HISTORY 103

DR. SCHUERMAN    

SPRING 2012

LECTURE OUTLINES--#2

CLASSICAL ROOTS OF THE WESTERN WORLD

Terms highlighted in olive are particularly significant and may appear as "identifiers" in the tests, midterm, or final.

I.    THE GREEKS

    A.    The Emergence of the Greek Polis

        1.    Geographical considerations

        2.    Forerunners of the Greeks

            a.    Minoans

            b.    Mycenaeans

            c.    Fall of Mycenae

        3.    Homer and the Greek Spirit

        4.    Evolution of the Polis

            a.    Description and characteristics

           5.   Sparta

         6.  Athens 

• Draco

• Solon

• Pisistratus

• Cleisthenes         

    B.     The Classical Period of Greece

        1.    The Historic 5th Century b.c.e.

            a.    The Persian Wars (499-479 b.c.e.)          

• the Greek Trireme; details, modern reconstruction

            b.    Athenian hegemony

            c.    The flowering of Athenian democracy

            d.    The Peloponnesian War (431-404 b.c.e.)

        2.    The end of the "Golden Age"

            a.    Decline of the Polis

            b.    4th century Greece

    C.    The Legacy of the Greeks:  Philosophy

            Art, and Literature

        1.    The birth of thought

            a.    The "matter" philosophers

            b.    The Pythagoreans

            c.    The Sophists

        2.    The great Greek philosophers

            a.    Socrates

•  Respone to jury (the first two selections, Socrates 1st and 3rd address to the jury)
• The death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David, 1787, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

            b.    Plato

            c.    Aristotle

        3.    Greek art and architecture

            a.   Sculpture

• Archaic Greek kouros (c590 b.c.e.)    
• Egyptian sculpture (c2600 b.c.e.)    
• kouros #2  (c480 b.c.e.)
• Classical Greek sculptures:  #1, #2 (mid 5th. cent b.c.e.)

            b.   Architecture 

• The Parthenon, Nashville Parthenon, temple of Athena Nike
• The Greek "column" and the three orders of Greek architecture

        4.    Greek drama and history

            a.    The writers of tragedy and comedy

            b.    Greek historians

II.    ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE 

        HELLENISTIC WORLD

    A.    The 4th century rise of Macedon

        1.    Phillip II

        2.    Alexander the Great and his world empirek

        3.    Successor kingdoms

• Egypt--Ptolemy (the Ptolomies)

• Asia--Seleukos (the Seleucids)

• Macedonia--Antiginos (the Antigonids)

    B.    The Hellenistic world

        1.    Culture and Science  Laocoon and his Sons

        2.    Hellenistic Philosophy

            a.    Epicureanism--Epicurius

           b.    Stoicism--Zeno

            c.    Skepticism--Pyrrho

           d.    Cynicism--Diogenes 

    C.   Hellinism and the Jews

III.     THE RISE OF ROME:  THE REPUBLIC

    A.    The Roman Constitution (510-287 b.c.e.)  

• Struggle of orders
• "Cursus Honorum"
• Roman Senate
• SPQR

    B.    Roman expansion 

        1.    Unification of Italy (510-265 b.c.e)        

        2.    Punic Wars and control of western Mediterranean (264-201, & 149 b.c.e.)

• First Punic War 264-241
• Second Punic War 218-201
  •  Hannibal   
• Third Punic War 149-146

        3.    Control over Hellenistic states (150-140 b.c.e.)

        4.    Consequences of Roman expansion

• wealth, grain, luxuries of the world pouring into Rome

• provinces and provincial "governors"w
• Roman governance of provinces
• extension of citizenship
• Mediterranean peace and prosperity
• the "Hellenization" of the Roman Republic
• wealth and taste for luxury
• erosion of  "traditional values"
• corruption
• slaves--the revolt of Spartacus
• gladitorial games
• architecture/engineering--roads, bridges, aqueducts
• art, literature, drama

    C.    Signs of decline in the Republic

• inadequacies of Republican governance structures
• agricultural crisis
• urban migration
• social  unrest
• The Gracchi  brothers 134-120 b.c.e.
• The new realities of the 1st century b.c.e.

