The Origins Of Western Civilization

Once a mind has reached a level of imagination, people will start to think for themselves and begin to acquire a high curiosity of what is seen with the naked eye. With the Athenian democracy promoting a development of intellect, philosophers and philosophy began to emerge along with their ideas and share it to the world. In the Article, “Ancient Greek Culture and Civilization,” the author states, “The Philosophers-Socrates, Plato and Aristotle contributed to the way of thinking,human life, and science.” Ancient Greece philosophy fixated on the attitude of question and reasoning. Philosophy had an important significance on modern science and modern day philosophy. The three main philosophers of Greece were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They contributed to the expansion of medieval scientists and

The West is the history of what humans did that made civilization evolve into our modern era. The West involves how social standards, morals, religions, political systems, culture, and technology developed over time. The West is where the origins of civilization started, and what humans did during their time period. The Western history biggest impact was by old ancient history, and how society got here today. The greatest philosophers, traditions, different ethnicities, and religion played an important part in the shaping of Western civilization. The origins began at the period of the Mesopotamian era, through the times of the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, and how each civilization affected today’s modern world.

The first civilizations, the foundations for future empires, were all founded and created between 3500 B.C.E. and 500 B.C.E. by groups of nomadic peoples who decided to settle in an area for certain group specific reasons. Some of the main states of the first civilization were Mesopotamia, Norte Chico, Egypt, Indus Valley, China, and Olmec. The second wave civilizations, built between 500 B.C.E. and 500 C.E., included the Persians, the Greeks, Romans, Chinese (Qin and Han), and India (Mauryan and Gupta). The first wave civilizations were sparked by the agricultural movement that led to the settlement of large groups of people in areas that became the cities and states that formed these first civilizations. The rise of civilization led to

In 336 BC, Macedonia had a new king. This new king's name was Alexander the Great. He was the son of King Philip II and decided to take over the throne after his father passed away. Not only was he king, he was also a mighty soldier. Alexander took his role as king very seriously. Once he became king, he quickly made his way to Greece and restored Macedonian rule in Northern Greece. Alexander was determined to take over the Persian Empire for his father in order to expand the Macedonian Empire. During his reign, Alexander trained the best army that Macedonian has every had. Alexander led the Macedonian Army to defeat the Persians. Alexander wasn't only king of Macedonia, he was also king of Persia. He eventually married a Persian Princess. The

The texts, “The Western Heritage”, and the “Western Civilization” offer unique perspectives on the birth of the western civilization through the years predating the 1300s. Both narratives navigate through thousands of years of history, exploring the political, economic, social and military aspects of the evolution of the western civilization. Whilst both texts discuss the birth and creation of civilization as defined by the western world, the readings vary stylistically as well as in their elaborations of the evolution of society. While their themes of civilization such as religion, and agriculture coincide with one another the approach in their discussion differs.

For this reason, Pope Loe IX led other church officials in implementing reform efforts that would see ensure that the church could get back its lost power. For this reason, Pope Loe IX gave orders to the Roman Catholic clergy to dismiss the church officials that had taken part in selling church offices, and to renounce their wives (McKay et al., 2014). The orders were essential for ensuring that the church could control the corruption that was becoming rampant in the church. The measures were also essential for sending a message to the secular leaders, which was presumably an indication that they were working on regaining their lost power. After the death of Pope Leo, Gregory VII, Leo’s successor, continued with the reform work based on his ideological foundation (McKay et al., 2014). One of the reforms was the expelling of secular influence within church and the papal institution, which led to the expansion of the papal powers. such reforms solved the problems that the church was facing, which means that they were appropriate for the realization of the predetermined

Through out the history of Western Civilization we have seen many important moments occur. From the Neolithic revolution, to humans conquering and spreading across the globe, there are many moments that have shaped its history and the present day. In this essay I will mention 5 of the most important moments/changes in Western Civilization and the reasons for why they are so important to societies in the western world and beyond.

