The Roller Coaster: How do Cultures Rise and Fall?

posted and edited by Josh Sloan

add information freely when neccesary.

Egypt

Old Kingdom

1. Narmer unifies Upper and Lower Egypt, becomes 1st Pharaoh of 1st Dynasty
2. During 5th Dynasty, centralized power weakens and nomarchs gain power- become hereditary
3. People lost confidence in Pharaoh after extended period of low flooding, and nomarchs stop obeying Pharaoh and move their mastabas farther away from the pyramids
4. Egypt breaks into competing regions of Memphis (7th and 8th Dyn.), Herakleopolis (9th and 10th Dyn.), and Thebes (11th Dyn.) resulting in instability (First Intermediate Period)

Middle Kingdom

1. Mentuhotep II of Thebes reunites Egypt and takes steps to strengthen Pharaoh's authority
   • Nomarchs become hereditary and Coregency is established
   • Emphasis on kindness
2. Later dynasties of the Middle Kingdom become increasingly weak
3. Hyksos immigrants are used as mercenaries
4. Hyksos seize control of Lower Egypt, Pharaohs retreat to Upper Egypt

New Kingdom

1. Ahmose I reunifies Egypt after expelling Hyksos
   • Adopts Hyksos technology: bronze, war chariot, and composite bow
   • Aggressive military expansion
2. Sea People (Philistines) defeat Hittites and push Egypt within natural boundries
3. Egypt conquered by Libyans

China

Xia

1. Mythological Dynasty
2. Chinese accounts of early history
3. Jie, last Xia emperor, described as thoroughly evil
4. Overthrown because he was evil ruler (example of Dynastic Cycle)

Shang

1. c.1500-1046 BCE
2. Wu Ding is our example of a Shang King (not the first)
3. Rise to power after end of Xia
4. King Wu of the Zhou leads a coalition to overthrow the Shang dynasty.
5. Di Xin was the last king of the Shang, he was described as evil.

Western Zhou

1. c. 1046-777 BCE
2. King Wu, invents the idea of the Mandate of Heaven to solidify his legitimacy.
   • No allied chieftains hold power in the empire and the Shang are given an estate to practice religious ceremonies.
   • Claimed Mandate of Heaven had always existed; Shang had lost it
3. King You, the last king of the Western Zhou, looses the mandate when he pushes aside his wife and toys with the signal lights to amuse Bao Si.
4. The family of his first wife overthrows King You and sets his first wife's son up as King.
5. He moves the capital to the east (Louyang), beginning the Eastern Zhou Period.

Eastern Zhou

1. c. 770-222 BCE
2. Spring & Autumn Period (770-481 BCE)
   • With the weakening of the Zhou king's power local lords became independent, estate holders became hereditary, and this led to a drastic decline in the power of the king.
   • Outside attackers in addition to rivalries between the lords threatened the kingdom's stability, increasing the need for a leader or a Hegemon.
3. Warring States Period (480-222 BCE)
   • States begin conquering each other until there are 7 major states. These 7 states engage in shifting alliances, intrigues, and open wars.
   • Yin Zheng of Qin conquers all other states to form a new dynasty in 221 BCE ending the Eastern Zhou Period.

Qin

1. c. 221-206 BCE
2. Yin Zheng took the title of "Shi Huangdi" (First Emperor) and assumed the position of first Chinese emperor.
   • ruled by concept of legalism, harsh punishments such as the burying of 400 Confucian scholars
   • Connected & expanded walls to create the Great Wall
3. After the death of Shi Huangdi, popular opposition against his son lead to peasant & noble revolts.
4. Liu Bang, leader of peasant revolt, overthrows Qin government.

Han

1. c. 206 BCE - 220 CE
2. Liu Bang becomes 1st emperor of Han Dyn.
   • leads by his beliefs of Confucianism.
   • Rejects the harshness of the Qin legalism but maintains centralization
   • Huge bureaucracy established leading to the need for civil service exams for government positions.
   • Wang Mang established the Xin dynasty but after 14 years the Han dynasty is restored.
3. A series of weak emperors who are controlled by their officials led to the eventual fall of the empire.

Assyria

1. Began as a minor Mesopotamian state that grew into a large hostile empire with the help of a series of warlike kings.
   • ruled by fear and intimidation
2. Capital was Nineveh.
3. Chaldeans (New Babylonians) and Medes combined to overthrow the Assyrian empire.They proceded to expand in opposite directions.

