Very Short History - of the World

Having read HG Wells 'A Short History of the World' and not remembering a single fact, I read it again taking notes. Here they are. Hope no copywright is infringed.

1. World in Space Earth diameter = 8,000 million miles. Distance from sun = 93 M miles. Distance to center of earth = 4,000 miles. Life exists only 3miles below and 5 miles above the earth's surface.

2. World in Time Earth has existed for +2,000 million years. Originally earth was closer to the sun. Then the sun and moon would rise/set faster.

3. Beginnings of Life Earliest rocks = Azoic period ('no life'). They form half the geological record. 1st signs of life are in the Lower Palaeozoic age. There are no signs of land or vertebraic (backboned) life here.

4. Age of Fishes The definition of Life: That which can assimilate matter (eat), and reproduce. In the Silurian division of the Palaeozoic age (500 M years old) are the first backboned fish. In the Devonian division there are lots of fish ('Age of Fishes').

5. Age of Cold Swamps The Carboniferous age. Lots of Amphibia – life that could breathe air, but was still rooted to water (to reproduce).

6. Age of Reptiles Reptiles = egg-laying vertebrates (i.e. no tadpole stage of growth). Ages so far: Azoic No Life 1,400 M yrs Paeleozoic Mesozoic Age of Reptiles 200 M yrs Cainozoic 'New Life' 80 M yrs Reptiles require warmth. Dinosaurs were reptiles. Pterodactyls were the first flying vertebrates.

7. First Birds and Mammals Birds originally created from reptiles fleeing danger into colder climates, requiring warmth (feathers). Mammals became warm-blooded and grew hairs, incubated their eggs or were viviparous (gave birth to small but fully formed offspring). At the end of this period life is inexplicably wiped out.

8. Age of Mammals Cainozoic period. The Alps, Rockies, Andes formed during this period. Reptiles are isolated and individualistic in nature, whereas the new mammals learn from their parents. The brain starts to grow in mammals. They become social, flocking, herding, etc creatures.

9. Monkeys, Apes, Submen The class: Mammalia; order: primates include Lemurs, Monkeys, Apes and Man. In the Mid Cainozoic Period occurred the 1st,2nd,3rd and 4th Glacial Ages. 1st 600,000 yrs ago. 4th 50,000 yrs ago. First man-like beings occurred during the 4th glacial age. ½ - 1 M yrs ago chipped stones (Eoliths) were made. These were found in Java. Pithecanthropus Erectus was a 'walking ape man'. ¼ M yrs ago Heidelberg man had a jawbone, but no chin and probably no articulate speech. 150,000 yrs ago lived Eoanthropus –'Dawn Man' (found in Sussex).

10. Neanderthal and Rhodesian Man Neanderthal man sheltered in caves, dressed in skins, and was right-handed, but was a different species of the same genus that modern man is. Probably slouched, could not look up. Mentally and physically he was different to humans. They were ousted from Europe by Cro-Magnon Man – the earliest true humans. Rhodesian man was another pre-human man.

11. First True Men 40,000 yrs ago. Most evidence in France and Spain. Two tribes: Cro-magnards and the Grimaldis. They made necklaces, painted pictures, made implements. Were hunters (with spears and stones). Were not cooks. Did not cultivate (grow crops). Did not make cloth. Did make high quality bone implements for fishing. 15,000 yrs ago a new tribe from S. Spain – Azilians – had the bow. The beginnings of writing occurred. All Palaeolithic Men (Old Stone Age) had chipped implements. 12,000 yrs ago came the next age: Neolithic Age (New Stone Age), where polished and ground stone implements occur.

12. Primitive Thought Old Stone Age man was mentally child-like. Lived in small family groups. He had a fear of father and respect of mother. The beginnings of primitive religion occur through dreams and imagination. The system of Cause and Effect was strong in the savage's mind. The Fetish Concerns were of food and illness. Medicine men were created to share the burden of fear.

13. Beginnings of Cultivation Neolithic Age = 15,000 BC. People from N.Africa or W.Asia or the Mediterranean valley were cultivating crops and domesticating animals. Polished stone, basketwork, textiles and pottery existed. By 10,000 BC all man was Neolithic. The sowing of seed lead to blood sacrifice – young human beings – maidens – god-like – were sacrificed to the gods to ensure a good harvest. The first chronology (calendar) was lunar-based. Herdsmen first used the stars for direction finding, then to determine seedtime. Early priests were men of knowledge. Heliolithic culture = sun/stone. Culture spread East across Asia to the Pacific and into America. There existed pyramids, stone circles, tattoos, circumcision, good luck symbol (became swastika). Africa below the equator and N Europe were developing independently.

14. Primitive Neolithic Civilizations Across the warm temperate regions of the Earth were the Helioliths and varieties: Iberian 'dark-white', Hamitic (Berbers/Egyptians), Dravidians, Indians, Polynesians, Maori. Also there were the Nordics (N.Europe), Mongolians (Asia), Negroids (S.Africa, Australia, S.Asian tropical islands). Central Africa was a mixture. Races from the beginning were never isolated or static. They moved about and interbred. The Mongolians moved into America and settled in Mexico, Yucatan and Peru. There, sacrificial cultures prevailed. Astronomical science began. The Mayan civilization (Yukatan) climaxed in 700AD. There was excessive blood-letting, and no progression from this.

15. Sumeria, Early Egypt and Writing 7,000 BC. The first social organisation above the village-town was in Mesopotamia ('between two rivers') and Egypt. Sumerians had city-states with priests in charge. Sumerian writing = cuneiform ('wedge-shaped'). Syllabic Egyptian writing = hieroglyphic (priest-writing). Less syllabic speech caused development of alphabets – all derived from cuneiform and hieroglyph. Writing enabled laws, records, and growth of states. In Egypt, the Pharaoh (God-King) was above the priest. Pepi II reigned for 90 yrs. Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus built the pyramids at Gizeh. 450 ft high, 5 million tones!

