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24 Cards in this Set
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cuneiform
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A system of writing developed by the Sumerians around 2800 BCE. Cuneus is a Latin word meaning “wedge”, so cuneiform means wedge-shaped. Cuneiform evolved from pictographs which had previously been used to convey “written” messages. Most of the cuneiform written records that have been found are for accounting, taxes, contracts, and other practical purposes. However, some literature was written on these tablets, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh. Having this writing system allowed the Sumerians to spread their ideas as well as preserve their own history.
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Pericles
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Pericles presided over the "Golden Age of Athens" - 461-429 BCE. He came from a very wealthy family. He was very charismatic, handsome, popular, and made friends easily, which enabled him to build up his power & influence. People would come to him when they wanted to get elected, and he would help them, creating a debt that they owed him. Tons of people owed him favors and this extended his influence. He dominated Athenian politics & manipulated hem any way he wanted. He designed the Parthenon. Pericles suggested that the Athenians hide behind their walls when Sparta attacked during the Peloponnesian Wars. This went terribly for them and he died in 429 during an outbreak of the plague. Pericles left a huge mark on Athens - he rebuilt the city & made it a very prosperous city. However, his strategy in the Peloponnesian war failed the people of Athens and resulted in the death of thousands of Athenians.
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Thucydides
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460-395 BCE. Greek historian and Athenian general. He was more objective than Herodotus. He did not include divine intervention but rather used intellectual analysis in his records. Wrote the History of the Peloponnesian War. He was exiled from Athens for a military failure, so he was able to view the war from both sides. He left us a very detailed record of the war and he is known as the “father of scientific history”.
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Socrates
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470-399 BCE. Classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher. Socrates left no written records. Plato and Xenophon were students of his and wrote The Socratic Dialogues, from which we have gleaned what we know about Socrates. Socrates believed he was the wisest man alive because he understood that he knew nothing and that “wisdom lies in the endless search for knowledge”. Socrates heavily influenced later philosophers and the Socratic Method of learning through inquiry is still used today.
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Stoics
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School of Stoicism was founded by Zeno (335-261 BCE) in Athens. Stoicism grew out of Cynicism. The key difference was that stoicism allowed followers to “posses material goods as long as they were not emotionally attached to them”. They believed in a Universal God that governed the universe and that everyone was linked through this. “They did not believe in random events…an idea that would have a long history in the West”. Considerably influenced Christianity.
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Etruscans
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1000-380 BCE. Settled in Italy. Came from modern-day Turkey. We have not deciphered their language, so most of what we know we have learned from their art. They worship many gods, including minor household Gods (the Romans borrow this idea). Women seemed to have more equality – they could own property, businesses, participate in society, and attend parties. The practiced “augury” – the idea of observing animal behavior to be able to tell what the Gods want. Romans also do this & they picked it up from the Etruscans. Unique culture which the Romans borrow from.
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Epic of Gilgamesh
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Around 2000 BCE the Sumerians began to question their relationship with the gods, and the concept of immorality. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story about a King of Sumer who for the first time is faced with the reality of mortality when his friend Enkidu is killed. Gilgamesh refuse to accept his friend's death and goes on a quest to find the secret of immortality, he finds a plant at the bottom of the ocean that offers eternal life but it is stolen by a snake before he can bring it back to his friend. This story is significant before it offers an in depth look at the life of Sumerians as well as being the oldest surviving epic tale ever recorded.
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Hammurabi
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With the creating of a writing system one of the major areas where this was found useful was in recording laws. The most famous of and complete of the ancient law codes was that of the Babylonian king Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE) written in cuneiform script. This code regulated everything from family life to physicians fees to building requirements. It also introduced very harsh penalties for breaking the law, such as the literal meaning of an eye for an eye. Many laws tried to protect women and children from unfair treatment and limited the authority of husbands over their households. He was important because his law code was written to be the law of the land after his death and for all time, during a time when most laws died with the king who wrote them.
