NEW
DOCUMENTING THE EVOLUTION OF THE WORLD
HISTORY BOOK OF
YEAR BY YEAR ANCIENT CIVILISATION TO MEDIEVAL TIMES
Ancient armour
Prehistoric tools
Aristotle’s discoveries
Religious artefacts
Mapping the skies
Roman times
Egyptian art
Heroes & Heroines
Viking history
Medieval weapons
Life of the Aztecs
Great leaders
Welcome to Book of
HISTORY
YEAR BY YEAR Understanding the events that have come before us and how they have shaped the world we live in is a fascinating subject. So oen, we focus on specific dates such as 1066, 1215, 1914 and 1945, but there’s so much more – going back so much further – that should be recognised. In Volume 1 of this book, we take you from ancient civilisations to medieval times, covering the origins of humanity and ancient Egypt to the rise of the Roman empire and the emergence of the Vikings. Displayed in an illustrative timeline and packed with incredible details, facts and images, this is the ideal learning tool for people of all ages, taking you on an exciting journey through the history of the world.
Book of
HISTORY
YEAR BY YEAR Imagine Publishing Ltd Richmond House 33 Richmond Hill Bournemouth Dorset BH2 6EZ ☎ +44 (0) 1202 586200 Website: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk
Publishing Director Aaron Asadi Head of Design Ross Andrews Editor Jon White Senior Art Editor Greg Whitaker Printed by William Gibbons, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XT Distributed in the UK, Eire & the Rest of the World by Marketforce, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0SU Tel 0203 148 3300 www.marketforce.co.uk Distributed in Australia by Network Services (a division of Bauer Media Group), Level 21 Civic Tower, 66-68 Goulburn Street, Sydney, New South Wales 2000, Australia Tel +61 2 8667 5288 Disclaimer The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this bookazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the bookazine has endeavoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change. This bookazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein. This bookazine is published under licence from Dorling Kindersley Limited. All rights in the licensed material belong to Dorling Kindersley Limited and it may not be reproduced, whether in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Dorling Kindersley Limited. ©2014 Dorling Kindersley Limited.
All About History Book of History Year by Year Volume 1 © 2014 Imagine Publishing Ltd ISBN 978 1910 439 296
Part of the
bookazine series
1 2 3 4 8MYA–3000BCE
3000–700BCE
700BCE–599CE
600–1449
008 HUMAN 010 ORIGINS
020 EARLY 022 CIVILIZATIONS CIVILIZATIONS
040 THE 042 CLASSICAL AGE AGE CLASSICAL
104 TRADE & 106 INVENTION
Features Features
Features Features
Features Features
Features Features
012 Colonizing Colonizing the 014 thePlanet Planet
026 The The Story 028 StoryofofWriting Writing
046 Ancient Ancient Greece 048 Greece
120 The The Vikings 122 Vikings
018 Prehistoric Prehistoric Peoples 020 Peoples
030 Ancient Ancient Empires 032 Empires
052 The The Story 054 Storyofof Metalworking Metalworking
132 The The Islamic 134 IslamicWorld World
036 Ancient Ancient Egypt 038 Egypt
062 The The Story 064 StoryofofMoney Money
142 The The Aztecs, 144 Aztecs,Incas, Incas, and Maya and Maya
072 The The Rise 074 Riseofofthe the Roman Empire Roman Empire
152 The The Story 154 StoryofofPrinting Printing
082 Ancient Ancient Rome Rome 084 094 Classical Classical Trade Trade 096
CONTENTS 006-007_Contents_final.indd 6
03/06/2011 17:39
HUMAN ORIGINS
8 3000 Our earliest ancestors lived in Africa almost eight million years ago. Over seven million years later, we appeared and developed the skills – including sophisticated tool-making and agriculture – that allowed us to colonize the world.
8–4.5 MYA
4.5–2 MYA
1.8–1.6 MYA
2 –1.8 MYA
Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania is a site of great archaeological significance and it is sometimes referred to as the “Cradle of Mankind”. At least two species of early hominin are associated with this area. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HUMAN AND OTHER APES DNA
and blood proteins suggest that our lineage separated from that of the chimpanzees between 8 and 6 million years ago (MYA). Only a few fossil specimens date to this time: Sahelanthropus tchadensis (7–6 MYA), Orrorin
and still lived partially in trees. Their brains were about the size of those of modern chimpanzees, but some australopithecines seem to have used tools. The earliest stone tools come from Ethiopia and date to 2.6 MYA , but bones with cut marks made by stone tools have been found associated with Australopithecus afarensis nearby, and date to 3.4 MYA. The australopithecines’ descendants followed two distinct modes of life: members of the genus Paranthropus had huge jaws and big teeth for eating tough vegetable foods; meanwhile, Homo rudolfensis and H. habilis seem to have eaten more protein, using tools to get at the protein-rich marrow inside long-bones by scavenging from carnivore kills.
SEVERAL DIFFERENT AUSTRALOPITHECINE species
lived in Africa between 4.2 and 2 MYA. Although they walked on two legs most of the time, they were rather small and ape-like
7 MYA
THE TIME WHEN THE FIRST HUMAN ANCESTOR APPEARS tugenensis (6.1–5 MYA), and two species of Ardipithecus, kadabba (5.8–5.2 MYA) and ramidus (4.4 MYA). While all of these species seem to have walked on two legs like us, it is not certain whether any were actual ancestors of humans. Because species are constantly evolving, and individuals of those species can vary, it is difficult to tell from isolated and often poorly preserved fossils which species they should be assigned to, or how these are related to one another. However, these fossils do tell us a great deal about what the last common ancestor we shared with chimpanzees was like.
n e us ini op ate m nze e hr Ho pa erg nt re-d a A l m v Y i i he y p ee 7 M d ch es d Sa ma anz t to A p an eag MY sis him ugh n 6 lin e 7– ad in/c s tho h i n c i t t m u ht ho lit, b prig sp lk u a w
YA
YA
M 4M s .2 4 . e cu s –5 hecu ly 7 th ”) is i . t b i i 5 ip dip rdi e, ss of d Ar (“A -lik ly Ar a, po iant us e te s du ze ni ht bb ar id mi an efi ig da a v am r a imp ut d upr ka nly A. r o b ks ch 012-013_8mya-160000ya.indd 12 wal
10
ULTIMATELY, THE PARANTHROPINES’ WAY OF LIFE
was unsuccessful and they became extinct after about 1.2 MYA , while their cousins Homo habilis and H. rudolfensis survived. These early Homo species were not very different from australopithecines. It was with Homo ergaster (1.8 MYA) that our ancestors started to look much more familiar. H. ergaster was tall and slender, and may have been the first hominin (a term used to describe humans and their ancestors) without much body hair. Their brains were larger than those of their ancestors, and they lost the last of their adaptations to tree-climbing to become fully adapted to walking and running.
ACHEULEAN TOOL
TOOLS Many animal species use natural objects as tools, but the manufacture of stone tools is unique to hominins. The earliest are simply sharp flakes broken off stone cobbles by striking them with a “hammerstone”. These are known as “Oldowan” tools, after Olduvai Gorge where they were first found. Later tools, such as Acheulean handaxes, required more skill. Our manufacture of tools might be one explanation for the evolution of the human brain.
t us ks no ec s ar on ith rly cu rain at of till p e t m ols h a b th ; s st lo ea d t u i a c a o lie str rst tifie –2 alop has han ees s st ne t iopi ar e a, u 1 e . fi z i r t E A e l h n t 4 s sis er n n t r to an e YA YA he de Ea by s a, E sto Go Au ren arg imp bs tr 6M 2 M us, t be i YA l ik d 2 . own rom 5– afa ch n ch clim 3 M uce Dik f . 3. ican in to n u er ly s k 3 od at m d al ia ol afr min o to hiop pr nes m bitu ho Et bo ha A MY
YA
6M 3. rints tp nic oo lca i in f o n l ini in v aeto nia m d a Ho rve at L anz T e es ash pr
, y” uc s “L ecu 3 h 1 pit e; 8 f 3.1 tr alo , aliv les o t s si s a firs u m f A en fe “ r po m d afa s an s for grou ssils e e o ” l f g y a m ng a mil nsis fa re ryi va af a A. A MY
Swanscombe Mauer Steinheim
Atapuerca Tautavel 1.2 MYA Ceprano Isernia la Pineta
EUROPE Petralona
Dmanisi
Kocabas Ubeidiya
1.7 MYA
PROBABLY MORE THAN 1.8 MYA
AFRICA Lake Turkana Olduvai Gorge
Bodo Konso-Gardula Koobi Fora Olorgesailie
NOT LONG AFTER THE APPEARANCE of Homo ergaster,
OLDOWAN TOOL
Lucy This unusually complete skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis, discovered in Kenya in 1974, was named after the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the sky with diamonds”.
Boxgrove
0.95 MYA
as ”, ,h an isei and ) m o mo n” 2 er s b eth 1. Ho yma A 5 – ck pu te d ith MY n 2 . utra thro ing a .6 w “N r an rind aws –1 (“h ed d 1.9 bil is ciat an nes Pa ge g ful j s o a l r s u h as too d bo h we is ne rke po sto t-ma cu A MY
YA
1M s 2– o p u t r rs h fi nt r a us, e to Pa ust pin red b ro thro ove c n ra dis pa be
mo Ho uch m re 8 1. er is mo its st and an rs a h g er aller er t esto t nd nc a sle A MY
hominins expanded their range beyond Africa for the first time. A species called H. georgicus appeared in Dmanisi in Georgia by 1.7 MYA . Another close relative of Homo ergaster, Homo erectus, lived in China and Indonesia perhaps not long afterward. Some archaeologists believe that earlier groups of hominins may also have left Africa, as some of the skulls from Dmanisi and from the much later site of Liang Bua in Flores in Indonesia (currently known as Homo floresiensis) resemble those of Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis. Living further north would have required a different way of life st lie ia ar inin ras E m A Eu s), o MY h u m 1.7 own fro rgic in kn sils geo nisi s o a o f om m (H m D a i fro org Ge
an ule – he ear a c A pp rk A MY s a ma step 65 xe y 1. nda ma cant man ha they nifi n hu ence sig rd i llig wa inte 25/05/2011 16:50 for
1.6–0.35 MYA
350,000–160,000 YA
,,
,,
ALL LIVING HUMANS DESCENDED FROM COMMON ANCESTORS WHO LIVED IN AFRICA LESS THAN 200,000 YEARS AGO. Stephen Jay Gould, American palaeontologist, from I have Landed: the end of a beginning in natural history, 2002
ACHEULEAN HANDAXES made by
1.6–1.3 MYA
ASIA
Zhoukoudian Hexian
Lantian
Nanjing Yunxian
Narmada
1.5–1 MYA
Homo ergaster and H. erectus were produced across most of Africa and Eurasia, and demonstrate the ability to learn complex skills from one another and pass them down over generations. To make these tools, knappers had to think several steps ahead in order to select a suitable stone and to prepare and place each strike. Handaxes were used for a wide range of activities, including butchery, but they might also have been important for personal or group identity, demonstrating their makers’ strength and skill.
Trinil Sangiran Mojokerto Ngandong
KEY
Paranthropines 517 cubic cm (32 cubic inches)
Less likely route
Hominins beyond Africa Our earliest ancestors evolved in Africa. Possible dispersal routes from Africa are shown on this map, with dates referring to the earliest fossils known from each region.
ds Fin us o as A t MY ec ted t but 1 r – o e a a, d 65 1. Hom ava 5 my date of m J s 1. y to mya fro rly a ikel nd 1 ea re l rou o m m a fro
n ow kn ina st Ch en e i in be s rl Ea acts ave ectu f YA m h r 6 M arte t to o e s fro te . 1 a m il h ug y Ho oss tly d ya o th e b gh f ren .8 m 0 r d u a cu nly m ltho n13 012-013_8mya-160000ya.indd a gio to o re
Homo heidelbergensis 1,204 cubic cm (73 cubic inches)
Australopithecines 461 cubic cm (28 cubic inches)
Site of fossil finds More likely route
to life in the African savanna. The climate was cooler and environments were more seasonal, with significant variation in food resources over the course of a year. Fewer edible plants meant that hominins would have had to rely more on harder-to-find and fiercely competed-for animal protein for food. They needed to move over greater distances and work together to share resources and information to survive in these regions.
While Homo Erectus continued to thrive in Asia, Homo antecessor had appeared as far west as northern Spain and Italy by 1.2 MYA. Marks on their bones at the site of Atapuerca in Spain suggest they practised cannibalism. However, these early colonists may not have thrived in these unfamiliar landscapes, as very few sites are known. By 600,000 years ago, a new hominin species, Homo heidelbergensis, had spread much more widely across Europe. H. heidelbergensis seem to have been good hunters, or at least proficient scavengers.
Homo neanderthalensis 1,426 cubic cm (87 cubic inches)
Homo habilis Homo rudolfensis 648 cubic cm (40 cubic inches) Homo erectus Homo ergaster 969 cubic cm (59 cubic inches)
Homo sapiens 1,478 cubic cm (90 cubic inches)
HOMININ BRAIN SIZES Humans have a disproportionately large brain for a primate of their size, but archaeologists disagree about how and why this expansion happened. Switching to fatty and calorific foods such as bone marrow and meat may have “powered” brain growth, and also demanded more complex tools and effective hunting and foraging skills. Social skills were also a part of this process, as increasing group co-operation and pair-bonding were necessary to sustain the longer periods of childhood that infants needed for their larger brains to develop.
na ka ost n o ur “T alm leto om ia A MY an ske nt H an 1.5 y” is ete sce Tanz bo mpl dole om co an a er fr of gast er
e nc ide in Ev ites ay s m l t . 4 e a ut ra of –1 fir a, b atu ce o an om r 1.5 of fric be n r a H hA pe – sso ut Ap ans ece A So MY pe ant o 2 1. Eur st fir A MY
e t st Fir denc re a ov, y vi f fi ’aq tic rit e 9 o e Ya ne la l 0.7 liabl tro not ag t po m n n re co r Be ’s re rth cur for she Ea es A Ge ael Y m 8 M ssu Isr 0.7 ld a fie A MY
mo Ho sis en ad e g 6 r tiv y 0. lbe spre nc d sti tom e ide ide i e ne a p D h ww A de se an uro M Y al ar in u E no h 4 0. erth ross e- rs c Fir pea d A s an s a M Y en 4 Ne pear 0. ood ap w A MY
BY AROUND 350,000 YEARS AGO,
while Homo erectus continued to hold sway over eastern Asia, Homo heidelbergensis in Europe and Western Asia had evolved into Homo neanderthalensis. Neanderthals were stockier and stronger than modern humans, and their brains were as large or even larger, although shaped slightly differently. Neanderthals were almost certainly very accomplished hunters. They were also highly skilled at making stone tools and heavy thrusting spears with which they tackled even large and dangerous animal prey, such as horses and bison. However, despite burying their dead – which may have indicated ceremonial practices or belief in an afterlife – Neanderthals do not seem to have created more than the most limited art or used any symbols, as all modern humans do. Whether or not they spoke in a similar way to modern humans is also difficult to establish. Although e nc s ide re Ev d co nt ne re e 3 epa ak po . 0 pr o m om of ed t le-c us ltip u m ols to A MY
Burying the dead Neanderthals often disposed of their dead with care. Some were buried in graves, as here at Kebara Cave in Israel, which dates to 60,000 BCE.
their throat and voice box anatomy suggests that a Neanderthal language may have been limited compared to that of humans, they must have communicated in some fashion, perhaps by combining a less complex form of vocalization with expressive miming.
200,000
THE NUMBER OF YEARS THE NEANDERTHAL DOMINATED EUROPE AND WESTERN ASIA
t d ha ise rek e Inc Be ld b A u M Y rom co f l 28 0. bble srae I e , p m rt Ra st a fir
e YA ag 7M ng ng .12 als e unti 0 – h h 86 ert nal 0.1 and mu kills Ne com ass in d m an
ns n ial er pie e nd od etal sa som t ro mon M o h l s e in bu m s YA toc om an for sk ar o Ho ll ha res, tive 3M Mi st c um A ce ts A 0. man ppe om s MY ku eatu tinc ith lh en en M Y e la a i H l s 6 u d s w 2 a i s ; m h it v an en 0. s th of 0.1 altu ive f s dis tics ans t e pig tra fric erg id imit are ris um e i stor irs ral A lb v F h E e A tu ce pr sh act ern ide MY na an 25/05/2011 16:51 he ar d 28 of ch mo 0. se u
11
8
MYA
– 3000
HUMAN ORIGINS
BCE
COLONIZING THE
PLANET
A
THE SPREAD OF MODERN HUMANS ACROSS THE WORLD
NORTH AMERICA
ASIA
R
H Clovis
22,000 YEARS AGO
O
12,000 YEARS AGO
Meadowcroft
Buttermilk Creek Cactus Hill
AT L A N T I C OCEAN
T H S O U
Homo sapiens’ colonization of the globe involved many stops, starts, and sometimes retreats, as well as waves of different groups of people in some areas. Homo sapiens may have moved into Eurasia rasia via the Mediterranean coast of western Asia, spreading preading into Western Europe by 35,000 years ago go (YA eople may also have taken a “southern route” Y ). Archaeological evidence suggests that people across Arabia into southern Asia. There may also lso have been movement eastward, perhaps much earlier, as stone tools have been found in India from 77,000 YA Y and Malaysia from 70,000 YYA A. Some possible Homo sapiens finds from southern China are dated to 68,000 Y YA A (Liujiang), and even 100,000 YA Y (Zhirendong). However, these finds remain controversial, and most scholars favour later dates here. In Australia, stralia, widespread colonization probably did not occur until 45,000 YA ave been dated to as early as 60,000 YA Y , though some sites have Y . Further north, Homo sapiens first spread across cross northern Eurasia around 35,000YA Y . However, they may have retreated during the last ast Ice Age, and not re-colonized the region until after 14,000–13,000 YA Y . Genetically, the North American colonists are likely to have originated in East Asia. They probably travelled ravelled across the plain of “Beringia” – now beneath the Bering Straits between Siberia iberia and Alaska, but exposed by low sea levels at the height of the last Ice Age. Distinctive istinctive “Clovis” spear points (flaked on both sides) are found across North America around 12,000 YA Y , so modern humans were widespread at that point, but earlier sites are also known, including South American sites such as Monte Verde (15,500–15,000 YA Y ).
N
Skeletal and DNA evidence suggests that our species, Homo sapiens, sapiens, evolved in Africa and then spread across the globe. The first traces of modern humans beyond Africa come from fossils in Israel and possibly from stone tools found in Arabia. They date to before 100,000 years ago.
R
T
M
E
I
PA C I F I C OCEAN Philippine Islands 2500 BCE
A
3000 BCE
Pedra Furada
M
Hawaiian Islands 500 BCE –1 CE
E
500 BCE Borneo
New Guinea
R
1500 BCE
400–1200 CE
A I C
Samoan Islands
1400–750 BCE Fiji
AUSTRALIA 1250 CE NEW ZEALAND
LAT AT VA A E ARRIVA V LS The islands of Oceania were some of the last parts of the globe to be colonized, via the Philippines, by Austronesian-speaking early farmers from Taiwan. The more remote northern and eastern islands of Micronesia and Polynesia remained uninhabited until after 700 CE, and New Zealand was populated as late as 1250 CE.
12
PA C I F I C OCEAN
Tracking language The spread of languages can often be tracked to reflect the movement of people. This map shows the spread of Austronesian speakers across Oceania. Earlier settlers were already present in some western areas.
Monte Verde
15,000–11,000 YEARS AGO
C
A
13,000 YEARS AGO
Bering Straits
C O LO N I Z I N G T H E P L A N E T
14,000 YEARS AGO
Swan Point
Ushki Lake
Bluefish Caves Tuluaq Hill (SluicewayTuluaq complex)
KEY General direction of Homo sapiens around the world
Berelekh Yana Ust-Mil
Site of early Homo sapiens
Diuktai
35,000 YEARS AGO
Kara-Bom
31,000 YEARS AGO
A
45,000 YEARS AGO
S
I
A
Istállöskö Pestera cu Oase
77,000–45,000 YEARS AGO Liujiang Uçagizli Magara Ksar Akil Qafzeh
Zhirendong
OC
Bacho Kiro Temnata Cave Skhul
C
Cova Beneito
Jebel Irhoud
Yamashita-Cho
Kostienki
FI
40,000
El Pendo YEARS AGO Abríc Romaní
E
CI
Gorham's Cave
Le Piage Riparo Mochi
O P
32,000 YEARS AGO
PA
Arcy-sur-Cure Saint Césaire El Castillo Cueva Morín Gato Preto
E U R
Trou Magrite Höhlenstein-Stadel Vindija Cave Korolevo I
Paviland Cave Kent's Cavern
Tianyuan
42,000 YEARS AGO
EA
N
100,000 YEARS AGO
Jebel Faya
Matenkupkum, Balof 2, and Panakiwuk
Jwalapuram
A
F
R
I
C A
Niah Caves
Kota Tampan
160,000 YEARS AGO
Herto
Huon Peninsula
INDIAN OCEAN
Omo Kibish
1.7 MYA Temperate grassland, mediterranean shrubland
Malakunanja Nawalabila I Riwi and Carpenter's Gap Ngarrabulgan
A
TIME
L
I
Puritjarra
40,000 YA
Going global Skeletal and genetic evidence suggests that modern humans originated in Africa, and spread across the globe from there, as reflected on this map. This is called the “Out of Africa” theory. An alternative “multiregional” theory suggests that Homo sapiens evolved simultaneously in many different parts of the world, from ancestors who had left Africa much earlier.
Changing environments The ancient ancestors of modern humans evolved in the African tropics. Over time, as human species evolved larger brains and developed more advanced skills and behaviour, they became better equipped to deal with the challenges of new environments.
A R
Upper Swan Devil's Lair
Allen's Cave
T
dry broadleaf forest, savanna
Cuddie Springs
S
7 MYA Tropical and subtropical
Lake Mungo
U
Klasies River Mouth
A
Blombos Cave
45,000 YEARS AGO
Temperate forest, boreal forest, tundra
Kow Swamp Willandra Lakes
13
160,000–45,000 YA
35,000–28,000 YA
45,000–35,000 YA
These cave paintings from Lascaux in France date to around 17,000 years ago. Most cave paintings are from a similar period, though some were created by the earliest Homo sapiens to arrive in western Europe, around 32,000 years ago. HUMANS SPREAD RAPIDLY
gradually began to reveal the characteristic skeletal traits of Homo sapiens from around 400,000 YA: smaller brow ridges, higher and rounder skulls, and chins. DNA analysis of living humans suggests that the common ancestors of all living humans (known as Mitochondrial Eve) lived in Africa around 200,000 YA. An Ethiopian fossil
250,000
YEARS AGO
WHEN HOMO SAPIENS FIRST APPEARED skull from 160,000 YA is almost modern in shape; this has been identified as a subspecies of modern humans, Homo sapiens idaltu. Humans moved north into Western Asia some time before 100,000 YA, but they do not seem to have stayed there for long. It is debated whether uniquely human behaviours such as language and the ability to use symbols evolved before or after modern human anatomy. One theory is that such behaviours became vital only after 74,000 YA, when the massive eruption of Mount Toba in Indonesia triggered a global “volcanic winter”. DNA analysis suggests that many human groups died out at this d YA an 00 h es ,0 f fis t sit 5 a 11 e o 0 – us als m 00 g 0, asin am a 3 1 re e m fric Inc rin th A a m Sou in
t es l rli Ea uria lb 0 00 ha 0, ert 12 and e eN ibl
Prepared core and flake Neanderthals and other hominins prepared a stone core before striking off a sharp flake to use. In Europe this technology is known as the “Mousterian”.
time and, in such harsh conditions, complex modern language and symbolism would have allowed groups to exchange resources and information with one another, which could have made the difference between survival and extinction. However, others argue that the impact of the eruption of Mount Toba has been exaggerated, and that achaeology in Africa suggests complex hunting practices and the development of symbolism even before this. It is not clear when modern humans first spread into Eurasia. Some researchers argue they left Arabia before 74,000 YA. Others say the major migration occurred later, 50,000 YA, and via western Asia, after developing a new form of stone-tool technology that involved producing long, thin flint “blades”, which probably formed part of composite tools.
rly ell Ea t sh t d YA ce ies, re a a an n 0 v e ic va og ch 00 f 0, in L Ad nol ed o Afr so A h –9 s YA sil ar 0 Y tech cis out s 0 0 0 pien 0 o n 0 e 0 i ” ,0 ,S ,0 n f pp ia 0, sa 75 lade and ave 11 mo 4 6 der s a n As , “b ads os C Ho Mo man ther b e b om hu sou Bl in
f no tio es up aus re r e e a c tu Th atr pera A 0 Y Sum tem 0 ,5 in in ss 73 oba rop po T d 016-017_160000_12000ya.indd 16Mt al b glo YA
14
ad re sp lia de stra i W Au mo YA Ho ach f YA 00 on o e pe 0 r 0 , i 0 45 izat ,0 ens ro n 45 api n Eu o l s r co ste ea
across Europe and Asia. In Europe, modern humans appeared in Turkey from 40,000 YA, and in western Europe shortly afterwards. In Asia, fossils of Homo sapiens in Indonesia and China date to at least 42,000 YA, and the sea crossing to Australia occurred before 45,000 YA. These dates suggest that the earliest modern humans in Asia may have encountered groups of Homo erectus, who survived in China until at least 40,000 years ago. In Indonesia the picture was even more complicated. Fossils found on the island of
Flores date to less than 38,000 years ago, and seem to represent specialized, extremely small forms of Homo erectus, or perhaps even the descendants of earlier hominins. More evidence comes from Denisova Cave in Russia – DNA analysis of bones found here reveals genetic material distinct from that of both modern humans and Neanderthals, dated to around 40,000 YA. It seems increasingly likely that several groups descended from hominins who left Africa before Homo sapiens may have coexisted in Eurasia at this time.
,,
IN AFRICA, HOMININ FOSSILS
THE NEANDERTHALS WERE NOT APE-MEN… THEY WERE AS HUMAN AS US, BUT THEY REPRESENTED A DIFFERENT BRAND OF HUMANITY.
,,
Chris Stringer and Clive Gamble, from In Search of the Neanderthals, 1993
IN EUROPE, MODERN HUMANS
HOMO SAPIENS
NEANDERTHAL
MODERN HUMANS AND NEANDERTHALS Neanderthal skulls (right) were about the same size as anatomically modern human skulls (left), but they had lower, more sloping foreheads and a double arch of bone over their eyes that created heavy brow ridges. Their lower faces jutted out and they did not have chins. Overall, Neanderthal skeletons reveal that they were much more muscular than modern humans, as well as being extremely physically active and well-adapted to cold climates.
n
tio
iza lon Co a YA ine 00 Gu ,0 40 New f o
te La mo YA o ina 0 H 0 ,0 ng Ch 40 rvivi s in u u s ect er
mo Ho ina A 0 Y n Ch 0 ,0 s i 4 0 ien p sa
n lls nia fa pa ash pe m ; Ca taly uro I fE YA 00 n in h o 0 , c o i 37 upt mu er ross ac
In YA s 00 ie ,0 olog nd 8 a n 2 hn l – ha tio 00 ec ,0 e t ert ac 36 om and nter i s e , n pe t N a ro es um Eu ugg h s
overlapped with Neanderthals, who survived until at least 30,000 years ago. How and why Neanderthals died out is one of the most intensely debated topics in archaeology. There is little evidence of violent interactions between the species, and comparison of DNA increasingly suggests that there may have been some exchange of mating partners between the groups. Early humans may have outcompeted their relatives for food and raw materials in the rapidly changing environmental conditions. Environments at the time were highly unstable, so even a slight increase in competition could have been significant. However, populations were small and spread out, and co-existed for up to 10,000 years in Europe, and more than 30,000
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28,000–21,000 YA
in Indonesia. Alternatively, the exchange of resources and information allowed by modern humans’ language and symbol use, and their planned and flexible technologies made Homo sapiens better able to withstand climatic downturns than Neanderthals. Others believe that these behaviours were not unique to modern humans. Hominins would have needed to use rafts or boats to reach the island of Flores in Indonesia by 800,000 YA . Some late Neanderthal sites also contain elements of technologies normally associated with Homo sapiens, although it is possible that Neanderthals may have copied, traded with, or even stolen from modern humans. A combination of environmental unrest and increased competition is currently considered to be the most likely explanation for Neanderthal extinction.
