Ancient Dynasties: Ashoka, Shang & Zhou

• Ashoka is known for converting to Buddhism and renouncing war.
• His grandfather, Chandragupta Maurya, was known to be intense and cruel.
• Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism was a result of the remorse he felt after the Battle of Kalinga.
• Edict: An official proclamation from a person of authority.
• Raja: Chieftains who derived power from military successes and were assisted by a council of elders.
• Sanskrit: A classic Indo-Aryan language dispersed throughout India during the late Bronze Age.
• Satrap: The governor of a Persian province.
• Stupa: A shrine containing Buddhist relics for worship.
• Vedas: Religious texts from ancient India which outline early Hinduism and Indus Valley history from 1500 to 500 BC.

Shang Dynasty (1600-1050 BC)

• China's first proven Imperial Dynasty.
• A monarchy ruled by at least 29 kings over 600 years.
• The king was advised by aristocrats, usually relatives, who held specialized positions and ruled over the dynasty.

Zhou Dynasty (1050-221 BC)

• Split into the Western Zhou period (1050-771 BC) and the Eastern Zhou period (771-221 BC).
• Western Zhou's capital was in Western China.
• Eastern Zhou's capital moved to Eastern China due to a nomadic invasion.
• During the Western Zhou period, the government introduced the Concept of Heaven and the Mandate of Heaven to validate the dynasty's overthrow of the Shang. This concept communicated that kings could only be kings if they won heaven’s favor.
• Due to its larger landmass, the king appointed relatives and aristocrats to rule over regions; the king's authority decreased as these regions gained power.
• Eastern Zhou's weak centralized power led to nomadic invasions, forcing the capital east.
• The Eastern Zhou period was marked by turmoil and constant war, including the Warring Period (475-221 BC).
• States eventually consolidated into 7 kingdoms: Chu, Han, Qin, Wei, Yan, and Zhao, signaling the fall of the Zhou Dynasty.

Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)

• The Qin Dynasty rose from the Qin state's victory in the Warring Period.
• Qin Shihuangdi unified the states and declared himself the first emperor of China.
• Qin established a strong centralized bureaucracy, dividing the land into provinces ruled by appointed leaders, a model still used in China.
• Qin limited criticism of the government and free speech and established harsh laws to maintain power.
• The Qin dynasty fell after Qin Shihuangdi's death.

Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)

• The Han Dynasty reunified China after Qin Shihuangdi's death.
• The Han Dynasty's government combined feudal structures with centralized bureaucracy, following the Qin model of emperor control.
• Three advisement systems for the emperor were the Chancellor over the masses, the Imperial Council, and the Grand Commandment.
• The appointed governor system continued.
• Confucianism: Chinese philosophy emphasizing human goodness, benevolence, and dignity.
• Daoism: Chinese philosophy advocating humility and religious piety based on the writings of Lao-tzu.
• Millet: A fast-growing cereal plant that helped promulgate civilization around the Yellow River in China.

Confucius’s Five Basic Relationships

• Parent and Child, encompassing ancestor worship.
• Husband and Wife, emphasizing harmony.
• Older Sibling and Younger Sibling, emphasizing affection.
• Older Friend and Younger Friend, emphasizing trust and honesty.
• Ruler and Subject, emphasizing loyalty.

Lao Tzu

• Established Daoism which emphasizes harmony with nature. A key component is the Dao, or the way of the universe.
• Upanishads: Hindu texts of religious teachings which began as commentaries on the Vedas.
• Reincarnation: The idea that the individual soul is reborn in a different form after death (Hinduism and Buddhism).
• Karma: Rebirth is determined by actions in this and other lives (Hinduism).
• Moksha: Emancipation from the cycle of rebirth and union with the Brahman, the ultimate goal of faithful Hindus.
• Four Noble Truths: The Buddha's first teachings, instructing followers in the elimination of suffering.
• Eightfold Path: A set of best practices towards achieving nirvana (Buddhism).
• Nirvana: Ultimate transcendence from the illusion of the material world (Buddhist thought).
• Yin and Yang: A concept of dualism in ancient Chinese philosophy; seemingly opposite yet complementary forces.
• Moldboard Plow: An agricultural tool used to overturn sod for cultivation of seeds.
• Acupuncture: A component of traditional Chinese medicine using thin needles inserted into the body to alleviate pain.
• Abacus: A calculating tool used before the adoption of the Arabic numeral system.
• Four Great Inventions: Celebrated inventions from ancient China.

