In the eyes of empire builders

men are not men but

instruments.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Empire “a major political unit having a territory of great

extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority; especially : one having an emperor as chief of state “

~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Homeland lay on the Iranian plateau Famous monarchs -Cyrus (reigned 557-530 BCE) -Darius (reigned 522-486 BCE) Persian conquests reached from Egypt to

India A single state of some 35 million people Cultural diversity Centered on an elaborate cult of kingship

The Persian Empire

Effective administrative system Persian governors (satraps) were placed in

each of the empire’s twenty-three provinces Lower-level officials drawn from local

authorities System of imperial spies Respect for non-Persian cultural traditions -Cyrus allowed Jews who had been exiled in

Babylon to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple in Jerusalem in 539 BCE

Model for future regimes with its administrators, tax collectors, record keepers, and translators

System of standardized coinage Predictable taxes levied on each province Newly dug canal linking the Nile with the Red

Sea A “royal road”, some 1,700 miles long -Facilitating communication and commerce

Small competing city-states due to mountainous terrain (seas allowed for trade)

Like Persians, an Indo-European people Classical Greece emerged around 750 BCE

and flourished for about 400 years Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes, etc. Calling themselves Hellenes Fiercely independent city-states -Speaking the same language -Frequently in conflict

The Greeks

Expansive people, but expansion took the form of settlement in distant places

-Greek traders in search of iron -Impoverished farmers in search of land Most distinctive feature – popular

participation in political life In Athens, direct democracy eventually

developed -All citizens could directly participate in the

affairs of government -However, women, slaves, and foreigners

were not citizens The city-state facilitated greater participation

as opposed to centralized state of empire

Solon, a reforming leader, in 594 BCE pushed Athens in a more democratic direction

-Debt slavery was abolished -Public office was opened to a wider group

of men -All citizens were allowed to take part in the

Assembly Cleisthenes and Pericles, later reformers,

extended the rights of citizens even further By 450 BCE, all holders of public office were

chosen by lot and were paid -Even the poorest could serve

In Athens, all free men born in Athens were eventually granted citizenship

Nonetheless, dictators known as tyrants had periodically emerged

And of course, in Sparta, extreme forms of military discipline and its large population of helots or slaves led to most political authority being placed in its Council of Elders

-twenty-eight men over the age of sixty -served for life and provided political

leadership

Conflict grew out of patterns of expansions Number of Greek settlements on the

Anatolian seacoast, known to Greeks as Ionia -By 499 BCE, some Ionian Greeks revolted

against Persian domination and found support from Athens

Outraged Persians launched major military expeditions, twice in ten years (490 and 480 BCE) to punish Greeks

Against all odds, Greeks held them off, defeating the Persians on both land and sea

Greco-Persian Wars

The wars were a source of enormous pride for the Greeks

-triumphed in momentous Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE

Greeks viewed victory as triumph of their freedoms

-Persia represented despotism (East/West divide)

Greeks also radicalized Athenian democracy -poorer Greeks in a position for full citizenship Fifty years or so afterwards – the Golden Age of

Greek culture -built the Parthenon -Greek theater (Aeschylus, Sophocles,

Euripides) -Socrates, the quintessential philosopher

Athens led a coalition of Greek city-states But leadership led to imperialism As Athenians tried to solidify dominant

position, resentment ensued Bitter civil war (431-404 BCE) -Sparta taking the lead in defending the

independence of the city-states -known as Peloponnesian War Athens was defeated Paving the way for Macedonian conquest of

cities

Decline of Greeks

Alexander’s father, Philip II, conquered Greeks in 338 BCE

At death of father, Alexander, continued conquests

Ten-year expedition (333-323 BCE) -Conquered Egypt and Anatolia -Conquered Persian Empire -Conquered Afghanistan -Arrived in Indian subcontinent (Soldiers insisted on returning home) Alexander died on the returning journey

Alexander the Great

Spread of Greek culture (Hellenism) -Particularly in many cities that Alexander

and later Hellenistic rulers established -Greek monuments, theaters, and markets -Greek learning flourished (library in

Alexandria of some 700,000 volumes) -Indian ruler, Ashoka, published some of his

decrees in Greek -Buddha was depicted in human form due

to Greek influence Cultural influence disappeared as Hellenistic

kingdoms weakened Replaced in western part with Roman Empire

that became a vehicle for the spread of Greek ideas

A Theme of World History Interaction between humans and the

environment Demography and disease Migration Patterns of settlement Technology

How did the interaction between humans and the environment impact the development of Greek culture?

Another Theme of World History State-building, expansion, and conflict

Political structures and forms of governance Empires Nations and nationalism Revolts and revolutions Regional, transregional, and global structures

and organizations

Compare the political structure of the Persian Empire to that of Greece.

The Persian Empire wasalso known as the Achaemenid

Empire.

Discuss the reasons for political and social fragmentation in classical Greece.

Questions from Strayer: How did Persian and Greek civilizations differ

in their political organization and values? Why did semidemocratic governments

emerge in some of the Greek city-states? What were the consequences for both sides

of the encounter between the Persians and the Greeks?

What changes did Alexander's conquests bring in their wake?

Aristotle on a “Good Wife”

“A good wife should be the mistress of her home, having under her care all that is within it, according to the rules we have laid down. She should allow none to enter without her husband's knowledge, dreading above all things the gossip of gadding women, which tends to poison the soul. She alone should have knowledge of what happens within. She must exercise control of the money spent on such festivities as her husband has approved---keeping, moreover, within the limit set by law upon expenditure, dress, and ornament---and remembering that beauty depends not on costliness of raiment. Nor does abundance of gold so conduce to the praise of a woman as self-control in all that she does. This, then, is the province over which a woman should be minded to bear an orderly rule; for it seems not fitting that a man should know all that passes within the house. But in all other matters, let it be her aim to obey her husband; giving no heed to public affairs, nor having any part in arranging the marriages of her children.”

Compare the class and gender systems of the Persian Empire and Athens.