Shrinking the Afro-Eurasian World, 350 BCE–250 CE Chapter 6.

Shrinking the Afro-Eurasian World,

350 BCE–250 CE

Chapter 6

Political expansion and cultural diffusion

• Alexander the Great’s armies linked a new Hellenistic world to many other regions – Did not eradicate local culture but linked it or

changed it– Hellenism brought worlds together– Did not lead to a single common culture except in

Greek city-states where cultures had common features


• Alexander the Great’s armies linked a new Hellenistic world to many other regions

• Language • Art • Drama • Politics • Philosophy


• Alexander’s conquests laid the foundation for state systems– Those systems protected and stabilized trade – States encouraged use of money and

common language – Larger trade routes, such as the Silk Road,

established


• Worlds had been linked before Alexander, especially through migration, trade, and technological diffusion – Alexander followed preexisting paths – His conquests expanded and accelerated the

links between world regions – Buddhist influence also spread with the new

contacts


• Interconnections of trade and cultural diffusion enhanced regional integration– Created new contacts and restimulated old

ones – Long-distance caravans and sea voyages

The emergence of a cosmopolitan world

• Conquests of Alexander the Great – Alexander from Macedonia, a frontier state of

Greece – Between 334 and 323 BCE, Alexander

commanded a mobile and technologically advanced army


• Conquests of Alexander the Great – Macedonia used gold resources and money

from slave trade to build a powerful army • Heavily armored infantry • Tight phalanxes and large-scale shock cavalry

– Alexander’s father first conquered surrounding areas


• Conquests of Alexander the Great – Alexander took over and fought off the

Persian Empire’s invasion in 334 BCE – Used speed and surprise to conquer new

lands – Campaigns smashed barriers that had

separated East and West • Alexander married Roxana, a woman from Bactria


• Conquests of Alexander the Great • He established a capital in the East at Balkh • The conquests brought systems of monetary

exchange and cultural ideas associated with Greek city-states

• Money taken from Persia redistributed throughout Mediterranean city-states

map 6-1

Map 6.1 Afro-Eurosia in 250 BCEWorlds Together Worlds Apart, 3rd Edition

Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company


• Alexander’s successors and the territorial kingdoms – Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BCE at age

32 – His conquered lands fragmented, and his

generals took over regions • Modeled themselves on regional rulers rather than

Greek citizens


• Alexander’s successors and the territorial kingdoms

• Brought the idea of absolute rulership to the region• Some women from powerful ruling families had a

chance to rule, unlike in the Greek city-states – Berenice of Egypt (320–280 BCE) – Cleopatra (30s BCE)



• Large territorial states emerged – Syria – Macedonia – Egypt

• Middle-size kingdoms emerged – Pergamum in modern northwest Turkey

• In other places, smaller states banded together to form confederations


• Alexander’s successors and the territorial kingdoms – Political states became bigger and more

standardized • Expanded by integrating neighboring peoples as

fellow subjects • Warfare continued on a larger and more complex

scale



• Parity between large states meant that the battles gained little for anyone

• Diplomacy and treaties replaced fighting


• Hellenistic culture – Common culture included language, artistic

style, and politics• Secular disciplines • Philosophical and political thinking • Popular entertainment • Public games • Art for art’s sake


• Hellenistic culture – Throughout the conquered areas, evidence of

Greek culture can be found – Some places resisted, whereas others

embraced the spread of Hellenistic culture • Judea, mainly Jewish area, considered Greek ways

lethal to their culture • Rome saw the Greek culture as a way to raise its

status


• Hellenistic culture • Carthaginians helped spread the Greek ways

– Common language • Common (koine) Greek became the international

language of the day• Benefited communication and exchange

throughout the Afro-European world


• Hellenistic culture – Cosmopolitan cities

• Alexandria in Egypt exemplified the new city – Multiethnic due to in-migration – New urban culture emerged – Art needed to appeal to a broad audience – Plays began to have common plots and stock characters– Residents of cities thought of themselves as

cosmopolitans (citizens of the universe rather than just of one polis)


• Hellenistic culture – Rulers took on a personality that set them apart from

regular citizens – A cult of the self became part of the Hellenistic world

– Philosophy and religion • Individuals expressed their concern with self in

many ways


• Hellenistic culture • Different philosophers promoted new ideas

– Some emphasized nature, but others rejected old ways, such as traditional social status

– Stoicism

• Religion was also transformed through colonization– The cult of Isis was revived from the pharaonic days – New religious beliefs and rituals were practiced