In Ancient Greece, the great heights that were reached in education, technology, and government led them to their Golden Age. Included in the vast education of Greece were philosophy and literature. Socrates was one of the most famous philosophers of that time. He was a

The beginning of the Western Civilization began when the Greeks turned from the thinking of earlier cultures to a new way of life. They borrowed knowledge and skills from previous civilizations to make their own new, unique style. This included hereditary monarchs who were a higher religious source. This started the dividing of privilege between the powerful priesthood and the ordinary person.

Professor Roy Mathews and Dewitt Platt centralized their arguments around political humanities of the western world, and around the period for the Hellenistic civilization. This is when the institutions and culture of other nations interacted with the Greek’s in order to create a multicultural and varied civilization. From their definition, this would seem to suggest that Rome should not be counted as Hellenistic civilization because of the controversial time lines. Nonetheless, Rome was situated in the ideal geographical location, which naturally created a varied and multicultural civilization due to its expansion and methods of conquering people. This explanation indicates that Rome was an heir to Hellenistic civilization even though it does not fit according to the definition given by Professor Mathews and Platt. Professor Noble, on the other hand, explains how the fall of the Roman Empire led to the rising of three great civilizations of, the Byzantine Empire, medieval Europe, and the Islamic caliphate.8 Professor Noble

Ancient Greece was a civilization of the Greek history commenced around the 8th century B.C.. Rested southward at the end of the Balkan peninsula, the dry land of Greece lies within the Mediterranean Sea. The rough lands caused travels and cultivation to be difficult, and Greece’s geography forced the Greeks to become fishers and sailors. As the new centering system, city-state arose, many nations were formed, and a series of warfare emerged. The battles stretched from the Persian Wars, where the Sparta, the Athens, and the other city-states of Greece united to defend Greece from the Persians, to the Peloponnesian War, how Spartans ended Athenian and the Democratic government, to the Hellenistic Age, after Alexander the Great conquered an

In the Western Civilization times the best places to visit are Egypt, Greece and Rome. These three civilizations provided us with amazing technology, architecture as well as fascinating art. With all the similarities and differences of these three places, they each help make the world today a better place in understanding culture and lifestyles, not to mention the history and politics too. Egypt, Greece and Rome had strong and intelligent rulers all from separate eras. Religion was also a large part of these civilizations. Western culture helped shape humankind even today.

Philip II was the King before him that had full of respect for the Greeks. He did a lot of grateful things such as wide spreading his subjects to get Greek agriculture, science, art and other Hellenic culture. He kept in mind of confusions that dominated the country to the south side. But in 336BC, Philip was assassinated before the combined Macedonian-Greek army went to Persia, which was shortly after he had invaded Greece. After that, his son, who is in the age of 20, Alexander the Great, achieved as a ruler of Macedonia following his father (Marcovitz 64-65).

North of Greece laid the land of Macedonia. The ancient Macedonians spoke a form of Greek and worshipped the Greek gods. Unlike the Greek city-states, which were mostly governed by the citizens themselves, Macedonia was ruled by kings. Between 359 and 336 BC, the king was a brilliant man named Phillip. When he came to the throne, his kingdom was weak, small, and surrounded by enemies. Phillip created a powerful army, which he used to conquer the neighboring countries and dominated Greece. King Phillip was at the height of his power and planned to lead the Greeks in a war against the Persian Empire. However, this plan never happened because he was murdered and his son, Alexander, immediately took the throne. This is the time, 336BC, which I would travel back in time to, so I could witness this young man conquer the largest empire in the entire ancient world.

Western civilization was the birthplace of Ancient Greek Culture (Athens University 2010). Many magnificent achievements in areas of government, science, philosophy and the arts that still influence our lives produce Ancient Greece (Athens University 2010). Continuing most notably into Classical Greece, through the influence of the Roman Empire and its successor the culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Mycenaean Greece (World Book Advance 2012). The Persian also left an influence on the Greek culture as well. The Roman Civilization came into the picture around the 6th century BC. Romans conquered and over one of the biggest chunks of land in the era. According to Rome Wikipedia the period of the ancient Roman civilization, the post-Roman Republic was characterized by government and headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, Africa and Asia.