16. Primitive Nomadic Peoples Assyrians were founding cities on the Upper Tigris River. There were also civilisations in Asia Minor, the Meditteranean shores, India, China. Often conditions were not suited to civilisation: too harsh a climate, too wooded, too arrid (dry). Settlements required water, warmth, sunshine. The alternative to settlement was hunting/hearding (nomadic life). Nomads were more worldly. These were the Nordics of the European forests (1,500 BC), Mongolian Huns of E.Asian Steppes, Semites of Syria/Arabia, Negroid Elamites of S.Persia. In 2,750 BC a Semite, Saragon, conqured Sumeria (the Akkadians). Later the Elamites, then the Semitic Amorites took over. Their capitol was Babylon. King Hammurabi (2,100 BC). Semites also invaded Egypt and became the Hyksos pharaohs. Expelled in 1,600 BC.

17. First Sea-going Peoples Ships had been invented before the pyramids were built. On the Meditteranean by 7,000 BC. Ocean-going sailing ships only in the last 400 yrs. Ships of ancient world = rowing ships. Sea-Semites became the Phoenicians. Based in Tyre/Sidon. They spread out into Spain, pushing back the old Iberian Basques. Founded Carthage (now Tunis, Tunisia). Also the Aegeans (descended from the Basques), Berbers and Egyptians had cities in Greece and Asia Minor (Mycenae and Troy). Cnossos (in Crete) was the palace of the Cretian King or Minos. First Bull-fighting (2,000 BC) and slaves. The Semites were building Nineveh on the Upper Tigris and were sailing to the pillars of Herculese (Straits of Gibraltar). The first pirates were the Greeks. Daedalus (who attempted to fly) was Cretian. There was no iron at this time. Horses were unusual. Lydians, Carians, Trojans were civilised people of Aegean Greece and Asia Minor. Aryan language would become the basis of Sanscrit, Persian, Greek, Latin, German, English. In 1,400 BC the Cnossos was destroyed.

18. Egypt, Babylon and Assyria 1,600 BC = the New Egyptian Empire. Thothmes III and Amenophis III kingdom extended into Asia (the Euphrates). There was a thousand year war between the Egyptians and Mesopotamia. Great Egyptian dynastys were the 17th (Throthmes III, Amenophis III, IV, Queen Hatasu), 19th (Rameses II 67 year reign). Mesopotamia was ruled by Babylon, then the Hittites, Syrians of Damascus, Assyrians of Nineveh. In 745 BC Tiglath Pileser III conquered Babylon (the start of the New Assyrian Empire). He fought with iron spears. In 1,200 BC the Aryans (herdsmen) started to come from the North. From the North-East the Medes/Persians/Scythians/Sarmatians came. From the North-West came the Armenians/Cimmerians/Phrigians/Hellenics (now the Greeks). The Aegeans were displaced by the raiders – some became the Phillistines. The Semitic Hebrews come into history at this point. New splendid monuments appear in the world: The temples of Karnak and Luxor in Egypt, the Monuments of Nineveh, the splendours of Babylon. Life in Babylon or Egyptian Thebes was the same then for a prosperous person as it is now. There was no coined money. No longer any sacrificial religion. The Chinese Shang dynasty had priest-emporors.

19. Primative Aryans They had iron, horses, an aristocratic social order rather than a divine/regal one. Their 'bards' would sing and recite poetry at parties and hold their stories. They came into France, Spain and Britain. The 1st wave overcame the people living in Britain who had made Stonehenge. They reached Ireland and were called the Goidelic Celts. 2nd wave brought iron – the Brythonic Celts. Welsh is based upon their language. The Italians came south (Rome appeers in 750 BC). Through the Baltic Penninsula came the Phrygians, Aeolics, Ionics, and Dorian Greeks. Greeks settled in Crete/Rhodes/Sicily. Between 900-300 BC the Aryans came to dominate the Ancient World (Semitic, Aegean and Egyptian).

20. Last Babylonian Empire / Darius I The Assyrian Empire was overthrown by the Semitic Chaldeans and the Aryan Medes/Persians. Thus the Median Empire under Cyaxares was in the North. In the South the Chaldean Empire (the 2nd Babylonian Empire) was ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. He built extensive librarys in Babylon. Babylon overtaken by Cyrus the Persian. Babylonia/Media joined. Later the New Aryan Empire – The Persian Empire of Darius I extended through Asia Minor, Syria, Assyria,Babylonia, Egypt, Caucassus, Caspian, Media, Persia, India (to the Indus). This was possible due to fast horses and roads. Its cities were Persepolis,Susa, Ecbatana.

21. Early History of the Jews Semitic Hebrews settled in Judea 1000 BC. Capitol: Jerusalem. Produced the Old Testament (500 BC). Judah sacked by Nebuchadnezzar and the Hebrews brought to Babylon. The Creation, Adam/Eve, the Flood, Moses, Samson are all Semitic, Sumerian or Babylonian stories. Abraham is a Jewish addition. Genesis is the story of Abraham. He was a Semitic nomad and when traveling through Caanan (now Israel) was promised the land by the God of Abraham. About 1,500 BC the tribes of the children of Abraham (inc Moses) returned to unsucessfully attack the Aegean Phillistines, who now held coastal Caanan (book of Judges). They remained in the hilly country on Judah. The Hebrews selected their 1st king: Saul in 1,000 BC. King David was next, who made a prosperous trade route deal with the Phonecian King Hiram or Tyre. Walls, palace and temple of Jerusalem built. David's son King Solomon next. At his death the Northern part of the country split and became Israel. Jerusalem remained the capitol of Judah. About 650 BC, Israel and Judah were overthrown by the Assyrians.

