this is a pointless thread

[Griff]

UNIT 2 MUTHAFUCKA!!

i am not ready oh god

[Holeypaladin]

You'll get to meet this guy soon in China!

#historynerd

[Griff]

Unit 2 - Technological and Environmental Transformations - 600BCE - 600 CE
Afro-Eurasian World - 550 BCE
Cyrus the Great - Founded the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia
Ends Babylonian captivity of Jews

Holding an Empire together
Proskynesis - Projecting royal power, monuments
Built roads, satrap-governor, religion (Zoroastrianism)

The Persian Royal Road
1700 miles from Sardis to Susa. Stations w/ fresh horses every 15 miles
Took 7 days to travel. For transporting troops and info

Zoroastrianism - Monotheistic. Around 1000 BCE. Believes in a literal embodiment of good - Ahura Mazda. An embodiment of evil - Ahriman. They fight, good will win.
Zoroastrianism gave Persia a sense of identity

Susa - administrative capital Persepolis - Ceremonial capital (party capital)
Qanat - Rainwater is moved into farms, fields and cities

The "Classical" Age of Greece (500-300BCE)
Lived in independent city-states. Had Olympics together. Delphi had women priestesses/soothsayers. Most city-states ruled by Oligarchy. Some Monarchies.

Sparta
"Barracks with a country". Material possessions - bad. Had a law that said that laws couldn't be written down. Can only own things made by you. Spartans beat their neighbor the Helots. They enslave the Helots. Slave to master ratio is 15:1. Helots hated the Spartans. Spartans had to stay at home because of it.

[Griff]

You'll get to meet this guy soon in China!

#historynerd

that's Shihaungdi
First and effectively only emperor of the Qin Dynasty (he was an ass)

please refrain from posting here.

[Griff]

Sparta was a monarchy with 2 kings so they didn't have to make decisions. Army ran things.

Spartan Women
Women could divorce. Women could sleep with any men they wanted, even married ones. The women's job was to mock men to make them grow stronger.

Athens
Athens is strong in mind. Parthenon - where the goddess of wisdom reigned. Birth of science and philosophy. Athens was a democracy for ruling, not representation.
Philosophy - a mechanical view of the cosmos is view
Socrates - A philosopher who tore apart god arguments, killed by Athens
Plato's cave - student of Socrates. Captive seeing shadows as real. Senses lie to you. Math is real.

Persian Wars - 499-449BCE - The King of Kings vs the City States. Ionia.
Battle of Marathon - Formed a greek identity of freedom. Darius II sends Persians. All city-states merge (but Sparta) to fight. Greeks hide behind mountains, bottleneck Persians, slaughter them.
Xerxes - 480 BCE - largest amphibious assault until D-Day.
Battle of Thermopylae.
Leonidas stays with 300 men to hold off Persians until greeks get reinforcements. Spartan troops not nervous, Persians head into the passage. Spartans mowed down Persians until they were betrayed, surrounded, and killed

Persians come through, tried to get Athens to surrender. All Athenians leave the city and dare them to burn it. It was burnt. Athens gone

Delian League - Beat Persia! Greek city states worked together
Delian League - ally group that beat Persia. Sparta left, but Athens wanted to keep alliance going. Athens taxed city states to maintain Navy. Delian league merged what's called "Athenian Empire". If a city-state leaves Athens destroys them.

The city states turn on each other. Athens vs Sparta.

[Griff]

Peloponnesian Wars - 431-404 BCE
Sparta worried over Athens power. Athens+Delian league vs Spara+Allies.
Pericles - elected leader of Athens. Makes everyone in the city go inside. Used ships to attack Sparta when they're distracted. Neither side could win.
Environment - eventually Athens starts to have diseases and sickness because of all of the people, Athenians lose, Sparta knocks down walls. Everything just goes back to normal.

