Classical antiquity

"Classical era" redirects here. For the Classical period in music, see Classical period (music). Ancient history This box: view · talk · ↑ Prehistory Ancient Near East Sumer · Elam · Akkad · Babylonia · Canaan · Hittite Empire · Syro-Hittite states · Neo-Assyrian Empire · Urartu Ancient Africa Egypt · Nubia · Land of Punt · Axum · Nok culture · Kingdom of Kush · Carthage · Ancient Ghana Classical Antiquity Archaic Greece · Median Empire . Classical Greece · Achaemenid Empire · Seleucid Empire · Dacia · Thrace · Scythia · Macedon · Armenia · Roman Republic · Roman Empire · Parthia . Parthian Empire · Sassanid Empire · Late Antiquity East Asia China · Korea · Japan South Asia Vedic India · Maha Janapadas · Mauryan India · Chola India · Satavahana India · Gupta India Pre-Columbian Americas see also: World history · Ancient maritime history · Protohistory · Axial Age · Iron Age · Historiography · Ancient literature · Ancient warfare · Cradle of civilization ↓Middle Ages Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world. It is the period in which Greek and Roman literature (such as Aeschylus, Ovid, Homer and others) flourished.1 It is conventionally taken to begin with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (8th–7th century BC), and continues through the rise of Christianity and the decline of the Roman Empire (5th century AD). It ends with the dissolution of classical culture at the close of Late Antiquity (AD 300–600), blending into the Early Middle Ages (AD 600–1000). Such a wide sampling of history and territory covers many disparate cultures and periods. "Classical antiquity" may refer also to an idealized vision among later people of what was, in Edgar Allan Poe's words, "the glory that was Greece, the grandeur that was Rome!"2 The civilization of the ancient Greeks has been immensely influential on the language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, art and architecture of the modern world: From the surviving fragments of classical antiquity, a revival-movement was gradually formed from the 14th century onwards which came to be known later as the Renaissance in Western Europe, and again resurgent during various neo-classical revivals in the 18th and 19th centuries. Contents 1 Archaic period (8th to 6th centuries BC) 1.1 Phoenicians 1.2 Greece 1.2.1 Greek colonies 1.3 Iron Age Italy 1.4 Roman Kingdom 2 Classical Greece (5th to 4th centuries BC) 3 Hellenistic period (340 to 330 BC) 4 Roman Republic (5th to 1st centuries BC) 5 Roman Empire (1st century BC to 5th century AD) 6 Late Antiquity (4th to 6th centuries AD) 7 Revivalism 7.1 Politics 7.2 Culture 8 Subtopics 9 Timeline 10 Notes 11 References 12 See also // Archaic period (8th to 6th centuries BC) Further information: Iron Age Europe The earliest period of classical antiquity takes place before the background of gradual re-appearance of historical sources following the Bronze Age collapse. The 8th and 7th centuries BC are still largely proto-historical, with the earliest Greek alphabetic inscriptions appearing in the first half of the 8th century. Homer is usually assumed to have lived in the 8th or 7th century, and his lifetime is often taken as marking the beginning of classical antiquity. In the same period falls the traditional date for the establishment of the Ancient Olympic Games, in 776 BC. Phoenicians Main article: Phoenicia The Phoenicians originally expanded from Levantine ports, by the 8th century dominating trade in the Mediterranean. Carthage was founded in 814 BC, and the Carthaginians by 700 BC had firmly established strongholds in Sicily, Italy and Sardinia, which brought about conflicts of interest with Etruria. Greece Main article: Archaic period in Greece The Archaic period followed the Greek Dark Ages, and saw significant advancements in political theory, and the rise of democracy, philosophy, theatre, poetry, as well as the revitalisation of the written language (which had been lost during the Dark Ages). In pottery, the Archaic period sees the development of the Orientalizing style, which signals a shift from the Geometric Style of the later Dark Ages and the accumulation of influences derived from Phoenicia and Syria. Pottery styles associated with the later part of the Archaic age are the black-figure pottery, which originated in Corinth during the 7th century BC and its successor, the red-figure style, developed by the Andokides Painter in about 530 BCE. Greek colonies Main articles: Apoikiai and Magna Graecia Iron Age Italy The Etruscans had established political control in the region by the late 7th century BC, forming the aristocratic and monarchial elite. The Etruscans apparently lost power in the area by the late 6th century BC, and at this point, the Italic tribes reinvented their government by creating a republic, with much greater restraints on the ability of rulers to exercise power.3 Roman Kingdom Main article: Roman kingdom According to legend, Rome was founded on April 21, 753 BC by twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas, Romulus