Empire Predominant political form absolute power state that expands and taxes other people emperor usually has dynasties that are passed to descendants military control wealth especially through conquest crosses both religious and ethnic boundaries shows cycles of rise and fall integration and slavery Definition unequal relationship where one society or civilization gains and maintains power over others through economic political or cultural means Empires that preceded the Roman and Han empires Agrarian large political land based units Derive wealth and power from agriculture Steppe civilizations prairie grasslands Nomadic societies Mongols seen as less civilized Raided villages to get the food supplies they were short on Persian Empire Satrap governor appointed by Persian God Dug canal between Nile and Red Sea built system of royal roads Postal service Qin Empire embraced the Legalist way of life Believed that strict laws were the only way to keep control and peace Believed in harsh punishment if any law was disobeyed Han empire believed in ways of Confucius honor tradition learn from the past moral integrity Believed in good men over good laws Rome became an empire in 27 BCE and the annual voting appointing of officials by vote of male citizens began Rome began as a city state BOTH Roman and Chinese empires invested heavily in infrastructure heavily involved in religion absorbed outside religious traditions attempted to assimilate new groups developed centralized states need for conquest wanted to unite world under 1 ruler Major schools of thought Hinduism Buddhism and Greek Philosophy Buddhism led by HUMAN Buddha Code of living not religion Suffering comes in 3 ways Old age sickness and death Monks become recluse and separate from world Birth life death reincarnation Life suffering with reincarnation you have a chance of leaving the suffrage or having eternal suffering 4 truths All life is suffering Desire is cause of suffering Renounce give up Desire Adherence to the Noble Eightfold Path Ultimately wanted to reach Nirvana state of enlightenment where rise above cycle of suffering GREATEST radical break from tradition d t belief in different god Greek Philosopy problem of perception Started using numbers as a real world object Pythagoras Numbers and mathematics truth reality Judaism worship of Joshua son of Joseph Jesus emerged in 35 CE when Paul saw a vision of Jesus in Damascus and began preaching the message of Jesus In 70 CE Jesus disciples began to write the gospels God father of people Followers believed Jesus was persecuted because of who he claimed to be God vs the world spiritual vs material By 300 CE Christian communities were found all over Roman Empire Hinduism and Judaism were both changed and developed during this period by missionaries relaying the stories and beliefs along the Silk Road Christianity belief in Jesus as son of God Not just religion for the upper class as many religions before It was aid that the meek shall inherit the Earth this was a religion for all Belief was more important than practices You grow by believing Martus someone who dies for their beliefs Islam faith in the Koran as spoken to Mohammad from God Mohammad not thought of as a god just the voice of god Mohammad built on traditions of past religion through his contacts with merchants Islam was spread mostly by traveling merchants The idea of only one god monotheism was a new idea to the Arabian people who were used to worshipping their ancestors Former belief was that you must please your ancestors to have a good life With Mohammad s new religion there was no more division of tribes everyone was to be thought of as equal shared wealth Many people liked the new ways and wanted to spread the words of the Koran missionaries The Koran did not portray God as human as most other preceding religions had As his followers grew so did his skeptics Many did not believe in afterlife and were outraged at his disrespect of their ancestors and heritage At one point the tribes wanted Islam and its followers out of their town so they were removed and went to Yathrib Medina as a refuge Many people still in Mecca decided to assemble an army and fight Mohammad and his followers Mohammad was greatly outnumbered in men but believed god would pull his men through and he did People began to see Islam s devoted followers and decided to help them and join their side They eventually beat the Mecca army and took over Mecca However Mohammad did not oppress the beaten He allowed the people of Mecca to still worship as they pleased Mohammad after returning to Mecca stormed the Kabah and broke the statues of the ancestors After Mohammad s death shortly after his religion spread rapidly Yet his followers were unsure who to make their new leader Sunni Islam Muhammad did not appoint successor so should choose among peers Abu Bahkr Shi a Islam believe Muhammad had appointed his son in law to succeed him but in the long run people realized their faith was to God not Mohammad TERMS People of the Book dhimmi what Christians and Jews are referred to in the Koran how Islam links itself to Christianity and Buddhism Conversion Turning 3 ways 1 Voluntary association people freely choose to change Christianity Islam Buddhism 2 Conversion by pressure political economic social taxing military etc 3 Conversion by assimilation minority adapts and adopts majority s values Silk Road land based trade routes from China to eastern Mediterranean that linked Nomadic and agricultural peoples Relay system one person took goods so far and passed to another who did the same Major basis for exchange spread of religion Merchants spread their religions to other merchants who took it to the next person place Kabah cube Arabic place of worship began as place to worship ancestor idols but converted by Muhammad to Islam place of trade worship Place of peace Bedouin Tribe in Arabian Peninsula that Muhammad originated from Monotheism belief in ONE God Saint Paul began preachings of The Christ anointed one Messiah Brahman those who pray Hinduism Reincarnation Belief in afterlife Life suffering Buddhism Jesus of Nazareth leader prophecy of the Christian religion Crucified by Romans and resurrected 5 Pillars of Islam The Five Pillars of Islam pillars of religion are five basic acts in Islam considered obligatory for all Muslims The Qur an presents them as a framework for worship and a sign of commitment to the faith They are 1 the shahada creed Shahadah