E U RO PE AT L A N T I C OCEAN
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KEY KEY
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Neanderthal sites Modern human sites
Neanderthal and human ranges Modern humans and Neanderthals co-existed for several thousand years. Sites appear to show evidence for interaction between the groups.
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21,000–18,000 YA
ATL ANTIC OCEAN PACIFIC OCEAN INDIAN OCE AN
THE MAXIMUM EXTENT OF THE LAST ICE AGE European climates after 23,000 BCE grew steadily cooler, and during the “Last Glacial Maximum” (21,000–18,000 YA) ice-caps covered most of northern Europe. Further south huge areas of grassland with few trees offered good hunting for groups of humans able to survive the cold. THE “GRAVETTIAN” CULTURE OF
Europe and Russia (28,000– 21,000 YA) is known for its elaborate sites, which often have complex structures and burials, as well as large amounts of shell jewellery, and sculpted bone and antler. Also found at Gravettian sites are some of the earliest known clay objects, including some of the famous “Venus” figurines. These may have been fertility or religious charms, or part of a system of exchange between social networks across the region as the Ice Age intensified. “Venus” statuette This figurine from Willendorf in Austria depicts a stylized pregnant or obese female figure.
exaggerated belly
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Maximum, when the ice caps were at their maximum extent, people living in more northerly and mountainous areas retreated to “refuge” areas such as – in Europe – northern Spain and southwest France, where this period is known as the “Solutrean”. Globally, many groups probably died out, but some held on in more sheltered regions. To survive the harsh conditions, much time and effort was invested in hunting. Weapons include beautifully worked points known as “leafpoints”. Although little evidence survives beyond finely worked bone needles, people probably developed sophisticated clothing to keep them warm. Perhaps more importantly, hunters would have worked hard to predict and intercept the movements of herds of large animals, ensuring the hunting success that was the difference between life and death.
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AT THE HEIGHT OF THE GLACIAL
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18,000–12,000 YA
IN EUROPE, SOPHISTICATED BONE
and antler points, needles, and harpoons characterize the “Magdalenian” technologies that were used to hunt a wide range of species, especially reindeer. The Magdalenian (18,000– 12,000 YA) is famous for its beautiful art objects, engravings, and cave paintings. There are many theories about what these mean and why they were produced. As most depict animals that were hunted, the paintings may represent a magical means of ensuring hunting success, or show information about the best ways to hunt different species. Paintings of imaginary half-human, half-animal creatures and the inaccessibility of some cave art suggests that painting may have been a magical or ritual activity, perhaps practised by shamans or during initiation or religious ceremonies. Alternatively paintings
and art objects may have helped establish group identities and territories, as the number of archaeological sites in this period suggests that populations were growing, and competition for rich and localized resources may have been intensifying. A rise in temperature led to the retreat of the ice sheets that had covered northern Europe, and these areas were rapidly recolonized, with groups expanding as far north as Siberia by around 14,000–13,000 YA. Some groups later moved on into Alaska and the Americas. Further east in China and in the Jomon culture of Japan, some of the first pots manufactured from clay appeared between 18,000 and 15,000 YA. Altamira cave paintings This Paleolithic cave painting of bison was discovered at the Altamira cave site in Spain.
A
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10,000–3000 BCE
Megalithic (large stone) architecture was used for monumental tombs in Neolithic Europe. Developments around 3300 BCE included the construction of stone circles, such as this example at Castlerigg in northern England. 67006400BCE 75006700BCE 85007500BCE 96008500BCE 13,0009600BCE
Population density The population in western Asia grew rapidly from 13,000 to 6400 BCE. AS STEEPLY RISING TEMPERATURES
between 12,700 and 10,800 BCE melted the northern ice sheets, global sea-levels rose, lakes formed, and rainfall increased, promoting the spread of forests and grasslands and providing new opportunities for hunter-gatherer communities. Coastal areas drowned by rising sea levels were rich sources of aquatic foods, as were lakes and rivers. Grasslands sustained large herds of animals, while forest margins provided abundant plant foods and game. Most hunter-gatherers moved seasonally to exploit the resources of different areas, but particularly favoured places such as river estuaries could support people year round. One such region was coastal Peru and Chile, where the cold Humboldt current provides especially rich fisheries.
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16
Settled communities lived here by 7000 BCE, including the Chinchorro who created the world’s first mummies (see panel, opposite). Another area with favourable conditions was West Asia. Here, vegetation included wild cereals that could be stored, sustaining communities throughout the year when supplemented by other wild foods such as gazelle. A period of cold, arid conditions from 10,800 to 9600 BCE led to a steep
productivity. Farming was therefore a choice that people made, increasing local productivity, often at the cost of increasing work and risk. Their reasons for farming may have included extending their period of residence in a settled village, providing extra food for feasting or to support a growing population, and boosting the supply of preferred or declining foodstuffs. Cereals were common staples of early agriculture. Wheat and barley were domesticated in West Asia, spreading into North Africa, Europe, and Central and South Asia. Broomcorn and foxtail millet
decline in the availability of wild cereals. This prompted some West Asian villagers to turn to cultivation, planting cereals. Agriculture began in many parts of the world at different times, using local resources. Domesticated plants and animals spread by trade between neighbouring groups and when farming communities colonized new areas. Agriculture was not a discovery: hunter-gatherers had a deep knowledge of the plants and animals on which they depended, and often took actions to increase
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Lepinski Vir "fish god" Abundant fish supported a settled hunter-gatherer village on the Danube in Serbia. Its inhabitants carved fish-human sculptures, probably representing gods.
meat. However, in the Americas only the Andes had animals suitable for domestication: guineapigs, llamas, and alpacas. Birds, particularly chickens,
holes bored into skull
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were domesticated in the Yellow River valley and rice in the Yangzi valley in China, from where they spread through East and Southeast Asia. In Africa, other millets and African rice were domesticated after 3000 BCE. In the Americas, maize was the principal cereal. However, although it was cultivated by 6000 BCE, it was not until 2000 BCE that maize was sufficiently productive to support permanently settled villages. Pulses and vegetables were grown alongside cereals in many parts of the world. Tubers, such as manioc and yams, and treecrops were cultivated in moist tropical regions, beginning at an early date in the New Guinea highlands and the rainforests of Central America and northern South America. Domestic sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were raised across Eurasia and Africa, initially just for
bone and antler lightened by scraping
Star Carr deer cap This skull-cap from a huntergatherer site in England may have been used in hunting rituals.
in
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THE NEOLITHIC WAS… A POINT IN A CONTINUOUS STORY OF GREATER ECONOMIC CONTROL OVER RESOURCES... FROM SCAVENGING TO... FARMING.
ducks, and turkeys, were also kept by Old and New World farmers. By 5000 BCE cattle, sheep, and goats were raised for milk as well as meat, while cattle were used to pull ploughs, enabling people to cultivate much larger areas. Wool-bearing sheep were bred in West Asia in the 4th millennium BCE, and rapidly spread into Europe and Central Asia. The use of pack animals such as llamas and donkeys allowed longdistance transport. Agriculture was more productive than foraging and could support larger communities. Settled life also encouraged population growth. Many early farming villages in West Asia grew to a considerable size. Most remarkable was Çatalhöyük in Turkey, occupied around 7400– 6200 BCE, which housed as many as 8,000 people. Its tightly packed houses were entered from the roof by ladders, and were
Clive Gamble, from Origins and revolutions: human identity in earliest prehistory, 2007
decorated with paintings and modelled animal heads. After 7000 BCE farmers spread from Turkey into southeast and central Europe, while Mediterranean hunter-gatherers gradually turned to agriculture, using imported West Asian crops and animals. By 3500 BCE most of Europe had adopted farming. Megaliths – stone chambered tombs of which a wide variety were built, often with earthen mounds – were constructed in western and northern Europe from the early 5th millennium BCE. Most housed the
ASIA
NORTH AMERICA
EUROPE
2500 BCE 4500 BCE
,,
9000 BCE
8000 BCE
7000 BCE
7000 BCE 8000 BCE 9000 BCE 6500 BCE 6000 BCE 6500 BCE
2500 BCE
6000 BCE 7000 BCE 6000 BCE 5000 BCE
4000 BCE
AFRICA
SOUTH AMERICA
KEY Livestock
KEY
7000 BCE AUSTRALASIA
Cereals
Livestock
Other
Cereals
Areas with agriculture
Other
The spread of agriculture Areas with agriculture Humans began to cultivate plants and manage animals independently, in different areas at different times, across the world.
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bones of a number of individuals. Native (naturally occurring pure) copper and gold were being shaped into small objects by cold hammering before 8000 BCE in West Asia. Around 7000 BCE, ores were smelted here to extract metal and by 6000 BCE copper and lead were also cast. Metals were initially made into small personal objects that could enhance prestige and status. Later, however, copper began to be used for tools, and by 4200 BCE copper ores containing arsenic were deliberately selected to produce a harder metal. The addition of tin created a stronger alloy, bronze, which was in use in West Asia by 3200 BCE. The development of watercontrol techniques enabled West Asian farmers to colonize the southern Mesopotamian plains, where agriculture depended entirely on irrigation but was highly productive. By the mid 4th millennium BCE, this region was densely populated, and villages were developing into towns, with craft specialists. There was a growing demand for raw materials, including metal ores, which often came from
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CHINCHORRO MUMMIES The earliest mummies come not from Egypt, but from coastal northern Chile, an arid region where natural mummies occur from 7000 BCE. After 5000 BCE the Chinchorro began artificial mummification. They removed the flesh, reassembled and reinforced the skeleton, stuffed the skin with plant material, coated it in clay, and painted it with black manganese or red ochre. Only some individuals, particularly children, were mummified. distant sources. A trading network developed that stretched from Egypt through West Asia to the mountainous borderlands of South Asia, with towns controlling sources of materials and strategic points along the routes. Sumer (southern Mesopotamia) was at the forefront of this development, but social, religious, economic, Copper axe heads Gold and copper were the first metals to be worked. They became widespread in Europe around 2500 BCE.
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and political complexity was also emerging in Elam (southwest Iran) and Egypt. All three regions developed writing systems before 3000 BCE, which they used to record and manage economic transactions and the ownership of property. The earliest known pictographic writing, around 3300 BCE, comes from Uruk in Sumer, a huge and complex settlement that is deservedly known as the world’s first city.
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t ng CE rip iti 0 B e sc e wr 0 t 9 i Ag e –2 m h 00 Ela ze s t 31 oto- Bron ros r P rly ) ac teau (ea stem pla sy nian Ira
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MYA –3 0 0 0 BCE
colourful geometric design
HUMAN ORIGINS
minerals define facial features
hole for cord
reed framework coated in thick plaster
geometric, abstract pattern
finely detailed engraving
Pottery shard
Schist plaque
Human figurine
4000 BCE • ROMANIA Different cultures can be identified by their unique ways of decorating objects – this shard is typical of the Cucuteni-Tripolye culture.
4000 BCE • PORTUGAL It is unclear what Neolithic engraved plaques, like this one from Alentejo, symbolized, but they seem to have been made for burial with the dead.
6750–6500 BCE • JORDAN This large statue from Ain Ghazal is one of several from sites in the Near East that may have represented ancestors or gods.
Engraved bone
13,000–8000 BCE • FRANCE Paleolithic artists often carved as well as painted their depictions of animals, as with this scene of a bison being chased, from Laugerie-Basse.
PREHISTORIC PEOPLES EARLY HUMANS ARE DEFINED BY THE RAW MATERIALS THEY USED TO FASHION TOOLS, WEAPONS, AND ORNAMENTS
Prehistory is traditionally divided into the Stone, Bronze, and Iron ages, but many other kinds of raw materials such as wood, hide, and plant fibres were also used in early technologies. Little evidence of these survives.
carefully sharpened tip
leather or sinew binding
As well as being functional aids to survival and subsistence, the objects made by prehistoric peoples would also have been important in their social lives. Different groups develop their own ways of manufacturing and decorating objects, and distinctive designs may become badges of identity or status symbols. The trade and exchange of objects is another vital way in which individuals and groups establish social relationships and hierarchies. scars where blades chipped from core
carved antler setting
flint head set into wooden sleeve
long, thin blade
remains of flaked cobble
Oldowan tool
2.6–1.7 MYA • AFRICA The earliest stone tools were simple, sharp-edged flakes of stone, made by striking a stone cobble with a hard “hammerstone”.
reproduced wooden handle
Blades and core
100,000 BCE ONWARDS • WIDESPREAD Early modern humans produced uniform, narrow blades that would have been fitted to wooden and antler handles or held in the hand, as tools for many different purposes. thick base is easy to hold
Antler harpoon
8000 BCE • UK This harpoon head is attached to a long handle for spearing fish – a key source of food when sea levels rose as the last Ice Age ended.
Flint hand-axe barbed head made from antler
200,000 BCE • UK Hand-axes, such as this one from Swanscombe, were skilfully made and used for a wide range of activities, including woodworking and butchery.
Digging tools with adze heads
11,660–4000 BCE • EUROPE These Mesolithic adzes were used for digging up edible roots or cutting wood in the forests that spread across Europe after the last Ice Age ended.
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P R E H I S TO R I C P E O P L E S
Clay burial chest
4000 BCE • NEAR EAST One Chalcolithic (“copper age”) burial practice involved leaving the dead out to decay, then collecting the bones and placing them in clay chests like this one.
excavation damage
Carved spear-thrower
10,500 BCE • FRANCE Spear-throwers, such as this one from Montastruc, were often carved into animal shapes – here, a woolly mammoth made from antler. They enabled hunters to throw spears further and with greater force.
exaggerated features
Lespugue Venus
Neolithic flint blade set in reproduction handle
24,000–22,000 BCE • FRANCE This ivory figurine from Lespugue in the Pyrenees is one of many “Venus” figurines – depicting women who are pregnant or obese, or whose female features are greatly exaggerated.
Mummified head
7000–3000 BCE • PERU In very dry climates, bodies can become mummified. Some of the earliest mummies have been found in Peruvian deserts.
Bronze Age sickle
Gold jewellery
gold easily worked into decorative animal shapes
4700–4200 BCE • BULGARIA At the cemetery of Varna in Bulgaria, more than 3,000 pieces of some of the earliest gold jewellery have been found, mainly buried with elite males.
loom weight bone shuttle soft clay was baked to preserve design
iron sickle blade
Agricultural tools
9500 BCE–1834 CE • WIDESPREAD First wild and later domesticated cereals were harvested using sickles like these, until they were superseded in most places by the invention of the combine harvester.
Neolithic seal
7500–5700 BCE • ANATOLIA Seals such as this one from the settlement of Çatal Höyük were used during the Neolithic to stamp decorative designs on to skin or cloth.
Cloth-making tools
6500 BCE • ORIGIN UNKNOWN From the mid-Neolithic, weaving became common. Loom weights held vertical threads taut; bone shuttles were used to weave horizontal threads in and out.
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EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 3000 700
This period saw the emergence of complex civilizations. Communities flourished and trade developed in the fertile valleys of Egypt, India, western Asia, and China. Europe, and Central and South America also flourished during this time.
3000–2700 BCE
Stonehenge in western Britain was a ceremonial site from around 3100 BCE . An early earth enclosure and a circle of wooden posts was later replaced by the outer circle of stones seen here.
50
DURING THE LAST HALF OF THE FOURTH MILLENNIUM BCE, the
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smiths began manufacturing bronze. The plough had been in use since about 5000 BCE, wheeled carts from around 3500 BCE, and such advances made farming more productive. The resulting food surplus freed some people from the farming life, allowing specialization into professions such as priesthood, crafts, trade, and administration. The world’s first tiered society developed, headed by kings sometimes known as lugals. In Egypt, one of the world’s most complex ancient civilizations was forming along the banks of the River Nile by 3100 BCE. The Nile formed a narrow strip of cultivatable land, floodplain, as the
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Arabian Peninsula
Ancient cities of Mesopotamia Sumer in southern Mesopotamia was the location of the world’s first urban civilization from c.2900 BCE as agricultural success led to a complex society.
22
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Syrian Desert
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THE POPULATION OF THE CITY OF URUK c.2800 BCE
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world’s first civilizations arose, first in Western Asia, then North Africa and South Asia. Civilization also appeared in China in the early second millennium BCE. By 3000 BCE, the world’s first urban culture had begun to develop in southern Mesopotamia, in what is now Iraq. The lower Euphrates River plains had been farmed from c.6200 BCE, after the development of irrigation systems – the Greek word “mesopotamia” means “land between the rivers”. By 3500 BCE, farming communities were growing into towns and then cities such as Ur, Uruk, and Eridu. Over the next 300 years, each city came to dominate its surrounding area, forming a group of city-states in the land called Sumer in southeast Mesopotamia. Metalworking had begun in Mesopotamia around 6000 BCE. Around 3200 BCE, Sumerian
THOUSAND
river’s annual flood (known as the inundation) spread black silt along its banks. The Egyptian farming year began in autumn when the inundation subsided, and farmers cultivated wheat, barley, beans, and lentils in the fertile soil. By the end of the 4th millennium BCE, farming communities had evolved into two kingdoms: Upper Egypt in the south and Lower Egypt in the north. King Narmer united the two kingdoms c.3100 BCE. After Narmer came Menes, although historians are unsure whether Menes was Narmer’s successor or a different name for Narmer himself. Menes is credited with founding the Egyptian capital at Memphis and Egypt’s first dynasty. As in Mesopotamia, efficient agriculture produced prosperity and specialism, allowing arts, crafts, engineering, and early medicine to develop. Narmer Palette This carved piece of green siltstone records the triumph of the legendary King Narmer of Upper Egypt over his enemies.
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The Early Dynastic Period (c.3100–2686 BCE) was already characterized by many of the celebrated aspects of Egyptian culture: hieroglyphic writing, a sophisticated religion (including belief in an afterlife), and preserving the dead using mummification. A complex hierarchical society developed, with the king at the apex accorded semi-divine status. Egyptian kings – later known as pharaohs – ruled with the help of a chief minister, or vizier, regional governors (nomarchs), and a huge staff of lesser officials including priests, tax collectors, and scribes. In China, civilization originated in the valleys of eastern rivers such as the Huang He (Yellow River), where the rich loess soil
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made the land fertile. As early as 8000 BCE, millet had been cultivated in the area around Yangshao in Henan Province. Around c.2400 BCE, the neighbouring Dawenkou culture developed into the Longshan culture of Shangdong Province. Longshan farmers grew rice after developing irrigation systems. As in other early civilizations, agricultural success allowed the development of an elaborate society. Chinese craftsmen were making bronze tools c.3000 BCE, jade vessels c.2700 BCE, and silk weaving had begun by 3500 BCE. The Bronze Age was underway in western Asia by 3000 BCE, and possibly considerably earlier. The Bronze Age in Europe seems to have developed separately from around 2500 BCE, using ore sources from the Carpathian Mountains in Central Europe. This era also saw the beginnings of the Minoan civilization on the Greek island of Crete around 2000 BCE, with trading links to the nearby Cyclades Islands and the wider Mediterranean. In Western Europe, the earlier tradition of megalithic tomb building and a growing interest in astronomical observation gave rise to a new megalithic tradition of erecting stone circles, stone rows, standing stones, and tombs including astronomical features. These include Newgrange in Ireland, Stonehenge in England, and Carnac in France.
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MILLION THE NUMBER OF BLOCKS USED TO BUILD THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA
The three pyramids at Giza were built for the pharaohs Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura between 2575 and 2465 BCE . They are guarded by the statue of the Sphinx, which may bear the features of King Khafra.
Standard of Ur This box-like object has two side panels – one depicting war, the other (shown here) times of peace. SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA was
a patchwork of over 40 city-states, among which Ur, Uruk, Nippur, and Kish were the most important. Trade flourished using a network of rivers and canals, and trade links extended to Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), Iran, and Afghanistan, with grain, minerals, timber, tools, and vessels traded. The Sumerian population was unique in being predominantly urban. In Ur, Uruk, and other centres, people lived in clustered mud-brick houses. At the heart of the city, the ziggurat – a terraced temple
mound – provided the focus for religious ceremonies, and grain was stored in storerooms within the temple precincts. From around 2500 BCE, some citizens of Ur were buried in tombs along with treasures such as the Standard of Ur. The purpose of its intricate
Cuneiform tablet Over time, the inventory of signs regularly used in cuneiform script was greatly reduced.
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side panels is still a mystery; they may have formed the soundbox of a lyre. Arising from the need to keep economic and administrative records, the first pictographic writing developed in Sumer (c.3300 BCE). Pictographs (pictorial writing representing a word or phrase) evolved into a script called cuneiform c.2900 BCE, in which scribes pressed sharpened reeds into soft clay to leave wedge-shaped impressions. Southern Mesopotamia became densely populated, putting pressure on natural
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resources. This led to conflicts over land and water, and alliances between cities were forged and broken. The first signs of civilization in the Americas appeared along the coast of Peru and in the Andes c.2800 BCE. Andean farmers grew potatoes and the cereal quinoa, and raised alpacas and llamas. There were fishing communities on the coast, while inland towns became ceremonial centres, built around mud-brick temple platforms. An exceptional example is Caral, about 200km (125 miles) from Lima and dating from c.2600 BCE. Another, Aspero, had six platform mounds topped by temples. Cotton was grown in the region, and maize was cultivated from around 2700 BCE.
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The Indus Valley civilization began to emerge in South Asia in the fourth millenium BCE, as flood control technology developed. By 2600 BCE, the Indus Plain contained dozens of towns and cities. Of these, Mohenjo-daro on the River Indus, and Harappa, to the northeast, were pre-eminent, with populations of around 100,000 and 60,000 respectively. In Egypt, King Sanakht acceded to the throne in the year 2686 BCE, marking the beginning of the Third dynasty and the Old Kingdom era – a time of strong, centralized rule and pyramid-building. These magnificent monuments were built as royal tombs. In Early Dynastic times, kings had been buried beneath rectangular mud-brick platforms called mastabas. Around 2650 BCE, the first pyramid, the Step Pyramid of Saqqara, was completed for King Djoser. Designed by the architect Imhotep, it resembled six stone mastabas on top of one another. Straight-sided pyramids appeared soon after, the greatest of which were the three pyramids at Giza. These incredible feats of engineering were constructed not by slaves as was once thought, but by a staff of full-time craftsmen and masons supplemented by farmers performing a type of national service during the Nile floods. Enormous blocks of stone (lower stones of 6–10 tonnes; higher ones of 1–2 tonnes) were cut from local quarries, hauled on site using sleds, and then heaved up ramps, which grew ever-higher as construction progressed.
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2500–2350 BCE
2350–2200 BCE
The ruined citadel of Mohenjo-daro was made up of various buildings. It was built on a platform to guard against flooding of the River Indus.
Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, England, is one of the tallest man-made chalk mounds in Europe. These mounds probably had a social or cultural function.
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such as pottery, bead-making, and metalworking. Indus cities and towns had the most advanced plumbing system in the ancient world, with enclosed wells and covered drains. Latrines emptied waste into drains, which ran below the streets. These urban centres were also connected by extensive trade links. Merchants supplied craft products from the valleys to
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Agrarian lives A clay model of a bullock cart found at Mohenjo-daro, dating back to c.2500–1900 BCE, gives an insight into farming life in the Indus civilization.
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continued to develop in western Asia, Egypt, and and southern Asia, and complex societies were emerging in China, Europe, and South America. In southern Asia, the Indus civilization (see 2700–2500BCE) emerged in its mature form around 2500BCE, stretching 1,700km (1,060 miles) from east to west and 1,300km (800 miles) from north to south. The region’s prosperity was based on farming, mining, crafts, and trade. More than 100 sites have been excavated, including the cities of Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, and Dholovira. Mohenjo-daro and Harappa were well-planned cities laid out on a grid system. Each city was protected by brick walls and dominated by a citadel overlooking a “lower town” of public buildings and residential town houses of one or two storeys. The residential areas were seemingly divided by industry,
Hi
Shortughai
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the surrounding regions in return for metal ores, precious stones, and timber. Long-distance trade routes reached as far as Mesopotamia and Afghanistan. By around 2500 BCE, an Indus script of hundreds of signs appeared on seals and pottery. Attempts to decipher the script have failed; hence, many aspects of this culture remain a mystery. In western Asia, Mesopotamia (see 2700–2500BCE) remained a patchwork of small but powerful city-states, each controlling the surrounding farmlands where barley, pulses, and date palms were grown. To the west, citystates were developing in Syria and the Levant. A trade network linking Mesopotamian towns suggests co-operation between states, but there was frequent warfare as well.
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Sargon (c.2334–2215 BCE) from the northern region of Akkad defeated Lugalzagesi of Umma to become the ruler of Sumer. Through subsequent campaigns to the Levant, Syria, and Anatolia, Sargon carved out the world’s first empire – the Akkadian Empire – stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to the Gulf. Sargon’s exploits were recorded in several documents, such as the Sumerian King List. His name means “legitimate king”, which led some scholars to believe that he took power through force. Sargon spoke Akkadian, a Semitic language that replaced Sumerian as the official language of the empire.
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Lugalzagesi, king of Sumer, defeated by Sargon c.2316 BCE
Akkadian rule was enforced through regional governors who collected tributes and taxes. The empire’s weakness lay in its lack of defensible borders, and it came under regular attacks from neighbouring hill tribes. Sargon’s
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BRONZE AGE EUROPE Bronze-working had begun in West Asia c.3200BCE (see 10,000–3000BCE). It was developed by the Únětice culture of Bohemia and Poland c.2500BCE, and 200 years later had spread to Italy and the Balkans. Bronze provided a hard metal for forging armour, weapons, and tools such as this hand axe. The bronze industry also increased trade, making Europe more interconnected than ever before. grandson, Naram-Sin, extended the empire, but it lasted for only four generations before falling to attacks. Sargon’s rule established a practice of statewide bureaucratic controls and standardization in many aspects of economic life. In Egypt, this period saw a weakening of the power of the Old Kingdom rulers (see 2700–2500BCE), in favour of regional governors called nomarchs, who administered different parts of the Nile valley and delta. To the south of the first cataract on the Nile, the kingdom of Nubia also grew more powerful. Nubia was centred around the city of Kerma at the third cataract. By the end of the Sixth dynasty (c.2184 BCE), the
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26/05/2011 11:51
2200–2000 BCE
Relief sculptures in Egyptian tombs represented everyday life and religious rituals. This carving from the Sixth dynasty shows boys with sticks, on the left, and youths wrestling, on the right.
authority of the Egyptian rulers had steadily eroded. In Western Europe, the Bell Beaker culture flourished. Named after the distinctive shape of pottery vessels found in graves, this culture emerged by c.2600 BCE in France, Spain, and the Netherlands. Over the next three centuries, it spread to Germany and Britain. Around 2300 BCE, bronze technology from Mediterranean regions and from Central Europe started to spread northwards along the Rhine and Danube. The increasingly militaristic societies used bronze to create weapons, triggering the appearance of small chiefdoms across Europe. As populations grew, competition over land and resources intensified. Fields were enclosed, farming expanded, and boundary walls built. Imposing structures such as chalk mounds were constructed in many areas. In South America, societies continued to develop in two distinct regions: the upland valleys and high plains of the Andes,
and along the Pacific coast and inland valleys. Andean cultures were based on farming and herding. Coastal settlements such as Aspero (Peru) were unique in their dependence on fishing rather than on agriculture. The coastal people grew cotton for textiles, and gourds, which were used as fishing floats.
