The History Book

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 49 See also: The Law Code of Hammurabi 36–37 ■ The palace at Knossos 42–43 ■ The Persian Wars 44–45 ■ The conquests of Alexander the Great 52–53 ■ The Peloponnesian Wars 70 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 The Parthenon, built in 447–438 bce traditional ties that underpinned Areopagus council, transferring the as a temple dedicated to the goddess Athenian aristocratic society, and majority of its powers to the Boule, Athena, is often seen as a symbol of established sortition—the random the Ecclesia, and the citizen courts. democracy and Western civilization. selection of citizens for government Ephialtes was assassinated in positions rather than basing the 461 bce and Pericles took over the established a law that declared all choice on heredity. In addition, he political leadership, becoming one citizens could vote in matters of restructured the Boule—a council of the most influential rulers in the state, and that a law court should of 500, which drew up legislation history of ancient Greece. admit all citizens. At the same and proposed laws to the assembly time, however, he mollified the of voters (Ecclesia). In 501 bce, A perfect democracy? upper classes by introducing a command of the military was Athens now had a genuine direct graded oligarchy in which power transferred to popularly elected democracy, but many people were corresponded to wealth—the generals (strategoi). not allowed to participate in the aristocracy was to control the system as they were not considered highest offices, the middle class the In 462 bce, Ephialtes became true citizens. Political rights were lesser offices, and the poor could be leader of the democratic movement restricted to adult male Athenians; selected by lot to serve on juries. in Athens and, together with his women, foreigners, and slaves were ❯❯ deputy Pericles, he dismantled the In the late 6th century bce, Athens fell under the sway of the Aristocratic oligarchy monopolizes power. tyrant Pisistratus and his sons. In response, a faction of aristocrats Poor farmers are forced Middle-class hoplites achieve led by Cleisthenes allied with into debt slavery, causing military success, leading to lower-ranking members of society to take power. The institution of major resentment. desire for representation. true democracy in Athens is traditionally dated to this point— Pressure for change is strong. The limited political reforms of around 507 bce. Cleisthenes Solon fail to meet the demands of the lower and middle classes. introduced true popular government, or direct democracy, enabling all Pisistratus achieves economic reforms, but he does not citizens of Athens to vote directly satisfy continuing demands for political reform. on Athenian policy (unlike in a contemporary representative Cleisthenes implements democracy and other democracy, in which the people reforms creating a more egalitarian government. elect representatives to act as the legislature). He also reorganized the citizenry into units by geography rather than kinship, breaking the

50 ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY The Athenian constitution relied on a careful separation of powers. This was essential to make the practical operation of direct democracy possible. It also ensured that all citizens (men aged 20 and above) could serve and that power could not be abused. DEMOCRACY Military Elects Ecclesia Boule Tribunal magistrates voted on proposed tried civil commanded new laws, new laws for and criminal the military decrees, Administers consideration Supervises and treaties cases Citizens could Citizens Citizens aged Citizens were stand for could vote in 30+ volunteer for chosen by lot for 30,000 male citizens 120,000 Athenians (adult men and women) 300,000 Atticans (living in the region of Athens) excluded. In the 4th century bce, of the Delian League (the anti- temple (the Parthenon) on the rocky out of the 300,000-strong total Persian confederation that had hill known as the Acropolis. population of Attica—the region of become a vessel for Athenian Citizenship of Athens was highly Greece controlled by Athens—just hegemony) to build a magnificent coveted, and in 451 bce Pericles 30,000 men comprised the voting passed a law restricting it to men population. In theory, men became Our ordinary citizens, though whose parents were both Athenians. voting citizens at age 18, but as occupied with the pursuits they were generally liable for two A center of philosophy years of military service they were of industry, are still fair As well as being the most powerful not enrolled on the rosters of the judges of public matters. city-state in ancient Greece, council until they turned 20, and Athens was also the crucible of did not come into their full political Pericles a revolutionary new direction in rights until the age of 30. philosophy, in large part due to Socrates (c.469–399 bce). Earlier During the “Pentekontaetia”— Greek philosophers, collectively the decades between Greek victory known as the pre-Socratics, had in the Persian War (479 bce) and introduced a revolution of their own the start of the Peloponnesian War in human thought in the 5th and (431 bce)—Athens reached the 6th centuries bce. They rejected height of its glory. In 447 bce, supernatural explanations for the Pericles appropriated the treasury

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 51 world, the explanatory power would emerge. In his ideal republic, An Audience in Athens (1884), of mythology, and the authority of enlightened philosophers would by Sir William Blake, captures the tradition, and set out to discover rule as kings. He also challenged atmosphere at the Greek tragedy the origins and workings of the the basic principle of democracy— Agamemnon by Aeschylus c.450 bce. natural world through reason and that of liberty (eleutheria)—which This period is regarded as the Golden observation. The pre-Socratic he believed could divert people Age of drama in ancient Greece. natural philosophers developed from the proper pursuit of ethics theories about the elements, and cause social disunity. Athens’ weak position was due classifications of nature, and to democracy and led a counter- mathematical and geometric proofs. The fall of democracy revolution to replace democratic During the Peloponnesian War rule with an extreme oligarchy. In Socrates turned his enquiries (431–404 bce), in which Athens was both cases, democratic rule was inward to more human matters— ultimately defeated by the Spartans, restored within one year. as Cicero said of him, “he brought Athenian democracy was twice philosophy down from heaven.” suspended, in 411 and 404 bce. Democracy flourished for the Socrates’ method was simply to ask Athenian oligarchs claimed that next eight decades. However, after questions—What is friendship? the Macedonian conquest of What is justice? What is knowledge? Dictatorship naturally arises Athens under Philip II and his son The Socratic method tended to lay out of democracy, and the Alexander (later Alexander the bare the limits of existing thinking, most aggravated form of Great) in 322 bce, Athenian often making people look foolish or tyranny and slavery out of democracy was abolished. It was pompous. Accordingly, Socrates the most extreme liberty. intermittently restored in the was unpopular and eventually he Plato Hellenistic age in the 1st and 2nd was accused of two crimes by his centuries bce, but the Roman enemies—corrupting youth by conquest of Greece in 146 bce encouraging them to go against the effectively killed it off. government, and impiety, or lack of respect for the gods. Consequently, Although democratic rule had he was sentenced to death. been quashed, Athenian science and philosophy lived on. The Socrates’ successors renown and influence of Plato The fate of Socrates was taken as and Aristotle endured through an indictment of democracy by his the ages that followed, and much successors, particularly Plato of their work continues to influence (c.428–348 bce), who saw him as Western thought to this day. ■ a martyr for truth. Plato ran a school (the Academy) and developed ideas about universal truths and metaphysics that have shaped all subsequent religion and philosophy in the Western world. His student Aristotle (384–322 bce) became equally influential, setting up the Lyceum school and writing on such diverse topics as politics, ethics, law, and natural sciences. Plato opposed democracy, as he believed that the people were not sufficiently equipped with philosophical grace to legislate and if governance were left in the hands of the ordinary, citizen tyranny

52 IWTMHHPEOORSEWSIIISLBLNLEOTRTTHYOINHGE THE CONQUESTS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (4TH CENTURY bce) IN CONTEXT I n one of the fastest and most Greece. When he was assassinated daring military expansions in in 336 bce, Philip had been planning FOCUS history, Alexander the Great, an expedition to West Asia, to free Hellenistic world the young king of Macedon in the the former Greek city-states now Balkans, blazed a trail of conquest ruled by the world’s superpower, the BEFORE across most of the known world of Persian Empire. After securing the 449 bce The end of the Persian his day, and set in motion a process Macedonian throne by destroying Wars leaves Persia in control of of Hellenization—the spread of his rivals, Alexander set about Greek kingdoms in Asia Minor. Greek culture and its fusion with pursuing his father’s quest, while non-Greek, Eastern traditions— satisfying his own thirst for glory. 359 bce Philip II of Macedon which endured for centuries. begins his rise to power and King of the world develops innovative military Alexander’s father, Philip II, had After forcing the other Greek city- technology and tactics. transformed this peripheral state states to accept his authority, in into a formidable military power, 334 bce Alexander marched into 338 bce Philip II defeats the and had waged campaigns against Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) at Greek states and becomes his neighbors that culminated in the head of an army of 43,000 foot undisputed leader of Greece. Macedon’s domination over all of soldiers and 5,500 cavalry. At its heart lay the Macedonian phalanx, AFTER In this late Roman mosiac, Darius a well-drilled, tight-knit corps of 321 bce After Alexander’s III is shown fighting at Issus in 333 bce. 15,000 men armed with the sarissa, death, squabbling between Alexander conquered the Persian king’s a pike that was up to 23ft (7m) his generals breaks out into empire and destroyed its capital in long. When combined with the widespread civil war. Persepolis without suffering a defeat. shocking cavalry charge provided by the king’s personal bodyguard, 278 bce Alexander’s generals the Companions, the formation establish three Hellenistic proved irresistible. kingdoms in Greece, the Middle East, and Europe. After an initial victory over the Persians at the River Granicus in 30 bce Emperor Octavian the northwest, Alexander pressed annexes Egypt, the last on across Asia Minor. He stopped Hellenistic kingdom, for Rome. at Gordium in the central kingdom of Phrygia, where tradition held that he who could untie a complex

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 53 See also: The Persian Wars 44–45 ■ Athenian democracy 46–51 ■ The assassination of Julius Caesar 58–65 ■ Belisarius retakes Rome 76–77 ■ The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 East–West cultural exchange begins from Alexander’s conquests force an era of Persian Wars, with western the rapid synthesis of Greek provinces of Persian Empire becoming and Asian cultures, laying Hellenized and Macedonians adopting seeds of the Hellenistic age. aspects of Persian culture. Hellenistic learning survives the fall Hellenized societies in Egypt and West of Rome in the Byzantine Empire and Asia assimilated into Roman Empire. in the Translation Movement of the Islamic Caliphate. knot made by the city’s founder, deserts, and rivers into Afghanistan the process of Hellenization was would conquer the entire continent. and Central Asia, and on to the already underway in the western Alexander, in a typically forthright Indian Punjab, ruthlessly crushing half of Persia before his expedition, move, cut the knot with his sword. all resistance. He would have pushed Alexander had accelerated its He went on to twice defeat the far further into India, but in 325 bce his spread throughout the Middle East. superior forces gathered by Darius exhausted men refused to go on. III, the Persian emperor—at Issus In 323 bce, Alexander died— (on the southern coast of Asia The Hellenistic legacy most likely from disease but perhaps Minor) in 333 bce and Gaugamela Alexander was now the king of a by poisoning—without naming a (in modern Iraq) in 331 bce, vast and ethnically diverse empire successor. His empire was carved subduing Egypt in the interval. that included 70 newly founded up by his leading generals, but some cities, united by a common Greek of the Hellenistic dynasties they Having forced the Persians into culture, customs, and language, founded, notably Selucid Syria submission, Alexander drove his and linked by trade routes; although and Babylon and Ptolomeic Egypt, troops eastward, across mountains, survived until Roman times. ■ Alexander the Great Throughout antiquity, Alexander point of recklessness—with his was widely regarded as the most own life and those of his men— remarkable man who ever lived, and a brilliant tactician. He and in terms of the breadth and maintained the loyalty of his duration of his renown, which forces throughout his long and saw him become a key figure in arduous campaign, but his quick national literatures from Central and violent temper, fueled by his Asia to Western Europe, he is one heavy drinking, occasionally of the most famous men in history. spurred him to eliminate those closest to him, including his Born in 356 bce, to parents who friends. Alexander died at age 32, claimed descent from demigods at the height of his power. His and heroes, Alexander’s education funeral cortège was hijacked by under the philosopher Aristotle Ptolemy, one of his generals, and ensured he was steeped in Greek diverted to Alexandria in Egypt, legend, and he came to believe he where his tomb was later visited was invincible, even divine. As a by Julius Caesar, but is now lost. general he was decisive, bold to the

54 IN CONTEXT IGEWWFNEOHTDTROHHULLEIPDESQ,HWIWTNIHSOASERYPHNLRWODTIUSIHWTLOEHDNILETELRHVEER FOCUS Han China THE FIRST EMPEROR UNIFIES CHINA (221 bce) BEFORE 1600–1046 bce Shang dynasty rules. c.1046–771 bce Western Zhou dynasty. 771–476 bce Spring and Autumn Period (the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty). 551–479 bce Life of Kong Fuzi (known as Confucius). 476–221 bce Warring States Period (the second half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty). AFTER 140–87 bce Reign of Han Emperor Wudi (Liu Che)—a time of imperial expansion. 220–581 ce Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties Period. 581–618 Sui dynasty. 618–907 Tang dynasty. C hina is probably the most enduring coherent state in world history, and to an extraordinary extent this is due to the will of one man: Qin Shi Huangdi, the self-styled First Emperor. Before he unified ancient China in 221 bce, it was a region of diverse states, differing in culture, ethnicity, and language. During the era known to Chinese historians as the Spring and Autumn Period (771–476 bce), the region was nominally under the control of Zhou dynasty kings, but in reality their feudal system of government meant that only a token authority rested with the royal throne, while feudal lords held genuine power over what