22. Priests and Prophets in Judea The only Semites to remain together were the Jews, held together by their writing – The Bible. It told of an Invisible God of Righteousness, who was not found in any temple. Jewish communities spread to all Phoenecian cities (Spain, Africa, Egypt, the East, Arabia). The Prophets spoke directly to the people and gave allegiance to (took orders from) no one but God (ie cut out the middle-man!). They were very political. They denounced the Empires and the rich. Their power was in their appeal to man's individual morals. They were against fetish sacrifice and slavish loyalties.

23. The Greeks 'The Iliad' (story of the Greeks beseiging Troy) and 'The Odyssey' (Odysseus returning from Troy) written or transcribed by Homer. Greek tribes shared common words and ideals of courage. In 650 BC Greek cities developed where Aegean ones had once been: Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes, Samos, Miletus. There were many Greek states, due to islands/mountainous terrain. The states were united by the epic stories and by the Olympic games. Leadership was aristocratic. In Greek democracy, not all were allowed to vote, but thought and government had a freedom. They were the first republicans. In 550 BC the first philosophers ('wisdom-lovers') were Thales, Anaximander, Heraclitus. Along with Isiah, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tse, man was thinking!

24. The Wars of the Greeks and Persians In 521 BC the Persian Empire (Darius I) was dominant. The Greeks held W.Europe. The Semites controled trade/finance from the ports Tyre/Sidon. The Greeks started to rival the shipping routes. Darius I invaded N.Europe to quell the Scynthian horse raiders, and failed. The Greeks were drawn into battle and Darius attacked Athens in 490 BC with a Phoenecian fleet. He was defeated at Marathon (where a runner was sent to appeal to Sparta for help). Darius' son Xerxes made 2nd attack, but was finaly defeated at Salamis/Platea. Rebellions then started to break up the Persian Empire.

25. The Splendour of Greece Athens, Sparta, etc struggle for Greek power (the Peloponnesian War, 431-404 BC). Macedonians gain power in 338 BC. Periclese dominated Athens in 466-428 BC. He was responsible for the building of Athens. He invited Heroditus (historian), Anaxagoras (astronomer), Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides (playwrights). The Sophists taught the art of discussion. Socrates was a critic of bad argument and was executed in 399 BC. His pupil Plato (427-347 BC) examined human thinking and political institutions. He wrote the first utopia (vision of an ideal world/social system). He said 'man can change his social/political lot – if he has the will'. He wrote 'Republic'- a description of a communist aristocracy. His pupil Aristotle taught Alexander the Great. He took logic to a level sustained for 1,500 yrs. He percieved that he required more accurate knowledge of the world and so started collecting 'facts', which led to the beginnings of science. He was the father of Natural History and Political Science. Free, exact, systematic thinking had replaced symbolism and imagery.

26. Empire of Alexander the Great King Phillip of Macedonia invented close-fighting infantry – the phalanx, and cavalry. He beat Athens at Chaeronea (338 BC). In 334 BC his son Alexander attacked Persia at Granicus. At Issus (333 BC) he beat Darius III. In 332 BC he took Egypt from the Persians. Trade to the Phoenecian citys of Tyre/Sidon was diverted to Alexandria. The Phoenecians disapeer from history. The Jews of Alexandria apeer. In 331 BC he beat Darius at Arbela near Ninevah. He took the whole Persian Empire. When he died in 323 BC, his dominion collapsed. His generals took posession. Seleucus – the Persian Empire, Ptolemy – Egypt, Antigonus – Macedonia.

27. The Museum / Library in Alexandria Athens was the center of art/culture for 1000 yrs upto AD 529. It transferred to Alexandria where Ptolemy made endowments to science. Those employed included Euclid (geometry), Erastosthenese (measured diameter of Earth to within 50 miles), Appollonius, Hipparchus (1st star map/catalogue), Archimedes. The museum was active for 100 yrs. Ptolemy I also set up a library / book copying facility. It held the beginings of modern history. However, thinking was academic, and little practical experimentation was done. Book making was not improved either. For 1000 yrs the seeds of Aristotle's thinking lay hidden as Alexandria reverted to bigotry. Other centers of learning were Syracuse (Scicly), Pergamum. New raiders from the North came: Gauls, Romans, Parthians, Mongolians.

28. The Life of Gautama Buddha He taught in Banares, India in 550 BC. Mankind at that time was coming out of adolescence. Sanscrit = Indian speech derived from Aryan language. Aryans from the North did not mix with the conquered people, and so the 'caste' system was in place in early Indian history. Gautama was born into an aristocratic family. He was discontented with his 'luxury life'. Left his wife / child to seek a deeper reality in life. Took up the lifestyle of the ascetic (who lived under severe rules, meditating and in religious discussion, with fasting, sleeplessness, self-torment). He fell unconscious and upon waking realised the futility of asceticsism. He became enlightened after 1 day / night of deep thought. He began to teach his disciples at Benares. 'Why am I not completely happy?' was his starting point. His thought was introspective (Thales / Heraclitus = externalised curiosity, Hebrew prophets = moral obligation). He taught that when desires had been overcome, when 'self' had vanished, then Nirvana (enlightenment) would be attained. In India there had been a long-standing belief that wisdom manifests itself on Earth only after long intervals. Guatama Buddha was hailed as the next in a long line of Buddhas. He taught the Eightfold Way, the Aryan or Noble Path: mental uprightness, right aims / speech, right conduct and honest livelihood, a heightening of the concscience, generosity, self-forgetfulness.