Akkadian warrior king This bronze cast of an Akkadian ruler may depict Sargon I or his grandson, Naram-Sin, who extended Sargon’s empire.
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026-027_2500_2000BCE.indd 27
Empire c.2150 BCE. Sumerian states such as Kish, Ur, and Lagash took the opportunity to reassert their independence. For the next 80 years, the city-states vied for control in Mesopotamia. In 2112 BCE, Ur under Ur-Nammu (r.2112– 2095 BCE) gained ascendancy. The armies of Ur overran eastern Mesopotamia and Elam, and regained much of Sargon’s empire. Ur-Nammu founded the Third dynasty of Ur, which witnessed a revival of Sumerian power, as well as an artistic and cultural renaissance. Sumerian scholars devised a method of counting, based on units of 60. This system is reflected in our modern division of hours into 60 minutes, minutes into 60 seconds, and a circle into 360 degrees. Ur-Nammu also commissioned the first ziggurat in Ur – an imposing stepped platform topped with a temple. The ziggurats later became a characteristic of ancient western Asian architecture. In c.2181 BCE, Egypt’s Old Kingdom collapsed following a series of natural disasters, including famine. This undermined the authority of the king, who was believed to secure the annual floods that
brought fertility to the Nile valley. The rule of Memphis, the capital city of the Old Kingdom, was overthrown as nomarchs and nobles seized control of the provinces. This ushered in a time of unrest called the First Intermediate Period, the first of the three eras of uncertainty in Egyptian history. For 140 years, kingdoms such as Herakleopolis in central Egypt vied for control with Thebes in the south. In c.2040 BCE, the Theban ruler Nebhepetre Mentuhotep defeated his rivals and united Egypt once more, beginning the start of what came to be known as the Middle Kingdom. In China, the Neolithic Longshan culture (see 3200 BCE) continued to develop along the Yellow River in Shandong province. According to Chinese historical tradition, the first dynasty, Xia (Hsia), was founded by Yu the Great. However, no archaeological evidence has
100 THOUSAND THE LIKELY POPULATION OF UR c.2100
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THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF GUTIUM ATTACKED the Akkadian
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Longshan pottery This elegant pottery tripod jug has tapering legs and swirling patterns, characteristic of the Longshan culture.
been found to confirm the existence of a centralized state in China at this time. By the end of the 3rd millennium, Europe’s first civilization was emerging on the Mediterranean island of Crete, which lay at the heart of Mediterranean trade routes. Known as the Minoan civilization, it grew prosperous through trade and farming. Cretan farmlands produced wheat, olives, wine, and wool, which could be easily transported by sea. The Minoans also made bronzework, pottery, and dyes for export. By 2000 BCE, Crete was home to several small kingdoms.
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E A R LY C I V I L I Z AT I O N S
hieroglyphs are picture symbols
hieratic script reads from right to left
Prehistory Pictograms
papyrus, made by pressing together layers of strips of reed
Pictures painted on walls of caves up to 25,000 years ago are considered a precursor to writing, recording information that could then be Cave images by Anasazi Indians understood by others.
illustration shows a priest making an offering to the god Osiris
c.3200 BCE Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian writing develops 100 years after cuneiform. This script begins as a form of picture writing, and includes signs for words and also sounds. It remains in use until the 4th century CE.
3300 BCE Cuneiform
The first proper written script is developed by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia. Writing with a reed stylus creates a wedge-shaped impression on tablets of wet clay, which then dry hard.
Egyptian hieroglyphic and hieratic script This ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscript shows two forms of Egyptian writing: hieratic script (left) and hieroglyphic script (right) above the two figures. Hieroglyphic is an elaborate script in which signs take a highly pictorial form, while hieratic is a simplified version of hieroglyphic for ease of speed and writing.
8th century BCE The Greek alphabet
The first alphabets, using only consonants, develop in the Levant by c.1150 BCE. They include the Phoenician alphabet, which spreads to the Greeks through trade, who add vowels.
c.1900 BCE Chinese writing
Mesopotamian tablet
The first surviving Chinese writing appears on oracle bones, used in divination. This ancient script is still in use today. Chinese script involves 50,000 characters that stand for words.
100 The Roman alphabet
Greek wax tablet
The Romans adapt the Greek script to write Latin. Through the Roman Empire, this alphabet spreads across Europe and is used for personal as well as official correspondence.
c.6th century BCE Parchment
Chinese paper scroll
Made from dried and processed animal skins, parchment becomes a popular medium for writing around the 6th century BCE, taking over from papyrus, a paper made from reeds.
Chinese parchment scroll
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25/05/2011 24/05/2011 17:56 10:21
T H E S TO R Y O F W R I T I N G
THE STORY OF
WRITING
FROM CAVE PAINTINGS TO THE DIGITAL AGE, WRITING IN ITS VARIOUS FORMS HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR CIVILIZATION
The development of writing was an amazing breakthrough as it allowed people to communicate over distance and record information for posterity. Writing evolved separately in different cultures: in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley before 2500 BCE and later in Crete, China, and Mesoamerica. Some scholars consider that prehistoric cave paintings featuring images and symbols constitute a form of writing. The first proper script was developed by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia (now Iraq) around 3300 BCE. Soon, a number of different ancient cultures had developed writing, usually to keep economic records or track of time. As writing developed, it was commonly used to reinforce the authority of rulers. Many early texts, including monumental ones in stone, glorify the deeds of kings and attribute their success to divine approval.
Writing systems can be divided into three types, according to the function of the signs used: logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic. However, some scripts make use of two types of signs. In logographic scripts, each sign stands for a whole word; Chinese writing is an example, although it also uses syllabic signs. The drawback is that a very large number of symbols are needed (Chinese has 50,000 characters). In syllabic scripts, signs stand for syllables. A smaller but still large number of signs are needed – 700 in Babylonian cuneiform. In alphabetic scripts, each sign stands for a sound. Far fewer symbols are needed – usually around 26. The first alphabets developed in the Levant between 1450 and 1150 BCE. For years, the spread of writing was limited by the labour involved in hand-copying texts, but this changed with the invention of printing. In the late 20th century, writing became electronic with the invention of word processors. In the 1990s, the spread of information was again revolutionized by the arrival of the Internet. Ancient texts in the digital world Nowadays, ancient texts can be viewed digitally. Here, a student examines a digitized page of the Codex Sinaiticus, handwritten in Greek over 1,600 years ago.
7th century Arabic script
The Arabic alphabet is used to write down the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. Its use spreads with the Islamic faith to become one of the world’s most widely used scripts.
4th century The codex
The codex, or manuscript in book form, gradually supersedes the roll of parchment. Originally developed by the Romans, the use of codices spreads with the Christian religion.
c.1450 Invention of printing
Medieval Qur’an
In medieval times, the laboriousness of copying by hand limits the spread of writing. The invention of printing using moveable type makes writing far more accessible. In 1500, an estimated 35,000 texts are in print.
7th–9th centuries Illuminated manuscripts
In early medieval times, the use of writing spreads through the copying of Christian texts. Illuminated manuscripts are highly decorative, with ornate capital letters and marginal illustrations.
1867–1868 The typewriter
Book of Durrow
1884 The fountain pen
Roman mosaic
PICTOGRAPHIC SYMBOLS Pictograms, or picture signs, are an ancient form of communication. Some scholars do not consider pictograms to be “true” writing, since the symbols do not convey the sounds of words in any language. For example, the pictures above – from a house in Roman Pompeii dating to 79 CE, and a modern sign – convey the same warning. The symbol can be read in any language, for example as canis, chien, Hund, or dog. Those words convey the same idea but reproduce the sounds of different languages – Latin, French, German, and English. Pictograms have limited use but remain widespread, appearing for example on street signs, maps, and clothes labels.
The first practical fountain pen is produced by American inventor L.E. Waterman, and quickly replaces the quill pen. Biros, invented by László Bíró, are in use Waterman by the 1940s. fountain pen
American inventor Christopher Latham Sholes helps to build the first practical typewriter. The patent is sold to Remington, who puts the first typewriters The Remington on sale in 1874. Model I
Modern sign
1990–present Text messaging
In the 1990s, the first text messages are sent via mobile phones. Texting becomes very popular in the 2000s. In 2009, more than 1.5 trillion text messages Smartphone are sent.
1971 Writing enters the digital age
In 1971, Ray Tomlinson sends the first electronic message (email) from one computer to another. Emails become popular with the spread of personal computers in the 1980s.
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1850–1790BCE
2000–1850 BCE
Egyptian hieroglyphics involved the use of pictorial signs. This example is from a coffin from the Middle Kingdom period. THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION, named
after the legendary King Minos, flourished on the Aegean island of Crete in the early 2nd millennium, reaching its peak between 2000 and 1600 BCE. It is thought that Crete’s prosperity was based on the export of pottery, gold, and bronze, as well as possibly grain, wine, and oil, to Egypt, Cyprus, and Palestine. The Minoans established colonies in many parts of the Aegean, including the islands of Kythera, Thera, Melos, and Rhodes, and at Miletos on the Turkish mainland. The farmlands of Crete were ruled from cities with central palaces that housed workshops,
the administration, religious facilities, and state storerooms. Those at Knossos, Phaestos, Mallia, and Zakros were particularly impressive, judging by their remains. Around 1700 BCE, these palaces were burnt down, and only Knossos was rebuilt, on a more magnificent scale than before, suggesting its dominance over the entire island. The palace was five storeys high, with rooms opening onto inner courtyards. This maze-like complex is thought to have given rise to the labyrinth in the legend of the Minotaur, a bull-headed monster. Bulls certainly featured in Minoan ceremonies. The deities
worshipped in Minoan shrines seem to have been female, with a goddess of nature being the most popular. However, details of Minoan culture remain obscure since the Minoan scripts, known as Cretan hiroglyphic and Linear A, have yet to be undeciphered. In Egypt, King Mentuhotep had reunited the country at the end of the 3rd millennium (see 2350–2000 BCE). Yet, the second of Egypt’s eras of strong, centralized rule only began with the reign of Amenemhet I, from about 1985 BCE, during the Middle Kingdom. In 1965 BCE, his successor Senwosret I conquered the land of Nubia to the south,
40 THE NUMBER OF DAYS IT TOOK TO MUMMIFY A BODY
extending Egypt’s borders as far as the second cataract of the Nile. Nubia yielded gold, copper, and slaves to swell the ranks of Egypt’s army. Around a century later, Senwosret III also made Levant a vassal state of Egypt. Middle-Kingdom Egypt was more democratic than it was during the Old Kingdom period. Rulers presented themselves as shepherds of the state rather than absolute monarchs. The process of mummification, once confined to kings, was now permitted for ordinary citizens. In order to preserve it as a permanent home for the spirit, the body was dried in natron salt, its vital organs were removed, and it was stuffed with linen and wrapped in bandages. Charging bull Minoan rituals included a bull-leaping ceremony, in which athletes grasped the bull’s horns and vaulted over its back.This Knossos fresco dates back to c.1500 BCE.
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ty Ci stru n CE 0 B u co w 0 9 to lo c.1 Erli Yel a of ound Chin r a ver, Ri
Shang bronze This bronze plate was found at Erlitou, and is of the Xia period. It is inlaid with turquoise mosaic, believed to represent a dragon’s scales. IN CHINA, THE SHANG CIVILIZATION developed along
the Yellow River by 1850 BCE. According to legend, China’s first dynasty was the Xia, but current archaeological evidence points to Shang as the first dynasty. At Erlitou in Henan province, archaeologists have uncovered a palace complex built on a
20,000 THE NUMBER OF CLAY TABLETS SO FAR FOUND AT MARI
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1790–1650 BCE
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AS I A
Area of Shang influence Yellow River
Xingtai
Shang capital 1400–1300 BCE
on
Ye llow Sea
Anyang
Shang capital 1300–1027 BCE
Huixian
Erlitou
Shang capital 1600–1400 BCE
er Riv
ze R
iver
Henan Panlongcheng
Ya
Wucheng
Long-distance trade routes linked coastal towns with communities in Andean valleys to the east and beyond. This allowed for the spread of pottery from Colombia to Peru by 1800 BCE. Meanwhile, in North America, crops such as sunflowers and gourds began to be cultivated in the east. In Western Asia, the fall of the Ur III Empire led to the rise of two states – Assyria in the north and Babylon in the southeast – which were to dominate Mesopotamia for the next 1,500 years. The first dynasty of Babylon was established
Law Code of Hammurabi, king of Babylon
WHEN THE ASSYRIAN KING SHAMSHI-ADAD died in 1781 BCE,
Zhengzhou
Huai
in c.1894 BCE. In the north, the city of Ashur became an important trading centre in the 20th century BCE. In 1813 BCE, it was taken over by the Amorite king ShamshiAdad, who carved out a kingdom in northern Mesopotamia. This kingdom was a forerunner of the Greater Assyrian Empire of the 9th century BCE (see 900–800 BCE). Clay tablets recovered from Mari in central Mesopotamia hold records of trade and tributes levied by Assyria from vassalstates. Writing from this period included copies of the earliest surviving work of literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Sumerian hero Tablets and stone carvings from the Old Babylonian period provide a record of the Epic of Gilgamesh, previously passed down in the oral tradition.
he was succeeded by his son Ishme-Dagan. During his reign, Assyria declined, allowing the state of Babylon to come to the fore. During the reign of ShamshiAdad, Babylon was probably a vassal state of Assyria, but as Assyria declined, King Hammurabi of Babylon saw his chance to seize a wider kingdom. From 1760 BCE, Hammurabi embarked on a series of conquests, which made Babylon the region’s foremost state. Between 1763–1762 BCE, he defeated Elam to the east and Larsa, which controlled Sumer, to the south. Between 1757–1755 BCE, King Hammurabi conquered much of northern Mesopotamia and took the city of Eshnunna after diverting its water supply. Hammurabi introduced the Babylonian law code in the region under his control. Its 282 laws covered property, family, trade, and business practices. The Law Code of Hammurabi is famous for punitive laws which meted out punishments in the same
ial on da m re lori ru e C a F Pe E f L t in BC 00 tre o buil 8 c.1 cen
measure as the crime committed – “an eye for an eye”. However, it is thought that the law code was more of a moral statement of principle than an enforced judicial system. As such, the code bound the powerful and wealthy as well as ordinary people; the strong were exhorted to refrain from oppressing the weak.
Set in stone Hammurabi’s code was inscribed on stone pillars called stele. This stele shows the god of justice Shamash (right) dictating laws to the king. bi CE ura es 0B sh 75 amm tabli e in 1 – r for 92 of H n; es mpi 7 n 1 ig ylo E nd ode ire Re Bab nian ia a lawc emp of bylo otam es a his t Ba sop lgat hou Me omu oug r pr e th us
g an Sh ins CE beg B n 0 80 tio c.1 iliza a civ Chin in
030-031_2000-1650BCE.indd 31
Sh
d an
East China Sea
Xi’ang
Luoyang
platform of compressed earth. They have also unearthed bronze vessels. Evidence suggests that many features that were to characterize Chinese society later, such as a strong bureaucracy and the worship of ancestors, date back to this time. In southern Asia, the Indus civilization, which had thrived during the 3rd millennium (see 2500–2350 BCE), went into a decline by around 1800 BCE. Scholars believe that this was partly caused by the changes in the regimes of the rivers that provided water for irrigation. Cities seem to have been ravaged by diseases such as cholera and malaria. Trade with Mesopotamia also declined. Meanwhile, new crops such as millet and rice were introduced. All these factors seem to have led to a decline in urban culture, characterized by writing and a centralized bureaucracy, in favour of a rural-based culture. In South America, large-scale cultivation was taking place along the Pacific coast by about 1800 BCE. Substantial settlements such as El Paraiso and Sechin Alto in Peru were dominated by massive temple complexes.
Bo Hai g
Taixicun
ng t
Shang city
Shang China The middle course of the Yellow River was the heartland of the Shang civilization from c.1800–1100 BCE. From here, Shang influence, such as bronze-working, spread elsewhere.
,,
IF A MAN PUTS OUT THE EYE OF AN EQUAL, HIS EYE SHALL BE PUT OUT.
KEY
al ion of g dit ra ding y Kin T E n b BC ou ty o 66 r f as g t 17 te fo dyn rdin y r o a g o c d an c st Sh ng, a e hi Ta ines h C
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29
300 0 – 7 0 0
BCE
E A R LY C I V I L I Z AT I O N S
to Central and Northern Europe
MYCENAEAN GREECE Sardinia
Ionian Sea
Gla
Orchomenos
Thebes
Tiryns
Menelaion
Knossos
TRADE COMMODITIES gold silver
Med
tin copper
Crete
iter
fine metalwork
rane
fine pottery
TRADE COMMODITIES
The importance of trade Trade was essential to supply societies with the raw materials and manufactured KEY goods needed for daily life (such as metals and timber), for displaying Mycenaean status Greece (such as fine weaponry), or for embellishing religious Hittite Empiremonuments and royal palaces (such as lapis lazuli). Trade also promoted Mitanni the spread of knowledge, technology, and ideas.
TRADE COMMODITIES
an Sea
textiles
gold
timber
silver
grain
tin
ivory
copper
ivory objects
fine metalwork
perfumed oils
fine pottery
olive oil
textiles
wine
silver
grain
faience objects
Mycenaean Greece
Elam
tin
ivory
turquoise
Hittite Empire
New Kingdom Egypt
copper
ivory objects
murex dye
Mitanni
Arzawa
fine metalwork
perfumed oils
seashells
Assyria
Trade routes c.1350 BCE
fine pottery
olive oil
horses
Kassite Babylonia
textiles
wine
weapons
Elam
timber
glass
New Kingdom Egypt
grain
faience objects
Arzawa
ivory
turquoise
Trade routes c.1350 BCE
ivory objects
murex dye
perfumed oils
seashells
olive oil
horses
wine
weapons
A
glass
Kassite Babylonia
H
timber
A
gold
S
Assyria
KEY
Miletus LUKKA
Athens
Pylos
A F R I C A
R
ANCIENT EMPIRES
THE BIRTH OF ADVANCED SOCIETIES
Apasa MIRA
ARZAWA
Mycenae
Sicily
WILUSA Troy SEHA RIVER MASA LAND
A
to sub-Saharan Africa
glass faience objects
In the 3rd millennium BCE, states emerged in Egypt, turquoise Mesopotamia, and the murex dye Indus. Urban society was consolidated in Western Asia in the 2nd millennium, seashells and powerful states vied for control of lands; in contrast, in South Asia, towns horses weapons and the Americas. disappeared. Complex societies emerged in China The exceptional agricultural productivity of the 24 and Yellow River Nile, Euphrates, Indus (see p.26), 29 valleys undoubtedly played a part in the (see p.31) precocious emergence of civilizations in these regions. So did international trade, which was also important in the development of the first New World civilizations. Trade also enabled many neighbouring societies to achieve prosperity: through time they developed complex cultures
,,
increasingly focused on urban centres, and came into competition for resources and markets. High-level diplomacy was essential to the smooth operation of international trading networks and to success in inter-state power struggles. Royal letters found in the Egyptian capital, Akhetaten (Amarna), provide a fascinating picture of relations between the 14th-century BCE rulers of the rival great states of the eastern Mediterranean.
,,
FOR A LONG TIME WE HAVE HAD GOOD RELATIONS BETWEEN US KINGS… Babylonian king Burnaburiash II to Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, from the Amarna letters, 14th century BCE
THE WORLD PICTURE Urbanism and complex societies became more widespread during the 2nd millennium BCE. While they shared many features such as trade, high agricultural productivity, dense populations, and their managerial needs, urban societies took many different forms. In the Americas, large ceremonial complexes KEY with residential suburbs provided the focus Chavín for the Olmec communities of the wider region, strongly connected by shared religion and trade.Shang Advanced centres This map shows established and emerging civilizations in the later 2nd millennium BCE. Societies of farmers and hunter-gatherers occupied other regions.
Mycenaeans Egypt
KEY
Babylonia
Chavín
Assyria
Olmec
Hittites
Shang
Mitanni
Mycenaeans
Elam
Egypt Babylonia Assyria Hittites Mitanni Elam
32
30
032-033_Ancient_empires.indd 32
03/06/2011 17:39
Blac
k S ea
KASKAS
PALA Hattusas
HITTITE EMPIRE
UPP ERL AND URUADRI (URARTU)
ISUWA
HAPALLA
A
a
UPPER EGYPT
DJ
Uruk
Abydos
Se
Nippur
Jerusalem Lachish Sharuhen
W ES DE TER N SE RT
ME
Gaza
Sinai
Eastern Desert
Elephantine NUBIA
S
A
SATJU
YAM
N IA NUB ERT DES
HA R A
to Afghanistan Afghanistan to
Old Kingdom c.2686–2181 BCE Rulers exercised centralized control and commanded impressive resources, as shown by the pyramids at Giza.
BABYLONIA
Babylon
Shechem
Memphis
EGYPT
d
Tyre
Nile Delta LOWER
Giza Saqqara
Capital cities
Dur-Kurigalzu Dur-Kurigalzu
Kumida Hazor
Sidon
a nean Sea
Re
Labwe
Byblos
Trade routes
diterr
le
Simurru
KEY
ris Tig
es at hr
A TN A UWACarchemish S S Z TA R H U N T A Washshukanni KIZ MUKISH Harran Nineveh Alalah Arbil Arbil Emar MITANNI Ugarit Aleppo ASSYRIA E E Cyprus Arwad uupp NIYA (Alashiya) Ashur Tunip Qatna Qadesh
Cyprus
Me
Ni
KINGDOMS OF ANCIENT EGYPT The Nile Valley's exceptional agricultural fertility promoted the early development of urbanism in Egypt. Settlements clung to the Nile Delta and riverbanks, beyond which lay arid desert. The great mineral resources of the flanking desert regions and Nubia, which included gold, were important for both domestic use, and to support international trade.
TUMMANNA
SEALAND SEALAND
ELAM
Susa Susa
Ur Ur
Anshan Anshan
Memphis
Cyprus
Me
Pe
LOWER
n ia
EGYPT
Itjtawy Eastern Desert
capital c.1985–1650 BCE
a
ea dS
A
Se
EGYPT
capital c.2055–1985 BCE and c.1650–1550 BCE
S
d
Waset (Thebes) W ES Karnak DE TER N SE UPPER RT
Re
le
Re
Ar ab i an Pen i n su l a
capital c.1650–1550 BCE
Ni
lf
le Ni
DILMUN DILMUN
Thebes
Sinai
Memphis
Gu
EGYPT
a nean Sea
Avaris (Tell el-Dab’a)
Liyan Liyan
rs
Akhetaten
diterr
NUBIA WAWAT
N IA NUB ERT S E D
HA R A
KUSH
Middle Kingdom c.2040–1640 BCE Decorated tombs record prosperous life under the stable 12th dynasty, but the state disintegrated under later rulers.
to to Punt Punt
Cyprus
S
Mycenae
ATLANTIC OCEAN
i
b e r
i a
Me
Hattusas
Babylon Memphis
Anyang Ashur Susa
diterr
LOWER EGYPT
Xi’ang Zhengzhou
a nean Sea
Per-Ramesse (Qantir)
PACIFIC OCEAN
Sinai
Memphis
Eastern
Akhetaten (Amarna) Desert
S A H A R A
le
Ni
PACIFIC OCEAN
a
PUNT
Se
ATLANTIC OCEAN
d
Chavín de Huántar
Re
W ES Waset (Thebes) DE TER UPPER N SE RT EGYPT
San Lorenzo
NUBIA
INDIAN OCEAN
S
A
HA R A
N IA NUB ERT S E D KUSH
New Kingdom c.1550–1069 BCE Egypt reached its greatest power and prosperity, conquering Nubia and the Levant, and building several temples.
33
31 032-033_Ancient_empires.indd 33
26/05/2011 18:22
1650–1550 BCE
1550–1400 BCE
Hattusas, the Hittite capital, was founded by Hattusalis I in 1650 BCE and destroyed in 1180 BCE.
Built over 300 years, the temple complex at Karnak, Egypt, includes the world’s largest temple, dedicated to Amun-Re, the patron deity of the pharaohs.
AFTER HAMMURABI’S DEATH in 1750 BCE, the Babylonian Empire (see 1850–1790 BCE) declined. At the same time, other powers were on the rise, such as the Hurrians of Mitanni in Syria, and the Hittites of Anatolia in Turkey. By 1650 BCE, the Hittites had built an extensive kingdom in central Anatolia, with its capital at Hattusas. The Hittites had developed advanced bronze- and iron-working skills and they were also known to be fierce fighters. In 1595 BCE, the Hittite king Mursilis (r.1620–1590 BCE) raided Babylon and expanded his empire. However, he was killed soon after, and the empire shrank back for about a century. In Egypt, the Middle Kingdom (see 2000–1850 BCE) was waning
Man and beast The Hittite Empire was known for its bronze craftsmanship. Bronze weapons and artefacts fetched a high price. This statuette of a man and a horse was probably a commission.
s om te h tti gd it Hi Kin ia, w l E d tol ita l BC p O a 0 ca 65 ish An c.1 tabl tral s its a s n e ce as in ttus Ha
CE
IN c.1550 BCE, THE THEBAN KING
Ahmose I (r.1550–1525 BCE) drove the Hyksos from Lower Egypt, ushering in the third period of settled rule in Egypt, known as the New Kingdom (c.1550–1070 BCE). During this time, Egyptian rulers assumed
IRON-WORKING The Hittites developed iron smelting by c.1500 BCE. At first iron was used only in luxury objects, such as in the decoration of this box from Acemhoyek. Later, as technology developed, iron was used to create superior weapons. Though the Hittites traded iron goods, they kept this technology secret for about 300 years. Around 1200 BCE, iron-working spread to Greece, and then to Central Europe by c.750 BCE – the dawn of the Iron Age. by 1670 BCE, partly due to erratic floods in the Nile. As regional governors became more powerful, civil war broke out. Outsiders soon took advantage of the unrest. The Nubians won back lands that the Egyptians had taken earlier (see 2000–1850 BCE). In 1650 BCE, the Hyksos from the Levant seized Lower Egypt, but Upper Egypt remained under the control of Egyptian kings.
o an of g olc and ly, ents v l kin on, A is ent em E ite byl k viol ttl BC t e t 8 i a e e H sB e 62 Gr ts n s sh bi E id pir ura BC c.1 the erup noa ith a 95 is ra em mm on era g Mi d w 5 l 1 c. rsi the Ha Th ryin islan Mu ding d by bu the en nde on fou
B 50 nt f n 15 va r n tia ea 0 – e Le we so 5 yp ey na on 6 th Lo nd ite of Eg Vall es ce es nd ss tion ia, c.1 of uer eco od y t a g s s b M er la K ea on S ri q o n Fir ed in The l r CE CE in ks con ring Pe E 0 B em a 0 B n c aby gio ri ar BC Hy te u 60 tion ek m 57 begi in B e re 0s e bu s ne t d edia 1 1 . . 7 a e p h c liz Gr c an re g t 5 ar g y i Eg term c.1 ohs Kin Ir mpi itin civ the e a In e un ar f th w 034-035_1650-1300BCE.indd 34 h e o p n
32
2000
Egyptian religion was very complex. Every village, town, and district had its own patron deity. In paintings and sculptures, many deities were shown with animal heads, representing their most important attributes. For example, the falcon god Horus protected the king, while the ibisheaded Thoth was the patron god of scribes. By 1600 BCE, a new civilization emerged
on the Greek mainland. Its people are now known as the Mycenaeans, after the fortresspalace of Mycenae, believed to be the home of the mythical king Agamemnon from Homer’s Iliad. However, the Mycenaeans
THE NUMBER OF NAMES FOR GODS AND GODDESSES IN ANCIENT EGYPT
the title “pharaoh”, meaning “great house”. A succession of warrior kings campaigned to expand Egypt’s boundaries once more. Tuthmosis I (r.1504–1492 BCE) drove the Nubians back in the south and recaptured Sinai and parts of Syria and Palestine. Under Tuthmosis III (r.1479–1425 BCE), Egypt controlled a strip along the Mediterranean coast and north of the Euphrates (see p.33). The conquered states paid huge annual tributes to Egypt, a part of which was spent building one of the world’s largest religious sites at Karnak and the impressive mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut (r.1473–1458 BCE).
