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Summer Assignment:

Advanced Placement (AP) World History

2019-2020

Greenway High School: Ms. Braun

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Tasks That Need to Be Completed:

Read pages 1-3 of this packet to discover what is necessary to find success in this course.

Study and memorize the “World Regions” as put forth by the AP College Board. You will be tested on these AP regions the first three weeks of school. Three consecutive 100% scores will prove mastery. If you have not mastered the material, you will need to schedule time each week before and/or after school to continue taking the test until mastery is achieved. Memorize the bottom map on page 4.

Study and memorize a list of specific countries and their corresponding AP world region. You will be tested on these countries the first three weeks of school. Three consecutive 100% scores will prove mastery. If you have not mastered the material, you will need to schedule time each week before and/or after school to continue taking the test until mastery is achieved. These countries are labeled on the included maps on pages 5-8.

Study and memorize key dates throughout history. There is a study set on quizlet.com titled, “Most Important Dates Ever (according to Ms. Braun)”. Here is a URL that will take you to the AP study sets: https://quizlet.com/join/fBeS9RPaP. You will be tested on these key dates the first three weeks of school. If you have not mastered the material, you will need to schedule time each week before and/or after school to continue taking the test until mastery is achieved. Three consecutive 100% scores will prove mastery.

Complete Cornell notes for these four readings: Mauryan and Gupta Dynasties of India Introduction to Han China Ancient Greece Ancient Rome The directions for how to complete Cornell Notes are on page

9. Typically, I will give you guiding questions for each chapter, but since these are not textbook chapters, you can just take the notes since this is condensed information. But, make sure you use complete sentences when taking your notes to make them clearer for review.

There is an example of what the finished product of Cornell Notes looks like on page 10.

Due Dates: Mastery tests will begin the first three weeks of school. If you haven’t

achieved mastery in class (which means you get a 100% each time we take the test for three consecutive weeks), you will need to schedule time before and/or after school to take the tests until mastery has been achieved.

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Cornell notes for the four readings on Classical Civilizations will be due the FIRST day of school on August 5, 2019.

Help If you have any questions, please contact me by email at: [email protected] or join the remind account for AP World History 19-20 by texting “@d9943d” to “81010”. You will then be able to direct message me through your phone.

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Advanced Placement (AP) World History is a course that is designed to view history by examining broad trends and global processes. This is done through the examination of key concepts related to the study of world history. The student will be asked to use historiography throughout their course studies. Historiography is the study of the different methods or approaches various historians use to construct their accounts of the past. You will be asked to develop the following “Historical Thinking Skills.”

l. Crafting Historical Arguments from Historical EvidenceYou will define and frame a question about the past and will need to address that question through the construction of an argument. You will also need to evaluate the arguments of others.

2. Chronological ReasoningYou will need to identify, analyze, and evaluate relationships between multiple causes and effects. You will be asked to distinguish between coincidence, causation, and correlation, as well as critiquing standard interpretations of cause and effect.

3. Comparison and ContextualizationYou will need to describe, compare and evaluate multiple historical developments within one society or between different societies. You will need to evaluate multiple perspectives.

4. Historical interpretation and SynthesisYou will need to describe, analyze, evaluate, and create diverse interpretations of the past. This is done through analysis of evidence, reasoning, contexts, points of view, and frames of reference.

In order to develop these skills, you need to begin "reading like a historian.” Reading like a historian is an all-encompassing way of thinking, reading, and talking, of constant skepticism when analyzing historical documents. When reading a historical document, historians think about the author’s assumptions, interpretations, biases, perspectives, and goals, looking constantly for evidence of context, bias, and purpose. Historians must make an argument and defend that argument with evidence.

For example, there are varying interpretations as to why the Industrial Revolution began in England. Some historians call it "contingency." According to their argument, the British were lucky enough to have vast coal deposits in their soil, which allowed for machinery to be run by cheap fuel. They also had a source of cheap cotton and a ready

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market for finished products. These historians argue that these conditions were contingent, or they simply came together at the right time and place to produce the industrial Revolution. However, other historians would argue that the Industrial Revolution in England was not a matter of chance, but rather due to the fact that Britain was scientifically and technologically superior. So, we have one event and two interpretations, it is up to you to choose which you believe to be more correct and defend it with evidence.

