradition, in 451 B.C a committee, the decemviri, were, following public
pressure, given the task of composing a law code which would better represent the interests
of the ordinary people (plebeians) and reduce the undue influence on Roman law of the
aristocrats (patricians) and priests (pontifices). These latter had exclusively sat on a council
which interpreted the law as they saw fit. In preparation for this responsibility, a delegation
of three men was sent to Athens where they studied the laws of the celebrated
lawgiver Solon (640 – 560 B.C). Then ten men, all patricians, were given consular power
(imperium) and permitted to draw up a list of laws which they considered most needed and
useful. That is the traditional view of events, although, perhaps more realistically, the
composition of the Tables was an attempt by the elite to better govern themselves and
prevent abuses within their own social group. In any case, the result was a list of written
laws (legibus scribundis) presented on ten tables and two more were added the following
year to bring the total to twelve. As a consequence, laws became statute, that is they were
made only after first being decided on by a legislative body and were no longer based on
mere custom and tradition.
The exact reason why the Tables were drawn up may have been lost in the mists of time but
once written their content was consistently referenced in later Roman written works.
Unfortunately, the tablets themselves have not survived, destroyed, according to tradition,
when Rome was sacked by the Gauls in 390 B.C. From some remaining fragments and those
references in literature, it is possible to identify at least some specifics.
The list of laws seems to have covered most areas of private law and concentrated on
relations between individuals (as opposed to individuals vs. the state or the rights of non-
citizens) and thus is more a list of civil actions and penalties than a full, all-encompassing law
code. It also largely dealt with areas relevant to an agricultural state. For example, the crime
of arson was punishable by the death penalty (poena capitis), in this case by burning. The
crime of using magic on crops was also punishable by death, this time by a form
of crucifixion. Lesser penalties for property damage were banishment from Rome, loss of
citizenship, and, for being an accessory to a crime, confiscation of property. Settlements
could also be made by paying compensation to the plaintiff and thus avoiding court.
Roman law, the law of ancient Rome from the time of the founding of the city in
753 BCE until the fall of the Western Empire in the 5th century CE. It remained in use in the
Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire until 1453. As a legal system, Roman law has affected the
development of law in most of Western civilization as well as in parts of the East. It forms
the basis for the law codes of most countries of continental Europe (see civil law) and
derivative systems elsewhere.
The term Roman law today often refers to more than the laws of Roman society. The legal
institutions evolved by the Romans had influence on the laws of other peoples in times long
after the disappearance of the Roman Empire and in countries that were never subject to
Roman rule. To take the most striking example, in a large part of Germany, until the
adoption of a common code for the whole empire in 1900, the Roman law was in force as
“subsidiary law”; that is, it was applied unless excluded by contrary local provisions. This law,
however, which was in force in parts of Europe long after the fall of the Roman Empire, was
not the Roman law in its original form. Although its basis was indeed the Corpus Juris Civilis
—the codifying legislation of the emperor Justinian I—this legislation had been interpreted,
developed, and adapted to later conditions by generations of jurists from the 11th century
onward and had received additions from non-Roman sources.
Roman law, like other ancient systems, originally adopted the principle of personality—that
is, that the law of the state applied only to its citizens. Foreigners had no rights and, unless
protected by some treaty between their state and Rome, they could be seized like ownerless
pieces of property by any Roman. But from early times there were treaties with foreign
states guaranteeing mutual protection. Even in cases in which there was no treaty, the
increasing commercial interests of Rome forced it to protect, by some form of justice, the
foreigners who came within its borders. A magistrate could not simply apply Roman law
because that was the privilege of citizens; even had there not been this difficulty, foreigners
would probably have objected to the cumbersome formalism that characterized the early jus
civile.
The law that the magistrates applied probably consisted of three elements: (1) an
existing mercantile law that was used by the Mediterranean traders; (2) those institutions of
the Roman law that, after being purged of their formalistic elements, could be applied
universally to any litigant, Roman or foreigner; and (3) in the last resort, a magistrate’s own
sense of what was fair and just. This system of jus gentium was also adopted when Rome
began to acquire provinces so that provincial governors could administer justice to
the peregrini (foreigners). This word came to mean not so much persons living under
another government (of which, with the expansion of Roman power, there came to be fewer
and fewer) as Roman subjects who were not citizens. In general, disputes between members
of the same subject state were settled by that state’s own courts according to its own law,
whereas disputes between provincials of different states or between provincials and Romans
were resolved by the governor’s court applying jus gentium. By the 3rd century CE, when
citizenship was extended throughout the empire, the practical differences between jus
civile and jus gentium ceased to exist. Even before this, when a Roman lawyer said that
a contract of sale was juris gentium, he meant that it was formed in the same way and had
the same legal results whether the parties to it were citizens or not. This became the
practical meaning of jus gentium. Because of the universality of its application, however, the
idea was also linked with the theoretical notion that it was the law common to all peoples
and was dictated by nature—an idea that the Romans took from Greek philosophy.
The Romans divided their law into jus scriptum (written law) and jus non
scriptum (unwritten law). By “unwritten law” they meant custom; by “written law” they
meant not only the laws derived from legislation but, literally, laws based on any written
source.
Jews in Rome
A Jewish diaspora had migrated to Rome and to the territories of Roman Europe from
the land of Israel, Anatolia, Babylon and Alexandria in response to economic hardship and
incessant warfare over the land of Israel between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires from
the 4th to the 1st centuries BCE. In Rome, Jewish communities thrived economically.
Jews became a significant part of the Roman Empire's population in the first century A.D.
A Jewish diaspora existed for several centuries before the fall of the Second Temple, and
their dwelling in other countries for the most part was not a result of compulsory
dislocation. Before the middle of the first century A.D, in addition to Judea, Syria and
Babylonia, large Jewish communities existed in the Roman provinces of Egypt, Crete and
Cyrenaica, and in Rome itself; after the Siege of Jerusalem in 63 B.C, when the Hasmonean
kingdom became a protectorate of Rome, emigration intensified. Many Jews became
citizens of other parts of the Roman Empire. Josephus, the book of Acts in the New
Testament, as well as other Pauline texts, make frequent reference to the large populations
of Hellenized Jews in the cities of the Roman world.
Roman general Pompey conquered Jerusalem and its surroundings by 63 B.C. The
Romans deposed the ruling Hasmonean dynasty of Judaea (in power from 140 B.C) and
the Roman Senate declared Herod the Great "King of the Jews" in 40 B.C. Judea
proper, Samaria and Idumea became the Roman province of Judaea in 6 A.D. In 6 A.D. was
placed under the direction of a Roman official called procurator. Unrest in Judea soon arose
with division among the Jews themselves. One group was the Sadducees, which favored the
cooperation with Romans. The Essenes as revealed in the Dead Sea Scrolls, were a Jewish
sect that lived in a religious community near the dead sea, They, like most other Jews,
awaited a Messiah who would save Israel from oppression, usher in the Kingdom of God,
and establish a true paradise on earth. A third group, the Zealots, were extremists who
advocated the violent overthrow of the Roman rule. Jewish–Roman tensions resulted in
several Jewish–Roman wars between the years 66 and 135 A.D, which resulted in
the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple and the institution of the Jewish Tax in
70 (those who paid the tax were exempt from the obligation of making sacrifices to
the Roman imperial cult).