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Hittites
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Starting about 1650 BCE an Indo European group called the Hittites established a kingdom in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). The empire lasted for 300 years the Hittite people farmed the land and mined the ore from the near by mountains. They also began to assimilate into the Mesopotamian culture and acquire some of the language from this region. They were most famous for introducing war chariots onto the battlefields of the time. This new technology began an arms race with the other kingdoms of the time and culminated with the battle of Kadesh in 1299 BCE when 5,000 chariots participated in a fight between the Egyptians and the Hittites.
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Ramses II
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Egypt had been on the decline due to religious turmoil when Ramses II took power in 1279 BCE He reigned for 66 years and had over 100 children. During that time he helped Egypt to end the fighting over religion by reestablishing the more popular gods. He entered into a war with the Hittites and had a great battle with them at Kadesh he was able to secure a peace treaty with them after the battle however, which is the first known non aggression pact in history. This allowed him to spend the empires resources on huge building projects such as temples.
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Mummification
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Before the Egyptians buried their dead in rooms, they buried their dead in the desert, which performs a natural mummification of bodies. Later generations of Egyptians would find these bodies in the desert, and when they found them naturally mummified like this, they believed that the gods were doing this. The process of mummification involved removing all internal organs except the hart and place them in jars with a preserving solution, remove the brain by inserting a metal wire up the nostril and scrambling the brain then pulling it out piece by piece. The body would be dried out and wrapped in cloth soaked in resin. The body would then be placed in a coffin and put in a tomb with everything the deceased would need in the afterlife.
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Mycenaeans
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Around 2000 BCE Indo-European Greek speaking people settled on the mountainous Greek peninsula. Within 400 years the had become greatly influenced by the Minoans, adopting their system of writing and many of their forms of art and craft making. The society was centered in the city of Mycenae hence they were known as the Mycenaeans. Once the Minoan civilization fell in about 1450 BCE the Mycenaeans took over as the biggest trading power in the Mediterranean, become involved in trading with Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Cyprus. Most known for their involvement in the Trojan war, made famous by Home in the Epic the Iliad. Shortly after winning the Trojan war however their empire began to fall apart. This is significant because it led to a “dark ages” of sorts for the Greeks.
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Polis
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Marking a new form of Greek society, the Polis or city-state became the type way of life for Greeks. Governments – Some city-states are ruled by kings (like Sparta), some by Councils of Elders (like Thebes), some by only the wealthiest citizens, some by tyrants. No city-state rules another – they are separate but sometimes allied which each other. Because of the way the economy of Greece was at the time created a new middle class of merchants, the old aristocrats began to lose much of their power and influence. This new middle class also created a new form of military in Greece, that of the Hoplite armies, consisting of middle class soldiers who used shields, long spears, and swords to form a phalanx, a tightly grouped set of soldiers who stayed as close as possible to each other to remain as protected as possible. This was very important because it created a few form of warfare that elevated the Greeks to a much strong military state. Gender Roles – men served in the military and for the most part controlled politics and economics. Women were mostly relegated to two groups, proper woman – came from a good family (not necessarily wealthy, but stable), and it was expected that when she grew up, she would be married. So a proper woman was not allowed to go into public on her own. She had to go into public with her brother, cousin, father, relative. No such thing as marrying for love. Married for economics – to create alliances. Married usually around 14-15. The Other group being the “Courtesans” – expected in these societies that men would not be faithful to their wives. Often, they had affairs with other men – totally normal. However, if they were to have an affair with a woman, they couldn’t do it with a neighbor’s wife. Therefore, if a man was going to have a relationship with his woman who was not his wife, he should do it with a temple or palace courtesan – prostitute.
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Helots
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One of the Greek city-states, Sparta gained their land not through starting colonies or by partnerships with local peoples but instead by conquering their neighbors and enslaving their populations. When a Spartan child was born and if was found not to be fit, it would be abandoned on the side of a mountain, these babies would sometimes be picked up by the Helots whose own children were sometimes killed by Spartan soldiers would have to kill a slave child to be accepted into the army. These slaves called Helots were treated horribly. The Spartans eventually became outnumbered by their slaves and were always on constant watch of a rebellion, this turned them into a military state. Because of this Spartan armies were not able to travel far from their homeland for fear that the slaves would rise up while they were away.