Interpretations are neither right nor wrong; however, some interpretations are better than others. It is for you to learn how to choose a better interpretation and how to defend it with historical evidence. At the heart of almost every historical interpretation is the notion of continuity and change: the idea that the world before us is both the same and different from the one inhabited by people in the past. For example, if we compare the world today to the world of 1500, most of the world’s population lived on just under seven percent of the earth’s 60 million square miles of land. In the past 500 years that hasn’t changed much, 70% of the world still lives on the same 4.25 million square miles. But, you must also consider that the world’s population in 1500 was around 350 million people. Today the population is around seven billion people and living in roughly the same areas as they did 500 years ago - astounding!

So, why does history matter? We should care because our images of the past guide the decisions we make in the present. Basically, how we interpret the past shapes the reality we create in the present. Our reality in the present, in turn, gives birth to the world we will inhabit in the future.

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Information adapted from: AP College Board World History Course Description and Reading Like a Historian: World History Toolkit by Holt, Reinhart, and Winston.

Tips for Success in A.P. World History

Do ALL of the reading and ANNOTATE everything you read. Learn the terms

o This course requires both detail and acquisition of a lot of knowledge.

Learn the geography of the world. Learn the connections between places, people, and events - both

globally and locally. Think like a detective. There is never one right way to interpret the

events of the past. However, you need accurate knowledge to defend your opinion.

Engage yourself with the content of the past to make it easier to learn.

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How to Complete Cornell Notes for A.P. World History

1. You will want a notebook specifically dedicated to A.P. World History. You should keep all of your notes in one place and they should be neatly organized.

2. For each chapter I give you guiding questions to help guide you through each chapter.

3. The guiding questions point out the most important information and should be answered within your notes. Your answers should be in complete sentences and include elements of the question in your response so that when you review your notes, you know exactly what it is that you are supposed to be learning (reviewing).

a. Example: What is syncretism?b. Syncretism is the combination, or blending, of different religious

traditions or belief systems.c. Try to use your own words, it will help you when you study. It’s

very difficult to remember words from a textbook rather than a story from our mouths.

4. Cornell notes ask you to put the heading on the left hand side of the page and your notes are put to the right of the headings.

a. There is an example on the next page.5. When you review your notes, you should cover up the right hand side

and just read the headings. If you can recite what is on the right hand side of the paper with reasonable accuracy, then you have learned the material. If you can’t, you need to keep studying. Again, it is easier to remember a story as opposed to textbook language.

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Mauryan and Gupta Dynasties of India

Chandragupta Maurya

At its height, the Mauryan Empire stretched over parts of modern Iran and almost the entire Indian subcontinent, barring only the southern peninsular tip. The empire came into being when Chandragupta Maurya stepped into the vacuum created by Alexander of Macedon's departure from the western borders of India. Chandragupta subjugated the border states, recruited an army, marched upon the Magadha kingdom, killed its tyrannical king who was despised by the populace, and ascended the throne. He thus founded the Mauryan dynasty.

Chandragupta used marriage alliances, diplomacy, trickery, and war to extend his kingdom. Under him, the Mauryan Empire stretched from eastern Iran to the western borders of the Burmese hills, and from the Himalayan tribal kingdom to the southern plateaus of peninsular India. After ruling for about 25 years, Chandragupta abdicated in favor of his son, Bindusara, and became a Jain monk.