and Remus.4 As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins and the Sabines.5 Archaeological evidence indeed shows first traces of settlement at the Roman Forum in the mid 8th century BC, though settlements on the Palatine Hill may date back to the 10th century BC.67 The seventh and final king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus. As the son of Tarquinius Priscus and the son-in-law of Servius Tullius, Superbus was of Etruscan birth. It was during his reign that the Etruscans reached their apex of power. Superbus removed and destroyed all the Sabine shrines and altars from the Tarpeian Rock, enraging the people of Rome. The people came to object to his rule when he allowed the rape of Lucretia, a patrician Roman, at the hands of his own son. Lucretia's kinsman, Lucius Junius Brutus (ancestor to Marcus Brutus), summoned the Senate and had Superbus and the monarchy expelled from Rome in 510 BC. After Superbus' expulsion, the Senate voted to never again allow the rule of a king and reformed Rome into a republican government in 509 BC. In fact the Latin word "Rex" meaning King became a dirty and hated word throughout the Republic and later on the Empire. Classical Greece (5th to 4th centuries BC) Main article: Classical Greece Delian League ("Athenian Empire"), right before the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. The classical period of Ancient Greece corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE (i.e. from the fall of the Athenian tyranny in 510 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC). In 510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow their king, the tyrant Hippias, son of Peisistratos. Cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy conducted by Isagoras. The Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BCE), concluded by the Peace of Callias resulted in the dominant position of Athens in the Delian League, which led to conflict with Sparta and the Peloponnesian League, resulting in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE), which ended in a Spartan victory. Greece entered the 4th century under Spartan hegemony. But by 395 BCE the Spartan rulers removed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost her naval supremacy. Athens, Argos, Thebes and Corinth, the latter two of which were formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the Corinthian War, which ended inconclusively in 387 BCE. Later, in 371 BCE, the Theban generals Epaminondas and Pelopidas won a victory at Leuctra. The result of this battle was the end of Spartan supremacy and the establishment of Theban hegemony. Thebes sought to maintain its position until it was finally eclipsed by the rising power of Macedon in 346 BCE. Under Philip II, (359–336 BCE), Macedon expanded into the territory of the Paeonians, the Thracians and the Illyrians. Philip's son, Alexander the Great, (356–323 BCE) managed to briefly extend Macedonian power not only over the central Greek city-states, but also to the Persian Empire, including Egypt and lands as far east as the fringes of India. The classical period conventionally ends at the death of Alexander in 323 BCE and the fragmentation of his empire, which was at this time divided among the Diadochi. Hellenistic period (340 to 330 BC) Main article: Hellenistic period Further information: Hellenistic philosophy and Hellenistic religion Classical Greece entered the Hellenistic period with the rise of Macedon and the conquests of Alexander the Great. Greek becomes the lingua franca far beyond Greece itself, and Hellenistic culture interacts with the cultures of Persia, Central Asia, India and Egypt. Significant advances are made in the sciences (geography, astronomy, mathematics etc.), notably with the followers of Aristotle (Aristotelianism). The Hellenistic period ended with the rise of the Roman Republic to a super-regional power in the 2nd century BC and the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC. Roman Republic (5th to 1st centuries BC) The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. The extent of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in 218 BC (dark red), 133 BC (light red), 44 BC (orange), AD 14 (yellow), after AD 14 (green), and maximum extension under Trajan 117 (light green). Main article: Roman Republic Further information: culture of ancient Rome The republican period of Ancient Rome began with the overthrow of the Monarchy c.509 BC and lasted over 450 years until its subversion, through a series of civil wars, into the Principate form of government and the Imperial period. During the half millennium of the Republic, Rome rose from a regional power of the Latium to the dominant force in Italy and beyond. The unification of Italy under Roman hegemony was a gradual process, brought about in a series of conflicts of the 4th and 3rd centuries, the Samnite Wars, Latin War, and Pyrrhic War. Roman victory in the Punic Wars and Macedonian Wars established Rome as a super-regional power by the 