29. King Asoka North Indian ruler. In 264 BC he ruled from Afganistan to Madras. He eventually denounced war and adopted the doctrines of Buddhism. He organised the digging of wells, planting of trees for shade. Founded hospitals / public gardens. Instigated the education of women. Benefacted Buddhist teaching. After his death Brahminism (Hinduism?) slowly replaced Buddhism in India, but it spread to China, Siam (Thailand?), Burma, Japan.

30. Confucius / Lao Tse They also lived in the 6th century BC. The 1st chinese cultures were similar to the Egyptian / Sumerian ones. Nomads to the north (in sucession: Huns, Mongols, Turks, Tartars) would periodically invade. By 1750 BC China was a vast system of city-states alleging to the 'priest-emperor'. The Shang dynasty ended in 1125 BC. Chow dynasty was next. China went into decay during this dynasty, into separate states. 'The age of confusion'. However, there was much intellectual activity. Confucius tought good personal conduct, and noble qualities. Lao Tse (Taoism) tought 'stoical indifference to the pleasures / powers of the world'. N China became Confucian, South / Yangtse Kiang became Taoist. The Ts'in monarch took over China and his son Shi Hwang-ti became 'First Universal Emperor' (220 BC). He began the Great Wall.

32. Rome Comes Into History History of civilisations to date: The Heliolithics ('sun/stone') spread over the warm / fertile valleys of the Old World. Their culture was based on the temple / priest / sacrifice. They were a brunet people. Then Nomads came from regions of seasonal grass / migrations, and imposed their customs and language: Into Mesopotamia came the Elamites, Semites, Nordic Medes, Persians, Greeks. Into the Aegean came the Greeks. Into China came the Huns. China: Mongolised, Greece / N India: Aryanised, Mesopotamia: Sematised / Aryanised. The Nomads set up kings who were neither priests nor gods, but leaders. From the 6th century BC there was a new spirit of moral / intelectual inquiry. Reading / writing became more common among the ruling classes (not just the priests). Travel was easier. Coined money now existed. Rome was founded in 753 BC by Etruscans. The king was expelled in 510 BC. Rome became an aristocratic republic (patrician families dominating plebians). Rome started like many Greek aristocratic republics. There was a struggle between the aristocrats and democracy. Democracy won. Rome extended its citizenship to 'outsiders' and expanded. It conquered the Etruscans in Italy (300 BC). There were Gauls to the North, Greeks to the South in Scicly. The Macedonian Pyrrhus invaded S Italy (on behalf of Rome). The Greeks there got the Carthaginians to help, and whose fleet cut off Pyrrhus' overseas communications. Rome re-attacked but the Gauls also attacked Rome through Illyria (Serbia) and Pyrrus had to retreat. The Carthaginians took Messina. Rome / Carthage were in antagonism.

32. Rome and Carthage In 264 BC the 1st Punic War (of punishment) began between the last stronghold of Semitic power (Carthage) and the newcomer of Aryan-speaking peoples (Rome). The wars occurred in Spain, Italy, N.Africa, W.Mediterranean. The conflict between Aryan / Semite would later merge itself into the conflict of Gentile / Jew. Rome conquered the Carthaginian navy using grappling irons, and took all of Sicily except Syracuse. The 2nd Punic War started when Hannibal the Carthaginian crossed the Ebro in Spain, marched across the Alps into Italy and fought for 15 yrs. He finaly retreated to Carthage when the city was attacked by the Numidians. Rome attacked Hannibal in Africa at Zama (202 BC) and won. Carthage capitulated. Hannibal escaped but finaly commited suicide as his persuers caught up. Rome expanded into Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt. Carthage was finaly sieged / stormed in 146 BC and destroyed (end of 3rd Punic War). The only Semitic state left now was Judea. The now dispersed Semitic peoples (Carthaginians, Phoenicians, etc) found a common link their similar language and the Jewish literature (Bible). Jerusalem was taken by Rome in 65 BC, again in 70 AD, and destroyed in 132 AD. The Romans then rebuilt Jerusalem!

33. Growth of the Roman Empire Rome was the first Republican Empire that escaped extinction and went onto fresh developments. Because of its Western center (Rome) it could extend to Spain, France, Belgium, Britain, Hungary, S.Russia, Greece, Morroco. But not Central Asia or Persia (too far away). Its population was less strongly Hamitic and Semitic. Previous empires' conqurers had assimilated themselves into the conquered countries (e.g. Medes and Persian rulers had become Babylonianised. Alexander had also. The Seleucid monarchs had the same customs as Nebuchadnezzar. The Ptolemies had become Egyptian pharoes). Rome enforced its own laws as it ruled abroad. It was an expanded Aryan republic. Roman gods were (like the Greek) divine patricians (father figures), quasi-human immortals. The Roman Empire was in a constant state of change (politicaly, socialy, moraly), a process of change profounder than that which seperates the London of William the Conquerer to that of today.

1st stage of expansion: from the sacking of Rome by the Gauls (390 BC), to the 1st Punic War (240 BC). It was the stage of the Assimilative Republic – a free farmers' republic. Most men were public-spirited. There were no extremes of wealth / poverty. Rome expanded and offered conquered cities / states citizenship – and the right to vote. But when Sicily was conquered it was declared an 'estate', and its riches (agriculture/slaves) were exploited by the patricians of Rome. Farmers returning from active service found themselves in competition with large-scale slave agriculture.