Ashoka

Bindusara maintained his father's large dominions efficiently and extended the southern borders to cover the peninsular plateau of India. When he died, his son Ashoka seized the throne after a fratricidal succession dispute. The empire that Ashoka inherited was large, but a small kingdom on the east coast, Kalinga, was outside its pale. Ashoka decided to conquer it. The war that ensued was bloody and long. Kalinga resisted to the last man but fell. After Kalinga, Ashoka did not attack any kingdom but proceeded on a mission of peace. He erected several pillars throughout his kingdom, exhorting people to give up violence and live in harmony with each other and with nature. He actively patronized Buddhism, built several stupas and repaired older ones, and sent evangelical missions abroad. Ashoka put the state's entire resources to promote Buddhism, but whether he formally converted to the faith remains unclear.

The Economy

Farmers comprised the largest part of the population, and agriculture was taxed. Tradespeople were organized into guilds that held both executive and judicial authority and also functioned as banks. Craftspeople engaged in a particular industry tended to live together. Tolls were collected for roads and river crossings; and goods sold within the kingdom were taxed, as were imports and exports. The state fixed the wholesale price of goods and inspected weights and measures. Barter was prevalent,

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as were gold, bronze, and copper coins. Money was lent on interest against promissory notes.

The main road that ran through the entire kingdom and connected it to the western Greek world was well maintained and well patrolled, with pillars and signposts marking the distances and the by-roads. Ships sailed down the Ganges and its tributaries, and to foreign shores such as Sri Lanka, China, and the African and Arabian harbors, and the state took care to destroy pirates.

The Gupta Empire

Chandragupta I (320 – 335 CE) started a rapid expansion of the Gupta Empire and soon established himself as the first sovereign ruler of the empire. It marked the end of 500 hundred years of domination of the provincial powers and resulting disquiet that began with the fall of the Mauryas. Even more importantly, it began a period of overall prosperity and growth that continued for the next two and half centuries which came to be known as a “Golden Age” in India’s history.

The Golden Age

Gupta kings knew that the well-being of the empire lie in maintaining a cordial relationship between the various communities.  They were devout Hindus, yet that did not prevent them from being tolerant towards the believers of Buddhism and Jainism.  

Sanskrit once again attained the status of a lingua franca and managed to scale even greater heights than before.   This intellectual surge was not confined to the courts or among the royalty. People were encouraged to learn the nuances of Sanskrit literature, oratory, intellectual debate, music and painting. Several educational institutions were set up and the existing ones received continuous support.  In classic Indian style, artists and writers were encouraged to meditate on the imagery within and capture its essence in their creations.

Decline and Fall

Circa 467 CE the later rulers of the Gupta Empire lacked the capabilities of the earlier emperors to rule over such a large kingdom. This resulted in a decline in law and order. They were continuously plagued by the attacks of the Huns and other foreign powers. This put a dent in the economic well-being of the empire. On top of this, the kings remained more occupied with self-indulgence than in preparing to meet with the challenges of their enemies. The inept ministers and administrative heads also followed

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suit. The Huns came back to haunt the empire later and finally drew the curtains on this illustrious empire in circa 550 CE.

Introduction to Han China

The Han Dynasty is one of the great dynasties in Chinese history, encompassing nearly four hundred years of expansion and consolidation which coincided with the period of the Roman republic and empire in the West. The period is usually broken down into three stages:

Western Han 206 B.C.E.–9 C.E. (capital at Chang’an) Wang Mang (also called Xin dynasty) 9–23 C.E. Eastern Han 25–220 C.E. (capital at Luoyang)

The Han began with a devastating fight between two rebel groups, one led by Xiang Yu, the other by the leader who would eventually succeed, Liu Bang. The rise and fall of Eastern and Western Han seemed to follow a typical pattern of political unification, imperial expansion, and exhaustion ending in peasant uprisings and a final breakdown of governmental administration.

Significant developments during both major stages included the revival of learning and formulation of Confucian-based educational systems, the expansion of trade and empire to the north, south, and west along the Silk Road, and a general economic expansion domestically, coupled with changes in beliefs and burial practices.

The revival of learning began during the reign of Wendi (180‒157 B.C.E) who instructed scholars to search for missing texts burned by the Qin Emperor. The five classics as defined by Confucius were selected as the basis for an educational system that supported a state bureaucracy based

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on merit, rather than birthright. An imperial examination system was begun in 196 B.C.E and an Imperial Academy begun in 124 B.C.E. By the end of the Western Han, enrollment at the Academy had exceeded 3,000 people.

