The classical period directions diversities and declines by 500 c.e summary and study guide

 

 

 

The classical period directions diversities and declines by 500 c.e summary and study guide

 

The following texts are the property of their respective authors and we thank them for giving us the opportunity to share for free to students, teachers and users of the Web their texts will used only for illustrative educational and scientific purposes only.

 

All the information in our site are given for nonprofit educational purposes

The information of medicine and health contained in the site are of a general nature and purpose which is purely informative and for this reason may not replace in any case, the council of a doctor or a qualified entity legally to the profession.

 

 

The classical period directions diversities and declines by 500 c.e summary and study guide

CHAPTER 5: THE CLASSICAL PERIOD – DIRECTIONS,

             DIVERSITIES, AND DECLINES BY 500 C.E.

                           Pages 86 – 107

 

SUMMARY

Expansion and Integration

 

Common themes for the classical civilization involve territorial expansion and related efforts to integrate the new territories. Integration included a mixture of central political values and institutions, common cultures and social values, and commercial links.
 

Beyond the Classical Civilization

Outside the centers of civilization important developments occurred. Significant civilizations operated in the Americas and also in Africa outside the immediate classical orbit. Agriculture and other developments spread across northern Europe and northern Asia, where semi-civilized peoples developed extensive contacts with older civilizations. Nomadic societies played a vital role, particularly in Central Asia, in linking and occasionally disrupting classical civilizations. Important popular migrations in across Eurasia led to the rise of new cultures.

Decline in China and India; Decline and Fall in Rome

 

A combination of internal weakness and nomadic invasions led to important changes, first in China, and then in India. Decline in Rome was particularly complex. Its causes have been much debated. Developments varied between the eastern and western portions of the Empire, as the Mediterranean world fell apart.

The New Religious Map

 

The period of classical decline saw the rapid expansion of Buddhism and Christianity. This religious change had wider cultural, social, and political implications. Later, both Islam arose, and spread, following the previous spread of Hinduism across South and Southeast Asia.

Conclusion: The World around 500 C.E.

 

Developments around 500 C.E. produced three major themes for world history in subsequent periods. First, there was a collapse of classical civilizations. Societies across Eurasia faced the task of reviving or reworking their key institutions and values after decline and invasion. Second, as new religions arose and older ones spread. These would form the basis of future civilizations. Finally, new developments across the globe, whether through indigenous developments or contacts with older centers led to the rise of new civilizations.

CHAPTER REVIEW

What issues and values did classical civilizations stress?

 

Describe the spread of sedentary agriculture outside the older civilized areas.

Describe the rise of civilization in the Americas or the spread of civilization to peripheral regions in Africa and Asia.

 

What influences did civilizations have on peoples living near their borders?

What roles did pastoral nomads play in world history and commerce?

 

Describe the reasons for the decline and fall of classical civilizations?

How were the collapses of classical empires similar and different?

 

How did migrations and nomads threaten classic empires and civilizations?

How and why did new religions develop and spread?

 

What classical traditions and institutions survived despite the fall of states?

    

KEY VOCABULARY

Kush; Axum; Ghana

 

Silk routes

Shinto

 

Olmecs

Huns

 

Rajputs

Parthians; Sassanids

 

Syncretism

Bodhisattvas

 

Mahayana Buddhism

Messiah; Christ

 

Pope

Trinity

 

Monasticism

MAP EXERCISES

Map 5.1: Main African-Eurasian Trade Routes in the Classical Age (Page 90)

In what ways were land routes affected by geography (Use the map of physical geography at the front of your book)?

 

Why might the camel be the preferred beast of burden along these routes?

Using locations on the map, identify the route of the Great Silk Road.

 

Map 5.2: Civilizations of Central and South America (Page 94)

Match each civilization with a description of its physical environment and its relative location.

Toltec:

Aztec:

Olmec:

Mayan:

Inca:

The intermediate zone:

What elements of geography would have hindered movement and connections between the various civilizations?

 

Map 5.3: Germanic Kingdoms after the Invasions (Page 99)

Map 5.4: The Mediterranean, Middle East, Europe, and North Africa (Page 98)

What geographic features protected the Byzantine (East Roman) Empire from barbarian invasions?

