1 World History Review Book By Jose Rosario 1) 2000 million years ago life began on earth. a) Life began only in the water; there was no life on the dry land. b) Tiny single celled organisms’ seaweeds and soft-bodied creatures without backbones. 2) 1200 million years ago the first multi cells organism appeared on earth. a) Example: Jelly fish & worms. b) Then, 900 million years ago the first shelled creatures appeared, i) Ex. Mollusks. 3) Around 500 million years ago Oxygen reaches the present days level in the atmosphere, trilobite’s crustaceans appeared in the oceans. 4) Around 400 million years ago the first plants & animals emerged for the sea. 5) Creatures with backbone like scorpions & insects. a) Primitive are the fish first creature with backbone. 6) The Age of the fishes began 300 to 200 million years ago. 7) Amphibians are the first creatures with backbone to crawl out of the water. 8) Reptiles are the first backbone creatures to breed on land. 9) The Dinosaurs Era began at the end of this period between 150 & 65 million years ago.
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World History Review Book
By Jose Rosario
1) 2000 million years ago life began on earth.
a) Life began only in the water; there was no life on the dry land.
b) Tiny single celled organisms’ seaweeds and soft-bodied creatures
without backbones.
2) 1200 million years ago the first multi cells organism appeared on earth.
a) Example: Jelly fish & worms.
b) Then, 900 million years ago the first shelled creatures appeared,
i) Ex. Mollusks.
3) Around 500 million years ago Oxygen reaches the present days level in
the atmosphere, trilobite’s crustaceans appeared in the oceans.
4) Around 400 million years ago the first plants & animals emerged for the
sea.
5) Creatures with backbone like scorpions & insects.
a) Primitive are the fish first creature with backbone.
6) The Age of the fishes began 300 to 200 million years ago.
7) Amphibians are the first creatures with backbone to crawl out of the
water.
8) Reptiles are the first backbone creatures to breed on land.
9) The Dinosaurs Era began at the end of this period between 150 & 65
million years ago.
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10) Foot Print of Human History:
a) Scientists in Africa found a footprint which they believed were
more than 3 million years’ old.
b) We learn about prehistory by studying artifacts & fossils.
c) Scientist use carbon-14 as a method to date the artifacts & fossils
found.
d) They estimate that some fossils are 40,000 or 50,000 years’ old.
11) Between 2,000,000 B.C. and about 35,000 B.C. is what we called the
Stone Age. a) We divide this age in two,
i) the Old Stone Age &
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ii) The New Stone Age (Neolithic).
b) It is called the Stone Age because all the artifacts consisted of stone.
c) The early humans attached a stone to a stick to make weapons and
tools.
12) Between the 2,000,000 B.C. and 8,000 B.C. people were hunters and
food gatherers.
a) These people were nomads. They moved from place to place
gathering, berries, roots and nuts for food.
b) They also followed herds of animals. When the food was gone, they
moved to another area.
c) These early humans walked in groups of 12 or 20, usually families
or clans.
d) They lived, worked and hunted together. This was the best way to
survive.
13) Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia
a) The City of Samaria
14) Sumerians built the Mesopotamia’s cities in the southern part of the
valley. We called the people who moved in the valley Sumerians.
15) The cities of Akkad & Babylon were founded later by people who
moved to the valley they later were known by the Akkadians & the
Babylonians.
16) On the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea Jericho & Ebla were
founded by the same time.
a) Technology
i) Their houses consisted of mud & clay, while the buildings
consisted of bricks of dry mud.
ii) They irrigate their land so farming was easy.
iii) The temples were boxlike houses made of mud bricks and it
was the center of the city life.
b) Their religion ruled the life of the citizen of Samaria.
c) They believed that if the gods were pleased, the people & the city
will enjoy good times.
d) The temple was also a work place for craft’s persons, storehouses
for grain, & a place for where the written records were kept.
e) The Sumerians had schools, but very few children go to them. They
were mostly for children of priest & government officials. f) The students spent their time in learning how to write, read,
mathematics, astronomy, agriculture & religion.
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g) They allowed the teachers to use corporal punishment.
17) A king ruled the Sumerians City & in times by priests, and later by the
military rule.
18) Akkad & Babylon
a) As the Samaria Cities began to decline, Akkad, a city to the north
rose to power.
b) These people came to the valley from the surrounding deserts.
c) They copied the writing system from the Sumerians, and their
religion and law.
d) A king named Sargon the Great (2334 BC - 2279 BC) ruled this
city.
e) He was a war leader and was not content to rule only his city.
i) Sargon made war against other cities and brought all the cities
of the valley under his rule.
ii) Sargon developed the world’s first empire and it lasted for
about two hundred years.
f) An Empire is many different lands brought together under one
government.
g) The Amorites invaded Mesopotamia around 2,000 BC and built the
city of Babylon on the Euphrates River.
h) Their greatest leader was Hammurabi (1792 BC - 1750 BC).
i) He was a warrior that supported the arts in his kingdom.
ii) Hammurabi is remembered for his code of law, which
Sargon wrote in 3,500 lines of cuneiform on a black stone.
iii) We know this law as the Eye for an Eye Law.
iv) The code divided the people in three classes: The nobles, the
free commoners, and the slaves. People under this law were not
equal.
v) The nobles had more rights and privileges.
vi) The punishments were cruel. They cut off people’s body parts
or killed the wrongdoers according to the crime.
vii) This law was based on the principle that people should be
responsible their actions
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Ancient Egypt 19) Two large physical features have dominated Egypt — the Nile River &
the Sahara Desert.
a) The Nile is the world’s longest river & the Sahara Desert is the
largest desert on Earth.
b) The Sahara is hot & dry, rainfall is less than 4 inches of rain a year,
& during day light temperatures can reach 129º F.
c) One fifth of the Sahara consists of sand dunes.
d) The Nile is the most important physical feature of this country. It
flows north for 4,187 miles into the Mediterranean Sea.
