WHAP TOPICS & OVERVIEWS
Page inspired and several summaries recorded by Jim Lloyd of the Fresno Unified School District
***THANK YOU WHAP 2004-2005 FOR THEIR HELP IN CONSTRUCTING THIS PAGE***
The Ancient World
  
Stonehenge, The Cave of Lascaux, Venus of Willendorf
The period from about 4 million years ago to AD 500 covers a vast sweep of the worlds history, from the appearance of thew first human beings to the fall of the Roman Empire. Our earliest ancestors appeared in Africa some 2.5 million years ago, having evolved from man-apes who came down from the trees and learned to walk uprights on two legs. Over thousands of years, they learned how to male fire to keep themselves warm and to cook through food, how to hunt, and how to make tools. The first ever metal tools and weapons were made in the Near East about 7,000 tears ago.
Throughout the world, early people lived by hunting animals and gathering wild fruit, roots, and nuts to eat. Then, about 10,000 years ago, an extraordinary change took place. People learned how to grow their won crops on patches of land and to raise their won animals for food. For the first time in history, people began to build permanent homes, followed by town and cities.
By about 5000 BC, the worlds first civilizations began to emerge along the banks of rivers where the land was extremely rich for farming. The Sumerians, Assyrians, and Babylonians built magnificent cities and temples on the fertile plains between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The ancient Egyptian flourished along the river Nile. By about 500 BC, important civilizations had also appeared in India, China, Persian and in North and Couth America.
The great age of ancient Greece and Rome is known as the classical world. Between them, these two mighty civilizations played a major role in shaping the modern world. From Greece came discoveries in politics, philosophy, and science. These were spread farther afield by the Greek conqueror, Alexander the Great, and by the Roman, who were great admirers of Greek culture and knowledge. The Romans added many achievements of their own and, by the 1st century AD, they ruled over the most powerful empire ever seen. By AD 500, the empire had fallen and the ancient world was in decline. The Middle Ages had begun.
The First Humans
 
Hominid Fossils & Hand Axe
Life on our planet began some 3.2 billion years ago, with tiny cells that lived in the sea. But first human-like creatures did not appear until about 5 million years ago, in Africa. These man-apes came down from the trees they lived in and began to walk on two legs.
The most complete man-ape skeleton was found in Ethiopia, East Africa, in 1974. She was nicknamed Lucky because the archaeologists who discovered her were listening to the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds at the time. Lucy stood just over a meter tall, about as tall as a 10-year-old girl. When she died, 3 million years ago, she was 40 years old.
The first true human beings, called Homo habilis, or handy man appeared about 2.5 million years ago. They had bigger brains and were more intelligent than the man-apes. A million years later another species, Homo erectus, or upright man appeared. Over the next 2 million years, these early humans, or hominids, learned to make tools, to hunt, and gathered food, to make shelters and fire and to communicate. Homo erectus was the first hominid to spread from Africa to Asia and later Europe.
Modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens, our own direct ancestors, first lived about 100,000 years ago. They were skillful toolmakers and hunters. By about 35,000 years ago, they had spread all over Europe and had reached Australia.
The First Farmers
Illustration of Early Farming
For the great majority of human history, people have found their food by hunting and gathering. They hunted wild animals, such as mammoths, bison, and deer, and gathered berries, nuts, and roots to eat. Meat made up about a third of prehistoric people's diet and because they had to follow the herds of animals they hunted, they were not based in one place, but lived as nomads, moving from camp to camp with the changing seasons. Then, about 10,000 years ago, a massive change occurred in the way people lived. People learned how to grow their own crops and to rear animals for their meat, milk, and skins. Instead of having to roam farther and farther afield to find enough food to eat, people found they could grow enough food on a small patch of land to feed their families. This meant, in turn, that they had to settle in once place all year round and build permanent houses. These people were the first farmers. Their farming settlements became the first villages, which grew to become the first towns.
Plants and animals that are grown or raised by people are know as domesticated, or tamed. The first domesticated plants and animals were developed from plants and animals found in the wild. Wheat and barely were two of the first crops to be domesticated. They had grown wild in parts of the Near East for thousands or years. The first farmers collected seeds from these wild plants and sowed them in ground dug over with deer antlers. (Plows were not invented until about 6,000 years ago.) The following year, the crop was harvested and the grain used for grinding into four. It was used to make bread, which was baked on hot stones. Grain was also made into beer. Farmers also learned how to tame wild animals and breed them in captivity. The first domesticated animals were sheep, goats, and pigs. These animals are still among the most common domesticated animals in the world.
The First Towns
 
Wall of Jericho, Ancient Jordanian City
Once people began to farm and to settle in permanent villages, the worlds population grew rapidly. Towns grew up with a more complex way of life. More houses were built and services were established for the people of the town to use, such as roads, drainage systems, and stores. Trade also grew between the towns, as neighboring farmers bought and sold any surplus produce. Specialist craft workers produced clay pots, jars, and cooking vessels. Others carved figurines and fine jewelry for use by the towns people and for trade. Little is known about the first towns. The ruins of two ancient towns, however, have provided archaeologists with a fascinating glimpse into the past-Jericho in Jordan in the Near East, and Catal Huyuk in Turkey.
Dating from 8000 BC, Jericho was one of the oldest towns to be examined by archaeologists. The town was constructed near a natural spring, which was ideal for watering farmers fields. Wheat and Barley were grown, with sheep and goats raised for their meat. Jericho also stood on an important trade route and quickly grew wealthy. Among the goods traded were obsidian (a volcanic, glassy rock), shells, and semiprecious stones used to make necklaces. To defend itself, the town was surrounded by massive stone walls, with a great, circular watchtower 30 feet (9 m) tall. Inside the walls stood small, circular houses made of mud bricks, shaped by hand and left to bake hard in the sun. Jerichos walls were destroyed many times, but not invading enemies.
Mesopotomia and Sumer
  
Stele of Naram-Sin, Mesopotamia and Cunieform Tablet
One of the worlds earliest civilizations grew up on the fertile plains between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Now situated in Iraq, this area became known as Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers. In about 5000 BC, a group of people called the Sumerians settled in the southern part of Mesopotamia.
Although the climate was host and dry, the fertile land was ideal for growing crops and farmers soon learned how to build irrigation canals to bring water from the rivers to their fields. As more land was cultivated and more food produced, the population grew. By about 3500 BC, the original farming villages had grown into thriving towns and cities. Some of the larger settlements such as Ur and Uruk, grew into cities, into independent city-states. The cities were ruled by Councils of Elders.
In times of war, the Council appointed a lugal, or general, to lead the army. As wars between the rival cities became more frequent, so the lugals powers grew. From about 2900 BC, the lugals became kings and ruled for life.
In the center of each city stood a temple to the citys patron god or goddess. The Sumerians worshipped hundreds of gods and goddesses. They believed they controlled every aspect of nature and everyday life. It was vital to obey the gods and to keep them happy, with daily offerings in the temple. Otherwise, they might send wars, floods, and disease to punish the people.
The Sumerians were expert mathematicians and astronomers, with two systems of counting. One was a decimal system, using the number 10, like the system we use today. The other used units of 60, for calculating time and the areas of circles. The Sumerians were the first to divide an hour into 60 minutes. The also devised a calendar, a complex legal system, and adapted the potters wheel for transportation. Their most important breakthrough, however, was the invention of writing in about 3500 BC.
The Assyrians
  
