READING QUIZ RECAP Classical Empires

GREECE Religion- anthropomorphic gods that engaged in human activities and had human emotions; provided the basis for Roman gods

Scientists/MathematiciansGalen- medicinePythagoras- mathEuclid- geometryPtolemy- astronomy

ROME Advanced in engineering and math but not the arts Aqueducts, domes

Christianity embraced by emperors eventually to provide a system of ethics

CHINA

Trade was heavily restricted until the rise of the Han dynasty (c. 200 BCE)

Shang, Zhou, Qin, HanZhou- Mandate of HeavenQin- Shi Huangdi, legalism, Great Wall

Shi Huangdi- paranoid, standardized weights, written script, increased public works projects and silk manufacturing

Han- based on Confucianism, traded luxury items, emperor Wu Ti (Wudi) 3 main classes- bureaucracy, laborers, mean people

In general, Chinese society focuses on interdependence

INDIA More diverse, often decentralized but it does unify under 2 dynasties: Maurya and Gupta

During periods of decentralization, priests filled power vacuum (Hinduism)

MauryaGreatest ruler is Ashoka, embraced Buddhism

GuptaUniform law code but allowed for regionalism (aka no specific religion, language, culture, etc. imposed)

Caste system- rigid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhUwKXIQ5kM

Merchants had higher social class than in other societiesTraded with cotton, textilesTraded for silk and luxury goods