Ancient Chinese Advancements

• Bronze Work: Practical vessels for serving food and drink.
• Iron Work: The blast furnace enabled the creation of ritual vessels and agricultural tools.
• Ceramic and Pottery: Popular by the first millennium BC.
• The caste system in ancient Indian society defined each person’s identity, occupation, and status. Worked alongside Hinduism to keep society structured, this was the division between indigenous people and Aryan invaders.
• Western Zhou (1027 to 771 BC): This era established the use of iron for plows and crossbows, horseback riding in warfare, agricultural improvements via large-scale irrigation and water-control, Confucianism, and Daoism.
• Eastern Zhou (771 to 256 BC): A fractured, volatile time with lots of division during the Warring States period.
• Lacquerware: Made from resin of native sumac juices, used to coat wood or fabric or preserve or decorate them.
• Calligraphy: In China, the writing of Chinese characters as an art form.
• Legalism: A Chinese philosophy emphasizing strict law and order through punishment, reward, and loyalty.
• Hinduism: An Indian religion, sometimes called the oldest religion in the world, practiced by 1.25 billion people worldwide.
• Buddhism: A variety of traditions and beliefs based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha.

Mauryan Empire

• Established by Chandragupta Maurya, it peaked under Ashoka, then collapsed due to weak successors, internal conflicts, and regional rebellions after Ashoka’s death.
• Buddhism challenged the caste system by offering enlightenment to all.
• Hinduism evolved in the presence of Buddhism.
• Hellenism: The national character or culture of Greece, especially ancient Greece.
• Seleucus Nicator: Macedonian general who founded a line of kings in Asia Minor until 65 BC.
• Indo-Greek Kingdom: A Hellenistic kingdom spanning modern-day Afghanistan.
• Arabic Numerals: The ten digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
• Rock Edicts: Describes the three centuries when various rival Chinese states battled viciously for territorial advantage and dominance. Ultimately the Qin state was victorious and established the first unified Chinese state in 221 BC.

China

• There was cultural diffusion of bronze-wording from Near East or Thailand during the Shang Dynasty
• China abruptly passed from Neolithic state to a Bronze age state during Shang Dynasty
• The Han dynasty brought more centralized government and a less oppressive ruling style lead to Qin's success. Chinese silk trade
• Emperor Wu-Ti expanded the empire, implemented Confucian principles, and centralized the government during the Han dynasty.
• Compound Bows: A traditional bow made from horn, wood, and sinew laminated together.
• Cast Iron: An alloy of iron and carbon that can be readily cast in a mold and contains a higher proportion of carbon than steel
• Warring States Era: Describes the three centuries when various rival Chinese states battle viciously for territorial advantage and dominance. Ultimately the Qin state was victorious and established the first unified Chinese state in 221 BC
• Silk Trade: A network of trade routes established during the Han Dynasty linking the regions of the ancient world in commerce between 130 BC-1453 AD.
• The Minoan civilization, based on the island of Crete, is known for its architecture, art, trade networks, and pioneer of technologies, which include early plumbing techniques
• After the fall of the Mycenaeans, the Greeks fell into a period of struggle called the Dark Ages. Although this era was full of hardships, it saw iconic Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. It also saw social-political developments that allowed for the rise of the democracy
• Military advancements in The Archaic Period were the hoplite phalanx formation and the trireme
• The classical period began with the conflict between Greece and Persia in 500 BC and ended with the death of the Macedonian king and conqueror Alexander the Great in 323 BC. The outcome of the Persian rules was the Delian League who’s purpose was to keep fighting the Persian Empire. The Delian League also was an initial sign of conflict between Athens and Sparta, in which tensions eventually escalated into the Peloponnesian war between the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League. This period also established democracy
• The Hellenistic Period covers the death of Alexander the Great to the conquest of the last Hellenistic kingdom by Rome, the Lagid Kingdom of Egypt. Alexander’s death specifically lead to the decline of the empire and it resulted in the division of his kingdom between his generals: General Seleucus controlled the Asian part of the old Persian Empire, General Antigonus kept Macedonia, and General Ptolemy took Egypt and the Near East. This weakened the kingdom and allowed for invasions by competing nations