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 55 See also: Emperor Wu claims the Mandate of Heaven 70 ■ China is divided into Three Kingdoms 71 ■ The An Lushan revolt 84–85 ■ Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■ Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–27 When [Qin Shi Huangdi] competent generals combined to Qin Shi Huangdi is in difficulty he readily produce a formidable and ruthless war machine. Zheng had rivals As First Emperor of China, humbles himself executed or exiled, appointed very Ying Zheng (later known as before others, but when effective generals and counselors, Qin Shi Huangdi, 260–210 bce) and conquered the six other states was a truly pivotal figure in he has got his way, in the region, so that by 221 bce all Chinese history, uniting the then he thinks nothing seven states were unified under his country and ushering in a of eating others alive. rule. Disdaining the old title of king period of imperial rule that (Wang), he styled himself as emperor lasted nearly 2,000 years. Sima Qian (Huangdi). Since he was the first He was a brutal despot but (Shi) emperor of the Qin dynasty, was also innovative, dynamic, Han historian he was known as Qin Shi Huangdi. and energetic—reports claim that he needed just one hour’s were effectively autonomous states. The governing philosophy of the sleep per night and he set Up to 140 small states competed Qin state had been legalism: strict himself a daily work quota, for power and territory. centralization of power and severity measured by the weight of in enforcing adherence to the law. papers that he needed to go The Spring and Autumn Period The emperor now set about applying through. He regularly walked gave way to the Warring States this philosophy throughout the the city streets in disguise Period (476–221 bce), in which whole of China, ruthlessly imposing to keep tabs on the populace, power was consolidated into the cultural, linguistic, economic, and and he made five great tours hands of seven kingdoms: Qi, Chu, technological unity. All scripts of inspection of the empire. Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Qin. At except Xiaozhuan (small seal script) Highly paranoid and fearful this point in China’s history it was were banned. In addition, according of possible attempts on his by no means certain that an over- to legend, the emperor gave orders life (he survived at least one arching Chinese identity or state for 400 Confucian scholars to be assassination attempt), the would emerge. If anything, it was buried alive and all existing books emperor became obsessed more likely that the considerable to be burned; his reign was to mark with the quest for immortality, geographical, climatic, cultural, a new “Year One” in the history and sponsoring expeditions to and ethnic differences between culture of China. He also introduced look for magic ingredients the various kingdoms would see the a host of economic reforms—there and mystics who could brew region develop in a similar fashion was to be a single, unified system an elixir of life, to enable him to Europe many centuries later, of weights and measures, a uniform to live forever. Ironically, his with multiple distinct and coinage, and even the gauge of cart death at the age of 50 might divergent national entities. tracks was standardized so that well have been linked to his axle-widths could be the same consumption of toxic mercury- The rise of Qin across the empire. based potions that he had In 247 bce, a 13-year-old prince taken to extend his life. named Ying Zheng succeeded to The new order the throne of Qin. He inherited a The new social and political order militarized state, in which effective of the empire reflected changes bureaucracy, powerful armies, and that had been underway since the Spring and Autumn Period. The feudal system was abolished, so that the mass of peasantry now owed their allegiance to the state rather than feudal or clan lords. Over 100,000 noble families were ❯❯

56 THE FIRST EMPEROR UNIFIES CHINA relocated to the emperor’s capital With his puffed-out He is traditionally credited with city Xianyang (near Xi’an, in the chest like a hawk and voice building the first part of the Great Shaanxi province), and their arms Wall of China, to keep out nomadic were confiscated, melted down, of a jackal, Qin is a man tribes in the north, by connecting and then cast into giant statues. of scant mercy who parts of old walls erected by the During the Warring States Period, Warring States and then adding the pressure of incessant military has the heart of a wolf. thousands of miles of new wall. competition had generally favored Sima Qian Other projects included constructing the emergence of more meritocratic the Lingqu canal, which linked the avenues for advancement, thereby Han historian Xiang and Li rivers so military facilitating social mobility while supplies could be transported from undermining the importance of state officials. The merchant class northern to southern China, and noble lineage. In the Qin dynasty, was officially the lowest and most building military roads including aristocratic rule was replaced despised of the orders, and was “the Straight Road,” which was with a centralized bureaucratic subject to legal discrimination; 497 miles (800 km) long and ran administration and the country however, wealthy merchants were from Xianyang to the Great Wall. was divided into 36 commanderies, able to use their financial muscle to which were administrative become important political players. Most famous of all the emperor’s divisions controlled by appointed ventures was the construction of (not hereditary) governors. Censors, Great works his own elaborate mausoleum or inspectors, traveled the country Among Qin Shi Huangdi’s greatest complex, which took 38 years and to enforce adherence to Qin law. achievements were his ambitious over 700,000 workers to construct. civil engineering projects, although It consisted of a giant pyramid The Qin dynasty also saw the there was a great human cost as covered in earth to create an emergence of a new scheme of many lost their lives in the process. immense mound, 328 ft (100 m) social stratification, with society high and 1,640 ft (500 m) across. divided into four classes: gentlemen Within the pyramid was a tomb in (Shi), peasants (Nong), and two which his beloved empire was new classes that had emerged recreated in miniature, complete during the Zhou dynasty—artisans with liquid mercury rivers and (Gong) and merchants (Shang). The seas. Buried around the tomb were educated gentry would replace large pits filled with thousands of the nobility as the main source of life-sized terracotta warriors, bureaucrats, and entertainers, all intended to serve the emperor in the afterlife. Workers on the tomb were killed after completing their tasks so the secrets of the mausoleum’s location and contents died with them, and the tomb remained undiscovered for over 2,000 years. Despite the megalomaniacal exertions of the First Emperor, the Qin dynasty was to prove short-lived. Peasant unrest caused Guarding the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, these life-sized terracotta soldiers were discovered in 1974 by workers digging a well. The figures were originally brightly painted and each has a unique facial expression.

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 57 Large region Qin state Chinese unity is comprises many conquers the strengthened further. small, culturally other six states. diverse states. Seven major states Qin Shi Huangdi emerge and engage in frequent imposes unification, standardization, and warfare to gain power and territory. homogeneity. by deep-seated resentment over northeast to Manchuria and Korea, The influence of the First Emperor the brutal extortions of money and and south to Yunnan, Hainan, and is still felt in modern China, and the many years of forced labor, plus Vietnam. Most importantly, they Chairman Mao Zedong (1893–1976) bankruptcy as a result of over- consumed the powerful Xiongnu explicitly drew on the emperor for ambitious civil works, combined Empire in the north. They also inspiration. “You accuse us of to undermine the carefully ordered reintroduced Confucianism as the acting like Qin Shi Huangdi,” Mao administration of the emperor and official state philosophy: Confucian thundered in a 1958 tirade against his leading counselors, chief among education and ethics soon became intellectual critics. “You are wrong. them the chancellor Li Si. the cornerstones of the scholar- We surpass him a hundred times. bureaucracy, eventually forming When you berate us for imitating When the First Emperor died the basis for the all-important civil his despotism, we are happy to in 210 bce his youngest son, Hu Hai, service examination system, which agree! Your mistake was that you under the influence of advisor and would give a meritocratic basis to did not say so enough.” ■ former tutor Zhao Gao, seized imperial institutions and combat the throne and exiled—and later the power of the aristocracy for Confucius is generally considered executed—Li Si. Hu Hai was millennia to come. to be the most influential philosopher subsequently murdered after just in Chinese history. His teachings three years of being in power and Han success in building and emphasized the importance of morality, his successor, Zi Ying, found his maintaining a unified, centralized integrity, humility, and self-discipline. authority so reduced that he adopted China was based on the foundations the title of king, rather than emperor. that had been laid down by the First Emperor. The Han dynasty The Han Dynasty finally collapsed in 220 ce, amid a China collapsed into rebellion and foment of civil unrest and natural civil unrest, and a few days after Zi disasters that convinced the Ying’s accession, the Han general Chinese that their dynasty had lost Liu Bang marched into Xianyang. “the mandate of heaven,” giving The following year, in 206 bce, he way to the violent and chaotic era declared himself emperor of the known as the Three Kingdoms and Han dynasty, which would go on Six Dynasties Period. Despite the to rule China for 400 years, shaping devastating cost of this breakdown, its subsequent history to such an which saw the Chinese population extent that the main ethnic group plummet from 54 million in 156 ce in China is now known as the Han. to 16 million in 280 ce, the concept of a unified China survived 360 The Han expanded Chinese years of division, enabling the Sui territory in all directions—west dynasty to reunify China in 581. to Xinjiang and Central Asia,

TTHYUSRPEARINSHTASLL THE ASSASSINATION OF JULIUS CAESAR (44 bce)



60 THE ASSASSINATION OF JULIUS CAESAR IN CONTEXT The oligarchic political Rome’s nobility system in the Roman dominate the Senate, FOCUS Republic is corrupt protecting their privileges at Fall of the Roman Republic the expense of political change, and decaying. leading to a crisis of BEFORE After successful military 509 bce Rome becomes a campaigns, Julius Caesar the republic. republic in which a small becomes dictator and forces number of wealthy families political and social reforms Fearing Caesar’s share power. popularity and power, on the nobility. 202 bce Rome defeats Octavian wins the a group of senators Carthage in North Africa and civil war to determine assassinate him. the empire expands rapidly. Caesar’s heir. Calling himself Augustus, he becomes the Augustus ensures that the 88–82 bce Civil war between first emperor of Rome. office of emperor survives rival generals Sulla and Marius by making Tiberius his heir, tips the republic into crisis. transforming Rome into a AFTER hereditary monarchy. 31 bce Octavian’s victory at the Battle of Actium leads constitution allowed the election of to his accession as Rome’s two top officials, known as consuls, first emperor and the end to run the state, but in order to of the republic. prevent abuse of power, their term was limited to one year. The office 79 ce Vesuvius erupts, of king was also prohibited, and destroying Pompeii. special provision was made for the appointment of a dictator to replace 2nd century ce The Roman the consuls in times of crisis—his Empire reaches its greatest term being limited to six months. extent, with a population of around 60 million people. The fledgling Roman Republic proved remarkably successful: O n March 15, 44 bce, enabled him to rule as emperor, between 500 and 300 bce, it the life of Julius Caesar, bringing the 500-year-old Roman increased its extent and power dictator of Rome, came Republic to an end in all but name. to a bloody end at the hands of a faction of aristocratic senators who Republican origins were determined to rescue the From its ancient beginnings as a Roman Republic from what they cluster of small villages on seven saw as Caesar’s tyranny. In reality, hills by the River Tiber, Rome grew the dictator’s death did not save into a city-state that was just one the republic: it merely unleashed of many on the Italian peninsula. the latest in a series of civil wars, According to legend, Rome was which exhausted the Roman state. first ruled by kings, but in 509 bce, It was left powerless to resist the the monarchy was overthrown and rise to absolute power of Caesar’s it became a republic. A new great-nephew Octavian. Taking the title Augustus, Octavian created a new political arrangement that

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 61 See also: Athenian democracy 46–51 ■ The conquests of Alexander the Great 52–53 ■ The Battle of Milvian Bridge 66–67 ■ The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■ Belisarius retakes Rome 76–77 ■ The crowning of Charlemagne 82–83 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 Trajan’s column in Rome is one of the most valuable sources of information about the Roman army—it is decorated with a spiraling relief depicting the well-drilled legions on campaign. through a combination of conquest common people). On the formation changing needs of the Roman and diplomacy until it incorporated of the republic, only patricians people. In Italy and the provinces the whole of Italy. Between 202 and had been entitled to hold office in an unequal system of taxation and 120 bce, Rome came to dominate the Senate—Rome’s governing and corrupt governance were causing parts of North Africa, the Iberian advisory council—but in 368–367 social unrest, while in the city of Peninsula, Greece, and what is bce, a constitutional amendment Rome itself, the infrastructure was now southern France. Its conquered allowed the election of wealthier barely able to cope with a growing territories were organized into plebs too, and the result was a population. The empire’s rapid provinces, ruled by short-term power-sharing arrangement. expansion had brought a flood of ❯❯ governors who maintained order and oversaw the collection of taxes. However, in reality, a small In Caesar were combined group of patrician families known genius, method, memory, By the 1st century bce, Rome as the Optimates (the “Best Men”) was a Mediterranean superpower, had long dominated the Senate and literature, prudence, yet its long tradition of collective jealously guarded their privileges. deliberation, and industry. government, in which no individual In the late Roman Republic, those could gain too much control, was who championed the rights of the Cicero being challenged by the personal plebs—the Populares (the “People’s ambitions of a few immensely Men”)—sought popular support 2nd Philippic, section 116 powerful military men. A series against the Optimates, either in the of bloody civil wars, internal interests of the people themselves, political struggles, and civil unrest or more often, in pursuit of their culminated with the dictatorship own careers. The self-interested of Julius Caesar, a brilliant general Optimates resisted making the and statesman, whose murder at social and economic reforms that the hands of his political enemies were urgently required to meet the led to the demise of the republic and the birth of the Roman Empire. The republic crumbles In the period in which Julius Caesar came to prominence on the Roman political scene (around 70 bce), Rome was in turmoil: beset with ever worsening social and economic problems and torn by political conflict. Early in Rome’s history, the non-slave population had been officially split into two classes: the patricians (members of the ancient hereditary nobility and wealthy landowners) and the plebeians, or plebs for short (the