Based on where the Germanic tribes settled, identify the modern states they inhabit (Use the political map at the end of the book).

Angles, Saxons:

Franks, Burgundians:

Visigoths, Suevi:

Ostrogoths:

Vandals:

 

Visualizing the Past: Religious Geography (Page 105)

  

Where are the great religions geographically concentrated today?

Which religions affect the greatest number of states?

 

Which religions have the greatest populations?

How do religious locations today differ from locations during the Classical Era?

 

What might account for the location of religions today?

Document Analysis: Popularization of Buddhism (Page 102)

 

Analysis

Who wrote it? (Attribution includes biographical references)

What was the author’s point of view?

 

How reliable is the document? Why?

What was the intent or purpose behind the document?

 

Who was the intended audience?

What is the document’s tone?

 

Drawing Conclusions

Why did Buddhism spread in China?

How did Buddhism change as it spread?

 

What troubles did China face as suggested by this document?

 

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Historically, pastoral nomads

lived interspersed with sedentary farmers.

were rare in Africa and the Americas but common in Central Asia.

lived on the continental plains, where sedentary agriculture was difficult.

prevented contacts between the civilized centers of the world.

had little lasting impact on the development of civilizations.

 

Nomadic peoples

disrupted the transcontinental trade routes such as the Silk Road.

were the greatest threats faced by classical empires.

had few, if any, prolonged contacts with sedentary peoples.

have been agents of contact across the distances between sedentary peoples.

had little on the spread and development of newer technologies.

All of these typified contacts between sedentary and nomadic peoples EXCEPT:

trade.

acceptance of each other and each other’s ways of life.

tribute payments by weak sedentary societies to strong nomadic groups.

nomads served as mercenaries to some societies.

raids and warfare between both groups.

 

In that the Americas were isolated, the development of civilization involved

convergent development.

contact and exchange.

diffusion.

connections.

independent invention.

The two American cultural hearths of civilizations included Central Mexico and the

Mississippi area.

Yucatan Peninsula.

American Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah).

Andean river valleys and plateaus of Ecuador and Peru.

Rio Plata and Parana river systems of Argentina.

 

The core or mother civilization for other civilizations in Mesoamerica was the

Olmecs.

Toltecs.

Aztecs.

Mayas.

Chavin peoples.

In Axum, trade and contacts

insulated the culture from African influences.

led to the kingdom’s conversion to Christianity.

brought the state in contact with Bantu peoples.

led to its conquest by Arabs.

introduced Buddhism and Hinduism from India.

 

Ghana rose to prominence on the savannas

after Bantu peoples migrated to the area.

as a result of contacts with the Greco-Roman culture on the Mediterranean.

by monopolizing control of the agricultural lands, pastures, and water.

through its control of trans-Saharan trade, and regulation of salt and gold.

after its conversion to Islam.

Early historic Japanese culture

borrowed slavishly from the Chinese and Koreans.

was the product of migrations and constant contacts with other peoples.

remained indigenous.

developed about the same time as Shang China.

was a blend in which the Japanese controlled the process of borrowing.

 

 

Shinto

is an extremely developed form of animistic nature worship.

arrived in Japan with the first official embassy from China.

is a branch of Buddhism.

is a warrior’s religion and glorifies the military way of life.

was pivotal in the transmission of Chinese culture to Japan.

 

All of these must occur for a new period in world history to begin EXCEPT:

nomadic peoples must overrun sedentary civilizations.

the world map must change significantly.

new types of contacts between civilized regions must develop.

new patterns and parallel institutional developments will occur.

new technologies may arise.

 

At the end of the Classical Age

belief systems failed to survive the collapse of classical civilizations.

only the Mediterranean Greco-Roman civilization experienced upheavals.

the Huns (Hsiung-Nu) destroyed all great Eurasian classical civilizations.

there was a religious upsurge as a result of social and economic problems.

trade ceased to be important.