• Hellenistic culture – Hellenism and the elites

• Elites began to embrace Hellenism for status reasons

• Romans borrowed from the Greeks, especially historical writing


• Jewish resistance to Hellenism – Jews had a long history of resistance to

foreign rule– Although some Jews, especially elites,

embraced Greek culture, others resisted – Rebellion occurred when Syrian overlords

tried to forbid Jewish practices


• The Hellenistic world and the beginnings of the Roman Empire – City-state along Tiber River unites Italy – Rome became large territorial state – Adoption of Greek culture seen as “civilized”


• The Hellenistic world and the beginnings of the Roman Empire – Some elites resisted acceptance of Greek

ways• Cato the Elder kept old ways while embracing new

ones


• Carthage– Carthage adopted Hellenism on economic

grounds – Trade expanded to southern France and West

Africa


• Carthage– Carthaginians also known by Romans as

Punic – Temples and public buildings reveal a hybrid

nature of Hellenistic with Punic culture


• Economic changes: Plantation slavery and money-based economies – Unprecedented wealth in the Mediterranean

world led to the establishment of large plantations worked by slaves

• Slaves were peoples either kidnapped or conquered in warfare


• Economic changes: Plantation slavery and money-based economies

• Plantations devoted to producing surplus crops• Free peasants were displaced to the already

crowded cities• Slave uprisings between 135 and 70 BCE

– Eunus, a religious seer – Spartacus


• Economic changes: Plantation slavery and money-based economies – Use of money for trade became widespread

from Gaul to North Africa • Many different places began to coin their own

money


• Economic changes: Plantation slavery and money-based economies – Some areas on the fringes of the

Mediterranean world sold their own people into slavery for money to purchase desirable commodities

Converging influences in central and South Asia

• Influences from the Mauryan Empire – Alexander’s occupation of the Indus Valley led

to the rise of the Mauryan Empire – Chandragupta Maurya led the Magadha

kingdom to control much of the northern part of the peninsula


• Influences from the Mauryan Empire – Mauryan Empire became first large-scale

empire in South Asia and a model for later empires

• Chandragupta ruled 321–297 BCE • Used elephants in battle


• Influences from the Mauryan Empire – Seleucid kingdom and Mauryan Empire

reached a diplomatic agreement through trade and marriage

• Megasthenes sent as ambassador to India – Wrote Indica – Depicted society in detail


• Influences from the Mauryan Empire – Mauryan Empire reached its territorial height

during reign of Aśoka (Chandragupta’s grandson)

• Dynasty’s last campaign against Kalinga • Terrible loss of life (100,000 soldiers killed;

150,000 people displaced) • Aśoka issued an edict renouncing his brutal ways


• Influences from the Mauryan Empire – Aśoka’s Buddhism influenced his rule

• Built stupas (Buddhist dome monuments) • Ruled according to the dhamma, or dharma • Issued edicts and decrees in various languages

including Greek • Art created during his rule showed the blending of

Greek, Persian, and Indian cultures


• The Seleucid Empire and Greek influences – A large number of Alexander’s eastern

outposts became major Greek cities – Seleucus Nikator (312–281 BCE) took over

the eastern conquests of Alexander and expanded them, including Mesopotamia, Syria, and Persia


• Greek soldiers settled in the conquered lands – Took local wives – Brought Greek ways to the local populations – Greek language and writing – Descendants grew up bilingual


• The kingdom of Bactria and the Yavanna kings– Hellenistic influences increased in later

regimes – Bactrian kingdom was a bridge between

South Asia and the Greek world of the Mediterranean


• The kingdom of Bactria and the Yavanna kings

• Sent elephants to the Greek armies in the west • Greek art and coins showed fascination with

elephants

– Greek king Demetrius invaded India 200 BCE• His generals extended the empire • Known as the Yavanna kings


• The kingdom of Bactria and the Yavanna kings– Material culture of the ancient city of Samarkand

shows Greek influences• Administrative center • Greek architecture and art • Elite read poetry and philosophy • Worshipped Greek deities, Zoroastrian gods, and gods of

Mesopotamia


• The kingdom of Bactria and the Yavanna kings– Asian cities combined Asian culture with

Greek culture • Temples showed cultural assimilation with foreign

gods, wearing Greek garb • Greeks brought olives and vineyards • Coins had Greek inscriptions