Mask of gold German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found this funerary mask at a grave in Mycenae, and claimed it belonged to King Agamemnon.
g ins kin s an so ite eg eb Hyk reun iod b h T es to r CE pe s B riv ypt m 50 e I d r Eg gdo gy 5 s n 1 olo c. mo owe Ki op echn E l C e Ah m L New 0 B ev g t fro ypt; 55 s d tin c.1 ttite mel Eg i H n-s iro d Ol ite s; itt cline an H i CE de rr i in 0 B m Hu 50 do of ann ia c.1 King nce f Mit otam p o ge er sty eso em yna rn M d e rth no
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26/05/2011 19:20
1400–1300 BCE
Tutankhamun was buried with fabulous treasure. This detail from the pharaoh’s throne shows him being anointed by his wife Ankhesenamun.
034-035_1650-1300BCE.indd 35
ED
ON
IA
Sea of Marmara
Lemnos
THESSALY Iolcus
Lesbos
Spor Ionian Islands
Ionian Sea
Anatolia
Aegean Sea
ades
Gla Euboea Orchomenus Thebes Chios Gu l f o f C o r in t h Athens Mycenae Dendra Aegina Argos Tiryns Cyclades Peloponnese Menelaion Pylos Vapheio Melos Phylakopi
Miletus
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probably called themselves Ahhiyawa. They had migrated from the Balkans or Anatolia about 500 years earlier. Their lands were a patchwork of small kingdoms, each later dominated by a palace-citadel such as the ones at Mycenae, Tiryns, and Pylos. They spread their influence through trade. After the collapse of the Minoan Empire in c.1450 BCE, the Mycenaeans took over several sites formerly occupied by the Minoans, including Knossos. After c.1400 BCE, they also took over Minoan trade networks and established settlements on Rhodes, Kos, and the Anatolian mainland. The Mycenaeans inherited Minoan arts and crafts, adapting the Linear A script to write an early form of Greek known as the Linear B script. They were great traders, and ventured out to Sicily and Italy. A ship believed to be of Canaanite origin, wrecked off Uluburun on the coast of Turkey, was found to contain tin from Iran or Afghanistan, copper and pottery from Cyprus, ivory and jewellery from Egypt, and Mycenaean swords. The late Bronze Age was a time of unrest in Western Asia. From 1550–1400 BCE, there was a struggle between various powers in the region, including
Thera
Mediterranean Sea
es
e Rhodes
Sea of Crete Chania
Crete
Knossos
Phaistos
Aegean civilizations Around 1450 BCE Mycenaean influence spread throughout the Aegean, including to several sites that had been part of the Minoan Empire.
the Hurrians, Hittites, Elamites, Egyptians, and the Kassites. In the 1570s BCE, the Kassites had gained control of Babylon. However, by 1450 BCE, the Hittite New Kingdom was growing in influence, partly due to an alliance with Egypt. Around this time, the Mitanni dominated Syria, but by the 1400s, the Hittites were fighting for control of the region. In China, the Shang civilization (see 1850–1790 BCE) flourished around 1500 BCE, with its rulers dominating a large area of central China. However, the Shang had to regularly fend off threats to their kingdom from nomadic tribes to the north. Shang capitals were surrounded
s n ea tche na ce stre vant y M ork Le E BC tw he 50 ne to t 4 g 1 c. din icily tra m S fro
an no e Mi ret s E C an BC n 0 o e d 45 es na an c.1 alac yce e isl p d; M f th e o oy ol str tr de con e tak
KEY Mycenaean site Mycenaean major palace
by defensive walls. Kings and nobles were buried in tombs, which held fabulous grave goods. The Shang capital moved several times during this period. Shang society was believed to be well organized and extremely hierarchical. Writing began around 1900 BCE. Most examples of early writing took the form of oracle bones, attesting to the Shang rulers’ practice of consulting their ancestors on important decisions. Questions concerning the future were inscribed on the bone of an ox or on a turtle shell, which was then struck with a hot metal tool. The way the bone cracked was believed to provide the answer.
g an m Sh fro ang s i’ e B 0 ov to X 40 l m c.1 pita zhou ca eng a Zh Chin in CE
IN c.1352 BCE, AMENHOTEP IV,
a religious reformer, became Egypt’s pharaoh. He broke with the traditional religion, with its pantheon of gods, and initiated the worship of a single god, Aten, or sun-disk. He changed his name to Akhenaten, meaning “living spirit of Aten”, and founded a new capital between Thebes and Memphis. He named it Akhetaten, meaning “horizon of Aten”. Akhenaten’s religious reforms were believed to have been unpopular, especially with the influential priestly elite. After his death in c.1336 BCE, his son Tutankhamun ascended the throne at the age of nine. He restored the old gods and abandoned the new capital. Tutankhamun is believed to have died under mysterious circumstances at 18, and was hastily buried in a minor tomb. It was thought for years that Tutankhamun died of a blow to the head, but the latest evidence suggests he died of blood poisoning after breaking his leg in a chariot crash while out hunting in the desert.
Since the 1570s BCE, Egypt’s pharaohs had been buried in rock-cut tombs in the Valley of the Kings, on the west bank of the Nile. Rulers hoped their tombs would be safe from robbers, but almost all the tombs were robbed of their rich goods. However, in 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb virtually intact. The shrine room had four gilded shrines, holding the king’s coffin and mummy with a solid gold mask. The other rooms contained jewellery, furniture, golden statues, and musical instruments.
Sun worship Akhenaten instituted the worship of the sun disk Aten. In this relief carving found at Akhetaten (modern el-Amarna), he is seen worshipping the sun with his wife Nefertiti.
g kin 80– s r te tti (r.13 que ize i H I s E s con t in a BC y s p m 00 uliu riefl Egy 3 b l 1 c. ppi CE) lling Su 34 B riva 13 ria, Sy
CE
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33
1300–1200 BCE
1200–1100 BCE
The facade of the temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel features four colossal seated statues of the pharaoh, but the statue second from left has perished.
The boulders used to make these walls, now in ruins, at Mycenae on the Greek mainland were so huge, later civilizations believed they were built by giants.
Mediterranean and Western Asia were a mosaic of empires, which comprised Egypt, Babylonia, Elam, Assyria, and the Hittites in Anatolia. Borders fluctuated as each kingdom strove to gain ascendancy over its neighbours through conquest or diplomacy. In war and peace, vital trade routes, through which tin and copper for bronze reached the region, remained intact. A frequent flashpoint for conflict was the Levant (modern Syria and Lebanon), which Egypt had lost to the Hittites following the reign of Akhenaten (see 1350 BCE). In the 13th century BCE, Pharaoh Seti I and his son Ramesses II campaigned to win it back. Ramesses’ 67-year reign (r.1279–1213 BCE) was
,,
YOU ARE A GREAT WARRIOR WITHOUT EQUAL, VICTORIOUS IN SIGHT OF THE WHOLE WORLD.
,,
Inscription commemorating the victory of Ramesses II at Qadesh
a time of stability and prosperity for Egypt. Through a combination of war, diplomacy, and strategic marriage, Ramesses sought to extend Egyptian influence to Western Asia. In the 1270s BCE, he fought a series of wars with the Hittite king, Muwattalis II, of which
ts
li E ra BC to 00 pas e 0 1 th d 0 – an gh 30 rs ou in c.1 rme thr sin Fa read s Ba ndia sp nge rn I Ga rthe no
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34
Ancient propaganda A detail from the temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel shows the king firing an arrow, taking on the Hittite army single-handed at the Battle of Qadesh.
BETWEEN 1250 AND ABOUT 1050 BCE, many of the powers that
the most famous was the Battle of Qadesh (c.1274 BCE). Although Ramesses claimed victory at Qadesh, the battle is believed to have been inconclusive, and the Hittites held on to the region. In 1259 BCE, after further campaigns in Syria, Ramesses tried a different tactic, and negotiated a pioneering peace treaty with the new Hittite king, Hattusilis III. Ramesses also took two Hittite princesses in marriage (he had about seven wives in total). Following the treaty, Ramesses kept up a friendly correspondence with the Hittite ruler, which was recorded on clay tablets in Akkadian cuneiform script. Ramesses also embarked on an extensive programme of monument-building. On Egypt’s southern border with Nubia he constructed the magnificent temple of Abu Simbel. He founded a new capital at Per-Ramesses in Lower Egypt, although Thebes in Upper Egypt remained an important centre. West of Thebes he built a vast mortuary temple, which doubled as a palace, court, and centre of learning.
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The late 2nd millennium BCE saw the resurgence of Ashur, in what is now called the Middle Assyrian Empire (1350– 1000 BCE). Following the death of Shamshi-Adad in 1781 BCE (see 1850 BCE), Ashur had become a vassal, first of Babylon, then of Mitanni. A revival of Ashur’s fortunes began under Ashuruballit I (r.1363–1328 BCE), who broke free of Mitannian rule and carved out a kingdom in northern Iraq. His later successors, Shalmaneser I and TukultiNinurta I, continued to gain territory, expanding the kingdom’s borders west to conquer eastern Mitanni and briefly, from 1225– 1216 BCE, southeast to Babylonia. In the Aegean, the Mycenaean palace-kingdoms of the Greek mainland continued to thrive.
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had dominated Western Asia for centuries went into decline, and some disappeared altogether. The eastern Mediterranean entered a time of turmoil, and many coastal cities were laid waste by unknown invaders – written records of the period give few clues as to their identity. First to succumb were the Hittites, whose capital Hattusas was sacked and abandoned c.1200 BCE. By c.1180 BCE, Hittite possessions in the Levant were lost and the empire fragmented. These conflicts were most likely instigated by the waves of migrants known collectively as the Sea Peoples. These warlike peoples came from many different areas, including Sicily, Sardinia, Greece, Libya, and Anatolia. Whatever their origins, their movements through the eastern Mediterranean in c.1200–1100 BCE led to attacks on Cyprus, Egypt, Anatolia, and Canaan and Syria in the Levant. In 1178 BCE, the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses III drove the Sea Peoples from Lower Egypt, but
could not prevent them from colonizing the Levant. Around 1200 BCE, the Mycenaean kingdoms entered a time of upheaval, a result of both internal disintegration and external threats. The defences of many Mycenean palaces were strengthened. Records at Pylos show the inhabitants feared attack from the sea. By 1100 BCE, most of the Mycenaean palaces had been sacked and abandoned. This triggered the so-called Dark Age of Greece, when writing fell out of use, not to be reintroduced until the Homeric age (see 800 BCE). In the late Bronze Age, parts of Europe came to be dominated by the Urnfield Culture – named after the practice of cremating the dead and burying the remains in funerary urns, sometimes accompanied by rich grave goods. This culture originated in the Danube region in 1300 BCE, and spread to Italy and central and eastern Europe in the following centuries. Between 1200 and 700 BCE iron technology spread northwards from Greece to Central Europe.
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TOWARDS THE END OF THE 2ND MILLENNIUM BCE, the eastern
THEY CAME BOLDLY SAILING IN THEIR WARSHIPS FROM THE MIDST OF THE SEA, NONE BEING ABLE TO WITHSTAND THEM…
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An inscription by Ramesses II (r.1279–1213), referring to the Sea Peoples
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1100–1000 BCE
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WHEN ALL LONGINGS THAT ARE IN THE HEART VANISH, THEN A MORTAL BECOMES IMMORTAL… Krishna Yajur Veda
Iron rapidly replaced bronze in tools and weapons, signalling the end of the Bronze Age. In Mesoamerica, the region’s first great civilization, the Olmec, was emerging in the lowlands of Mexico’s southern Gulf coast. The Olmecs built ceremonial centres, including San Lorenzo, constructed temples and houses on earthen mounds, and carved huge stone
heads clad in helmets. They also established long-distance trade routes. Meanwhile, other cultures were emerging, such as at Cerro Sechin, in what is now Peru. Stone warrior Monumental carvings from temples at Cerro Sechin on the Peruvian coast show warriors, torture victims, and human sacrifices.
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THE CLOSE OF THE 2ND MILLENIUM SAW MAJOR CHANGES in the
power politics of West Asia In 1070 BCE, the Egyptian New Kingdom ended and Egypt entered a time of unrest called the Third Intermediate Period, which lasted until 747 BCE (see 800–700 BCE). Historians believe that the power of the pharaohs had been eroded by a priestly elite who had gained control of many areas. By 1000 BCE, all the territories won by New Kingdom pharaohs had been lost. In Mesopotamia, there were frequent wars between the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Elamites; the region was also subjected to devastating raids by Aramaean nomads from the west. Meanwhile, other powers were rising in the region. A Semiticspeaking people, who called themselves Canaanites, had inhabited the Levant for centuries, living in city-states that controlled the surrounding territory. They were skilled seafarers and played a major role in international trade. By 1100 BCE, Canaanite port cities such as Arwad, Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon were expanding their operations, establishing trading posts and colonies throughout the eastern Mediterranean. They traded cedarwood from Lebanon, glass- and ivory-ware, metal ores, and most important, an expensive purple dye made from murex shellfish. It was this luxury commodity that caused them to be known by their more familiar Greek name, the Phoenicians, after phoinix, the Greek for purple.
sacred writings. Sanskrit, an Indo-European language related to Iranian and almost all European languages, is also the ancestor of modern languages such as Hindi and Urdu. Sacred writings called the Vedas were transmitted orally in Sanskrit for many centuries. Although the Vedas are largely religious writings and hymns, the geographical information that they contain not only describes the gradual spread of farmers and pastoralists from the Punjab to the Ganges basin, but also gives some information about conflicts with other groups, and local life at the time. For example, the division of society into varnas or castes is described in the Vedas, first appearing in Book X of Rigveda, although there is nothing in the text to suggest that the system was hereditary at the time.
Mark of a culture In this example of late-Jomon pottery, the bowl and stand bear the distinctive rope patterns that give the Jomon period its name.
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In China, a new dynasty replaced the Shang in 1027 BCE, when King Wu of the Zhou defeated the last Shang ruler, Di-Xin. The Zhou dynasty was to rule China for 700 years. This long era is usually divided into two periods: the Western and Eastern Zhou. During the first era the Zhou capital was Zongzhou. This was a time of prosperity and strong central control. Zhou territory was divided into fiefs held by trusted noblemen, in return for military allegiance. But many aspects of Chinese tradition already present in the Shang period continued in the Zhou, including ancestor worship and the use of oracle bones for divination. Meanwhile in Japan, the Jomon culture, named after the cord patterns (jomon) that decorate its pottery, continued. The Jomon people were still hunter-gatherers, albeit prosperous and sedentary. In northern India, small groups of nomadic pastoralists had been migrating into the Ganges basin from Central Asia since the 1500s BCE. By the 1100s BCE, most had begun to settle and cultivate crops. They spoke Sanskrit, which became the language of early Indian
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E A R LY C I V I L I Z AT I O N S
knob is part of locking device
neck is circled by a collar
Decorated ecorated box of Perpauty
Perpauty and his wife
Cat figurine
c.600 BCE This copper alloy figurine sits on a wooden base. Cats were linked with the goddess Bastet, who protected the pharaoh. A hole through the nose originally held a ring.
children bringing offerings
Duck-shaped flask
Statue with stele
c.1700 BCE This jar is carved in the shape of a duck, which appears to be trussed and plucked. It probably held cosmetic paste, such as eye-paint, which was likely removed and applied using a stopper-cum-applicator, now lost.
c.1360 BCE A carved figure representing a high-priest of Amun holds a stele, or carved slab. These slabs were used as grave or commemorative markers. The inscription is a hymn to the Sun god and lists local dignitaries.
ANCIENT EGYPT
c.1370 1370 BCE CE This sycamore box belonging Perpauty to a man called P erpauty may have held linen. All four sides are painted with scenes. This side shows Perpauty and his wife being offered gifts by their son and three daughters.
material is the rare blue stone, anhydrite
A REMARKABLE CIVILIZATION REVEALED THROUGH EVERYDAY ITEMS AND TREASURES
Artefacts manufactured over some 2,000 years bear witness to the skills of Egyptian craft workers. They also reflect Egypt’s wealth and its trade network, through which ebony, lapis lazuli, and turquoise were imported. Many of the objects shown here were used in daily life by well-to-do Egyptians. They reflect belief in the afterlife and the practice of burying possessions that it was believed would be used by the dead person’s spirit in the afterlife. The ruling classes were buried with great wealth, but almost all of their tombs were stripped of their riches either in antiquity or more recently.
Mummiform shabti
c.1300 BCE This large shabti figure has been carved from wood. The tools the figure carries are traditional symbols of kingship, while the scarab represents the god Khepri. scarab ornament on chest
mask of cartonnage – a combination of plaster and linen details such as eyes are modelled in paler wrappings
Shabtis
1292–1190 BCE Statuettes of servant-figures called shabtis were commonly placed in tombs. The Egyptians believed they would come alive to serve the dead person’s spirit in the life to come.
Funerary mask
c.1500 BCE This mask would have been placed over the head of a mummy. The Egyptians mummified bodies because the deceased spirit could not survive unless there was a body for it to return to.
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lapis lazuli inlay
Mummified jackal or dog
c.600 BCE Jackals and, from the 8th century BCE onwards, also dogs were mummified in honour of the jackal-headed god Anubis, who presided over funerals and embalmings.
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A N C I E N T E GY P T Necklaces
Ear E ar studs and earring
c.1550–1069 1550–1069 BCE Once the basic shapes for these studs and earring were made, strands of glass in a contrasting colour were wound around them. The he studs required large perforations in the wearer’s lobes.
c.1550–1069 BCE Egyptian craftsmen had access to many semi-precious stones and precious metals. Necklaces were worn in daily life and also buried with the dead.
Wooden comb
backing for mirror
c.300 BCE This double-sided comb has a row of longer and shorter teeth. Many Egyptians had short hair and wore wigs. Combs were used to keep both natural hair and wigs tidy.
gold band purple amethyst
handle and backing made of ebony
ibex symbolizes grace and mastery over the natural world
Cosmetic spoon
c.1360 BCE This spoon for cosmetic paste has been carved from schist in the shape of an ibex, with its head bent over its back, so that its straight horns touch the bowl. disk representing sun
Amulet
912–343 BCE The wedjat eye symbolizes the eye of the god Horus. This charm was placed on mummies to protect the dead person’s spirit in the afterlife. It also symbolized regeneration.
Male figure amulet
c.2200 BCE This golden charm shows a kneeling male god clasping two palm ribs. He is probably the god Heh, who symbolized eternity. The palm ribs are notched, representing years.
Mirror handle
c.1360 BCE This hardwood mirror setting originally held a polished bronze mirror disc. The handle is carved in the shape of a papyrus column topped with the god Bes – a popular deity.
Frog amulets
c.1360 BCE Frogs were a symbol of life and fertility. Women wore frog amulets for luck. These charms are made of blue faience (pottery) with details picked out in gold.
inlay held within cells of gold
Scarab pectoral
c.1361–52 BCE This magnificent chest ornament represents the scarab god Khepri rolling the red sun-disk. It was found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun.
charm may have been part of a necklace
Winged scarab
644–322 BCE Scarabs were common lucky charms. The scarab beetle was a symbol for rebirth and was worn as jewellery in ancient Egypt.
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1000–900 BCE
900–800 BCE
In the mid-10th century BCE , during the reign of King Solomon, Megiddo (in modern Israel) was an important Israelite fortress and administrative centre.
The jaguar featured in many Mesoamerican and South American religions. Here it is depicted in a stone carving from Chavín de Huántar.
IN THE 10TH CENTURY BCE, THE PERIOD OF DECLINE in the major
SHALMANESER III (858–824 BCE)
powers of Western Asia continued. Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria had weakened, enabling the rise of the short-lived but historically significant Kingdom of Israel. The Israelites were Semiticspeaking pastoralists who, according to the Bible, migrated into the land of Canaan in the 1200s BCE. There, they came into conflict with the local Philistines and Canaanites. Around 1000 BCE King David (r.1006–965 BCE) united the Israelite tribes, and established his capital at Jerusalem. David’s son Solomon (r.c.965–928 BCE) increased Israelite territory and built a magnificent palace and temple in the capital, but on his death the kingdom split in two. Eventually Etched in gold This golden plaque showing the protective wedjat eye symbol dates from the reign of Psusennes I of the 21st dynasty, when Egypt was divided.
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Israel and, later, Judah became part of the Assyrian Empire. Meanwhile, Assyria began to re-emerge as a major power in Mesopotamia. King Ashur-dan II (r.934–912 BCE) boosted agriculture, bringing prosperity. His successor Adad-nirari II increased Assyria’s territory, regaining lands that had been held by the Middle Assyrian Empire in the 13th century BCE.
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In the 9th century BCE, King Shalmaneser III of Assyria greatly expanded his empire, with campaigns against Mesopotamian tribes, Israel and Judah, Syria, Urartu, and Anatolia. This black limestone obelisk commemorates his deeds and those of his commander-in-chief, DayyanAssur. It details, in cuneiform, the enforced tributes paid by the people he conquered.
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THE OLMEC CULTURE CONTINUED TO DEVELOP IN MESOAMERICA
in the 9th century BCE. After San Lorenzo was destroyed in c.900 BCE, La Venta to the northeast became the main Olmec centre. This larger settlement was dominated by a 34m (111ft) high pyramid, the forerunner of Mayan temples. The Olmecs also devised a script of glyphs – the first in the region. Their influence spread across Mesoamerica, impacting on other cultures that were starting to emerge at this time – the Zapotecs and the Maya. In eastern North America, the Adena culture was developing in the Ohio Valley. It was characterized by ritual earthworks and burial mounds containing objects of fine craftsmanship. Far to the south, the Chavín culture had appeared in the Peruvian Andes by c.1200 BCE and spread to the coast. The Chavín
ian
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were skilled engineers and architects who built canals and levelled slopes for farming and construction. The main settlement, Chavín de Huántar, was high in the Andes, and seems to have been a pilgrimage centre for a cult of supernatural beings that were part-human, part-animal. The main god, the “Staff God”, is usually depicted with fangs. In Europe, iron was gradually replacing bronze as the metal of choice for tools and weapons. The area around Hallstatt in Austria became a centre for an early Iron Age culture which developed from the Urnfield culture (see 1200 BCE). Hallstatt chieftains dominated local salt-mining and iron working. They lived in hilltop forts and were buried with rich grave goods. During the 9th century BCE, the Phoenicians were becoming a major power in the Mediterranean. Their trading ships, previously confined to the eastern sea, now
Grave goods This Iron Age brooch was discovered in a grave at Hallstatt in Austria. The type of jewellery found suggests that a woman was buried there.
plied the western Mediterranean. Colonies were set up in Cadiz, in Spain, on the Balearic Islands, and, most notably, on the North African coast at Carthage (in modern Tunisia). Through this trading network, the Phoenician alphabet became known throughout the Mediterranean. In Western Asia, the NeoAssyrian Empire began to expand, and, one by one, Israel, Judah, and the small states of nearby Syria and Phoenicia were brought under Assyrian control.
KEY Assyria
EUROPE
Egypt Phoenician colonies
Greek colonies
Gadir
Carthage
Greek city-states Emerging Etruscan city-states
Black Sea
Caere Pithekoussai
Phoenician city-states
Athens Corinth Miletus Syracuse Sparta
Me
dite
rranean
AFRICA
Sea Bast
Khorsabad Nimrud Al Mina Byblos Babylon Jerusalem Tanis
Mediterranean region This map of the Mediterranean region in the 8th century BCE shows the colonies established by the dominant civilizations of the period, including the Phoenicians and Greeks.
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800–700 BCE
In 705 BCE, the Assyrian capital moved to Nineveh. This stone relief shows the Assyrian king and his queen feasting in the gardens of the royal palace there.
century BCE, conquering rival states in Western Asia and reducing them to provinces. Assyrian success was based on a disciplined, technically advanced army and an efficient bureaucracy. Conquered peoples had to pay costly tributes, and revolts were ruthlessly crushed. Particularly troublesome nations suffered forced deportations – large numbers of people were resettled in Assyria. Following a period of weak rule in the first half of the 8th century BCE, Tiglath-Pileser III (r.744– 727 BCE) recouped Assyria’s losses. His successor Sargon II (r.722– 704 BCE) campaigned in Iran and
Ritual container Zhou smiths were highly skilled metal-workers. This bronze bowl dates from the 8th century BCE, the time of the Eastern Zhou dynasty.
Anatolia, conquering Babylon and, in 714 BCE, defeating the Armenian state of Urartu. He also defeated the Israelites and transported the “ten lost tribes” of Israel to northern Mesopotamia.
been embroiled in a destructive civil war, and was now divided into small states. In the 8th century BCE, the Kushite ruler of Nubia to the south, Piye (r.747– 716 BCE), conquered both Upper and Lower Egypt, and united them under Kushite rule. In the Mediterranean, Phoenician influence continued to spread, as the city of Carthage in North Africa grew powerful. Greece, meanwhile, was starting to emerge from the Dark Age that had followed the Mycenaeans’ downfall. City-states or poleis were forming on the Greek mainland, centred on hilltop citadels. To increase their territory, the poleis founded colonies around the shores of the Aegean. Although rivalry between cities was often intense, a distinct Greek identity and culture was emerging. All Greeks were identified as “Hellenes”. In 776 BCE the first pan-Hellenic games were held in honour of Zeus at Olympia. By the mid-700s BCE the Greeks had adapted the Phoenician alphabet Twin discovery This painting by Charles de La Fosse depicts the legend of Romulus and Remus, who were abandoned as babies and suckled by a she-wolf, before being rescued by shepherds.