20) Most Egyptians live along the river & its delta (land that is form by the
mud & sand as they are deposit by a large river at its end or mouth).
21) Ancient Egyptians divided their land into the Lower Egypt (the delta) &
the Upper Egypt (higher lands).
22) The river helps the Egyptians provide water (irrigation) to their farmers.
23) Mixture of water & soil called silt help the farmer to keep the land
fertile.
24) They dug irrigation ditches & built dams to control the flow of the
water.
25) Along the Nile a large reed that grows wild, called papyrus was very
important to them. They made boats, ropes & paper of this material.
26) The Nile River served as a highway to the ancient Egyptians.
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27) Ancient Egyptians Society
a) The word Pharaoh meant originally Great House, or the King place.
b) It later stood for the pharaohs themselves.
c) They have absolute power & they were considered gods.
d) The Egyptians looked upon him as the living god-king.
e) They obeyed the pharaohs because the thought that their well being
depended on their wisdom.
28) The Nile was for the Egyptians a highway; it connected them with cities
& villages.
29) They had a single ruler for all parts of the Nile (Lower or Upper Nile).
30) Pharaoh Narmer (3,000 BC) united & established his capital at
Memphis.
a) He established the first dynasty (ruling family) he passed down the
right to rule to his children.
31) Every society has unique, or special, characteristics in its culture.
32) Culture is the language, religion, customs & ways of life of a specific
group.
33) The Egyptians believed everybody had a spirit, which they called Ka (a
small copy of a person).
a) They thought that the Ka goes to live in the afterlife.
b) That the longer the body was preserved from decay, the greater the
chance that the ka achieves the afterlife.
c) A mummy is the process of preserving the body after death.
34) Egyptian Society:
a) We divide the history of the Egyptians into three periods: the Old,
the Middle & the New Kingdoms.
b) They divided the people into different classes:
i) the pharaoh, the ruling class (priests & nobles),
ii) the middle class (craftsperson & solider)
iii) the peasants & slaves (farmers & prisoner of wars)
35) Women in ancient Egypt could own properties, work in a business &
mixed freely with men in public.
36) Hatshepsut was a woman pharaoh; she built the temples & monuments.
37) Pyramids are tombs built by the pharaoh, where his body was put to rest,
with the most value possessions.
38) It took 30 years to Cheops to build the Pyramid at Giza, which is as big as ten football fields.
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39) They were supposed to protect the Pharaoh’s body. King
Tutankhamen’s tomb is the most famous of all tombs. King Tut ruled
Egypt in the 12th century BC.
40) The Rosetta stone is a black slab of stone about 4 feet high. On it were
carved three messages, two in ancient Egyptian & one in Greek. An
Alphabet was found on it.
41) Privileged Egyptian children were allowed in school, they studied math,
geometry, astronomy, language arts & others.
42) The Egyptian calendar had 365 1/4 days, where the months have 31
days.
43) Their medicine was advance: performing surgeries, recognized diseases,
& invented medicine for them.
44) The sphinxes are statues of creatures with a body of lions & head of
human.
45) They produced sculptures & painting that show us how this people
looked like.
Planned Cities on the Indus
46) The first Indian civilization builds well-planned cities on the banks of
the Indus River.
47) The Geography of the Indian Subcontinent
48) Indian Subcontinent
a) Subcontinent—landmass that includes India, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh.
b) World’s tallest mountain ranges separate it from rest of Asia.
c) Rivers, Mountains, and Plains
i) Mountains to north, desert to east, protect Indus Valley from
invasion.
ii) Indus and Ganges rivers from flat, fertile plain—the Indo-
Genetic
iii) Southern India, a dry plateau flanked by mountains
iv) Narrow strip of tropical land along coast
49) Environmental Challenges
a) Monsoons Seasonal winds—monsoons—dominate India’s climate
b) Winter winds are dry; summer winds bring rain can cause flooding.
c) Floods along the Indus unpredictable; river can change course. d) Rainfall unpredictable; could have droughts or floods
50) Harappan Planning
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a) City built on mud-brick platform to protect against flood waters.
b) Brick walls protect city and citadel—central buildings of the city.
c) Streets in grid system are 30 feet wide.
d) Lanes separate rows of house (which featured bathrooms)
51) Harappan Culture
a) Language had writing systems of 400 symbols; but scientists can’t
decipher it.
b) Culture:
i) Harappan cities appear uniform in culture; no great social
divisions.
ii) Animals important to the culture; toys suggest prosperity.
iii) Harappan Culture:
(1) Role of Religion
(2) Priests closely linked to rulers.
(3) Some religious artifacts reveal links to modern Hindu
culture.
c) Trade had thriving trade with other peoples, including Mesopotamia
52) Indus Valley Culture Ends
a) Harappan Decline
b) Signs of decline begin around 1750 B.C.
c) Earthquakes, floods, soil depletion may have caused decline
d) Around 1500 B.C., Aryans enter area and become dominant
River Dynasties in China
53) Geography of China
a) Natural barriers isolate China
b) Yellow Sea, South China Sea & the Pacific Ocean to the East.
c) To the west Mountain ranges & deserts dominate about 2/3 of
China’s landmass
d) The Yellow River is a major landmark in this region; it deposits
every year large amount of sediment that made the land fertile.