• The kingdom of Bactria and the Yavanna kings– Menander, a city-state king, provides the best

example of mingling Greek and Indian influences


• Nomadic influences of Parthians, Sakas, and Kushans – Invasions into central Asia weakened Hellenic

influence • Parthians invaded Iran in 130 BCE

– Became enemies of the Romans for 400 years – Greek commentators discussed the Parthians – Eastern frontier of Rome continued to trade even during

war times


• Nomadic influences of Parthians, Sakas, and Kushans

• Nomadic people from Mongolia and central Asia migrated to India; became enemies of the Romans for 400 years

– Took over for the disintegrating empires of Alexander and Aśoka

– Abandoned equestrian, nomadic culture – Blended Greek and Buddhist religions



• The Xiongnu, a tribal confederacy, emerged in East Asian steppe lands

– Pushed the Saka tribes into southwest India – Parthians also entered Indus Valley – Lacked a writing system but imitated rulers who had

drawn on Greek culture



• The Sakas became the new central Asian rulers • The Yuezhi-Kushans most dynamic group to

migrate – Unified all the tribes in the region – Established the Kushan dynasty – Played critical role in the formation of the Silk Road – Illiterate but adopted Greek as their official language



• The Kushan rulers kept alive the influences of Hellenism in Afghanistan and northwestern India

– Coins, weights, and measures at markets all based on Greek standards

• Nomadic group continued to set themselves apart from locals through their dress and their equestrian skills



– Horses became the most prestigious status symbol of the ruling elite

– Began to consume exotic goods from the East

• Successful rule of the Kushans stabilized the trade routes through central Asia

map 6-2

Map 6.2 Nomadic Invasions 350 BCE–100 CEWorlds Together Worlds Apart, 3rd Edition


The transformation of Buddhism

• India as a spiritual crossroads – India became a melting pot of ideas and

institutions – Hellenism, nomadism, and Arab seafaring

culture transformed India’s Buddhism – Kushan rulers established a model of

supporting and embracing local religions • Gave money to build shrines and to the

monasteries


• India as a spiritual crossroads • Buddhism changed as India’s growing prosperity

led to wealth in the monastic complexes – Buddhist monasteries open to the public as places of

worship

• The new Buddhism: The Mahayana school– New influences led to a new Buddhist school

of theology, Mahayana – Ended debate over Buddha’s status


• The new Buddhism: The Mahayana school– Mahayana school said that Buddha was a

deity – Religious tenants of Mahayana Buddhism

more appealing to the average person • Bodhisattvas prepared the way and helped others

reach “Buddha-lands” • Afterlife much more appealing


• The new Buddhism: The Mahayana school– Mahayana (Great Vehicle) view was that it

could help all individuals from a life of suffering into a happy existence

• Avolokiteshvara (a bodhisattva) said he would stay and help guide those who traveled in caravans or navigated ships

– New ideas of Buddhism appeared in literature • Aśvaghosa wrote a biography of Buddha with new

fictive information, which became widely read


• Cultural integration – First-century BCE texts showed colorful

images of Buddha that were later used in creating art depicting the Buddha

– Stupas and shrines, as well as sculpture, showed the Buddha

– The various depictions of Buddha reflected the local culture

• Gandharan Buddhist art shows strong Greek and Roman artistic influences


• Cultural integration – Art shared common elements of giving the

Buddha and bodhisattvas realistic human form

– Buddhist art depicted a society of diverse populations


• Cultural integration – Long-distance and regional trade contributed

to the transformation of Buddhism • Traders brought incense and jewels that went to

the bodhisattvas and stupas • Monastic organizations treated traders well• Commodities became sacred to Buddhism

map 6-3

Map 6.3 Afro-Eurasian Trade, c. 150 CEWorlds Together Worlds Apart, 3rd Edition


The formation of the Silk Road

• Silk Road follows earlier trade routes established between China and central Asia – New route expanded trade from central Asia

to Mediterranean – Traders traveled specific segments of the

route


• Silk Road follows earlier trade routes established between China and central Asia – Waterways also became a way for long-

distance trade • Better maritime technology allowed sailors to move

away from coasts and trade across the Indian Ocean


• Expansion of commerce and contacts between the Mediterranean and South Asia encouraged even more trade – Traders on camels or in ships brought

commodities to market – Trade strengthened ongoing political and

intellectual and spiritual shift


• Long-distance exchanges altered the political geography of Afro-Eurasia – Long-standing empires like Egypt gave way to

borderland regions, which formed their own empires through the commerce of trade

– “Middle East” became the commercial middle ground between east and west


• Long-distance exchanges altered the political geography of Afro-Eurasia – East Asia became connected to the west via