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Kushite statue This alabaster statue dates from the period of Kushite rule in Egypt. Amenirdis I, sister of Shabaka (r.c.716– 702 BCE), is shown holding a flail – a traditional symbol of Egyptian rule.
for their own language, and not long after, Homer’s epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey – hitherto transmitted orally – were probably written down. In the 8th century BCE, central Italy was a mosaic of small states ruled by the dominant Etruscans – Italy’s first indigenous civilization – and Italic tribes such as the Latins, Umbrians, and Sabines. Rome is thought to have been founded by the Latin chief Romulus in 753 BCE. In its early days, the city, built on seven hills, was ruled by various peoples, including the Etruscans, Latins, and Sabines.
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In China, the Zhou capital moved east to Luoyang in 770 BCE, marking the start of the earlier part of the Eastern Zhou era, which lasted until about 480 BCE (see 500 BCE). Royal control had weakened, as the lords who held large fiefdoms had grown more powerful. Now central control disintegrated, and rival warlords fought one another. Despite the chaos, this era was a time of technical and cultural advancement. Iron tools increased efficiency in agriculture and food production. Populations and cities grew, and philosophy, the arts, and literature began to develop. In Egypt, the unrest of the Third Intermediate Period continued. Since 850 BCE, the country had
ASSYRIA CONTINUED ITS POLICY OF AGGRESSION through the 8th
SUCH A GREAT TASK IT WAS TO FOUND THE ROMAN RACE.
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Virgil, from Aeneid 1:33
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3
THE CLASSICAL AGE 700–599
This period saw the emergence of complex civilizations. Communities flourished and trade developed in the fertile valleys of Egypt, India, western Asia, and China. Europe, and Central and South America also flourished during this time.
700–676 BCE
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675–651 BCE
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HE EVERYWHERE SOUGHT EXCUSES FOR STIRRING UP WAR. Livy, from Histories book I, xxi, on Tullus Hostilius, third King of Rome
771 BCE, and the Western Zhou capital was transferred east to Chengzhou. From there, the Eastern Zhou dynasty presided over the fragmentation of China into as many as 148 states. From around 700 BCE the Zhou were ruled by puppet-emperors, while real power lay with the ba (“senior one”) among nearby states. Under Qi Huan Gong (r.685– 643 BCE) the state of Qi had supremacy. After Huan Gong’s death the competition for power between his five sons weakened Qi, and Jin Wen Gong (r.685– 643 BCE), the ruler of Jin, rose to become ba. By the end of the century, power in China alternated between the states of Qi, Jin, Qin, and Chu.
Nubian Pharoah Taharqa ruled Egypt for 19 years before an Assyrian invasion forced him to return to Nubia in 671 BCE. ic ad to m t No egin nen a b 0 B ans erm the 0 i n c.7 yth ish p ts o es Sc abl en pp e t es ttlem n st se ster we CE
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THE NUMBER OF KINGS OF ROME
In Italy, the city-state of Rome was beginning to acquire an urban heart, and the first forum was constructed. The second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius (r.716– 674 BCE) is believed to have established the main Roman priesthoods and a calendar. In the Near East, the Assyrians continued their expansion, confronting Egypt, whose intermittent support for rebels against Assyrian rule in Syria had long been a source of tension. In 671 BCE, the Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon invaded, capturing the Egyptian royal capital of Memphis. However, Assyrian control over Egypt was weak, and the Nubian pharaoh Taharqa drove the invaders out. The Etruscans expanded southwards from modern Tuscany and Umbria around 700 BCE. Their language remains undeciphered, but lavish tombs indicate a rich material culture. During their expansion, the Etruscans founded cities such as Capua, but came into conflict with Greek colonies and with Rome. Although more powerful at first, the Etruscans were politically disunited, and a long series of wars with the Romans turned against them.
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IT TOOK A CONCERTED CAMPAIGN BY ASHURBANIPAL (r.668–627 BCE)
in 664–663 BCE to defeat the Egyptians who had rebelled against Assyrian rule, and to push Assyrian control as far south as Thebes (modern Luxor). This was not the last rebellion against the Assyrians – only ten years later, the vassal king of Saïs, Psammetichus I (r.664–610 BCE), revolted against his Assyrian masters, driving them out and founding the 26th Dynasty, under which Egypt’s independence was restored. After the final collapse of Assyrian power, in 609 BCE, Egypt was able to establish a foothold in Palestine under Pharaoh Necho II (610–595 BCE). In Greece, the rise to preeminence of a number of city states began, notably Athens, Sparta, and Corinth. In Corinth, a new type of ruler, the “tyrant”, emerged with the overthrow of the Bacchiadae kings in 658 BCE.
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IN CHINA, THE CITY OF LUOYANG HAD FALLEN TO THE SHEN in
Pyramids from the cemetery at Nuri, Sudan, which was the burial site of the Napatan and Meroitic kings from around 650 BCE .
TAHARQA THE GODLESS CAME OUT TO TAKE EGYPT. Ashurbanipal's account of the conquest of Egypt, 664 BCE
The new ruler, Cypselus (reign c.657–627 BCE) relied on force of personality rather than divine sanction, and established a dynasty under whom Corinth enjoyed a seven-decade period of dominance, creating colonies throughout the western Mediterranean. On the fringes of the Greek world, in western Asia Minor, the kingdom of Lydia was increasing in power under Gyges (685– 647 BCE), its first great king. He allied with Ashurbanipal of Assyria to see off a joint threat to their two lands by Cimmerian raiders in 668–665 BCE, but then
ASHURBANIPAL (r.668–627 BCE) Ashurbanipal initially shared rule over Assyria with his brother, Shamash-shuma-ukin. After defeating his brother’s revolt in 648 BCE he greatly expanded the Assyrian domains. As well as annexing Egypt, he attacked Elam, sacking its capital, Susa, in 647 BCE. His latter years saw none of the military successes of his early reign. At his death a dispute between his two sons further weakened the Assyrian Empire.
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assisted Psammetichus I of Egypt in his revolt against the Assyrians. He also adopted an aggressive stance towards his neighbours, the Ionian Greeks of Miletus and Smyrna. According to Japanese tradition, the first emperor, Jimmu Tenno, a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, ascended to the throne in 660 BCE. The stories of his migration from southern Honshu eastwards to establish his kingdom near Nara are legendary, but may echo real events of the Japanese Yayoi period after 100 BCE, when tribal chieftains began to consolidate their territories. The third king of Rome, Tullus Hostilius (r.673–642 BCE) was more martially inclined than his precedessor Numa Pompilius, and
30,000
THE NUMBER OF CLAY TABLETS UNCOVERED IN ASHURBANIPAL’S LIBRARY
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650–601 BCE
A lion frieze from the Processional Way in Babylon, which was built around 600 BCE and ran through the heart of the city to the Ishtar Gate.
PHRYGIA LYDIA
Carchemish
THE ASSYRIANS HAD FINALLY CONQUERED BABYLON in 691 BCE,
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The Assyrian Empire From its core around Assur and Nineveh, the Assyrian empire grew to encompass Babylonia, Media, Elam, Urartu, Syria, and Egypt.
led the war against neighbouring Alba Longa, which ultimately led to that city’s destruction and the deportation of its population to Rome, in the first major Roman expansion. The fourth king, Ancus Marcius (641–617 BCE), expanded Roman territory towards the coast, and founded Rome’s great port of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber. His successor, Tarquinius Priscus (616–578 BCE) was the fifth king of Rome and one of the city’s greatest kings. He came from an Etruscan background, a sign of the high level of Etruscan influence over the early city of Rome. Tarquinius Priscus won a series of victories over the Sabines, the Latins, and the Etruscans, who all competed with Rome for dominance over central Italy. He is also said to have established the public games in Rome.
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partially destroying the city. Reconstruction work began under Esarhaddon (680–669 BCE), and by 652 BCE Babylon had recovered its importance and became the centre for a major revolt led by Shamash-shuma-ukin against his younger brother Ashurbanipal. It took four years of war to suppress the Babylonians and their Elamite allies, and the fighting drained Assyria’s ability to hold on to its empire. By 630 BCE, Assyria had lost Egypt and Palestine, and in 626 BCE the Babylonians regained their independence. By 616 BCE Babylon was strong enough to invade Assyria, aided by the Medes (whose base was in northwestern Iran). In 612 BCE the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians sacked the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. The Assyrian empire crumbled. A remnant of the Assyrian army regrouped and established a small kingdom around Harran, but by 609 BCE this, too, had fallen. The Scythians formed part of a culture of nomadic horsemen which held a large territory on the steppes north of the Caucasus from around 800 BCE. In 652 BCE they forced the Medes to submit
to them and the Scythian King Bartatua was even sufficiently influential to be given an Assyrian princess as his wife. The alliance with Assyria survived into the reign of his son Madyes, but around 615 BCE the Scythians switched sides and played a key role in Assyria’s destruction. Their Median subjects soon turned on them and around 590 BCE the Scythians retreated north. In the Greek world, there was a growing movement to establish colonies in the Mediterranean. Among the earliest were in Italy, including Syracuse, founded around 733 BCE. In North Africa, Greek settlers founded Cyrene (in Libya) in about 630 BCE, and Massilia (Marseilles) around
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600 BCE. New cities were established as far west as Spain, and around the Black Sea coast. In Greece itself, the city-state of Sparta was establishing its dominance in the Peloponnese. A defeat by the city-state of Argos, in 669 BCE, was followed by military reforms and victory against the Messenians (660– 650 BCE). By 600 BCE, Sparta had conquered almost all the southern Peloponnese and established a stratified social system. Sparta’s future rival, Athens, gradually united the area surrounding Attica under its rule
in the 8th century BCE. The hereditary monarchy was replaced by nine “archons”, chosen annually. Shortly after a damaging popular uprising by Cylon in 632 BCE, Athens received its first law code, drafted by Draco in 621 BCE. The Draconian law was later known for the severity of the punishments it prescribed. To the south of Egypt the state of Napata became a power of the first order, conquering Egypt under Piankhy (751–716 BCE) and controlling it under after the death of Taharqa (690–664 BCE).
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Scythian stag The flowing lines and realistic depiction of the stag’s muscled flanks in this late 7th century shield ornament are typical of the art of the Scythians.
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600–551 BCE
550–501 BCE
A medieval view of the city of Jerusalem, which was captured by the Babylonians in 597 BCE . It was taken again, and largely destroyed, 10 years later. After both sieges many of its inhabitants were deported to Babylon.
Central Asia became a stronghold of Buddhist beliefs. These cave paintings at Dunhuang in China illustrate a variety of Buddhist parables.
HAVING HELPED DESTROY THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE, Nabopolassar
(r.626–605 BCE), first king of the neo-Babylonian dynasty, embellished the city of Babylon. His son Nebuchadnezzar (r.605– 562 BCE) defeated the Egyptians in 605 BCE, repaired Babylon’s main ziggurat, and ordered the building of the famous “Hanging Gardens”. The last neo-Babylonian king, Nabonidus (r.556–539 BCE), moved his royal court to the Arabian oasis of Tema, but discontent rose among the Babylonians during his reign. The Medes of northwest Persia (Iran), consolidated their kingdom under Cyaxares (r.624–585 BCE) and took part in the destruction of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BCE.
Under the last Median king, Astyages (r.584–549 BCE), Median armies campaigned in Azerbaijan and controlled land as far west as Lydia (Turkey). But by the 550s BCE, Media was under pressure from the Babylonians to the south and the new power of Persia. The kingdom of Judah had long acted as a block to Assyrian and Babylonian expansion to the west. In 597 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem and deposed King Jehoiakim. The king they installed in his place, Zedekiah, turned against the Babylonians, and in 587 BCE there was another siege. Much of the city was burnt, the Jewish Temple destroyed, and many of its inhabitants deported to a life of exile in Babylon.
The powerful city-state of Athens experienced reforms under Solon about 600 BCE, notably a law code that protected the property rights of the poor, forbade debt-slavery, and moderated the more extreme parts of the Draconian laws (see 650-601). Around 560 BCE, Pisistratus seized power and began to rule as a tyrant (dictator). Driven out once, he returned in 547 BCE and established a stable regime. The Greek city of Miletus saw the beginnings of philosophical thought from about 600 BCE. Thales (born c.624 BCE) tried to understand the basic nature of the universe and thought its fundamental element was water.
CYRUS, RULER OF THE SMALL KINGDOM OF PERSIS (also called
Pars) in the west of Persia (Iran), revolted against his Median overlords in 559 BCE. By 550 BCE he had conquered the Median capital of Ecbatana and overthrown their ruler, King Astyages. Afraid of the increasing power of Persia, the Lydians under King Croesus opposed Cyrus, but he struck west and in 547 BCE, on the River Halys, defeated the Lydian army and annexed western Asia Minor. In 539 BCE Cyrus captured Babylon, acquiring most of Mesopotamia and making the Persian Empire the greatest in the Middle East. Cyrus died in 530 BCE while fighting in what is today Turkmenistan, and was succeeded by his son Cambyses. In 526 BCE Cambyses sent his armies south into Egypt. The Pharaoh Amasis had just died and his successor Psammetichus III
Darius the Great King Darius is shown enthroned and bearing symbols of power in this frieze. His son Xerxes succeeded him.
Cambyses died in 522 BCE and after the brief rebellion of Bardiya, who was either the younger brother of Cambyses or someone impersonating him, Darius, a Persian noble, took over as king. Widespread revolts broke out, including in Media, but Darius put
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I HAVE FOUGHT 19 BATTLES IN ONE YEAR… I HAVE WON THEM. The Behistun inscription of Darius
was not well established. Cambyses defeated the Egyptian army at Pelusium in 525 BCE and then captured the royal capital at Memphis. He installed himself as the pharaoh and then subdued south Egypt. Persian rule in Egypt lasted until 402 BCE.
Lawgiver and reformer This image shows the Greek statesmen and lawgiver Solon teaching. His reforms began to undermine the power of the aristocracy in Athens. ca k fri n ee a g i st A of Gr ni n i e re st in Io r B rk , W i o 0 ltu ing F ed u E c h 60 n-w gion C u ec uris 0 B ss Iro k re m 60 ins i Ol ll flo No E i co t BC s 0 60 xico Me CE
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them all down. He then expanded the Persian Empire by annexing lands in central Asia and on the borders of India from 519 to 515 BCE. In India, the political power had coalesced around the Mahajapanadas, a group of around 16 powerful
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EVEN DEATH IS NOT TO BE FEARED BY ONE WHO HAS LIVED WISELY
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Gautama Siddharta (Buddha), 563–483 BCE
482
THE NUMBER OF YEARS OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC
kingdoms. Of these, Magadha was the most important state. Afterwards, Darius subdued most of the Greek city-states of Ionia, before he crossed into Europe in 513 BCE to conquer Thrace. In Italy, Servius Tullius (r.578– 534), the sixth king of Rome and said to be a former slave, had succeeded Tarquinius Priscus in 578 BCE. During his reign he implemented important reforms, fixing the formal boundaries of the city by dividing the Romans into four “tribes”, a system that would be extended as Roman territory grew, and also into classes that were graded by wealth. The population was divided by what equipment they could afford and what role they played in the Roman army. The wealthiest class fought as cavalry, the higher classes as heavy infantry, and the poor as light auxiliary troops.The votes of the richer classes carried much greater weight in the popular assembly. The last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus (r.534– 509 BCE) was an Etruscan. Concerned at the growing tyranny of his rule, a group of
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Roman aristocrats led by Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus (the king’s cousin) won over the army and barred the gates of the city to the king, who was deposed. The coup leaders then established a republic in which supreme authority was held by two magistrates called consuls. The power of the consuls was limited by the fact that new
consuls were elected by the popular assembly each year. Some time around 530 BCE, Gautama Siddharta, a Hindu prince of Kapilvastu (now in Nepal), had a religious revelation and rejected his noble upbringing to embark on a quest for “enlightenment”. Six years later he received it and began to preach a way of moderate asceticism to gain release from the suffering of
material life. He is known as the Buddha (which means the “awakened one” in Sanskrit) and his followers, who became known as Buddhists, spread his ideas throughout South Asia and, in the late 3rd century CE into China and thence to Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Confucius (or Kong Fuzi) was born around 551 BCE, in a period of political instability during China’s
Spring and Autumn period. From the age of 15 he devoted himself to scholarship, and the political philosophy he developed reflects the turbulent times. He taught that the righteous man (or junzi) must have regard to others and inflict no unnecessary harm. His philosophy, as developed by his disciples, taught respect for elders and became a cornerstone of the later imperial system.
CYRUS THE GREAT (r.559–539 BCE) Little is known about the early life of Cyrus. He was the ruler of the kingdom of Pars when he led a revolt against his Median overlord Astyages. By defeating Astyages, Cyrus became king of the Medes. He then continued to expand Persian influence with the conquest of Lydia. Cyrus adapted local ideas about kingship to cast himself as an ideal ruler in the cities he conquered. Cyrus died in 539 BCE.
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Persian elite These archers from the palace of Darius at Susa were the elite of the Persian army, which included representatives from provinces as far off as Ethiopia and Afghanistan.
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snake-haired Medusa figure
Medusa antefix DATE UNKNOWN
This terracotta antefix – an ornament placed at the cornice of buildings or at roof eaves – is in the form of Medusa, the mythical creature whose gaze turned people to stone. swept-forward cheek piece leaf-shaped blade
Corinthian helmet
600–500 BCE The Corinthian helmet, made from a single bronze sheet, was the most common type in Greece, from around 750–300 BCE.
Spearhead
600–400 BCE Greek hoplites (armed infantry soldiers) carried a large thrusting spear, of which this is the tip. Aphrodite, the goddess of love
ANCIENT GREECE FROM THE FUNCTIONAL TO THE DECORATIVE, THE GREEKS PRODUCED ART OF GREAT BEAUTY
While the Greeks created magnificent monumental art, smaller items such as jewellery, musical instruments, weaponry, and vases show the Greek love of intricate forms and decorative adornment throughout all periods of their history.
Bronze mirror fastening chain
490–460 BCE This mirror is richly adorned with an image of Aphrodite flanked by cupids.
Greek art underwent a series of phases that were reflected in all aspects of artistic production, but particularly on vases. In the Geometric phase (c.850–700 BCE), decoration was mainly composed of geometric forms, replaced in the Orientalizing phase (c.700–600 BCE) with floral and animal themes, followed by the more naturalistic representations of the Classical phase (from 600 BCE). Bronze cymbals
Gold earrings
500–400 BCE Greek cymbals are bell- or cup-shaped, and are often depicted on vases being held by fauns or satyrs, or by women in Bacchanalian revels.
420–400 BCE These delicate gold filigree earrings depict boats containing sirens, mythical creatures whose beautiful voices lured unwary seafarers to their doom.
Mirror lid and fibula cup-shaped form
Aulos
silver mouthpiece
400 BCE This wind instrument was originally a double one (one wooden pipe has been lost), played through a reed.
420–400 BCE This silver fibula (brooch) and chain may have fastened together a cloak. The ornate mirror-back shows Aphrodite with the half-goat god Pan.
Gold brooch
finger hole
650–600 BCE This hawk-shaped brooch dates from a period in which Oriental (and particularly Egyptian) influences were strong in Greece.
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Ostrakon
c.475–470 BCE In Athens, influential politicians could be ostracized (exiled) by public vote. The name of the politician each voter wished to be banished was inscribed on a piece of pottery.
Boeotian horse and rider figurine 550 BCE The depiction of this horse and rider has an archaic feel about it, in contrast to the production of Boeotian terracotta workshops over 200 years later (see right).
retrograde (right-to-left) inscription
Boeotian figurine
Discus
400–200 BCE This terracotta figurine of a woman holding a jar comes from Boeotia, where a tradition of such sculptures began as early as the 8th century BCE.
600–500 BCE This fine bronze discus belonged to an athlete called Exoidas. After he won a victory in a sporting contest using it, he dedicated the discus to the gods Castor and Pollux.
Attic askos
lotus and honeysuckle pattern
425–400 BCE The askos was a type of vessel for pouring liquids such as oil, shaped in the form of a traditional wine sack. The design is in the red-figure style that became popular around 530 BCE.
Attic skyphos
Apulian pyxis
525–500 BCE This drinking vessel shows a couple at their wedding standing in a chariot. The vase is painted in the black-figure style.
500–400 BCE A pyxis was often used for storing small items of jewellery and cosmetics. This south-Italian example is decorated with geometrical shapes.
checker-board pattern
cylindrical neck
hero Hercules carrying Erymanthean boar
double band of meanders
lotus bud pattern
top of foot and lower base painted black
Athenian amphora
540–530 BCE An amphora was a type of vessel used for storing wine. This one is decorated using the black-figure technique, which pre-dates the red-figure method.
Attic lekythos
480–470 BCE Greek vases were often painted with mythological scenes. This blackfigure vase shows the goddess Athena beating a giant to his knees.
Epichysis
375–340 BCE The long-spouted epichysis was a vessel used for pouring wine. This south-Italian vase has its base decorated with a pattern of white chevrons.
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500–491 BCE
490–476 BCE
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THIS IS GOOD NEWS … IF THE PERSIANS HIDE THE SUN, WE SHALL DO BATTLE IN THE SHADE. Herodotus, ancient Greek historian, quoting words attributed to Dieneces, a Spartan, on being told that the Persian archers shot so many arrows they would conceal the Sun; from Histories
This 19th-century painting shows the Spartan king Leonidas I (centre, facing) and his men at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. Thermopylae became a byword for heroic defiance against overwhelming odds. THE KINGDOM OF MAGADHA
Plebeians withdraw from Rome The departure of the plebeians (on the left in this engraving) threatened to split Rome irreparably, so the patricians (right) ceded some political power. THE GREEK CITY-STATES OF IONIA
in western Anatolia had been subjects of the Persian Empire since Cyrus conquered Lydia, their previous overlord, in 547 BCE (see 550–501 BCE). In 499 BCE, Aristagoras, the ruler of Miletus, set out to mainland Greece to recruit allies for a planned
600 PERSIA
353 IONIA
The Battle of Lade The Ionian Greek navy fought hard at Lade, but the pre-arranged defection of the Samians to the Persians led to its utter defeat.
uprising against the Persians. Sparta rejected his pleas, but only Athens and Eretria sent forces. A failed attack on Sardis led the Athenian forces to return home. The Ionians gradually lost ground to a Persian land offensive from 497 BCE. The fall of Miletus to the Persians that year and the death of Aristagoras undermined Ionian unity and, after a great naval defeat at the Battle of Lade in 494 BCE, the revolt fell apart. In Italy, the young Roman Republic was rocked by social dissent in 494 BCE when the plebeians (the lower social groups) withdrew from Rome en masse in protest at their treatment by the patricians (the higher social groups); they threatened to set up an alternative state. They were persuaded back only by official recognition of their own representatives (tribunes).
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emerged as an important state in northern India under the rule of Bimbisara (r.543–491 BCE), friend and protector of Gautama Buddha (c.563–c.486 BCE), who founded Buddhism (see 550–501 BCE). Bimbisara’s son Ajatashastru (r.491–461 BCE) strengthened the royal capital at Rajagirha and built a centre at Pataligrama on the Ganges, which later became Pataliputra, the Mauryan royal capital By conquering Kosala and Kashi, and annexing the Vrijji confederacy, Ajatashastru turned Magadha into the dominant power on the Ganges Plain. In China, the political system of the Spring and Autumn period evolved into the Warring States period (481–221 BCE), in which seven main states engaged in a constant round of diplomatic
manoeuvres to weaken each other, periodically interrupted by outbreaks of war. In 490 BCE, Darius I (548–486 BCE) of Persia decided to take revenge on the mainland Greeks for their support of the Ionian revolt. Darius despatched a huge naval expedition under Artaphernes and Datis, which sailed from Cilicia, landing first at Naxos
before seizing Eretria, which had aided the Ionians in 499 BCE. Although the Athenians appealed to Sparta for aid, the only help they received came from Plataea, which sent 1,000 reinforcements. The Athenians opted to march out to meet the Persians rather than wait for a siege, on the advice of their general, Miltiades (550–489 BCE). In 490 BCE at
Persian winged-lion rhyton The Persian Empire enjoyed vast wealth, as illustrated by everyday items such as this golden drinking vessel. They directed huge resources towards the conquest of Greece.
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THE NUMBER OF WARRING STATES animals were often the inspiration for a rhyton’s shape
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475–451 BCE
Marathon, the Greek hoplite (heavy infantry) formation advanced head-on against a far more numerous Persian force to win an unlikely victory. Chastened, the Persian expeditionary force withdrew from Greece after Marathon, but in 481 BCE Xerxes I (519–465 BCE) despatched another huge Persian army, which crossed over the Hellespont (near modern-day Istanbul) and proceeded south towards Athens. Many northern Greek states chose to submit, but Athens and Sparta patched together a league of southern states. In 480 BCE, a heroic defence of the pass at Thermopylae by the Spartan king Leonidas I, in which he and all his 10,000 soldiers died, bought time for the Athenians to evacuate. The Persians burnt the city, but soon after, under the command of Themistocles (see panel below), the Athenian fleet inflicted a serious defeat on Xerxes’s naval force at Salamis. Further Greek
Black Sea
Pella
Byzantium
THESSALY Larissa Artemisium 480 Thermopylae 480 Plataea 479 Salamis 480
Peloponnese Sparta
Abydus
A eg ean Marathon 490 Athens Mycale 479
GREECE
Sardis 498 Ephesus
IONIA M editer r anean
The Greco– S ea Persian wars Crete Although the Persians possessed vastly superior numbers, the Greek forces were motivated to win crucial land and sea engagements.
Rhodes
050-051_500-451BCE.indd 51
Annexed by Persia
KEY Annexed by Persia Persian campaigns against Greece 490–479BCE
against Greece 490–479BCE
Greek victory Persian victory Indecisive battles
Greek victory
victories followed in June 479 BCE, on land at Plataea in Boeotia and at sea at Mycale off the Ionian coast. The Greeks then took the offensive, and during 478–477 BCE won a string of victories in Ionia and Cyprus, which reversed most of the Persians’ gains.
After the initial defeats of the Persian victory
Persians in 480–479 BCE, Athens Indecisive battles
sought to formalize the league of anti-Persian allies. A treasury was set up on the island of Delos in around 477 BCE. The league’s funds were to be deposited here and regular meetings were to take place. But this Delian League soon became little more than an Athenian empire, and Sparta and its allies refused to take part.
,,
THE GREAT STRUGGLE HAS COME.
Herodotus, ancient Greek historian, quoting Pausanias, the Spartan commander, before the Battle of Plataea in 479 BCE; from Histories
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A clever politician and strategist, Themistocles persuaded the Athenians to use the wealth of a silver mine discovered at Laurium in 483/2 BCE to double their fleet. However, after the naval victory at Salamis, he became the object of increasing jealousy from political rivals. In about 470 BCE Themistocles was ostracized from Athens (exiled by public vote).