54) Civilization Emerges in Shang Times
a) The First Dynasties - around 2000 B.C. cities arise; Yu, first ruler of
Xia Dynasty.
b) Yu’s flood control systems tames Huang He (―Yellow River‖)
c) Shang Dynasty, 1700 to 1027 B.C., first to leave written records. 55) Early Cities
a) Built cities of wood, such as Anyang—one of its capital cities.
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b) Upper class lives inside city; poorer people live outside
c) Shang cities have massive walls for military defense
56) Chinese Civilization:
a) They saw China as center of world & view others as uncivilized (or
barbarians).
b) For them the group is more important than the individual.
57) The Family:
a) Family is central social institution; they ask respect for parents a
virtue,
b) Elder males control family property, & Women expected to obey all
men, even sons
58) Social Classes
a) King & warrior-nobles lead society & own the land.
59) Religious Beliefs
a) Spirits of dead ancestors can affect family fortunes
b) Priests scratch questions on animal bones and tortoise shells
c) Oracle bones used to consult gods; supreme god, Shang Di
60) Development of Writing
a) Writing system uses symbols to represent syllables; not ideas
b) People of different languages can use same system.
c) Huge number of characters make system difficult to learn
d) Improvements in Technology and Trade
61) Zhou Dynasty builds roads, canals to improve transportation
a) Uses coins to make trade easier
b) Produces cast iron tools and weapons; food production increases
62) A Period of Warring States
a) Peaceful, stable Zhou empire rules from around 1027- 256 B.C.
b) In 771 B.C., nomads sack the Zhou capital, murder monarch
c) Luoyang becomes new capital; but internal wars destroy traditions
63) The Persian Empire
a) The early Persians were nomads who traveled south from central
Asia & settled in the area of Iran.
b) The founder of the Persian Empire was a Persian chieftain called
Cyrus.
c) His greatness came from his ability to conquer other kingdoms and
to rule without making enemies of his followers. d) Cyrus's first major conquest was over the Lydians, located in
modern-day Turkey.
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e) The Lydians were the first to mint coins for trade.
64) Cyrus set out against the once mighty Chaldean Empire in 539 B.C.
a) That empire was in such a sad state that the Persian army was
welcomed, especially by the Judeans & Phoenicians.
b) He ended the Judeans captivity by Babylonian.
c) Cyrus was killed in battle in 529 B.C. by a fierce nomadic tribe in
the east that was ruled by a queen.
d) The Greatest Persian Ruler
i) Darius I, the king of Persia between 522 B.C. and 486 B.C.,
was Persia's greatest leader
ii) Darius was convinced that only by using strict control could he
keep his empire together.
iii) His government was divided into twenty provinces, called
satrapies or province, is a division of a country.
iv) Each province was headed by nobles to whom Darius gave
much power.
v) Darius sent special agents to check on his government.
(1) These agents were called the eyes & ears of King Darius.
(2) Darius enforced a system of laws that included harsh
punishments for crimes.
vi) When Darius died in 486 B.C., his son Xerxes became king.
vii) Who was far less capable than his father, & the empire began to
decline.
e) The last native ruler of ancient Persia, Darius III.
f) Darius III was defeated by one of the most brilliant leaders of all
time, Alexander the Great.
g) As province after province surrendered to Alexander, Darius III
could only keep moving eastward.
h) Finally, Darius was brutally murdered by one of his own governors.
i) This ended one of the mightiest empires in the Near East.
The Indo-Europeans 1) The Indo-Europeans were a group of nomadic people came
from the steppes dry grassland that stretched north of the
Caucasus Mountains.
2) The languages of these groups are the roots of today language.
a. Spanish,
b. English,
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c. German,
d. Hindi & Persian
3) No one knows why these people left their homeland.
4) Some scientists believe that the human population became too
large to sustain.
5) Two groups developed empires: the Hittites & the Aryans.
6) The Hittites established in Asia Minor or today’s modern
Turkey.
a. They dominated Southwest Asia for 450 years and
occupied Babylonia, and fought Egypt for control of North
Syria.
b. They borrowed ideas, laws, arts and literature from
Mesopotamia.
c. The Hittites used iron & chariots to make war against their
enemies.
d. Their Empire ended around 1190 B.C.
The Ancient Empire
7) The Aryans crossed the Caspian Sea into Indus River Valley
near 1500 B.C.
8) The Aryans were taller, had light skin color and spoke a
different language.
9) They created a society of classes (caste); people were divided
into three castes.
a. Castes determined how people will work; get marrying and
what they could eat.
b. As they moved into India struggles arrived between them
and the Krishna described as dark face people.
Ancient Israel
1) The Story of the Israelites
a. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and back to Canaan,
after hundreds of year of slavery in Egypt.
b. We know about these people through a collection of books
known as the Jewish Bible.
c. In the second book of the Bible, the exodus (it means road-out) when Moses led his people to the promise land.
2) Moses
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a. In the first book (Genesis) it tells the story of Abraham who
lived 3,500 years ago.
b. His descendants were nomads, until they settled in Canaan.
c. They were forced to move to Egypt by a famine.
d. They worshiped one supreme God, who they called
Yahweh (Jehovah in English).