Various economic measures were taken that expanded state control, including (in 119 B.C.E.) a state monopoly of iron and silk production. Forty-nine foundries produced large numbers of agricultural implements. Steel began to be produced from experiments in making alloys from different irons of different carbon contents. Many farms were involved in silk production. Silk was used to pay taxes, used to trade horses, and made its way to Rome via the Silk Road. During the Eastern Han, a form of paper made from boiled remnants of fabric, bark, rape (a type of flower) and hemp was produced and came into wide use. Along with improvements in paper production, the first Chinese dictionary was compiled around 100 C.E. listing more than 9,000 characters, with an explanation of their meanings.

During the long reign of Wudi (141–87 B.C.E.) the Chinese empire expanded to include parts of Korea and Vietnam. Diplomatic and military expeditions were sent to Central Asia to deal with the Xiongnu, who threatened China’s western frontier. As a result of these maneuvers, the Gansu corridor in the west was colonized by the Chinese, and Ferghana horses were imported and incorporated into the Chinese cavalry. Wudi’s expansion heavily taxed state resources, and there was a general decline in leadership following his reign, leading to the usurpation (illegal seizure) of the throne by an imperial minister, Wang Mang.Despite Wang Mang’s attempts at reform, his power base quickly eroded and the Han was restored by Liu Xiu (reign name, Guang Wudi) in 25 C.E. However, during the latter phase of the Eastern Han, political stability weakened.

For the first time in Chinese history, we have images of rural and daily life during the Han in the form of contemporary records, numerous ceramic burial items and stone monuments. There is a rich array of hunting scenes, barnyard animals, houses, watchtowers, soldiers, entertainers, even kitchen stoves. Behind the proliferation of grave goods lay a belief in the depiction of both the real world and evolving concepts of heavenly realms and celestial beings. Various beliefs held that the soul divided at death, or was summoned to Mount Wutaishan to be weighed before a heavenly court. An elaborate cosmology involving the five elements and the principles of yin and yang, along with Taoist prescriptions for immortality were developing that inspired much of the imagery on art from this time, including strange beings, animals, and cloud formations, and jade items meant to preserve the body. The tomb became a place where the earthly and heavenly met.

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Tombs were outfitted with provisions for the afterlife, a whole dwelling with different rooms for food preparation, banqueting and resting. Ceramic replicas stood in for real objects, and these were coupled with representations of celestial places and their inhabitants.

Han funerary practices extend to this day in the form of burning paper money and models, the idea being that the smoke carries these representations to heaven, just as the smoke from the fires of ancestral altars in the Shang carried offerings to the ancestors thousands of years earlier. Finally, Buddhism began to find its way into China, principally along the Silk Road and by sea, during the Eastern Han, although it did not yet produce a large following.

Taken From: Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/imperial-china/han-dynasty/a/introduction-to-the-han-dynasty

Ancient Greece

Around the year 3000 BCE on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, people began forming city- states. City-states are independent countries that are small, so small that often they were made up of just one central city. Since most of these communities spoke a similar language historians today group them as one ancient society. The language was Greek and the dozens of city-states are today known as Ancient Greece.

Greece was different from many other ancient societies in that it did not form around a large river capable of supporting a vast population. Instead the Greek city-states depended on their ships so that they could found colonies, cities located in different parts of the world, but controlled by the Greeks, and trade with these colonies to get the food and supplies they required. The Mediterranean Sea became of vital importance to the different city-states for this reason. Along with the Mediterranean, the Aegean and Ionian Seas also bordered the Peloponnesian Peninsula, but the Mediterranean was the most commonly used by all of the city-states as it was the largest. With the different communities depending on the sea for food, few communities grew too large enough

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dimensions to warrant more than a city sized country.