End of the Classical Age - the dawn of Hellenization
The Macedonians are next to the Greeks and King Phillip 2 sends Alexander the Great to Aristotle to learn. Greek culture goes to Alexander the Great. He grows up Greek. King Phillip 2 goes into Greece and takes them all over. Phillip 2 assassinated. Alexander the Great takes over

HE CAN TAKE OVER GREECE BECAUSE OF RESOURCE DEPLETION
Alexander the Great now King of Macedonia and Greece. He rallies city states, using Greek culture, calls himself Achilles. He gathers army and attack Persia. They take Troy back. They take all greek city states on coast back from Persia, because of Granicus.

Granicus River - Darius III fights at the battle. Alexander almost died Cleitus the Black saves him. Greeks beat larger Persian army.

Alexander turned south and conquered Egypt and the Nile. Goes to see prophetess in the desert. Learned that he is "son of Zeus and Amun" believed he was a god and immortal. Made Alexandria in Egypt. Made 20 Alexandrias. Took over a lot of Persia. Alex now king of Macedonia and Greece, Pharoah, and King of Kings (Persia). He visited the tomb of Cyrus the Great. Starts to wear Persian clothes. Employed eunuchs (castrated men) in gov't. Stayed in Persepolis for 5 months. He embraced multiculturalism. For example, in Persia he makes his advisors marry Persians. His troops thought he was becoming feminine (not like them).

Cleitus the Black got drunk and told Alexander he was feminine. Alexander killed him on the spot.
Greek soldiers torched all of Persepolis.

Alcohol+Bad descisions+Revenge

[Griff]

Alexander the Great then went to conquer the Indians. They fought back but he still won. Troops wouldn't continue, they went home. Alexander got sick/was poisoned and died at 32.

Hellenization - he took greek culture and spread it everywhere
The library of Alexandria - a library to hold every book
Spread science, philosophy, greek becomes language of culture and science
Greco-Buddhist Art - the first image of the Buddha was greek

Division of Alexander's Empire - 303BCE
His generals divide the empire into many unimportant sections

What of Persia? - Parthian Dynasty (247BCE-224CE)- restored Zoroastrian control, very decentralized, tolerant, combines greek and Persian culture. Silk trade route

Rome
753 BCE - Roman Myth - city created. Twins Romulus and Remus raised by a she-wolf. Romulus+Remus had wolf's blood. (Rome liked warfare traits). They create a city, Romulus kills Remus.
Rape of Lucretia - ROLE OF WOMEN
Original Rome ruled by Etruscans. King Tarquin ruled, bragged about housekeeping wife, went to go see them and saw them not housekeeping. All men went to see their wives together to see who was housekeeping. Eventually got to Brutus's wife, Lucretia, who was the only one housekeeping. Tarquin jealous, he wanted her. Sneaks out and rapes Lucretia. Brutus sees Lucretia and gathers men. She told men to avenge her death, kills herself, role of women was to make men manly, they overthrew the Etruscans.

Roman Republic
No King. Representation between rich (senators/patricians) and the common (plebians). Very strict bueracracy. Counsels (2 men) managed army and gov't. Could veto each other. Had judges and people that managed finance. Senate represents rich, poor could elect 10 tribunes to represent them.

I gotta stop forgetting about the Roman Republic

[Griff]

Punic Wars (264-241BCE)
Rome conquered all of Italy, had competition for Carthaginian empire's trade route. Rome takes Cicily.
Hannibal (Carthage ruler) attacks Rome next. Tries to walk on land to Rome. Many of his elephants die, only one lives. Hannibal took a lot of land but he couldn't break down Rome's walls. Romans never gave up. Eventually, they drove back the army and killed Hannibal. The Romans went and destroyed Carthage, spreading salt so no crops could be grown.

Conquers Greece
Took over Greece. Became Hellenized. Greco-Roman Culture. Hellenized many places. Adopted Eromenos.
Aneis - ROLE OF WOMEN
the story was written by Virgil about Aneis, new founding myth. Aneis founding Rome. Aneis saves his father from Troy, they go to Carthage to meet Queen Dido. They fall in love. Dido is a temptress. Aneis leaves Dido. She kills herself. Men are supposed to be good sons, women temptresses.