3) The Israelites believed that God made a covenant with
Abraham.
a. They were to be God chosen people so the Israelites would
be faithful to God and not other gods.
b. The Kingdom of Israel
i. Jacob had 12 children with his second wife that
later became the twelve tribes of Israel.
ii. Joseph was one of Jacob’s youngest son &
perhaps his favor.
iii. The other brothers were jealous of him, so one day
they sold him to a group of men that were going to
Egypt.
c. In Egypt he became the Pharaoh right-hand man.
d. A famine happened where his brother’s land was. They
were forced to come to Egypt for food. In Egypt Joseph
helped them to settle.
4) The Egyptians enslaved the Israelites, and then Moses freed
them from the Egyptians, & settled them in the land of Canaan.
a. For a hundred of years they lived in this land making war to
the neighbors.
b. King Saul reigned in Israel 3,000 years ago.
c. The Israelites were at war with the Philistines in this time.
d. This is when the incident between David and Goliath
happened.
5) David was a boy when he killed Goliath, who was 9 feet tall.
a. David became a hero for the Israelites, he was so popular
that when King Saul died David became King of Israel; he
united the twelve tribes of Israel.
b. He made the city of Jerusalem his Capital. His kingdom
was not large (about the size of the State of Vermont).
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Ancient Jerusalem 1) King David’s son, Solomon, became King after the death of his
father.
a. He made Israel rich & strong by trading with tribes &
kingdoms in Africa.
b. He built the Jehovah’s Temple.
c. After the death of Solomon they divided the kingdom into
i. Judah to the South &
ii. Israel to the North.
d. The tribes began to fight each other’s and they were
conquered by the Assyrians & the New Babylonian (The
Chaldeans) which moved thousands to Babylon.
2) Religious Beliefs of the Israelites
a. The Israelites came to believe that Jehovah was the only
God.
b. Monotheism is the belief in one God.
c. They thought because they believe in one God only this
would set them apart from other ancient people.
d. According to their Bible Jehovah gave them a set of laws to
live by.
e. The Ten Commandments:
i. I am the Lord your God . . . You shall have no
other gods before me.
ii. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form
of anything.
iii. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your
God.
iv. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
v. Honor your father and mother . . .
vi. You shall not murder.
vii. You shall not commit adultery.
viii. You shall not steal.
ix. You shall not give false testimony against your
neighbor
x. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house . . . , or
anything that belongs to your neighbor.
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3) A prophet is a religious leader who speaks out against
wrongdoing & warns that punishment will come to those who
break the God’s law.
Seafaring Traders: The Minoans & the Phoenicians
1) The Minoans dominated the Eastern Mediterranean between 2000
to 1400 BC.
a. Established in Crete & other islands of the Aegean Sea.
b. Archeologists name the civilization after King Minus
c. Their main city is Knossos was excavated in the late 19
century.
d. They found a rich civilization: The Minoans were graceful,
athletic people that loved nature & beautiful objects
2) About 1100 B.C. after Crete decline, the most powerful traders in
the Mediterranean were the Phoenicians.
a. They established in the Middle East, Lebanon today.
b. Phoenicians did not have a unified country, but a number of
cities-states, which where trade center.
c. They were excellent ship builders, they were the first
Mediterranean group the venture out through the Strait of
Gibraltar.
3) Ancient Phoenicians
a. The Phoenicians most important cities were Sidon & Tyre.
b. They were known for the production of the red-purple dye.
c. Byblos was known for the trading of papyrus.
d. Phoenicians traded goods from other land:
i. Wine, weapons, precious metals, ivory & slaves.
e. But their greatest legacy was their alphabet, which use
symbols that represent sounds.
f. They introduced their alphabet to the Greeks.
The Greeks
1) The Ancient Greeks believed in many gods.
a. Greek mythology had many gods.
b. There were 12 chief gods, including Zeus, who was the ruler of all the gods and of the world.
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c. The earthly home of the Greek gods was thought to be
Mount Olympus.
d. The gods mingled with humans, helping or punishing them
as they saw fit.
e. The gods were worshiped at home & in public places, as
well as in temples.
2) Greek Philosophers
a. Perhaps their greatest contribution to learning was in
philosophy, a Greek word that means "love of wisdom."
b. Their philosophy was based on the idea that the universe is
an orderly system & that there is a reasonable explanation
for everything.
c. All of modern science is based on this Greek attitude.
d. The greatest philosophers were:
i. Socrates: urged that nothing be accepted without
questioning. Knowledge for Socrates was the way
to the truth & the good life.
ii. Plato taught that the goal of human beings was to
strive for perfection & the highest good.
iii. Aristotle wrote about many subjects, including
philosophy, politics, mathematics, & biology.
3) A strong & healthy body was important to the Greeks.
a. Participation in athletics became a civic duty of Greek
citizens.
b. Athletic contests were part of many religious festivals.
c. The most famous were the Olympian Games which were
held every four years at Olympia, a town in western
Greece.
d. These games were held in honor of the god Zeus.
4) Olympic Games
a. By 800 B.C. they organized into "city-state" or "city."
b. These Greek city-states grew surrounded by fortresses
c. The ancient Greek word for "a high point" each fortress on
a hill was an acropolis.
d. An acropolis was also the center of government and
religion. e. The city-state served as a trading center for the countryside.
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f. At first, Greek city states were ruled by kings and
privileged upper-class.
