For what its worth I thought I'd throw this out there, its the first part of a paper I had to write and I'd appreciate some of you folks opinion
thanks in advance, its a bit of a long read
Over the course of Western Civilization, and history in general, there are a few defining moments that genuinely affect our subsequent history more than the clash between the Greeks and the Persians in the 5th Century BC. Few events would send as many ripples through history , for Greece, and Athens in particular, are for lack of a better term, ”The Wellspring of Western Civilization”. It may also be said that these roots go even deeper, for the peoples of the Mesopotamian region also greatly influenced both the Greeks, and Western Civilization as a whole.
The people known as the Greeks were the cultural recipients of the first , the Minoans, and later the Mycenaens. The geographic nature of Greece led to the establishment of small city-states. While they were somewhat culturally homogenous they also showed a marked streak of individualism. (how?)
The Persians were most likely, originally, peoples of the steppes, who absorbed the cultures of Mesopotamia Assyria, and Babylon, who had all established sizable Empires. The Persians would improve on this under Cyrus the Great, and establish an enormous Empire in the East.
The Persian-Greek Wars lead not only to the Spread of Hellenism under Alexander, but also to the diffusion of Eastern ideas as well, their organizational skills, and Zoroastrianism would profoundly affect the West.
It is the year 775 BC, Athens and the other Greek City-states are beginning to recover from a period of economic hardship, and decline. The Greeks begin to send out colonies to ease the pressure of excess population, political dissatisfaction, and acquire access to foodstuffs for its rapidly expanding cities.
Their adoption of the alphabet and the working of iron helped bring them up to speed with the rest of the known world. Their skill as sailors made them master traders, who would soon come into conflict with the Phoenicians.
The Greeks were quite content to spread throughout the western Mediterranean, and found not just trading posts, but colonies. From the shores of the Black Sea, up the Danube and Volga Rivers to the Straits of Gibraltar and Northern Africa, the Greeks began to slowly dominate the seas.
Not content with their colonies in Ionia, and elsewhere, . They also began to covet the rich resources of Anatolia, they slowly worked their way inland and along the coast. Strangely enough, few of the kingdoms in the area required all out war to subdue them.
The recent adoption of democracy, introduced by Cleisthenes, by Athens and other Greek cities beginning in 505 BC, and their commercial success made the prospect of joining their newly formed, “Delian League”, very inviting.
The fact that a powerful empire was being built up by the Persians, made it quite logical. It was in this way that between 501 BC and 483 BC, Phrygia, Mysia, Lydia, Caria, and Lycia came into the Greek fold. Fortunately for the Greeks and the Anatolians, Cyrus found himself immersed in a struggle with the people to his east. He would eventually establish himself all the way to the Indus River and Afghanistan. They would also occupy the areas of Anatolia not under Greek control.
The adoption of a coinage system like that of Lydia, made the Greek economy even more vigorous, and in the Early 5th century BC, Athens began to dominate the “Delian League”. This brought about the mistrust of Sparta, a powerful militaristic city-state which had held on to its monarchial form of government.
In 481 BC the Spartans demanded that the Athenians disband the league, but Athens refused. She was arguably the lord of the seas now, and beginning to feel her power.
When the Spartans sent out a punitive expedition of 3,000 soldiers the next year . The Athenians didn’t meet them cowering behind their walls, but fielding an army of over 6,000 Athenian soldiers, most in Phalanx formation.
The Spartan General Pausanias, arrogantly demanded that they throw open their gates. The Athenians did, and out came marching 9,500 auxiliaries supplied by the “Delian League. This changed things drastically. (how?)
The “Battle of Athens”, was a short but terrible affair. (why?)
The Spartans slew a young messenger who was sent to offer the terms, ” Pausanias , you may return to your homes in two ways, One is to acknowledge Athenian Hegemony in matters on the Sea, and of Foreign Policy, you will walk home, if you don’t, you will all return on your shields”.
The Spartan response was sad, but typical of the Spartans. Pausanias read out the message, the Spartans were incensed, the order to charge the Athenians came soon after, but the Athenians on the wings were ordered to stand their ground at all costs, while the center slowly gave way. The Spartans read this as weakness, and their discipline broke down. The Athenian auxiliaries, completed the encircling, and the Spartans were slain to the last man.
This wouldn’t break the Spartans, but at the same time, Athens had hedged her bets. At almost the same time, Sparta was wracked by a slave revolt, the Helots had been incited to rise up. Athens immediately sent the following ultimatum, ”If Sparta will recognize the Hegemony of Athens in Greece and in matters of “Greek Foreign Policy”, “Sparta may run its own affairs how it chooses”.