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THEMISTOCLES (c.524–460 BCE)
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THE ATHENIANS ENJOYED EARLY SUCCESS under the direction of
THR ACE M AC E D O NI A
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Cimon (510–450 BCE), wresting Eion on the Strymon river (in Anatolia) from the Persians in 476 BCE and then attacking Carystos on Euboea (which had submitted to the Persians) in 470 BCE. An attempt by the island of Naxos to leave the Delian League around the same time led to an Athenian expeditionary force that powerfully suppressed the breakaway movement. In 469 BCE, Athenian forces won a great victory over the Persians at the River Eurymedon on the south coast of Anatolia, establishing Athenian supremacy in the Aegean. Pericles (c.495–429 BCE), the Athenian statesman largely responsible for making Athens the political and cultural focus of Greece, tried but failed to prosecute Cimon in 463 BCE, on a charge of having neglected a chance to conquer Macedonia. From this manoeuvre, Pericles’ vision and ideas of expansion for Athens were already evident. When the leading figure among the democrats, Ephialtes, was assassinated in 461 BCE, Pericles, his protégé, swiftly took his place. Periodically, the Persians had tried to bribe the Spartans into diversionary attacks on Athens but initially to little effect. In 464 BCE, a revolt of the Messenian Helots (unfree men) in the western Peloponnese further distracted the Spartans from any attempt to stem the rising power of the Delian League. The Messenians received little outside assistance,
Athenian treasury at Delos All members of the Delian League had to deposit funds at treasuries on Delos, but the contribution of Athens was the most important.
and by 462 BCE their last stronghold at Ithome had been reduced. Soon after, open conflict broke out between Sparta and Athens and their respective allies. The First Peloponnesian War was inconclusive. It ended in 451 BCE with a five-year truce, extended in 446 BCE to a Thirty Years Peace between the two sides. Meanwhile, the western part of the Greek world was becoming increasingly important, marked by the rise of the Sicilian city-state of Syracuse. Under a series of able rulers (tyrants) that began with Gelon (r.485–478 BCE) and his brother Hieron (r.478–467 BCE), Syracusan forces subdued the neighbouring city of Acragas and expanded territory around Catana. Although Hieron’s younger brother Thrasybulus was driven out in 466 BCE, the Syracusans retained their dominant position in Sicily beyond the 450s BCE.
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450–431 BCE
430–404 BCE
In the late 5th century, the Mexican city of Monte Albán began to build its public buildings – the ancestors of its later magnificent pyramids, shown here.
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villages. Monte Albán’s centre housed large-scale public buildings – including truncated pyramids, great plazas, and ballgame courts – as well as elaborate burial tombs. Within 150 years, the population of Monte Albán would swell to around 17,000, making it the largest city in Mesoamerica. Zapotec figure from Monte Albán This elaborate ceramic deity is typical of the production of Monte Albán, which became Mexico’s premier site in the 5th century BCE.
ATHENS AND SPARTA HAD FOUGHT EACH OTHER BEFORE (see 451 BCE).
The Athenian Empire had the naval advantage as it included most of the island and coastal states around the northern and eastern shores of the Aegean Sea. Meanwhile, the city-state of Sparta led an alliance of independent states from the Peloponnese and central Greece, as well as Corinth, and had the strongest army. Despite the Thirty Years Peace of 446 BCE, tensions remained high between Athens and Sparta. The events that led to renewed
THE NUMBER OF TABLES OF ROMAN LAW
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THE EMPIRE YOU POSSESS IS BY NOW LIKE A TYRANNY – PERHAPS WRONG TO ACQUIRE IT, BUT CERTAINLY DANGEROUS TO LET IT GO.
,,
Thucydides, ancient Greek historian, relating a speech by Pericles to the Athenians; from History of the Peloponnesian War, II.63
hostilities in 430 BCE began three years earlier, when Athens had intervened on behalf of Corcyra in a dispute with Corinth; the Spartans took it as a sign that Athens had breached the peace. An attack by Thebes, a Spartan ally, on Plataea, which supported Athens, was similarly taken by the Athenians to indicate Sparta was fixed on war. Athens, led by Pericles, achieved early success in the Peloponnesian War (431– 404 BCE). In 426 BCE, the Athenians invaded the Peloponnese, and the following year landed a large
force at Pylos southwest of Sparta. Yet neither side could land a fatal blow and in 421 BCE they agreed the Peace of Nicias, which was supposed to last for 50 years. The truce soon began to unravel. Corinth refused to recognize its authority, a pro-war leadership emerged in Sparta, and a complex set of political manoeuvres by Alcibiades (450–404 BCE), the newly dominant politician in Athens, led to the renewal of the war in 419 BCE. The following year, Sparta’s allies won a key victory at Mantinea. Athens struck back
SOCRATES (469–399 BCE)
Halstatt culture. Ruled over by a warrior aristocracy that buried its dead with swords, spears, and funerary chariots, La Tène had important centres in Bohemia (in what is now the Czech Republic) and around the Marne and Moselle rivers (in modern France). In Oaxaca on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, a new centre arose shortly before 450 BCE at Monte Albán. This proto-city, on a hill top above the Oaxaca Valley, drew people from the surrounding agricultural
E BC
,,
IN THE ROMAN REPUBLIC, the two social classes – the patricians and the plebeians (see 500–491 BCE) – were still divided. The two sides came to an agreement in 451 BCE, appointing a group of ten men (the decemviri) to govern Rome outside the normal constitution. In 449 BCE, the decemviri produced the Laws of the Twelve Tables, which formed the basis of all Roman law codes. Around 450 BCE in Central Europe, a new Celtic culture emerged called La Tène, which supplanted the earlier dominant
One of the greatest Greek philosophers, Socrates served on the Athenian Council in 406 BCE, but his challenges to conventional morality at a time of political uncertainty gained him powerful enemies. He refused to mount a conventional defence against charges of corrupting the Athenian youth and was sentenced to die by drinking the poison hemlock.
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403–381 BCE
The Great Peloponnesian War The period of 431 to 404 BCE saw the destruction of the Athenian Empire at the hands of a coalition of Sparta and its allies.
Amphipolis 422
Pella
Spartolus 429
Methone Potidaea
T HR AC E Byzantium Abdera Sea of Marmara Thasos Thasos Cyzicus Acanthus Aegospotami Lampsacus 410 405
EP
IR
PHRYGIA
PERSIAN EMPIRE
THESSALY
US
Corcyra
Cynossema 411
Lemnos
Leucas Delphi
Cephallenia
Gul
Zacynthus
f of C
Delium 424
Andros
Athenian Empire Athenian ally
Miletus
Sparta and allied states neutral territory Athenian victory
ne
Cnidus
se
Melos
Spartan victory
Rhodes
Cythera
Lindus
7,000
2,800
KEY
Ephesus CARIA
Cyc lades
Sparta
I O N IA
Notium 407
eca
Pylos
Chios
Do d
Peloponnese
Arginusae 406
Phocaea
Chalcis Eretria Thebes Euboea
o ri n t h ACHAEA Corinth Athens Mantinea Argos Epidaurus 418
Sphacteria 425
Lesbos Mitylene
Aegean Sea
Ambracia
ATHENIANS
Spartans
ATHENIANS
18,500
30,000
BOEOTIANS
ATHENIANS
420
Spartans
found itself embroiled in a quarrel with Persia over whether the Ionian Greek cities should regain their autonomy. Through the 390s BCE, sporadic fighting and abortive peace talks diverted Sparta from a weakening position in mainland Greece. The “King’s Peace”, a definitive treaty with Persia in 386 BCE, deprived the Ionians of autonomy but allowed the Spartans to quash any threats to its supremacy. In 385 BCE, they attacked Mantinea in the central Peloponnese and in 382 BCE occupied Thebes. Spartan power seemed unassailable. In Persia, the death of Darius II (r.423–404 BCE) was followed by a brief civil war, when Cyrus the Younger tried to overthrow his older brother Artaxerxes II
(r.404–358 BCE). Cyrus was defeated and killed at the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BCE, but in its aftermath some 10,000 Greek mercenaries were left trapped in northern Mesopotamia. Under Xenophon, the Greeks marched to the Black Sea coast and safety near Trapezus (Trabzon in modern-day Turkey), a feat their commander immortalized in his book Anabasis. In Italy, the Romans widened their territory and annexed the city of Veii in 396 BCE, whose submission represented the end of any Etruscan threat. However, c.390 BCE, an army of Celts, who had been attacking the Etruscan city of Clusium, turned south, defeated a Roman army at the Battle of the Allia, and then took Rome itself. This disaster haunted the Romans for centuries.
3,000
BATTLE OF SPHACTERIA 425 BCE
BATTLE OF DELIUM 424 BCE
SIEGE OF SYRACUSE 415–413 BCE
in 416 BCE by capturing Melos – the only main Aegean island not in its possession – but fatally over-reached itself in 415 BCE with an expedition to Sicily, ending in the total destruction of the Athenian force by the Syracusans in 413 BCE. The Spartans, meanwhile, established a fort at Decelea in Attica, which denied the Athenians access to the rich silver mines. An alliance with Persia further strengthened Sparta’s position in 412 BCE, and a year later the democratic regime
in Athens was briefly overthrown. Democracy was restored the following year, and, though the Athenians won victories at Cyzicus in 410 BCE and Arginusae in 406 BCE, the total destruction of their fleet at Aegospotami off Ionia in 405 BCE left Athens defenceless. The Spartans blockaded the city, and, despite a determined resistance, the Athenians were forced to surrender. Athens was deprived of its fleet and in 404 BCE a pro-Spartan Council of Thirty was installed to govern it.
In Magadha in India the Haryanka dynasty founded by Bimbisara was replaced c.413 BCE after the death of Ajatashatru (c.459 BCE) and a series of ineffectual rulers. Shishunaga founded a new dynasty, which was responsible for overseeing the final transfer of the Magadha royal capital to Pataliputra. The Shishunaga dynasty lasted only 500 years.
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7 0 0 BCE– 5 9 9 CE
THE CLASSICAL AGE
plain boss connected with sliding catch on backplate
animal interlace picked out in circles
circular plate at base of buckle tongue
Sutton Hoo buckle
Sutton Hoo buckle Made of solid gold and decorated with an interlaced animal pattern, the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo belt buckle was found in a 7thcentury ship burial in East Anglia, England.
Copper ore
2600–2400 BCE Use of beaten copper plate
Early copper smelting methods are refined, allowing the beating of copper while still hot into more complex shapes.
New techniques are developed for casting and adorning bronze vessels, such as decorating them by beating on the inside.
Shang cauldron
c.1500–30 BCE Purifying gold
The ancient Egyptians learn how to separate pure gold from silver in around 1500 BCE and begin to use it more extensively for decorative purposes. Sumerian copper bull
animal interlace with a biting head and tail
c.900 BCE–100 CE Using iron
c.1500–1200 BCE Refinement of bronze casting
Prehistory Use of copper ore
In western Iran and Anatolia, copper ore is ground or beaten into shape to make small objects such as beads.
central interlace pattern
bird’s head in profile
Funeral mask of Tutankhamun
Ironworking spreads from western Anatolia, reaching Greece around 900 BCE and West Africa about 400 BCE, enabling stronger tools and weapons to be made.
c.100–700 Anglo-Saxon metalworking
Weapon heads
The Anglo-Saxons bring a new level of sophistication to metalworking, often using animal forms as decoration.
c.640–500 BCE Metal as money
Metal coins (made of an alloy of gold and silver) are first used in Lydia (in present-day Turkey) around 640 BCE. The ancient Greeks adopt the idea and spread it around the Mediterranean.
Greek coin
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Since Sincetheir theirearliest earliestknown knownuse useininthe the8th 8thmillennium millenniumBCE BCE , metals , metalshave have played playeda acrucial crucialrole roleininthe theproduction productionofofa avast vastrange rangeofofobjects, objects,and andeven even today, today,with withthe theavailability availabilityofofsophisticated sophisticatedpolymers polymersand andcomposites, composites, they theystill stillpermeate permeateevery everyaspect aspectofofmodern moderncivilization. civilization. Around Around 7000 7000 BCE BCE , naturally , naturally occurring occurring metals, metals, notably notably copper, copper, began began toto bebe used used forfor small small items items such such asas pins pins inin western western Iran Iran and and eastern eastern Anatolia. Anatolia. These These were were made made byby simply simply grinding grinding oror beating beating the the metal metal into into shape. shape. Heating Heating copper copper toto make make it it more more malleable malleable was was probably probably discovered discovered byby accidentally accidentally dropping dropping the the metal metal inin fire, fire, but but it it was was the the introduction introduction ofof smelting smelting inin aa crucible crucible around around 3800 3800 BCE BCE that that led led toto the the large-scale large-scale use use ofof metals. metals. THE THE DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT OFOF ALLOYS ALLOYS About About 3000 3000 BCE BCE , the , the first first alloy alloy – bronze – bronze – was – was produced. produced. Made Made byby smelting smelting tintin and and copper copper together together inin a crucible, a crucible, bronze bronze is is stronger stronger and and more more easily easily worked worked than than either either ofof itsits individual individual constituents, constituents, and and it it remained remained the the principal principal metal metal forfor tools tools and and weapons weapons until until the the invention invention ofof ironworking ironworking around around 1250 1250 BCE BCE . The . The technology technology toto melt melt pure pure iron iron was was not not invented invented until until the the 19th 19th century, century, soso early early iron iron objects objects were were made made byby first first smelting smelting iron iron ore ore toto anan impure impure iron iron “bloom”, “bloom”, then then separating separating out out the the iron iron pieces pieces and and welding welding them them
1,083°C 1,083°C
THE THEMELTING MELTINGPOINT POINTOF OF COPPER. COPPER.WHEN WHENCOPPER COPPER ISISALLOYED ALLOYEDWITH WITHTIN, TIN, THIS THISDROPS DROPSTO TO950°C 950°C
Viking Viking sword sword
Cast Cast iron iron is is developed. developed. Because Because it is it is strong strong and and can can bebe used used to to make make shapes shapes such such asas tubes, tubes, it finds it finds anan immediate immediate use use in in making making artillery. artillery.
800–1300/1450 800–1300/1450 Christian Christian objects objects in in precious precious metals metals
Medieval Medieval Christians Christians make make sacred sacred objects, objects, such such asas crucifixes crucifixes and and reliquaries, reliquaries, from from gold gold and and other other precious precious metals, metals, sometimes sometimes encrusted encrusted with with gemstones. gemstones.
HOW HOW ALLOYS ALLOYS ARE ARE MADE MADE AnAn alloy alloy is is a mixture a mixture ofof metals metals oror ofof a metal a metal with with a non-metal a non-metal (such (such asas iron iron with with carbon carbon inin steel). steel). Many Many metals metals occur occur naturally naturally inin alloyed alloyed form, form, but but synthetic synthetic alloys alloys were were not not produced produced until until around around BCE BCE , when , when copper copper was was melted melted with with tintin toto 3000 3000 produce produce bronze. bronze. The The technique technique spread, spread, reaching reaching BCE BCE and and Egypt Egypt byby Mesopotamia Mesopotamia soon soon after after 3000 3000 BCE BCE oror possibly possibly earlier. earlier. 2000 2000
c.15th c.15th century century Weapons Weapons from from cast cast metal metal
700–800 700–800 Sword-making Sword-making
In In Europe, Europe, sword-makers sword-makers develop develop stronger stronger swords swords byby welding welding together together successive successive layers layers of of iron iron with with carbon carbon added, added, oror byby beating beating outout thin thin iron iron strips strips then then welding welding them them together. together.
together together inin a furnace. a furnace. This This method method ofof production production continued continued until until the the introduction introduction ofof blast blast furnaces furnaces inin Europe Europe inin the the 15th 15th century. century. The The Industrial Industrial the 18th century brought new inin the 18th century brought new Revolution Revolution techniques and the use coking coal blast techniques and the use ofof coking coal inin blast furnaces, but was English inventor Henry furnaces, but it it was English inventor Henry Bessemer’s invention the Bessemer converter Bessemer’s invention ofof the Bessemer converter 1856 that permitted the large-scale production inin 1856 that permitted the large-scale production steel, a strong, high-quality, iron–carbon alloy. ofof steel, a strong, high-quality, iron–carbon alloy. Later the Industrial Revolution, further advances Later inin the Industrial Revolution, further advances made possible produce other metals, such made it it possible toto produce other metals, such asas aluminium, magnesium, and titanium, whose light aluminium, magnesium, and titanium, whose light weight and strength played a vital role the weight and strength played a vital role inin the development the aviation and space industries. development ofof the aviation and space industries.
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1950s 1950s Titanium Titanium aircraft aircraft
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1856 1856 Bessemer Bessemer converter converter
Englishman Englishman Henry Henry Bessemer Bessemer invents invents a a converter converter that that enables enables large-scale large-scale production production of of high-quality high-quality steel. steel. Bessemer Bessemer converter converter
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380–371 BCE
370–356 BCE
The ruins of Thebes, Greece’s dominant city-state in the 360s BCE .
A carving showing the pharaoh Nectanebo I, founder of the 30th Dynasty, making offerings to gods, including the crocodile-headed Sobek. EGYPT HAD BROKEN AWAY FROM
Persian control after the revolt of Amyrtaeus, who founded the 28th Dynasty in 404 BCE. However, the Persians had not given up on Egypt. Nectanebo I established the 30th Egyptian Dynasty in 380 BCE. He was able to repel a force sent by the Persians and their Greek allies in 373 BCE. Persia was diverted from further attempts to bring Egypt to heel by the Great Rebellion of the Satraps in the 360s BCE. This rebellion was partially aggravated by the campaigns of Tachos, son of Nectanebo I, in Persian-ruled Palestine from 361–360 BCE. Nectanebo II (r.360–343 BCE) succeeded Nectanebo I, and continued to meddle in the Persian civil wars. In an ill-judged intervention in 346 BCE, he sent troops to aid an uprising in Sidon (Lebanon). In response, Artaxerxes III of Persia marched
11,000 SPARTANS
9,000 THEBANS AND ALLIES
Battle of Leuctra At Leuctra in central Greece, the Thebans exploited the tendency of the Spartans to shift right by concentrating their attack on the left, enabling them to defeat an enemy with larger numbers than theirs.
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ALTHOUGH THE ATHENIANS
FORMED THE ELITE MILITARY UNIT THE SACRED BAND OF THEBES
into the Nile Delta region in 343 BCE, and Egypt was defeated within two years. Now under Persian rule, Egypt was never again ruled by a native dynasty. In Greece, the Spartan occupation of Thebes, which had begun in 382 BCE, was short-lived. In 379 BCE, the Spartan polemarch (governor) of Thebes was assassinated, and the Thebans drove out the Spartan garrison with the aid of two Athenian generals who arrived on their own initiative to help. In retaliation, the Spartans mounted an expedition under King Cleombrotus (r.380–371 BCE). This expedition failed to retake Thebes, but it so alarmed the Athenians that they executed one general and exiled the other, and temporarily abandoned the alliance with Thebes. The Spartans invaded the region of Boeotia in 378– 377 BCE but made little headway, although the Athenians were
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alarmed enough to revive the Theban alliance and try to establish a Second Athenian Confederacy in opposition to Sparta. In 375 BCE the Thebans, Athenians, and Spartans signed a “Common Peace”, but it broke down almost immediately. The Thebans then took the offensive, aided by a new elite force of citizen soldiers, the Sacred Band, which consisted of 150 male couples. The Sacred Band supplemented the mercenaries who largely fought Greek city-states’ wars by this period. Theban attempts to conquer the region of Phocis and retain dominance in Boeotia rankled with Sparta, and scuppered Athenian attempts to broker a peace in 372 BCE. At Leuctra in 371 BCE, the Theban army under the general Epaminondas fought a tactically brilliant battle to smash the Spartan phalanx. At Sparta’s mercy just eight years before, Thebes was now the dominant power in Greece. In Sicily, Syracuse continued to flourish under the strong rule of
Temple of Thoth Situated at Hermopolis in Upper Egypt, the temple of Thoth dates from the New Kingdom but was renovated in the 4th century BCE.
Dionysius I (402–367 BCE), who fought the third in a series of wars against the Carthaginians from 383 to 375 BCE. At first, the war went badly for Dionysius, whose fleet was wrecked in a storm. Carthaginian efforts to mount an expedition to Sicily were hampered by plague in 379 BCE and a revolt by subject cities in Libya, so that it was only in 377 BCE that an army was landed. Dionysius, who had been campaigning against Carthage’s allies in southern Italy, returned to Sicily and crushed Mago’s force – 10,000 are said to have died. Dionysius allowed the remnants to slip away, and they regrouped and returned the following year under Mago’s son Himilco to deliver a stinging defeat to the Syracusans. Both sides were war-weary and in 375 BCE made peace, leaving Dionysius in possession of most of eastern Sicily and parts of southern Italy.
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brokered a general peace in Greece in 371 BCE, the Thebans did not participate. Thebes built up a coalition of allies and invaded Sparta in 370–369 BCE. As a result, Messenia was finally detached from Spartan control, but further Theban success was hampered by the temporary deposition of Epaminondas, who was tried for allegedly sparing the city of Sparta in exchange for a bribe. Once Epaminondas was back in control, the Thebans won Persian backing for their anti-Spartan alliance in 367 BCE, and a further invasion of the Peloponnese in 366 BCE gained recruits for the Theban coalition. However, Theban successes relied too narrowly on the personality of one man, and when Epaminondas Ancient theatre The Odeon was a temple built in the town of Messene, which was founded by Epaminondas of Thebes in 367 BCE.
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AN ARMY OF DEER LED BY A LION IS MORE TO BE FEARED THAN AN ARMY OF LIONS LED BY A DEER. Attributed to Philip II, king of Macedonia, 4th century BCE
was killed in battle in 362 BCE, Theban power was rapidly eclipsed. In India, the Nanda dynasty began its expansion in the 370s BCE, and continued to expand until it was able to take power from the Shishunaga in 345 BCE. The dynasty’s founder Mahapadma Nanda conquered much of north India, building up a huge army. He operated an efficient administrative system with centrally appointed tax collectors and undertook irrigation works. However, the deposition of Dhana Nanda in 321 BCE was followed by the absorption of the Nanda empire into the Mauryan empire. The state of Chu was the most southerly of China’s Warring States, centred on the Middle Yangzi river. Throughout the 5th century BCE it annexed a number of states, becoming the dominant power by 380 BCE. In 366 BCE a resounding victory by the state of Qin against the armies of Hann and
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THE AGE OF MAGAPADMA NANDA AT HIS DEATH
Wei, followed by another defeat of Wei at the battle of Shimen in 364 BCE led to Chu’s decline and the shift eastwards of Wei’s royal centre to Daliang. A rejuvenated Wei was strong enough to force the rulers of four other Warring States to attend its court in 356 BCE. Wei’s supremacy was short-lived, and defeats inflicted on it by Qi armies at Guiling in 353 BCE and Maling in 341 BCE reduced it to a Qi vassal.
IN 359 BCE PERDICCAS III OF
Macedonia died and his successor, Philip II (r.359–336 BCE) began to transform the position of what had been regarded by other Greeks as a very minor kingdom. In 357 BCE, he made his first major conquest, Amphipolis in Thrace. He became involved in the Third Sacred War (356–346 BCE), which was fought over perceived violations by Sparta and Phocis of the sacred oracle at Delphi, using this to cement his position as an important player in the power politics of central Greece and the Peloponnese. In the 340s, Philip strengthened his position in Thessaly and became involved in petty disputes between the city-states, as rival factions turned either to him or to Athens for support. In 340 BCE open war broke out between Philip and the Athenian-Theban alliance. Just two years later, at Chaeronea in Boeotia, Philip defeated the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus Mausolus was the Persian satrap (governor) of a region of southwestern Turkey. After his death in 353 BCE his wife built a tomb for him, which became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
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PHILIP OF MACEDONIA (382–336 BCE) Philip II reformed the Macedonian army and forced the Greek states to join a League of Corinth under Macedonian control. After his return to Macedonia, he took a new wife, Cleopatra, but was stabbed to death at his wedding feast, possibly on the orders of his son, Alexander the Great, who stood to lose his position if Cleopatra bore another heir. Athenians and annihilated the Theban Sacred Band (see 380–371 BCE). Macedonian power in Greece was now unchallenged. Rome’s steady expansion in central Italy had caused alarm among her neighbours. This led to a bitter six-year struggle with the town of Tibur from 360 BCE, among other conflicts. In 340 BCE, a general war broke out between Rome and the Latins, who inhabited the modern region of Lazio around Rome. The Romans had just emerged from a war with the Samnites, a people who inhabited the central Apennines, and the Latins took
advantage of Rome’s exhausted state to launch an attack. During the first year of the war, at a battle near Vesuvius, the consul Publius Decius Mus is said to have dedicated his body to the gods of the underworld and then undertaken a suicidal charge against the Latin ranks which turned the tide of battle in the Roman’s favour. By 338 BCE, the Romans had defeated the Latin League. The peace terms were favourable, with many Latins being granted Roman citizenship. The League was then dissolved, and many of the former Latin cities were absorbed into the Roman state, moving Rome further towards complete dominance of central Italy. In Peru, the Nazca culture began around 350 BCE. These people created mysterious geoglyphs, huge lines in the desert creating animal and abstract shapes, which cannot be made out from the ground.
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329–323 BCE
Despite being heavily outnumbered at Issus, Alexander the Great, depicted here on his horse Bucephalus, made brilliant use of his cavalry to win a stunning victory over King Darius III.
of Macaranda (Samarkand) and pacify Sogdiana, although the fortress of the “Sogdian Rock” managed to hold out against the Macedonian forces until 327 BCE. Alexander then crossed into the Kabul Valley and the following year, at the river Hydaspes, he overcame the local ruler Porus. His plans to push further into India were stymied by his soldiers who, demoralized and diseaseridden, mutinied and demanded to go home. Part of the army returned home by sea under Nearchus, but a detachment under Alexander marched through the harsh Gedrosian desert, suffering heavy losses. His army reached central Persia early in 324 BCE, but Alexander, still planning new expeditions into Arabia, died of a fever at Babylon in May 323 BCE, aged 33. In central Italy, the Samnites of the central-southern Apennines, who had lost a war against the Romans in 342–340 BCE, fought them once more in the Second Samnite War (326–304 BCE). The
AFTER HIS MURDER OF DARIUS,
army led by Darius III himself. In 331 BCE, the Macedonians defeated Darius III again at Gaugamela (in modern Iraq). The next year Darius was stabbed to death by Bessus, one of his generals. Alexander now seemed to have acquired the whole of the vast Persian Empire.
Route taken by Alexander’s forces
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Aristotle The philosopher Aristotle was employed by Philip of Macedonia as Alexander the Great’s tutor.
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THE AGE OF ALEXANDER’S FAVOURITE HORSE, BUCEPHALUS, WHEN IT DIED advance of the Romans into Campania after their abolition of the Latin League in 338 BCE alarmed the Samnites, and the Roman placing of a colony in their land in 328 BCE and tensions over the control of Neapolis (Naples) led to the outbreak of war in 326 BCE. In 321 BCE, the Samnites defeated a Roman army at the Caudine Forks. The Romans were humiliated by being forced to bow down and “pass under the yoke” (an arch made from their captured spears). Four years of peace followed before the Romans renewed the war and, despite dogged resistance by the Samnites, finally emerged victorious in 304 BCE.
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CONQUEST OF ALEXANDER Macedonian Empire 336-323BCE
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Alexander the Great’s conquests Alexander penetrated the farthest corners of the Persian empire. To cement his rule he founded a series of new cities, almost all named after himself, notably Alexandria in Egypt.
Re
(see 355–337 BCE), his 20-year-old son Alexander (often referred to as Alexander the Great) became commander of the major Greek city states. The next year Alexander invaded Thrace, but a rumour that he had been killed caused a major revolt centred on the Greek city of Thebes, supported by Darius III of Persia (r.336–330 BCE). Alexander reacted swiftly; the Thebans were defeated and their city razed to the ground. The other states soon submitted. In 334 BCE, Alexander hurried to Anatolia, where a Macedonian army was already established, totalling perhaps 43,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. Although this figure was dwarfed by the forces of the local Persian satraps (governors), Alexander’s cavalry smashed the lines of the satrap Arsites at the River Granicus in northwest Turkey. He pushed on towards the heart of the Persian Empire. In 333 BCE, at Issus, northern Syria, he routed an
Ruins of Persepolis The Persian ceremonial capital of Persepolis was burnt to the ground by Alexander’s troops in 330 BCE.