62 THE ASSASSINATION OF JULIUS CAESAR slave labor from the provinces, rule. He also led two expeditions to Even yet we may draw back, driving many Roman farm workers Britain, in 55 and 54 bce. Caesar’s but once across that little and smallholders off the land and heroic military exploits left him bridge, and the whole issue into the city in search of work. immensely rich and increased his is with the sword. personal prestige; he enjoyed the Julius Caesar The rise of Julius Caesar loyalty of his armies and the love Meanwhile, a handful of military of the Roman mob, upon whom he Speaking to his army before leaders in Rome’s provinces had could now afford to lavish feasts, crossing the Rubicon begun to use their armies to jockey games, and money. for political prominence. Among general Pompey. The Senate passed them was Julius Caesar, a highly Buoyed by his achievements, laws intending to strip Caesar of intelligent and ambitious general Caesar attempted to dictate the his command when he returned from a patrician family who had terms on which he would return from Gaul, and in 49 bce they aligned himself with the Populares to Roman politics, demanding to declared him hostis, or public and risen swiftly through the be allowed to stand for a second enemy. In response to this direct political ranks. Caesar was intent consulship while remaining in threat, Caesar did the unthinkable: on making the reforms necessary command at Gaul. This put him he marched his army on Rome. to meet the challenges of the on a collision course with the En route, he paused at the border republic, and so he maneuvered Optimates in the Senate, since between the Gallic provinces himself into a position that would Roman law required military and Italy proper: a small river called allow him to achieve his goal. leaders to relinquish control of their the Rubicon. Caesar was acutely armies before entering Rome, a aware that crossing the river would In 60 bce, Caesar became prerequisite for running for office. constitute a declaration of war consul, and two years later he was Caesar knew that if he agreed to against the Senate but, quoting the appointed governor of the province enter the city as a private citizen, of Gaul, a role which enabled him without his armies, his political to remain abreast of developments opponents would most likely in the Senate while also offering a attempt to try him for abuse of springboard to military glory. In a power during his first consulship. series of masterful campaigns over the next eight years, he conquered Back in Rome, the Optimates, Gaul, bringing the whole of what alarmed by the implications of is now France, along with parts of Caesar’s meteoric rise, allied Germany and Belgium, under his themselves to one of his main political rivals, the renowned Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar was born in eventually teaming up with the Rome in 100 bce, to a patrician two other leading men in Rome, family of distinguished ancestry. Crassus and Pompey, to form From an early age, he grasped the so-called First Triumvirate. that money was the key to power Between 58 and 50 bce, he in a political system that had formed a provincial power base become hopelessly corrupt. He in Gaul where, without the also quickly learned that forging a sanction of the Senate, he network of alliance and patronage launched a series of campaigns would be crucial to his success. that made him master of Western Europe, with fabulous After serving in the war to wealth and powerful armies. crush the slave revolt led by However, these campaigns also Spartacus in 72 bce, Caesar was earned him many opponents briefly taken hostage by pirates. among the governing classes, Once he returned to Rome in who would eventually cut short 60 bce, Caesar spent vast sums both his career and his life. on buying influence and positions,

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 63 Athenian poet Menander, he Consuls The Cursus Honorum was announced alea iacta est (“let the were chief the sequence of offices through dice roll”) and led his men onward. judges, who which Roman patricians aspiring XX chaired the to power had to progress as they Caesar’s new order Senate and aged in order to reach the In the ensuing civil war, Caesar commanded highest rank: consul. finally triumphed over Pompey’s the army. forces at the Battle of Pharsalus Praetors A separate series of ranks in northern Greece in 48 bce. acted as judges governed offices for plebeians The defeated Pompey fled to Egypt and commanded (those not of noble birth). The for sanctuary, where he was later armies in Rome rank of aedile was the highest assassinated. After crushing the in the consuls’ plebeians could hope to achieve. remaining pockets of resistance, absence. Caesar finally returned to Rome in 45 bce, to consolidate his political X Aediles had Plebeian position. In 46 bce he accepted the responsibility for aediles dictatorship for 10 years; two years maintaining the public had a lower later, he was granted the office for buildings and temples, status than life. Now in a position to begin the and for ensuring the monumental task of reconstructing city’s grain supply. patrician the Roman state and restoring aediles. stability to the empire, Caesar initiated far-reaching social and Quaestor was the Tribunes political reforms. He extended first elected office. protected Roman citizenship; he enlarged They supervised the plebs from the Senate, bringing in allies from use of state finances. among the provincial aristocracy; Senators directed other abuses of he established colonies outside magistrates and controlled power by Italy, to help spread Roman culture the granting of public money. vetoing and knit the empire together; he spent lavishly on grandiose public legislation or works and buildings; he cut taxes; judgments. and he even reformed the Roman calendar, introducing the system of quell the suspicions. He accepted Representing those opposed to the leap years that is still in use today. unprecedented honors, such as dictator’s reforms—and the leading assuming the title “Imperator” agent in the plot to murder him— A murder plot (“Victorious General”) as a family Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Caesar’s pragmatic solutions for name; he also allowed temples and general who had risen to political re-establishing unity in the empire statues to be erected in his honor, prominence during a largely after years of chaos found favor and had coins minted bearing his disastrous campaign in Persia. with many parts of society, yet image. And when he adopted his Ancient Roman historians argued at the same time, his increasingly grand-nephew, Octavian, there that Cassius’s involvement was autocratic attitude to power was were fears that he was trying to prompted by a combination of alienating fellow members of the establish a dynastic succession. jealousy and greed. He is also said to ruling class. They felt that Caesar Some members of the Senate have recruited the most important was trying to destroy the cherished concluded that the only solution conspirator, Marcus Junius Brutus, a traditions of the Roman state, and to the problem was to assassinate trusted colleague and confidante of to undermine the prestige of the Caesar, and so they hatched a Caesar, opposed to the dictator’s nobility, and spread the rumor that conspiracy to carry it out. presumed monarchic ambitions. ❯❯ he was planning to make himself king. Unfortunately, Caesar failed to

64 THE ASSASSINATION OF JULIUS CAESAR Death of a dictator Caesar, like a most not long before Octavian went to The assassination plot grew rapidly, gentle physician, had been war against Anthony in north eventually including 60 senators, Africa, and, after defeating his among them many of Caesar’s close assigned to the Romans forces at Actium in western Greece colleagues. The plotters decided by Heaven itself. in 31 bce, Octavian became the to strike at a meeting of the Senate Plutarch master of the Roman world. that had been called for March 15, (the Ides of March). On the day, Parallel Lives Rome’s first emperor they gathered at Cassius’s home, Octavian returned to Rome in each senator concealing a dagger Caesar breathed his last slumped 28 bce and, instead of following beneath his robes, before moving against the base of a statue of his Caesar’s example, he renounced on to Pompey’s Theatre—part of a old rival Pompey. the dictatorial powers granted great civic complex that Caesar’s to him in order to wage his war old rival had constructed—where The Second Triumvirate against Antony. In 27 bce, in the Senate was meeting. A group Seized with manic fervor, the gratitude for his service to Rome, of gladiators had been stationed in conspirators dipped their hands the Senate bestowed on him the theatre itself, to help control any in Caesar’s blood and rushed out the name Augustus (“revered crowd problems. However, many of into the Forum to proclaim their personage”) and granted him wide- the conspirators were nervous and tyrannicide. In the power vacuum ranging legal powers. Eventually, ready to flee, convinced that the that followed, Mark Anthony, and through political sleight of hand, plot had been uncovered. Caesar’s heir, Octavian, promptly he became Rome’s sole ruler, assumed control of the state, forming controlling all aspects of the Roman Caesar had indeed been warned: in 43 bce a triumvirate (a group state and command of the army. a list of the plotters had been thrust of three men holding power) with into his hands, but he ignored it. Lepidus, one of Caesar’s former allies. An emperor in all but name His wife pleaded with him not to (he was careful to spurn such titles, attend the Senate meeting, but one Needing to gather enough funds styling himself instead as princeps, of the conspirators, stationed at to stabilize their authority, and to or “first citizen”), over the next Caesar’s house, helped calm her remove political opposition, the four decades, Augustus set about fears. When Caesar arrived at the triumvirate drew up a list of those transforming the ruins of the meeting, a conspirator distracted who had supported Caesar’s republican system into an imperial his deputy, Mark Anthony, delaying murderers, and declared them autocracy, all the while maintaining him outside the theatre. As Caesar outlaws. Around 200 senators and the illusion that his authority took his seat, the conspirators drew more than 2,000 equites (“knights” was dependent on the will of the their daggers and struck, stabbing or minor nobility) were either killed people. He loosely established the him 23 times. In an ironic twist, or had their estates confiscated. boundaries of the empire, pushed The treasury’s coffers now filled, through reforms to clean up both I found Rome a city of the triumvirate hunted down and private and public life, and crushed bricks, and left it a destroyed Brutus and Cassius. dissent. After the long periods of city of marble. In 40 bce, the triumvirs met again, exhausting civil war, many in the Augustus this time to carve up the Roman empire were grateful for peace. world. Africa was given to Lepidus, According to Suetonius, the East to Mark Anthony, and the The Pax Romana Augustus’s biographer West to Octavian. However, it was Indeed the might of the Roman military and the consequent improvements in security and stability across a vast stretch of territory, in what became known as the Pax Romana (“Roman Peace”), led to a growth in trade, economic activity, population, and general prosperity. The arts and culture

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 65 flourished, public and private Bear with me the hope granted powers until he could building works proliferated, and the that when I die, that the effectively be considered to be provinces outside Italy underwent a foundations which have laid a co-emperor. This smoothed the process of Romanization, in which for [Rome’s] future government, transition of authority on Augustus’ the Roman language, culture, laws, will stand firm and stable. death, preventing a vacuum of and institutions were embedded power and ensuring continuity. into diverse societies and across Augustus ethnic boundaries. Provincials were Augustus thus established the even granted full Roman citizenship An imperial legacy principle of direct succession and after a period of military service. By the end of his life in 14 ce, ensured the survival of the office of Augustus had established a new emperor. The system continued However, for the regions beyond imperial system that would endure through multiple dynasties, with the the bounds of empire, Augustus’s for centuries. For some years before empire reaching its height under the Pax Romana often meant just the his death, Augustus had prepared Nerva-Antonine dynasty when the opposite. Even after reducing the the way for an heir to succeed him, emperor Hadrian ordered the army from 80 legions to a permanent and retain control of the state. His building of a wall in northern Britain force of just 28, Augustus had to step-son Tiberius was gradually to mark the empire’s outer limit. find employment for 150,000 soldiers. He launched a series of campaigns The transition from republic to to extend borders, suppress and monarchy, while drastic, gave Rome harry rebels and “barbarians,” and a new stability. Masquerading as a seize slaves from conquered areas. democrat, Augustus created a new autocratic system of government, The Ara Pacis Augustae altar which, despite restricting political in Rome is dedicated to Pax, participation, was much better able the Roman goddess of peace. The to resist the compulsive upheavals processional frieze shows members that had plagued the Roman of the Roman Senate with a priest. Republic a generation before. ■

66 BCYONTQHUISERSIGN THE BATTLE OF MILVIAN BRIDGE (312 ce) IN CONTEXT I n October 312 ce, Emperor Constantine I’s adoption of Constantine I was stationed Christianity after his victory at the FOCUS at the Milvian Bridge near Milvian Bridge gave the faith a huge The spread of Christianity Rome, waiting to join battle with boost: it rapidly gained more followers Maxentius, his rival for control of and began edging out the pagan cults. BEFORE the Western Roman Empire (in 285, 33 ce Crucifixion of Jesus. the empire had been split into two defeat Maxentius’s men. In fact, halves, eastern and western, each the Christian god was not the first 46–57 Missionary journeys ruled by an emperor and a deputy). deity Constantine had auditioned; of St. Paul the Apostle. Tradition says that in the days an earlier version of his vision had before the encounter, Constantine involved the Greek and Roman god 64–68 ce When a fire breaks had a vision of a flaming cross in Apollo. He appears to have been out in Rome, Emperor Nero the heavens bearing the inscription looking for theological “back-up” to kills hundreds of Christians in hoc signo vinces (“by this sign legitimize his ambition to become as scapegoats; martyrdom conquer”). This convinced him that sole emperor, and a monotheistic of saints Peter and Paul. he had the support of the god of supreme being may have seemed the Christians, and this belief was to him a good fit: a heavenly mirror 284–305 Diocletian and upheld when his army went on to image of his own position on Earth. Galerius suppress Christianity throughout the empire. AFTER 325 The first Council of Nicaea defines the nature of orthodox Christian belief. c.340 Ulfilas, the “Moses of the Goths,” begins to spread Arian Christianity to the Germanic tribes. 380 Christianity becomes the Roman Empire’s official faith. 391 Pagan worship is banned in the Roman Empire.