As the Han Empire collapsed

Daoists established political control of the various Chinese states.

nomads swept into China replacing the Han with a “barbarian” dynasty.

landowners and warlords dominated the successor governments.

Christianity was introduced to China and began to spread.

internal warfare subsided.

 

In the 5th century C.E., Buddhism spread to China

arriving with nomads from central Asia.

but had little success converting the superstitious peasants.

and was readily accepted by the ruling elites.

which became the center of the Buddhist world.

where the Chinese imposed some of their own cultural values on the religion.

In India during the period after the Guptan collapse,

Buddhism reasserted its influence, replacing Hinduism.

the caste system lost its influence.

Hinduism maintained cultural cohesion when the central state collapsed.

invaders rarely assimilated into Hindu culture.

trade and commercial activities collapsed.

 

 

 

In comparison to the end of classical civilizations in China and India, the collapse of the Roman Empire was

milder and the recovery which followed was quicker.

more severe and extensive than elsewhere.

largely due to internal political, economic, and social decay.

caused exclusively by Germanic and Hunnic invasions.

credited with destroying institutions associated with the Christian Church.

 

Christianity differed from classic Mediterranean culture in all of these ways EXCEPT:

offering salvation to the poor and slaves.

adapting classical Roman governmental institutions to organize the Church.

emphasizing eternal salvation instead of the pursuits of the secular world.

granting equal importance to the souls of men and women.

providing a common culture to unify all classes.

All of these contributed to the decline and fall of Rome EXCEPT:

the spread of Christianity.

nomadic invasions.

the collapse of effective government.

plagues which decimated populations.

economic disruptions.

 

The fall of the Roman Empire

left behind a common culture unifying the Mediterranean basin.

left the Persian Empire in control of the eastern Mediterranean.

divided Christianity into Catholic and Orthodox (Greek) sects.

had little effect on artistic and cultural traditions.

divided the Mediterranean into three different cultural zones.

Mahayana Buddhism

spread to India and Sri Lanka from China.

emphasizes the original teachings of Buddha.

made little impact on China.

sees Buddha as a savior or god, and stresses the possibility of an afterlife.

found converts only within the elite Chinese scholar-bureaucrats and nobles.

 

 

 

 

 

ESSAY QUESTIONS

 

Compare and contrast the role of trade in the development and spread of cultures and civilizations in Africa.

How did cultures and civilizations change over time as they spread?

 

Compare and contrast the Olmec and pre-Inca Indian civilizations and one of the river valley civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, or India.

Compare and contrast the collapses of the Roman Empire and Han China.

 

How did Buddhism change (over time) as it spread from India to China?

Compare and contrast the roles any two religious cultures played in mitigating the collapse of classical civilizations.

 

Compare and contrast social classes, social inequality, and gender relations in any two classical religions.

Compare and contrast Hinduism and Buddhism; Hinduism and Confucianism; Hinduism and Christianity; or Buddhism and Christianity.

 

Compare and contrast Hinduism’s caste system with the Confucian social hierarchy.

 

 

Source : http://mrbowersclassroom.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/5/7/15576618/chapter_5.doc

Web site link to visit: http://mrbowersclassroom.weebly.com/

Google key word : The classical period directions diversities and declines by 500 c.e summary and study guide file type : doc

Author : not indicated on the source document of the above text

If you are the author of the text above and you not agree to share your knowledge for teaching, research, scholarship (for fair use as indicated in the United States copyrigh low) please send us an e-mail and we will remove your text quickly.

 

The classical period directions diversities and declines by 500 c.e summary and study guide

Chapter 5, The Classical Period: Directions, Diversities, and Declines by 500 C.E.

Summary:

The basic themes of the three great classical civilizations of China, India, and the Mediterranean involved expansion and integration.  Throughout the classical world, these themes faltered between 200 and 500 C.E., signaling the end of that era.  The response of major religions to political decline formed a leading direction in the next phase of world history.  Meanwhile, developments outside the classical orbit gained new prominence.

Key Concepts:

Expansion and Integration:

• Common themes for the classical civilization involve territorial expansion and related efforts to integrate the new territories.
• China united through centralization, India united through religious values, and the Mediterranean world united through cultural achievements.
• Integration required territorial and social cohesion.  Each civilization valued social distinctions.