The Spartans had no choice but to agree, the deaths of 3,000 of their best soldiers, and the ongoing slave revolt forced them to concede their dominance.
This was a watershed for Athens, in the latter half of the 4th century BC, it became a true power, not just economically, but in the arts as well. Athens became a light that drew in the most talented peoples of not just Greece, but of the known world. The tragedies of Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides, historians like Herodutus, “The Father of History”, and Thucydides, and of course Socrates, one of Western Civilizations great icons. Pericles would say, ”Athens is the School of Greece”*1
While Tyre, the founder of Carthage, was under the thumb of the Persians, Carthage had been building a trading empire of its own. This was beginning to rub the peoples of Italy the wrong way.
In 414 BC, the colony of Syracuse came into came into conflict with the Carthaginians. Selinus, a colony friendly with Sparta, was conquered by the Carthaginians. The Spartans demanded satisfaction, while the Athenians preferred patience. It took the Spartans 5 months to reach Syracuse, and than they had to wait for their men to recover from the sea- sickness, but they promptly set out in 415 BC, to teach these Carthaginians a lesson. When they arrived in Selinus, the Athenian banner already flew there, Nicias, a prominent politician and military man had withstood a challenge from a scoundrel named Alcibiades, and ended Carthaginian influence in Sicily.
Athens needed no more assistance in solving Greek foreign policy. This was the end of Spartan influence, in foreign affairs.
For the next sixty years, Athens enjoyed a period of peace, She was on good terms with the Persians, Egyptians, and the Latin’s of Italy who had thrown off the yoke of their kings, and were beginning to soak up Greek culture like a sponge.
These contacts also ended up reshaping Greek politics, culture, and especially religion. Persian Zoroastrianism, Egyptian thoughts on an afterlife, and the One god of the Hebrews began to permeate the theology of the Greeks.
Corinth and Thebes were also becoming very powerful now also, and the Athenians realized that the organization of their growing Empire, must share power with the other Greeks. The return of Philip of Macedon in 338 BC, from an exchange of Ambassadors with the Persian Empire, and his tales of the greatness of the Persian army, the roads, and the organization, jolted the Athenians. He explained,”T hat the Empire is separated into separate parts, but each area has a governor in charge of his own Satrapy. While it is a monarchy, there is much we could learn from their organizational skills”. He also outlined a plan for a new form of government called a “Republic”, Whereby every Deme, or Greek state, would send a representative to Athens, where they would jointly conduct the affairs of the Greek Republic. The Greek Council, of 7 seats, was chosen by the representatives of the individual Demes from amongst themselves, , with Athens, Corinth, and Thebes all holding permanent seats, and the power of veto.
In 330 BC, Egypt was attacked by the Libyans, t his gave Greece the excuse to formally enter North Africa. They were there to assist their “F riends”, but in reality they were their as a demonstration of Greek power. When Philip discovers that the Carthaginians are supporting the Libyans, he knows that this is his time for glory. With his adopted son, Ptolemy, he immediately advances on the unprepared Carthaginians. He quickly rolled up the North African coast to Carthage itself, and laid siege to her. She stood for 22 months, before the naval blockade, and the outbreak of disease, broke her.
But Philip was no fool, h e knew these were a proud people. He ordered that the city be razed, and that the land be sown with salt, that it may never rise again .
This (This what?) left Greece as the sole maritime power in the Western Mediterranean, the Romans were quite content to stay on land. Only the Persians, and their interference with the Egyptians, were left to disturb,” The Greek Lake ”.
In 328 BC, with North Africa subdued, Philip returned to Macedonia, leaving his adopted son Ptolemy in Egypt to pursue an interest with one of the Pharaohs daughters. Over the next 15 years he would drive, “The Greek Republics”, borders to the Danube River, His adopted son, Ptolemy, would father an Egyptian Dynasty. Peace between these nations, would serve Greece well in the future.
Once the border had been stabilized in the north, the Greeks began to explore ever more widely, especially in the Indian Ocean and the lands north of the Black Sea. In the year 241 BC, the first Greek trading fleet landed in the Mauryan Empire. They were treated grandly by the Emperor Asoka, and the traders there. A plethora of goods was available there, silks and tea from China, spices from Java, the incense of Arabia, and a multitude of other products. At the same time many Mediterranean goods were in high demand in the East, the purple cloth of Tyre, jewelry from Egypt, and wine and Olive oil from Greece were becoming much sought after luxuries to the people of Asia. Greece intended to supply these goods, with no room for competition.