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Marathon
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The Persians invade Greece led by Darius I. Quickly conquered some of the city states, still all independent from each other. They then headed for Athens. The Athenians were greatly outnumbered by the Persians and asked the Spartans for help. Sparta said they could only help after they finished their religious festival, which would be too late to save Athens from destruction. (This led to the famous story of a messenger running 150 miles in two days to request the help of Sparta and also is the origin of the use of the word Marathon for a long race). The Athenians decided to meet the Persians at their landing stop, a place called Marathon. The Persians attacked, but the Athenians outflanked the Persians by making a running attack, which at the time was unheard of in battle. This tactic surprised the Persians and they were crushed. This win against overwhelming odds brought great prestige to Athens and made them very powerful during the resulting formation of the Delian League.
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Delian League
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Though the Persians were defeated in the battle of Marathon, they were still a huge empire and a very real threat to the city-states of Greece. This forced them to join together in a common defense called the Delian League, named after the location of the treasury of the league on the Island of Delos. Quickly though Athens began to take complete control over the league, and would not allow the other city-states to leave. the Athenians then moved the treasury to Athens where they used it to turn Athens into an empire and create the “Golden Age of Athens”
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Gauls
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A Celtic tribe. In 390 BCE they raided Etruscan territories. The Romans were familiar to some extent with the Celts, but these Celts were different – they defeated the Etruscans – set cities on fire & plundered them. The Romans went north to fight the Celts. The Celts crushed them. The Romans closed themselves off in a temple & ended up having to pay the Celts a ton of gold to leave. They “won” because of this, but it was essentially a loss. This enabled the Romans to expand further North because of the weakening of the Etruscan cities. This also made the Romans realize that the Hoplite system wasn’t working and forced them to make military advancements (adopted the javelin, swords, etc.)
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Hannibal
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247-183 BCE. Hannibal Barca became the governor of Spain when his father died. Like his father, he began to prepare an invasion of Italy. Began the 2nd Punic War after Saguntum allied with Rome. While Hannibal had amassed a decent sized army, he could not just replace soldiers since he had to recruit & pay them. Because of this, he had to defeat the Romans using tricks, setting traps by moving his armies strategically to fool the Romans. This was very effective, but ultimately, Hannibal was defeated after attempting to recruit more people to get rid of the Romans instead of attacking Rome. He ran out of money and could not pay his mercenaries. Scipio let him go, but Hannibal showed up in Carthage about 6 years later to run for election as judge…wins & reforms the tax code, army, & navy. Romans pressure Carthage to ask him to leave. Hannibal then gets kicked out of a series of regions and kills himself. He was very influential and has been called the “father of strategy”. Rome eventually adopted some of his tactics.
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First Triumvirate
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60-49 BCE. The Triumvirate was the Roman system by which three men shared the power of ruling the empire. This system came into existence as a result of the increasing ineffectiveness of the checks and balances system. The three leaders were to collectively represent and appeal to all Romans. This did not prove effective, however, as it resulted in a power struggle between the three leaders. Instead of working together, they each vied for more control of their own. This power struggle resulted in a civil war between Caesar and Pompey. Caesar won this war and ascended to the role of dictator.
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Companions
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359-336 BCE. The cavalry of the Macedonian army was “led by the king himself and made up of his nobles, known as ‘companions.’” They eventually became (Philip) the king’s bodyguards. They served as generals while the core of the army consisted of hoplites. “The mounted warriors surrounded the enemy and struck at their flank, leaving the lightly armed mercenaries to move in to deliver the final blow…this stragety…would prove virtually invincible.”