The mountainous terrain of the Peloponnesian Peninsula also contributed to the growth of smaller population centers of Ancient Greece. Without an easy way to reach and communicate with each other over land, most city-states found it easier to develop their own laws, rulers and culture rather than share one standard "Greek" ideal. The unique geography in which Greece came into existence led to the peninsula creating many different traditions and bringing forth numerous ideas. Two of the largest city-states that led to many such discoveries were Sparta and Athens.

Sparta was a city-state devoted to the idea that countries are best that are strongest. To achieve this powerful polis (city-state) Sparta developed into a military state. As a military state Sparta set up a system of government meant to always insure the stability of that government. From birth every Spartan spent their life trying to strengthen their society. Weak babies were left in the hills to die from exposure, a common practice for many Greek individuals who feared raising infirm children, but uncommon as a state tradition.

At the age of seven, male children left their homes to begin their education with the state. Boys were trained in athletics, military discipline and in self-denial (going without luxuries). For the next 13 years of their lives men would continue with this training, being inducted into the military as a soldier at the age of 20. Along with joining the military they were also provided with a wife to start a family of their own. Still, the men were not allowed to live with their wives and family until the age of30 and they continued to serve in the army until they were 60 years old.

The government of the Spartans was a dual monarchy, a government run by two kings. The reason for having two kings was that one king would be able to go off to war while the other could remain behind to run the day-to-day affairs of the city. With the kings 28

Spartans, all above the age of 60, served to form a council. Together the 30 Spartans ran the affairs of state. Still there was a third piece to the government. A five man group known as the ephorate that consulted with the gods on all decisions made

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by the kings and council. The ephorate had ultimate power to veto (deny) any decision based on what omens or the gods told them.

Within the state of Sparta there were three basic divisions or classes of people. First, above all others were the Spartiate or native Spartans. These men could trace their ancestry to the original inhabitants of Sparta. Below the Spartiates were the perioeci or businessmen from other countries. These men were given much freedom as they fulfilled many of the social functions that the Spartans themselves, as military men, were unable to accomplish. Last in Spartan society were the helots. These were captured people who farmed for the Spartans and served as a type of indentured servant. Helots were bound to the land and were, in effect, the Spartan version of a slave.

Athens was another powerful polis (city-state) of the Peloponnesian peninsula. The values of this northern state though were vastly different from their southern neighbors the Spartans. Instead of focusing all of their energy on the strength and stability of the state, the people of Athens devoted a great deal of energy to the development of the mind and the rights of all Athenians. To accomplish this goal the people of Athens formed a type of government never before seen in the world. Democracy is a type of government in which the people make decisions for themselves rather than having a king make decisions. All citizens of Athens were therefore allowed to vote so that the people could make their decisions. Still, this did not mean that everyone got what they wanted as women, slaves and men born outside of Athens were not allowed to vote.

The need of having an educated population in a democracy cannot be understated; therefore, the people of Athens educated all male children, and focused their educations on reading and writing though they did also train their boys in athletics. Although Athens did not solely focus on the military life they developed a strong navy as a city-state with a large harbor unlike Sparta to the south who had a much stronger land force.

Contributions of the Athenians that have had the longest impact on history almost exclusively come from non-military men. The first of these men was a government official of Athens named Pericles. As a strong supporter of democracy,

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Pericles led Athens into what became known as the Golden Age. He achieved this time in Athens with the construction of new temples including the Parthenon (the largest Greek temple ever built), the commissioning of new ships to strengthen the navy, the paying of all government officials for the first time, the allowance of more common people into government jobs and the addition of new lands. Unfortunately for Pericles, his reign in Athens ended when the Spartans to the south saw his addition of new lands as a threat and started a war today known as the Peloponnesian War. This war saw the death of Pericles and the end of Athens Golden Age. After almost thirty years of bloodshed the Spartans won.

