this is a pointless thread

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Christianity Formalized
Gov't picks which stories are correct. Used Christianity to justify power.
Suddenly Christians fought other Christians over what was correct
Council of Nicea = Nicene Creed
Suddenly Christianity was the only religion, ended Olympics, oracles, pagan images

Barbarians attack everywhere, West slowly and gradually weakened.
Vandals sack Rome, Romans blamed Christians for it
St. Augustine wrote the City of God, shift from Greek Culture to a religious culture

Attila the Hun - 452 CE
He comes and kills many, many people. Tries to destroy Rome.
The Pope goes to meet Attila the Hun, saves Rome. Now had faith in the Pope instead of the Emperor of Rome.

Fall of the West - 476 CE
Slowly disappeared, last Emperor dies. Nobody noticed. East still up (Byzantine)

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Byzantine Empire - "Greek Empire"
Emperor Justinian - 500 CE - tries to reclaim the West - brilliant young man, first goes around empire helping his emperor Uncle get rid of corruption. Strong centralized state. He makes the Byzantine empire wealthy and stable, but people don't like how he forced them to pay full taxes instead of cheating out of them. His wife, Theodora, born to a poor family, she leaves home and becomes an "actress" (prostitute). Justinian sees her "show" and falls in love with her, gets uncle to change the law so they can marry. Nobody liked Theodora.

Procopius wrote negative things about Justinian and Theodora after they died. He was their historian.

Nika Revolt - Chariot racing a new popular sport. Randomly the people riot and Justinian and Theodora have to flee. Theodora said she'd rather die than give up the crown, had to convince men to stay and fight. The men get their courage back. The soldiers disguised as commoners and entered riot that was happening in the Hippodrome. Slaughtered them all. Justinian and Theodora then remake Constantinople and plan to reunite Rome. Builds Hagia Sophia.

Justinian's Code of Law - codified/verified Roman Law. Women gain rights in law.

He almost reclaimed everything. Took back North Africa and Rome. Didn't get Gaul or Spain. Theodora didn't trust the general helping them, Belasarius, and that halted their efforts. Rome was eventually decimated again, leaving Byzantine in debt and weakened.

In 535 CE Oceanic Volcano went off (Krakatoa). The world was dark, crops wouldn't grow, health weakened, disease and plague. Everything Justinian gained was lost, effort and money wasted.

The West - lost to the dark ages
Classical knowledge lost for 100s of years.

East entered a period of religious dogma (superstition, if you don't agree you die)
Hypatia - 415 CE - Her father was a philosopher, she became the number 1 philosopher in Alexandria. Christians in Alexandria got mad at Jews and Pagans. In a market, she scolded them and she was taken and dragged through the streets. They peeled off her skin. Nice people.

The Great Schism - 1054 CE
Fight in Christian Church between Pope in Rome and Pope in Constantinople. They argued over who ruled the church. They excommunicated each other and their followers. Created Catholic and Orthodox churches.

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India
Maurayan - 324 BCE - 184 BCE - Largest Indian Empire
Gupta India - 320 CE - 550~ CE - Last in India for a long time

Background: Very Diverse
Vedic Age - 1500 BCE - Aryan Invasion of Indus Civilization - Caste System
Ethnic/Linguistic Diversity
Vedism - suffering is your fault (karma)

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Religious Crisis
Upanishads - if you study religious writings you can get good karma w/ out Brahmins
All Vedism merged into new religion:
Hinduism - polytheistic
Brahma - the world soul, creator of everything. Masculine
Shiva - the "destroyer" Dancing god of creation and destruction. Dualist Life/Death. Not evil.
Vishnu - the friend of humanity. Savior of the people "Preserver"
Mahabharata - a longest poem in the world. About warring dynasties. Prince Arjuna instructed by demigod Khrisna on ethics.
Bhagavad Gita - Added Hinduism story "Song of the Lord" Krishna explains why it's okay to kill
Law of Manu - moral obligation of why you should stay in cast Justifies Power

Suttee/Sati - Wives, can't use husband's name, can't walk alongside him. Can't look him in the eye. Widows - bad luck. Sati - burning yourself alive at husband's funeral fire.