2nd stage of expansion: The Republic of the Adventurous Rich Men. For 200 yrs the Roman soldier-farmers had struggled for freedom and a share in the Republic. For 100 yrs they had enjoyed privelages. The 1st Punic War robbed them. Their electoral privelages were also wasted: The Senate was a body of patricians, landowners, politicians, buisinessmen (like House of Lords, US Senate). The Popular Assembly was open to all voters, but most Roman citizens couldn't travel to attend the meetings. By the end of the Punic Wars it had become ineffectual at checking the Senate. Representative government (like House of Commons, US House of Representatives) was never introduced in Rome. Internal strikes and revolts ensued (inc the gladiatorial slave uprising (73 BC) lead by Spartacus), but lead to nothing. Marius invented paid troops and held onto power with his new army.

3rd stage of expansion: The Republic of Military Commanders. Marius, Sulla, Lucullus, Pompey, Crassus, Julius Caesar all fought each other for domination, and expanded the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar finaly defeated and murdered Pompey (48 BC) becoming sole master of the Roman world.

4th stage of expansion: The Early Empire. The 1st Triumverate (Crassus, Pompey and Caesar) divided the empire among themselves, against the authority of the Senate. Caesar was finaly assasinated under the statue of the rival he had murdered (Pompey) in a final fling of republicanism. He had returned from an amorous visit with Cleopatra in Egypt with ideas of setting himself up as a god-king, an idea abhorrent to Rome. The second Triumverate was Lepidus, Mark Anthony and Augustus Caesar (nephew of Julius). Augustus prevailed, but declined to be dictator. He returned power to the Senate and the people. He became 'Princeps' – 1st Roman Emporor (27 BC – AD 14). Then Tiberius (AD 14 – 37), Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Trajan (AD 98), Hadrian (AD 117) Antonius Pius, Marcus Aurelius (AD 161 – 180). These were emporors of the legions. The Senate fades from history. Britain is added to the Empire. Hadrian's wall is built to keep out the northern barbarians. The expansion of the Roman Empire is now at an end.

34. Between Rome and China At this time Rome and China were the two major empires (power had moved from Mesopotamia). China was the largest and most civilised empire. Great distance kept the two empires from clashing. The Chinese (Han dynasty) pressed the Huns Northward. They in turn moved westward and caused the Nordics to move South into the Roman Empire. The line of least resistance, however, was into India through the Khyber pass. The Mongols came this way. They also came into Persia as the Parthians, killing Crassus in the process. India suffered raids for many centurys. In the 2nd century BC the Chinese and Roman Empires were afflicted by great pestilence, which weakened both empires. The Nordic Goths started to attack the Roman Empire. They defeated Decius in Serbia (AD 247). The Franks also raided.

35. Common Man's Life under the Early Roman Empire In Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt and the Hellenised East, Greek was the predominent language in the Roman Empire. However the Romans did 'Latinise' England (where no cities, temples or cultures had previously been established). Latin languages: Rumanian, Italian, French, Spanish. Egyptian and Greek languages survived. Greek was the language of gentlemen, even in Rome. Agriculture was the main industry of the empire. Early Greek cultivation systems had been: Arcadian – each free citizen worked the land; Startan – Helot slaves did the work. Now the Estate system or slave gangs were in operation. Slaves were treated very badly. They were chained at night. Were not allowed wives. The barbarian invaders came as liberators to the slaves. Slave gangs did most other work: mines, galleys, road making, building, domestic service. There were poor freemen – artisans / supervisors. Gladiator slaves were also bodyguards. Educated slaves, captured from learned Greek citys, were tutors, poets, secretarys,etc. In the 1st century AD attitudes began to change and slaves were better treated, started to be paid as an incentive, and sometimes became serfs of the land. In the Roman Empire the majority were slaves. The minority ruled. It was a slave state. As the freeman was in the minority, there was a lack of schools / colledges. Art, literature, science, philosophy waned. The entire Roman Empire in 4 centurys produced nothing to set beside the works of Athens in its 1 century. During the Roman Empire, Athens and Alexandria decayed.

36. Religious Developments Under the Roman Empire The soul of Man in the 1st two centurys of the Christian era was worried. Cruelty reigned. The unfortunate were despised. The fortunate were insecure. In early times, a conquerer would assimilate his gods with the gods of the conquered territory (theocrasia – government by a god). Also gods were adapted. The Egyptian chief god Osiris (Pharoh) was also asociated with the beetle, Apis the bull, the goddess Isis (Hathor – cow-goddess), crescent moon, child Horus became Osiris again. The dog headed Anibus was a bad god. Egyptian religion was an immortality religion. Alexandria was the center of Egyptian and Hellenic (Greek) religion. A Trinity was worshiped: Serapis (Osiris – Apis), Isis and Horus. Serapis is identified with the Greek Zeus, Roman Jupiter and Persian Sun-God. The Roman Empire spread these beliefs across W.Europe to Scotland. This, and others, were 'personal' religions. Previously religion had been social or political. A typical early Roman city might have temples to both types of Gods. A temple of Roman Jupiter and the local Caesar and also a temple of Isis the Queen of Heaven (to whom they would take their personal problems). Seville also worshiped the Carthaginian Venus, and also had Mithrain and Jewish temples. Ascetics – people who gave up the delights of life, etc – existed in the East, Greece, Jewish Judea and Alexandria (the Essenes). The search for peace abounded.

37. The Teaching of Jesus Jesus Christ was born in Judea during the reign of Augustus Caesar. He 'appeared' during the reign of Tiberius Caesar. He was a prophet. The original information about Jesus is held in the four Gospels. He taught the 'universal loving Fatherhood of God', and the 'coming of the Kingdom of Heaven'. He preached for 3 yrs before coming to Jerusalem and was crucified for trying to set up a 'strange kingdom' in Judea. Doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven: uncompromising demand for the cleansing of human life. The Jewish God had made a deal with Father Abraham to bring the Jews to predominance. Jesus taught: there are no favourites in Heaven. God is incapable of favour. The parable of the Good Samaritan tells of our tendancy to glorify our own kind and minimise others. The parable of the Labourers thrust aside the Jewish special claims upon God. He said there were no privaleges in the Kingdom of Heaven. He denounced family restrictive loyaltys, saying that 'all in the Kingdom of Heaven is my family'. He also denounced private riches – 'all men and their possesions belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of god (Mark X 17-25). He proposed radical, moral, social, political changes. In his kingdom property, privelage, pride and precedence would be exchanged for love. No wonder that men, his disciples, priests, the rich, soldiers felt horror at his teaching!