The Famous Winged Bulls of Assyria
The Assyrians come from an area in northern Iraq at the Tigris river. They were ruled over by powerful neighbors in Sumer and Akkad. In 2000 B.C. they gained independence. They became fierce conquerors. They ruled with force and showed no mercy. At first the army was just a group of farmers, but it became a group of well-organized men, many prisoners of war. The assyrian king demanded tribute from conquered areas. If a city did not pay tribute, its people were treated brutally and tortured.
By 612 BC the assyrian empire had become too large and unwieldy and it fell to invading meads and Babylonians. The king was not only in charge of the army and the government, but he was also the leader of the priests and temples. The 1st capitol was Ashur, named after their main god. The kings palace was built in the city of Nimrud with amazing architecture.
The Babylonians
 
Hanging Gardens, Stele of Hammurabi (giving law codes)
Babylon first grew powerful under the rule of King Hammurabi (c. 1792-1750 BCE). Before this, Babylon had been one of several small kingdoms in Mesopotamia. Hammurabi conquered the other kingdoms and extended Babylons frontiers to include Sumer and Akkad. The city of Babylon, with its magnificent temples and palaces, became the capital of the new empire.
Hammurabi was a just and diplomatic ruler. He is famous for his code of law, the oldest surviving in the world. The laws were recorded on clay tablets and stone pillars for all to see. After his death, Babylon declined in power and was invaded by the Hittites, Kassites, Chaldeans and Assyrians. The Assyrian king Sennacherib destroyed the city in 689 BCE. In the 6th century BCE, however, during the reign of King Nebuchadnezar II, Babylon regained its former glory. The king conquered a huge empire and rebuilt the city on a very grand scale, surpassing any other city in the ancient world. Babylon was finally captured by the Persians in 539 BCE and became part of the mighty Persian Empire.
The awe-inspiring city of Babylon stood on the banks of the river Euphrates (near Baghdad in modern-day Iraq). The capital of the Babylonian empire, it was also a major trading center and a flourishing religious complex, especially for the worship of the god Marduk, the patron of the city. In fact, the name Babylon means, "Gate of the God." King Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilt the city in magnificent style, with enormous city walls, and eight massive bronze gates. The grandest gate, the Ishtar Gate, opened on to the Processional Way, which linked the great Temple of Marduk inside the walls to an important religious site outside the city. At the New Years festival, statures of the gods were paraded along this route and through the gate, while stories were told of Marduks famous triumph over chaos. Nebuchadnezzar also built a breathtaking palace between the Ishtar Gate and the river Euphrates. Built around five spacious courtyards, it was known as "the Marvel of Mankind."
Ancient Egypt
 
Pyramids, Sphinx
Without the life-giving waters of the river Nile, ancient Egypt would have been a barren desert, too dry for farming or living. The ancient Egyptians depended on the Nile river for drinking water and irrigation, and on its annual flooding that deposited rich, silty soil along its banks.
Here farmers cultivated wheat and barley (for bread and beer), flax (for linen), fruit, and vegetables. They also raised cattle, sheep, and goats. So vital was the river that the Greek historian, Herodotus, described ancient Egypt as the gift of the Nile.
The first villages of ancient Egypt were established some 7,000 years ago. In time, these small settlements formed two kingdoms-Lower Egypt in the Nile delta and Upper Egypt along the river valley. In about 3100 BC, King Menes, the ruler of Upper Egypt, united the two kingdoms and built his capital in Memphis. He also established Dynasty 1, the first dynasty (line of kings) of ancient Egypt. The king was the most powerful person in ancient Egyptian society and was worshipped as the god Horus, in human form. From about 1554 BC, the king was given the honorary title of pharaoh, from the Egyptian words per aa, which means great house. To keep the royal blood pure, the pharaoh often married a close relation, such as his sister or half-sister. The pharaoh appointed two officials, called viziers, to help him govern and collect taxes. The country was also divided into 42 districts, called nomes, each governed on the pharaohs behalf, by officials called nomarchs. Further officials were put in charge of the major state departments-the Treasury, the Royal Works (which supervised the building of pyramids and tombs), the Granaries, Cattle and foreign Affairs. Every aspect of Egyptian life was under the pharaohs control.
Egyptian Beliefs
 
Tutankhamen, Anubis
The Ancient Egyptians believed firmly in life after death. When a person died, their soul was thought to travel to an underworld, called Duat. Here the soul had to pass a series of ordeals in order to progress to a better life in the next world.
The greatest test took place in the Judgement Hall of Osiris, god of the dead. Here the persons heart was weighed against the Feather of Truth. If the person had led a wicked life, their heart would be heavy and tip the balance. Then they were fed to a terrible monster. If their life had been virtuous, their heart would be light and balance with the feather. The person could then proceed to the next world, called the Kingdom of the West.
For a persons soul to prosper in the next world, their body had to survive intact. The ancient Egyptians discovered how to preserve bodies by using the process of mummification. After the internal organs had been removed, the body was dried out, oiled, and wrapped in linen strips, then placed in its coffin. Animals were preserved in this way too.
The kings of the New Kingdom in Egypt (c. 1552-1085 B.C.) were not buried in pyramids, but in tombs cut deep into the cliffs. The tombs were dug out of the sides of a valley near Thebes, called the Valley of the Kings. This was an attempt to deter the gangs of tomb-robbers who had stripped the pyramids bare of their treasures soon after they were sealed. Unfortunately, the idea did not work and most of these tombs were ransacked by thieves. In 1922, one of the last tombs to survive intact, that of the boy-king Tutankhamen, was discovered by British archeologist Howard Carter. It had been sealed for more than 3,300 years. Inside, Carter found a dazzling collection of priceless treasures. But the greatest treasure of all was the spectacular coffin housing the mummy of King Tutankhamen himself.
Indus Valley
 
Harappa, Map of Indus River Valley
Around 3000 BC, another great early civilization grew up along the banks of the river Indus in ancient India (present-day Pakistan). Called the Indus Valley civilization, by 2500 B.C. it had reached the height of its power. The Indus Valley civilization was larger than either Sumer or ancient Egypt. Its two great Centers were the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, each with a population of some 40,000 people. The Indus Valley civilization had a highly organized system of trade. Merchants traded grain and other agricultural produce, grown on the fertile river plains, as well as artifacts made by the cities artists and craft workers, for precious metals and cloth. From about 2000 BC, however, this mighty civilization began to decline. This may have been caused by terrible flooding or by the river Indus changing course so that the fertile farmland dried up. Another theory is that the people overgrazed the land, leaving it too dry and poor to support crops.
Ancient America
Serpent Mound (Ohio)
From about 1200 BC, two great civilizations grew up in ancient America-the Olmecs in western Mexico and the Chavin along the coast of northern Peru. Their ancestors had crossed the Bering Strait from Asia to North America thousands of years before. At first they lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers. Later they settled in permanent villages and began to fish and farm.
The Olmec civilization, believed to be the first to develop in North America, began in about 1500 BC as a small group of villages around the Gulf of Mexico. Gradually, these villages grew and merged with on another to form larger towns. One of the main centers of Olmec culture was La Venta, situated on an island near the coast. The people of La Venta earned their living by fishing the rich waters and farming. The Olmecs were also skilled artists and craft workers. They built huge earth pyramids where religious ceremonies were held, and produced hundreds of sculptures and carvings from stone, jade, and clay. Many figures and masks have been found that show a creature that is half-human and half-jaguar, suggesting the worship of a powerful god. The Olmecs also developed a system of writing that influenced many later cultures in the region.
The Chavin civilization began in Peru in about 1200 BC and lasted from about 1,000 years. It is named after the site of Chavin de Huantar, which dates from about 850 BC. Chavin de Huantar was a great religious center, with a huge stone temple surrounded by a maze of rooms and passageways. At the heart of the temple was a great statue of the Smiling God, with a human body and a snarling face. The Chavin also worshipped jaguar spirits, eagles, and snakes. Their culture had a great influence throughout Peru.
Ancient Through Classical China
 