New Babylonia

1. c. 612-539 BCE
2. After overthrowing Assyrian empire, Babylon's agreement with Medes allowed them to conquer Westward.
   • Conquered Judah & destroyed Solomon's Temple (start of Jewish Diaspora)
3. Nabonidus neglected the sun god Marduk and preferred the moon god Sin. This resulted in considerable opposition from the people.
4. When the Persians attacked under Cyrus the city of Babylon threw open the gates to welcome them.

Medes

1. Descended from nomads who had migrated into the region and settled.
2. Had organized spearman, archers, and cavalry for specialized use on battlefield -- old battle strategy = "The enemy is over there!! Let's get 'em!!", with organization of troops they were able to be more effective (this was a big technological advancement for the Medes but had already been done in many other places)
3. Allied with Babylonians to overthrow Assyrians
4. Persian overthrow of Medes organized by Cyrus, who were vassals of the Medes
5. Astyages was unpopular with both Median nobles and his conquered peoples -- when Cyrus invaded Ecbatana, many Median soldiers switched sides, gates of Ectabana opened for Cyrus
6. Cyrus shows leniency to defeated Medes

Persians

1. c. 550 - 330 BCE
2. Vassals of Medes, gave up independence for protection, Persian revolt (see above)
3. Expansion stops with Xerxes, who accomplished little despite the wealth and power of his empire
4. His son, Artaxerxes I, was a weak and incompetent ruler who gave too much power to his subordinates, turning point of political strength of empire w/him (strength began to decline)
5. Satraps become hereditary under rule of Artaxerxes II
6. March of 10,000 shows Persia's vulnerability to a well trained Greek army
7. During the rule of Darius III, Persia was conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 331 BC

GREECE

1. BRONZE AGE

1. Minoans (c. 2200-1400 BCE)
   1. controlled all sea trade on the Mediterranean
   2. Theorized that the Minoan civilization on Crete was weakened by the eruption of Mt. Thera and then conquered by the Mycenaeans
2. Mycenaeans (c. 1600-1100 BCE)
   1. weakened by Trojan War and civil war, collapse of International trade, became Sea People (?)

2. DARK AGE -- (c. 1100-750 BCE)

1. started after complete collapse of civilization
2. major population decline, cities were abandoned
3. lots, and lost of farmers
4. government was local/ aristocratic oligarchies
5. literacy was lost

3. ARCHAIC AGE -- (c. 750-501 BCE)

1. literacy returns along with the resumption of int. trade
2. Commercial Revolution -- new social classes emerge (The "New Rich" and debt slaves)
3. Mediterranean colonization -- Ionian city states
4. Written poems(lyric and black-figure)
5. Hoplite warfare between city-states
6. Tyranny slowly replaces aristocratic oligarchy
7. Economic discontent+Hoplite warfare= leads to introduction of tyranny

Tyranny in Athens

1. Violent overthrow of oligarchs

2. Athenian leaders give Solon absolute power for a year to fix Athens' problems and the oligarchs would retain power
3. After Solon stepped down, the people overthrow the oligarchs and established Pisistratus as the first tyrant

Sparta's unique history

1. Sparta defeated its neighbors and turned them into servants, called helots

2. After helot rebellion, Sparta was turned into a military state after the installation of the code of lycurgus
3. Had different government with two kings, a council, and a general assembly
Democracy

1. After overthrow of Pisistratus' son, Cleisthenes dilutes the power of aristocrats and tyrants by manufacturing 10 tribes

2. Each tribe annually elected a general and randomly selected 50 boule members
3. Every adult male citizen could attend and partake in the government a.k.a. could vote

Persian Wars(490) (480-479)

1. Darius invaded, but was defeated at marathon by athens.
2. Xerxes later amassed an even greater army and invaded. The city states created a defensive league, and fought off the persian army.
3. The greeks then established the Delian league, excluding Sparta.

Peloponnesian Wars

1. Sparta forms the peloponnesian league with the surrounding city states who left the Delian league due to athens' bullying.
2. Sparta and peloponnesian league wins due to Athens plague and help of Persian Navy
3. Sparta was now in control, and made a new 30 tyrant government

This led to a period of many civil wars, weakening Greece, and making them a prime Target for the macedonians to invade

HELLENISTIC GREECE - (338-146 BCE)

1. Began when Philip II invaded Greece
2. After Philip's assassination, Alexander takes power and begins phase 2 -- Attack Persia
3. After his death, Alexander's empire is divided into 4 parts -- Antignoid, Seleucid, Attalid Kingdom of Pergamum (split off from Seleucids), and the Ptolemaic. Ptolemaic lasts the longest out of all these kingdoms.

