Classical Civilizations of Ancient Greece, Rome, and China Essay

The Ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamia, and Greeks were some of the oldest complex societies, although similar in many aspects. Mesopotamia is located in the Fertile Crescent, land in and between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers usually known as modern day Iraq and Eastern Syria.(24) In Egypt, the Nile River creates a fertile valley which is rich in nutrients and essential to their survival. The Nile flows from Burundi, slightly south of the equator eventually traveling through Egypt and into the Mediterranean. Ancient Greece is situated very closely to Egypt so trading was easy between them. How are these three civilizations comparable and different?

Greece with their golden age and Rome with its great Empire and Republic and also

     The ancient Greek and Roman civilizations of Europe began to progress toward a more civilized order of society. As there were no previous establishment to base their ideals on, it was understandable that there were some difficulties in their progression as a society. Although the ancient Greek and Roman governments fell, both had similar paths of creation, conquest, and destruction.

An interesting question to ask oneself about ancient civilizations is “How did the various governments keep their respective populations under control?” By taking a look at some of the literature and forms of art, one can get an idea of the crafty techniques used by leaders to control the populace. The concept of social control has been around as long as civilizations have been. This can be seen in the Roman stoic ideals portrayed in the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, the Four Noble Truth’s teachings in India, and the emphasis on harmony in China with the Chinese Bronze Bell. It’s interesting to see the ways works of art and even religious texts were used to control the common people.

Throughout the course of history there were many classical empires with their own flaws and own strengths. The most well-known examples of these classical empires being the Persian, Greek, Roman, Han and Guptan empires. They had a lot of similarities and differences and some were even intertwined with each other.

It is true that there were two really great civilizations that were created and they were Rome and Han China. Both of these civilizations had become more interested in consolidating power within the limits than expanding them. Each empire brought the provinces of their domains together to create a regime of unprecedented scales and enhanced the integration of local worlds into a common legal and cultural framework. The Han dynasty became China’s formative empire, expanding Han rule in all directions. The Han dynasty expanded so far they had an East and a West and the West dynasty lasted from 206 BCE to 9 CE, and the East dynasty lasted from 25- 220 CE. Whereas the Han dynasty had dominated an enormous landmass, the Romans dominated the

In today’s time people always say that everything that seems to be “new” is just really something remade from the past. Throughout time and space works of art and literature spread around and are adapted to what a certain culture needs. This glocalizing means taking the original form and manipulating it so it can best fit the audience in which is viewing it. Whether it be translating something from one language to another or even completely changing something that was intended for adults so it could be easy for children to learn. Similarly, in the transition between the Ancient Greece and Ancient Roman Empires so many aspects of the Grecian culture is adapted by the Romans but they glocalize it in order to get more Romans on board with what the Greeks thought of. Even the Ancient Roman writer and philosopher Seneca glocalized Euripides’ play Hippolytus. Despite the five hundred year time difference between Euripides’ Hippolytus and Seneca’s Phaedra, Seneca makes his best attempt to copy the play but including aspects of the Roman culture he lived in. The culture gap between Ancient Greece and Rome ultimately affects how the readers perceive the story and how different the two tales actually are.

There were many issues and values stressed in Classical civilizations. The main two that were focused on were expansion and integration. In all of the Classical civilizations, leaders wanted more land to increase the amount of power, crops, and innovation they could have. Another issue they stressed was integration. Social integration was stressed in order to create gender relationships and social hierarchies, while territorial integration was stressed in order to guarantee their leader had power over all of his people through a common language, common laws, and trade. Another value that was related to the previous two, was the need to discuss central values. Socrates, Confucius, and Buddha all helped by spreading culture throughout their

During the time period of 3200 to 146 BCE, ancient Greece went through a cycle of three different civilizations. First there were the early civilizations, then the classical Greece and lastly the Hellenistic age. All three of the civilizations were great and are known for many important things that are a key part of society in the 21st century. Ancient Greece is a wonderful place with many things to learn from which was all started by the early civilization.

Some say that Greece Engineering and Technology is also pretty important too. One legacy that is important is medicine-invented by Hippocrates. It has had a lasting impact on us because today in the U.S many people get sick, especially around the winter season. So it is important to have medicines, because if there were no medicine, disease and sickness could spread, and spread, and this will add up to many people getting sick. It is important to have medicine just in case something happens like that where the sickness could spread. He also created the Hippocratic Oath, which was an oath used to set standards for the doctor's behavior and was used to promise that the doctors will do their best on every time. Even though advancing in medicine is a great thing to do, think about it. Doesn’t medicine require clean and healthy water from an aqueduct? Treating a patient with a deadly disease is pretty hard to do. And it is important that patients clean themselves up with water that comes from a reliable source that is

The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Greece Ancient Greece influence is the cornerstone of western civilization. Without Greece much of the world would have been delayed in discovering and implementing philosophy, democracy, and mathematics. Ancient Greece is responsible for either advancing or creating these concepts and may be considered the founders of western thought and politics. Greece brought forward philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates who expanded boundaries of thought by presenting questions and observations through deductible reasoning.

The Greeks were also located near the Mediterranean Sea. Ancient Greek culture was known for its contributions to the architecture, science, mathematics, theatre and arts, and literature. The Greeks also made the first significant, fundamental steps in science. The Greeks developed specific scientific branches, such as zoology, biology, and anthropology. They were also known for controlling the Persian Empire after the Persian War. King Alexander the Great initiated a war with Persia, conquered and killed the last emperors. When they got ahold of Persians important city, Persepolis, they burned it down. After Alexander, Greek culture spread out throughout Persia and it was known as Hellenistic Era. (Lecture 10).

The surrounding civilizations Rome and Greece traded with depended on the location of the two. In Rome the transportation was limited, that was caused by lack of innovation on land. The Romans had Numeric land routes that they themselves built. The sea routes covered the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. One of the most important ports in Rome was the Ostia port. The Ostia port was located at the mouth of the Tiber River. Ships arrived from Spain and France though later on the Ostia port also brought the downfall of Rome.

Arguably one of the most well-known ancient civilizations in world history, Ancient Greece brought revolutionary architectural, political, and military developments. Ancient Greece also brought new developments for entertainment. One of the first civilizations that is recorded to have used writing is the Minoan civilization.

Classical, to many the word may have a hundred meanings, the word classical can change meaning dependent upon the topic and will forever fluctuate in importance just like every other word in the English language. But the word itself is irrelevant to the actual impact of what it means. The dictionary definition of classical is this “of or relating to the ancient Greek and Roman world and especially to its literature, art, architecture, or ideals” The words in there that stick out are Greek and Roman world, the Greek and Roman world, however relevant those two may be they are not the entire history of our earth and its classical empires. The debate over which empires may be considered a classical empire will last as long as time itself. But how to make the argument for a society to have its name amongst those in the classical empire category that is the real question. Maya, an intricately developed society with innumerable amounts of qualifications to be considered a classical empire. The most prominently displayed one amongst them all is the rich style of architecture, the Mayan people are best known for their temples and the city systems that they built. They were very far ahead of their time due to the fact that they essentially created a city grid like major cities like New York and Tokyo use today and the created step like temples to have ease of access for the peak of their temples.