Terra Cotta Warriors, Confucius
The earliest civilizations in China grew up along the banks of three major rivers- the Chang Jiang (Yangtze), Xi Jiang (West River), and Huang He (Yellow River). Farmers used the river water to irrigate their crops but they faced the frequent risk of floods that could devastate their harvests.
From about 2205 BC, China was ruled by a series of dynasties (families). The first for which experts have reasonable evidence is the Shang Dynasty, which began in about 1766 BC. The Shang ruled China for more than 400 years. At the end of the 11th century, however, the Shang were conquered by the Zhou. Their rule lasted until 221BC. During this time many wars were fought between the rival kingdoms that made up the Zhou lands, but is was also a period of economic growth and of trading success, with Chinese silk, precious jade, and fine porcelain being traded abroad.
By 221 BC, the kingdoms of China had been at war for more than 250 years. Gradually the Qin (or Chi'in), a warlike dynasty form the northwest, united the country and established the empire that gives China its name. The first emperor of united China, Shi Huangdi, reorganized the government and standardized money, weights, and measures. A road and canal network was also built to link u the various parts of the country and the Great Wall of China built across the northern border to keep the hostile people (the Huns) out. Shi Huangdi was a brilliant but ruthless general and politician, burning books and putting scholars to death because their ideas did not match his own. Despite his achievements, however, the Qin dynasty was overthrown in 206 BC, four years after Shi Huangdi's death. HAN?
Classical India
 
remains of a granary, painted burial pottery
In about 321 BC, a young prince, Chandragupta Maurya, founded an empire that stretched right across northern India, from the Hindu Kush in the west to Bengal in the east. This was the first Indian empire.
Chandraguptas grandson, Ashoka, who came to the throne in 269 BC, extended the empire still farther, until most of the India came under Mauryan rule. In 260 BC, Ashokas army fought a particularly bloody battle against the people of Kalinga in eastern India. Sickened by the killing and bloodshed she saw, Ashoka was filled with remorse. He converted to Buddhism and, from now on, vowed to follow its teaching of peace and nonviolence. Ashoka traveled far and wide throughout his empire, listening to peoples views and complaints and trying to improve their lot a most unusual step for an emperor of that time. He also carved edicts on pillars and sent out special officers to explain his own policy of religious tolerance, respect for other people and peace.
After the collapse of the Mauryan empire in about 185 BC, India was divided into a number of smaller, independent states and kingdoms. Then, in AD 302, Chandra Gupta I, the ruler of the kingdom of Magadha, in the Ganges valley, enlarged his kingdom and, to increase this status and power, he married a princess from a respected royal family. The Gupta Empire ruled northern India for the next 200 years. Chandra Guptas son and heir, Samudra Gupta, extended his fathers reign and increased its trading links. He was succeeded by Chandra Gupta II, the greatest of the Gupta kings. During his reign, India enjoyed a Golden Age.
Under the patronage of the Guptas, arts and literature flourished, as did science, medicine, and mathematics. The greatest poets and artists of the time were invited to visit the splendid royal court. Hinduism replaced Buddhism as the major religion of the empire, and many new templates and shrines were built. Sanskrit, the sacred, classical language of India, became the language of the court.
Classical Greece
 
Athenian Trireme, Spartans
By about 800 BC, Greece saw the rise of a new civilization that transformed the ancient world and whose influence has lasted to the present day. Ancient Greece was divided into small, independent city-states, each with its own government and laws. The two most important were mighty Athens and Sparta.
Most city-states were ruled by a group of wealthy nobles, known as an oligarchy, Resentment led to revolts and absolute rulers, called tyrants, were appointed to restore law and order. In about 508 BC, however, a new type of government was introduced in Athens. It was called a democracy, meaning "rule by the people," and gave every male citizen a say in how the city should be run. Many modern countries now use this form of government as a basis for their government today.
The Classical Period in Greece (the time in which Greek culture was at its most splendid) lasted from about 500 BC to 336 BC. During this time Greece was involved in two great warsthe series of Persian Wars (490-449 BC) and the Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BC). When the Persians invaded Greece in 490 BC, the city-states joined forces against the invaders and succeeded in defeating them. One of the most famous battles of the war took place at Marathon in 490 BC. A messenger named Pheidippides ran the 25 miles (40 km), back to Athens carrying news of the Greek victory. The marathon race was born! Greeces newly won security did not last long. Relations between Athens and Sparta began to deteriorate and, in 431 BC, war broke out between them. The Peloponnesian Wars lasted for 27 years and tore the country apart.
After laying siege to Athens, the Spartans starved the Athenians into submission. In 404 BC, Athens was forced to surrender. The city never recovered from its defeat. Life in Sparta was very different from that in Athens. It revolved around training Spartan citizens to be fearless warriors, ready to defend the city-state form foreign invaders and to keep the population under control. Every male Spartan has to train for war. Boys as young as seven were sent away to army camps where the strict discipline and harsh conditions were designed to turn them into the toughest fighters in Greece. Girls too were allowed to take part in sports, to make them strong and healthy. Such activity was frowned on elsewhere in Greece.
Greek Culture
  
"Boxer Vase" from Crete, The Acropolis at Night, Theatre at Epidaurus
Greek civilization came to an end more then 2,000 years ago, when Greece became part of the Roman Empire. Yet its influence on politics, philosophy, art and architecture, language, and literature had a huge effect on Roman culture and can still be felt today. Much of the language we use and many of our ideas about sciences and art came from ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks were great scholars, thinkers, and teachers. At first, they answered questions about life and nature with stories about gods. Later, they started to look for more practical, more scientific ways of making sense of the world about them. These scholars were called a philosopher, which means "lovers of knowledge," and they looked at all aspects of life.
Drama and sports played a very important part in lives of the ancient Greeks. Greek theater grew from the performance of songs and dance at an annual festival dedicated to Dionysus, the god of wine. These performances were acted out by groups of men called a chorus. At first, plays were performed in a market place. Later, many great open-air theaters were built all over Greece. Sport was important not only as a means of entertainment, but also to keep men fit and healthy for fighting. There were many competitions, both local and national, for athletes to take part in. The oldest and most famous were the Olympic games, held every four years at Olympia. Athens trained hard for months before the games. Discipline was strict and breaking the rules harshly punished. But for the winners it was all worthwhile`. Their prize was a simple olive crown, cut from a sacred tree and a heros welcome, fame, and fortune awaited them at home.
The Phoenicians
 