    D.    Rise of "military strongmen"

                1.    Sulla and Marius

                2.    The First Triumvirate

• Pompey, Julius Caesar and Crassus

      E.    The rule of Julius Caesar--"He bestrode the world like a colossus" (Shakespeare)

•  Defeat of Pompey
•  Liason with Cleopatra
•  "Dictator for Life"
•  Reforms
•  Assassination  (Shakespeare--Anthony's funeral orations)

     F.    Second Triumvirate

• Octavian, Mark Anthony and Lepidus   
• Battle of Actium

IV.   THE PAX ROMANA OF THE "EMPIRE"

    A.    Augustus, Empire and the Pax Romana

•  The "Principate"--rule of the "first citizen"

  --"Imperator" and the power of "Imperium"  

  --The restoration of Republican constitutional "forms"

•  200 years of the "Roman Peace" based on:

  --Maintenance of Peace, order and security

  --Efficient government and collection of taxes

  --Prevention of the accumulation of power

  Resulting in:

  --a sense of harmony throughout the empire

  --economic growth, expansion and prosperity

  --flourishing of Greco-Roman culture

B.    Birth of Christianity

        1.    Judaism in the First Century B.C.E.

        2.    The teachings of Jesus of Nazareth

        3.    Paul (Saul of Taursus)

        4.    Empire and Christianity's spread 

C.    The Julio-Claudians

        1.    Tiberius

        2.    Caligula    

        3.    Claudius    

        4.    Nero

    D.    The Flavians

        1.    Vespasian

        2.    Titus

        3.    Dominitian

    E.    The five "good Emperors"

        1.    Nerva

        2.    Trajan,

        3.    Hadrian

        4.    Antonius Pius

        5.    Marcus Aurelius 

    F.    The reign of military dictators

            Septimus Severus--emperor as military dictator

          The "backroom emperors"  235-285 b.c.e.

IV.   ROMAN SOCIETY, INNOVATIONS AND LEGACY

        1.    Roman arch: #1, #2,

        2.    Roman roads

        3.    Architecture of the empire

                    The Pantheon, #2 

        4.    Roman law

          5.    The Games

                    Gladiators and the Coliseum

                Charioteers and the Circus Maximus

V.    THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY AND 

          ROME'S DECLINE

    A.    Empire in Decline

        1.    Third century crisis

• the army

• the borders

• economy

• plague

        2.    Diocletian  285-305  

•  the "tetrarchy"
• economic controls
• hereditary controls

3    Constantine  cf 325

• Constantinople--the "New Rome"
• Legalization of Christianity (Edict of Toleration)
• Council of Nicaea

       4.   The triumph of Christianity 

• Emperor Theodosius cf 390
• Theodosian's Code--Christianity becomes the "state religion" of the Roman Empire.
• Caesaropapism
• Papal Primacy
• Christianity and Greek Philosophy

V.    THE END OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD

    A.    The fall of the empire in the West

• Barbarian invasions 
• Western Germanic Kingdoms

• The Church as unifier

                    a.    The power of the Papacy--"Papal Primacy"

                    b.   Conversion of Germanic "barbarians"

c.   Benedict of Nursia and the monastic movementc

 

    B.    The Eastern successors

        1.    Byzantium--the continuation of the "Roman Empire" 

• Justinian, 6th century

• Hagia Sophia (Saint Sophia)

• Justinian Code

• Reconquest of Western domains

• Conversion of Slavic peoples

        2.    The rise and spread of Islam  

• Muhammed

• Mecca and Medina

• Qur'an (Koran)

• Jihad

• The Caliphate ("successors") and schism within Islam

  Sunni's and Shiites

08/05