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 67 See also: The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■ Belisarius retakes Rome 76–77 ■ The crowning of Charlemagne 82–83 ■ The Investiture Controversy 96–97 ■ The fall of Jerusalem 106–07 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 ■ Martin Luther’s 95 theses 160–63 Despite the legend of his divine consecrating it with both Christian Roman emperors derive vision, Constantine’s conversion and pagan rites, but allowing only authority and legitimacy to Christianity seems to have been Christian churches to be built. from pagan religions. gradual rather than immediate—he Although it would take time for was not baptized until many years all Roman citizens to convert to Christianity’s egalitarianism later, on his deathbed. However, Christianity, in Constantine’s reign, threatens to disrupt soon after his victory at the Milvian the higher ranks of society, seeking Bridge, he began the process of political advancement and personal the strict social order rehabilitating, and then exalting, favor with the emperor, flocked to of the Roman Empire. Christianity; in 331 ce, he issued the Church, and the emperor built Constantine sees the Edict of Milan, a proclamation basilicas across the empire. that established religious toleration Christianity, with its one for Christianity within the empire. Christianity, however, was not a supreme deity, as a tool for single, uniform religion at this time, unity, and a validation of A multi-faith empire and splits, or schisms, formed. For almost 300 years after the life In 325, Constantine convened imperial authority. of Jesus Christ, the religion based the Council of Nicaea—the first on his teachings remained a minor universal council of the Christian After the Battle sect within the Roman Empire, Church—mainly to settle the Arian of Milvian Bridge, practiced alongside many other schism, a theological dispute over Constantine adopts faiths, both mono- and polytheistic. whether Jesus was of the same Christianity. It later Some aspects of Christianity, substance as God. becomes the official such as its egalitarian nature, made it suspicious to the imperial Rome is Christianized religion of the authorities however, and Christians In the mid-300s, Emperor Julian, an Roman Empire. were periodically persecuted. adherent of the old religion, tried to revive paganism, but it was too The Church is refashioned All across the ancient world at late: Christians had become a in the image of the this time, changing social, political, majority, at least in the East. The and economic conditions were faith was increasingly bound up Roman state, with a reflected in cultural and religious with empire, as the Roman state strict hierarchy and changes; Christianity was just adopted and molded the Church centralization of dogma. one of a number of monotheisms into an instrument of social and gaining popularity in the Roman political control, unity, and stability. Empire, including the Persian cult of Mithraism, with which it had Under Emperor Theodosius I much in common. (reigned 379–395), pagan temples and cults were suppressed, heresy The rise of Christianity was outlawed, and Christianity In 324, after disposing of the became the official religion of the emperor in the East, Constantine Roman Empire. Eventually, it also became sole ruler of the Roman became the faith of the barbarian Empire, and then sought to use successor states in the Roman Christianity as a unifying force Western Empire, as well as of the across his diverse and fractious Byzantine Empire in the East. Over realm. To make the increasingly the course of many centuries, the dominant eastern half easier to western (Catholic) and eastern govern, he founded a new city called (Orthodox) churches grew apart Constantinople (now Istanbul), in doctrine and organization, but Christianity endured. ■

68 HTWWHAAHDESOCTLIAITETKSYWEENWLOFRTHLTHICDAEHKEN THE SACK OF ROME (410 ce) IN CONTEXT Western Roman Steppe nomads are Empire declines forced to migrate. FOCUS in economic and Nomad invasion military strength. BEFORE Imperial authority Germanic tribes 9 ce Germanic tribes secure weakens and borders are displaced by their independence with migrating nomads. victory at Teutoburg Forest. are breached. 285 The Roman Empire is Barbarian invasions begin, divided into East and West. culminating in the Sack of Rome. 372 The Huns defeat the Germanic tribes create new kingdoms in Western Europe. Ostrogoths in Eastern Europe. I n 410 ce, Rome fell to an army of Changes known as the Migration 378 Visigoths destroy a Roman nomadic Germanic peoples— Period, or the Barbarian Invasions, army and kill the emperor at Visigoths—who pillaged the were then taking place, with great the Battle of Adrianople. city over the course of three days. movements of peoples across all of Although Rome had already ceased Eurasia, from China to Britain. 402 The Western Roman to be the capital of the Western Barbarian peoples began to invade capital moves to Ravenna. Roman Empire and the destruction settled empires such as those of was relatively restrained, the sack Rome and China from around 300 AFTER sent shock waves across the world. to 650. They carved out new 451 A Roman–German coalition defeats the Huns at the Battle of Chalons. 455 Vandal pirates loot Rome. 476 The last Western Roman emperor is deposed. 489 Theodoric of the Ostrogoths conquers Italy, with Byzantine consent.

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 69 See also: The assassination of Julius Caesar 58–65 ■ Belisarius retakes Rome 76–77 ■ Clovis unites Gaul 71 ■ The crowning of Charlemagne 82–83 ■ Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 The barbarian “other” barbarians—either Germanic The Western Empire had however auxiliaries and mercenaries, been in decline since at least the Barbarian was a Greek word or Roman citizens who were 3rd century. Its population and signifying the unintelligible actually Gauls, Britons, or one economy had diminished, making babble of those who did not of the hundreds of other groups it increasingly financially dependent speak Greek, and therefore and ethnicities. Nevertheless, on the Eastern Empire; weakening could not be considered much Roman culture survived central authority had given more civilized. Romans adopted this the invasions. For instance, autonomy to the provinces. The “them-and-us” construction. although much of Italy, Gaul, military, obliged to recruit from However, by the 4th century, the and Spain fell under the sway barbarian tribes, was losing its core boundaries between Rome and of the “Germanic” Goths, strength. In reality, the Barbarian its barbarian neighbors were Suevi, and Vandals, their Invasions were probably part of a blurred, both culturally and languages resisted Germanic process: a transition, rather than geopolitically: the barbarians influence and remain Romance a fall. Roman customs, culture, had become more like the languages—that is, languages language, and particularly its Romans, and vice versa. The that have evolved from the Latin religion in the form of Christianity, Roman army comprised mostly spoken by Romans in Rome. endured across the provinces, and many of the new ruling elite saw kingdoms, which in many cases Gaul to Spain to North Africa. themselves as continuing in the gave rise to the nations of the In the 440s the Huns, under Attila, tradition of Rome. The city itself modern era. Climatic changes in ravaged Eastern Europe before survived sack by Alaric and his Central Asia drove the nomadic being defeated by a coalition of Visigoths, and by the Vandals in horse tribes of the steppes to seek Romans and Germans. The Western 455, and flourished under Theodoric better pastures, which in turn Roman Empire shrank to encompass the Ostrogoth (489–526). forced neighboring nomads to little more than Italy itself, its puppet invade the so-called civilized emperors controlled by barbarian In their turn, the successor empires. China was ravaged by the generals. In 476, the last nominal states formed by Germanic tribes Xiongnu, Persia by the Hepthalites, emperor was deposed by one such over the following centuries and India by the White Huns. general, Odoacer, marking the end eventually found themselves under of the Roman Empire in the west. attack by further waves of invaders Barbarians at the gates such as the Magyars and Vikings. ■ In Europe, the arrival of the Huns in the lands east of the Rhine and north of the Danube displaced Germanic tribes who had long lived in delicate balance with the Roman Empire. The Visigoths moved into Roman lands, eventually storming Rome in 410, while other tribes including the Vandals, Suevi, Alans, Franks, Burgundians, and Alemanni invaded and settled territory from In Destruction (c.1935) by Thomas Cole, invaders overrun a once-great city often likened to Rome. Citizens’ bodies litter monuments that were built to celebrate the now fallen civilization.

70 FURTHER EVENTS THE INDUS VALLEY to overthrow the ruler if he did not tools and ornamental objects in CIVILIZATION COLLAPSES display these qualities. It influenced bronze, but they were also among the way the Chinese regarded their the first in Europe to use iron for c.1900–1700 bce rulers for thousands of years. items such as swords. Their striking bronze jewelry bore intricate The Indus Valley Civilization JUDAH DEFIES THE patterns featuring spirals, knotwork, (c.3300–c.1700 bce) was based ASSYRIANS and animal designs, which had a around large cities with planned lasting influence on later Celtic art. streets and impressive drainage (c.700 bce) and water-supply systems in what THE PELOPONNESIAN are now Pakistan and northwestern In the 9th century bce, the Hebrew WARS India. By 1900 bce, this civilization state of Judah (west of the Dead was in decline and no longer Sea) was part of the large Assyrian (431–404 bce) producing the elaborate jewelry and empire. In the 8th century, the fine seals for which it was famous. Judaean ruler Hezekiah refused The Peloponnesian Wars were By c.1700 bce, the great Indus cities to pay tribute to the Assyrians. fought between Athens (initially of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were The Assyrian king, Sennacherib, the most powerful Greek city- virtually empty. The reason is laid siege to Jerusalem (an event state and the center of classical unclear, but the most likely described in the Bible), but the civilization) and the more explanation is a combination of Judaeans resisted their mighty militaristic Sparta. Sparta first crop failure and a decline in trade enemies, who failed to take the launched land-based attacks on with Egypt and Mesopotamia. city. Although this was a relatively Athens, while Athens used its There is also some evidence of small setback for Assyria, it was a superior sea power to suppress flooding due to a change in the triumph for the Judaeans, who revolts along the coast. In 413 bce, course of the Indus River. attributed their victory to Yahweh. an attack on Syracuse, Sicily, This was a major factor in the went wrong, leaving most of the EMPEROR WU CLAIMS THE Hebrew peoples’ adoption of Athenian force destroyed. Then MANDATE OF HEAVEN monotheistic religion soon after. the Spartans, allied with Persia, supported rebellions in a number (1046 bce) CELTIC CULTURE of Athenian subject states and FLOURISHES AT HALLSTATT finally wiped out the Athenian fleet The idea that the emperor of China at Aegospotam (405 bce). The war rules with the approval of heaven (c.650 bce) deeply damaged Athens, ending dates to the Zhou dynasty, which the golden age of Greek culture was founded when Wu and his ally In the 8th century bce, a distinctive and leaving Sparta dominant. Jiang Ziya defeated the long-ruling culture developed around Hallstatt, Shang at the Battle of Muye in 1046 southeast of modern Salzburg, in HANNIBAL INVADES ITALY bce. The Shang had presided Austria. Hallstatt’s people were over a long period of peace and Celts, probably originally from (218 bce) prosperity but by the 1040s had Russia, and by the time their become corrupt. The Zhou concept civilization reached its highest By the 3rd century bce, Carthage, of the Mandate of Heaven aimed point, around 650 bce, it had spread in Tunisia, had established to prevent this from happening, west to eastern France, east into itself as a major regional power, placing good government above Romania, and north to Bohemia and extending along the coast of North noble birth, and sanctioning others Slovakia. Its people produced fine Africa before invading Spain in

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 71 the 230s bce. In 218 bce, Hannibal, England to the Scottish border and central Mexico, although lowland Carthage’s commander in Spain, into Wales. The Romans governed cities such as Tikal were also took his army across the Alps to Britain until c.410, founding towns, powerful. Maya civilization left a attack Italy. Despite a series of developing a system of roads, and lasting mark in North and Central victories in what became known introducing such innovations as America, its culture influencing as the Second Punic War, Hannibal underfloor heating and the use of later peoples, such as the Aztecs. could not take Rome itself and in concrete for building. Many Britons 202 bce, he returned to Africa. benefited from Roman rule and OBELISKS ARE ERECTED The Romans had proved their from strong trading links with IN THE KINGDOM OF AXUM strength, put an end to the idea the empire in products such as that Carthage was invincible in metals and grain. (4th century ce) the Mediterranean, and paved the way for their own rise to power. CHINA IS DIVIDED INTO In the 4th century ce, the people of THREE KINGDOMS the Ethiopian city of Axum erected VERCINGETORIX IS tall stone obelisks that would be a DEFEATED AT ALESIA (220 ce) feature of their civilization. Axum dominated the maritime trade (52 bce) The last years of the Han dynasty routes around the Horn of Arabia in China were marked by bitter and into the Indian Ocean, offering In 52 bce, the Gaulish chieftain divisions and fighting that led in traders a vital link between Asia Vercingetorix led a revolt of local 220 ce to the country being divided and the Mediterranean making the tribes against the Roman conquest between three rival emperors, kingdom an impressive income. of Gaul (modern France). At the all claiming to be the rightful The obelisks are up to 108 ft (33 m) Battle of Alesia, in Burgundy successors of the Han. These tall and are thought to be memorials (eastern France), Roman forces Three Kingdoms—the Wei in the to prominent people. They testify under Julius Caesar built an north, the Wu in the south, and the to the power of this early African ingenious donut-shaped Shu in the west—reached a fairly kingdom and its development fortification around the town, stable agreement over territory of a distinctive civilization. The blocking Vercingetorix inside until fighting broke out from obelisks have become symbols while also creating a stronghold 263, when the rival Jin dynasty of enduring African culture. against Gaulish reinforcements. challenged and then conquered The chieftain was forced to them. The wars had a devastating CLOVIS UNITES GAUL surrender, and after five years in impact on the population. captivity he was strangled on (late 5th century ce) Caesar’s orders. The battle resulted THE MAYA CLASSICAL in an all-embracing Roman Empire PERIOD BEGINS The end of Roman rule in Gaul stretching right across Europe. (modern France) came about (250 ce) when Clovis, leader of the Salian ROMANS OCCUPY BRITAIN Franks, defeated the Roman leader The Maya civilization reached its Syagrius in 486 ce. This victory, (43 ce) Classic phase in the 3rd century which added to those of Clovis’ ce, with a large number of cities father Childeric, brought virtually In 43 ce, on the command of the across Mexico and Guatemala all of France north of the Loire emperor Claudius, a Roman that featured distinctive temples under the rule of his dynasty, invasion force landed in Britain. shaped as stepped pyramids, called the Merovingians, after In spite of opposition from local carved monuments inscribed his grandfather Merovech. The chieftains such as Caratacus, and with dates from the complex Merovingians ruled France for a later revolt by the Iceni tribe Maya calendar, and a large and some 300 years, making real under their leader Boudica, Roman extensive trade network. The the idea of a united France rule eventually extended across largest city was Teotihaucan in independent of outside rulers.

