Classical,+500BCE-500CE

Comment from dk, 4/14: I am struck by the fact that there are so few DATES in your descriptions of your images. One of the things that you guys, by your own admission, struggle with, is when things happened in relation to other things. You will help yourselves by including a date whenever you can in your descritions of your images.

The map to he left is one that portrays the conquests made during the years of the Achaemenid Dynasty in Classical Persia (550 B.C.E. - 330 B.C.E.). As you can see, the greatest attainment of land was accomplished during the reign of Cyrus the Great, who introduced a new technique for conquering lands. He did so in a way that was advantageous and profitable to the subjects he conquered. He made sure to respect the customs of those foreigners that he conquered and permitted them to practice their religions. Evidently, it worked, as he created the largest empire the world had ever seen at that time. The 2nd picture helps to convey his enthusiasm and ability to command his people. It shows him pointing with emphasis while his soldiers look on in agreement. In comparison to the conquest of the Roman Empire, the Achaemenid Empire is almost double in size. Punic war, more like puny war. Hannibal threatened the Roman Empire after their conquest of Carthage, and how did they react? They decided to burn it to the ground and enslave the people, taking the immoral route. Cyrus would have been more kind to these people because he understood that a leader need not be harsh on its subjects to force them to recognize his rule but that he can solely give the subjects rights to ensure their agreement with his cause. - Josh Cohen

Sources: http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images/cyrus-the-great/images/cyrus-the-great-2.jpg http://www.crystalinks.com/persian_empiremap.gif

The vast expansion of the Roman and Persian empires, depicted above and below, made administration difficult for both empires. Although both empires distributed power amongst regional rulers, a key element to the success of both the Roman and Persian empires was their use of roads. Roads allowed for better communication, tax collection, and control of commerce. However, these roads were also extremely beneficial for the common man, who could now trade more easily. Additionally, these roads helped foster a robust trading of ideas. Christianity spread quickly due to the Roman road system. The intricate roman road system is shown below, as well as a map of the persian royal road. - Daniel Silberwasser

be The Punic Wars are important to remember because they marked the first time the Roman Empire successfully launched a campaign against an established civilization, that of Carthage. Previously, the Romans had only expanded into Etruscan territory and fought off invading Gauls. Usually, when the Romans had invaded and conquered territories, they would grant citizenship and give the conquered peoples reasonable autonomy. However with Carthage because successful leaders like Hannibal would rise up and threaten Rome militarily and economically, Rome showed that it was more than willing to act harshly, burning Carthage to the ground and enslaving all of its people.

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-Raphael Correa ====While the images above denote the Roman victories over Carthage, ultimately leading to great expansion lasting from 254 B.C. to about 100 A.D., it is important to note that after about 100 A.D. Rome began to become conquered itself, slowly but surly. This map displays multiple “invasions” or threats that the Roman Empire faced between 100 A.D. to about 500 A.D. While the map depicts a multitude of varying peoples advancing into the Roman Empire, this mass “migration” of peoples is ultimately due to the Hun’s invasions, which cause a massive displacement of people in a sense. Thus it was not the Huns alone who accelerated the collapse of the Roman Empire, but a multitude of Germanic peoples as well. Much like the Spartans mentioned below, who were able to withstand the might of the Persian military through greater military skill and technology, the Huns were similarily able to conquer vast areas of land and displace these Germanic peoples only with the aid of advanced military tactics and technology, as seen through the iron mold of a Hun “jian” or two edged sword.==== Map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png Image: http://www.youngmuseum.com/mould.jpg -Luka Ciklovan

In contrast to the Roman’s kind way of treating the people who they conquered; the Spartans enslaved the people who they conquered. Those enslaved people were called Helots. They were led by King Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persian army. Although the Persian army was vastly larger, the Spartans had superior armor, strategy, as well as more advanced weapons. The Spartan victory ended the Persian expansion into Europe. Because Spartan life revolved around the military, they were successful in conquering and not afraid to be harsh and oppressive toward those conquered. -Gabriella Serure

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The Persians, unlike the Greeks, tried to assimilate conquered people. The Persians used a decentralized system of satraps monitored by royal inspectors to rule over conquered territories, and conquered regions retained their autonomy. The gate of all nations was a symbol of Persian tolerance; all nations and all cultures would be accepted. The Persian administrative system was such a success that it was copied and used by later empires, including the Ottoman empire. []

[] -Mark Simon

In the 5th century BCE, Siddhartha Gautama, a former Hindu, created Buddhism. He mastered desire and went into “nirvana” or enlightment, and he preached how to get there (“The Path”, “The Way”). He taught a philosophy on how to live life. Even though it was created in India, Buddhism spread through trade routes, and it reached China and Indonesia. Also, missionary activity became more popular because missionaries appealed to different people and cultures. Like the Persians, Buddhist missionaries assimilated people into their religion, and were an example of cultural diffusion. The picture is a Korean hanging scroll that depicts Buddha. He has Asian features, and it shows how the religion adapted to the different peoples and cultures.

