History: Pre - Renaissance

• Western –Civilization

• Greco-Roman Empire

• Fall of Rome

• Dark – Ages

• How religion played a part

• What was happening in the rest of the world

Western –Civilization

There are three major themes whose development and interplay have shaped the distinctive characteristics that set Western civilization apart from the other great historic cultures. They are the growth of a tradition of rational scientific inquiry, the persistence of a tension between Judaeo-Christian religious ideals and social realities, the emergence of constitutional forms of government.

-- Joint statement of introduction by Brian Tierney, Donald Kagan and L. Pearce Williams (Great Issues in Western Civilization, 2 vols., N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1992), p. xi.

Europe

Australia

South America

North America

Antarctica

Asia

Atlantic Ocean Indian OceanPacific OceanArctic Ocean

Rome Asia Mesopotamia Europe Egypt Greece Africa

Why do we study ancient Greek civilization?

People have been studying the Greeks for so long that we have learned to see them in many different ways. Some people see the Greeks as the beginning of Western Civilization: if you want to take this approach, you might teach about how the Greeks invented the geometrical proof, the scientific method, the writing of history and plays. You might also mention how much our literature owes to Greek mythology, our civic architecture to the Greek temple, our churches to the Greek basilica, and our theaters to the Greek theater.Some people see the Greeks as very much like us; if you want to show them that way you'd talk about their democratic government, their court system, and their poetry.

Roman Empire

Greco-Roman Empire

Greek Architecture

Roman Architecture

Greek Art

Roman Art

Fall of Rome

• 1-

• 2-

• 3-

Dark – Ages

Lochner

Cistercian monks. Bone Chapel.CrivelliLigier Richier. 1544

Paul Fürst, Doktor Schnabel von Rom("Doctor Beak of Rome"),1656.

Catacombs. Paris, France.

How religion played a part

• 1-

• 2-

• 3-

The rest of the worldTang and Song Dynasty

Gupta Empire

History: The Renaissance

• ‘Rebirth’

• Thinking and the church

• Martin Luther

• Galileo Galilei

• Leonardo da Vinci

• Cultural Implications