 

Beyond the Classical Civilizations:

• Outside the centers of civilization important developments occurred.  Significant civilizations operated in the Americas (the Olmecs, Maya, and Incas) and also in Africa (Kush, Axum, and Ethiopia).
• Agriculture and other developments spread across northern Europe and northern Asia, where semi – civilized peoples developed extensive contacts with older civilizations.
• Nomadic societies played a vital role, particularly in central Asia, in linking and occasionally disrupting classical civilizations.  Important popular migrations across Eurasia led to the rise of new cultures.

 

Decline in China and India:

• A combination of internal weakness and nomadic invasions led to important changes, first in China, and then in India.
• The central Asian nomadic Huns attacked all three classical civilizations.
• About 100 C.E., the Han dynasty began a serious decline.  Weakened central government, social unrest led by overtaxed peasants, and epidemics were the most prominent sources of decline, combining to make the government unable to stop invading nomads.
• However, by 600, China revived, first with the brief Sui dynasty and later (and more gloriously with the Tang.
• The decline in India was not a drastic as in China.  By 600, Huns destroyed the Gupta Empire.  For several centuries, no native Indian led a large state there.  Hinduism gained ground as Buddhism, unappealing to the warrior caste, declined.
• After 600, Islam entered India and Arab traders took control of Indian Ocean trade routes.  What survived was Hinduism (Islam never gained adherence from a majority of the population) and the caste system.

 

Decline and Fall in Rome:

• Decline in Rome was particularly complex.  Although its causes have been much debated, certain issues may have contributed; population declined, leadership faltered, the economy flagged, tax collection became more difficult, a series of plagues swept the empire, and a sense of despondency pervaded much of the citizenry.
• When Germanic tribes invaded in the 400’s there was little power or will to resist.
• Developments also varied between the eastern and western portions of the Empire, as the Mediterranean world fell apart.  The eastern, or Byzantine Empire, continued for another 1,000 years after the western empire collapsed.

 

The New Religious Map:

• The period of classical decline saw the rapid expansion of Buddhism and Christianity.  This religious change had wider cultural, social, and political implications.
• Later, Islam appeared, and spread, following the previous spread of Hinduism across south and southeast Asia.

 

The World Around 500 C.E.:

• Developments around 500 C.E. produced three major themes for world history in subsequent periods.
• First, there was a collapse of classical civilizations.  Societies across Eurasia faced the task of reviving or reworking their key institutions and values after decline and invasion.
• Second, new religions arose and older ones spread.  These would form the basis of future civilizations.
• Finally, new developments across the globe, whether through indigenous developments or contacts with older centers led to the rise of the new civilization.

 

Key Terms:

Chapter 5, Quiz Questions 

1) The first kingdoms in eastern Africa below the Sahara showed the influence of
A) Egypt and Hellenism.
B) Rome and Phoenicia.
C) Indian merchants and missionaries.
D) the flight of Jews from Israel.
E) Persia.

2) By 600 C. E., an early civilization was beginning to take shape in
A) Central America.
B) Brazil.
C) the west coast of North America.
D) Russia.
E) the West Indies.

3) Japan developed a religion called
A) Zoroastrianism.
B) Eastern Orthodox.
C) Jainism.
D) Shintoism.
E) Buddhism.

4) Nomadic invaders often had military advantages over the armies of empires because
A) they had larger forces with more soldiers.
B) they developed better supply lines.
C) they believed they were fighting inferior cultures.
D) they were more skilled as horsemen.
E) they had smaller distances to cover.

5) The end of the Gupta Empire differed from the decline of Rome in that it did not involve
A) a change in political institutions.
B) outside invasions such as the Huns and others.
C) the introduction of a new religion for the majority.
D) the weakening of central government.
E) big cultural changes.