5) Greece City States
6) The Acropolis
a. Greeks developed a form of government called democracy.
b. The word democracy comes from the Greek words demos
meaning "people" and kratos meaning "rule."
c. It is a government in which the people rule through free
elections & a system of representation.
d. Every city-state had an assembly of all its citizens.
e. The assembly met only on occasions when there was
something especially important to decide.
7) Homer was a trovador - poet/singer.
a. Historians believe that Homer was blind & that maybe he
didn’t know how to read or write.
b. He supposedly wrote two epic poems
i. The Iliad - Story of the Trojan Wars - Helen of
Troy, Achilles, Hector, Paris etc . . . The Movie
Troy with Brad Pitt
ii. The Odyssey - the Long journey home Odysseus
after the Trojan War.
Athens vs. Sparta
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8) Democracy in Athens
a. In the fifth century B.C., Pericles came to power.
b. Under him, the Athenian democracy & power was at its
height.
c. Pericles described Athenian democracy as a government
that "favors the many instead of the few."
d. For him democracy had 4 principles:
i. rule by the majority,
ii. equality before the law,
iii. personal freedom, &
iv. The right to get ahead through one's ability instead
of one's social class.
e. Citizens were chosen to serve on a jury, or a group of
people called into court to give a verdict, or decision, in a
dispute.
9) Militarism of Sparta
a. Sparta was ruled more like a military camp.
b. Spartan boys were at the age of seven & trained by the state
in military schools & learned to be soldiers.
c. All men were expected to serve as soldiers & lived in
barracks until age 30.
d. When their service was over, they were allowed to marry &
begin their families.
e. It was a crime not to marry & have children for the state.
f. All men were expected to marry strong & healthy women
who were able to have healthy children.
g. To insure strong & healthy citizens, all newborn babies
were examined for defects.
h. Weak or deformed babies were either left to die or thrown
from cliffs.
10) The Greek-Persian Wars
a. As the Greek city-states greatest enemies were the Persians.
b. The first man who led the Persians against the Greeks was
named Darius I.
c. Though greatly outnumbered, the Greeks won a famous
victory at Marathon.
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d. Ten years later, Darius's son invaded Greece with a great
army of 200,000 soldiers. But the Greeks were prepared.
The movie 300 shows this event from the Spartan point of
view
e. They built their own fleet & won a great victory in the
battle of Salamis.
f. Never again did the Persians try to invade Greece.
g. The Greeks had preserved their independence and their
civilization.
11) Peloponnesian Wars
a. Rivalry between Sparta & Athens led to the Peloponnesian
War.
b. The war began in 431 B.C., & it lasted for 27 years.
c. The Spartans won, & for a short time, Sparta replaced
Athens as the leading Greek city-state.
d. However, many Greek city-states did not like Spartan
leadership any more than they liked Athenian leadership.
e. For 60 years, Greeks fought Greeks.
12) Alexander the Great
a. In northern Greece a strong Greek state had formed in
Macedonia.
b. Between 359 B.C. and 336 B.C., Macedonia had a strong
king named Philip II.
c. Philip became ruler of all Greece by 338 B.C. uniting the
Greeks city-states under his leadership.
d. Philip planned to lead a campaign against the Persians, but
he was murdered at his own daughter’s wedding by one of
his officers.
e. It was left to his son, Alexander, to carry out the plan.
f. Alexander was only 20 years old when he became king of
Macedonia.
g. He went on to become the most famous ruler of ancient
Greece & ancient world.
h. In 334 B.C., he led an army into Asia Minor, where he won
the first of his battles against the Persians.
i. In few years, he conquered all the lands from Greece to the Indus River, now Pakistan.
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j. Alexander also conquered Egypt & had himself declared
pharaoh.
k. He founded a new city in the delta of the Nile & named it
Alexandria, after himself.
l. His empire covered some 2 million square miles.
m. Alexander ruled this empire for only 13 years, until his
death in 329 B.C. at the age of 33.
13) What the Greeks Left Behind?
a. Because of Alexander's empire, the blending of Greek &
Middle Eastern cultures resulted in the Hellenistic
civilization.
b. Hellenistic civilization was centered in the great cities of
northern Africa & the Middle East.
c. Eastern & Greek learning was combined to advance
knowledge in mathematics, geography, astronomy, &
medicine.
d. Hellenistic literature, art, & architecture still exist.
e. Columns Greek builders made use of many stone columns.
f. They designed the three styles shown in the drawing.
g. It is easy to identify each column by its top part, called the
capital.
i. The Doric
ii. The Ionic
iii. The Corinthian
h. Many public buildings in Washington, D.C., and in the
state capitals are copied from ancient Greek architecture.
i. The Greek way of life is part of our heritage -- ideas and
things handed down to us from the past.
Rome
1) The Roman Republic
2) About 2000 B.C., large groups of Latin-speaking people from
central Europe moved into the Italian peninsula.
a. They lived as farmers & shepherds in villages in the fertile
plain around the Tiber River.
b. By 1500 B.C. Rome would be able to control the best trade routes between northern & southern Italy.
c. Romulus was the first of seven Latin kings to rule Rome.
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Roman Empire
1) The Italian Peninsula
a. The Etruscans were warriors who lived city-states ruled by
kings & nobles.
b. By 600 B.C. they controlled most of northern & central
Italy, including Rome.
c. In 509 B.C. the Latin rebelled, or fought, against Etruscan
rule.
d. Rome overthrew its Etruscan king & became a republic.