It was around this time that the Romans began to expand into Gaul and Spain. The few Carthaginians who were left, gladly accepted the rule of the Romans. But when a Roman colonization party set out from Aquileia, in northwest Italy, they were met by a column of Greek soldiers, whose commander, Antigonus, bluntly told them, “ You Romans have seen your limits in the East. These are Greek lands, and always will be”. For the next 150 years or so, the Romans would solidify their gains in southern Gaul and Spain.
In 198 BC, the Greeks were continuing to build up their commercial ties with Asia and also w ith Africa. To serve this end, they established the colony of Periclos, named after the great Athenian statesman. Located on the south west tip of Arabia, it allowed for the reprovisioning of ships, a nd facilitated the destruction of Pirates who were always on the hunt for a poorly defended ship.
In 147 BC, under Antiochus III, the Greeks crossed the Danube in order to set up a buffer zone against the increasingly powerful probes of Asian tribesmen who were beginning to break the Scythians, who had always shielded Greece proper from their depredations. In 188 BC, the Greeks and Scythians, with help from the Illyrians, crushed a joint Avar-Hun army at the Battle of the Dneipos. While Antiochus was slain, the Greeks forced the Barbarians to sue for peace, swearing to never attack the Greeks or their allies, and paying an annual tribute. The Huns would regain their strength however, and never forget this defeat.
In 141 BC, the Parthians rebelled against their Persian overlords. The resulting situation resulted in the decision to protect Greek commercial interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Greeks refused to allow the Parthians to disrupt their status quo. The Greeks rolled up the entire coast from Cilicia to Egypt, and heavily fortified it.
It was at this time that Zoroastrianism began to take hold with the lower classes. Their beliefs in One God, Heaven and Hell, and the soul, would set the stage for coming of a Hebrew prophet. This man would radically change the Greek world forever.
Jesus of Nazareth, began preaching that ,”The Kingdom of God is at hand”, a message that many Jews had been waiting for. He drew about him a group of followers, and eventually came to irritate the Jewish leaders of the Temple, they demanded that the greek governor, _______, execute him for having said he would Destroy the Temple, and build a new one. ________ said he would do no such thing, that he must be tried by a jury of his peers. Rather than risk Jesus being exonnerated , the Rabbi’s paid a miscreant named, Barabbas, to quietly kill him. Barabbas later had a vision of Jesus, and became a great missionary for the church.
In 176 AD, Athenagoras, a Greek Platonist who converted to Christianity, went to Byzantium, where the Apostle Barabbas was buried. He resolved to build a magnificent church and school. This church, “St . Barabbos would become the center of the Christian church.
The 2nd and 3rd centuries AD saw the disintegration of the Roman Republic, pressure from the peoples of the Asian steppes, and a series of plagues, f ractured it into many small Kingdoms and City-states. The 4th century would see Europe further traumatized by the rising power of the Norsemen, who would raid and pillage the weak, and trade with the strong. Their depredation would continue until the 10th century, when their energies would be turned elsewhere.
In the 5th Century AD, The Huns once again became restless again, and began to probe the Greeks, a nd openly attack the Persians. The Persians were overwhelmed, and forced to beg for assistance from the Greeks, who in 451, defeated the Huns near the city of Edessa. Atilla, the king of the Huns, was killed in this action, and his people, disorganized, returned to the steppes.
As a result of this, and with the lack of a successor to the Persian throne, the Persian Satrapys west of the Euphrates were compelled to join the growing Greek Republic. The Greeks welcomed their new Persian citizens, and many of them, such as St. Mohommed, would spread Christianity throughout southern Asia, and become prominent citizens. Egypt would follow suit in 458.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =
In 562, the Avars invaded Central Europe, and continued to dominate it until 864AD., when Oleg the Wise, son of Rurik, a Norman, established the Kingdom of Novgorod, finally Europe had a buffer between itself and the brutal peoples of Central Asia. Oleg invited St. Cyril to Kiev, who introduced both Chistianity and the Cyrillic alphabet to the Russian state.
The next century would see the creation of a Slavic state called Poland. Under Miezko I Poland accepted Christianity, and became the largest state in Europe at the time.