Trading Vessel, Alphabet
The greatest traders and seafarers of the ancient world were the Phoenicians. The lived along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean (now part of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel). Here, in about 1500b.c.e, they founded their greatest cities Tyre, their main port, and Sidon. These became the flourishing centers of the vast Phoenician trading network.
The Phoenicians traded goods, such ass glassware, timer, cedar oil, purple-dyed cloth, and ivory throughout the Mediterranean, venturing as far west as Britain and down the African coast. In return they bought silver, copper, and tin. Cedar wood and oil were among their most valuable exports. (The wood used to build King Solomons temple in Jerusalem is said to have come from Tyre.) The Phoenicians themselves were named after their most famous and costliest export, a purple-red dye made in Tyre from a type of shellfish and known as phoinos in Greek.
Some Phoenician merchants set up trading colonies, such as the great city of Carthage on the north coast of Africa (now Tunisia). Founded around 814b.c.e, Carthage was a great power in the western Mediterranean, long after Phoenicia itself was conquered.
The secret of the Phoenicians success lay in their great seafaring skills. They had magnificent ships, made of cedar wood long, fast galleys for war and broader, sturdier ships for trade. The cargo, stored in large clay pots, was lashed securely beneath the deck. The ships had heavy keels and used both sails and oars, which gave them greater maneuverability and speed. Even though they had no accurate maps or charts, the Phoenicians were expert navigators, relying on the winds and stars to find their way. Their fame spread far and wide. When the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II decided to send an expedition to attempt to sail around Africa in about 600b.c.e, he hired a crew of Phoenicians and a Carthaginian admiral to put his plan into action. The expedition is said to have taken three years to complete.
Alexander the Great
 
Mosaic, Bust
Amid the squabbling and disunity that took hold of Greece in the aftermath of the Peloponnesian Wars, the new power of Macedonia, in the northwest, went largely unnoticed. The Macedonians took full advantage of the situation to take control of Greece. When Phillip II came to the throne in 359 B.C., he united and extended the kingdom, reorganized the army, and transformed Macedonia into the greatest military force of the day. In 338 B.C., at the battle of Chaeronea, Philips army gained control of Greece, uniting the Greeks and Macedonians against the mighty Persians. In 336 B.C., however, Philip was assassinated and the throne passed to his 20-year-old son Alexander. An even more brilliant leader and general than his father, Alexander took just 13 years to conquer a vast empire that stretched from Greece in the west to India in the east. It was the largest empire in the ancient world and helped to spread Hellenistic (Greek) culture far and wide.
In 334 B.C., Alexander led his army against the Persians, in order not only to conquer their lands, but to replenish his royal treasuries with their great wealth. In 333 B.C., he defeated the Persian king Darius III, at the battle of Issus, and by 331 B.C., had conquered the whole of Persia and become its king. To strengthen the ties between the two peoples, Alexander tried to include Persians in his government. He also wore Persian clothes and married a Persian princess, Roxane. Alexander went on to invade India, defeating King Porus at the battle of the river Hydaspes. It was to be his final expedition. His exhausted army refused to go any further and Alexander was forced to retreat to Babylon. He died there, of a fever, in 323 B.C., at the age of 32. After his death, his empire was fought over by his leading generals and eventually divided among them.
The Romans
  
Phalanx, Defense Tactic, Map of Empire Under Augustus
According to legend, the city was founded in 753BC by twin brothers, called Romulus and Remus. Abandoned by their wicked uncle to die on the banks of the river Tiber in central Italy, the boys were rescued by a she-wolf. Then they were found and raised by a shepherd.
To repay the she-wolf for her kindness, Romulus and Remus vowed to build a city in her honor, on the Palatine Hill here she had found them. In a quarrel about the city boundaries, Remus was killed and Romulus became the first king of Rome and gave the city his name. From humble beginnings as a small group of villages, populated by criminals and runaway slaves, Rome grew to become a magnificent capital of the most powerful empire the western world had seen.
At first, Rome was ruled by kings, beginning traditionally with Romulus. Then, in about 509BC, King Tarquin the proud was expelled from Rome and for the next 500 years Rome became a republic. Power passed to the Senate, a lawmaking body made up of important nobles and headed by two senior officials, called consuls. They were elected every year to manage the affairs of the Senate and the Roman army. By about 50 BC, Rome had conquered most of the lands around the Mediterranean. But all was not well. Rivalry between army generals and tensions between rich and poor plunged Rome into a bloody civil war. The old republic crumbled. In 27 BC, Octavian, the adopted son of Caesar, became the first Roman emperor, charged with restoring peace and stability to Rome. Under the rule of the emperors, Rome reached its greatest extent, ruling over much of Europe, North Africa, and the Near East.
Roman Society
  
Colosseum, Roman Coins, Augustus,
The amazing expansion and success of the Roman Empire was due largely to its army, the best trained and best equipped in the world.At first, the army was formed to protect the city of Rome and was largely made up of volunteer soldiers. Under the leadership of the general, and consul, Marius (155-86 BC), the army was reorganized into a more disciplined and more efficient fighting force. Soldiers were paid wages and joined up for 20 to 25 years. For many young men from good families, the army provided a stepping stone to a glittering political career.
In the army itself, ordinary soldiers were grouped into units, called legions, each made up of about 5,000 men. The legions were made up of smaller units, called centuries, of 80 men commanded by soldiers called centurions.The sight of the well trained legions of Rome marching into battle behind their standards topped by a silver eagle (the symbol of Jupiter, king of the gods) must have struck fear and trepidation into the hearts of Romes staunchest enemies.
Roman society was divided into citizens and non-citizens. There were three classes of citizens patricians, the richest and most influential aristocrats; equites, the wealthy merchants; and plebians, the ordinary citizens, or "commoners." All citizens were allowed to vote in elections and to serve in the army. They were also allowed to wear togas. Non-citizens also included provincials, people who lived outside Rome itself but in territory under Roman rule, and slaves. Slaves had no rights or status. They were owned by wealthier citizens, or by the government, and did all the hardest, dirtiest jobs on which the Roman Empire heavily relied. Many slaves were treated cruelly but some were well looked after, and even paid a wage, so that they could eventually buy their freedom. Most upper class Romans followed careers in politics or in the army. Poorer citizens worked as farmers, shopkeepers, or craft workers. Building, mining, and all hard, manual labor was done by the vast work force of slaves.
The Celts
  
Cross, Knot, Helmet
The Celts probably first lived in France and Austria from about 600 BC. Gradually, Celtic Tribes spread farther afield, across southern and western Europe, conquering the lands and settling in hill forts and farms. The Romans finally defeated them and much of their territory was brought under Roman rule.
Despite the Celts reputation as fearless, ruthless warriors, they wear highly skilled metal smiths; making beautifully decorated weapons, jewelry and drinking cups. They were also gifted poets and musicians, passing down stories of their gods and history by word of mouth, as they had no written language.
Roman writers recorded details of Celtic life and culture. They reported, among other things, that the Celts worshipped different gods and goddesses and offered sacrifices in their honor. Religious rituals and ceremonies were preformed by orients, called druids. In charge of each Celtic tribe was a leader of chieftain. One of the most famous was Vercingetorix, a Chieftain of the Arveni, a tribe in central Gaul (France), in 52 BC, he lead a successful rebellion against the Romans but was later defeated by Julius Caesar's well trained army.
The Celts were great warriors, famed and feared for their bravery in battle. Individual warriors often sought on there own and not as any part of an organized Army. Wars frequently broke out between rival Celtic Tribes. This helped the Romans to defeat the Celts more easily than if they had been a unified and effortlessly run military force. Many tribes built huge fortresses on tops of hills, surrounded by massive, protective walls. Inside the people of the tribes could live, safe from attack. Victory in battle was celebrated in grand style, with lavish feasts, hard drinking, and recital of long poems, telling o the deeds of the Celtic heroes and gods. Their greatest god was Daghdha, the Good God, who controlled the weather and harvest and brought victory in battle. All the members of the tribe attended a banquet, which could last several days.
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Byzantium
  
