Erica Garcia
Blog #2
For this
second blog, there was a lot of material that was covered in the reading. In the four chapters that I read it covered
the Eurasian Empires, Eurasian Cultural Traditions, Eurasian Social Hierarchies
and Classical Era Variations. Though
there was a lot of material in these sections I plan to talk about what I found
to be the most interesting in each topic.
In the
first part of the reading I learned a lot about the different empires that were
established between 500 B.C.E to 500 C.E.
In the reading it states “Empires have been a source of metaphors and
lessons about personal morality, corruption, political life, military expansion
and much more”(97). This chapter started off by asking, if we, the United
States are the new Roman Empire? Many commentators saw a comparison, with the
Roman Empire being corrupt and dictatorial at home then soon following its
collapse, they see the similar thing happening to the American empire. Besides
the comparison between the United States and the Roman Empire, what really
interested me was the collapse of the empires. Many of the Empires got to big,
which lead to many draw backs, such as it becoming to expensive to provide
resources, huge estates enabled them to avoid paying taxes, free peasants were
turned into farmers, and a reduced central government. Another huge factor was widespread
disease. Diseases lead to decrease in
the population, which lead to “demographic disaster that meant diminished
production, less revenue for the state, and fewer men available for the defense
of the empire’s long frontiers”(117). To
China and the Roman Europe, the collapse of the empires meant a decrease on
urban life, a diminishing population, a decrease on international trade, pretty
much they saw it as civilization was “unraveling”. In order to prevent this
comparison from actually happening the book states “ Americans must face up to
their responsibilities as “ the undisputed master of the world “ as the Romans
did in their time” (97).
Continuing
along to the next chapter, Eurasian Cultural Traditions, I read a lot of
interesting things. Reading about their culture, religious patterns, cultural
traditions lead me to the comparison of Jesus and the Buddha. This caught my
attention because I am currently taking a Religion class and we are discussing
many different religions. Both religions are very influential. Even though Christianity and Buddhism are two
different religions their teachers are actually very similar. Even though the
Buddha was born to luxury and Jesus was born to a lower class family, both
claimed to have personally experienced a different level or reality. Both were
considered to be “wisdom teachers” that challenged the predictable values
during their time. This urged “the
renunciation of wealth, and emphasizing the supreme importance of love or
compassion as the basis for a moral life” (146). Though they both had different
teachings they both had the same meaning to their teachings, which was personal
transformation. This was very important
during many changes that were going on in this era. It gave people hope and something to believe
in.
In the
third chapter, Eurasian Social Hierarchies, what stood out to me was slavery in
the classical era. I found it interesting that women were the first slaves,
they were usually raped and then enslaved as for men they were captive then
killed. Slavery meant “ ownership by a
master, the possibility of being sold, working without pay, and the status of
an “outsider” at the bottom of the social hierarchy” (165). But being a slave was considered to be social
death. Slaves did not have rights; they did not have a personal identity that
was recognized in any society. A form of slavery was practiced in Eurasia,
Africa, and the Americas. In Rome, the
making of a slave society was not hard to come upon because of the way they
viewed slavery. They looked at slavery
as “it was a terrible thing to become a slave, but a good thing to own a
slave”(167). Slaves were not limited to only the upper class; the lower class
had slaves as well. They were used to do
domestic work and used in a sexual way.
Even if their owners set the slaves free it was hard for them to live in
their society. Slaves that were free did
not become citizens nor were they able to gain political power. Their status was considered to be in between
slavery and freedom. Being treated as a slave, being tortured and not being
treated as a human lead the slaves to rebel. In 73 B.C.E, there was a slaved gladiator
named Spartacus. Spartacus led 70 slaves
in order to bid for freedom. This led
many other slaves to join this revolt, which lead them to crucify many slave
owners. They did this mainly because
they wanted to escape Roman slavery.
They did not have an over plan or goal besides to escape and get
revenge. Unfortunately this revolt did not affect the slave system. This is unfortunate, but at least they
tried. I would not know what I would do
if I was in their shoes.
Lastly the
Classical Era Variations, which brought interest in the Maya Civilization.
Between 250 and 900 C.E the Maya people were known for their cultural
achievements. During this time, the Maya people were known to be merchants,
nobles, priests, architects and sculptors.
It was said that the priest developed the mathematical system that we
use today. They developed 0 and place
notation along with complex calculations. They Maya people were very talented
that they even used their mathematical formulas in order to “plot the cycles of
the planets, to predict eclipse of the sun and the moon, to construct elaborate
calendars and to calculate accurately the length of the solar year” (194). If it were not for these incredible creators
where would we be today? What kind of system would we use? I really enjoyed
reading about the Maya people and how they were able to create a mathematical
system that we still use today.
I believe
that I have learned a lot in these four chapters. I am able to understand and appreciate what
our ancestors started for us. We are
able to learn from their mistakes and hope we can take the positive and apply
it to our society.