In 918 AD, At the Conference of Magdeburg, Henry I was chosen to be the king of a consolidated Germany. The growing power of Poland and the continuing harrassment of the Normans finally led the small states to band together. Gaul and Iberia would remain fractured for some time.
By the 11th century, the Norsemen had leap-frogged their way across the Atlantic to a new place they called Vinland. They didn’t follow their usual practices here though, they realized the commercial potential of these new lands, and with few exceptions managed to stay on good terms with the natives there. They spread inland peacefully, along a group of enormous lakes, establishing trading posts as they went. The traders would grow rich, by introducing such products as tobacco, furs, and ivory to the European markets.
In 1066, William of Normandy, who had been jilted as the successor to King Edward, set out to take the throne by force. He and his forces defeated the English army at Hastings in the same year. He reorganized the country, and compiled the, “Domesday Book”, A comprehensive census and accounting of everyone and everything that might be taxed.
In the 11th century, the peoples of Ethiopia, began their long expansion down the east coast of Africa. By the 14th century, their empire would spread from their border with Egypt, to the southern tip of that continent. The Ethiopians were devout Christians, and slowly but surely the peoples of east Africa came into the Byzantine Church’s fold. In West Africa, a powerful state known as Ghana had grown to significant size by the 12th century, as the distribution point for African gold heading to Europe and the Near East.
The last half of the 12th Century AD saw the rise of a new power in Central Asia. Genghis Khan had welded the people of Mongolia into a powerful force. He planned to use this power to subjugate China, and eventually the entire world. He didn’t live to see the final extent of the Empire he instigated, It was his grandson Kublai Khan who would finish the conquest of China, and later add most of India and parts of Persia to his dominions.
In 1273, the Mongols sent diplomats to Japan, demanding that the Japanese must submit themselves to Mongol power, and pay a substantial tribute. The Japanese refused. The next year the Mongols sent an expedition that ran afoul because of weather. In 1281 however the Mongols returned, and while they did establish a foothold in Kyushu, the weather once again foiled their plans. The Japanese took heart by this event, and began to make preparations for their entrance into mainland Asian affairs.
The Japanese began inviting Greek and Persian advisors into their court. Both of the western powers knew that the Mongols were a force to be reckoned with. They intended to assist the Japanese, and open up an additional front in the East, to keep the Mongols occupied. Little did they know they were creating a monster. The Japanese quickly adapted to the ways of the west, and began to plan their expansion not only in Asia proper, for they were starved for resources, but also into the Pacific.
The 14th Century would see the Iberians and Gauls begin to organize themselves into larger political units. The Individual city-states began to align themselves into leagues and kingdoms. The Norman’s influence spread south in Gaul until only the southern coast remained independent. Meanwhile Iberia became consolidated under 3 powers. The Kingdoms of Portugal and Aragon, and the Andalusian Confederacy.
The Portuguese and the Andalusians began to make forays into the Asian and African markets that Greece and Persia had dominated for so long. The fierce competition would lead them to search for new ways to expand their influence and grow more powerful. In 1493 an Italian named Cristofo Columbo, led an expediton to find a new way to the East, He didn’t find the legendary Cathay, but he did find a savage people who eked out and existence on a group of small islands.
The stories of great wealth told by the natives of the islands led Columbo to return with a small army of adventurers. They believed that their possession of firearms would allow them to dominate these natives and spread the Christian truth to them. They had some initial success when they landed in the Yucatan, but were taken to task when the Maya contacted the Inca and the Aztecs in order to repel the invaders. Unlike the islanders these people were not savages , they used iron.
The trade network established by the Normen had spread, and the native cultures had eagerly adapted to new technologies. When they couldn’t match the Iberians head to head, they melted into the jungle, and slew them one by one, if tropical diseases didn’t do them in first. It was quickly understood that these people were interested in trade, not domination by foreigners.
Eastern Europe in the meanwhile had changed radically, in 1337, Casmir III had molded Poland into a true power. Through political alliances and marriages, he had created an unlikely colossus. The addition of Hungary and Lithuania through marriage, and a pact with Bohemia, made him a threat to both the Rus and the Germans. He cleverly negotiated a non-aggression pact with the Germans, and than commenced to rid Poland of the ever present threat from the East. The Poles would realize their dream of peace in the East, The Rus would fall under their sway, and the Poles would rule from the Black Sea to the Baltic.