WTHOERMLDEDI 500–1492

EVAL

74 INTRODUCTION The army of the The Abassid caliph Frankish king In Cambodia, work Eastern Roman al-Mansur’s founding of Charlemagne is crowned begins on the vast Empire, led by Baghdad marks the start Hindu temple Angkor Belisarius, retakes emperor in Rome. Wat, which becomes Rome, driving out of the Islamic golden As secular leader of the world’s largest the Ostrogoths. age. The city is a center of Christendom, he unites religious structure. much of Western Europe. Muslim scholarship. 536 762 800 1120 c.610 793 1099 1192 Muhammad announces Viking warriors mount a Christian knights Minamoto Yoritomo that he has received a divine brutal raid on a monastery seize Jerusalem becomes shogun, revelation and founds Islam. from the Muslims, establishing a line of Within 20 years, the religion on the holy island of and go on to found military rulers who will come to dominate the Lindisfarne, northern crusader states in would govern Japan England—the first of Palestine and Syria. Arabian peninsula. for 650 years. many Viking raids. H istorians call the period The rise of Islam it. Islamic civilization remained from 500 to 1500 “the The dominance of two mutually dynamic and expansive throughout Middle Ages,” seeing it as hostile monotheistic religions— the entire medieval period. a separate era sandwiched between Christianity and Islam—was the the ancient world and modern times. most distinctive characteristic of Western European fortunes In reality, there was never a clear this period across much of Eurasia. In Western Europe, civilization fell break with the ancient world. In the The founding of Islam in the 7th drastically from the level achieved eastern Mediterranean, the Roman century was a transformative event, under the Roman Empire. Warrior Empire continued for almost 1,000 and Arab armies inspired by the kings ruled over a thinly spread years after the fall of Rome, although faith altered the political landscape: population sustained by subsistence it was rebranded by historians as Muslim rule spread from Spain in agriculture, and the area remained the Byzantine Empire. The ancient the west to central Asia in the east. prey to non-Christian raiders and tradition of a united China ruled by invaders, such as the Vikings and an emperor was revived in the 6th Although a united Islamic the Magyars, into the 10th century. century and continued to the Ming caliphate could not be sustained, dynasty, albeit with interruptions. the religion ensured a continuity A nostalgia for ancient Rome Even in Western Europe, where the of civilization even when power led to King Charlemagne being breakdown after the Roman Empire’s shifted from the Arabs to other crowned emperor in 800, but the collapse was most evident, Christian peoples such as the Turks. The Holy Roman Empire, based on religion survived in Rome as the key great cities of the Muslim world the tradition Charlemagne founded, marker for the distinction between surpassed any in Christendom in failed to unify Western Europe what were considered “civilized” size and sophistication, and Muslim politically. In the absence of strong and “barbarian” societies. scholars preserved the science of centralized state systems, feudal the ancient Greeks and built upon relationships held societies together.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 75 King John of England Mansa Musa, the The bubonic plague Korean king Sejong signs the Magna Carta, wealthy ruler of Mali, arrives in Europe, declares the creation makes a high-profile which asserts that all hajj to Mecca, resulting probably originating in of a new, simpler individuals, including in the spread of Islam Asia. Within two years, alphabet for the the king, are subject it kills over one-third Korean language, to the law of the land. in West Africa. of Europe’s population. to encourage literacy. 1215 1324 1347 1443 1275 1325 1368 1492 The Venetian merchant The Aztecs found their Hongwu is proclaimed the King Ferdinand and Marco Polo arrives at the capital city Tenochtitlan first emperor of the Ming Queen Isabella of dynasty, having ousted court of Kublai Khan; in central Mexico. the Yuan dynasty. Almost Spain seize Granada, the Mongol ruler will go Meanwhile, the Incas 300 years of prosperity ending 800 years of on to conquer southern establish a civilization Muslim rule on the China four years later. and stability follow. Iberian peninsula. in Peru. From the 11th century, a revival of linked Europe to China and the China was the ultimate source of Western European culture, trade, thriving trading kingdoms of Asia, most inventions, from paper and and urban life gathered pace. The by land along the Silk Road and by printing to the magnetic compass “Medieval Warm Period” (950–1250), sea across the Indian Ocean. Cairo and gunpowder. Even relatively when Europe experienced above- and Venice both became wealthy backward Europe benefited from average temperatures, improved cities as focal points at the western improvements in shipbuilding and yields from agriculture; it was also end of this trade. metalworking, and the invention a time when great cathedrals and and spread of the plow and the castles were constructed. But However, civilized life remained windmill transformed agriculture. even when the Christian crusaders precarious. The Mongols—nomadic fought their way to Jerusalem at the warriors from the Asian steppes— By the end of the Middle Ages, heart of the Muslim world, the flow seized major cities from the Middle Western European kingdoms had of civilization was the other way, East to southern China, carrying developed from “feudal” states, with Islamic scholars far advanced out large-scale massacres. Lethal based on oaths of loyalty, to more in medicine, philosophy, astronomy, diseases were also highly prevalent. stable and centralized states, able and geography. Carried along the trade routes in the to channel their key resources into mid-14th century, the Black Death the large projects of colonization Expansion and contraction epidemic may have killed a quarter and exploration. In the Americas, By the 13th century, the world’s of the world’s population. meanwhile, civilizations such as population is believed to have risen the Aztecs and Incas continued to to around 400 million—double its Inventions and progress evolve independently, untouched by total at the high point of the ancient Technological progress was slow developments in Eurasia and Africa, empires. A wide-ranging network but cumulatively substantial. As until the Spanish conquistadors the world’s most advanced country, arrived in the 16th century. ■

76 SEMMEOEPRKIERTEGOLAEONNRDLIOMAURASGKEETITHE BELISARIUS RETAKES ROME (536 ce) IN CONTEXT O n December 9, 536 ce, the who had been responsible for army of the Eastern Roman deposing the last Western Roman FOCUS (or Byzantine) Empire, led emperor. In return the Ostrogoths The Byzantine Empire by general Belisarius, entered the would be allowed to rule Italy as city of Rome through the ancient subjects of the Byzantine Emperor. BEFORE Porta Asinaria gate. The Byzantine’s Furthermore, the Goths had been 476 ce Barbarian general arrival forced the rapid departure of encroaching on imperial lands, and Odoacer deposes the last the city’s current defenders, the so Zeno hoped their removal to Italy emperor of the Western barbarian Ostrogoths, who were would neutralize both problems. Roman Empire and rules fleeing northward through the as independent king in Italy. Porta Flaminia. Almost precisely The Gothic War 60 years after Italy had fallen out of For the following 40 years, the 493 ce Ostrogothic ruler imperial hands, it appeared that the Goths’ rule of Italy was relatively Theoderic overthrows Odoacer empire’s ancient birthplace might untroubled. However, the accession and becomes king, notionally be restored to Roman rule. of Justinian (c.482–565) as Byzantine subject to Byzantine rule. emperor in 527 changed things. The survival of Byzantium 534 ce Byzantines end Vandal While the Western Roman Empire To find money in Italy rule in North Africa. finally fell in 476 after a century of for the war is impossible, barbarian invasions, the eastern AFTER portion—the Byzantine Empire, since the country has 549 ce Byzantines recapture with its capital at Constantinople been largely reconquered Rome from the Goths for the (modern Istanbul)—weathered the third and final time. storm, its retention of rich provinces, by the enemy. such as Egypt, enabling it to mount Belisarius, 545 568 ce Lombards (a barbarian a successful defense of its territory. tribe) invade Italy and seize However, the loss of the empire’s land that Justinian had birthplace was a blow to the prestige recaptured for the Byzantines. of the Byzantine emperors, who refused to accept it. In 488, the 751 ce Lombards capture Emperor Zeno despatched one Ravenna—the last remaining tribe of Germanic barbarian major Byzantine holding in mercenaries, the Ostrogoths, to northern Italy. remove another, led by Odoacer,

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 77 See also: The Battle of Milvian Bridge 66–67 ■ The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■ The fall of Jerusalem 106–07 ■ The Great Schism 132 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 and forth between the two sides Tensions between as the war in Italy dragged on for Byzantine Empire almost 20 years. and unstable Gothic Kingdom of Italy grow. Twice the Goths retook Rome but, lacking the resources to hold Byzantines it, lost it again both times to the invade Italy and Romans. Finally, the last major capture Rome. Gothic army was defeated in 552. War devastates Italy, Emperor Justinian, a man of great The impact of the war making it harder to raise energy, set about an ambitious, Although the Byzantines had won tax revenues to fund wide-ranging program of expansion the war, the victory was hollow. and reform in order to restore the Italy was devastated—the cities its defense. Roman Empire to its former glory. had lost much of their population New barbarian and the rural economy was in invasions are able to He was determined to restore tatters. The traditional Latin- penetrate borders of Roman dignity, and this meant speaking ruling classes found that an empire crippled by reconquering the lost Roman Greek-speakers from Constantinople debt and effects of provinces. He began in 533 by were given all the key positions. despatching an army to North Rome was treated as a provincial the plague. Africa under general Belisarius, outpost of the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine who swiftly defeated the Vandals and hopes that the city might be expansion in the (a Germanic people who had ruled restored as the center of imperial west stops and there since the 430s). power were dashed. the empire turns inward. Emboldened by his success, The effects of the war, together Justinian ordered an invasion of with a plague that killed one-third Italy in 535. Belisarius’s army made of the empire’s inhabitants in 542, rapid progress and in 536 they made it hard to find troops that could successfully recaptured Rome. garrison Italy. The new province Byzantine euphoria at the recovery provided little tax revenue and it of their ancient capital was rudely became a major financial drain shattered, however, when the The optimism that greeted the Gothic King Witigis counter- capture of Rome was replaced by a attacked and subjected Rome profound gloom—a mood confirmed to a grinding, year-long siege. when in 568 the Lombards, another barbarian group, invaded Italy and Stalemate in Italy took most of the Byzantine land in Belisarius launched a fresh assault, north and central Italy. but he was recalled after Justinian began to fear that he would set Although the Byzantine Empire himself up as an independent king survived a further nine centuries, in Italy. The country passed back it was never again able to make another serious attempt to restore the Roman Empire in the west. Instead, it focused on defending its Greek-speaking core in the east, leaving the Germanic kingdoms in Italy, France, and Spain free to develop unhindered. ■

78 IN CONTEXT FHTCARAOLSUMSTEVEHAHANHONIAODSSDHED FOCUS The rise of Islam MUHAMMAD RECEIVES THE DIVINE REVELATION (c.610) BEFORE c.550 ce Fall of the Himyarite Kingdom in southern Arabia. 570 Birth of Muhammad. 611 Persian Shah Khusrau conquers the Byzantines in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. AFTER 622 Muhammad and his followers flee Mecca and take up residence in Medina. 637 Muslim army captures Jerusalem after a siege. 640 Muslim general Amr ibn al-As conquers Egypt. 661 Umayyad caliphate established by Muawiya at Damascus, Syria. 711 Muslim armies cross into Spain and conquer the Christian Visigothic kingdom. A round 610 ce, in a cave in the hills above the town of Mecca, central Arabia, Muhammad—a 40-year-old man from a merchant family—declared that he had received a divine message from the angel Gabriel. This was followed by similar revelations over the coming months and years and led to the founding of a new monotheistic religion: Islam. Within 20 years, this creed had come to dominate the Arabian peninsula, and a century later its followers had shattered the ancient Byzantine and Persian Empires, creating a state that stretched from Spain in the far west to Central Asia in the east.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 79 See also: The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■ The fall of Jerusalem 106–07 ■ Mansa Musa’s hajj to Mecca 110–11 ■ The Arab advance is halted at Tours 132 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 ■ The conquests of Akbar the Great 170–71 In this 16th-century miniature The lifestyle, and competition for scarce there was but a single God, and Kaaba, considered the house of God resources shaped a society in that believers needed to follow and the holiest shrine in Islam, is which primary loyalty was to a prescribed set of religious decorated by angels on the occasion a kinship group, or tribe. observances—including praying of the Prophet Muhammad’s birth. five times a day and fasting during At the time of Muhammad, Ramadan—set his followers apart. Arabia before Islam Arabia was in a state of religious His preaching of a single religious From the first millennium bce there and political ferment. Strong community that cut across social were sophisticated kingdoms in Jewish communities had become boundaries was perceived as southern Arabia, which derived established in Yemen in the south threatening by the traditional their wealth from the spice trade. and in northwestern oasis towns, leaders, who felt it undermined In the early days, the trade routes such as Medina, while Christianity the source of their authority. ran along the northwest coast, had gained footholds in Yemen and but by the 7th century these eastern Arabia. Although The flight to Medina had diminished as merchants monotheistic faiths were making By 622, the atmosphere in Mecca increasingly used a maritime inroads against the traditional had become so tense that route up the Red Sea, leaving many polytheistic paganism of the Muhammad and his handful of places that had been relatively Bedouin Arabs, paganism still followers fled north to Medina— prosperous in decline. There were remained strong. Conflict between an event called the hijra (meaning a few scattered towns, such as tribes was also common, and in emigration), which marked the real Medina (then known as Yathrib) Mecca, in the sacred enclosure foundation of the Islamic community. and Mecca, which were dependent known as the haram, a truce was The Medinans, who resented the on more local trade in wool and enforced so men of different tribes power of the Mecca-based Qurayshi, leather, along with a few key could trade freely without violence. were sympathetic to Muhammad’s imports such as grain and olive oil. cause and allowed him to preach The central desert regions of the Muhammad in Mecca freely, giving him the opportunity Arabian peninsula were very poor: The Meccan haram was controlled to attract further converts. Bedouin tribes followed a nomadic by the powerful Quraysh clan, of which Muhammad was a member. The Qurayshi were not content Muhammad’s rejection of paganism, to see Muhammad’s powerbase and his bold proclamation that grow in Mecca and within two ❯❯ Muhammad when he began to preach against pagan polytheism The Prophet Muhammad was and practices such as female born in Mecca around 570 ce infanticide. Muhammad’s flight to a branch of the influential to Medina in 622 marked a key Quraysh tribe. Tradition relates moment in the spread of Islam, that he was an orphan, whose as its acceptance outside Mecca first marriage to a wealthy showed that its appeal might widow named Khadijah secured transcend traditional kinship his economic future. The structures. Muhammad proved religious revelations that were an inspirational leader, and his imparted to Muhammad over adept handling of the challenges a period of about 12 years from facing the new religion meant about 610—and which would that by the time of his death in later be written down as the 632, two years after his return Qur’an—caused a rupture with to Mecca, its adherents had the traditional Meccan elites spread throughout Arabia.