[] [] Camila Moscoso Like Buddhism, Islam spread like wildfire during the Classical Era. The prophet Muhammad's message unified the previously chaotic Arabian peninsula. He was referred to as the "seal of the prophets" for being the last to receive God's messages following the Jews and the Christians. As this map reveals, the Muslims, led by Muhammad, successfully conquered and unified an immense portion of Europe, Africa, and Asia in one of, if not the quickest spreading of religion the world had ever experienced. Ivy Sokol http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://matrix.msu.edu/hst/guide/history140r/unit8/mod/imgs/spread_of_islam_6.gif&imgrefurl=http://matrix.msu.edu/hst/guide/history140r/unit8/mod/imgs/&usg=__BcL5bavbaB2kkI69LiBEwG2A25I=&h=479&w=722&sz=31&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=YyhMHd7nQUGxkM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=170&ei=0i2nTbehDcPPgAfrrb30BQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dislam%2Bspreading%2Bmap%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1426%26bih%3D883%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=363&oei=0i2nTbehDcPPgAfrrb30BQ&page=1&ndsp=33&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0&tx=134&ty=49__// This image depicts a collection of standardized currency from the Ch'in dynasty of Classical China. In the same way that the tenets of Islam unified and identified a group of previously differentiated peoples, the Ch'in dynasty managed to end the chaos of the warring states and peasant revolts by establishing a strict legalistic dynasty. One way the administration exhibited its philosophy of legalism was through standardized currency, a feature that mirrored the standardization and centralization of the government as a whole. Ivy Sokol //__ [|http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:] __//__www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/images/exbig_images/72e3d5de5a0e90e118bbebaa9dd1a8af.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/html/en/History223bye841.html&usg=__QATuiOAQ6RJFxoj3DAuImePLf7Y=&h=352&w=470&sz=30&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=TfhunIToGfq_dM:&tbnh=174&tbnw=232&ei=iiynTebHNpCcgQf09rXzBQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dqin%2Bchina%2Bstandardized%2Bweights%2Band%2Bmeasures%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1426%26bih%3D883%26tbm%3Disch0%2C10&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=399&vpy=584&dur=5801&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=84&ty=167&oei=iiynTebHNpCcgQf09rXzBQ&page=1&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:20,s:0&biw=1426&bih=883



The picture at left shows a statue of Gupta mathematician Aryabhatta. No civilization left behind such a significant legacy in mathematics as did the Gupta Empire, providing the world with its first decimal-based number system that served as the basis for the current metric system. Also, the Gupta were the first to estimate Pi, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, to four decimal places by evaluating the fraction (22/7). Enabled by the concept of zero which they also developed, the Gupta made tremendous advances in architecture. Lastly, Aryabhatta solved for the formulae for certain summations. Many Gupta mathematical concepts, including these summation formulae, are still in use today. The map at right depicts the spice trade of the Classical era. (Its pretty blurry, but India is in the center and China's right above it to the right.) These routes transported information as well as materials, thus explaining how Gupta mathematics made their way over to China. The emergence of Gupta advances in the sciences and architecture in China may have laid the foundation for the intellectual and aethetic boom that characterized the Tang Dynasty. Louis Segall [] []



Like the Guptas, the Mayans greatly contributed to mathematics. Although the Mayan's number system does not relate to our current metric system, it was extremely advanced for it's time. The number system used lines and dots to represent numbers. Each line was 5 and each dot was 1. The system was a Vigesimal System that uses a base of 20 numbers. This was used because the Mayans would count their toes and hands. Series of 5 and 20 can easily be seen in the patterns of numbers. Sets of 20 also are seen in the Mayan complex calenders. The Mayans had two calenders: the Tzolkin and the Haab. The Tzolkin was composed of 260 days,13 months and 20 days in each month. There were 13 months because of the 13 Mayan Gods and 20 days in each month because of the number system. The second calender, the Haab, has 365 days and 18 months of 20 days each. The Mayans made incredible astronomical calculations by just using two sticks, creating a right angle when observing the night sky. These crude tools allowed the Mayans to calculate that there are 365.242 days in a year when the modern calculations are 365.242198 days. They also found that a lunar month lasted 29.5302 days when the modern calculations are 29.53059 days. [] [] Carly Kafka

The first image from the left is a sculpture of a Mayan Jaguar. The jaguar in the mayan like in the Olmec civilization playe a very important role. This sort of animanisic gods are not seen so much in greek or persioan civilizations, yet the jaguar is was important in that region from the very beginning so this shows that traditions from the foundations period stilll caries on. The Map is of the Mauryan empire, which unified most of India. Ashoka was a great promoter of Buddhism in India, the religion started by Sidharta Gautama ( pictured above). Ashoka, like Alexander the Great, built a a large empire that at whille he was aive prospered , but almost as soon as he died , his empire collapsed and the Gupta took over bringing back a Hindu dominanated government. The Gupta represent going back to what Buddhism originally departed from, the control of the Brahmins, just like other religions of the time who wanted to find a path that was less discrimatory Sources : - Jaguar : http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2659/?ql=eng&s=jaguar&view_type=gallery - Map - http://www.pakistanpatriot.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/ashoka-empire.jpg

- Mariana Pavia

The images above show two of Ashoka's pillars. Fundamental to the classical period was the spreading of information and the globalization of the planet. Ashoka's pillars, intended to spread his new philosophy, were written in three different dialects in order to reach a greater portion of the population. Also represented in the pillars is the spreading of empires, another theme of the era. In this case it was the Mauryan Empire, but many empires arose during this period. The columns were all made in the same location and despite the fact that many weighed over 50 tons; they were dragged up to a few hundred miles. This shows the vast improvements in transportation that made the spreading of empire so prevalent. It also explains the spreading of religions which also helped to unify great swaths of land while also creating regional differences.