In 1593, the English and Portuguese began to trade with the new world, their competition would lead to conflict. The Portuguese would come to dominate trade in the Caribbean, while the English would become fast friends with the Iroquois confederacy. These power blocks would define later American history.
thanks in advance, its a bit of a long read
Over the course of Western Civilization, and history in general, there are a few defining moments that genuinely affect our subsequent history more than the clash between the Greeks and the Persians in the 5th Century BC. Few events would send as many ripples through history , for Greece, and Athens in particular, are for lack of a better term, ”The Wellspring of Western Civilization”. It may also be said that these roots go even deeper, for the peoples of the Mesopotamian region also greatly influenced both the Greeks, and Western Civilization as a whole.
The people known as the Greeks were the cultural recipients of the first , the Minoans, and later the Mycenaens. The geographic nature of Greece led to the establishment of small city-states. While they were somewhat culturally homogenous they also showed a marked streak of individualism. (how?)
The Persians were most likely, originally, peoples of the steppes, who absorbed the cultures of Mesopotamia Assyria, and Babylon, who had all established sizable Empires. The Persians would improve on this under Cyrus the Great, and establish an enormous Empire in the East.
The Persian-Greek Wars lead not only to the Spread of Hellenism under Alexander, but also to the diffusion of Eastern ideas as well, their organizational skills, and Zoroastrianism would profoundly affect the West.
It is the year 775 BC, Athens and the other Greek City-states are beginning to recover from a period of economic hardship, and decline. The Greeks begin to send out colonies to ease the pressure of excess population, political dissatisfaction, and acquire access to foodstuffs for its rapidly expanding cities.
Their adoption of the alphabet and the working of iron helped bring them up to speed with the rest of the known world. Their skill as sailors made them master traders, who would soon come into conflict with the Phoenicians.
The Greeks were quite content to spread throughout the western Mediterranean, and found not just trading posts, but colonies. From the shores of the Black Sea, up the Danube and Volga Rivers to the Straits of Gibraltar and Northern Africa, the Greeks began to slowly dominate the seas.
Not content with their colonies in Ionia, and elsewhere, . They also began to covet the rich resources of Anatolia, they slowly worked their way inland and along the coast. Strangely enough, few of the kingdoms in the area required all out war to subdue them.
The recent adoption of democracy, introduced by Cleisthenes, by Athens and other Greek cities beginning in 505 BC, and their commercial success made the prospect of joining their newly formed, “Delian League”, very inviting.
The fact that a powerful empire was being built up by the Persians, made it quite logical. It was in this way that between 501 BC and 483 BC, Phrygia, Mysia, Lydia, Caria, and Lycia came into the Greek fold. Fortunately for the Greeks and the Anatolians, Cyrus found himself immersed in a struggle with the people to his east. He would eventually establish himself all the way to the Indus River and Afghanistan. They would also occupy the areas of Anatolia not under Greek control.
The adoption of a coinage system like that of Lydia, made the Greek economy even more vigorous, and in the Early 5th century BC, Athens began to dominate the “Delian League”. This brought about the mistrust of Sparta, a powerful militaristic city-state which had held on to its monarchial form of government.
In 481 BC the Spartans demanded that the Athenians disband the league, but Athens refused. She was arguably the lord of the seas now, and beginning to feel her power.
When the Spartans sent out a punitive expedition of 3,000 soldiers the next year . The Athenians didn’t meet them cowering behind their walls, but fielding an army of over 6,000 Athenian soldiers, most in Phalanx formation.
The Spartan General Pausanias, arrogantly demanded that they throw open their gates. The Athenians did, and out came marching 9,500 auxiliaries supplied by the “Delian League. This changed things drastically. (how?)
The “Battle of Athens”, was a short but terrible affair. (why?)
The Spartans slew a young messenger who was sent to offer the terms, ” Pausanias , you may return to your homes in two ways, One is to acknowledge Athenian Hegemony in matters on the Sea, and of Foreign Policy, you will walk home, if you don’t, you will all return on your shields”.
The Spartan response was sad, but typical of the Spartans. Pausanias read out the message, the Spartans were incensed, the order to charge the Athenians came soon after, but the Athenians on the wings were ordered to stand their ground at all costs, while the center slowly gave way. The Spartans read this as weakness, and their discipline broke down. The Athenian auxiliaries, completed the encircling, and the Spartans were slain to the last man.
This wouldn’t break the Spartans, but at the same time, Athens had hedged her bets. At almost the same time, Sparta was wracked by a slave revolt, the Helots had been incited to rise up. Athens immediately sent the following ultimatum, ”If Sparta will recognize the Hegemony of Athens in Greece and in matters of “Greek Foreign Policy”, “Sparta may run its own affairs how it chooses”.
