Iron Age Empires

Introduction 

The discovery of iron in approximately 2000BCE and the subsequent spread of the iron technology between 1100 and 800 BCE laid the foundation of two of the greatest and classic civilization – the Greek and the Roman, which are generally considered to be the pioneers of the western civilizations.

Greek, Rome, Egypt, Persia were the four greatest iron age empires

Ancient Greece included the Balkan peninsula of Macedonia and the islands of Aegean, where the earliest civilization to flourish was in the Bronze Age called Minoan civilization dating between 2000 and 1600 BCE. It was a flourishing urban civilization that ended around 1400 BCE due to invasions from the mainland Greece.

Rome was founded by the two descendants of the King Aeneas, named Romulus and Remus around 753 BCE. Before this date Rome was a simple farming village.

Although Greece was a small country in southern Europe, its geography – small plains, steep hills, mountains chains and islands – encouraged the development of small independent communities centered on a city that was the key to political development and the main form of social and political life in ancient Greece. Each of the city-state was small and often did not have enough land or resources to sustain its population resulting in numerous conflicts between them for the possession of more lands. Athens and Sparta emerged as the most famous and powerful of the city-states, followed by Olympia, Thebes, Argos, etc.

King Darius of Persia took advantage of this confusion and conflict among the ever fighting Greek states and invaded Greece in 490BCE. But soon the Persians were repulsed by the Athenians and in the Battle of Salamas Athens defeated Persia in 480BCE and emerged the strongest of all Greece city-states as well as the strongest naval power of Greece. The next fifty years saw the dominance of Athens in Greece in the field of cultural, social and politics. This is termed as the Golden Age of Athens. Sculpture, architecture, drama and literature flourished in Athens.

 In 404BCE, Athens was defeated by Sparta following a long war leading to the superiority of Sparta. Sparta became the leader of the city-states, but soon the other states united to defeat Sparta in 371BCE because strict rule enforced by Sparta made it unpopular among other states.

The Macedonian Empire and Alexander the Great 

While the Greek city-states were in a state of political disorder, Macedonia in the north was growing stronger. King Philip II of Macedonia attacked the unprepared Greeks and defeated them in 338BCE and made it a part of the Macedonian empire.  His able son, Alexander, organized an army and conquered new lands and expanded his empire. He recognized and admired Greek traditions and achievement and tried to spread Greek civilization and language. He founded Greek cities wherever he went including the city of Alexandria in Egypt.

After Alexander’s untimely death in 323 BCE Macedonian power weakened and many Greek city-states united against it. The major among them were the Achaean in Peloponnese and the Aetolia of the central Greece. By 197 BCE the Romans easily conquered Macedonia and Greece, but soon gave them freedom on certain terms and conditions. But Macedonia did not follow the Roman terms and conditions leading to the final assault on it by the Romans in 146 BCE. By this time Greece became a Roman province and was renamed Achaea.

Contribution of Ancient Greece – Democracy 

Democracy began in Greece almost more than two thousand years ago. The Greeks popularized the idea of democracy that is based on active role played by the citizens to run government of their land.

In the beginning the city-states were often ruled by kings who ruled with the help of wealthy nobles, where ordinary citizens were expected to follow rules and regulations laid down by the king and be loyal to their city-state. The government was aristocratic and the common people were not allowed to participate in ruling their city-state.

Gradually, popular leaders in many city-states overthrew the aristocratic rulers and became dictators. They were called ‘Tyrannoi’ (the word tyrant has come from this) who greatly improved the living conditions of the people. They depended upon the support of the people. Slowly, the tyrants became inefficient but they paved the way for the emergence of democratic government in many city states where all citizens enjoyed some political rights and were expected to participate in the political process. However, women and slaves were denied to vote. The evolution of representative democracy was the greatest contribution of the ancient Greeks to the world civilization.

Roman Empire

There is a mystery surrounding the birth of the city of Rome. There are many legends towards this. But whatever be the truth, Rome grew to be the capital of a huge empire covering most of Europe, the Middle-East and the Northern Coast of Africa.

In 509BCE Rome was declared a republic. Before, it was supposed to be ruled by seven kings, who were tyrants. After becoming republic the Roman society was divided into two categories – Patricians and Plebeians. The Patricians were the higher class people enjoying full citizenship and the Plebeians were the lower class people who could not hold any government jobs or marry a Patrician.

Every year two consuls were elected to govern the Roman republic. They had absolute military and civil powers. However, each had the power to veto the acts of the other. The Consuls were aided by the Praetors (the magistrates), the Quaestors (the financial officers), and Censors (census and morality officer). Along with this there was a Senate acting as a powerful advisory body, consisting of 300 members who were former magistrates and were life members. Besides, an Assembly called Comitia Centuriata,  elected the consuls and the magistrates. The Patricians controlled the assembly.

In 287BCE the Plebeians formed their own group called Concilium Plebis, presided by the powerful Tribunes. Slowly the vast distinctions between the Patricians and the Plebeians disappeared. This resulted in the appearance of two new ruling classes – the rich Patricians and the rich Plebeians called nobles who ruled the senate and were regarded as senatorial class. The other group consisted of rich businessmen who controlled the law courts and the tax collections. Julius Caesar was the last consul. His assassination led to the end of the Republic.

In 27BCE the Roman Empire was born with the accession of Octavia as the first emperor, who assumed the title Augustus. He preserved the idea of the republican government within an empire. His successors continued this trend. He introduced many other reforms. There was peace and prosperity in his empire. He reduced taxes and appointed responsible officers in the administration. Arts and architecture flourished making this period the golden age.

Content for Egyptian and Persian Empire will be added later on.