6) Which of the following best survived the Hun invasions in India?
A) Hindu beliefs
B) Political unity
C) Nationalist beliefs
D) Buddhist beliefs
E) Aryan traditions

7) Events in late Han China and the late Roman Empire show that the decline of a civilization, whether temporary or permanent,
A) is not simply the result of attack by outside invaders.
B) follows inevitably from centralized, unrepresentative government.
C) results from undue dependence on slavery.
D) results from social rebellion in which the poor attack the rich and destroy their institutions.
E) results from a lack of religious conviction.

8) One important early symptom of Rome's decline was
A) the drop in population due to a series of plagues.
B) the use of slave labor.
C) the replacement of republic by empire.
D) the weakness of the eastern portion of the empire compared to the west.
E) acceptance of Christianity.

9) The eastern portion of the Roman Empire experienced less decline than the west for all of the following reasons EXCEPT
A) the east had older traditions of civilization.
B) the east resisted the spread of Christianity.
C) the east faced less pressure from barbarian invasions.
D) the east had more active trade.
E) the east was more wealthy.

10) After 200 C. E., an increasing number of people in Asia, Europe, and North Africa began to adapt faiths characterized by
A) polytheism.
B) monotheism.
C) animism.
D) secularism.
E) ancestor worship.

11) Despite major differences, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism all show interest in
A) strong priesthood.
B) clearly organized church structures.
C) absolute hostility to the worship of religious images and spirits of nature.
D) life after death.
E) polytheism.

12) Everywhere it spread, Buddhism stressed
A) worship of Buddha as a god.
B) a strong church organization.
C) meditation and ethical behavior.
D) the impossibility of attaining nirvana except by multiple reincarnations.
E) the worthlessness of all competing religions.

13) Compared to Hinduism, Christians are more likely to
A) see humans as superior to the rest of nature.
B) believe that women are morally superior to men.
C) approve of sexual pleasure.
D) tolerate other beliefs.
E) be polytheistic.

14) Compared to Hinduism and Buddhism, all of the following constitute distinctive features of late-Roman Christianity EXCEPT
A) intolerance for competing beliefs.
B) belief in a divine trinity.
C) non-believers cannot join the church.
D) a strong hierarchy of church officials.
E) a strong evangelizing impulse.

15) By 600, looking at the entire world, a good definition of "barbarian" would be
A) someone who fights better than a peasant-soldier.
B) someone who is not Christian.
C) someone who is not part of a civilization.
D) someone who is illiterate.
E) someone who is a knight.

16) Monasticism first developed in Italy under the leadership of
A) Paul.
B) Peter.
C) Benedict.
D) Socrates.
E) Justinian.

Essay Questions:
The Classical Period: Directions, Diversities, and Declines by 500 C.E.

1. Explore the differences in the eastern and western portions of the Roman Empire.  How did these differences arise?  In what ways can it be argued that the Roman Empire survived in the eastern Mediterranean even after it collapsed in the west?

 

2. What were the main factors in Rome’s decline?  Which do you judge most important?  Why?

3. Why did the results of Han china’s decline differ from those of the Roman Empire’s decline?

 

4. Compare the major beliefs and religious organization of Christianity and Buddhism.

5. Compare the major beliefs and religious organization of Christianity and Hinduism.

 

6. Taking into account both Egypt and Kush, what were the main features of civilization in Africa prior to the first century C.E.

 

Source : http://walkerapworld.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/44533479/AP%20Student%20World%20History%20Study%20Guide%20Packet.doc

Web site link to visit: http://walkerapworld.pbworks.com/

 

Author : Mr. Walker

Google key word : The classical period directions diversities and declines by 500 c.e summary and study guide file type : doc

Author : Mr. Walker

If you are the author of the text above and you not agree to share your knowledge for teaching, research, scholarship (for fair use as indicated in the United States copyrigh low) please send us an e-mail and we will remove your text quickly.

 

The classical period directions diversities and declines by 500 c.e summary and study guide

 

 

If you want to quickly find the pages about a particular topic as The classical period directions diversities and declines by 500 c.e summary and study guide use the following search engine:

 

 

 

The classical period directions diversities and declines by 500 c.e summary and study guide

 

Please visit our home page

 

Larapedia.com Terms of service and privacy page