The Spartans had no choice but to agree, the deaths of 3,000 of their best soldiers, and the ongoing slave revolt forced them to concede their dominance.
This was a watershed for Athens, in the latter half of the 4th century BC, it became a true power, not just economically, but in the arts as well. Athens became a light that drew in the most talented peoples of not just Greece, but of the known world. The tragedies of Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides, historians like Herodutus, “The Father of History”, and Thucydides, and of course Socrates, one of Western Civilizations great icons. Pericles would say, ”Athens is the School of Greece”*1
While Tyre, the founder of Carthage, was under the thumb of the Persians, Carthage had been building a trading empire of its own. This was beginning to rub the peoples of Italy the wrong way.
In 414 BC, the colony of Syracuse came into came into conflict with the Carthaginians. Selinus, a colony friendly with Sparta, was conquered by the Carthaginians. The Spartans demanded satisfaction, while the Athenians preferred patience. It took the Spartans 5 months to reach Syracuse, and than they had to wait for their men to recover from the sea- sickness, but they promptly set out in 415 BC, to teach these Carthaginians a lesson. When they arrived in Selinus, the Athenian banner already flew there, Nicias, a prominent politician and military man had withstood a challenge from a scoundrel named Alcibiades, and ended Carthaginian influence in Sicily.
Athens needed no more assistance in solving Greek foreign policy. This was the end of Spartan influence, in foreign affairs.
For the next sixty years, Athens enjoyed a period of peace, She was on good terms with the Persians, Egyptians, and the Latin’s of Italy who had thrown off the yoke of their kings, and were beginning to soak up Greek culture like a sponge.
These contacts also ended up reshaping Greek politics, culture, and especially religion. Persian Zoroastrianism, Egyptian thoughts on an afterlife, and the One god of the Hebrews began to permeate the theology of the Greeks.
Corinth and Thebes were also becoming very powerful now also, and the Athenians realized that the organization of their growing Empire, must share power with the other Greeks. The return of Philip of Macedon in 338 BC, from an exchange of Ambassadors with the Persian Empire, and his tales of the greatness of the Persian army, the roads, and the organization, jolted the Athenians. He explained,”T hat the Empire is separated into separate parts, but each area has a governor in charge of his own Satrapy. While it is a monarchy, there is much we could learn from their organizational skills”. He also outlined a plan for a new form of government called a “Republic”, Whereby every Deme, or Greek state, would send a representative to Athens, where they would jointly conduct the affairs of the Greek Republic. The Greek Council, of 7 seats, was chosen by the representatives of the individual Demes from amongst themselves, , with Athens, Corinth, and Thebes all holding permanent seats, and the power of veto.
In 330 BC, Egypt was attacked by the Libyans, t his gave Greece the excuse to formally enter North Africa. They were there to assist their “F riends”, but in reality they were their as a demonstration of Greek power. When Philip discovers that the Carthaginians are supporting the Libyans, he knows that this is his time for glory. With his adopted son, Ptolemy, he immediately advances on the unprepared Carthaginians. He quickly rolled up the North African coast to Carthage itself, and laid siege to her. She stood for 22 months, before the naval blockade, and the outbreak of disease, broke her.
But Philip was no fool, h e knew these were a proud people. He ordered that the city be razed, and that the land be sown with salt, that it may never rise again .
This (This what?) left Greece as the sole maritime power in the Western Mediterranean, the Romans were quite content to stay on land. Only the Persians, and their interference with the Egyptians, were left to disturb,” The Greek Lake ”.
In 328 BC, with North Africa subdued, Philip returned to Macedonia, leaving his adopted son Ptolemy in Egypt to pursue an interest with one of the Pharaohs daughters. Over the next 15 years he would drive, “The Greek Republics”, borders to the Danube River, His adopted son, Ptolemy, would father an Egyptian Dynasty. Peace between these nations, would serve Greece well in the future.
Once the border had been stabilized in the north, the Greeks began to explore ever more widely, especially in the Indian Ocean and the lands north of the Black Sea. In the year 241 BC, the first Greek trading fleet landed in the Mauryan Empire. They were treated grandly by the Emperor Asoka, and the traders there. A plethora of goods was available there, silks and tea from China, spices from Java, the incense of Arabia, and a multitude of other products. At the same time many Mediterranean goods were in high demand in the East, the purple cloth of Tyre, jewelry from Egypt, and wine and Olive oil from Greece were becoming much sought after luxuries to the people of Asia. Greece intended to supply these goods, with no room for competition.