Mosaics of St. Vitale, Revenna c. 547 (Jesus & Justinian), Hagia Sophia (center)
For more than 500 years, the Roman Empire brought a unique way of life to a vast area of land. In 476, the western half of the empire collapsed, overrun by invading German tribes. In the east however, Roman rule continued to flourish under what is called the Byzantium Empire.
In the old Greek city-port of Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul in Turkey) was the center of the eastern Roman Empire. The Romans renamed it Constantinople after the first Byzantine emperor Constantine, and it became the seat of the Byzantine emperors and the center of the eastern Christian church. Within the Byzantine Empire, ancient Greek and Roman culture and learning was preserved. The Byzantines greatly appreciated music, poetry, and art, and decorated their churches, such as Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, with highly complex and finely detailed frescoes (wall paintings) and mosaic pictures made from hundreds of tiny pieces of glass or stone fitted together.
The Byzantine Empire reached its peak in the 500s, under the emperor Justinian. His general Belisarius won many battles and expanded the empire to include Italy, Greece, Turkey, parts of Spain, North Africa, and Egypt. Justinians wife, Theodora, helped him govern the empire and was almost as powerful as her husband. Justinian issued a code of laws, which later formed the basis for the legal system in European countries.
Most of the empires people were farmers, living in small villages. Traders came to sell goods in the towns and Constantinople was a busy port and meeting place for peoples from as far away as Spain, China, and Russia.
Warlike invaders from the east: Avars, Slavs, Bulgars- threatened this last Roman Empire. Justinians reign was a last flourish of imperial power. The invaders carved off chunks of territory (less people=less incoming taxes) and after Justinians death in 565, Byzantium was never as strong again. The empire was weakened by frequent wars and eventually fell to the Turks in 1453.
The Franks
Clovis is baptized, making Christians of the Franks
The Franks were the strongest of all the western European peoples who struggled for land and power after the end of the Roman Empire in 476.Under their first great leader, Clovis, the Franks spread out from their homeland around the river Rhine (what is now Germany). They fought their neighbors, such as the Visigoths and Burgundians, until, by 540, they had conquered most of the old Roman province of Gaul (modern France, which is named after the Franks). Clovis defeated rival chieftains to brin all the Grankish tribes under his control. His family became known as the Merovingian dynasty, after his grand father Merovich. Clovis became a Christian and ruled from Paris, governing his lands through Church bishops and noblemen. These nobles or "lords" held estates known as manors, on which peasants ploughed the fields. In battle, the Franks used a curved throwing axe called a francisca and a two-handed broadsword called a scramasax. Frankish leaders were always ready to defend their estates and to conquer new lands.
This eagerness to ride into battle meant that the nobles and lords needed servants for the military service. In return for this service, the servants were granted land- the beginnings of feudalism (pgs 86-87). Rival families jockeyed for the kings favor and in the 600s two rival clans, whose members held the important position of Mayor of the Royal palace, fought for power. The winners were the Austrasians, who ousted the Neustrians, and their chief Pepin of Herstal founded a new ruling family. The Franks went on fighting. Pepins son Charles Martel, known as Hammer, won a historic battle at Poitiers against Muslim invaders in 732(pgs 70-71). Although his title was Mayor of the Palace, Martel was in effect King, and expanded Frankish territory. His defeat of the Muslims checked the advance of Islam into central Europe. Martels son Pepin the Short, established the new Carolingian dynasty. He was the first Frankish king to be anointed by the pope, in 754. The greatest of the Frankish rulers was Pepins son, the emperor Charlemagne.
The Rise of Islam
 
The Kabaa, Muhammed (notice face is obscured)
The religion of Islam was directly influenced in the early 600s y the prophet Muhammad. The religion he reached changed the course of history, by uniting the peoples of Arabia to form a huge Arab empire that stretched almost from china to the order of France.In the early 7th century, the Arab peoples were not united in any way. Some farmed the land while others were traders crossing the desert with camel-drawn caravans. At this time they all worshiped different gods. Then, in about 610, an Arab merchant named Muhammad preached a new religion, Islam, which means "submission to the will of God." According to Muslim belief, Muhammad was sent by God as a messenger. Muhammad was well respected in his hometown of Mecca and his influence grew but many Meccans resented his new teaching and began to persecute him and his followers. In 622 he was driven to of Mecca and was invited to move to Yathrib (now Medina). His journey there is commemorated as the Hegira, which begins the Muslim calendar. Muhammad had several religious revelations and his teachings were written down in the Koran, the holy book of Islam. He sent out religious laws the included five daily prayers and a month of fasting.
From 624 Muhammad and his followers had to fight their enemies. In 630 they captured Mecca, and smashed the pagan idols in to Kaaba, the holiest shrine in the city. Muhammad continued to preach and lie simply. When he died in 632 Muhammad left a daughter, Fatima, but no son and he did not name anyone to succeed him. Hid friend and father-in-law Au Bakr, was chosen as first caliph (successor) but an argument soon broke out between Muhammads followers. Some, known as Shiites, thought only the descendants of Fatima and her husband, Ali, should succeed Muhammad. Others, who came to be known as Sunnis, believed that any follower of Islam could succeed Muhammad. The argument soon became political as well as religious and has not been settled to this day.
Muhammad is presented as reflecting an ideal: courageous, resolute, yet gentle. He preached a new way of worship and created a state from a collection of Arab tribes. The new Muslim state was soon to defeat much larger empires and create a new and powerful force in the world.
The Spread of Islam
 