2) A republic is a form of government that allows the people to rule
themselves through elected representatives.
a. These representatives were responsible to those who
elected them to office.
b. The Roman government had to rule according to a specific
set of laws.
c. The Roman Republic lasted for over 450 years.
d. During that time, Rome grew from a local city state to
become the master of all of Italy.
3) Life in the Roman Republic
a. The Roman citizens were not all equal.
i. They were divided into three social classes:
1. The Patricians were the landowners, a
minority, but they had the most property,
money & power.
2. The Plebeians were merchants, artisans,
laborers, soldiers, & free farmers who
made the 90% of the population
3. Slaves were considered property by their
owners, & weren’t citizens.
b. The plebeians were free people but couldn’t be elected to
public office, & had no voice in the government.
4) The slaves had no rights.
a. They were bought & sold like any other kind of property.
b. Slaves were prisoners of war. c. People who had fallen in debt were sold into slavery to pay
their debts.
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d. They worked on the farms or as household servants for the
patricians.
5) The center of Roman life was the family.
a. Indeed, our own word family comes from the Latin word
―familia‖.
b. It included grandparents, relatives, married sons, their
wives & children.
c. The father was the head of family & had absolute power
over the family & its property.
d. Roman women had very few legal rights:
i. She couldn’t vote or hold public office.
ii. Women held a respected place in society.
iii. Wives had great authority over the children.
The Influences of Julius Caesar 1) Julius Caesar was a talented young general who by 45 B.C. had
become the undisputed master of the Roman world.
a. Civil War worries many Romans so they gladly accepted
Caesar's rule.
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b. They hoped that a strong leader would bring peace to
Rome.
c. They made Julius Caesar dictator for life.
d. This meant that he appointed all officials, acted as head of
the state religion, was commander in chief, & decided on
such important matters as war or peace without having to
consult the Roman Senate.
e. Julius Caesar wanted fame and glory; he also wanted peace
for Rome & its Empire.
2) He wanted a fair government for the Roman people.
a. Caesar gave Roman citizenship to all conquered peoples.
b. Caesar tried to help poor Romans by offering free land to
those who would move to unsettled parts of the empire.
c. Caesar even reformed the calendar so that year included
365 days in 12 months.
d. One of the months in our calendar is named after him.
e. Many believed that Caesar was a wise ruler.
f. But, some feared that Caesar was too powerful. A group of
patricians planned to murder Caesar by a surprise or secret
attack, called assassination.
3) The death of Julius Caesar brought more civil war to Rome.
a. Of all of the would-be successors to Caesar, the youngest
of them all emerged as the winner.
b. His name was Julius Caesar Octavianus, called Octavian in
English. Octavian was Julius Caesar's grandnephew &
adopted son.
c. One of Octavian's strongest enemies was Mark Antony,
who wished to make himself supreme ruler in the eastern
provinces of the Roman Empire.
d. But Octavian's forces beat Mark Antony's.
4) With Anthony’s defeat at the Battle of Actium, in 30 B.C., 17
years after Caesar's death Octavian became the Roman world
ruler.
a. Octavian was the 1st Emperor of Roman; he was supreme
ruler of the entire Roman Empire.
b. Octavian was also given the title Augustus, meaning "honored."
c. He came to be known as Caesar Augustus.
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d. With all ruling power given to him by the Roman Senate,
Augustus ruled the Roman world from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14.
5) Roman Religion
a. Rome had an official religion, which they copied their
religion from the Greeks.
b. The chief public god worshiped by all Romans was Jupiter
(or Zeus)
c. They celebrated many holidays in honor of their gods.
d. The public religion was a badge of Roman citizenship &
loyalty to the republic.
e. However the Romans were tolerant to other religions, such
as Christianity.
6) Being a Christian in the Rome was dangerous.
a. The Empire allowed its people to have as many gods as
they wished.
b. However people were to make offerings to the state
religion, people that refused were considered traitors.
c. Christians could not worship both their own God & the
Romans gods, so they appeared disloyal.
d. In the 1st three centuries they were persecuted.
7) Paul of Tarsus, a Jew that persecuted Christians through the
Empire, converted.
a. He traveled the empire spreading Christianity; his letters
are in the New Testament.
b. Roman officials stopped the persecution, & many admired
them for their suffering, charity, hard work, & good moral
living.
c. Their message was welcomed by many.
d. In 312 AD the Emperor Constantine converted to
Christianity, making it the Official religion.
8) The Fall of the Empire
a. By 192 A.D. the Empire was taken over by a number of
generals no or little education.
b. It was too weak to protect their citizens from road robbers
& sea pirates.
c. Rome was saved by two strong Emperors. d. Diocletian - divided it in two, east & west.
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e. Constantine - converted to Christianity & moved its capital
to Greece.
f. The Eastern Empire grew stronger, while the Western
Empire struggled with outside invaders & internal
economic problems.
g. By the 4th century, Germanic tribes moved into Roman
territory, they became a threat to the empire.
h. As barbarian invaders carved kingdom after kingdom out of
a declining Western Roman Empire, Rome itself fell to
barbarians.
i. The word barbarian meant peoples that spoke other.
j. In 476 AD, the last of the weak emperors was forced to
resign.
k. With this final act the Western Roman Empire came to an
end.
l. Languages than Latin.