It was around this time that the Romans began to expand into Gaul and Spain. The few Carthaginians who were left, gladly accepted the rule of the Romans. But when a Roman colonization party set out from Aquileia, in northwest Italy, they were met by a column of Greek soldiers, whose commander, Antigonus, bluntly told them, “ You Romans have seen your limits in the East. These are Greek lands, and always will be”. For the next 150 years or so, the Romans would solidify their gains in southern Gaul and Spain.
In 198 BC, the Greeks were continuing to build up their commercial ties with Asia and also w ith Africa. To serve this end, they established the colony of Periclos, named after the great Athenian statesman. Located on the south west tip of Arabia, it allowed for the reprovisioning of ships, a nd facilitated the destruction of Pirates who were always on the hunt for a poorly defended ship.
In 147 BC, under Antiochus III, the Greeks crossed the Danube in order to set up a buffer zone against the increasingly powerful probes of Asian tribesmen who were beginning to break the Scythians, who had always shielded Greece proper from their depredations. In 188 BC, the Greeks and Scythians, with help from the Illyrians, crushed a joint Avar-Hun army at the Battle of the Dneipos. While Antiochus was slain, the Greeks forced the Barbarians to sue for peace, swearing to never attack the Greeks or their allies, and paying an annual tribute. The Huns would regain their strength however, and never forget this defeat.
In 141 BC, the Parthians rebelled against their Persian overlords. The resulting situation resulted in the decision to protect Greek commercial interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Greeks refused to allow the Parthians to disrupt their status quo. The Greeks rolled up the entire coast from Cilicia to Egypt, and heavily fortified it.
It was at this time that Zoroastrianism began to take hold with the lower classes. Their beliefs in One God, Heaven and Hell, and the soul, would set the stage for coming of a Hebrew prophet. This man would radically change the Greek world forever.
Jesus of Nazareth, began preaching that ,”The Kingdom of God is at hand”, a message that many Jews had been waiting for. He drew about him a group of followers, and eventually came to irritate the Jewish leaders of the Temple, they demanded that the greek governor, _______, execute him for having said he would Destroy the Temple, and build a new one. ________ said he would do no such thing, that he must be tried by a jury of his peers. Rather than risk Jesus being exonnerated , the Rabbi’s paid a miscreant named, Barabbas, to quietly kill him. Barabbas later had a vision of Jesus, and became a great missionary for the church.
In 176 AD, Athenagoras, a Greek Platonist who converted to Christianity, went to Byzantium, where the Apostle Barabbas was buried. He resolved to build a magnificent church and school. This church, “St . Barabbos would become the center of the Christian church.
The 2nd and 3rd centuries AD saw the disintegration of the Roman Republic, pressure from the peoples of the Asian steppes, and a series of plagues, f ractured it into many small Kingdoms and City-states. The 4th century would see Europe further traumatized by the rising power of the Norsemen, who would raid and pillage the weak, and trade with the strong. Their depredation would continue until the 10th century, when their energies would be turned elsewhere.
In the 5th Century AD, The Huns once again became restless again, and began to probe the Greeks, a nd openly attack the Persians. The Persians were overwhelmed, and forced to beg for assistance from the Greeks, who in 451, defeated the Huns near the city of Edessa. Atilla, the king of the Huns, was killed in this action, and his people, disorganized, returned to the steppes.
As a result of this, and with the lack of a successor to the Persian throne, the Persian Satrapys west of the Euphrates were compelled to join the growing Greek Republic. The Greeks welcomed their new Persian citizens, and many of them, such as St. Mohommed, would spread Christianity throughout southern Asia, and become prominent citizens. Egypt would follow suit in 458.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =
In 562, the Avars invaded Central Europe, and continued to dominate it until 864AD., when Oleg the Wise, son of Rurik, a Norman, established the Kingdom of Novgorod, finally Europe had a buffer between itself and the brutal peoples of Central Asia. Oleg invited St. Cyril to Kiev, who introduced both Chistianity and the Cyrillic alphabet to the Russian state.
The next century would see the creation of a Slavic state called Poland. Under Miezko I Poland accepted Christianity, and became the largest state in Europe at the time.
In 918 AD, At the Conference of Magdeburg, Henry I was chosen to be the king of a consolidated Germany. The growing power of Poland and the continuing harrassment of the Normans finally led the small states to band together. Gaul and Iberia would remain fractured for some time.
