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- The three great classical civilizations of Rome, Han China, and Gupta
India collapsed or declined.
- All three suffered from invasions by nomads from central Asia who took
advantage of internal imperial weaknesses.
- Rome also endured Germanic incursions, and the western portion of its
empire lost more of its earlier achievements than other civilizations.
- The general collapse forms a significant break in world history.
- Many components of the classical achievement survived the period of
decline, and new forms appeared as civilizations altered to meet
changing conditions.
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- New periods in history are infrequent; they must be defined carefully.
- At the close of the classical period the decline of empires and the rise
of religions marks a new period.
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- Three related shifts must occur to mark a new period in world history.
- Powerful civilizations must divide in new ways, altering the world map.
- New contacts must be established among civilizations.
- Similarities must arise in the patterns displayed by major
civilizations.
- The fall of the great empires meets the requirements.
- Cultural and political boundaries shifted in India and the Mediterranean
world.
- Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam spread widely.
- The Islamic world replaced India as the most expansive civilization.
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- The major world religions - Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam - rose or
expanded as the great empires declined.
- Hinduism continued its evolution.
- Political and economic instability, plus the impact of devastating
epidemics, prompted individuals to seek new spiritual answers.
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- The key transition in Asian civilizations came with the decline of the
Han in China, the Gupta in India, and nomadic pressures.
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- The Han dynasty appeared to recover during the 2nd century C.E., but
poor rulers and popular unrest fueled by landlord exploitation
culminated in revolution.
- Daoist leaders, the Yellow Turbans, in 184 C.E. began a period of
disorder ending with the fall of the Han in 220.
- China split into three kingdoms.
- The landowning class operated beyond government control.
- There were no firm dynasties for 350 years.
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- The instability turned many to Buddhism.
- Brought from India by merchants and missionaries, Buddhism overcame
Daoist attacks to spread throughout China by the 5th century C.E.
- In the process Chinese cultural values, including subordination of
women, were incorporated into Buddhism.
- Its growing influence stimulated thought among Daoists.
- They formalized their religion and adopted beliefs about achieving
immortality through good works.
- Confucianism lost ground.
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- Political revival occurred at the end of the 6th century when the Sui
dynasty reunited China.
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- The Sui collapsed in 618 and were replaced by the Tang.
- During these troubled years old values survived and China retained
greater homogeneity than other civilizations.
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- Chandragupta II brought the Gupta dynasty to the high point of its rule
in the early 5th century C.E.
- Under his successors the decentralized Gupta structure failed to repel
Hun invasions.
- By 500 the Huns controlled northwestern India; the Gupta collapsed in
550.
- A Gupta descendant, Harsha, briefly revived the dynasty.
- India divided into regional dynasties ruled by princes.
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- Buddhism steadily declined before Hinduism.
- Worship of the mother goddess Devi spread widely.
- The caste system strengthened, assimilating invaders, and extending to
southern India.
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- The economy flourished, with new trade links opening to southern India
and Southeast Asia after the fall.
- An important threat to the Indian cultural continuity came from the 7th
century expansion of Islam as Muslim invaders entered northwest India
and won converts.
- By the 8th century Arab traders gained control of Indian Ocean commerce.
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- The decline of the Roman Empire was more disruptive than that of the Han
or Gupta.
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- The Roman Empire, for many reasons, was in decline from the late 2nd
century C.E.
- A shrinking population hindered army recruiting.
- In political life, emperors were poor leaders.
- Disputes over succession led to continual army intervention.
- Tax revenues fell during hard
economic times.
- Expansion of the empire ended after 180, thus closing the sources of
slave labor.
- Environmental deterioration in North Africa diminished grain supplies
and tax revenues.
- Recurring plagues further decimated the population and disrupted
economic life.
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- Germanic soldiers had to be hired to defend frontiers.
- In the midst of these problems Rome's upper classes turned from
political service to pleasure-seeking lives.
- Cultural activity, except for works by Christian writers, decayed.
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- As central authority declined, farmers, seeking protection, clustered
around large landlords.
- The political decentralization was most pronounced in the western
empire.
- Political power passed to landlords and the economy contracted.
- Tax revenues fell, trade declined, and cities shrank in size.
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- Some emperors tried to restore central authority.
- Diocletian (284-305) improved administration and tax collecting, and
increased controls on the economy.