central and South Asia • Silk, from the Greek and Roman name for the

people of northwest China


• Nomads, frontiers, and trade routes – Long-distance trade routes developed from

the ways of horse-riding nomads– Their constant movement exposed them to a

greater variety of microbes and made them more immune than sedentary people

– Steppe nomads were skillful archers on horseback


• Nomads, frontiers, and trade routes – Served as cultural mediators to bring

disparate Afro-Eurasian world together– Xiongnu nomads became powerful in China

with their knowledge of metal technology and weapons


• Early overland trade and caravan cities – Trade routes moved south and west – Caravan cities developed

• Formed in strategic locations • Centers of Hellenistic culture • Many emerged at the northern end of a route that

led through Arabia – Yemen—green at the end of the desert

» Major gathering spot for spice traders


• Early overland trade and caravan cities – Sabaeans of Arabia became wealthy from spice trade,

especially frankincense and myrrh – Nabataeans were traders

» Made money in water and food trade to travelers

• Nabataeans built a rock city called Petra as a trading post

– Many Greek influences including an amphitheater carved out of the rock

– Flourished until Romans took over


• The western end of the Silk Road: Palmyra – With Petra’s decline, Palmyra became the

most important caravan city at the western end of the Silk Road

– Roman citizens relied on Palmyra traders to get luxury goods


• The western end of the Silk Road: Palmyra – Local tribal chiefs had a good deal of local

autonomy • Semitic dialect for daily life, Greek for business

and administration • Textiles important to the trade, especially silks and

cashmere wool


• The western end of the Silk Road: Palmyra – Money from trade went to build an impressive

marble city in the desert • Afterlife apparently important to Palmyrans

– Cemetery as big as the residential area

• Hosted self-contained trading communities— fonduqs


• Reaching China along the Silk Road – Silk in all its forms helped China grow rich and

gain an upper hand in diplomacy – Trade in silk increased as the demand for the

material increased– Around 300 BCE, China increasingly

produced commercial crops• Merchants formed influential family lineages and

guilds


• Reaching China along the Silk Road – Power shifted from agrarian elites to urban

financiers and traders• Merchants expanded silk trade across Silk Road

and South China Sea• Tollgates and customhouses appeared, but

government also sought to facilitate trade and used military ships to help merchants


• Reaching China along the Silk Road – Silk was only one of many commodities that

went west– No major ports developed in China that

compared with places such as Palmyra – Chinese people and the Chinese state

remained little affected by Hellenism and Mahayana Buddhism

– Looked inward and laid foundations for Han Empire


• The spread of Buddhism along the trade routes – Monks spread religion along the same trade

routes that goods traveled• Buddhism the most expansionist religion of the

time • Monks from Kushan Empire spread Buddhism all

the way to China – Buddhist texts translated into Chinese


• The spread of Buddhism along the trade routes

• Acceptance of Buddhism was slow and took several centuries

– Buddhism did less well spreading to the west • Zoroastrian followers impeded the spread of

Buddhism

Taking to the seas: Commerce on the Red Sea and

Indian Ocean

• Land routes were tried and true but had risks of robbers and limits in what could be carried


Indian Ocean

• Arabs took risks and began to trade more by sea routes – Arab seafarers used the Indian Ocean to forge links

between East Africa, the Mediterranean, India, and Asia

– Alexandria became a transit point for trade between east and west


Indian Ocean

• Arabs took risks and began to trade more by sea routes – Used new navigational techniques

• Celestial bearings • Large ships (dhows) • Understood seasonal winds


Indian Ocean

• Arabs took risks and began to trade more by sea routes – Maritime knowledge reduced costs and

multiplied the ports of call

• Some historians argue that there were two Silk Roads: one by land and one by sea

Conclusion

• Alexander’s campaigns had a powerful effect on Afro-Eurasia, transforming its culture, governments, and economies.

• The Greek language and other aspects of Greek culture had long-lasting effects throughout central and South Asia.

Conclusion

• Indigenous people embraced some aspects of the Greek culture and merged them with their own, especially in the case of religion.

• Influenced by nomads, invaders, and traders, India became a melting pot of ideas and cultures.

Conclusion

• Buddhism was transformed into a new, more accepted version.

• Commercial trade routes expanded with the trade of silks and spices on land and sea.

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Shrinking the Afro-Eurasian World, 350 BCE–250 CE Chapter 6.

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