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Gracchus Brothers
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Tiberius Gracchus came from a very wealthy & powerful patrician family – famous lineage & honored pedigree. He was an officer in the army in Spain. A detachment of men got captured and held hostage. T Gracchus met with the Spanish rebels and asked them to let the men go in exchange for a large sum of money. He assured them he is good for his word, and they asked around and Gracchus’ reputation was reinforced. They agreed and he took the prisoners back to the army, returned to Rome, faced the senate, told them he had rescued the prisoners and needed money to repay the rebels. The senate refused. He ended up having ot pay with his own money. He was furious, so he decided to run for Tribune of the Plebeians…even though he was a patrician. The Plebeian population was very surprised by this, but they all loved him and voted for him. He said he would lower the price of food, pass laws for the redistribution of land, etc. This all made the senate look really bad. He was elected and made the senate miserable, vetoing everything they tried to pass and forcing laws on them for the entire year he was there. He tried to run for office for a consecutive year to avoid the senate coming after him, but on election day, a major brawl broke out in the voting area and he was killed. This is how the senate god rid of him. Over the next 10 years, the senate undid a lot of laws he made. In 123, T Gracchus’ younger brother, Gaius Gracchus, came of age & became tribune. He showed up with many more clients, so even though a brawl broke out, he won. He got reelected a second time, making the senate furious. However, the third time he ran, the senate managed to kill him and in a sense, regained control. The strategies of the Gracchus brothers lead to a period of civil wars in which each side sought to manipulate politics to improve their status.
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Marius
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156-86 BCE. Gaius Marius came from a wealthy Patrician family (Southeast of Rome). He joined the army to gain military experience and respect. He wanted to be a politician. He is very well liked – he doesn’t have his soldiers do anything he won’t do himself. Marius was in the army when the major scandal with Jugurtha, the Numidian king, was being dealt with. Jugurtha had been bribing consuls, who kept returning to Rome saying they couldn’t find him. Marius ran for consulship, telling the merchants to vote for him because he would avenge their friends/family members deaths by killing Jugurtha. He wins, gathers an army (the senate wouldn’t grant him one), and kills Jugurtha in two months. Marius goes back to Rome and parks his army right outside the city. He tells the senate that they must give each soldier a chunk of land, recognize their share of the plunder, and give them slaves. The senate says no, but Marius threatens them. He succeeds and everyone is very grateful and loves him. Marius returned to lead the Romans after their failure at the Battle of Arausio. He is super popular and serves 5 consecutive consulships, breaking the tradition. He dominated politics. When Marius leaves (“vacation”), Sulla turned on him and joined the side of the senate. Marius’ changes began to be undone. Marius returned and Sulla kicked him out. Sulla is fighting at Mithridates. Marius’ men go to Rome and attack the senate. They win and massacre a bunch of senators, their families, and friends of Sulla. Sulla is furious and posts “Proscription lists” in Rome with the names of Marius’ friends and family. Marius dies, and Sulla takes a lot of power away from the tribunes.
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Julius Caesar
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100-44 BCE. He wanted to become consul, but he did not have the money or popularity needed to achieve this goal. He copied a lot of things Marius did to make himself popular with the soldiers. He went to Pompey and Crassus and pitched the idea of a triumvirate. They agreed. It was not a legal rule – the senate did not approve it, it was just an “underhanded” agreement. Caesar got elected as consul. Caesar’s conquest of Gaul extended Roman territory to the English Channel and the Rhine. Caesar was the first person to take a Roman army into Britain. Crassus died, Caesar and Pompey’s relationship became very strained, and Caesar eventually became a dictator. He made the senate declare him dictator every six months by the “state of emergency” rule. In 44 BCE, he grew tired of the six month renewal system and has himself declared dictator for life. However, in March 44 BCE, Caesar was murdered by senators who surrounded him at a senate meeting. Caesar was the first historical Roman to be deified. With Caesar’s death came the end of the Roman Republic, and this was when the Roman Empire really began.
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Iliad
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When the Greeks emerged from the “dark ages” there was a longing for Greek heroes and legends. The poet Homer who lived about (800) BCE provided a story about the Trojan War titled the Iliad. The story covers the ten year period that the war supposedly took place. Stating when Helen is stolen from Greece by Paris the prince of Troy and concluding when the Greeks built a wooden horse when soldiers hiding inside. The Trojans brought the statue into their gated city and celebrated. The soldiers then opened the Gates to the city while the Trojans slept and the city was destroyed. The story told of great Greek heroes such as Achilles and Odysseus. The Iliad also gave a great example of what the Greeks called “arete” meaning courage and excellence; this was the highest held value for the Greeks in life.
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