The Mediterranean World PDF

THE MEDITERRANEAN Slides adapted from W.W. WORLD Norton Chapter 5 THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD Political, economic, and social changes led to new ways of organizing second-generation societies. Violent upheavals freed many from the domination of Assyria and Persia. New thinking and...

THE MEDITERRANEAN Slides adapted from W.W. WORLD Norton Chapter 5 THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD Political, economic, and social changes led to new ways of organizing second-generation societies. Violent upheavals freed many from the domination of Assyria and Persia. New thinking and new societies at the margins Exchanged trade goods and ideas about city-states  FORMATION OF NEW CITY- STATES With order restored in the ninth and eighth centuries BCE, independent, self-governing city- states were created. City-states ruled by their citizens City-states at Corinth, Thebes, Sparta, and Athens Athenian-led alliance of city-states against the Persians (early fifth century BCE) SELF- GOVERNMENT AND DEMOCRACY City-states known as polis in Greek). Self-government took many forms: Tyranny: rule by popularly approved individual Oligarchy: rule by a few Democracy: rule by all free adult males City-states composed of adult male citizens, other free persons, foreign immigrants, and unfree persons. FAMILIES AS FOUNDATIONAL UNITS  Small family unit more important social unit of city-state  Only adult free males had full citizenship rights.  Women of free birth had no standing, and those of the higher classes were expected to remain within the private world of the family.  Lower-class women needed to work outside the home as laborers or vendors. COMPETITION AND ARMED WAR City-states were competitive place. Frequent wars among the city-states over land, trade, religion, and resources New developments in military equipment and battle tactics, including the phalanx Wars threatened to destabilize city- states. Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE) fought between Athens and Sparta Despite wars, city-states prospered, and innovations facilitated trade and exchange throughout the Mediterranean. MAP 5.4 | THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD, 1000–350 BCE  ECONOMIC INNOVATIONS AND POPULATION MOVEMENT Free markets and money-based economies Developed open trading markets and a system of money Allowed for efficient exchanges Used coins rather than barter or gift exchange Money connected producers and buyers. Search for commodities and resources led to widespread trade. Establishment of independent colonial communities (city-states) along western Mediterranean and the Black Sea. CHATTEL SLAVERY & OUTSIDE ENCOUNTERS Human beings were bought and sold in a system of chattel slavery. They were used for labor, especially in dangerous or exhausting tasks. Mainly war captives, slaves became an essential part of the new city-states. Peoples in northern and central Europe integrated into world of city-states Greeks called them “barbarians,” a name for foreigners unable to speak their language. As Mediterranean empires grew more powerful, frontier peoples were commonly imported as slaves. NEW IDEAS Without a monarchy, priestly rule, or other authority, ideas and beliefs were free to rise, circulate, and clash. Naturalistic science and realistic art Art reflected a naturalistic view of humans and their place in the universe. Early art showed humans, objects, and landscapes as artists saw them to be. Later artwork depicts humans in an idealized way, especially the nude, the centerpiece of Greek art. Artists began to sign work. Vase painter Exekias Sculptor Praxiteles Poet Sappho  NEW THINKING AND GREEK PHILOSOPHERS Tried to explain the cosmos with ever more radical explanations Thales, Xenophanes, Democritus, and Pythagoras Fifth century BCE: debates focused on humans and their place in society Thinkers tried to describe an ideal state. Socrates (469–399 BCE): honor and integrity instead of wealth and power Plato (427–347 BCE): The Republic envisioned perfect city to emulate Aristotle (384–322 BCE): facts allowed one to achieve greater understanding.