9) What did Rome leave us?
a. Roman civilization created a rich culture that lasted long
after the end of the Roman Empire.
b. Rome's achievements were Roman law & government.
c. Much of our vocabulary dealing with government & law
comes from the Latin language, e.g. government, law,
constitution, court, judge, senate, president, council, and
citizen.
d. We use the Roman alphabet to write & read today.
e. Latin language gave birth to Italian, French, Spanish,
Portuguese & Romanian.
f. English is not a Romance language, but it includes many
words that come from Latin.
g. Today, visitors to Rome can marvel at the remains of the
temples, baths, arenas, arches, palaces, and amphitheaters.
Medieval the Social Classes
1) The peasants were the backbone and muscle of agriculture,
which was the economic foundation of feudalism.
a. All the peasants were either freemen or serfs. b. The serf owed his labor to the lord.
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c. He had to work in the lord's fields for about three days a
week, and longer at planting and harvesting time.
d. The other peasants were freemen who owned land or rented
it from a lord.
e. Freemen owed few, if any, obligations to a lord.
2) Feudal Society
a. The lives of the serfs were hard.
b. They lived in thatched huts with one room, or two at most,
& dirt floors.
c. Glass windows were unknown.
d. They worked from sun-up to sun- down and in most cases
slept on straw on the floor.
e. Serfs sometimes had to share space with their animals.
f. Candles were hard to get, so they went to bed when it got
dark.
3) Training for Knighthood:
a. If the serf's job in the feudal world was to work, then the
lord's job was to fight.
b. A boy of noble birth began his training to become a knight
when he was seven years old.
c. The boy did not go to school but was sent to live with
another noble family as a page.
d. A page learned how to throw a lance, shoot a bow and
arrow, and fight with a sword.
e. He also learned how to ride a horse, take care of his armor,
and behave like a knight.
i. Squires: At about age 14 a page who qualified
became a squire to a knight.
ii. A squire's job was to serve the knight.
iii. He waited upon the knight when he ate, helped the
knight on with his armor, and kept the armor in
good condition.
iv. A squire learned how to fight by watching his
master.
v. He practiced continuously with weapons &
strengthened his body through vigorous exercise.
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vi. Once the squire had become a skilled fighter, he
could become a knight upon his twenty-first
birthday.
f. The new knight was supposed to continue to keep in shape
and to sharpen his fighting skills.
4) Knights Tournaments
a. These skills were tested during tournaments that could last
as long as a week.
b. Several contests called jousts took place.
c. The contest was between two knights who rode at one
another trying to unhorse one another using blunted lances.
d. The climax of the tournament was a battle between two
teams of knights, who fought with blunted weapons, e.g. In
Ivanhoe, Sir Waiter Scott describes the tournaments.
5) Knights Tournaments
a. Code of Conduct: Knights were good fighters, but they
were often crude and brutal men.
b. Over time, a code of conduct for knights, called chivalry,
was developed.
c. Chivalry grew from several origins, the most important of
which was the Church, which hoped to improve the
conduct and manners of the knights.
d. They were brave; loyal; truthful; generous; courteous;
gracious; kind to the poor, the weak, & all women; & a
protector of the Christian church.
6) Feudalism
a. After the fall of the Roman Empire (472 AD), the European
society was organized in a system based on land & war.
i. A vassal was a person that received land (a fief)
from a landlord; the vassal will work the land &
give himself for military service to the Lord.
ii. Lords (vassals) were the servants of a king or
queen.
iii. This system of duties & exchanges based on land,
war, & tradition is called feudalism
iv. At the bottom of society lived the people called serfs that were bound by tradition to live on land
owned by a local lord.
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7) Feudal Society
a. Religion glued the feudal society together.
b. A mostly Christian people, Europeans believed that
everything was part of a hierarchy.
c. The world hierarchy stretched from God to humans, to
animals, to plants, down to stones & other lifeless matter.
d. Europeans believed that trying to change person’s place in
society meant disobeying to God's will.
8) Charlemagne
a. The most important medieval Europe king when inherited
his throne 758 AD.
b. His name was Charlemagne or ―Charles the Great‖.
c. He was 6' 9" tall man that reigned for 46-year & died at age
72, unusual for the middle Ages.
d. He spent his adult life at war, conquering territory in
Europe.
e. By the end of his life, his kingdom included all of modern
France, Belgium, the Netherlands, & Switzerland; much of
Italy, Germany & Spain.
f. Charlemagne Empire
i. Although he was extremely intelligent, he could
not read or write.
ii. Charlemagne established schools, & had rare
books copied for others to read.
iii. He helped to spread Christianity throughout his
empire.
g. On Christmas Day, 800 AD, in St. Peter's Church the Pope
placed a crown on his head, & declared him the Holy
Roman Emperor.
h. Weak rulers followed him to the throne and his empire did
not last long after his death.
i. An Epic Poem called the Song of Roland is still learned
today by every French student.
9) Charlemagne Empire
a. Christianity Becomes the Way of Life in Europe
b. The Church had a bigger an impact on the lives of European people than any other institution.
c. Europeans referred to this time period as the Age of Faith.
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d. The Church spread a belief system that gave meaning to
people's lives.
e. It said that right will win over evil, giving people hope that
they could find a better life in heaven, after death.
f. If they did not lead a good life on earth, then they go to
hell.
10) Christianity
a. The men, called monks, lived in monasteries. The women,
called nuns, lived in convents.
b. Both devoted their lives to God and to their religion.
c. Monasteries & convents were clusters of stone buildings
linked by a defensive wall.
d. Inside were a church, a courtyard, & a bakery.
e. Other buildings included a small hospital, a stable, &
workshops.
f. There were always rooms available to house travelers.
g. Outside the walls were fields used for farming.