Dome of the Rock, Muslim Trade and Pilgrimage Routes
After Muhammads death, his followers spread Islam by preaching and by conquest. By the 700s Muslims controlled most of the Middle East and North Africa. Islam spread quickly under the influence of the Muslim leader, Abu Bakr who died in 634 but the next caliph, Omar, continued the spread of Islam. After Omar was murdered, the Ummayad family fought for power against the Shiites. The Shiite leader Ali was murdered in 661 and the Ummayads controlled the Growing Islamic Empire from their capitol, Damascus, in Syria.
The Byzantine and Persian empires were much-too weak to withstand the Muslim attacks. After Syria and Palestine, the Muslims then conquered Egypt and Persia.The Muslims then moved east into Afghanistan and India. By 700 most of coastal North Africa was in Muslim hands and there was a Muslim fleet of warships in the Mediterranean Sea. Muslims from Morocco invaded southern Spain, but any further advance into Europe was halted by the Frankish army of Charels Martel in 732.
Ummayad rule lasted until the mid 700s when abu al-Abbas, a descendant of Muhammad, founded a new dynasty, the Abbasids, and moved the capitol to Baghdad (in what is now Iraq) became the center of a rich new Islamic civilization, blending many cultures. Islam was remarkably successful. Arabic was spoken and written throughout the Islamic world, apart from Persia, so it was easy for people to trade and exchange ideas. By 786 the court of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (famous because of the stories about him in The Thousand and One Nights) at Baghdad was a centre for Arab Science and Learning, and there were Islamic mosques from Afghanistan to Spain.
American Civilization
Early North American Dwellings
Many impressive civilizations flourished in the North and South America. The people of these civilizations built cliff top palaces, huge earth mounds, and pyramid temples, although they had no wheeled vehicles. A few fragments of the achievements of their civilizations still survive today.
The Anasazi people live in what is now the southwestern United States. They grew corn and built amazing apartment buildings in which as many as 5000 people shared cliff houses called pueblos with hundred of rooms. Their descendants were known as the Pueblo. Also in the southwest lived the Hohokam people, who dug irrigation canals to water their crops and, lie the Anasazi, wove cotton cloth and made decorated well-planned towns of single-family houses.
Around AD 700 the largest city in America was in central Mexico. Teotihuacan was a city of more than 100,000 people containing 600 pyramids, 2,000 apartment buildings, and thousands of craft shops. People had lived in the Teotihuacan valley since about 500 BC, growing crops and building pyramid temples rom stone black cemented together with clay. Teothuacans time of greatest power was from about AD 350 to 750. After that it was overshadowed be a new power, the Toltecs, who built their own temple-city at Tula.
The Maya
 
osservatorio and temple de maya
The Maya lived in Central America. Their civilization listed more than 700 years and they built huge cities with magnificent stone temples that can still be seen today.
The Maya were at their most powerful from about 200 to 900, although their culture lasted until the Spanish conquest of Central America in the early 1500s. The Maya lived in well organized city-states, each with its own ruler who controlled trade in obsidian, cacao, cotton, and other goods and fought wars with neighboring city-states. Bird-catchers traded colorful feathers, which were used to make headdresses. In the countryside, farmers cleared forestland and terraced the hillsides to grow beans, corn, and squash. They raised turkeys and kept bees, but the Maya had no domestic animals other than dogs and no vehicles other than toy carts.
The largest Mayan city was Tikal, in what is now Guatemala, with a population of 60,000. Crowds filled the large squares around the pyramid-temples to watch ceremonies conducted by priests, who studied the heavens to predict eclipses of the Moon and Sun. Religion was important to the Mayas and, to win favors from their many gods, they made sacrifices. Mostly they sacrificed animals but they also threw human victims into sacred wells.
The Maya played a sacred ball game, in which players hit a rubber ball through a stone ring with their hips. They invented the first writing in America, and wrote codexes (folding books) with pages of tree bark, three of which survive. They also set up tall, carved stones to commemorate dates and important events. Their number system was based on 20 (not 10, like ours) and they had two calendars, one with 360 days and another (associated with the Mayan Gods) that had 260 days. Many people in Mexico still speak Mayan language today.
Charlemange
 
CHAPEL AT AACHEN, CHARLEMAGNE'S THRONE
Charles I, King of the Franks was known as Charlemagne (Charles the Great). He founded the Holy Roman empire and was regarded by many people as the ideal ruler and is still well known today.
Charlemagne was born in 742. His father was King Pepin, son of the famous soldier, Charles Martel, and founder of the new Frankish ruling family (later called the Carolingian dynasty, after Charlemagne). In 768 Pepin died, leaving his kingdom to his sons Carloman and Charlemagne. When Carloman died, Charlemagne was left in sole control. A very tall man, convinced of his own destiny, Charlemagne had learned much from his ruthless warrior father. He led his armies out of the Frankish homeland of France into what are now the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. He was a Christian and wherever he conquered nonbelievers, such as the Saxons of Germany and the Avars of Hungary, he forced them to become Christians and to take part in mass baptisms.
There was more to Charlemagne than simply waging wars of conquest. Although uneducated, he had great respect for scholarship. His capital at Aachen was the glittering center of his empire, with a splendid palace and a heated swimming pool, but the emperor himself dressed and lived simply. He spoke Latin and Greek, liked books read aloud to him and invited famous scholars such as Alcuin of York to his court to train teachers and to transcribe ancient Roman writings.
Charlemagnes position as Europes strongest leader was recognized in 800 when the Pope crowned him Holy Roman emperor. After he died in 814, his empire was weakened by attacks and civil wars, and was soon split between his three grandsons. However, his fame made him a legend and the Holy Roman Empire that he founded lasted in one form or another until 1806. Charlemagnes life story was written by a scholar named Einhard, at the request of the emperors son, Louis the Pious. After Charlemagnes death, many stories were written about him, for example a skirmish during his retreat from a campaign in Spain in 778 became the subject of the medieval epic poem The Song of Roland.
Life in a Monastery
![[Vatican Ms.]](http://www.osb.org/gen/graphics/vatben2.jpg) 
Saint Benedict of Nursia, The Abbey of Monte Cassino
In medieval Europe thousands of people devoted their lives to the Church, working, praying, and studying in monasteries and nunneries. Across Europe, monasteries became centers of western art and learning. Men and women who became monks or nuns obeyed the rule, or way of life, originally set down in the 500s by, among others, St. Benedict of Nursia. He taught that a monk or nun should be poor, unmarried, and obedient. Monks wore simple robes, shaved their heads, and lived together in communities known as monasteries. The head of the monastery was the abbot, who often managed large estates and sometimes even commanded his own knights. The head of a nunnery, or a religious house for women, was called an abbess.
Monks and nuns followed a daily program of prayer and worship, attending eight services every day. Monks ate together in the refectory, and worked in the fields or in workshops. At first they made most of what they needed, including their own bread, butter, cheese, and ale, though later lay brethren did the hard work. They cared for the sick, gave food and shelter to travelers, and carefully copied out books, painting the pages with brilliantly colored letters and pictures, called illuminations. Precious books were stored in monastery libraries during the Middle Ages for study by priests and friars.
A Medieval Town
 
 
Medieval House, Tapestry, Illustrations
In the Middle Ages, towns in Europe were noisy and crowded by day, but quiet and dark at night, the silence broken only by cat and dogfights, late-night revelers, and watchmen calling out the hours. Churches, guilds, fairs, and markets all drew people into the towns.
If you walked through a medieval town, you took care where you stepped, because most people threw out their rubbish into the muddy streets. Open drains ran alongside and smelled awful. To fetch water, people went to the town well or bought it from water sellers, hoping it was clean. Pigs and chickens wandered in and out of small yards. Houses were built close together, with top floors often jutting out over the street. Since most houses were made chiefly of wood, they caught fire easily. At night, the curfew bell warned people to cover or put out their kitchen fires.
Many houses were also shops and workplaces. Traders and craftworkers formed groups called guilds to organize their business and to set standards of work. Guilds also staged pageants, dramas, and religious processions, and set up training schools. Some towns were famous for their fairs and attracted foreign merchants from all over Europe, as well as entertainers such as jugglers, clowns, acrobats, minstrels, performing monkeys, and dancing bears. Fairs also attracted quack doctors and pickpockets ready to cheat innocent visitors from the countryside.
In towns, work was to be found building magnificent cathedrals and churches, as well as castles and defensive walls. Large trading cities in Europe, such as Hamburg, Antwerp, and London, grew rich from buying and selling ships. About 90 cities in northern Europe formed the Hanseatic League to fight pirates, win more trade and keep out rivals.
The Vikings
 