80 MUHAMMAD RECEIVES THE DIVINE REVELATION The Battle of Uhud (in 625) was one of several bloody conflicts fought between the Muslims of Medina, led by Muhammad, and the larger Qurayshi army from Mecca. years violence had broken out After Muhammad’s death, Islam Conquests beyond Arabia between the established powers entered a crisis and the fledgling Having secured their position, there and Muhammad’s supporters. religion might easily have been Muhammad’s successors, in Muhammad outmaneuvered the crushed. Tribes in the east broke particular Umar (634–44), initiated Qurayshi, first by raiding their away from the Muslim religious campaigns of conquest further caravans, then defeating them in community (the umma) and afield. They were fortunate in that a pitched battle in 627, and finally declared allegiance to their own profound changes had occurred negotiating the right to return to prophet, while the Medinans were on the northern fringes of Arabia. Mecca on a pilgrimage in 629. By unhappy about the dominance of Between 602 and 628, the two long- the time he died in 632, Muhammad Meccans in the movement. The established empires in the area— was re-established in Mecca, and choice of Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s the Byzantines to the northwest his diplomatic and military father-in-law, as caliph (successor) and the Persian Sassanids to the successes in attracting other tribes signaled that the leadership would northeast—had been engaged to his cause had made his position remain in the Prophet’s family and in a long, vicious war that ended in unassailable. As his authority this, together with a series of catastrophe for both parties. Their spread, so too did the reach of his successful military campaigns coffers had been drained by the religious message and the numbers against the malcontents, enabled costs of the conflict and some of new Muslim converts. the umma to survive. regions within their territories had been utterly devastated. Both sides had also become reliant on Arabs to defend their borders and small, semi-independent Arab states had emerged on the peripheries of the two empires. Rapid defeat The Arab armies that swept northward in the 630s faced far less resistance than they would have half a century earlier. Provinces fell easily as weakened garrisons and the doubtful loyalty of citizens undermined resistance. Although relatively small in number and lightly armed, the Arab armies were very mobile and did not need to defend fixed positions, giving them a huge advantage over their opponents. When they defeated the Byzantines at Yarmuk in 636, the whole edifice of imperial control in Palestine and Syria came crashing down. In the case of Persia, it took Arab generals just nine years to dismember the Sassanid Empire.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 81 Islamic society Muhammad Traditional political and religious The newly conquered lands became receives the divine allegiances are weakened. part of an Islamic caliphate. Many of its inhabitants converted, while revelation. those who did not were tolerated if they were Christians, Jews, or Islam rapidly gains adherents among Arab tribes. Zoroastrians, provided they paid a special tax. Islam transformed the Expansion of Islam Arab armies make swift lands it absorbed in many ways. raises tensions over who conquests in the Middle As well as sweeping away the old has supreme authority. imperial structures, it imparted a East; Islam spreads. new sense of religious community, often uniting the conquerors and Islam continues to spread but divides into Sunni the conquered. Islamic scholars and Shia factions and competing caliphates. resurrected the works of Greek philosophers and scientists that Growing divisions mainstream Sunni (who rejected had languished forgotten for Tensions over the succession to the this) became definitive—a division centuries, translating them into caliphate resulted in a major schism that continues to this day. Arabic, and beautiful mosques in Islam. A struggle between Ali, began to adorn the towns. Areas Muhammad’s son-in-law, and Islamic unity was fractured in that had been marginalized under Muawiya, the Governor of Syria, other ways too; ruling over such a the Byzantine or Sassanid Empires led to a civil war that ended in vast empire was almost impossible now found themselves at the heart Ali’s murder and Muawiya taking when messages from the eastern of a new, vibrant civilization. control of the caliphate in 661. and western extremities might take While Muawiya’s descendants months to reach the caliph’s court. Success, however, brought its (the Umayyads) ruled from the Independent Muslim dynasties own problems for Islam. Acquiring Syrian city of Damascus, Ali’s emerged in peripheral areas and lands far more urbanized than followers opposed their authority, rival caliphs appeared in the 10th Arabia meant that the caliphs had claiming the caliph should be century in Spain, Tunisia, and to adapt from being warrior chiefs chosen from among Ali’s offspring. Egypt. Yet even though its political commanding a tight-knit group of After the murder of Ali’s son Husayn unity had been shattered, and its followers, to monarchs ruling over a at Karbala in 680, the split between religious unity compromised, huge area with complex economies the Shia (those who supported Muhammad’s creed was so popular and societies. In addition to this, the right of Ali’s descendents to and successful that by the 21st Muslims were initially in the rule the caliphate) and the more century there were about 1.5 billion minority, and not wholly united. Muslims worldwide. ■ Recite in the name of your Lord who created, Created man from a blood-clot. Qur’an (Surah 96) The first words revealed to Muhammad (c.610 ce)

82 ICSASHHLARAETDIASOPDTWEEIAARCNTIHENNEAWTHIOONSE THE CROWNING OF CHARLEMAGNE (800) IN CONTEXT O n Christmas Day, 800 an over western rulers. In due course, extraordinary event took Charlemagne’s empire (which later FOCUS place at St. Peter’s Basilica, became known as the Holy Roman Foundations of medieval Rome. Pope Leo III crowned the Empire) expanded to cover a vast Christendom Frankish King Charlemagne with area and laid the foundations for an imperial diadem, coronating the some of the future nation-states BEFORE first emperor in the west for three of Western Europe. 496 ce Frankish King Clovis centuries. The imperial crown converts to Christianity. established Charlemagne and his New rulers successors as secular rivals to the In the half century before the 507 Clovis defeats Visigoths Papacy’s claim (as spiritual head of Western Roman Empire finally to gain dominance over Gaul. the church) to a position of authority collapsed in 476 ce, most of its 754 Pope Stephen II The Roman Charlemagne Weak pope recognizes Pippin III Empire in the expands the seeks allies as King of the Franks. West collapses. Frankish state. outside Italy. 768 Pippin dies and the The pope crowns Charlemagne as emperor Kingdom of the Franks is in Rome—the first in 300 years. divided between Charlemagne and his brother Carloman. The notion of the emperor as the secular leader of Christendom allows the office to survive 771 Death of Carloman leaves divisions of the Frankish kingdom. Charlemagne as sole ruler over the Frankish kingdom. AFTER 843 Frankish realm is divided again by Treaty of Verdun. 962 Otto I, Duke of Saxony, is crowned Emperor by the pope. He unites Germany and Italy to form what was later called the Holy Roman Empire.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 83 See also: The Battle of Milvian Bridge 66–67 ■ The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■ Belisarius retakes Rome 76–77 ■ The Investiture Controversy 96–97 ■ The fall of Jerusalem 106–07 ■ Martin Luther’s 95 theses 160–63 He cultivated the By contrast, the Papacy had liberal arts most studiously experienced difficult times in the 8th century, snared in petty power and, greatly respecting politics as various Roman noble those who taught them, families sought to secure positions in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. he granted them After Leo was assaulted in Rome great honours. in 799, he fled across the Alps to Einhard seek help from Charlemagne, inviting him to bring order to Frankish scholar and courtier Italy and restore the status of the (c.770–840) church. A year later, Leo crowned Charlemagne, creating a Western emperor alongside the Eastern one. Charlemagne provinces were invaded by barbarian Carolingian Renaissance Charlemagne (c.747–814) was tribes who established smaller Charlemagne pushed forward his the eldest son of Pippin III, kingdoms on its former territory. At program of reforms, issuing an who in 751 deposed the last first, the Eastern Roman emperors edict in 802 that required an oath Merovingian king of the did not recognize the legitimacy of of loyalty to be sworn and laying Franks and assumed the royal these new kings’ right to rule in out the duties of his vassals. He office himself. Energetic and nominally Roman territory. But as also invited distinguished scholars visionary, Charlemagne the new kingdoms, particularly that to court, and encouraged academic greatly expanded the Frankish of the Franks, became stronger and disciplines that had languished kingdom. He was also a very more unified, Eastern Roman since the collapse of the Roman strong ruler, implementing recognition ceased to matter. Empire, including grammar, reforms that enhanced the rhetoric, and astronomy. Music, authority of the monarchy From kingdom to empire literature, art, and architecture and the church. In addition, Charlemagne, who came to the also flourished during his reign. he reformed the kingdom’s Frankish throne in 768, expanded economy by introducing his dominions extensively over After Charlemagne’s death, a new monetary system, time, conquering northern Italy divisions were rife. The Frankish standardizing weights and and Saxony, gaining some areas custom of dividing the kingdom measures, and unifying an from the Arabs in northern Spain, between several heirs weakened array of different currencies and taking Avar territories in the central authority and led to civil to encourage commerce and Danube. He strengthened Frankish wars; it also allowed the emergence trade. His acquisition of the administration, establishing a of powerful landowners, who often imperial title in 800 further network of missi domenici—royal challenged royal authority. consolidated his power, but at agents who would enforce his will Ultimately, the empire split into first he made no plans to pass in the provinces. For the first time two main portions, which roughly it on. His first decision on the in centuries, a powerful ruler equate to France and Germany succession, in 806, divided controlled most of the former Western today. The title of emperor was the realm between three of Roman Empire’s lands, turning passed down to the immediate his sons but made no mention them into a single political entity. descendants of Charlemagne and of the office of emperor. then, from the 10th century, to However, the deaths of two of more distantly related German his sons led Charlemagne to princes. In this form, as the Holy bequeath his lands and title to Roman Empire, it was to survive a single heir—Louis the Pious. to the early 19th century. ■

84 TWSHTEEAATRLETUIHLSEYRDBEIUSSTTTRHOEYED THE AN LUSHAN REVOLT (756 ce) IN CONTEXT Protecting China’s borders Civil service reforms requires a larger military, reduce the political power FOCUS Tang China leading to the rise of traditionally wielded by powerful army commanders noble families. BEFORE and increased taxation. 618 Li Yuan becomes first emperor of the Tang dynasty. Tensions and competition for power in the Tang court between aristocrats, bureaucrats, and 632–35 Chinese armies capture Kashgar, Kokand, military commanders leads to An Lushan revolt. and Yarkand in Central Asia. Tang authority is restored, but central control is weakened, 751 Tang armies are defeated eventually leading to the break up of China. by Arab forces at the Battle of Talas River (Kyrgyzstan). I n 618, the Tang dynasty relative political stability, and succeeded the Sui as rulers of economic growth that triggered AFTER China, ushering in one of the a cultural and artistic renaissance 762 Luoyang is retaken by the most glittering eras in the country’s and technological innovation. Tang, and in 763 the last Yan history. The early Tang emperors emperor commits suicide, directed military campaigns that But in 755, this golden age was ending the An Lushan revolt. pushed China’s frontiers deep into violently interrupted by An Lushan, Central Asia, and established a discontented army general who 874 The faction-torn Tang a centralized government with a led an internal rebellion against the court is unable to resist the highly competent bureaucracy to Tang that plunged northern China first of a series of revolts by administer the empire. Later rulers into a devastating war, after which over-taxed peasants. presided over long periods of peace, the dynasty was never again fully in control of the country. 907 The last Tang emperor is overthrown by rebel leader Zhu Wen, who founds the Later Liang dynasty. 960 China is reunified under the Song dynasty.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 85 See also: The First Emperor unifies China 54–57 ■ Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■ Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■ Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–27 An Lushan’s rebels conquered and occupied Chang’an, but the general himself remained in Luoyang, where he was later assassinated by one of his sons in a dispute over the succession. rebellious nobles, ambitious professional bureaucrats, and military governors, some of whom had begun to intervene in politics. However, it was a series of military debacles that provided the spark for revolt against the Tang, including the defeat by Abbasid Arabs in 751 that halted China’s expansion into Central Asia. The seeds of rebellion the nobility to grab land to increase Turning on the Tang Under Xuanzong (712–56), the Tang their regional power bases, and led Discontent exploded among the dynasty reached the zenith of its to unrest among the peasantry. military, which saw its position power and prestige, yet several key threatened now that the era of economic, social, and political Lastly, earlier reforms made by conquest was over. An Lushan, issues threatened to destabilize it. Emperor Taizong (reigned 626–649) a prominent military governor who to the examination system used to had become a court favorite, rose Firstly, the state was struggling recruit civil servants, which opened up against his masters. Claiming to raise sufficient taxes to fund a it up to able men from humbler that the emperor had asked him to sharp rise in military expenditure. backgrounds without connections, remove Yang Guozhong (the court’s The fu-bing, the cost-effective and had created a bureaucracy based chief minister, with whom An self-supporting national militia on merit that eroded the power Lushan was engaged in an intense system in which soldiers worked and influence of the aristocracy. power struggle), he mobilized a the land when not required for Xuanzong now had to manage rival rebel army and marched south. active military duty, was proving factions in his court—potentially inadequate in the face of repeated At first the revolt looked set for invasions by neighboring groups. Ten thousand success: it captured the eastern Xuanzong was forced to establish houses with stabbed capital, Luoyang, early in 756— military provinces along China’s where An Lushan declared a rival northern frontiers, headed by local hearts emit the dynasty, the Yan—before storming governors who commanded huge smoke of desolation. Chang’an, the primary capital. armies, and who came to acquire Xuanzong fled from his court, only considerable power and autonomy. Wang Wei just escaping An Lushan’s clutches. The Tang’s coffers were drained Tang poet (756) After eight years of war, the further by the failure of the “equal Tang finally crushed the revolt, but field” system, a program of land the effort had fatally weakened it. distribution and tax collection that Over the next century it lost more protected small farmers from the political power to the military, and depredations of wealthy landowners further rebellions broke out. By 907, by periodically reallocating land to the empire had fragmented into them. Its gradual demise enabled local dynasties and kingdoms that vied for power for 50 years. ■

SA SPUIRRGEITIN IANNDINATNEALWLAIGKEENNICNEG THE FOUNDING OF BAGHDAD (762)



