Ancient Civilizations: A Comparative Study

Minoan, Mycenaean, and Greek Civilizations

Timeline:

• 3000 BC: Minoan Civilization
• 1500 BC: Mycenaean Civilization
• 1200 BC: Greek Dark Age
• 800 BC: Archaic Period
• 500 BC: Classical Period
• 338 BC: Hellenistic Period
• 31 BC: Roman Conquest

Political Structures:

• Athens:
  • Assembly (Ekklesia)
  • Council of Five Hundred (Boule)
  • Judges
  • Supreme Courts (Heliaia)
• Sparta:
  • Assembly (Apella)
  • Kings
  • Ephors
  • Gerousia

Colonies: Groups of emigrants seeking defensible locations to establish new cities.

Roman Civilization

Timeline:

• 753 BC: Founding of Rome (Monarchy)
• 509 BC: Establishment of the Roman Republic
• 27 BC: Beginning of the Roman Empire
• 476 AD: Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Political Structures:

• Monarchy: Ruled by a king with absolute power.
• Republic: Power held by elected officials for limited terms.
  • Senate: Addressed important matters.
  • Magistrates: Elected officials governing for one year.
  • Legislative Assemblies: Voted on laws.

Social Structure:

• Patricians: Wealthy, privileged class.
• Plebeians: Commoners with limited rights.

Empire:

• Pax Romana: A period of peace and prosperity.
• Fall of the Empire: Attributed to invasions by Germanic tribes.

Roman Art and Architecture:

• Civil Buildings: Aqueducts, roads, baths.
• Recreational Structures: Amphitheaters, circuses, theaters.
• Religious Buildings: Temples.
• Political Buildings: Basilicas.
• Commemorative Structures: Triumphal arches.

Romanization:

The spread of Roman culture, language (Latin), and urban planning.

Germanic People:

• Organized into tribes.
• Practiced agriculture and livestock farming.
• Held beliefs in nature's forces.

Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia

Timeline:

• 2,500,000 BC: Paleolithic Period
• 8000 BC: Neolithic Period
• 4000 BC: Copper Age
• 3000 BC: Bronze Age
• 1500 BC: Iron Age

Ancient Egypt:

• Social Hierarchy:
  • King, priests, government officials
  • Landowners, farmers
  • Slaves
• Dynastic Periods:
  • 3100 BC: Early Dynastic Period
  • 2600 BC: Old Kingdom
  • 2200-2000 BC: Middle Kingdom
  • 1800-1600 BC: New Kingdom
  • 1100 BC: Late Period
  • 30 BC: Roman Conquest

Mesopotamia:

• 3500 BC: Sumerian Civilization
• 2300 BC: Akkadian Empire
• 1800 BC: Babylonian Empire
• 1300 BC: Assyrian Empire
• 612 BC: Neo-Babylonian Empire
• 539 BC: Persian Conquest
• 331 BC: Conquest by Alexander the Great

Plate Tectonics

The Earth's rocky mantle moves slowly due to convection currents that transfer heat from the Earth's interior to its surface. This movement drives the gradual shifting of tectonic plates.

At the edges of tectonic plates, several processes occur:

• Spreading Zones: Hot material rises and cools, adding new crustal material.
• Subduction Zones: Denser, cooler material sinks back into the mantle, often forming ocean trenches and volcanoes.