Eurasian Empires (500 B.C.E.-500 C.E)

Jose Betancourt

World History 1

Dr. Andrews

10/04/12

                                  Eurasian Empires (500 B.C.E.-500 C.E)

            Empires, kingdoms, and states are usually highlighted with an understanding of people coming together with similar or different political ideas. One reality that made me see culture in a different way after reading the chapter was that people before the 20^th century have lived in empires (Ways of the World. A Brief Global History. Rovbert W. Strayer. 98). The living in empires “brought together people of. Different traditions and religions and… stimulated the exchange of ideas, cultures, and values”(98,99).  The fact that empires co-existed and lived near one another made it easier for many people to have similar thoughts and even maybe formulate similar political structures.

            Many empires of the past have made me see reality in a different way. Looking and reading about empires like the Chinese or Greek empire make me understand why in modern day we act the way we do.  One of the empires that startled me was the Greek empire. They are like the fathers of many modern day values and beliefs. For example Plato the author of the republic was Greek. Greeks are the ones who somehow came out with the idea of citizenship (103), “of free people running the affairs of the state, of equality for all citizens before the law”(103).  It is so interesting on how the Greeks dealt with modern day issues in the past. Greeks wanted to know if people should be able to govern others without been directly involved in the political realm (103).  As it is Greek culture has shaped politics and culture for many centuries in the past. In the same way Greek culture has shaped ideas (specially philosophical ideas of past and present).  Finally, one connection that I found about the Greeks connecting to pre modern slavery thinking is the idea of owning slaves. Although owning slaves was a reality for Greeks, it was not the same way that slaves were owned here in the Americas in the times of Columbus and slavery here in America. Slavery in the Greco-Roman culture was not a way of signaling people because of the color of their skin, but slaves were those who either owed money or lost battles (Religion and Technology Class Notes). Greeks (Spartans) “conquered people who lived in slave like conditions”(103). Modern day slavery was due to the fact that people were of different color. Therefore, my conclusion is that people in the passed seemed to be more civilized than our current world.