Continuities & Changes over Time

After the First

Civilizations…

By the 600s BCE new civilizations were on the rise.

This new period of human history (until 600 CE) is called the CLASSICAL

PERIOD.

By about 1000 BCE, many of the First Civilizations

were in decline.

Monarchs continued to rule most of the new civilizations

PatriarchyA wide gap between the small number

of elite and large numbers of commoners.

The practice of slavery

What Stayed the Same?

Population grew more rapidlyThe size of the states or empires grew (Classical Empires were much larger than Mesopotamian city-states or the Egyptian Empire)

New philosophical and religious traditions (Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity)

What Changed?

Technological innovations to help humans manipulate the environment For example: China-bellows, loom, silk making,

wheelbarrow, harness, crossbow, iron castingIndia-sugar, cottonRome-aqueducts, roads)

Emergence of more elaborate, widespread, & dense networks of exchange & communication--especially Indian Ocean trade networks & the Silk Road

What Changed?

Persia in the Middle EastGreek Civilization and then the Roman Empire along the Mediterranean

Qin & Han Dynasties in China Mauryan & Gupta Empires in India

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The Classical Civilizations (600 B.C.E to 600 C.E.)