Ancient Terms

• Athens: A prominent city-state in ancient Greece
• Bronze Age: Beginning in approximately 3000 BC, a historical period characterized by the use of bronze, and in some areas proto-writing, and other early features by urban civilization
• Polis (poleis): A city-state in ancient Greece
• General Antigonus: Alexander’s General who, after Alexander’s death, kept Macedonia itself, but by 301 BC, was killed in battle and his son Demetrius I was defeated as Lysimachus took the area of Thrace and Cassander took Macedonia and Greece
• General Ptolemy: Alexander’s General who, after Alexander’s death, took Egypt, along with most of the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, including Judea, the old Phoenicia, and the coast of Asia Minor
• General Seleucus: Alexander’s General who, after Alexander’s death, controlled the Asian part of the old Persian Empire and the south half of Asia Minor except the coast, clear across southwest Asia to the Indus
• Hoplites: Heavily armed and armored clusters of infantrymen of ancient Greece
• Oligarchy: A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution
• Peloponnesian War: An ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its allies against Sparta and its allies Phalanx: A rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons Trireme: An ancient Greek or Roman war galley with three banks of oars

Thinkers from the Milesian School

• Three thinkers from the Milesian School include Thales, who believed water was the basis of everything, Anaximander, who believed that the fundamental substances was one that was unlimited and different from all known substances, and Anaximenes who believed that air was the first element that then transformed into fire, winds, clouds, water, and earth as it became thinner or thicker
• Pythagoras: Viewed the world as a harmonious structure dependent on numbers and also believed in metempsychosis
• Atomists: Believed that the universe was a mixture of infinite atoms being shuffled and re-shuffled depending on the natural laws. Atomism’s made goal was to become less dependent on religion and focus on objective facts
• Sophists sought objective and eternal truths, while Socrates promoted relativism and subjectivism, where each person decides what is true and good
• Stoicism believed that wealth or poverty, health or illness, and life or death are indifferent to happiness. Zeno, the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy emphasized the importance of living life of virtue or moral excellence, in agreement with nature. He also believed that virtue (result of right knowledge, self control, and proper understanding of human potential) is the highest good for human beings.
• Metempsychosis: The transmigration of the soul and its reincarnation after death
• Empiricists: Philosophers who believed that knowledge was gained through the senses of sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste
• Arête: Greek for “excellence” or “virtue”
• Socratic Method: Method of inquiry developed by Socrates that breaks problems down into a series of questions, the answers to which result in better and better solutions
• Theory of Forms: The physical world is not the real world. Instead, ultimate reality exists beyond out material world. The objects and ideas in our material world are imperfect copies or “shadows” of the perfect forms that exists in the immaterial Universe
• Greek epics, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey, are defined by their length and heroic deeds the recount
• Sappho of Lesbos was greatly admire for her “wedding songs” and lyric poets
• Common colors of Ancient Greek pottery techniques: black, white, red, yellow, along with the black-figure and red-figure techniques
• Ancient Greek architecture is distinguished by its highly formalized, both for structure and decoration. They built the Parthenon, a Greek temple with massive columns as a tribute to Athena
• In the Hellenistic period, Greek sculptors shifted towards naturalism and often featured common people, women, children, animals, and domestic scenes
• Agoge: A military academy for young Spartan males
• Encaustic: Also known as hot wax painting; involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added
• Tempera: A permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisted of colored pigments mixed with a water soluble binder medium such as egg yolk
