Old World Geography (The study of the land’s surface and it’s

climate.)

There are many natural boundaries in the Old World

(mountains, deserts, bodies of water).

Conquering armies needed to be close to supplies of water and food so they avoided places where they

couldn’t survive.

Conquerors wanted:• Fertile land• Fresh water• Ports to dock their ships (Trade Centers=$$)

• Control of the Seas ( Trade Routes)• Control of the Rivers (Traders and armies always stay close to the supply of fresh water AND boats carry more than horses or camels.)

We need to think like Medieval Traders and Conquerors.

• Economic Facts: (Economic- How they traded and how they got and spent their $$$.)

• Those who control the trade get the most power and money.

• They don’t give up this economic superiority easily. (They will fight over it.)

• Think of medieval trade routes like the internet. Trade routes were the only way to transfer information from area to area. ( Info: Religion, new technology.)

We need to quickly look at the fall of one empire and the rise of

another.Romans Islamic Empire700 BC- 476 AD 632 AD- 1500s

Think of the Mediterranean Sea as the hole in a donut!

A Political and Religious Timeline:Both the Romans and the Islamic leaders (Caliphs) controlled

the area around the Mediterranean sea.

Roman Empire Islamic Empire Key Christianity Begins 49 180 750 1250 Islam Begins Barbarian Invasions 312 900 1312 509

Islam->West Africa

<---------------------476- 610 --------------------------1000 I 600 I 200 0 200 I 600 I 1000 I 1200 I 1600 I 2000 BCE CE

Rome Had A Strong Military BUT THE BARBARIANS CAME IN FOR YEARS AND YEARS. (Page 476)

No empire can maintain a strong military for that long without

hurting the empire economically.

At the same time Rome had all kinds of political problems.

They can disagree over territory (borders) or over who should become the next leader.

Anything that has to do with the government is put under the category of Political.

Political: Things that relate to the getting and keeping of power.

In the beginning Rome was run by kings. 753 BC

(They were a monarchy).

• Monarchy: a land ruled by one man.• They can be called Kings• Emperors• Dictators• Monarchs• Caliphs (Islam)•

509 BC• They overthrew the kings and began to elect

people to represent them. (The Republic)• It was not a perfect system but there was an

orderly way to vote leaders in and out of office.

• The Roman Senate

Then came along a head strong guy named Julius Caesar. He went

up and conquered Gaul.

The people loved him and let him declare himself dictator for life.

His nephew Augustus ruled for a very long time . He was an efficient ruler so having a monarch seemed to work.

After that, his relatives inherited the right to rule.

Eventually, his last relative committed suicide.(Nero was

absolutely crazy.)

Different generals/leaders fought to be emperor.

The armies were loyal to their generals. So , one general would wage war against

another.(Civil War)

Once in awhile, they would get a wiser emperor. There were two

emperors in the 300’s who made decisions that kept the Roman ways

alive.• Diocletian Constantine

• Diocletian (293) saw that the empire was too big for one person to run on his own.

• He split it in two. • They called it the Western Empire and the Eastern

Empire.

• Constantine saw that A city called Byzantium had a lot of great features:1. The city was located on a peninsula on the European side of the Bosporus Strait.2.This made it a perfect trade center for things passing from Asia to Europe.

It had natural boundaries to help protect it from invasion.

He renamed it “Constantinople”.

By the middle of the 300’s Roman power was shifted from Rome to

to the East (Constantinople).

And most importantly, Constantine declared that Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. This kept the religion alive as

the barbarians (Goths)moved in! Only the Eastern portion remained.

A Political and Religious Timeline:Both the Romans and the Islamic leaders (Caliphs) controlled

the area around the Mediterranean sea.

Roman Empire Islamic Empire Key Christianity Begins 49 180 750 1250 Islam Begins Barbarian Invasions 312 900 1312 509

Islam->West Africa

<---------------------476- 610 --------------------------1000 I 600 I 200 0 200 I 600 I 1000 I 1200 I 1600 I 2000 BCE CE