2nd century BC, followed up by the acquisition of Greece and Asia Minor. This tremendous increase of power was accompanied by economic instability and social unrest, leading to the Catiline conspiracy, the Social War and the First Triumvirate, and finally the transformation to the Roman Empire in the latter half of the 1st century BC. Roman Empire (1st century BC to 5th century AD) Main article: Roman Empire The extent of the Roman Empire under Trajan 117 Determining the precise end of the Republic is a task of dispute by modern historians;8 Roman citizens of the time did not recognize that the Republic had ceased to exist. The early Julio-Claudian "Emperors" maintained that the res publica still existed, albeit under the protection of their extraordinary powers, and would eventually return to its full Republican form. The Roman state continued to call itself a res publica as long as it continued to use Latin as its official language. Rome acquired imperial character de facto from the 130s BC with the acquisition of Cisalpine Gaul, Illyria, Greece and Hispania, and definitely with the addition of Iudaea, Asia and Gaul in the 1st century BC. At the time of the empire's maximal extension under Trajan (117 AD), Rome controlled the entire Mediterranean as well as Gaul, parts of Germania and Britannia, the Balkans, Dacia, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and Mesopotamia. Culturally, the Roman Empire was significantly hellenized, but also saw the rise of syncratic "eastern" traditions, such as Mithraism, Gnosticism, and most notably Christianity. The empire began to decline in the crisis of the third century Late Antiquity (4th to 6th centuries AD) The Western and Eastern Roman Empires by 476 Main articles: Late Antiquity and Migration period Late Antiquity sees the rise of Christianity under Constantine I, finally ousting Roman imperial cult with the Theodosian decrees of 393. Successive invasions of Germanic tribes finalize the decline of the Western Empire in the 5th century, while the Eastern Empire persists throughout the Middle Ages as the Byzantine Empire. Hellenistic philosophy is succeeded by continued developments in Platonism and Epicureanism, with Neoplatonism in due course influencing the theology of the Church Fathers. Many individuals have attempted to put a specific date on the symbolic "end" of antiquity with the most prominent dates being the deposing of the last Western Roman Emperor in 476, the closing of the last Platonic Academy by Justinian I in 529, or the invasion of Italy in 535 by the forces of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. This last act, ironically, resulted in damage or destruction to Rome and much of the Italian countryside, inorexorably and permanently altering the socioeconomic structure of classical Rome. In spite of this fact, the original Roman Senate continued to express decrees into the late 6th century and so some historians even place the symbolic end of antiquity at the death of Justinian I in 565, because Justinian was the last emperor to speak Latin and the last to use wholly Roman (as opposed to Greek) customs and rules for his court and government. Furthermore, the ascendency of Heraclius in 610, in Constantinople, who truly emphasized the Eastern, and Greek nature of what remained of the Roman Empire, may have contributed to turning the Eastern Roman Empire into the medieval Byzantine Empire. Ultimately, though, it was a slow, complex, and graduated change in the socioeconomic structure in European history that led to the changeover between Classical Antiquity and Medieval society and no specific date can truly exemplify that. Revivalism Further information: Carolingian Renaissance, Ottonian Renaissance, Renaissance, Classical studies, and Classicism Further information: Legacy of the Roman Empire Respect for the ancients of Greece and Rome affected politics, philosophy, sculpture, literature, theater, education, architecture and even sexuality. Politics In politics, the late Roman conception of the Empire as a universal state, headed by one supreme divinely-appointed ruler, united with Christianity as a universal religion likewise headed by a supreme patriarch, proved very influential, even after the disappearance of imperial authority in the west. That model continued to exist in Constantinople for the entirety of the middle ages; the Byzantine Emperor was considered sovereign of the entire Christian world. The Patriarch of Constantinople was the empire's highest-ranked cleric, but even he was subordinate to the Emperor, who was "God's Vicegerent on Earth". The Greek-speaking Byzantines and their descendants continued to call themselves "Romans" until the creation of a new Greek state in 1832. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Russian Tsars (a title derived from Caesar) claimed the Byzantine mantle as the champion of Orthodoxy; Moscow was described as the "Third Rome" and the Tsars ruled as divinely-appointed Emperors into the 20th century. Even after Roman secular authority disappeared entirely in Western Europe, it still left traces. The Papacy and the Catholic Church in particular maintained Latin language, culture and literacy for centuries; to this day the popes are called Pontifex Maximus which in the classical period was a title belonging to the emperor, and the ideal of Christendom carried on the legacy of a united European civilisation even after its political unity had diappeared. The political idea of an Emperor in the West to match the Emperor in the East continued after the western empire's collapse; it was revived by the coronation of Charlemagne in 800; the self-described Holy Roman Empire ruled over central Europe until 1806. The Renaissance idea that the classical Roman virtues had been lost under medievalism was especially powerful in European politics of the 18th and 19th centuries. Reverence for Roman republicanism was strong among the Founding Fathers of the United States and the Latin American revolutionaries; the Americans described their new government as a republic (from res publica) and gave it a Senate and a President (another Latin term), rather than make use of available English terms like commonwealth or parliament. Similarly in Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, republicanism and Roman martial virtues were upheld by the state, as can be seen in the architecture of the Panthéon, the Arc de Triomphe, and the paintings of Jacques-Louis David. During the revolution France itself followed the transition from republic to dictatorship to Empire (complete with Imperial Eagles) that Rome had undergone centuries earlier. Culture Epic poetry in Latin continued to be written and circulated well into the 19th century. John Milton and even Arthur Rimbaud got their first poetic education in Latin. Genres like epic poetry, pastoral verse, and the endless use of characters and themes from Greek mythology left a deep mark on Western literature. In architecture, there have been several Greek Revivals, which seem more inspired in retrospect by Roman architecture than Greek. Still, one needs only to look at Washington, DC to see a city filled with large marble buildings with façades made out to look like Roman temples, with columns constructed in the classical orders of architecture. In philosophy, the efforts of St Thomas Aquinas were derived largely from the thought of Aristotle, despite the intervening change in religion from Hellenic Polytheism to Christianity. Greek and Roman authorities such as Hippocrates and Galen formed the foundation of the practice of medicine even longer than Greek thought prevailed in philosophy. In the French theater, tragedians such as Molière and Racine wrote plays on mythological or classical historical subjects and subjected them to the strict rules of the classical unities derived from Aristotle's Poetics. The desire to dance like a latter-day vision of how the ancient Greeks did it moved Isadora Duncan to create her brand of ballet. Subtopics Geographical: Ancient Greece Hellenistic Greece Ancient Rome Dacia Roman Dacia Roman Britain Hispania Ancient Macedonia Ancient Troy Gaul Ancient history of Cyprus Carthage The Balkans in classical antiquity Late Antiquity Topical: Classical architecture Classical order Classical education Timeline Main article: Timeline of classical antiquity v · d · eTimeline of classical antiquity Notes ^ Fargis, Paul (1998). The New York Public Library Desk Reference – 3rd Edition. Macmillan General Reference. pp. 262. ISBN 0-02-862169-7.  ^ Poe EA (1831). "To Helen". ^ Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire by Michael Kerrigan. Dorling Kindersley, London: 2001. ISBN 0-7894-8153-7. page 12. ^ Adkins, 1998. page 3. ^ Myths and Legends – Rome, the Wolf, and Mars. Accessed 2007-3-8. ^ [Matyszak, 2003. page 19. ^ Duiker, 2001. page 129. ^ The precise event which signaled the transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire is a matter of interpretation. Historians have proposed the appointment of Julius Caesar as perpetual dictator (44 BC), the Battle of Actium (2 September 31 BC), and the Roman Senate's grant of Octavian's extraordinary powers under the first settlement (January 16, 27 BC), as candidates for the defining pivotal event. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007) References Grinin L. E. Early State in the Classical World: Statehood and Ancient Democracy. In Grinin L. E. et al. (eds.)Hierarchy and Power in the History of civilizations: Ancient and Medieval Cultures 9pp.31–84). Moscow: URSS, 2008.Early State in the Classical World See also Classical antiquity portal Three Kingdoms (China, 220 CE – 280 CE) Yayoi period (Japan, 400 BCE– 250 CE) Kofun period (Japan, 250 CE – 538 CE) Asuka period (Japan, 538 CE – 710 CE) Nara period (Japan, 710 CE – 794 CE) Heian period (Japan, 794 CE – 1185 CE) v · d · eClassical antiquity by region Europa: Graecia · Italia · Gallia · Dacia · Thracia · Illyria · Hispania · Britannia · Germania Asia: Scythia · Anatolia · Syria · Arabia · Africa: Libya  · Aegyptus v · d · eAncient Greece topics Timeline Cycladic civilization · Minoan civilization · Mycenaean civilization · Greek Dark Ages · Archaic period · Classical Greece · Hellenistic Greece · Roman Greece Geography Aegean Sea · Hellespont · Macedonia · Sparta · Athens · Corinth · Thebes · Thermopylae · Ionian Sea · Ionia · Aeolis · Doris · Antioch · Alexandria · Pergamon · Miletus · Ephesus · Delphi · Delos  · Olympia · Troy · Rhodes · Crete · Peloponnesus · Epirus · Cyprus · 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Hephaestus · Samothrace temple complex Arts Architecture · Coinage · Literature · Music · Pottery · Sculpture · Theatre Sciences Astronomy · Mathematics · Medicine · Technology Language Proto-Greek · Mycenaean · Homeric · Dialects (Aeolic • Arcadocypriot • Attic • Doric • Ionic • Locrian • Macedonian • Pamphylian) · Koine Writing Linear A · Linear B · Greek alphabet v · d · eAncient Rome topics Timeline Epochs Foundation · Monarchy · Republic · Empire · (Principate and Dominate) · Decline · Western Empire / Eastern Empire Constitution History · Constitution of the Kingdom / the Republic / the Empire / the Late Empire · Senate · Legislative assemblies (Curiate, Century, Tribal, Plebeian)  · Executive magistrates Government Curia · Forum · Cursus honorum · Collegiality · Emperor · Legatus · Dux · Officium · Praefectus · Vicarius · Vigintisexviri · Lictor · Magister militum · Imperator · Princeps senatus · Pontifex Maximus · Augustus · Caesar · Tetrarch · Optimates · Populares · Province Magistrates Ordinary Tribune · Quaestor · Aedile · Praetor · Consul · Censor · Promagistrate · Governor Extraordinary Dictator · Magister Equitum · Decemviri · Consular Tribune · Triumvir · Rex · Interrex Law Twelve Tables · Roman citizenship · Auctoritas · Imperium · Status · Litigation Society Social class · Patricians · Plebs · Conflict of the Orders · Secessio plebis · Equestrian order · Gens · Tribes · Naming conventions · Women · Marriage · Slavery Military Borders · Establishment · Structure · Campaigns · Technology · Political control · Frontiers and fortifications (Castra) · Strategy · Engineering · Army (Legion • Infantry tactics • Personal equipment • Siege engines) · Navy (Fleet) · Auxiliaries · Decorations and punishments · Hippika gymnasia Culture Theatre · Cuisine · Education · School · Literature · Art · Music · Architecture · Religion (Funeral • Persecution • Imperial cult) · Mythology · Hairstyle · Public Baths (Thermae)  · Forum · SPQR · Clothing · Chronology (Ab urbe condita · Roman calendar (Julian) · Festivals) · Circus · Wine · Prostitution · Deforestation · Romanization · Cosmetics Technology Numerals · Arithmetic · Abacus · Civil engineering · Military engineering · Military technology · Roads  · Bridges  · Aqueducts  · Metallurgy  · Concrete · Sanitation Roman economy Economy · Agriculture · Commerce · Finance · Currency · Republican currency  · Imperial currency Language (Latin) History · Romance languages (Versions) Old · Classical · Vulgar · Late · Medieval · Renaissance · New · Recent · Ecclesiastical Writers Apuleius · Catullus · Cicero · Curtius Rufus · Horace  · Julius Caesar · Juvenal · Livy · Lucretius · Ovid · Petronius · Plautus  · Pliny the Elder · Pliny the Younger · Propertius · Sallust · Seneca · Suetonius · Tacitus · Virgil · Vitruvius Lists Topics · Wars · Battles · Generals · Legions · Emperors · Geographers · Institutions · Laws · Consuls · Distinguished women Portal v · d · eAncient Greek and Roman wars Wars of ancient Greece Trojan War · Messenian Wars · Lelantine War · Sicilian Wars · Greco-Persian Wars · Aeginetan War · Wars of the Delian League · Samian War · Peloponnesian War · Corinthian War · Sacred Wars (First, Second, Third) · Social War (357–355 BC) · Rise of Macedon · Wars of Alexander the Great · Wars over Alexander's empire · Lamian War · Chremonidean War · Cleomenean War · Social War (220–217 BC)  · Cretan War · Aetolian War · War against Nabis · Maccabean Revolt · Wars of the Roman Republic War with the Latin League · Samnite Wars · Latin War · Pyrrhic War · Punic Wars (First, Second, Third) · Macedonian Wars (Illyrian, First Macedonian, Second Macedonian, Seleucid, Third Macedonian, Fourth Macedonian) · Jugurthine War · Cimbrian War · Roman Servile Wars (First, Second, Third) · Social War · Civil wars of Lucius Cornelius Sulla (First, Second) · Mithridatic Wars (First, Second, Third) · Gallic Wars · Julius Caesar's civil war · End of the Republic (Post-Caesarian, Liberators', Sicilian, Fulvia's, Final) Wars of the Roman Empire Germanic Wars (Marcomannic, Alamannic, Gothic, Visigothic) · Wars in Britain · Wars of Boudica · Armenian War · Civil War of 69 · Jewish Wars · Domitian's Dacian War · Trajan's Dacian Wars · Parthian Wars · Roman–Persian Wars · Civil Wars of the Third Century · Wars of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire Military history v · d · ePeriods of the History of Europe Prehistoric Europe · Classical antiquity · Late Antiquity · Middle Ages · Renaissance · Early modern Europe · Modern Europe