Illustrations of Viking settlements in Scandinavia
The Vikings set sail from their homelands in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark) to raid the coasts and rivers of Europe, reaching to the Mediterranean and the Black seas. But not all the Vikings were raiders- many were peaceful farmers and traders who chose to settle in the new lands
The Vikings' homelands in Scandinavia had mountains and forests, but little good farmland. Most Vikings lived close to the sea, tending small fields where they grew rye, barley, wheat, and oats, and vegetables such as turnips and carrots. They kept cattle and sheep, and caught fish in the rivers and fiords. Traders traveled on horseback or by boat to market towns like Kaupang in Norway or Hedeby in Denmark, to sell furs, reindeer antlers, and walrus ivory in exchange for weapons, jewels, an pottery.
Viking families lived in houses made of wood, stone, or turf. Smoke from the cooking fire found its way out through a hole in the roof and in the smoky darkness people sat at wooden benches and tables to eat. Around the fire the played dice games and told stories. The Vikings loved telling stories, especially about their heroes and gods. The most important god was Odin the wise and one-eyed, but the most popular was Thor, the thunder god, whose symbol was a hammer.
Everyone worked hard. A Viking farmer often had thralls (slaves) to help with the work, but most men were karls (freemen) The leader of each community was the richest landowner or jarl, who expected to share his wealth with is followers, by feasting and entertaining them in his great hall. The most powerful jarls in each country became King Viking leaders and tried to prevent quarrels becoming bitter blood-feuds between families. They also led bands of warriors on voyages.
The Vikings grew rich through trade and agriculture and as the population increased, farmland became increasingly scarce. From the late 700's, the Vikings began to venture from their homelands in search of better farmland and more riches. Vikings were tough. They were used to hardship. They enjoyed huge meals, stirring tales of heroes and physical sports such as wrestling, horse fights, and ice-skating.
The Vikings Abroad
  
Viking longship, map of Atlantic voyages, lanse-aux-meadows settlements in Canada
When the Vikings sailed overseas in their longships, they were ready to kill and plunder. They went in search of trade and new lands in which to make their homes. Viking longships were fast and strong enough to cross the oceans. From the late 700s bands of Vikings set sail from Scandinavia to land on the coasts of western Europe. The sight of a Viking sail soon caused panic, for people knew he Viking were fierce fighters with their favorite weapons- iron swords and axes. They raided monasteries and towns, carrying off slaves and booty.
The Vikings were also looking to seize land. Viking attacks on England began in 787, and from 865 Vikings from Denmark had begun to settle in eastern England. Vikings also settled in the Orkney and Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland, and the Isle of Man and Ireland. They attacked what is now France, but were bought off with the gift of Normandy in 911.
Sailing west into the Atlantic Ocean, Norwegian Vikings settled in Iceland (874) and Greenland (982), and landed in North America (c. 1000).
Swedish Vikings traveled as far east as the Black Sea, trading with Greeks and Arabs who called them the Rus- from which comes the name Russia. Vikings wandered in the markets of Baghdad and Constantinople, and goods from such exotic places found their way back to Viking towns such as Jorvik (York) in England and Dublin in Ireland.
Where Vikings settled, they often mingled with the local people. In England, King Alfred of Wessix led the fight against the invaders, but Viking settlements in eastern England (the Banelaw) left a permanent legacy in customs, laws, place names, and language. Viking words, for example, include knife and calf.
The Feudal System
  
Bayeaux Tapestry, feudal hierarchy
In the middle ages, land was owned by a powerful lord (a king or a nobleman) or by 5the church. The lord gave land to those who followed him and fought for him, who were called vassals. In return, a vassal promised to serve his lord by fighting for him and collecting taxes from the people who lived on his land. This was the key idea behind feudalism.
Feudalism developed among the Franks in the 700s. There has been many years of fighting and confusion following the collapse of the roman empire in the late 400s. The Franks thought that a warrior-chief should look after his followers and reward them in return for their loyalty. Chiefs, or lords, held the land on which poor people (peasants) lived. Instead of owning or renting their own land, peasant-farmers were bound to serve their lord. In return, the lord protected them. This was not a bad system in troubled times.
Feudalism grew as kings granted more land to knight, brave warriors on whose loyalty and fighting skills kings depended. It spread from France to England and Spain and was taken by the Crusades to the east. Each lord governed his own lands, were his word was law. If there was war, he had to supply soldiers to the kings army. He acted as judge in disputes between his vassals, weather they were lesser nobles or humble peasants. The feudal system began to fall apart in the 1200s One reason was economic: people began to use money more, and preferred to pay rent for land rather then be bound by feudal service.
In the 1300s, new weapons such as crossbows, gunpowder, and cannon changed the way wars were fought. Cannons could smash castle walls and crossbows could pierce armor, Feudal lords and knights became less powerful.
The Crusades
  
various illustrations of the Crusaders
For European Christians, the Crusades were holy wars, with the promise of plunder in the service of the church. For more then 200 years Christian and Muslims armies fought for control of the Holy Land, the territory around Jerusalem in the Middle East.
Many Christian pilgrims visited Jerusalem which was a holy city to Jews and Muslims, as well to Christians. But Jerusalem was held by Muslim Turks and, in 1095 they banned Christian pilgrims from the city. This angered both the western Christian church based in Rome and the eastern Christian church based in Constantinople. From Rome, Pope Urban II called on Christians to free Jerusalem and so launched the First Crusade, or war of the cross. In 1096 a European force joined with the Byzantine army from Constantinople. Their leaders were inspired by religious faith and by less spiritual desires to increase territory and wealth.
In three years they captured Jerusalem and went on to set up Christian Kingdoms in Palestine. But none of the Seven later crusades matched this success.
The Crusades inspired many stories. There was bravery and honor on both sides. But the Crusades also had a less noble side. Before the First Crusade even set out, a Peoples Crusade wandered across Europe. This peasant army burned villages and was eventually massacred by the Turks. Then the Fourth Crusade of 1202 turned aside to loot the Christian city of Constantinople.
In the end, The Crusaders failed to win back the Holy Land Europeans learned more about eastern art and science, foods, and medicine. Contacts and trade between Europe and Asia grew during the Crusades.
The Aztecs
The Wall of Skulls, Tenochtitlan
The Aztecs were fierce warriors who conquered a huge empire that eventually reached all the way across Mexico and was its height in teh early 1500's. But in 1521, Aztec rule came to a sudden end when they lost their empire to a small band of Spanish treasure-seekers. The Aztecs came to dominate other Native Americans in Central America by fighting constant wars with their neighbors. Their capital, Tenochtitlan , was founded in 1325 in the middle of Lake Texcoco, which is now the site of modern day Mexico City. Tenochtitlan was a walled city of 100,000 people. It had stone temples and a network of canals along which people paddled canoes. Roads on top of raised causeways linked the island to the mainland and Aztec farmers grew vegetables of artificial island called "chinampas" built in the lake.
The Aztecs were very skilled in sculpture, poetry, music, and engineering. (no written language, wheel, or mill though). They worshiped the sun as the giver of all life, and cutting out human hearts for offerings. Many of these sacrifices were politically motivates. Nonetheless, all sacrifices were thought to bring prosperity and better harvests. Aztec farmers grew corn, beans, and tomatoes, and Aztec merchants traded throughout the empire. All warriors were required to capture at least one enemy for sacrifice per raid. Conquered people were forced to pay taxes and recognize the authority of the Aztec emperor. In return for these tributes they were shown leniency and tolerance.
In 1519, Spanish conquistador, Hernando Cortes attacked the Aztecs. The natives believed Cortes was a god, and their emperor Montezuma the second was taken prisoner. Aztec spears and clubs were no match for the Spanish guns, and worse the disease the conquerors brought with them. By 1521 the Aztec empire was finished.
Dempsey Parr. World History Encyclopedia Spain: Parragon, 1998.(pp.108-109)
Incas
  