Another man of Athens was a philosopher by the name of Socrates. As a philosopher, Socrates spent his life contemplating human morality and the meaning of existence. Unlike many thinkers before him Socrates did not go about telling people how the world worked. Instead he asked the men he encountered probing questions and studied their answers to get deeper meanings. This style of asking probing questions to uncover an answer is today known as the Socratic Method. A student of Socrates that contributed to the philosophy of Greece and also the man who recorded the teachings of Socrates was Plato. Plato in turn taught Aristotle, another Greek philosopher, and Aristotle became the teacher of Alexander the Great. Alexander was not born as "the Great," but instead achieved the title through his military conquests. Though not a Greek himself Alexander conquered the Greek city-states and most of the known world from the age of 18 when he became king of Macedonia to the age of33 when he died. After Alexander the Great died the Greek city-states never recovered and therefore his death in 323 BCE marks the end of Ancient Greece.

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Ancient Rome

To understand the mindset of the Romans and thereby understand the history of this intriguing group, first you have to know the legend of the founding of the city of Rome. It all started with a god. Not "the" God. The Romans were polytheistic, they believed that there were many gods. One of these gods was named Mars. He was the god of war, and as such had quite a reputation to maintain. While visiting us mortals one day, Mars met a beautiful young woman. As any good god will do Mars worked his charm and long story short the woman gave birth nine months later to the twin sons of Mars. Being a god, and a violent god, Mars could not see the birth of two sons as a positive thing. Still, he could not bring himself to kill his own children. Instead he set them in a wicker basket and released it down the Tiber River sure that his sons would drown or be eaten by a wild animal. Opposite to his aspirations, a she-wolf suckled the two young boys until a farmer found the twin boys and raised them as his own, naming them Romulus and Remus.

As the children of a god, both boys were talented and ambitious. By the time of their reaching manhood they had already accomplished great deeds. Their greatest feat lay in the founding of a city. Still, as boys often are, they were bitterly competitive, and one day in a fit of jealousy Romulus killed Remus and

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named the city they had founded together Rome in honor of himself over his victory. This is the story of Rome. That which is worth having is worth taking, and that which is taken should be celebrated all else is unimportant. In other words, "If you're not first, you're last."

The true origins of the city of Rome are not known today. What is known is that the city was formed on the western bank of the Tiber River and around the city are seven hills. These features allowed for the rapid growth of Rome as the river provided fresh water and an easy means of transport and trade while the hills provided more defensibility.

Growth in Rome led those of Northern Italy to take note of the initially small community, and this in turn led to Etruscan kings coming and trying to control the original settlers. For a time the farmers and seamen of Rome tolerated the leadership of the northerners, eventually the kings lost control as the Romans took after the model that was Athens and decided they could lead themselves. Rather than steal the direct democracy of Athens where all people make the decisions, the Romans adopted a representative democracy known as a republic in which they elected officials to make their decisions for them. These representatives were known as senators.

The senate of Rome had a variety of responsibilities including the deliberation of new laws, the running of government offices and the election of consuls. Consuls were the actual heads of the Roman Republic. They acted as kings might in other societies having great power such as being able to command the armies, recommend new laws and veto laws with which they did not agree. Still, their power was limited since first there were two consuls who had to agree to each decision before anything could be done and second they were only elected to one year terms. They could be put back in office if the senate was satisfied with their work, or they could be returned to the private life of a patrician that they had left. A patrician is a wealthy landowner of ancient Rome, only patricians could become consuls. Other citizens, known as plebeians, were denied the ability to become consul because they were usually of a poor class or of a foreign background. Guiding the Roman Senate in its decisions was a set of laws known as the Twelve Tables. The Twelve Tables would be akin to the Constitution of the United States today. It was the enumeration of the basic rights of Romans and could be viewed in the forum, a place of public meeting and political discussions.

