Notes from "Big History"

Chapter 7 on the "Afro-Eurasian Network"

800-200 BCE: The development of the "core cities"/civilizations, more elaborate bureaucratic
and religious systems.
First, don't forget that most people
continued to live pre-urban lives
outside and around these core
cities and urban areas. Notably,
the Celts (Gauls) of Europe, who
were eventually conquered by the
Romans except for Ireland,
Wales, Scotland, and Brittany in
northern France. (A)

This chapter contains focuses on . . .

India:
-- Aryan invasions and the beginnings of the caste system, p. 111 (B)
-- Hinduism, p. 112
-- lack of political unity (because of castes, no horses), p. 112
-- origins, beliefs, and spread of Buddhism, p. 112
-- political unity under Alexander the Great, p. 113 (C)
-- unity and Buddhism under Ashoka, p. 113
China:
-- warring feudal states until 221 BCE
-- new inventions, p. 113, (D), such as . . .
-- trace harness (4th century BCE) allowed horses in China to do more work than elsewhere
-- crossbows (not used in Europe until at least 900 BCE (except for Greeks)
-- coins in the first millenium BCE
-- saddles/stirrups, cavalry warfare by 350 BCE
-- paper
-- textile technology "not approached by Iran or Europe until centuries later"
-- intellectual developments, Confucianism, Taoism
-- development of administrative bureacracies
-- 221 BCE, Shi Huang Ti and Chin Dynasty unification: Great Wall, standardization, p. 114
-- 206 BCE until 220 CE: Han Dynasty, p. 114 (E)

-- Confucius (551-479 BCE) and Laozi, p. 115

-- beginnings of the Silk Road under Han emperor Wu Di, p. 115*
-- spread of diseases, leading to the downfall of the Han Dynasty, pp. 115-116
*"This connection between China and the Mediterranean proved no less significant for the first
millenium than the link to the Americas by Columbus did for the modern world." (p. 116)
Greece:
-- connections between geographical limits, the polis, and greater equality, p. 117
-- citizenship, p. 117
-- adapting the Phoenician alphabet, Homeric epic, p. 117
-- colonization and trade, p. 117
-- military innovations, phalanx, and defeat of the Persians, p. 118
-- Athens, democracy, Pericles, p. 118
-- Deities, fertility cults, p. 118
-- Sophists and philosophers, p. 118
-- patriarchy in Athens, Sparta, p. 118
-- slavery (mostly foreigners), p. 118-119
-- Athens' success: silver mines, tribute from League states, p. 119
-- Alexander the Great, Hellenization, p. 119
-- deforestation, p. 119
Rome:
-- geographically more blessed than Greece, p. 119
-- the Roman Republic, p. 120
-- expansion, Julius Caesar, p. 120
-- slavery, p. 120
-- the Roman Empire, Octavian, p. 120
-- Roman reach, connections, p. 120 (F)
-- the story of Judea, rebellious province, p. 121-122
-- Jesus, Christianity's origins, p. 121
-- disease, pop. decline, why Christians coped more successfully than other Romans, p. 122 (G)
-- inflation in the 3rd century CE, p. 122
-- Constantine's conversion to Christianity, transfer to Byzantium, p. 122
-- dissolution and decay, p. 122
Closing thoughts on population, environment, and religion:
-- population growth comes with agriculture
-- in 1000 BCE was 100 million, but by 1 CE it was 250 million, p. 123
-- natural costs to the environment: deforestation, erosion, salinization, desertification, p. 123
-- costs for humans: increased density, dangers, diseases, warfare, p. 124
-- changes in religion: from a celebration of life to a focus on the next life, p. 124 (H)

(A) p. 111

(B) p. 111

(C) p. 113

(D) p. 113

(E) p. 114

(F) p. 120

(G) p. 122

(H) pp. 124-125