Machu Piccu, Incan Empire, stone wall without mortar
From the mountains of Peru, the god-emperor of the Incas ruled a highly organized empire. Civil war and Spanish invasion finally caused the empire to fall. The Incas took over from the Chimu as rulers of the Andes mountains of South America. Thier civilization reached its peak in the 1400's under the ruler Pachacuti who defeated and invading army from a neighboring state. He went on to reform the government of th Inca kingdom, appointing officials to run the country and towns and the efficient working of farms and workshops. From the capital city of Cusco, Pachacuti and his successors greatly increased the Inca empire to include parts of Chile, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The Incas built stone cities and an extensive road system for trade (barter system). The Incas also had a swift communication system. By using fast runners carrying messages in the form of quipus (knotted cords) a message could be sent more than 120 miles in a day along thier system a paved roads. Farmers terraced the mountain slopes to grow corn, cotton, and potatoes. In 1525 the Incas were at the greatest point. In 1527 Huayna Capac died and the empire was split. ***Remember the Inca idea of split inheritance was that land and title was passed on to the ruler's descendants's, while the riches went to those that cared for the dead ruler's mummy.
In the 1530's a Spanish expedition led by Francisco Pizarro arrived to seek gold in South America. The Europeans were impressed by the Inca capital. Especially its palaces, temples, sanitation, water supply, and the fortress of Sacsahuaman with huge stoes which fitted together perfectly without mortar. Although the Incas had neither writing nor wheeled vehicles, the Incas' many skills included music, bridge building, and medicine. Some scientists believe that all Incas shared the same blood group and that it is possible that they were able to practice blood transfusions.
Though few in number, the Spaniards had horses and guns, both new to the Incas. The Incas were weakened by seven years of civil war. In 1532 Pizarro captured the Inca ruler Atahualpa and demanded for his ransom a room full of gold and two rooms full of silver. It was paid but Atahulpa was killed by the Spaniards anyway. The leaderless Inca armies were swiftly defeated, although resistance to Spanish rule continued from scattered mountain forts, such as Machu Picchu, until 1572.
Dempsey Parr. World History Encyclopedia Spain: Parragon, 1998.(pp.110-111)
The Mongol Empire
"Inhuman and beastly, rather monsters than men..." is how the English historian Matthew Paris described the Mongols in the 1200's. Mongol armies sent a shockwave of fear around Asia and Europe, conquering a vast area of land formed the largest (land) empire in history. The Mongols lived on the plains of ventral Asia from the Ural mountains to the Gobi desert. They were nomads, wandering with their herds and living in portable tent-homes called yurts. The Mongols lived with and from horses. They drank mares' milk and fermented the milk in a skin bag to make an intoxicating drink called kumiss. They drank to celebrate victories and sang to tunes played on fiddles made with horse hair strings. Their leaders were chiefs called khans. In 1206, Chief Temujin brought all the tribes under his rule and was proclaimed Genghis Khan, meaning lord of all. In a lifetime of conquest, he seized an empire that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the River Danube.
The Mongols quickly conquered the Persian empire. They continued their attacks after Genghis Khan died and, 1237, a Mongol army led by Batu Khan, one of Genghis sons, invaded Russia. (The Russian princes failed to unite and fell to the Mongols.) In the end western Europe was saved only when the Mongols turned homeward on the death of Genghis' son Ogadai Khan in 1241. News of the Mongols' advance created panic in Europe- some Church leaders claimed that the Mongols were sent b
The Black Death
  
Black Death Doctor, Danse Macabre, Angel of Death
The Black Death was the most horrific natural disaster of the Middle Ages. It was a devastating plague that killed many millions of people in Europe and Asia. One Italian historian wrote, "This is the end of the world." The plague came to Europe from Asia c. 1347. Disease ravaged a Mongol army fighting in Crimea (southern Russia). The desperate Mongols catapulted diseased corpses over the walls of fortresses defended by Italians. When the Italians sailed home to Genoa, they carried the disease with them.
The disease was bubonic plague, passed to humans from infected rats through flea bites. The name "Black Death" came from the black spots that appeared on victims, who also developed swellings in their armpits and groin, or coughed up blood. Many people died the same day they fell ill. No medieval doctor knew why the Black Death struck or how to cure it. To many Christians, the Black Death seemed a punishment from God, and religious fanatics took to the streets, whipping themselves as a penance for the sins of humanity.
The Black Death raged from China to Scandinavia. Sudden death struck daily and , as the epidemic spread, panic-stricken people fled from the towns. They too the plague with them. So many died (perhaps a third of the people in Europe) that is possible that villages were left deserted and fields overgrown with weeds. The Church lost many priests, the only educated men of the time.
The repeated plague attacks throughout the 14th and 15th centuries left Europe short of labor and pushed up wages. Unrest over taxes led to an uprising in France in 1358 and to the Peasants revolt in England, led by Wat Tyler in 1381.
The monasteries were particularly badly affected , as half of Englands monks and nuns died. In some monasteries , only a few monks survived. Three archbishops of Canterbury died in one year. It was a huge blow to the Church. People who lived through the Black Death gave money to the Church for new buildings. Yet some church leaders also complained of the money-grubbing and loose-living of those lucky enough to still be alive.
Medieval Japan
 
Portrait of a Warrior, Samurai Reenactment
Medieval Japan was a land without strong emperors. Power instead lay with warlords and they maintained control using their armies of fearsome samurai warriors. A samurai warrior wore a steel horned helmet and body armor made in pieces from leather or lacquered iron strips, so the suit was fully flexible. He fought with a bow, sword and lance. The emperors of Japan were dominated by powerful military families. From these soldier clans came the shoguns, or overlords, who really ruled the country, such as the powerful Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199). The shoguns drove off attacks from Mongol China with their fiercely loyal samurai warriors. A samurai held land, like a knight in Europe, but left farming to the peasants while he hunted or trained with the sword and bow. The samurai eventually came to form an elite warrior class that practiced Zen Buddhism, a philosophy which had been brought to Japan from China in 582.
From the 1300's, Japan was torn by violent civil wars between lords known as daimyos who built castles to guard their lands. The daimyos led armies of samurai warriors. In 1338 a samurai named Ashikaga Tokauji became the emperor's shogun. His family thus became the governing family. The most powerful daimyo was Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1537-1598), a peasant who rose to become a samurai warlord. He seized control of Japan from 1585 until his death. One of Hideyoshi's lieutenants, Ieyasu became shogun in 1603, and founded the Tokugawa dynasty.
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