38. Development of Doctrinal Christianity The Epistles were written by Jesus' immediate followers. They lay down the broad line of Christian belief. The chief doctrine-maker was St. Paul, who was originally a persecutor of disciples, but was converted. He was well versed in Judaism, Mithraism and Alexandrianism. Ideas and terms of expression were carried from these to Christianity. Religions were developing side by side, and borrowed from each other. St. Paul said Jesus died to rise again – immortality like Osiris. Arguments re the relationship of Jesus to God the Father ensued. The Trinitarian view - of God being both one and three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit - predominated. Christianity spread during the 1st two centurys through the Roman Empire. Attempts at supression culminated in 303 when Emporor Diocletian burned books which were seen as a way of education. The supression failed, and by 330 Christianity was the official religion of the Empire.

39. Barbarians Break the Empire Into East and West By the 3rd century the Roman Empire was in decline. Enemys were pressing across the Rhine / Danube border. German Franks, Hungarian Vandals, Rumanian (Dacian) Visigoths, Ostrogoths from Russia, Volgan Alans. The Huns from Mongolia were pressing Westward. Also the New Persian Empire of the Sassanid King was pressing the Roman Empire borders in Asia. Barbarians broke through across the Danube in the Bosnia / Serbia region – splitting the Empire into two: the Latin-speaking West and the Greek-speaking East. Emperor Constantine beat back the invaders and set up a new capitol of Bysantium (Constantinople / Istanbul). The Vandals asked to join the Empire, and were given Pannonia (part of Hungary). Stilicho (a Vandal) and Alaric (a Goth) became Roman military leaders, and fought for the Empire after the death of Constantine. Alaric took Rome (AD 410). The Barbarians marched into a decaying empire, and Latinised themselves. All except the Jutes, Angles and Saxons (agriculturalists), who marched into Britain, swept aside the Romanised population, and replaced Latin with their own Teutonic dialects, which eventualy led to the English language. An example of tribal movement during this period: The vandals started in E.Germany. They settled first in Pannonia, then moved to Spain (AD 425) where they found Visigoths and other tribes setting up dukes and kings. The Vandals, under Genseric, sailed to N.Africa (492), captured Carthage (439). They built a fleet, and captured Rome (455). They became masters of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, and other W.Mediterranean islands. Their height of power came in 477. By the next century their empire had been captured by Justinian I and the Constantinople Empire.

40. Huns and the End of the Western Empire Mongolians had not been part of the interplay of the Aryan, Semitic and fundamental brunet peoples of the Western World, but in the 5th C they had arrived. A strong Chinese empire, climatic change, and a weak Roman Empire forced them westward (Huns were horsemen). They took Pannonia. Attila then ruled from the Rhine to Central Asia. For years he bullied Theodosius II right upto the walls of Constantinople. He invaded Gaul and Italy. Fugitives at this time fled to create the city-state of Venice (to become one of the greatest trading centres of the middle ages). Attila died in 453, but left the Latin Roman Empire in ruins. In 493 Theodoric the Goth became king of Rome (the end of the Roman Empire). Barbarian chiefs were now Kings and Dukes all over Western and Central Europe. In Gaul, Spain, Italy and Daciai – the Latin language prevailed in local formes. From Britain to east of the Rhine – was the German group. In Bohemia – Slavonic / Check prevailed. Therefore the 6th C was the age of division and intelectual darkness. The Roman Empire had grown due to the idea of citizenship: its privelages, rights and laws. It was undermined by the growth of wealth and slavery. The Empire was primative: it did not educate or invite co-operation in decisions. There were no schools or news distribution. However the Latin Catholic church survived due to its appeal to the lives and minds of men, its books, teachers and missionarys. In the 4th and 5th C's it spread to universal dominion in Europe. The Partiach (Pope) of Rome claimed to be head of the entire Christian church. He took the title of 'pontifex maximus' – an ancient emporal title.

41. Byzantine and Sassanid Empires The 6th C saw the revival of Greek power. Justinian I reconquered N. Africa, Italy, S. Spain. He built a university in Constantinople and codified Roman law (but destroyed a rival school of philosophy in Athens that had been in existance for 1000 years, since Plato). From 3rd C Byzantine and Persian Empires had been fighting over Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt. The lands were empoverished and in disorder. Science and political philosophy was also dead. It was the age of intolerance. Older religions were 'act and fact' religions. They required sacrifice and bowing down. New religions (inc Christianity) demanded understanding belief (Orthodoxy). Both the Sassanid Ardashir I and the Byzantine Constantine the Great used religion to control men. In Persia the Zoroaster (Zarathustra) religion existed. In Constantinople – Christianity. Both persecuted the other (and any free thought). The Turks (Tartars) come into history as allies of first one, then the other power. In the 6th C: Justinian v Chosroes I. 7th C: Heraclius v Chosroes II. Mohamed sent both empires messages to 'acknowlege the one true God and to serve him'.