By the 11th century, the Norsemen had leap-frogged their way across the Atlantic to a new place they called Vinland. They didn’t follow their usual practices here though, they realized the commercial potential of these new lands, and with few exceptions managed to stay on good terms with the natives there. They spread inland peacefully, along a group of enormous lakes, establishing trading posts as they went. The traders would grow rich, by introducing such products as tobacco, furs, and ivory to the European markets.
In 1066, William of Normandy, who had been jilted as the successor to King Edward, set out to take the throne by force. He and his forces defeated the English army at Hastings in the same year. He reorganized the country, and compiled the, “Domesday Book”, A comprehensive census and accounting of everyone and everything that might be taxed.
In the 11th century, the peoples of Ethiopia, began their long expansion down the east coast of Africa. By the 14th century, their empire would spread from their border with Egypt, to the southern tip of that continent. The Ethiopians were devout Christians, and slowly but surely the peoples of east Africa came into the Byzantine Church’s fold. In West Africa, a powerful state known as Ghana had grown to significant size by the 12th century, as the distribution point for African gold heading to Europe and the Near East.
The last half of the 12th Century AD saw the rise of a new power in Central Asia. Genghis Khan had welded the people of Mongolia into a powerful force. He planned to use this power to subjugate China, and eventually the entire world. He didn’t live to see the final extent of the Empire he instigated, It was his grandson Kublai Khan who would finish the conquest of China, and later add most of India and parts of Persia to his dominions.
In 1273, the Mongols sent diplomats to Japan, demanding that the Japanese must submit themselves to Mongol power, and pay a substantial tribute. The Japanese refused. The next year the Mongols sent an expedition that ran afoul because of weather. In 1281 however the Mongols returned, and while they did establish a foothold in Kyushu, the weather once again foiled their plans. The Japanese took heart by this event, and began to make preparations for their entrance into mainland Asian affairs.
The Japanese began inviting Greek and Persian advisors into their court. Both of the western powers knew that the Mongols were a force to be reckoned with. They intended to assist the Japanese, and open up an additional front in the East, to keep the Mongols occupied. Little did they know they were creating a monster. The Japanese quickly adapted to the ways of the west, and began to plan their expansion not only in Asia proper, for they were starved for resources, but also into the Pacific.
The 14th Century would see the Iberians and Gauls begin to organize themselves into larger political units. The Individual city-states began to align themselves into leagues and kingdoms. The Norman’s influence spread south in Gaul until only the southern coast remained independent. Meanwhile Iberia became consolidated under 3 powers. The Kingdoms of Portugal and Aragon, and the Andalusian Confederacy.
The Portuguese and the Andalusians began to make forays into the Asian and African markets that Greece and Persia had dominated for so long. The fierce competition would lead them to search for new ways to expand their influence and grow more powerful. In 1493 an Italian named Cristofo Columbo, led an expediton to find a new way to the East, He didn’t find the legendary Cathay, but he did find a savage people who eked out and existence on a group of small islands.
The stories of great wealth told by the natives of the islands led Columbo to return with a small army of adventurers. They believed that their possession of firearms would allow them to dominate these natives and spread the Christian truth to them. They had some initial success when they landed in the Yucatan, but were taken to task when the Maya contacted the Inca and the Aztecs in order to repel the invaders. Unlike the islanders these people were not savages , they used iron.
The trade network established by the Normen had spread, and the native cultures had eagerly adapted to new technologies. When they couldn’t match the Iberians head to head, they melted into the jungle, and slew them one by one, if tropical diseases didn’t do them in first. It was quickly understood that these people were interested in trade, not domination by foreigners.
Eastern Europe in the meanwhile had changed radically, in 1337, Casmir III had molded Poland into a true power. Through political alliances and marriages, he had created an unlikely colossus. The addition of Hungary and Lithuania through marriage, and a pact with Bohemia, made him a threat to both the Rus and the Germans. He cleverly negotiated a non-aggression pact with the Germans, and than commenced to rid Poland of the ever present threat from the East. The Poles would realize their dream of peace in the East, The Rus would fall under their sway, and the Poles would rule from the Black Sea to the Baltic.
In 1593, the English and Portuguese began to trade with the new world, their competition would lead to conflict. The Portuguese would come to dominate trade in the Caribbean, while the English would become fast friends with the Iroquois confederacy. These power blocks would define later American history.