88 THE FOUNDING OF BAGHDAD IN CONTEXT Islamic conquests result in many collections of Greek FOCUS manuscripts being held in Islamic society and science Arab-controlled areas. BEFORE 711 A Muslim Arab and Translation of Greek Al-Mansur founds Berber army conquers the scientific texts in the House Baghdad and the city Visigothic Kingdom of Spain. of Wisdom in Baghdad leads becomes a centre of to Arab scientific advances. Muslim science and 756 Umayyad prince Abd ar-Rahman I establishes a learning. court at Cordoba in Spain. Arabic translations AFTER of Greek authors appear 800 The first Islamic hospital in Europe where they are is established in Baghdad. translated into Latin, so diffusing knowledge of lost 825 Al-Khwarizmi introduces decimal notation (derived from classical texts. India) to the Islamic world. dropping brass balls onto cymbals speakers, Persians, and central 1138–54 Al-Idrisi compiles a at the mechanism’s base. This Asians, had been among the world map for Roger II of Sicily. sophisticated timepiece was just Abbasids’ principal backers and one of the advances the Arabs had had provided them with a power 1258 The sack of Baghdad made—advances that left their base independent of the Arab marks the end of the Abbasid European counterparts far behind. tribes based in northern Arabia, caliphate. Syria, and Iraq who had supported The rise of the Abbasids the Umayyads. 1259 An astronomical After the death of the Prophet observatory is founded at Muhammad in 632, his successors It was in part to provide land Maragha. ruled over a growing Islamic empire for his Khurasani soldiers that (or caliphate). Following the murder al-Mansur, the second Abbasid I n 762 the second ruler of the in 744 of the caliph al-Walid, a caliph, established the city of newly ascendant Abbasid member of the Umayyad family that Baghdad in 762. He chose the site dynasty moved the capital of had ruled from Damascus since 661, for its mild climate and its location the powerful Islamic Caliphate from civil war broke out, ending only on the trade routes between Persia, Damascus to the newly-founded when the Abbasid dynasty came to Arabia, and the Mediterranean. city of Baghdad. The move is often power in 750. The Abbasids spent It was also just 20 miles to the seen as marking the beginning of their first decade pacifying the southeast of the Persian royal seat an Islamic golden age in which empire, with the help of troops from at Ctesiphon, which it soon eclipsed, science, art, and culture flourished. Khurasan in northeastern Iran. enabling the new dynasty to portray The extent of Muslim technological These troops, a mixture of Arab- themselves as masters of a culture development was demonstrated in that stretched back to Cyrus the 802 when the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid dispatched an embassy to the Frankish ruler, Charlemagne, which included the gift of a water clock that chimed the hours by

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 89 See also: Siddartha Gautama preaches Buddhism 40–41 ■ The palace at Knossos 42–43 ■ The conquests of Alexander the Great 52–53 ■ Muhammad receives the divine revelation 78–81 ■ Mansa Musa’s Hajj to Mecca 110–11 ■ The Arab advance is halted at Tours 132 ■ The conquests of Akbar the Great 170–71 ■ Great in the 6th century bce. The In addition to his profound his personal physician, and for heart of the new capital was a mile- knowledge of logic and law eight generations until the mid-11th wide, circular enclosure in which century, members of the Bukhtishu sat the caliphal palace and main [al-Mansur... was] very family occupied the position at the government offices. interested in philosophy and Baghdad court, bringing with them knowledge of Greek and Hellenistic Search for knowledge observational astronomy. texts and medical practices. In 800, The Abbasids laid claim not only Said al-Andalusi Caliph Harun al-Rashid asked Jibril to their predecessors’ political ibn Bukhtishu, Jurjis’s grandson, to heritage, but also to their cultural Islamic historian (c.1068) head the new hospital in Baghdad, and scientific achievements. the first in the Islamic world. Although the Umayyad Empire western Iran became a center of had included ancient seats of medical scholarship. It was staffed Al-Mansur established a library Greek learning such as Alexandria mainly by Christians from the in Baghdad to house his collection in Egypt, under their rule there had Nestorian sect, which had been of manuscripts. This venture was been little sponsorship of scientific persecuted in the Byzantine made easier by the Arab adoption endeavor. This changed under the Empire. In 765, al-Mansur is said of paper as a medium for books, Abbasids, who spent their time to have summoned staff member and the establishment in Baghdad consolidating Islamic rule rather Jurjis ibn Jibril ibn Bukhtishu to in 795 of a paper mill. However, than on campaigns of conquest. Baghdad to diagnose a stomach since Arabic speakers had no They sponsored scholars to explore complaint. So pleased was the access to this learning, the library knowledge gained from foreign caliph with his treatment that he did little to advance an indigenous works, rather than relying solely on prevailed upon Jurjis to stay on as Arab scientific tradition. the guidance found in the Koran and the hadiths (the sayings of the House of Wisdom Prophet Muhammad). To remedy this, Harun al-Rashid (caliph from 786 to 809) and The earliest advances were al-Mamun (reigned 813–833) made in medicine. During the mid- established the Bayt al Hikma to late 6th century, a philosophical (House of Wisdom), which not only school at Gondeshapur in south- housed the growing library, but ❯❯ Harun al-Rashid Harun (763–809) succeeded as in 806, personally commanding caliph in 783 after the mysterious an army of many thousands. death of his older brother al-Hadi, Harun’s gift of an elephant to who had reigned for just one year. Charlemagne in 802 was part of For the first 20 years of his reign, a series of diplomatic exchanges the Barmakid family, who helped with the Frankish court that strengthen a powerful central were intended to put further administration, dominated court. pressure on the Byzantines. Under Harun’s rule, Baghdad became the most powerful city in Harun’s House of Wisdom, the Islamic world, and flourished a translation bureau, library, as a center of knowledge, culture, and academy for scholars and invention, and trade. Even so, for intellectuals from across the almost two decades Harun based empire, contributed to his himself at Raqqa, closer to the nickname al-Rashid (“the Just”). frontiers of the Byzantine Empire, He died in 809 while on an against which he launched a raid expedition to Khurasan in the northeast of Iran.

90 THE FOUNDING OF BAGHDAD also acted as an academy for that had been discovered had been Jews and Christians... scholars and a center for the rendered into Arabic. Many of them translate these scientific books translation of key scientific works were not available in Western into Arabic. Among its leading Europe at all, and even if they had and attribute them to their scholars were Hunayn ibn Ishaq been, knowledge of Greek had all own people... when they are (808–873), a Nestorian Christian but disappeared there. The Muslim from al-Hira in Iraq, who translated world was therefore well set by indeed Muslim works. more than 100 mostly medical and around 850 to build on the scientific Muhammad ibn Ahmad philosophical works; and Thabit ibn traditions of Classical and Hellenistic Qurra, a member of a pagan sect Greeks transmitted and developed Ibn Abdun known as the Sabaeans, who under the Roman Empire—and to translated Elements, Euclid’s acquire a centuries-long lead over Legal scholar (early 12th century) great work on geometry, and the Christian Western Europeans. Almagest, Ptolemy’s key work of these calculation techniques, on astronomy. Complex calculations arriving in 771 with a delegation of An understanding of mathematics Hindu scholars. The scholars were Translation became a highly and astronomy is essential to the visiting al-Mansur’s court (which in prestigious endeavor. One Arab calculation of the times at which itself illustrates the comparative patron paid an extravagant 2,000 Muslims must observe their five openness and tolerance of the dinars a month to ensure his daily prayers (times that varied association with a translation of widely across the vast Islamic a work by the Greek physician Empire), therefore both disciplines Galen (a dinar, made of pure gold, were studied assiduously. Another, weighed the same as 72 grains of separate, intellectual tradition barley). Within around 150 years, contributed to the development almost all of the key Greek texts The House of Wisdom played host to House Mathematical scholars who translated Latin and Greek of Wisdom advances made works into Arabic. In doing so, they built upon possible the use classical knowledge and made breakthroughs of algebra and in fields such as mathematics and medicine. decimal places. Hindu numerals, including the number zero, came from India. Philosophical and Arabic versions scientific works by of classical Greek Aristotle and Plato texts ensured the came from conquered survival of ancient Greek lands. knowledge.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 91 The Canon of Medicine by ibn Sina or Avicenna (980–1037) set the standard for medicine in the Islamic world and medieval Europe, and remained an authority for centuries. early Abbasids), and brought with instrument in which the celestial observations with theoretical them India’s relatively advanced sphere was projected onto a flat analysis. Al-Razi (died 925) mathematics, including the use of plane marked with latitude and produced the first description of trigonometry to help solve algebraic longitude lines. smallpox and measles, as well as equations. Crucially, the Hindu compiling a medical compendium mathematicians also employed By the 13th century, Islamic that began a tradition of such a decimal notation, which one of the astronomy was at its zenith, and encyclopedias, culminating in members of the House of Wisdom, in 1259 a great observatory was the Canon of Medicine by ibn Sina Al-Khwarizmi (c.780–830), adopted constructed at Maragha in eastern (who was known as Avicenna in and described in The Book of Iran. Here Nasr al-Din al-Tusi the West). Composed around 1015, Addition and Subtraction According and his successors made fine it included separate sections for to Hindu Calculation. adjustments to account for slight diseases that are specific to one discrepancies in the orbit of the body part, and those that afflict Furthermore, Al-Khwarizmi also planets, assisted by mechanical the body as a whole. explained a method of calculating clocks that enabled them to record the square roots of numbers, and their observations in fine detail. Islamic science spreads pioneered work on algebraic Muslim scholars made advances in The Islamic expansion that began equations. He and his fellow many other areas, too, first building in the mid-7th century not only scholars made rapid strides in on the base of Greek manuscripts absorbed ancient centers of geometry, taking as their starting translated into Arabic, and then learning such as Alexandria, but point Euclid’s and Archimedes’s making their own discoveries. They also brought the Muslim world to work on spheres and cylinders. did not accept the theories of the the fringes of Western Europe ancients uncritically: al-Haythem through the conquest of Spain Astronomy and medicine (died 1039) produced a key work, (from 711) and Sicily (from 827). Al-Khwarizmi compiled the first the Book of Optics, in which he A tradition of Islamic learning known tables of daily prayer times speculated that sight was the result embedded itself in both areas, at Baghdad, his calculations of light traveling from an object to and particularly in the Iberian assisted by direct astronomical the eye, rather than the other way Peninsula, known to the Arabs as observation. The early Islamic around as Ptolemy had theorized. al-Andalus. The court established astronomers drew from Ptolemy’s Arab physicians continued to make there in 756 by Abd ar-Rahman I, ❯❯ Almagest, adopting his view that progress, combining their practical the Earth was at the center of the solar system, and that the planets rotated around it along the lines of eight spheres. They also learned from Hindu astronomers, translating and perfecting Indian zij, or tables of planetary positions, and continued to refine Ptolemy’s system, only occasionally (as in the work of the 10th-century astronomer al-Biruni) toying with a heliocentric system that had the sun at its center. Their calculations were made simpler when in the mid-eighth century they adopted the astrolabe, an

92 THE FOUNDING OF BAGHDAD The ancient Greek thinker Aristotle astrolabe, and of a type of abacus Classical Greek texts arrived teaches Muslim students how to that used a decimal system. directly from the Byzantine Empire measure the positions of the Sun, This was the first example of the to the West (in particular Pisa, Moon, and stars in this imagined system’s use in medieval Europe. which had a trading quarter in scene from an Arabic manuscript. It was a small beginning, and one Constantinople), including works paralleled in southern Italy where a by the philosopher Aristotle. The a refugee Umayyad prince who had medical school was established at main channel for the transmission escaped the Abbasid revolution, Salerno in the 9th century. A few of Islamic learning into Europe, became a magnet for scholars Islamic manuscripts reached the however, continued to be Spain. As from the East, and its libraries school in the early years, but many Islamic Spain shrank, pressurized became a repository of precious more arrived in the late 11th by the Reconquista, the flow of ancient texts that had been century when Muslim doctor materials accelerated. The Christian translated into Arabic. Constantine the African returned reconquest spread increasingly into from Qairawan in Tunisia. He had Muslim emirates until, in 1085, In 967, the French cleric and gone there to study medicine, and Alfonso VI of Castile captured scholar Gerbert of Aurillac (who in brought back with him works such Toledo. The city became a center 999 would become Pope Sylvester as the Complete Art of Medicine by for the translation of Arabic works II) arrived in Spain for a three-year Ali ibn al-Abbas al-Majusi (known by an international group including period of study at a monastery in in the West as Haly Abbas), parts the Englishman Herbert of Ketton, Catalonia. There he had access of which he then translated into Slav Hermann of Carinthia, the to manuscripts that had filtered Latin. This translation gave Western Frenchman Raymond of Marseilles, over the border from Muslim-held doctors and scholars access to Jewish scholar Abraham ibn Ezra, al-Andalus. He took back to France comparatively advanced Muslim and Italian Gerhard of Cremona. knowledge of Arabic technology medical knowledge. In the mid-12th century, the group such as the water clock and the