Buddhism - attack on caste system
Siddharta Gautama - 563-483 BCE - kept in a palace away from suffering, sneaks out and sees it. Spends his life obsessed with suffering. Eventually, leaves and denies himself everything. Meditates under a tree.

Enlightenment - gets enlightened by going to Nirvana. Removes yourself from the karma system. The Buddha goes out to teach, calls his teachings "Sutras"
Four Noble Truths
1. Human suffering is inseparable from suffering
2. The cause of suffering is desire
3. To get rid of suffering you must get rid of desire
4. To get rid of desire you must follow the 8 fold path

Buddhism is very diverse
Theravada - simple and meditative - popular in the south/south-east end of China
Mahayana - rituals and more complicated, popular in Japan and Korea

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Jainism - Vadharmana wants to learn of suffering, wanders around with only a cloak, naked. Jainism is all about self-denial. No food, clothes. No harm to any creature, bugs and such. Eventual split into two groups, sky wearers and white wearers.

Mauryan Empire - 324-184 BCE
Chandragupta Maurya - Uses Alexander the Great's chaos to take over India. Strong Bureaucracy for a huge empire.
Puts a 2.5% tax on agriculture
Pataliputra - capital, like Persepolis
Spies - job was to get information
Army - a powerful mobile army, elephants, chariots
Roads and Trade on Silk Trade Route. Salt, Iron, Cotton. Used the Arabian Sea Trade Route.

Ashoka - 269-232 BCE - Maurya's Grandson. Hard-core conquering warrior--became a Buddhist. Formalized Buddhism.

Stupas - Buddhist temple, you walk in circles, everyone eats together, ignores the caste system
Buddha's tree - took parts from Buddha's tree, spread his tree everywhere
Pillars of Ashoka - Placed all around India - Buddhist teachings and Ashoka's views of morality
Missionary work sent to Nepal, Tibet, China, many are there
Ashoka's legacy after death was one of justice and wisdom

Collapse - 189 BCE
A pastoral people invaded from the north. They won because the empire was too big and hard to control.

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Gupta Empire - 320-550ish CE
No political unity for another 500 years
Chandra Gupta - tries to recreate Mauryan, changes name, moves capital
Strong Bureaucracy, 25% tax

Major Difference
Decentralized - the Vassal States, local lords recognized Prince's rulership
More traditional Hindu Architecture
Tolerant to all religions
Reestablished trade with the Arabian Sea - East Mediterranean, Malaysia, and Indonesia
Invented Pi, Arabic Numerals (modern numbers)
Invented the concept of 0, the decimal system
Caste expanded under Hinduism--new group, pariah "Harijans" outcastes
Women can no longer own property, Suttee/Sati increases

Collapse - 500s
White Huns invade, and due to centralization, they couldn't fight back. No more unified empire for 1000 years.

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China - under the weakening Zhou
Confucianism
Confucius - 551-479 BCE - Bureaucrat, says "Everything has its place, people need to accept where they are."
Writes Analects - views China as a family, stay in your place. A book he wrote.
Show filial piety (family respect) to your small and large family.

Syncretism - when one culture blends with another
Confucianism and Zhou
-Celestial Bureaucracy
-Ancestor Veneration + Filial Piety
-Mandate of Heaven

Women
Not good. Could have partial education, but no property and dowry.

Golden Rule - never do to others what you would not like them to do to you

Lao-tze (Laozi) 600BCE - Made Daoism, might be fake
Daoism - must follow "The Way", embrace nature, be who you are, know what you want
Feng Shui - Arrangement of furniture in precise ways to be harmonious

Yin-Yang - Masculine/Feminine sides / you have parts of each
I-Ching - formalized fortune telling

Art of War - 500 BCE - Sun Tzu - a series of Confucious-like statements for armies. How to win battles.