Peasant Rebellion
Plebians mad at Patricians. Gracchi Brothers, Tiberius elected Tribune. Tiberius proposes land reform. The senators kill Tiberius. Younger brother, Gaius, 10 years later proposes land reform and that all Italians can vote. Kills himself so he doesn't get clubbed to death by senators??? Awakened Social Changes.

The Republic in Crisis 20BCE-ish
Generals fight each other to conquer territory and gain support. Took Gaul and Britain. Civil War. Egypt learns of its struggles.
Cleopatra - last of the Pharaohs
Cleopatra seduces Caesar with beauty and brains. They had an alliance of marriage. Caesar had a child w/ Cleopatra. Romans hate it. Caesar appeals to plebians, becomes dictator. Then stabbed by senators, Brutus is a famous one. They announce it, but plebs unhappy. Civil War erupts. Marc Antony joins w/ Cleopatra to have dictatorship. Augustus Caesar (adopted son) fights Marc Antony for dictatorship, he wins. Antony dies, Cleo kills herself, Caesarium (son) disappeared.

[Griff]

6 CE
Augustus appeals to the republic, saying that he'd save it by being emperor. Republic now has no power.
Pax Romana - 200 year peace of Rome
Augustus wants Germany, "In 89 Varus crossed the River Rhine" Never came back, slaughtered.
No more expansion.
Pax Romana - 4BCE-181CE
Wise emperors. Strong bureaucracy. Emperor not hereditary, but by merit. Chosen.
Divided into many providences. Procounsels - regional governors.
Built many roads "All roads lead to rome" Infrastructure.
Built fortifications - "Hadrian's Wall" Between scotland and england.
City walls - tall defenses.
Bread and Circuses - Egypt is vital, free/cheap bread for the poor. Gov't entertainment - plays, poetry, gladitorial combat, all free.

Greek influence on roman archetexture.

Judaism - Evolution of people and religion
Rabbi's teach Judaism - wrote the Talmund, rules of religion.
Romans tolerant, but wanted the jewish to worship their gods too.
Jews wouldn't worship other Roman gods, for decades they rebelled.
Believed in a Messiah who would liberate them.

70 CE
Jerusalem sacked by roman soldiers after riot
Another Jewish Diaspora, spreads Jewish culture all over rome

Slavery - Rebellion by Spartacus, army barely won. Crucified all rebels.
Society - paterfamilias - father based society / Women gained some rights in Empire
Plebs are still pleby. Angry at being poor.

Aqueducts, Domes, Pantheons, Arches, Columns

[Griff]

End of the Pax Romana 170-180CE
Marcus Aurelius last great emperor. He was always in the frontier. Climate changed causing pastoralists to go south and attack Rome. Marcus Aurelius is a philosopher, perfected stoicism. "When times are good don't feel good, when times are bad don't feel bad" A wise warrior, but forgot to appoint a successor. The first emperor to appoint his son, Commodus. Commodus is an idiot. Fought as a gladiator. Was killed. Good.

Crisis of the Third Century - Barracks Emperors - 235-284 CE
14 Emperors in 33 years, they all assassinated each other
Political Instability - Corruption in the bureaucracy. Everybody feared everybody. Assassinated good people.
Also - Climate Change, attacks from Persian empire, invasions, smallpox from middle east

Jesus of Nazareth - taught Jewish practices, but differently, with kindness and charity.
The Christ - instead of freedom from Romans, freedom in eternal life
Publicly crucified by Romans to maintain control of Jewish province
Roman Empire - makes it a crime to be Christian. Christianity appealing to plebs because it's a form of rebellion.
Paul spreads Christianity through Rome, mostly to plebs

Imperial Overreach - empire too big, Diocletian splits empire in two. Emperor of the East (rich) and West (poor)

Splitting Empire in half causes Empire to collapse - 313 CE
Constantine goes to take over Rome, fighting the last general, sees Jesus. Won fight.
Insole control of Rome promotes Christianity and makes it legal with Edict of Milan.

330 CE - Constantinople new capital in East, Rome in West. Constantine split it in two again. Constantinople protected by geography and walls to keep barbarians out.