HISTORY

DR. SCHUERMAN    

FALL 2000

LECTURE OUTLINES--#2

CLASSICAL ROOTS OF THE WESTERN WORLD

Terms highlighted in olive are particularly significant and may appear as "identifiers" in the tests, midterm, or final.

I.    THE GREEKS

    A.    The Emergence of the Greek Polis

        1.    Geographical considerations

        2.    Forerunners of the Greeks

            a.    Minoans

            b.    Mycenaeans

            c.    Fall of Mycenae

        3.    Homer and the Greek Spirit

        4.    Evolution of the Polis

            a.    Nature and the Polis

            b.    Sparta and Athens

• Draco

• Solon

• Pisistratus

• Cleisthenes         

    B.     The Classical Period of Greece

        1.    The Historic 5th Century b.c.e.

            a.    The Persian Wars (499-479 b.c.e.)          

• the Greek Trireme; cross section

            b.    Athenian hegemony

            c.    The flowering of Athenian democracy

            d.    The Peloponnesian War (431-404 b.c.e.)

        2.    The end of the "Golden Age"

            a.    Decline of the Polis

            b.    4th century Greece

    C.    The Legacy of the Greeks:  Philosophy

            Art, and Literature

        1.    The birth of thought

            a.    The "matter" philosophers

            b.    The Pythagoreans

            c.    The Sophists

        2.    The great Greek philosophers

            a.    Socrates

            b.    Plato

            c.    Aristotle

        3.    Greek art and architecture

            a.   Sculpture

• Archaic Greek kouros (c590 b.c.e.)    
• Egyptian sculpture (c2600 b.c.e.)    
• kouros #2  (c480 b.c.e.)
• Classical Greek sculptures:  #1, #2 (mid 5th. cent b.c.e.)

            b.   Architecture 

• The Parthenon, Athena Parthenos
• The Greek "column" and the three orders of Greek architecture

        4.    Greek drama and history

            a.    The writers of tragedy and comedy

            b.    Greek historians

II.    ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE 

        HELLENISTIC WORLD

    A.    The 4th century rise of Macedon

        1.    Phillip II

        2.    Alexander the Great

        3.    Successor kingdoms

    B.    The Hellenistic world

        1.    Culture and Science

        2.    Hellenistic Philosophy

            a.    Epicureanism

           b.    Stoicism

            c.    Skepticism

           d.    Cynicism

III.     THE RISE OF ROME:  THE REPUBLIC

    A.    The Roman Constitution 

    B.    Roman expansion 

        1.    Unification of Italy (510-265 b.c.e)        

        2.    Punic Wars and control of western Mediterranean (264-201, & 149 b.c.e.)

        3.    Control over Hellenistic states (150-140 b.c.e.)

        4.    Consequences for the Republic

    C.    Decline of the Republic

    D.    Rise of "military strongmen"

        1.    The Gracchi 

        2.    Sulla and Marius

        3.    Pompey and Julius Caesar

III.   THE PAX ROMANA OF THE "EMPIRE"

    A.    Augustus, Empire and the Pax Romana

    B.    The Julio-Claudians

        1.    Tiberius

        2.    Caligula    

        3.    Claudius    

        4.    Nero

    C.    The Flavians

        1.    Vespasian

        2.    Titus

        3.    Dominitian

    D.    The five "good Emperors"

        1.    Nerva

        2.    Trajan,

        3.    Hadrian

        4.    Antonius Pius

        5.    Marcus Aurelius 

    E.    Architecture, Engineering, art, Literature, popular entertainment...

        1.    Roman arch: #1, #2,

        2.    Roman roads

        3.    Architecture of the empire

                    The Pantheon, #2 

        4.    Gladiators

    F.    Signs of Trouble

IV.    THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY AND 

          ROME'S DECLINE

    A.    Birth of Christianity

        1.    Judaism in the First Century B.C.E.

        2.    The teachings of Jesus of Nazareth

        3.    Paul (Saul of Taursus)

        4.    Empire and Christianity's spread 

    B.    Empire in Decline

        1.    Third century crisis

• the army

• the borders

        2.    Diocletian and Constantine 

        3.    Barbarian invasions 

        4.    The triumph of Christianity 

V.    THE END OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD

    A.    The fall of the empire in the West

    B.    The Eastern successors

        1.    Byzantium--the continuation of the "Roman Empire" 

• Justinian

• Hagia Sophia (Saint Sophia), 2

        2.    The rise and spread of Islam  

• Muhammed

• Mecca and Medina

• Qur'an (Koran)

• Jihad

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