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Fabian Vergara
Kimberly Lark
History 134
December 20, 2015

In the span of 15 weeks, I have been able to expand my knowledge of how we work as a whole
in an unprecedented way. Ive also had many epiphanies about who I am and why I am here as
the semester unraveled. For instance, Ive come to the conclusion that we are still forging and
surviving despite the drastic differences compared to the early Homo Sapiens. We still wake up,
as they did, wonder around this earth, as they did, looking for ways to eat in order to live one
more day. So like Mr. Green says, it only matter if you are an informed, engaged, and
productive citizen of the world.(The Agricultural Revolution) So lets go a little deeper into the
rabbit whole. What else have I learned? Ive learned to be a better Democrat, Ive learned that
the lack of moral and traditional preservation can drastically destroy your chances towards a
better future, Ive learned that religion is inevitable and important for human development, and
most importantly, knowledge is everything.
As a Liberal, I can say that change is always welcomed. In fact, a Liberal might ask what is life
without change? We welcome change, because we know that there is always better, and we know
that sticking to the status quo is playing it safe. Nether less, with all of this being said, I have
learned that the preservation of our ways is just as important. The contributions for the fall of the
Roman, Minoan and Persian Empire are debatable, but one of the obvious factors for their fall
was their lack of preservation. The Persian Empire increased in size pretty drastically, enslaving

many, while absorbing their cultures. Their huge mix of traditional values ultimately hindered
them. The Minoan society was also a victim of rapid omission. The Assyrian Empire created
such a fast cultural influence on Minoan art and trade (Cartwright) that the Minoan society had
very little time to react. In the case of the Roman Empire, it was more about the corruption in the
government, or the lack of moral values. Rome had an abundance of everything, and with time,
this everything became nothing. The founding rulers focused on the now, creating very little
cushion for future generations. By the time tyrants and corrupt officials had full control of Rome,
old values did very little to change the outcome. Caligula was the best example of the lack of
respect for prior generations. Caligula took old laws to executing both rivals and close
allies.(The Roman Empire)
Lets face it, religion tends to be the cause most wars, but without religion, wed probably still
be in the dark ages or somewhere non-existent. Religion ultimate unifies humans like no other
force that is known to man. In the olden days, when writing was still primitive, all that was
written was either for fun, religious, or government purposes. Because there wasnt much of a
selection, these simple writings became a code of conduct for how humans should be like.
Religion continuously provides their followers with comfort and guidance, which meant
everything for those who lacked education or protection such as farmers and peasants. When this
force of comfort is oppressed, it tends to create anarchy within a structure. This was seen around
300 BCE with the Jews, 50 AD with the Christians, and 600 AD with the Muslims. Fortunately,
after rebellion prevails, oppression always ends up creating a more comfortable living space for
future generations. It is a step that humans must take, a step that creates a positive from a
negative. Usually these steps create fair policies, a richer culture, and more tolerance.

Although, these persecutions never fully vanished, the overall tolerance greatly increased. Cyrus
the Great was able to gain tremendous influence by freeing the Jews thanks to his policies of
religious freedom.(par. Formation and Expasion, Archaemenid Empire) This gave the Jews a
sense of freedom, a Cyrus the ability to assimilate his empire with those he conquered. The
Christians gained religious freedom after Constantine triumphed his enemy while simultaneously
adopting Christianity. Islam came under oppression when Iconoclasm came into the picture, but
was freed soon after thanks to the fall of Rome and the Sassanian Empire.
So when is change good? When is a conserved idea bad? When women dont have a role in
society, when a tyrant imposes his God-given task on others, and when slavery happens because
of cultural differences. But how can we make sure that all of this is corrected? With the
preservation knowledge. With the preservation of knowledge one is able avoid previous errors
created by past generations. With time, these preservations become patters, patterns capable of
showing us errors that havent risen yet. The tricky part isnt just preserving knowledge, it is
determining what is and what isnt worth passing down. Though, once we overcome that issue,
change and balance become exponentially plausible. We have come so far, yet we know so little.
But looking at how this are today and comparing them to ancient history, I feel reassured that we
are heading in the right direction.

Work Cited
"Achaemenid Empire." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 21 Dec. 2015.
Cartwright, Mark. "Minoan Civilization." Ancient History Encyclopedia. 2 Sept. 2009. Web. 21
Dec. 2015.
"The Roman Empire: In The First Century." PBS.org. PBS. Web. 20 Dec. 2015.
The Agricultural Revolution.Crash Course. Youtube. 2012. Web.20 Dec. 2015.