- Constantine (312-337) established a second capital at Constantinople
and accepted Christianity.
- The measures did not restore vitality to the empire as a whole.
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- The eastern half flourished, but the western did not.
- Economic regulation curbed initiative and lowered production.
- Many overburdened peasants welcomed the changes brought by the Germanic
invasions of the 5th century.
- The last western Roman emperor was removed in 476.
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- Rome's collapse ended Mediterranean unity.
- Three zones emerged, each later producing distinct civilizations.
- The northeastern part of the empire did not fall.
- The vibrant, artistically creative, and commercially active Byzantine
Empire incorporated Hellenistic and Roman patterns.
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- A 2nd zone, in North Africa and along the Mediterranean's southeastern
shores, suffered serious disruption.
- Temporary regional kingdoms emerged.
- Although Christianity spread, differing interpretations split its unity.
- Eventually North Africa fell to Islam.
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- In the 3rd zone, the western and northern portions of the empire, the
level of civilization declined.
- Regional Germanic kingdoms appeared.
- The only vital force was Christianity, but it was not able to prevent
the decline of civilization.
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- Historians long have sought the causes of the decline or fall of great
civilizations.
- Moral failure often has been awarded importance for Rome’s collapse, but
the explanation often is stimulated by anxieties of analysts worrying
about the course of their own civilization.
- More realistically, it appears that civilizations naturally rise and
fall as part of an inevitable process influenced by the changes
occurring in their societies.
- And, importantly, the decline or collapse of a civilization does not
mean that its contribution disappears.
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- The decline of the classical civilizations contributed to the growth of
three great world religions.
- Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam became the only religions spreading
far beyond a single region.
- Hinduism and Daoism, remained regional religions, but also gained new
followers.
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- Both religions stressed otherworldliness, produced important movements,
and offered the possibility of an afterlife.
- Chinese Buddhism, called Mahayana, emphasized Buddha as a savior god
similar to Christ.
- Each religion accepted a role for holy men – among Buddhists called
bodhisattvas - aiding believers to gain holiness.
- There were differences.
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- Christianity, emphasized church organization, gave more value to
missionary activity, and claimed possession of exclusive truth.
- Christianity began as a Jewish reform movement, only gradually turning
to missionary activity.
- Christians believed that there was a single god who loved humanity, that
virtuous life should be devoted to his worship, and that Christ's
sacrifice permitted attainment of an afterlife.
- The message, satisfied unfilled spiritual needs present in the
deteriorating Roman empire.
- Under Paul, Christianity became a separate religion open to all.
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- Despite competition from Eastern mystery religions and government
persecution, by the 4th century Christianity had won over about 10% of
the Roman empire's population.
- Emperor Constantine converted and made Christianity an accepted faith.
- Rulers intervened in church affairs, particularly in the eastern empire
where government remained strong.
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- In the disorganized west bishops created a centralized church
organization that endured when the western empire collapsed.
- The Council of Nicea (325) demonstrated the importance of unified
doctrine to Christianity.
- It ruled in favor of the Nicene creed, an interpretation holding that
the one Christian god had three persons.
- Leo I clearly established the papacy as the supreme religious authority
in western Europe.
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- Augustine made major contributions in formulating a theology that
incorporated elements of classical philosophy.
- Benedict of Nursia created the Benedictine Rule for monks in 6th century
Italy;
- Basil organized eastern empire monasticism in the 4th century.
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- Christianity continued to appeal to all classes, especially to the poor
and women.
- It promoted a new culture different from that of the classical world by
its beliefs in spiritual equality and otherworldly emphasis.
- The state was accepted, but made second to religion.
- Classical values retained included philosophical themes, architectural
styles, and the Latin language in the west and Greek in the east.
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- The rise and spread of Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam would
incorporate most of Eurasia’s inhabitants.
- People in many societies left old beliefs and turned to concentration on
a single divine force and a hope for an afterlife.
- The world religions, a new force in world history, provided beliefs that
transcended political entities.
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- By 600 C.E. the major civilizations were altered in permanent ways.
- China maintained political cohesion and along with India it preserved
much cultural cohesion.
- The Roman Empire in contrast disintegrated, and successor civilizations
did not restore geographical unity or a unified classical culture.
- Nomadic invaders both toppled empires and spread new ideas and
techniques.
- Missionaries brought Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam into new regions.
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- The World History in Transition, 200-700 C.E.
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