• Black-figure Technique: A technique used by Greek potters in Corith in the early 7th century BC; involved adding red and white details to pots and incising for outlines and details
• Red-figure Technique: A technique used by Greek potters in the 6th century BC that reversed the black-figure technique by creating black pots and figures painted in red
• Agora: A central public space in ancient Greek city-states, used for assemblies and markets
• Dialectic: The art of logical argument
• The Ionian Revolt (499-493 BC) was when the Ionian cities in Asia Minor rose ip against Persian rule. They then gained aid by the Greeks and the Persians were defeated (they believed the Greeks were an ally)
• In the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), both the Greeks and Persians were unwillingly to fight on unfavorable terrain, and the Persians sent a portion of their men away to sea to ambush Athens. When the Greeks realized Persia had sent a segment of their army away, the Athenian general Miltiades decided to attack.
• In the Thermopylae battle, the Spartan warriors confronted the Persian army. The narrow coastal passage prevented the Persian army for surrounding the Greeks, and the Spartan warriors held the pass for 3 days until Ephialtes showed the Persians a hidden path around the Greek army.
• In the battle of Salamis, the Greeks were outnumbered by the Persians. The Athenian admiral, Themistocles, devised a plan to lead the large Persian army into a narrow strait in which they wouldn’t fit. This plan destroyed the Persian fleet and Xerxes was defeated.
• Golden Age of Pericles: A period of Athenian political hegemony, economic growth, and cultural flourishing formerly known as the Golden Age of Athens, with the later part called The Age of Pericle
• Peloponnesian League: An alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta
• Thrasybulus: Athenian general in the Peloponnesian War who helped to restore democracy after the conflict Long Walls of Athens: Fortifications which protected both the city of Athens and its port In the Battle of Granicus, the Persian cavalry took a strong defensive stance on one side of a river, while the Greek mercenaries took positions on the other. Alexander the Great led his own calvary across the river but was almost killed by a Persian noble, but was save bu Cleitus the Black, one of his senior officers
• In the Battle of Issus, Alexander the Great positioned his calvary on the right flank, trying to break through the Persian left wing, while Darius III of Persia deployed heavy calvary near the coast on his right flank, although the Persians ultimately lost
• In the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander the Great defeated Darius III and took control of Asia
• Features of the Macedonian phalanx: heavy formation with long spars called the sarissa
• Alexander the Great also won the battle of Hydaspes
• Agyraspides: Elite Macedonian infantry noted for their distinctive shields
• Hypaspists: Light infantry used to protect the flanks of the phalanx
• Bessus: A Persian leader who also claimed the throne after King Darius II was killed
• Koine Greek: The common form of Greek spoken and written during the Hellenistic period, which served as the lingua franca of much of the Mediterranean region and the Middle East following the rule of Alexander the Great
• Septuagint: A Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, compiled in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC; as the primary Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is also called the Greek Old Testament
• The Romans overthrews the last king, Tarquinus Superbus, civil wars, and power struggles, ultimately leading Julius Caesar’s rise and establsihement of the Empire under Octavian (real name Augustus) in 27 BC
• Romans came from the Etruscans
• Tarquinius Superbus’s fall was blamed on Sextus, his son, for the raping of Lucretia
• The Struggle of Orders was the conflict between the plebians and patricians. The result was that the plebians were granted political authority
• Gaius Marius’ Marian Reforms allowed the lower class to serve in the military, expanding the military
• Characteristics of the transition of the Roman Republic to Empire: A unified system of government, continued military expansion, diversity of subjected people, and the seperation of a Roman identity and allegiances that led to multiple civil wars