EARLY ROMAN MONARCHY - (753-509 BCE)

1. Rome's last king was and Etruscan named Tarquin the Proud. He had absolute power and was above the law.
2. A rebellion of the nobles was lead by Brutus, an early relative of the Brutus of Julius Caesar's time. They overthrew Tarquin and established the Roman Republic with Brutus as one of the first Consuls.
   1. The purpose of this Republic was to ensure that the power is shared among the wealthy landowners and to keep anyone from becoming King, none are above the law
   2. This was not intended to be a democracy
   3. These nobles became the social class of the Patricians

ROMAN REPUBLIC - (509-31 BCE)

1. see above for details on overthrow
2. society constructed that was dominated by wealthy patricians, while the majority were plebeians, who sought more political power
   1. tribune - elected official, "champion of the plebeians", fought for them and had the power to veto
   2. patrician positions were senators and consuls, and various members of other assemblies

1. Marius sets trend for future generals taking power by force.
   1. Marius had an army that was loyal to him and not the state, schemed to get his men land outside of Italy
   2. Sulla takes power with his army, claiming that there was a state of emergency, and uses his power to expand the power of the senate and ruthlessly kill all who he placed on his proscription. Put his supporters in control and then retired.
      1. With Crassus and Pompey as consuls, they had supported Sulla while he was in power, but together they undid much of his work
   3. 1st Triumvirate is formed between Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus
   4. Caesar gains fame by defeating the Gauls, and returns to Rome to run for consul while bringing his loyal army in the city with him, against the Senate's orders.
      1. Pompey is selected by the Senate to defend the Republic and confront Caesar in civil war. Caesar is victorious and forces the Senate to make him dictator
      2. Caesar declares himself dictator for life in 44 BCE, and a group of optimates senators assassinate him
   5. 2nd Triumvirate is formed between Octavian, Mark Antony, and Lepidus
      1. enemies were proscribed and the assassins were hunted down
      2. once order was restored, Octavian and Mark Antony split control of empire
         1. Mark Antony falls in love with Cleopatra of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, and Octavian fuels propaganda accusing the two of being enemies of Rome
         2. Octavian defeats them at the Battle of Actium, and establishes the Roman Empire

ROMAN EMPIRE

1. Octavian "resigns" his dictatorial power, and the grateful Senate declares him "Augustus, and was permanently given the powers of consul and tribune.
   1. also took the title of "Princeps", meaning "first among equals"
   2. Worked hard to maintain the illusion that Rome was still a republic and that he ruled jointly with the senators, but he was an absolute monarch in everything but name
   3. "The parallels between Augustus and Darius are worth investigating." - Ms. Stevens (... hint, hint....)
   4. His rule was began the Pax Romana, which were 200 years of relative peace in the Empire
2. At the end of Nero's rule (the end of the Julio-Claudians), he executed popular generals, and the army revolted, and Nero killed himself.
3. The Year of the Four Emperors followed this, and Vespasian used his army to seize power by cutting off Rome's grain supply from Egypt, thus establishing the Flavian Dynasty.
4. The decline begins after the Five Good Emperors; Marcus Aurelius does not adopt his successor, and instead uses his son, Commodus.
5. a series of poor emperors leads into the Disastrous 3rd Century
   1. Severan Dynasty is established by Septimius Severus. This dynasty was a military monarchy -- focus was no longer on pleasing the people or the senate, only on the military
   2. Military Anarchy (235-284 CE) follows. 22 emperors were put in power within 50 years, and only two died by non-violent means
      1. multiple invasions by neighbors, devastating plague, population decline, and economy collapses (barter system adopted, coins were worthless)
6. Order is restored by Diocletian, who divides the Empire into two parts, each with a Caesar and Augustus (tetrarchy), clarifies succession
   1. Diocletian retires, assuming that the transition of power to his 2nd tetrarchy will go smoothly. Power struggle and civil war erupts.
7. Constantine defeats the other tetrarchs and reunifies the Empire
   1. converts to Christianity and legalizes it
   2. moves the capital to Constantinople in the East in order to defend from attacks from the North and East, where he is surrounded by his supporters
   3. organizes the Council of Nicea and writes the Niceaen Creed
8. The Fall of the Western Empire
   1. The Huns push many Germanic tribes into Roman territory
   2. Rome was sacked twice; once by the Goths (410 CE) and once by the Vandals (455 CE)
   3. In 476 (widely accepted date for the collapse of the West), Odoacer, a Goth serving as a commander in the Roman military, desposes of Romulus Augustulus
   4. Theodoric of the Visigoths then invades the Kingdom of Odoacer and becomes new emperor of the West
   5. 566 - Justinian reconquers the West, along with Gaul and Spain, but he had overextended the empire and was forced to contract it very rapidly. Loses the West for good