11) Monastery
a. Whoever joined these communities gave up all their
possessions, promised never to marry, & obey the abbot,
head monk or nun.
i. Monks :
1. devoted to prayer,
2. intellectual & physical work,
3. copied classic books,
4. had the largest libraries,
5. Improved the glass making,
metalworking, & wine making.
ii. Nuns:
1. devoted to prayer,
2. To intellectual & physical work.
3. Similar in many ways to monasteries.
4. Copied Latin & Greek books.
5. provided education for girls
6. Served as nurses.
12) The Crusades a. Pope Urban II announced that "God Wills It!" would be the
Christian cry for taking part in a holy war.
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b. The purpose of this war was to free the Holy Land –the
land where Jesus lived-- from Muslim control.
c. The Muslims are people who follow the teachings
Muhammad, Islam’s prophet.
d. This holy war was called Crusade.
e. Knights heard Pope Urban II speech, in 1095, & ripped
their cloaks into strips to make crude crosses to wear on
their chests.
f. The Crusaders
i. The 1st Crusaders motives. Faith & getting the
Holy Land were driving forces.
ii. Others though that they might get more land &
acquire wealth. Some wanted glory & adventure.
iii. Many believed that their sins would be forgiven.
iv. Serfs saw it as an escape from the manor.
g. Merchants saw the possibilities of trade & profit.
13) The Christian forces (knights & nobles) from Western Europe
numbered in the 90,000.
a. After 3 years of war only 12,000 Christian’s fighters
survived, they siege Jerusalem & captured it; the streets ran
red with blood.
b. After 90 years of Christian occupation Jerusalem was
recaptured by the Muslims.
c. Several more Crusades were attempted, but they all failed.
d. The Holy Land remained Muslim hands & would remain so
until 1948.
e. War and Disease Kill Millions
14) The Black Death: was the most
a. Destructive force ever to invade Europe.
b. A disease, called bubonic plague.
c. It entered Europe from Asia in 1348.
d. It was carried ashore in the blood streams of fleas riding on
the backs of rats.
e. It was called the Black Death because dark blotches on the
victim's skin.
f. It could kill a person in less than a day; however it usually lasted from three days.
15) The Black Death
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16)
a. Between more than half of Europe population died from it.
b. In Paris, 800 people died a day cutting the city population
in ½.
c. Food ran short during those years b/c few people were alive
to farm.
d. In spite of the destruction caused by the Black Death, the
Hundred Years' War continued.
17) The Hundred Years' War:
a. A series of conflicts began between England & France in
1397.
b. The English king claimed the kingdom of France after the
death of French king.
c. The Hundred Years' War, which was actually a series of
wars separated by periods of peace, was fought on French
land.
d. The war ended in 1453, the same year as the Byzantine
Empire.
e. Knights & castles were obsolete as the fifteenth century
drew to a close.
f. Saint Joan of Arc was a peasant girl born in eastern France.
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g. Joan led France army to several important victories during
the Hundred Years' War, claiming divine guidance.
h. She was indirectly responsible for the coronation of Charles
VII.
i. She was captured & sold to the English, tried by a religious
court, & burned at the stake when she was 19 years old.
j. 24 years later the Pope reviewed the court decision & found
her innocent, & declared her a martyr.
18) By the 1400s, Europeans' technology took the lead.
a. They could sail great distances & return safely with their
cargoes.
b. Gunpowder gave Europeans an advantage in warfare.
c. By about 1500s twenty million books had already been
printed.
i. The Printing Press
ii. The Caravel iii. Gunpowder - Muskets & Cannons
19) By 1200 A.D., 700 years had passed since the fall of the
Roman Empire &/so people began to forget its greatness.
a. The feudalist society began to change by the 1300s.
b. After long periods of war & plagues, people were ready to
celebrate life.
c. Many began to question the church authority & its teaching
of “suffering while people waited for the salvation & the
havens.” 20) In1271, Marco Polo, his uncle & father left their native
Venice on a journey.
a. After traveling for 3 years, they arrived at the court of the
emperor of China.
b. The Polos remained in China for17 years.
c. After he returned to Venice, Marco Polo wrote about his
experiences.
d. This sent European merchants hurrying to set up trading
expeditions to eastern Asia.
e. After the crusades merchants began to trade with the
east, &/so fortunes were made. 21) The Medici was an Italian family that created an economic
empire through trading & banking.
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a. In this period scholars wanted to return to the learning of
the Greeks & Romans.
b. Many Artists got inspire from the Roman & Greek ruins.
c. They studied manuscripts filled with classic ideas of the
ancient civilizations.
22) Lorenzo de Medici
a. "The Adoration of the Magi" b. The study of the classic text led to Humanism, an
intellectual movement that focused on human
potential & achievements.
c. This movement influence writers & artists to look &
understand ancient Greek values.
d. The spirit of the renaissance was secular – worldly rather
than spiritual & concerned with the here & now.
e. Church leaders & rich merchants became patrons of the
arts, by financially supporting the artists, like the Medici
Family
23) The European Renaissance, which started around 1300, was
the rebirth of quest for knowledge.
a. The word "renaissance" means "rebirth."
b. European scholars began to look critically at the world
around them.
c. Many studied the sciences, especially mathematics, a
discipline in which Muslim scholars had made great
advances.
d. Music, arts, architecture, literature & others.