| |
Classical Civilization in the...
Chapter Summary
|
I. Greek and Roman History (82-87)
The classical civilizations that sprang up on the Mediterranean Sea from 800 B.C.E. until the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E. rivaled their counterparts in India and China in richness and impact. Centered first in the peninsula of Greece, then in Rome’s burgeoning provinces, the new Mediterranean culture did not embrace all of the civilized lands in the ancient Middle East. Nevertheless, Greece and Rome do not merely constitute a westward push of civilization from its earlier bases in the Middle East and along the Nile; though this is a part of their story, they also represent the formation of new institutions and values that would reverberate in the later history of the Middle East and Europe alike. For most Americans, and not only those who are descendants of European immigrants, classical Mediterranean culture constitutes "our own" classical past, or at least a good part of it.
A. Greece
The rapid rise of civilization in Greece between 800 and 600 B.C.E. was based on the creation of strong city-states rather than a single political unit. Each city-state had its own government, typically either a tyranny of one ruler or an aristocratic council. Sparta and Athens came to be the two leading city-states. Between 500 and 449 B.C.E., the two states cooperated, along with smaller states, to defeat a huge Persian invasion. It was during and immediately after this period that Greek and particularly Athenian culture reached its highest point. However, political decline soon set in as Sparta and Athens vied for control of Greece during the bitter Pelponesian Wars (431-404 B.C.E.), which left both states exhausted.
1. Pericles
It was during the fifth century B.C.E. that the most famous Greek political figure, Pericles, dominated Athenian politics. Pericles was an aristocrat, but he fit into a democratic political structure in which each citizen could participate in city-state assemblies to select officials and pass laws. Ultimately, Pericles’ guidance could not prevent the tragic war between Athens and Sparta, which would exhaust both sides.
2. Hellenistic
Greek art and culture merged with other Middle Eastern forms during a period called Hellenistic, the name derived because of the influence of the Hellenes, as the Greeks were known. In sum, the Hellenistic period saw the consolidation of Greek civilization even after the political decline of the peninsula itself.
B. Rome
The rise of Rome formed the final phase of classical Mediterranean civilization, for by the first century B.C.E., Rome had subjugated Greece and Hellenistic kingdoms alike. The Romans thus early acquired a strong military bent, though initially they may have been driven to protect their own territory from possible rivals. The Roman republic spread more widely during the three Punic Wars, from 264 to 146 B.C.E. A series of emperors continued to expand the reign of the Roman republic, bringing peace and prosperity to virtually the entire Mediterranean world, from Spain and North Africa in the West to the eastern shores of the great sea. The emperors also moved northward, conquering France and southern Britain and pushing into Germany. Then the empire suffered a slow but decisive fall, which consumed over 250 years, until invading peoples from the north finally overturned the government in Rome in 476 C.E.
1. Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.E.) was one the leading figures in transforming the Roman republic into an imperial form of government ruled by one dictator.
II. Greek and Roman Political Institutions (87-92)
Politics were very important in classical Mediterranean civilization, from the Greek city-states through the early part of the Roman Empire. The localized character of Mediterranean politics, whereby the typical city-state governed a surrounding territory of several hundred miles, contributed to this intense political concern. Those who were citizens could and did feel that the state was theirs, which they had rights and obligations without which their government could not survive. In addition to political intensity and localism as characteristics of Mediterranean civilization, a great diversity of political forms arose, including tyranny and democracy.
A. Greek Political Culture
Democracy was a political alternative adopted by various Greek city-states. The Athenian city-state went furthest in this direction after early experiences with aristocratic rule and with several tyrants. Yet neither tyranny nor democracy was the most characteristic political form in the classical Mediterranean world. The most widely preferred political framework centered on the existence of aristocratic assemblies.
B. Roman Political Culture
The constitution of the Roman republic, until the final decades of dissension in the first century B.C.E., which led to the establishment of the empire, tried to reconcile the various elements that had been tossed up in the Greek political experience, though with primary reliance on the aristocratic principle. However, the Roman Empire was distinguished from the earlier city-states by developing organizational capacities on a far larger scale than the city-states had done; though it critical to remember that considerable local autonomy prevailed in many regions.
C. Senate
In the Roman Senate, as in aristocratic assemblies of the Greek city-states, the ideal of disinterested public service, featuring eloquent public speaking and arguments that sought to identify the general good, came closest to realization.
D. Twelve Tables (450 B.C.E.)
The Twelve Tables were the first law codes of the Roman republic. The idea of Roman law was that objectively judged rules, rather than personal whim, should govern personal relationships.
III. Religion and Culture (92-98)
A. Religion
The Greeks and Romans did not create a significant world-class religion. The characteristic Greco-Roman religion was a much more primitive affair, derived from the belief in the spirits of nature elevated into a complex set of gods and goddesses who were seen as regulating human life.
B. Ethics
There were also other ethical systems developed apart from religion, particularly during the Hellenistic period. The Stoics created an ethical system that emphasized an inner moral independence, to be cultivated by strict discipline of the body and by personal bravery.
C. Philosophy
The idea of a philosophy separate from the official religion, though not necessarily hostile to it, informed the classical Mediterranean work in political theory, which had scant reference to religious principles. This philosophical system tended to downplay the importance of human spirituality in favor of a celebration of the human power to think.
1. Socrates (born in 469 B.C.E.)
Socrates encouraged his pupils to question received wisdom on the ground that the chief human duty was the "improvement of the soul." Socrates’ greatest pupil was Plato. The Socratic principle of thinking things through by means of skeptical questioning became a recurrent strand in classical Greek thinking and its heritage to later societies.
D. Science
Greek interest in rationality carried over into inquiry into the underlying order of physical nature. The Greeks were not great empirical scientists. The interest lay in theoretical speculation about nature’s order. Greek and Hellenistic work in geometry was particularly impressive, featuring among other achievements the basic theorems of Pythagoras.
E. Art and Literature
In classical Mediterranean civilization itself, however, science and mathematics loomed far less large than art and literature in conveying key cultural values. All the arts received some attention in classical Mediterranean. Greek interest in drama, or plays, took a central role in this culture. Greek literature contained a strong epic tradition as well, starting with the beautifully crafted tales of the Iliad and Odyssey.
IV. Economy and Society (98-102)
Politics and formal culture in Greece and Rome were mainly affairs of cities, which means that they were of intense concern to only a minority of the population. Most Greeks and Romans were farmers, attached to the soil and often to local rituals and festivals that were different from urban forms. Greece and Rome had commercial agriculture, which was one of the leading forces in the establishment of the empire. The importance of commercial farming also created an extensive concern with trade. However, for all the importance of trade in Greco-Roman societies, merchants enjoyed a somewhat ambiguous status in classical Mediterranean civilization. Slavery was also a key social institution in classical Mediterranean civilization.
|