PA LE ST INE
AFTER THE ASSASSINATION OF PHILIP OF MACEDONIA in 336 BCE
Bessus declared himself the new king of Persia (as Artaxerxes V), but some of the Persian satraps submitted to Alexander instead of Bessus. During 330–329 BCE, Alexander pursued Bessus into the easternmost regions of the Persian Empire, beyond the Hindu Kush and into Bactria. Finally, in Sogdiana, north of the River Oxus, the local nobles, led by the Sogdian warlord Spitamenes, betrayed Bessus and handed him over to Alexander. Once Alexander had continued his march north, however, Spitamenes revolted. It took Alexander a year of bitter campaigning to relieve the siege
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322–301 BCE TO THE STRONGEST!
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Alexander the Great, on his deathbed in reply to a question about who would succeed him
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ALEXANDER THE GREAT had not provided for an orderly succession after his death in 323 BCE, and his most experienced generals were also dead – except for Antipater who had been left as regent in Macedonia. Alexander’s wife Roxane was pregnant, and he had a half-brother Arrhidaeus, who was, unfortunately, mentally unstable. A clique of generals who were present at Alexander’s deathbed – Ptolemy, Cassander, Seleucus, and Lysimachus – engineered a solution by which Roxane’s newborn son Alexander IV (323–310 BCE) notionally shared power with Arrhidaeus, who became Philip III. In reality, this military clique carved up the empire between themselves and four other generals. Perdiccas emerged as the main power in the centre; Antipater and Craterus took Europe; Antigonos Monopthalmos (“the one-eyed”) was given Phrygia; Ptolemy got Egypt; and Seleucus and Cassander were promoted to senior military commands. These generals, who became known as the Diadochoi (“successors”), then fought a long series of wars for dominance in Alexander’s former empire, at first pitting the others against Perdiccas, who was assassinated in 320 BCE. Antipater rose to power next, but he died of natural causes in 318 BCE, leaving Antigonos to make a bid for power
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Battle of Ipsus Although slightly outnumbered, Lysimachus deployed his archers against his enemy’s flank, causing Antigonus’s infantry to flee in panic.
against the four remaining principal players: Cassander in Macedonia, Ptolemy in Egypt, Lysimachus in Thrace, and Seleucus in Babylon. War between the parties raged inconclusively until 311 BCE. But when it was renewed again in 308 BCE, it looked as if Antigonus might overcome all the others. Then, in 301 BCE, Lysimachus crushed the Antigonid army at Ipsus, and annexed most of Antigonus’s former territories, so cementing a tripartite division of Alexander’s empire between himself, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. In India, in around 320 BCE, Chandragupta Maurya (r.c.320– 297 BCE) overthrew the last of the Nandas (see 370–356 BCE) to become ruler of Magadha and the Ganges plain. An energetic ruler, he then gradually absorbed the
outlying regions of the Nanda Empire, pushing his control as far as Gujarat and the Punjab. In 305 BCE, he began a campaign against one of Alexander’s successors, Seleucus, which ended in a treaty in 303 BCE, by which the Greeks ceded control of eastern Afghanistan and Baluchistan to Chandragupta. Having established the Mauryan Empire in 307 BCE, Chandragupta decided to abdicate in favour of his son Bindusara (r.297–272 BCE). He then retired to become a Jain monk, ultimately starving himself to death. In China, Meng Zi (or Mencius) (c.372–289 BCE) arrived at the Wei court around 320 BCE and rapidly earned himself a reputation as the “second sage” of the
ALEXANDER THE GREAT (356–323 BCE) Aged 20, Alexander inherited much of Greece from his father; by his death just 13 years later, he had extended this to cover a vast area from the Indus River in the east to Illyria in the west. He was a brilliant general but prone to acts of impetuous violence. His adoption of Persian court ritual alienated many native Macedonians, and his not naming an heir proved catastrophic.
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Confucian tradition. His surviving work, the Shi Ji, is written in the form of dialogues with several contemporary kings. Meng Zi stresses the value of de (virtue) for a king and, more practically, recommends lower taxes, less harsh punishments, and ensuring the people have enough to eat. He believed that if a king acted benevolently, everyone would want to be ruled by him, and he would have no need of conquest. Meng Zi’s benevolent view of human nature had a widespread appeal, and politically his views were most influential in the time of the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE).
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ANOTHER SUCH VICTORY AND WE ARE UNDONE. Pyrrhus, king of the Greek state of Epirus, 279 BCE
The Pharos lighthouse was built under Ptolemy II in around 280 BCE . It guided ships into Alexandria harbour at night. IN ITALY, A THIRD WAR broke
275 THE NUMBER OF YEARS THE PTOLEMAIC DYNASTY RULED EGYPT
The equally vast Roman army – at 45,000, the largest they had ever fielded – was threatened with defeat until the Roman consul Publius Decius Mus (d.295 BCE) dedicated himself and the enemy army as sacrificial victims to the gods of the underworld and led a suicidal charge that shattered the Samnite line. A string of Roman successes followed in 293 and 292 BCE, and two years later the Samnites finally surrendered and their lands were annexed. Roman territory now stretched across the Italian peninsula to the Adriatic Sea.
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Demetrius Poliorcetes (c.337– 283 BCE), the son of Antigonus (see 322–301 BCE), was now rebuilding his strength from bases in the Aegean islands and in Cyprus. He was able to exploit the need of Seleucus, in Babylon, for allies against the now over-mighty Lysimachus. In 294 BCE, Demetrius invaded Macedon, whose ruler Cassander had died three years before, leaving his two young sons to engage in a bitter civil war. Demetrius then attacked Lysimachus’s Asian territories, but in 292 BCE he was brought back to Greece by a revolt in Aetolia. By 289 BCE, Demetrius had suppressed the revolt, but he had lost most of his island bases to Ptolemy’s Egyptian fleet. He retreated to Asia, and died in 283 BCE, a captive of Seleucus. Of Alexander’s successors, Ptolemy inherited the weakest position. A naval defeat in 306 BCE by Demetrius Poliorcetes confined his ambitions temporarily to Egypt. Yet here he shrewdly chose to exploit the existing mechanisms of power, establishing himself as a pharaoh in the old style and setting up an administration that melded the best of Greek and Egyptian traditions. By 295 BCE, Ptolemy’s naval forces had recovered and conquered much of the Aegean. In Egypt, Ptolemy’s position was sufficiently secure that, at his death in 283 BCE, aged 84, he passed the kingdom on to his son Ptolemy II Philadelphos (r.283–245 BCE), the second king of a Ptolemaic dynasty that would rule Egypt until 30 BCE.
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IN 281 BCE, THE APPEAL by envoys from the southern Italian city of Tarentum for protection against the Romans provided Pyrrhus, the king of the Greek state of Epirus, with a perfect excuse for fulfilling his ambitions and intervening there. He arrived with an army more than 25,000 strong, including war elephants. He beat the Romans at the River Siris in 280 BCE, but the Roman senate refused to make peace. Pyrrhus vanquished another Roman army at Asculum the next year, but his losses were so severe that it seemed more like a defeat. After invading Sicily, Pyrrhus retreated back to Epirus in 275 BCE, nursing huge losses in troops and having made no territorial gains. The defeat and death of Lysimachus in 281 BCE in battle
Pyrrhus of Epirus Despite his many campaigns, when Pyrrhus died he ruled little more than the kingdom he had inherited.
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out between the Romans and Samnites in 298 BCE, apparently provoked by Samnite harassment of their neighbours, the Lucanians. Despite two Roman victories in 297 BCE, the Samnites, this time allied with the Gauls, could still field a huge army against the Romans at Sentinum in 295 BCE.
At the Battle of Mylae, in 260 BCE , Rome defeated the Carthaginian navy.
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20,000 KEY Infantry
Slingers
Cavalry
War elephants
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Pyrrhus's army The army that Pyrrhus took over to Italy included a small number of war elephants whose presence caused the Roman cavalry to panic and flee.
against Seleucus, and the latter’s assassination, soon led to instability on the frontier between the Seleucid Empire (now ruled by his son Antiochus I) and the Egyptian ruler Ptolemy II Philadelphos. Finally, in 274 BCE the First Syrian War broke out between them. The Egyptians emerged victorious, annexing parts of the Syrian coast and southern Anatolia. This position was in part reversed by Egyptian losses in the Second Syrian War (260–253 BCE) and then renewed in the Third Syrian War (246–241 BCE), which was fought between the Seleucid Antiochus II and Ptolemy III. These three debilitating wars left the Seleucids particularly vulnerable to the now growing power of Parthia.
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IN INDIA, the accession of Ashoka (c.294–232 BCE) to the throne in 268 BCE had marked a watershed for the Mauryan Empire. On his father Bindusara’s death (see 322–301 BCE), Ashoka had to fight a four-year civil war with his brothers before he was enthroned. Around eight years later, he launched a campaign against Kalinga (modern Orissa), which was so bloody that around 100,000 people are said to have died. So struck with remorse was Ashoka at this slaughter, that he ever after rejected war and promoted the Buddhist concept of dharma, meaning mercy or piety. He set up a series of edicts carved in rock throughout the empire – many of them on pillars topped with a lion – promoting his adherence to dharma. Under his patronage the Third Buddhist Council met at Pataliputra around 250 BCE, and Ashoka sought to export his ideas abroad, exchanging diplomatic missions with foreign rulers, such as Antiochus II of Syria and Ptolemy II of Egypt. At his death in 232 BCE, the Mauryan empire had reached its greatest extent and seemed securely established. In China, Zhao Zheng succeeded his father to the throne of Qin in 246 BCE. From 228 BCE, ably advised by chancellor Li Si, Zhao Zheng unleashed a final war of conquest against the remaining Warring States (see 370–356 BCE). Zhao and Yan soon fell to his forces, the Qin armies captured Wei and, in 223 BCE, overcame Chu. Only Qi still held out but, in 221 BCE, Zhao Zheng finally annexed it, leaving
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THE LENGTH OF THE FIRST PUNIC WAR
Early Roman religion combined the worship of the great gods, such as Neptune (shown here), with that of more local deities. There were several different types of priest: haruspices made predictions from the entrails of sacrificed animals; augures determined the divine will from signs, such as the flight of birds; and pontifices controlled the complex calendar of religious festivals. In their homes, Romans had shrines to household gods and the spirits of their ancestors. him the master of all China. The same year he proclaimed himself the “First Emperor” as Qin Shi Huangdi, and the first ruler of the new Qin dynasty. In Persia, the Greek Seleucid dynasty, which had inherited the region after Alexander the Great’s death in 323 BCE, faced a series of nomad incursions after 280 BCE. Antiochus I (reign c.292–261 BCE)
expelled the nomads, but wars with Egypt (280–272 BCE and 260–253 BCE) overstretched the kingdom’s resources. On the death of Antiochus II (r.261–246 BCE), civil war broke out between the king’s widow Berenice and his former wife Laodice. This led to the breakaway of Bactria under Diodotus and Parthia under Andragoras. Taking advantage of this instability,
the nomadic Parni, led by Arsaces, entered Parthia in the mid-240s BCE. Rivalry over Sicily, where the Carthaginians had possessed colonies since the 8th century BCE, was at the root of the First Punic War (264–241 BCE), a conflict between Rome and the North African power of Carthage. In 264 BCE, the Romans sent an army to help the Mamertines – a group of south-Italian mercenaries occupying the Sicilian city of Messana – in their conflict with the city of Syracuse, which was in turn aided by Carthage. The Carthaginian’s resistance was so stubborn that the Romans made
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Publius Claudius Pulcher, Roman consul and general, ordering the drowning of the sacred chickens when they refused to eat grain before the Battle of Drepana, 249 BCE
E UR O P E P
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Great Stupa at Sanchi This Buddhist stupa in central India was begun by the Mauryan ruler Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE.
Aegades Islands. This defeat caused Hamilcar Barca, the Carthaginian general, to sue for peace. The peace terms involved the Carthaginians leaving Sicily. The two sides’ spheres of influence remained uncomfortably overlapping, creating the seeds of two future conflicts.
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little headway. However, after they had built their first ever fleet, the Romans’ fortunes changed. In 260 BCE, they won an important victory over the Carthaginians at Mylae. A Roman invasion of North Africa in 256 BCE failed to capture Carthage only through the ineptitude of the consul, Regulus. On land, the Romans took the Carthaginian strongholds in Sicily one by one until, by 249 BCE, only Drepana, in western Sicily, held out against them. A massive Carthaginian naval victory there set back the Roman cause, but in 241 BCE, a new Roman fleet appeared off Drepana, took it, and the next year smashed a Carthaginian fleet at the
ROMAN RELIGION
Carthaginian Empire in 264 BCE Roman gains by 264 BCE Roman gains by 238 BCE Roman victory
The First Punic War The two decades of fighting was concentrated around Sicily, but also saw Roman invasions of North Africa and Sardinia.
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THE NUMBER OF COMMANDERIES (REGIONS) SET UP BY EMPEROR QIN SHI HUANGDI This rendition of Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps is attributed to Italian artist Jacopo Ripanda. Amazingly, all 37 elephants survived the mountain passage.
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THE SECOND PUNIC WAR 218–202 BCE
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Carthaginian victory Rusaddir
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ALARMED AT CARTHAGINIAN EXPANSION IN SPAIN, in 226 BCE
the Romans sent an embassy to Hasdrubal – son of Hamilcar and the new Barcid commander there – and secured an agreement that the Carthaginians would not move north of the Ebro River. In return, the Romans pledged not to move south – although they did forge alliances with cities in the south, such as Saguntum. In 221 BCE, Hasdrubal was assassinated; two years later, Hannibal, his brother and successor, attacked Saguntum, rapidly leading to the Second Punic War (219–201 BCE). With the prospect of the Romans sending one army to Spain and another via Sicily to invade North Africa, Hannibal decided to strike first. He
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Second Punic War There were three principal theatres of conflict: Spain, Italy, and North Africa. By 203 BCE, the Carthaginians were confined to Africa.
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Suppressing opposition This watercolour-on-silk painting shows Shi Huangdi, China’s first emperor, overseeing the burning of books and the execution of scholars.
In the aftermath of the First Punic War (see 264–241 BCE), with Sicily and Sardinia lost, Carthage turned its attention to Spain. In 238 BCE, Hamilcar was sent there, and he soon conquered almost the whole of southern Spain. He died in battle against the Oretani, a Celtic tribe, in 229 BCE, but by then he had won both a new empire for Carthage and a strong power base for his family, the Barcids. Despite their victory in the First Punic War, the Romans’ position in northern Italy was still weak. In THE SECOND PUNIC WAR 225 BCE , the Celtic 218–202 BCE Insubres and Boii tribes tried to drive them out. Carthaginian Empire 281BCE At the Battle of Telamon, the200 Celts Carthaginian territory BCE were trapped between twoBCE Roman Roman territory 218 armies and routed. Roman gainsAlthough by 200BCE the Boii accepted defeat in 224218 BCE and Massalian territory BCE the Insubres sued for peace two years later, the Romans rebuffed them and pushed on for total victory. The king of the Boii was killed in single combat against a Roman consul, and their capital Mediolanum (Milan) captured. The Romans established colonies in the Celtic territories in 218 BCE, including at Piacenza. A revolt led by Arsaces (see 265–241 BCE) in Parthava – a former satrapy in the northeast of the Seleucid Empire – could not be quelled by Seleucus II (r.246– 225 BCE), and a separate Parthian kingdom emerged in the region of modern Iran. The Parthians gradually annexed more territory to the west, especially under Mithridates I (r.171–138 BCE). By the early 1st century BCE, only a small area of Syria was under Seleucid control.
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first emperor of China, divided his empire into 36 commanderies on the advice of his minister Li Ssu. The dispossessed aristocrats and nobles of Qin’s former enemies were moved to the capital Xianyang to keep them under close control. To further encourage a sense of unity, Li Ssu commissioned a single script and a standardized system of weights and measures for China. Further conquests were made to the north and south in 219 and 214 BCE, and thousands of colonists were sent to the new territories. Shi Huangdi dealt firmly with opposition. In 213 BCE, he ordered the “burning of the books”, by which the writings of philosophers opposed to the Qin state were burnt, and in 212 BCE he had many intellectuals who opposed him brutally killed.
marched with 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, and 37 elephants into northern Spain, across the Pyrenees, through southern Gaul and – to the Romans’ astonishment – crossed the Alps. Although he now had only around half the force he had started with, his presence encouraged the north Italian Celts to revolt and, at Trebia in late 218 BCE, he routed a Roman army. The following year he smashed another large Roman force at Lake Trasimene, killing 15,000 Romans – including one of Battle of Canae Some 35,000 Romans survived the battle of Cannae, but half of those were captured by the Carthaginians, and many were sold into slavery.
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the consuls. Faced with many defections among the allied cities, the Romans turned to delaying tactics to hold Hannibal at bay. But this was a temporary measure, and the Romans suffered one of their worst ever defeats at Cannae in 216 BCE, when Hannibal’s army massacred up to 100 FORCES IN THOUSANDS
IN 221 BCE, QIN SHI HUANGDI, the
50,000 casualties
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Carthaginian
TROOPS
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After his death, the First Qin Emperor was buried in a vast mausoleum, in which an army of 8,000 terracotta warriors, each around 2 m (6 ft 6 in) tall, was placed. WHEN THE FIRST QIN EMPEROR DIED IN 210 BCE, resentment
HANNIBAL (247–182 BCE) A brilliant tactician, Hannibal’s string of victories against the Romans from 218 BCE was not matched by the strategic judgement to convert them into final victory. Following the surrender of Carthage in 201 BCE, Hannibal served as the city’s suffete (chief magistrate) until the Romans had him exiled in 195 BCE. He then offered his service to a succession of Rome’s enemies before poisoning himself in Bithynia. 50,000 of them. But Hannibal did not march immediately on Rome, and his campaign lost momentum. Although Hannibal captured much of southern Italy, including the key city of Capua in 211 BCE, by 212 BCE the Romans had raised 25 fresh legions and stood ready to carry the war back to the Carthaginians.
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against his autocratic rule erupted in a series of peasant revolts. A number of new kingdoms broke away from the centre, while the anti-Qin forces found a talented military leader in Xiang Yu. In 208 BCE, Li Ssu was executed and a new army, led by Liu Bang, a man of peasant origins, emerged to challenge the Qin. By 206 BCE, the Qin Empire was fragmented and Xiang Yu and Liu Bang were at war with one another. In 202 BCE, Xiang Yu committed suicide after being defeated at Gaixia. With no one left to oppose him, Liu Bang had himself declared emperor as Gaozu, the first ruler of the Han dynasty (see 200–171 BCE). With Hannibal making little headway in southern Italy, the Romans embarked on a policy of picking off the allies of Carthage. Their first target was Philip V of Macedonia, whose attacks on Illyria in 215 BCE had provoked the First Macedonian War (215–205 BCE) with Rome. In 211 BCE, the Romans allied with the Aetolians, who fought the Macedonians on land while the Romans launched naval attacks. Philip’s invasion of Aetolia in 207 BCE forced the Aetolians to sue for peace the next year, and though the Romans sent fresh forces in 205 BCE, the war ended with a recognition of the status quo between the two sides. In Spain, the Romans had retaken Saguntum in 212 BCE, but a disastrous defeat the following year in which both consuls died looked set to destroy the Roman lts vo Re ire p f 0 B Em o 21 Qin eath di in er d ang aft i Hu Sh CE
position there. The Roman senate sent the young general Publius Cornelius Scipio (c.236–183 BCE) to Spain, where he captured the Carthaginian capital of Carthage Nova. In 206 BCE, he crushed a large Carthaginian force at Illipa. In 207 BCE, Hannibal’s brother Hasdrubal was defeated and killed at the River Metaurus in northern Italy, denying Hannibal crucial reinforcements. By 204 BCE, many of Hannibal’s south-Italian allies had deserted him, and when Scipio landed with a Roman army
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at Utica in North Africa, the Carthaginians recalled Hannibal to head off a threat to Carthage itself. The Romans offered relatively lenient peace terms, but the Carthaginians rejected them, and Scipio captured their towns one by one. Aided by the Numidian prince, Massinissa, Scipio defeated Hannibal’s last army at Zama in 202 BCE. The peace terms the Carthaginians now had to accept were much harsher. All of their territory was forfeit save a band around Carthage itself; their
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fleet was reduced to a mere 10 ships; they were not allowed to make war outside Africa at all, and inside it they needed Roman permission to do so. An annual tribute of 10,000 talents payable to the Romans completed the humiliation of what had once been Rome’s greatest enemy. The Continence of Scipio Scipio was noted for his mercy. In this 19th-century painting, he is seen handing back a captured Carthaginian woman to her fiancé.
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T H E C L A S S I CA L A G E
owl, the sacred bird of Athena
crescent symbol in post-490 BCE coins
Athenian coin The Athenian silver tetradrachm has an image of an owl on one side and a helmeted head on the other. It was also stamped with the Greek letters for “ATHE” to identify the city of its origin.
1200 BCE Shells as money
Beginning from the Maldives, the use of cowrie shells as money spreads throughout the Pacific, and, by the 19th century, into Africa.
465–454 BCE Greek coins
Cowrie shells
Prehistory Cattle as capital
Prehistoric people use cattle as money, with animals such as sheep or chickens sometimes acting as small change.
Almost every Greek city-state issues its own coinage, often with the name of the state inscribed on it. Silver replaces electrum as the main metal used.
1000–500 BCE Tool money
Cattle
In China, common tools are cast in metal, punched with holes (for stringing several together), and used as money.
c.640–630 BCE First true coins
Knife money
Lydian coins
The state of Lydia produces the first true coins, made of electrum (an alloy of gold and silver) and stamped with an image of a lion or stag.
27 BCE–14 CE Augustan aureus
Emperor Augustus reforms the Roman coinage system and issues a new version of the standard gold coin, the aureus, worth Gold aureus 25 silver denarii.
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T H E S TO R Y O F M O N E Y
THE STORY OF
MONEY
THE ADOPTION OF MONEY ENABLED EARLY SOCIETIES TO FLOURISH AND GROW INTO COMPLEX CIVILIZATIONS
As societies became more complex, a need arose for a uniform medium of exchange to acquire goods. Money was created to fulfil this role, and it evolved from cattle to precious metals, and finally, to coins and notes. Today, money is exchanged more abstractly, through credit cards or electronic transfers. The earliest forms of money – used in ritual exchanges (for example, as a dowry) and in paying fines – included physical items such as cattle. In the 4th millennium BCE, the growth of trade in Egypt and Mesopotamia led to more compact and portable forms of money. For thousands of years, precious metals were used, often in the forms of bars and ingots. Babylonian king Hammurabi’s law
code mentions loans paid in silver. In 640 BCE, in the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor, the development of money went a stage further with the invention of coinage, which later spread to the Greek world. By the Roman era, a tri-metallic system had been adopted, with coins of gold, silver, and bronze (of least value) circulating across the empire. All had the head of the ruler stamped on them, for propaganda as well as fiscal use.
100
PERCENTAGE OF SILVER
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 250 260 YEAR
The debasement of Roman coins Due to inflation, excessive expenditure, and weak control of minting, the purity of the Roman denarius fell from around 90 per cent silver under Marcus Aurelius (r.161–180) to 4 per cent during Gallienus’s rule (r.260–268).
806–821 Paper money
1519 Thalers
In China, Emperor Xianzong issues the earliest bank notes during a period of copper shortage. The Jin dynasty issues the first true bank notes around 1189.
Song dynasty note
1158 Making change
Henry II of England creates high-quality coinage, based on a silver penny, with a cross design that will last over the next 100 years.
EXCHANGE NOTES In 1189, paper money came into use in China during Jin rule. Notes could express larger denominations and, therefore, were more convenient than coins. Gradually, government-backed banks began to issue notes, which were, in theory, exchangeable for an equivalent amount in bullion (a system known as the Gold Standard). However, the economic crisis following World War I forced countries to abandon the Gold Standard. Subsequently, the “real” value of notes and coins became nominal, relying instead on a sense of trust that they could be exchanged for goods. The growth of credit cards from 1950 took this a stage further, as the purchaser passed on nothing save the promise of payment at a later date.
Coin minted from silver found in the Joachimsthal mine, Bohemia, becomes standard in the Spanish and Austrian Habsburg empires.
1694 First bank note
Joachimsthal thaler
The Bank of England is founded to fund England’s growing national debt. It issues its first bank notes, backed by the bank’s own gold reserves.
17th century Modern cheque
The growth in paper money in Europe after the Middle Ages was fuelled by the needs of merchants. Traders would deposit funds in a bank in one city and receive a promissory note, which allowed them to withdraw the amount in any other city where the bank had a branch. Great Italian banking houses, such as the Medici, were rich enough to fund the military campaigns of European kings through their loans.
1949 Credit and debit cards
The first credit cards appear in the US in 1949. By the 1980s, debit cards, which operate as electronic cash (without deferred payment) appear.
Credit cards
1862 First dollar bill
By the 17th century, the use of cheques, often backed by goldsmiths, becomes widespread in Europe. Henricus penny
TRADE AND PAPER MONEY
British cheque from 1659
The US Treasury issues the first dollar bills for national circulation. These are known as “greenbacks” for their vivid green colour.
First one dollar bill
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200–171 BCE
170–147 BCE
The royal entourage of Gaozu, the first emperor of the Han, depicted in the mountains of China. Gaozu was one of the few Chinese rulers to come from a peasant background.
This wall painting shows Judah Maccabee’s revolt in Jerusalem.
when his successor, Hui Ti, was just 15. Hui Ti fell under the sway of his mother, the empress Lu, who took power for herself on his premature death in 188 BCE. Under her rule China was invaded by the Hsiung-nu from the north and the kingdom of Nan-yueh to the south, and it was only under Gaozu’s grandson
13
the beginnings of political consolidation in central Japan, especially around the lower Nara basin (near Osaka). In India, the Sunga dynasty took power in Magadha in 185 BCE, when its founder Pusyamitra Sunga (r.185–151 BCE), a former
Mauryan general, assassinated the last Mauryan ruler (see 265 BCE). He is said to have persecuted Buddhists, marking the beginning of the religion’s decline in its Indian homeland. He also fought a long series of wars with Magadha’s neighbours,
geometrical patterns and shapes
THE NUMBER OF REGIONS THAT MADE UP HAN CHINA Wen Ti (r.180–157 BCE) that stability was restored. By 143 BCE, the number of commanderies (regions) under central Han control had risen from 13 to a total of 40. In Japan, the Middle Yayoi period (c.200–100 BCE) saw an increase in population – possibly to as high as 600,000 people – and Yayoi vase The Yayoi period in Japanese history (c.300 BCE to 250 CE) is named for the site near Tokyo where its pottery was first found. al ) ia ion ate ian tol es eg ar in R on str ak na e i t l E d f A p g C I a e o in I p a es s B s ib ac s I ies on 00 s a de nn e (m ak ce hu m ati um dM c. 2 lture l An Ha ffet d m finan nd gam on E) ioc tole E a t n c u u C u r a n c nt lic A mP Se 7 BC Fo Per 6B d s e o CE CE CE Ce 19 cte thag pub 9 at 0 B a fr 0B o 1 7B ele Car s to 19 rary 20 dae 20 r (t in form lib Ju Wa re
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including the Satavahanas, the Kalingas, and the Indo-Greek kingdoms of Bactria. Bactria (in modern Afghanistan) had broken away from Seleucid control around 275 BCE, but a series of Greek kings continued to rule there, starting with Diodotus around 250 BCE. Another Indo-Greek dynasty emerged in India, and became powerful under Menander I (c.165– 130 BCE), an important patron of Buddhism. Under the Indo-Greek kings, a new school of art emerged around Gandhara, which fused Buddhist iconography and Greek naturalism. Gradually, these easternmost Greeks came under pressure from Scythian and Yuezhi nomads and in 125 BCE Bactria collapsed. The last Indo-Greek kingdom of the Punjab survived until 10 CE. The Roman victory against Philip V of Macedon (see 210 BCE) in the Second Macedonian War (200–197 BCE) did not lead to permanent acquisitions in Greece, and the Romans withdrew their army in 194 BCE. After the death of Philip V in 179 BCE, his son Perseus presided over worsening relations with Rome, and in 171 BCE a Third Macedonian War broke out. Initial Roman campaigning achieved little except the alienation of their Greek allies, but a more disciplined approach under the consul Aemilius Paullus (see 170 BCE) yielded better results.