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 93 translated many Arabic texts polymath who knew at least four [Roger II of Sicily] is into Latin, including works on languages, Roger so impressed his responsible for singular mathematics, medicine, and contemporaries with his learning innovations and for marvelous philosophy. Western Europe now that he became known as Stupor inventions, such as no prince had access to Ptolemy’s Almagest, Mundi (“the Marvel of the World”). has ever before realized. and to the medical works of Galen, Among his protégés were the as well as access to new works by Scottish scholar Michael Scot, who Al-Idrisi, c.1138 Arabic writers who had built on translated key works of Aristotle or summarized the work of their on zoology, and the Pisan Leonardo such as the Shia Buyids, and, from ancient predecessors, such as ibn Fibonacci, who had been sent 1055, the Seljuqs, a Turkish group Sina’s Canon of Medicine. This by his merchant family to study originating in central Asia. The final five-book encyclopedia became one mathematics at Bougie in Muslim blow was dealt by the Mongols, of the most widely used treatises in North Africa. There Fibonacci who surged westward into the European medical schools until the learned of the decimal system, and Islamic world in the early 13th 16th century. in 1202 he published the Book of century. In 1258, the Mongol Great Calculations, the most detailed Khan Möngke unleashed an army Royal patronage account yet seen in Europe of the against Iraq, which laid siege to This transmission of knowledge Arabic system of numbering. and then sacked Baghdad, inflicting to the West mirrored the process an appalling massacre on its by which the Islamic world had By the early 13th century, inhabitants. The last ruling absorbed Greek learning during the Abbasid Empire had all but Abbasid caliph al-Musta’sim was the great period of translation collapsed. The difficulties of ruling executed, and political and cultural into Arabic in the 9th and 10th such a far-flung empire and the leadership of the Islamic world centuries. Noble and royal patrons effects of a series of civil wars had passed first to the Mamluks in Cairo played similar roles in both phases led to key provinces such as Spain, and then, after their conquest of of the transmission. King Roger II Tunisia, and Egypt breaking away Egypt in 1517, to the Ottoman Turks. of Sicily (which by 1091 had been to be ruled by their own caliphs. reconquered from the Muslims) Even in Baghdad, where the By this time Europeans had invited Arab scholar al-Idrisi to his Abbasid caliphs clung on, they rediscovered Greek and Roman court in 1138 with a commission were only notionally sovereign. Real learning in almost every field of to construct a map of the world power was held by other dynasties scholarship through the medium of based on Islamic geographical Arabic texts. It had taken centuries and cartographic works. The result, Roger II invited scholar al-Idrisi to for the new material to be absorbed, which took more than 15 years to create an accurate map of the known and a further wave of interest in complete, was by far the most world in 1138. Al-Idrisi presented the classical manuscripts in the 15th accurate world map yet available planisphere, and an accompanying century to spark the Renaissance to Europeans, and showed areas book, to his patron in 1154. in Europe. The House of Wisdom as far east as Korea. The map founded by the Abbasid caliphs was accompanied by the Book of had played a key role in ensuring Pleasant Journeys into Faraway the survival of Greek and Roman Lands, in which al-Idrisi’s royal science in the Islamic world, patron could have read of wondrous allowing its transmission centuries things such as cannibals in Borneo, later to Christian Europe. ■ and the gold trade in Ghana. A tradition of learning Roger’s grandson Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 until 1250, continued his grandfather’s tradition of sponsoring translations of Arabic texts. A remarkable

94 HNAPEAPVSEESRAURBCEEHDFAOINRTBEERRIRTOARIN THE VIKING RAID ON LINDISFARNE (793) IN CONTEXT O n a calm June day in 793, enabled its crew to sail far up a party of men landed on waterways and alight stealthily on FOCUS the shore of the holy island shores. Each ship could carry up to Viking raiders of Lindisfarne in northern England, 80 warriors, recruited by a warlord and mounted a ferocious attack whose authority depended on his BEFORE on its monastery. The invaders military prowess and his success 550–750 In Sweden, the murdered some of the monks, in capturing booty for his followers. Vendel period is a time of dragged others away into slavery, increased prosperity. and plundered the church’s No single motive drove the treasures before slipping away. Vikings to venture across the sea. 737 Construction of Danevirke In parts of Scandinavia, population fortifications in Denmark This unexpected assault was growth may have forced young men shows growing royal authority. the first recorded raid by Vikings— into a piratical lifestyle; in others, pagan seafaring warriors from perhaps the increasing strength of AFTER Denmark, Norway, and Sweden— local clan leaders sparked power 841 Vikings establish a and news of it sent waves of horror struggles that pushed the losers permanent settlement in and fear across Christian Europe. into exile. And the newly rich Ireland, which will grow Over the next 200 years, Vikings trading towns in northern Europe into the city of Dublin. would ravage and loot settlements across large parts of the continent. The ravages of heathen 845 Viking raiders advance But they were also colonists and men miserably destroyed along the Seine and sack Paris. traders with a sophisticated artistic culture who left a lasting imprint on God’s church on 867 Danish Vikings take the places they invaded and settled. Lindisfarne with control of Northumbria in plunder and slaughter. northeast England. An unstoppable force Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Within six years of the Lindisfarne 911 Vikings found Duchy of raid, bands of Vikings—or “Danes” Normandy in northern France. as they were known in Anglo-Saxon England—were targeting the wealth 10th century Swedish “Rus” of other Christian sites in England, Vikings are dominant in Kiev Scotland, Ireland, and France. Key and Novgorod in Russia. to the success of these missions was the Viking longship, a slender vessel with a shallow bottom that

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 95 See also: The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■ Belisarius retakes Rome 76–77 ■ The crowning of Charlemagne 82–83 ■ Alfred rules Wessex 132 ■ Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 were irresistible targets for a warrior News of rich targets Population pressure society in which a reputation for across the North Sea and political instability valiant deeds was a great asset. attracts rootless young men to war leaders. in Scandinavia. Conquest and settlement As the Vikings’ raiding parties Success of Lindisfarne Attack on grew in size, many of the men attack attracts more Lindisfarne started to settle in the territories Monastery. they invaded, including those in warriors to join Britain and France. In the late 9th new raids. Raids lead to permanent century, England was divided into Viking settlements. a number of kingdoms that offered from raiding and pillaging to more no coherent resistance to the organized settlement and conquest. and in 1066, an unsuccessful Viking challenge, while France Cnut of Denmark created a Viking attempt to claim the English was consumed by civil war. North Sea empire that included throne by the Norwegian King Denmark, Norway, and England. Harald Hardrada, was the final This disunited opposition helped Yet it did not survive his death, flourish of the Viking age that the Vikings to conquer northern began with the sack of Lindisfarne. ■ and central England—where they established a kingdom that lasted almost 100 years—and to occupy land in northern France, where their descendants became French- speaking Normans. In the east, Vikings traded and raided along Russia’s rivers, which brought them silver from the Islamic world and contact with the Byzantine Empire. By the 11th century, most of the Scandinavian kingdoms had adopted Christianity, and turned Viking expansion in the North Atlantic The Vikings were among the most The Vikings used their knowledge son, Leif Eriksson, was driven skilled shipbuilders, sailors, and of winds and currents to navigate off course at sea and landed in navigators in the Western world the seas and discover new lands. a region teeming with hardwood of the early Middle Ages. Around 800, they colonized the forests and wild grapes that he Faroe Islands, and used them as called Vinland (Land of Wine). a stepping stone to explore the North Atlantic. By the 870s, their Subsequent expeditions to ships had reached Iceland, where this area, which is located in settlers founded a colony that what is now Newfoundland in grew politically independent. eastern Canada, led to a tiny Viking colony, but this was In 982, Erik the Red, exiled abandoned after attacks by from Iceland for murder, stumbled hostile indigenous people. upon Greenland and established Nevertheless, Leif and his crew a new colony there. A Norse saga had been the first Europeans to tells how, 18 years later, Erik’s set foot on North American soil.

96 NCTHHEVEUERRRCOHEMRHARANESD THE INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY (1078) IN CONTEXT Laxness in observing F or three days in 1078, the church rules on clerical Holy Roman Emperor Henry FOCUS marriage and investiture IV stood penitent, barefoot The medieval church of bishops leads to calls in the snow outside the Italian and the papacy fortress of Canossa, begging Pope for reform. Gregory VII for absolution. This BEFORE Gregory VII promotes event was the culmination of the 1048–1053 Pope Leo IX issues reform, including a ban Investiture Controversy, a struggle decrees against simony and on lay investiture. between the two men about the priestly marriage, beginning extent of secular authority over the the reform movement. Emperor and Christian church, and the authority pope clash to appoint—or invest—bishops. 1059 A college of cardinals to elect new popes is established. over investiture; Both king and pope were rulers the emperor is of particular domains, but they also 1075 The Lateran Council excommunicated. had rival symbolic claims to lead all decrees that only the pope Christendom. An emperor had to can appoint bishops. The pope’s victory in be crowned by the pope before he the investiture struggle assumed the imperial title. Pope 1076 Gregory VII deposes and strengthens the reform Gregory VII asserted that the pope’s excommunicates Henry IV. movement and papal authority was supreme in spiritual matters, and that even in secular AFTER administration. affairs it stood far above that of 1084 Henry IV captures Rome, worldly princes. forcing Gregory VII to flee to southern Italy. When at last Gregory signaled forgiveness of the penitent emperor, 1095 The pope calls a it marked a bitter blow for imperial Crusade, asserting papal prestige and a huge triumph for the leadership over Christendom. independence of the church. 1122 In the Concordat of The state of the church Worms, Henry V gives up By the early 11th century, the papacy almost all rights to invest was at a low ebb. It had failed to bishops. impose—or had lost—authority over national churches outside Italy,

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 97 See also: The Battle of Milvian Bridge 66–67 ■ The crowning of Charlemagne 82–83 ■ The fall of Jerusalem 106–07 ■ Otto I becomes Holy Roman Emperor 132 ■ Martin Luther’s 95 theses 160–63 Henry was refused entry when Gregory vigorously promoted papal I Henry, by the grace of at last his long trek across the Alps authority, and in 1075 a church God august emperor of the brought him to the castle gates. Only council declared that only the Romans… do remit to the holy after three days’ penitence was the pope had the power to appoint Catholic church, all investiture emperor’s excommunication lifted. bishops or move them to a different through ring and staff and area. Henry, facing the loss grant that in all the churches and monarchs were appointing of authority over large tracts of there may be free election their own bishops, especially in Germany, continued to appoint Germany where the office often bishops and called for the pope to and consecration. came with considerable territorial step down. Gregory retaliated by Henry V, 1122 domains. The feeling that the church excommunicating the king and had lost touch with its roots was declaring him deposed. German increasingly assertive insistence on also widespread: monasteries had nobles, already feeling discontented papal supremacy, and the growing become storehouses of treasure, at Henry’s attempts to centralize independence of the German bishops were ruling their lands like power, felt that this released them nobles, the emperor conceded secular lords, and clerical offices from their oath of loyalty, and many virtually all investiture rights. were openly sold. Itinerant preachers rose up in revolt. Caught between started to inveigh against these the papacy and the nobles, Henry Energized by its success, the betrayals, and calls for reform were eventually chose to take the road to papal administration (or curia) beginning to be heard from within Canossa in a humiliating retreat. consolidated. A growing thirst for the church itself. education led to the foundation of Final agreement at Worms universities such as that at Bologna The new monasticism But Henry’s submission did not where many students studied canon last. The issue of investiture was law. With rising confidence, popes By the 11th century, many felt not explicitly settled and underlying ruthlessly persecuted heretics and that monastic orders had also dispute caused partisans of pope swept away lax practices. strayed from their original and emperor to clash repeatedly mission, accumulating wealth until 1122, when Henry’s son The reforms strengthened the and abandoning spirituality. Henry V agreed to the Concordat church, whose diplomatic stature Men such as Bruno of Cologne of Worms. Squeezed between an grew to equal that of any monarch, led calls to return to a purer and it survived in a united form form of monasticism. Bruno 350 houses, yet these enclosed until the Reformation in the 16th joined a group of hermits near orders did not fully answer the century. The blow to the prestige Grenoble in 1084. Their way of spiritual needs of a society that of the Holy Roman Emperors was life attracted others to found was becoming increasingly commensurate. Secular lords seized similar groups, which became affluent, educated, and mobile. the opportunity to magnify their the core of the Cistercian Order. A new wave of mendicant friars own power, fragmenting the empire The Carthusians, established appeared in the 13th century: into a constellation of lordships and in 1098, had by 1153 nearly committed to a life of poverty, competing authorities who paid they traveled and preached only lip service to the emperor. ■ among the people. The Franciscans, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi, and the Dominicans, established in 1216 by Dominic de Guzman, represented the most successful exponents of this new apostolic form of monastic life.

98 BTAHEMCEAOSNMTDEATEMESATSINTEEDRTOOF MINAMOTO YORITOMO BECOMES SHOGUN (1192) IN CONTEXT W hen in 1192 the At the time of the Gempei Wars the Japanese clan leader Samurai fought as mounted bowmen, FOCUS Minamoto Yoritomo but by the 15th century the sword, in Shogunate Japan became the military commander- particular the long-bladed katana, had in-chief, or shogun, it marked the become their principal weapon. BEFORE ascent to power of a Japanese 1087 The Insei system begins: military class, the samurai, and The situation became entrenched emperors withdraw from court established a line of military rulers after the capital moved (following but retain authority, in order to who would govern Japan for the the emperor) to Kyoto in 794. counter the power of regents next 750 years. Non-Fujiwara nobles were denied and the rising warrior class. preferment at court, so sought The Japanese imperial court positions in the provinces. The gulf 1156 The Minamoto challenge had been dominated since the widened between the Kyoto-based the Taira for the first time, and mid-7th century by regents from the bureaucrats and the regional are crushed. Fujiwara family, who had reduced nobility, the samurai, who assumed the emperors to mere figureheads. 1180 The Gempei War between the Minamoto and the Taira breaks out. 1190s Minamoto Yoritomo builds power in the provinces. AFTER 1221 Emperor Gotoba fails to re-establish imperial power in the Jokyu Disturbance. 1333 The Ashikaga family overthrows the Kamakura shogunate. 1467 The Onin Wars, the first of a series that plague Japan for over a century, break out.