While the Roman Republic met with great success for a period of hundreds of years, it did not last forever. Under the Republic, Rome grew exponentially taking in vast tracts of land. One of the generals who helped gain this land through

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the force that was the Roman military was Julius Caesar. As a military man, Caesar was unparalleled in his life. He was hailed in the capital city of Rome as a hero and earned the rank of consul through the votes of his friends and allies in the senate. Using an old provision of the senate Caesar was able to retain his office of consul beyond the year that he was to serve by claiming he must stay in office during wartimes. He effectively became dictator of Rome for life. Many Roman citizens were happy with this outcome as Julius Caesar was enormously popular. Another group feared that Caesar remaining as leader would end the Roman Republic and force a single leader upon the citizens of Rome. Because of this Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the middle of the senate chambers by the same friends and allies who had made him consul in the first place.

After his death, Caesar's nephew and adopted son Octavian declared war on the senators and with Mark Antony, Julius Caesar most trusted military adviser, hunted down and killed each of the men who had aided in the death of Caesar. Upon the deaths of the senators, Octavian and Antony split all land that was Roman into a western and eastern half Octavian took control of the western half with the capital city of Rome and Antony took the eastern half A few years later, Antony and Octavian decided that they could no longer share the land and conducted another war to decide Rome's fate. The pivotal battle of the war was the Battle of Actium at which Octavian's general defeated Antony at sea and forced Antony and his Egyptian lover, Cleopatra, to commit suicide rather than be shamed. After the victory Octavian began calling himself imperator- victorious general. Later the term came to be emperor. Octavian became the first Roman Emperor and changed his name to Augustus.

As the first emperor of Rome, Augustus distinguished himself by building a network of roads connecting all the provinces (territories) of Rome and building more aqueducts to supply the cities of the empire with fresh water. He also improved the morale of the empire with "panem et circenses," bread and circuses. By keeping the population fed and entertaining with the slave warrior battles that were the gladiator fights Augustus kept the population in high spirits. The empire grew even larger under the rule of Augustus, and it is under his rule that a 200 year period known as Pax Romana, Roman Peace, began. When he passed away he left the empire to his grandnephew Tiberius.

Tiberius was a passable emperor. He kept the peace and continued construction of roads, but he was not very personable and toward the end of his life secluded himself on a private island to avoid contact with the Roman people. Next in line after Tiberius was the young man Caligula. Caligula was crazy as all get out. Seriously. Ask your teacher. Crazy. Anyway, to give some highlights, Caligula married his sister,

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nominated a horse to become a senator and thought that he was a god. After Caligula was removed forcibly from office with himself and many of his relatives being killed by his own guard his uncle Claudius became emperor. Claudius was very bright, but did not look the part of so powerful a person. He walked with a limp and a hunch and stuttered constantly. Still, he began the construction of even more aqueducts and the modernization of areas of Rome that were beginning to run down. His reign as emperor was short, though, due to his wife, also his niece, killing him with poisonous mushrooms to get her own son Nero in power. He was considered stranger than Caligula, and met with a similar fate a few years after becoming emperor.

After the death of Nero, the Roman Empire was up for grabs to whomever had the most power. Rather than list all of the emperors, here are a few more notable entries. Titus was the first nonviolent succession after Nero was removed from office. There were three emperors killed before Titus's father took office, and Titus died shortly after becoming emperor. During Titus's short reign though, construction of the Colosseum was completed and it was hailed as an architectural wonder wherein sea battles could be reenacted and gladiator fights could occur. Trajan was another emperor of note as he was of Spanish ancestry, the first non-Italian emperor. He also was a brilliant general who guided Rome to its largest geographic size. Commodus was the emperor who ended the period known as Pax Romana, Roman Peace. He was, even by imperial standards, insane. He tried to rename Rome after himself (Colonia Commodiana), he dressed as Hercules and had people worship him as a living god. In the end he was assassinated.

Constantine I was arguably one of the most important men in the development of Western Europe. Up until his reign as emperor the upstart religion of Christianity had been one met always with aggression by the Roman government. Since the death of Jesus of Nazareth during the reign of Tiberius, Rome had found the religion of Christianity akin to that of Judaism, that is to say offensive and silly. The idea of only one god had been outlawed. Under Constantine Christianity was legalized paving the way for the Council of Nicaea and the development of a uniform Christian Bible.

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