42. The dynasties of Sui and Tang in China Turkish speaking Mongolians were established in Finland, Estonia, Hungary and Bulgaria. In Central Asia (now W. Turkestan) Turks had also established themselvs. Turks were the masters of Asia from China to the Caspian Sea. Meanwhile the Han and Sui / Tang dynasties had well recovered from great pestilence. During the 7th-9th C's China was most secure and civilised. She extended her boundarys N, S and W through Persia, and the Turkish tribes to the Caspian Sea. New China had strong literary schooling, poetry, artistic and technical strengths. Buddhism was the cause of this. Tea was first used. Paper made. Wood-block printing done. Millions were leading graceful lives while Europe was in darkness. The earliest Tang monarchy was the Tai-tsung (627). Missionaries came from Heraclius and from Muhammed to Canton. Tai-tsung allowed the foundation of a Christian Church and the building of the oldest mosque in existance.

43. Muhammed and Islam Muhammed lived in Mecca. He began preaching of the One True God. He was influenced by Jewish / Christian beliefs. He became unpopular in Mecca as he preached against the pagan pilgramage to the Kaaba stone. He became adopted by the city of Medina. Mecca finaly agreed to accept Muhammed as prophet on condition that pilgramages continue. He was a man of considerable vanity, greed, cunning, self-deception and sincere religious passion. He dictated the Koran. In the religion of Islam however, there remains power and inspiration. In its monotheism (belief in one god): simple faith in the rule of God, freedom from theological complications, detatchement from priest / temple. It is an entirely prophetic religion (based on a prophet) which guards against a relapse to sacrificial ceremony. Muhammed took precaution against his deification (being made into a god) after his death. In Islam there is equality before God of all believers. Abu Bekr was Muhammed's helper, concience, will, and successor (caliph).

44. The Great Days of the Arabs The Byzantine army was smashed by the Arabs at Yarmuk (634). The Arabs take Syria, Damascus, Palmyra, Antioch, Jerusalem, etc. They beat the Persians at Kadessia (637). They continued east through W. Turkestan to the Chinese border. Egypt fell. Then N. Africa through Gibraltar to Spain (710). In Central France they were stopped at Poitiers. Their capitol was at Damascus. They had no political experience, and the vast Empire was destined to break up, but the effect on the Arab mind on humanity was to be enormous. Arabs encountered Manichean,Zoroastrian and Christian doctrines, scientific Greek literature in Greece, Spain and Egypt, and they also encountered the Jewish tradition of speculation and discussion, particularly in Spain. Also in Central Asia they came across Buddhism and Chinese achievements, and Indian maths and philosophy. As a result, a new wave of learning sprung up everywhere. In the 8th C there was educational organization throughout the Arab world. 9th C: Schools in Cordoba were in contact with others in Cairo, Bagdad, Bokhara and Samarkand. The seed of Aristotle germinated once again. There were advances in maths, medicine and physics. Roman numerals were replaced with the Arabic ones we use today. The number 0 was introduced. Algebra is an arabic word. Astronomy – Algol, Aldebaran and Bootes (star names) are Arabic. Chemistry – alchemists discovered alloys, dyes, distilling, tinctures, essences and optical glass. In vain they sought the 'philosopher's stone' (a way to change other metals into gold), and the 'elixir vitae' (a life-preserving substance).

45 The Development of Latin Christendom The Aryan share of the world was small in 7/8th C. It ammounted to the shrunken Hellenic world of Constantinople. In contrast, Semitic tradition had strung back. Nordic vitality was not exhausted, but was confined to central/NW Europe. There was no central government, but many local rulers. From this situation grew the feudal system, as the lone man traded some of his liberty in exchange for security. The lord protected the surf in exchange for military service and dues. Cities and monasterys also had feudal protectors in order to ensure their security. A new law and order finaly reigned. By the 6th C the Frankish kingdom existed under its founder Clovis (now France/Netherlands). Then also came the Visigothic, Lombard and Gothic kingdoms. Moslems met with Charles Martel at Poitiers (732) – a descendant of Clovis. He was overlord of most Europe. Son: Pepin. His grandson Charlemagne (Charles the Great) reigned in 768 and conquered Rome. Suceeding rulers struggled to dominate Europe, to become 'Caesar', and to possess the misplaced capitol Rome. The realm was split into French and German speaking kingdoms. Meanwhile the suceeding Popes of Rome would declare themselves 'Emperor of Christendom'. Also Constantinople had a Greek speaking Emperor, claiming allegiance of all Europe. Latin and Greek versions of Christianity argued, and finally split in 1054. During these Middle Ages upon this divided kingdom came attacks from 3 antagonists:

Around the Baltic and North Seas remained the Northmen. They were pirates who raided the west coasts down to Spain, and set up principalitys in Russia. England during the9th C was a Christianised Low German country under the rule of King Egbert, a pupil of Charlemagne. Northmen wrested half the kingdom from his sucessor Alfred the Great (866). The whole kingdom became ruled by Northman King Canute (1016). However a political weakness of the barbarians was the divison of spoils among their sons. They were the first Europeans to land on American soil The East Magyars or Huns attacked from the East. They finally settled in Hungary. From the south attacked the Saracens, who were masters of the sea.

Charlemagne and his successors attempted to restore the kingdom under the name 'The Holy Roman Empire'. This obsessed political Western Europe, while the Eastern Empire dwindled to the city of Constantinople alone. In 800 the Pope crowned Charlemagne declaring him 'Caesar and Augustus'. But instead of handing Charlemagne the crown so that he could crown himself, he surprised him and stuck it straight on his head! This oneupmanship started an age-long dispute between Pope and Emperor. Charlemagne's empire collapsed at the death of his son Louis the Pious. The gap between the French and German speaking Franks widened. The next emperor was Otto (962), a Saxon-German. After Charlemagne's descendants, the french speaking lords did not come under the sway of the german emperors. In 987 the French kingdom (at the time Paris and environs) was ruled by Hugh Capet. His descendants ruled untill the 18th C. Britain was never a part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1066 England was attacked symultaneously by Norwegian Northmen (King Harold Hardrada) and by Latinised Northmen (Duke of Normandy). Harold, King of England, defeated the former at Stanford Bridge, but was defeated by the latter at Hastings. England was conquered by Normans and so was cut off from Scandinavian, Teutonic and Russian affairs, and was brought into intimate relations with the French. For 4 centurys the English were entangled in french feudal conflicts and were wasted upon the fields of France.

46. The Crusades and the Age of Papal Dominion In the 9th C the Arab empire was flourishing in Egypt, Mesopotania, N.Africa and Spain. Europe was in disorder. The Turks, situated to the NE of the Arab empire, were converted to Islam. They came down and took Mesopotamia and Armenia, attacked the Byzantine army and were poised on Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor Michael VII asked Pope Gregory VII for help. Viewed as an opportunity of supremacy over the dissident Greek Church, a religious war – The Crucade, The War of the Cross – was preached, particularly by Peter the Hermit. He toured France/Germany barefoot and preached against the Turkish – captors of Jerusalem and of the Holy Sepulchre. A wave of enthusiasm swept the Western world: the stirring of modern democarcy. 'The People's Crucade' consisted of various bodies of common people setting out eastward to rescue the Holy Sepulchre.Two crouds mistakenly attacked the converted Magyars in Hungary, and were massacred. Peter the Hermit was defeated by the Turks, having crossed the Bosphorous. The 1st Crusaders were real fighting forces, and crossed the Bosphorous in10 97. They were Norman in leadership. They marched to Antioch (like Alexander) and in 1099 to Jerusalem and to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But the Latin Crusaders soon found themselves as a buffer between the Byzantian Greeks of Constantinople and the attacking Turks. The Crusaders held only Jerusalem and Edessa in Syria. The second Crusade was to recover Edessa, fallen to the Moselems. In 1169 Islamic forces were rallied by Kurdish Saladin, master of Egypt. He preached a holy war against the Christians, and recaptured Jerusalem in 1187. This led to the 3rd Crusade, which failed to recapture Jerusalem. The 4th Crusade (1202-4) was an attack by the Latin Church, lead by Venice, on the Greek Empire. A Latin Emperor was set up in Constantinople (1204-1261), reuniting the churches.

10th C: Age of the Northmen. 11th C: Age of the Seljuk Turks. 12th C: Age of Papal ascendancy. Its strength lay in the confidence created by the exemplary and faithful lives of the common priest/monk/nun. Popes John XI / XII were abominible. Great Popes were Gregory I 'the great' (590-604), Leo III (795-816) who invested Charlemagne, Hildebrand who became Gregory III (1073-83), Urban II (1087-99) the Pope of the 1st Crusade. These last two had utter supremacy over the Emperors. However, by the beginning of the XIVth C, Papal power had evaporated due to lack of confidence. The church had accumulated wealth and property. A quarter of some European countries belonged to the church. Priests became greedy. Kings and Princes had diminished power in their lands because the church claimed tax exemption. The question of investiture – who should appoint the bishops – became a contentious issue between King / Pope. The powers the Pope held over a country included the excommunication (and replacement) of a Prince, and interdiction of priestly functions (priests on strike). Over use of these powers lead to their being ineffective. Gregory VII further distanced the priests from the common people by making them celibates (unallowed to marry). The Church had its own courts, dealing with matters involving priests, monks, widows, crusaders, wills, marriages, sorcery, etc. The Church was also irrationaly intolerant of free faith – persecuting the Waldenses and the Albigenses, while it supported the orthodox Dominicans. This lead to the founding of the Inquisition – an organisation that hunted heresy and free thought. The Church's decay came from within.

47. Recalcitrant Princes and theGreat Schism Uptill the 16th C the papacy suffered from lack of continuity and direction, as re-election procedures were unclear. Gregory VII (Hildebrand)(1073-85) did much to regularlise procedures. European princes and kings attempted to take advantage of the papal weakness and influence papal elections in their favour. Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) and his sucessors battled against Emperor Frederick II ('Stupor Mundi'- Emperor of Germany and Sicily). The Pope imposed conditions upon his sucession to the throne (eg: to put down heresy in Germany), which he agreed to but failed to carry out. Frederick wrote a document attacking the manifest ambition of the Pope. His 'Sixth Crusade' to Egypt (1228) resulted in a private treaty with the Sultan. No bloodshed! He finaly forced the Pope to retract the excommunication order imposed on himself. A second letter to Innocent IV again denounced the clergy – suggesting to the European Princes that they confiscate church property. Frederick was responsible for the University of Naples. His court was a mixture of Jewish, Moselem and Christian influences. He was the first of the 'moderns'. Papal ascendancy in the East came to an end with the Greeks recapturing Constantinople and with the fall of the Latin Kingdoms in Asia. In 1303 the French King arrested Pope Boniface. There was no public outcry. During the XIVth C, Clement V (Frenchman) was elected Pope by King Phillip of France! His court was set up at Avingnon. It stayed there untill 1377 when Gregory XI returned to Rome – but not with the approval of the French cardinals. At the death of Gregory XI and the election of Italian Urban VI, the French cardinals elected an 'anti-pope' – Clement VII. This split was called the 'Great Schism'. On the side of the Roman Popes were the Holy Roman Emperor, the Kings of England, Hungary, Poland and N. Europe. On the side of the Anti-popes were the Kings of France, Scotland, Spain, Portugal and various German kings. In addition to other independent orders like the Franciscans and the Dominicans, Wycliffe (1302-84), based in Oxford, began a series of criticisms of the church. He died a free man, but after his buriel, the 'black ancient spirit' of the Catholic Church ordered his bones to be dug up and burned – an official act of desecration by the church (1428).

TBC