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THE THIRD MACEDONIAN WAR
ended In 168 BCE, when Paullus defeated Perseus at the Battle of Pydna. A purge of anti-Roman elements swept through the Greek cities, and Macedonia was broken up into four republics to prevent it recovering its strength. In 150 BCE, Spartan attempts to get the Romans to intervene in a quarrel with the Achaean League (a group of Greek city-states) coincided with an anti-Roman revolt in Macedonia. By 148 BCE, the Macedonians had been defeated and the Romans turned their attention to the Achaeans. The Roman consul L. Mummius quickly routed the Archaeans and took Corinth, which he razed to the ground. The various leagues of Greek cities were dissolved and Greece lost its independence, becoming the Roman province of Achaea. 50 NUMBER OF SOLIDERS (IN 1000S)
THE FIRST HAN EMPEROR OF CHINA, GAOZU, died in 195 BCE,
Total 40
Total Captured
30 20
Killed
10 Killed 0
Romans
Macedonians
COMBATANTS
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146–131 BCE
The ruins of Carthage, which was burnt and ritually cursed after its capture in 146 BCE . A new Roman town was founded near the city around 48 BCE .
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CARTHAGE MUST BE DESTROYED.
Cato the Elder, Roman statesman
war without Roman approval. Unable to act, the Carthaginians were reduced to sending embassies to Rome to protest at Massinissa’s behaviour. However, Rome sided with its ally, and one Carthaginian embassy in 162 BCE even resulted in Carthage being
Carthaginean tophet A memorial stone from the tophet (cemetery) at Carthage, showing Tanit, the goddess of the heavens.
made to pay an annual fine of 500 talents. In 151 BCE, the Carthaginian government sent a military force to relieve a town that had been besieged by Massinissa, and the Romans reacted by declaring war. This was the Third Punic War (149–146 BCE). Rome’s war was encouraged by the anti-Carthaginian senator Cato
the Elder, who made a series of speeches to the Senate calling for the destruction of Carthage. The first two years of the Third Punic war saw ineffective Roman attacks on towns around Carthage. In 147 BCE, a new commander was appointed, Scipio Aemilianus, who transformed Rome’s fortunes in the war within a year. In 167 BCE, the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV outlawed Jewish religious practices in Judaea, leading to the revolt of Judah Maccabee and his brothers in 164 BCE. Judah Maccabee entered Jerusalem, reconsecrated the temple, and re-established Judaism. The Seleucid kingdom then continued to decline (see also 280 BCE), with the overthrow of its ruler Demetrius I in 150 BCE by Alexander Balas rapidly leading to the loss of the key satrapies (provinces) of Media and Susiana.
THE ROMAN REPUBLIC After the overthrow of the last king in 507 BCE, Rome became a republic, ruled by two annually elected consuls. Over time the consuls came to be supported by other magistrates (praetors and quaestors), and tribunes of the plebs who had a special role in protecting the rights of the lower
orders. Later elections for the consulate became bitterly contested as the office provided great potential for enrichment and personal and family glory. After Augustus became emperor in 27 BCE the office of consul lost any real power, being increasingly awarded to imperial favourites.
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After the end of the Second Punic War, in 202 BCE, the Romans had allowed their ally King Massinissa of Numidia to encroach on Carthaginian territory. The peace conditions that ended the war forbade the Carthaginians to wage
I SHUDDER TO THINK THAT ONE DAY SOMEONE MAY GIVE THE SAME ORDER FOR ROME.
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Scipio Aemilianus, Roman general and consul, on giving the order to burn Carthage, from Plutarch’s Apophthegmata
IN CHINA, RAIDS BY NOMADIC HSIUNG-NU TRIBES from 177 BCE
gravely threatened the Han dynasty’s northern borders. In 139 BCE the imperial envoy, Zhang Qian, set out to Central Asia to seek out possible allies against the Hsiung-nu. His epic journey helped scout the way for Chinese expansion as far as Dunhuang, and the foundation of a number of new Central Asian commanderies by 104 BCE. Zhang Qian was held captive by the Hsiung-nu for some years during his journey before he was able to make an escape. Under emperor Wu (141–87 BCE) the Chinese launched several offensives against the Hsiung-nu, particularly in 121 BCE and 119 BCE, after which the frontier was quiet for almost 20 years. In the Near East, the shrunken and near-helpless Seleucid realm (see 170 BCE) was riven by civil wars and prey to interference from the Parthians, the Hasmonaeans, and, increasingly, the Romans. In 142 BCE, the Maccabees succeeded in wresting Jerusalem from Seleucid control and established a Hasmonaean kingdom, with Jerusalem as its
capital, under which a Jewish dynasty ruled until Jerusalem was captured by the Romans in 63 BCE. In the Iberian Peninsula, the Romans had conquered most of southern Spain and parts of Portugal (where the Lusitanians vigorously resisted them) by 174 BCE. A revolt by the Lusitanian leader Viriathus from 147 BCE was joined by several Celtiberian tribes in 144 BCE. This rebellion petered out after Viriathus was murdered in 140 BCE. In 133 BCE, Numantia, the main centre of the revolt, finally fell to the Romans after a bitter siege. Its population was sold into slavery and Rome was left in control of all of Iberia, except the far north of Spain. The Third Punic War came to an end when Scipio Aemilianus blocked Carthage’s harbour then launched a successful attack on the city itself in spring 146 BCE. The last Carthaginian defenders died in an inferno in the city’s main temple. The defeat of Carthage brought its 118-year struggle against Rome to an end. The Romans burnt the whole city and deported its population to prevent any Carthaginian revival.
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110–91 BCE
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HOWEVER MUCH YOU MAY TRY TO DELAY, YOU ARE FATED TO MEET THE SAME DEATH AS I DID. Tiberius Gracchus, Roman official, speaking in a dream to his brother Gaius; from an account by Cicero
This 17th-century silk painting from a history of Chinese emperors shows the Emperor Wudi greeting a scholar.
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IN PALESTINE, THE HASMONEAN KINGDOM (see 146–131 BCE) had
continued its expansion until the fall of Jerusalem to the Seleucid Antiochus VII in 131 BCE. However, during the reign of John Hyrcanus (r.134–104 BCE) it recovered much of the ground that had been lost. Alexander Jannaeus (r.103–76 BCE) enlarged the kingdom until it occupied most of modern Israel and the West Bank. After defeats by the Nabataean king Aretas III in 84 BCE and internal strife following Alexander’s death, the Hasmoneans were increasingly vulnerable to Roman interference.
In North Africa, the Romans faced a serious challenge when Micipsa, the son of their former ally Massinissa of Numidia (see 170–147 BCE), died in 118 BCE. The Romans ordered the kingdom be divided between Micipsa’s nephew Jugurtha and his sons. Jugurtha rejected this, killing one cousin and attacking the other, Adherbal, who fled to Rome. After a brief division of Numidia between Jugurtha and Adherbal, Jugurtha renewed his attack on his cousin and the Romans became involved.
ROMAN MILITARY REFORMS By the late 2nd century BCE, the Roman army was experiencing difficulty recruiting from the traditional propertied classes. Gaius Marius changed this by opening the army to those who fell below the normal property qualification. The eagle became the universal legionary standard for the first time, and the legions themselves were reformed as a heavy infantry force. From this point onward Roman light infantry and cavalry were organized into “auxiliary” units, which were recruited from non-citizens.
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In southern and central India, the Satavahanas began their rise to power after the breakup of the Mauryan Empire in the 2nd century BCE (see 200–171 BCE). From his capital in the Deccan, the third Satavahana king, Satakarni, extended his sway considerably around 50 BCE, although he and later Satavahana rulers struggled to contain the Saka and Kushan threats from the northwest. In Rome, social turmoil had erupted over the distribution of public land held by the Senate. Tiberius Gracchus, who was tribune of the plebs in 133 BCE, sought to ensure that plots of this land would be handed over to poorer families. When the Senate obstructed his plans, he tried to extend his tribunate so that he could pursue his aim. A mob organized by senators opposed to the plans beat him to death in the Forum. Tiberius’s brother Gaius became tribune in 123 BCE and tried to carry on his brother’s work. He also reduced the Senate’s role in dispensing justice, and pushed through a law to allow the sale of subsidized grain to the poor. In 122 BCE, the Senate declared Gaius an enemy of the state, due to his plans to extend Roman citizenship more widely in Italy. He killed himself, and thousands of his political supporters were executed.
SAKA (SCYTHIAN) TRIBESMEN
invaded Punjab, northern India, in about 125 BCE. They gradually occupied more territory, ending a brief period of Indo-Greek unity (see 200–171 BCE) under the reign of Antialcidas around 110 BCE. Led by King Maues, the Sakas took the kingdom of Gandhara and its capital Taxila in about 80 BCE. After Maues died (c.60 BCE), the Saka kingdom collapsed, but it was revived under his son Azes I (r.58–c.30 BCE), who conquered much of northwest India. The Sakas held this region until the rise of the Kushan Empire during the 1st century CE.
YOU DO WELL TO CONSIDER THE OFFICE YOUR OWN, FOR YOU BOUGHT IT.
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Julius Caesar’s father chastising the future dictator Sulla for having corruptly bought office in 94 BCE; from Lives by Plutarch
Following several disastrous years of campaigning from 111 BCE, the Romans sent Quintus Caecilius Metellus, who captured Jugurtha’s strongholds one by one. In 108 BCE, Gaius Marius replaced Metellus. Finally, trapped in the far west of his territory, Jugurtha was handed to the Romans by his father-in-law Bocchus of Mauretania. In Gaul, two Germanic tribes, the Cimbri and Teutones, had been defeating the Romans since 107 BCE, notably at Arausio in 105 BCE, where Roman losses reached 80,000. Marius took command of the defence against the Germans on his return from North Africa, and in 102 BCE vanquished the Teutones at Aquae Sextiae in Gaul. He next crushed the Cimbri at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BCE. He was rewarded with an unprecedented sixth consulship in 100 BCE. In China, Emperor Wudi (r.141–87 BCE) strengthened the Han Empire’s administrative
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90–71 BCE
Maiden Castle hill-fort in Britain underwent several phases of rebuilding after it was begun around 600 BCE , reaching its final form about 500 years later.
Captured in stone The Danzante carvings at Monte Alban, Mexico, were once thought to be of dancers, but they are now believed to represent the mutilated bodies of enemies captured in war.
system by beginning civil service examinations. Official positions for academics had been established in 136 BCE, consolidating the ruling house’s stranglehold on the intellectual life of China. In 106 BCE, Wudi appointed 13 regional inspectors to monitor the behaviour of government officials, raised taxes, and forbade private coin-minting. His armies pushed deep into Central Asia. By 108 BCE, the Han Empire had reached its largest extent. In Mexico, the population of Monte Albán had reached about 17,000 by around 100 BCE. Monte Albán’s control began to reach beyond the immediate vicinity of the Valley of Oaxaca, and many large stone platforms and public monuments were built in the city. l ica lit s Po are m su fl 0 B ce Ak us 10 len e of ) rio e o a s Se in a vi Rom Ri fric CE E g in A n C B i n B t 99 risi n Ch 00 eas p ter c.1 rth u s (no ea CE
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AFTER HIS VICTORY AT VERCELLAE, (see 110–91 BCE) Marius became Rome’s dominant politician, but the brutal behaviour of his ally Saturninus, tribune of the plebs, provoked the Senate. Political violence flared, and in 100 BCE Marius had to march an army into Rome. Saturninus was killed in the ensuing riot. As Marius’s power waned, discontent rose among Italians without Roman citizenship. In 91 BCE, this erupted into the Social War. A protégé of Marius, Lucius Sulla (c.138–78 BCE), took a key role in suppressing the revolt, which was largely over by 88 BCE, albeit with some concessions offered by Rome to the rebels. Sulla was elected consul in 88 BCE. That same year, while waiting to sail with his army to Greece to counter the threat posed by the king of Pontus, Mithridates VI (134–63 BCE), Sulla heard that the
70,000 SPARTACAN REBELS
6,000
spartican rebels crucified
The rebellion by Spartacus Crassus crucified slaves along the Appian Way, which led to Rome, as a warning to any others who might plan a similar insurrection.
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Senate had voted to put Marius in charge of the campaign. Enraged, Sulla entered Rome with his troops and siezed power. He moved against Mithridates in 89 BCE, and had driven him out of Greece by 84 BCE. Sulla returned to Rome, defeated his remaining opponents (including the aged Marius), and was appointed dictator in 82 BCE. Sulla took savage revenge on the Marians, packed the Senate with his supporters, and curtailed the powers of the tribunes. Anti-Sullan forces regrouped around Quintus Sertorius, who had fled to Spain. After Sulla died in 78 BCE, the Senate sent Pompey to deal with Sertorius. His military efforts were ineffective; only the assassination of Sertorius allowed Pompey to return victorious to Italy in 71 BCE. In 73 BCE, a slave revolt led by the gladiator Spartacus, broke out near Naples and grew into the most serious revolt Rome had ever faced. Eventually, the rebel slaves were trapped in southern Italy and defeated by the Roman General Marcus Licinius Crassus in 71 BCE. By the 1st century BCE, the Celtic peoples of southern Britain had started to expand their existing hill-forts into oppida (“towns”) that were defended by extensive fortifications. The greatest oppida were formidable obstacles to attackers and some were royal capitals, complete with palaces. Sacred offering This 1st-century BCE British Celtic shield was discovered in the River Thames, where it had probably been thrown as an offering to a river god.
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Mound City, Ohio, USA, contains a cluster of more than 20 Hopewell earthwork burial mounds.
A reconstruction of the Roman ramparts at Alesia, where Caesar forced Vercingetorix to surrender.
AFTER POMPEY’S RETURN TO ITALY
(see 90–71 BCE), he was elected consul for the year, despite still being below the legal minimum age. When war broke out with Mithridates of Pontus again, the Romans, under general Lucullus, forced Mithridates to retreat to Armenia, which was ruled by his son-in-law Tigranes. However, Lucullus’s troops mutinied in 68 BCE, and Pompey was sent to replace him. Tigranes surrendered and Mithridates retired north of the Black Sea. Having achieved his aim, Pompey entered Syria, where he deposed the last Seleucid king, and then captured Jerusalem. In China, the Han Dynasty retreated from modernizing policies under Zhaodi (r.87–74 BCE) and Xuandi (r.74–49 BCE). The Huo family, which had dominated the government for decades was removed from power, and its leading members executed. Government expenditure was cut, and aggressive expeditions Hopewell bird Clay pipes, often in the shape of birds, are one of the most characteristic products of the Hopewell culture.
3
THE NUMBER OF MILITARY TRIUMPHS AWARDED TO POMPEY in Central Asia were replaced by the establishment of small, permanent colonies. In Mexico, the city of Cuiculco in the south of the Valley of Mexico was destroyed by a volcano some time in the 1st century BCE. Its disappearance opened the way for Teotihuacán, to assert its control over the whole valley and become Mexico’s dominant power for more than 500 years. By the end of the 1st century BCE, the Adena peoples of Ohio, in eastern North America, were beginning to develop into the Hopewell culture. These people lived by hunting and gathering, but they also built large, elaborate burial mounds for their chieftains.
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area of southern Gaul. He took advantage of the migration of the Germanic Helvetii across Gaul towards Italy to cross over the Alps and defeat Ariovistus, the Helvetian king. Caesar returned to Rome, but his deputy, Labienus, stayed in Gaul and the following year he pressed on to conquer the Belgae of northwestern Gaul. By 55 BCE, Caesar had subdued most of Gaul and had acquired a vast new province for Rome, without ever receiving any approval from the Senate. In 56 BCE, an anti-Roman revolt broke out among the Veneti of northern Gaul, apparently supported by the Celtic tribes of Britain. Caesar responded by crossing over to Britain in 55 BCE with two legions. A storm
GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR BECAME CONSUL OF ROME for the first time
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in 59 BCE. Having served a term as governor of Spain, he was popular among the equestrians (wealthy non-senators), but resistance to him from the Senate (and the obstructiveness of his co-consul Bibulus) led him to join with Pompey and Crassus, and the three dominated Rome until 53 BCE as the “First Triumvirate”. In 58 BCE, Caesar was appointed governor of Narbonensis, the Romanoccupied
Caesar at the Louvre Wearing the laurel wreath of a victorious general, this statue is part of Caesar’s cult of personality.
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50–44 BCE
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…[CAESAR] DREAMT THAT HE WAS FLYING ABOVE THE CLOUDS, AND NOW THAT HE WAS CLASPING THE HAND OF JUPITER. Suetonius, recounting Julius Caesar’s dream the night before his murder in the Senate House in 44 BCE; from Lives of the Caesars
E U R OP E
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by the end of 51 BCE, but by this point the Triumvirate had ended: Pompey’s supporters had turned against Caesar, and Crassus had been killed in battle in 53 BCE. The Senate ordered Caesar to disband his army or be declared an enemy of the state. Instead, he crossed the Rubicon River into Italy with his troops in 49 BCE. This was illegal, constituting a declaration of war against the Senate. As Caesar marched towards Rome, town after town submitted to him. Fearing Caesar, Pompey left Rome and fled to Greece. Caesar turned first to Spain, where seven legions had declared for Pompey. In August
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THE DIE IS CAST. Julius Caesar to his troops on crossing the Rubicon in 49 BCE; from Plutarch’s Parallel Lives
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49 BCE, he forced the Pompeians there to surrender. In December, Caesar set off for Greece in pursuit of Pompey. A military engagement at Dyrrachium in July went against Caesar, but he fought back before Pompey’s support could grow, and won a resounding victory at Pharsalus. Pompey took refuge in Egypt, where he was murdered on the orders of Ptolemy XIII, who hoped (in vain) to ingratiate himself with Caesar. After a short time in Egypt, Caesar returned to Rome, where he raised money by confiscating property from the supporters of Pompey. In late 47 BCE, Caesar set sail for Africa, where he defeated a new Pompeian army at Thapsus (in modern Tunisia). Pompey’s sons Gnaeus and Sextus escaped to Spain to continue the resistance from there, and Caesar annexed the kingdom of King Juba of Mauretania, who had supported them. Caesar then proceeded to Spain, where in
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prevented the arrival of reinforcements, causing him to retreat, but he returned the next year with five legions (around 30,000 men). The Britons did not resist at first, but later, led by Cassivelaunus, chief of the Catuvellauni, they vigorously opposed the Romans all the way to the River Thames. When Cassivelaunus’s stronghold at Wheathampstead fell, he sued for peace, and Caesar returned to Rome with hostages and the promise of tribute. At the end of 54 BCE, shortly after Caesar’s second expedition to Britain, another revolt in Gaul, this time led by the Senones, wiped out much of the Roman force there. After putting down the revolt, Caesar’s attentions were diverted to Rome, where political violence had resulted in the murder of his former ally Clodius, and where Pompey had been elected sole consul in 52 BCE, rupturing the Triumvirate. Emboldened by the turmoil in Rome, the Carnutes revolted in Gaul. They were joined by the Averni, led by Vercingetorix, who won several skirmishes against Labienus. Vercingetorix also defeated Caesar himself at Gergovia, but was then trapped at Alesia in September 52 BCE. The Romans constructed an encircling rampart around the Gauls’ position and managed to beat off a Gaulish relief force. With no hope left, Vercingetorix surrendered and was taken back to Rome, where he was strangled in 46 BCE after appearing in Caesar’s triumphal parade.
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Roman Civil Wars Caesar won Italy easily, but he had to fight hard to overcome Pompey in his Greek stronghold, and then Pompey’s sons and remaining supporters in Africa and Spain.
March 45 BCE he defeated Gnaeus Pompey at Munda, effectively ending the civil war. Caesar was now all-powerful. He was made dictator in 48 BCE, and in 44 BCE he was given the office for life. Concerns over Caesar’s power – in particular, fears that he planned to make himself king – led a group of about 60 conspirators to form around senators Cassius and Marcus Brutus. They murdered Caesar on the Ides of March (15 March)
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just before a session of the Senate. If they had hoped to seize power, the conspirators were disappointed: Mark Antony, one of Caesar’s leading supporters, came to the fore in Rome, while Caesar’s great-nephew and adoptive son Octavian received widespread support in a bid to take up the mantle of his father. In India, Kalinga (modern Orissa), which had been a client kingdom of the Mauryas (see 200–171 BCE), rose to prominence under Kharavela in the mid-1st century BCE. Kharavela expanded Kalinga far to the north and east, conquering the Sunga capital of Pataliputra in Magadha. A strong patron of the Indian religion of Jainism, Kharavela established trading contacts as far afield as southeast Asia. Murder of Caesar Conspirators struck Caesar down with daggers. As he fell, Caesar saw Marcus Brutus, a former protégé, and cried out “you too, child?”.
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This 18th-century painting shows Mark Antony fleeing from the battle scene at Actium in 31 BCE. Many of his supporters defected to Octavian’s side as a result.
Augustus built a new Forum at Rome, with an imposing new temple to Mars.
saw rising tensions between Mark Antony and Octavian, whom many viewed as Caesar’s rightful heir. The two almost came to blows early in 43 BCE, when Octavian marched to raise the siege of Mutina (Modena, Italy), where Mark Antony was besieging Decimus Brutus, one of Caesar’s assassins. Mark Antony was forced to retreat to Gaul. When the Senate voted to transfer Octavian’s legions to Decimus Brutus, Octavian realized he was being sidelined and formed a three-way alliance with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus, the governor of Transalpine Gaul. This became the Second Triumvirate. The Triumvirate conducted a war against Cassius and Marcus Brutus, two more of Caesar’s assassins, who had seized much of the territory in the east. In 42 BCE, Mark Antony and Octavian defeated
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THE NUMBER OF YEARS THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE RULED ROME
them at Philippi, in northern Greece, after which Cassius committed suicide. Three weeks later, they destroyed the remnants of Marcus Brutus’s army. Mark Antony stayed in the east until 40 BCE, when he returned to Italy to try to undermine the growing power of Octavian. Their two armies refused to fight, and a de facto division of the Roman world was
agreed, with Mark Antony ruling the east and Octavian governing the west; Lepidus had to make do with Africa. The Triumvirate was renewed in 38 BCE for a further five years, but it was clear that conflict between Octavian and Mark Antony could not long be postponed. However, Mark Antony was occupied with a war against the Parthians, who allied with remnants of Cassius’s army and attacked Syria in 39 BCE. In 36 BCE, Mark Antony invaded Parthia itself – ostensibly to recover the legionary eagles captured by the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae (see 53 BCE) – and advanced to the capital Phraata, but he did not have
400 350 200 100 0
Octavian Anthony and Cleopatra
Battle of Actium Octavian’s fleet outnumbered that of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, with smaller more manoeuvrable ships, and fresher, better trained crews.
sufficient resources to besiege it. In 33 BCE, the Triumvirate expired and Octavian had the Senate declare Mark Antony a public enemy. The latter had lost popularity through his relationship with Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen, and Octavian quickly rallied public opinion to himself. A fleet was rapidly assembled, and this destroyed Mark Antony’s naval force at Actium, off western Greece, in September 31 BCE. Mark Antony’s land army then defected to Octavian, and Antony and Cleopatra fled to Greece, where Octavian caught up with them in the summer of 30 BCE. The Roman warlord and the Egyptian queen both committed suicide, and Egypt was annexed to the Roman empire. Octavian was now the unchallenged master of the whole Roman world.
Suicide of Cleopatra This 19th-century painting depicts the death of Cleopatra, who killed herself to avoid being captured by Octavian and taken to Rome.
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HAVING DEFEATED HIS ENEMIES,
500 NUMBER OF WARSHIPS
IN ROME, THE PERIOD AFTER THE ASSASSINATION of Julius Caesar
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Octavian did not take on the title of dictator, as Julius Caesar had. He instead ruled informally as the princeps – the first man of the state. Having acquired control of Antony’s legions, he now had an army of about 500,000 men. He disbanded more than half of these, retaining 28 legions (about 150,000 soldiers), settling the remainder in colonies in Italy and abroad. In 27 BCE, Octavian gave up all his powers, ostensibly restoring the Republic. The Senate responded by granting him personal control of Egypt, Gaul, Germany, Spain, and Syria. He was also given the title “Augustus” and, cementing his position further, he was consul each year from 27 to 23 BCE. Over time, the Senate voted Augustus further powers, including that of imperium maius in 23 BCE, which gave him supreme authority in the provinces he had not previously governed, and the permanent powers of a tribune of the plebs in 23 BCE. Although the Senate was, in theory, the supreme authority in Rome, in practice no-one could match Augustus’s power, and he is seen as the first Roman emperor. North Africa had been a centre of strong resistance to both Julius Caesar and Augustus, who settled many army veterans there. In 25 BCE, Augustus gave Mauretania (western North Africa) to Juba II of Numidia. Juba, whose wife was the daughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, proved a reliable Roman ally. Augustus still sent a legion to garrison North Africa, where it stayed for over 300 years.
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THOSE WHO SLEW MY FATHER I DROVE INTO EXILE… AND… DEFEATED THEM IN BATTLE. Augustus, from the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, the testament of Augustus, in Ankara, Turkey
La Maison Carré, in Nîmes, southern France, is one of the finest surviving Roman temples. It was built around 16 BCE by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
Emperor Augustus Augustus, seen here dressed as a priest, acquired the title of pontifex maximus (chief priest) on the death of Lepidus in 12 BCE.
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In western Asia, the ruler of Galilee, Herod I, was allowed to retain his position by Octavian, even though he had supported Mark Antony. He was even given extra territories, including parts of Syria and Gaza. Herod had been appointed by Mark Antony in 42 BCE, and by 37 BCE he had conquered the remains of the Hasmonean kingdom (see 146–131 BCE). Herod remained a reliable ally of Rome until his death in 4 BCE.
HE COULD JUSTLY BOAST THAT HE HAD FOUND IT BUILT OF BRICK AND LEFT IT IN MARBLE. Suetonius, on Augustus’s embellishment of the city of Rome; from Lives of the Caesars
AUGUSTUS’S MILITARY AND POLITICAL SUCCESSES had relied
largely on the abilities of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who rose from a minor family to become consul in 37, 28, and 27 BCE. After Agrippa had married Augustus’s daughter Julia, he received numerous promotions, including tribune of the plebs in 18 BCE. Augustus’s own appointed heir had died in 25 BCE, so he adopted Agrippa’s children, renaming them Gaius and Lucius Caesar. Agrippa seemed likely to succeed Augustus, but in 12 BCE he died unexpectedly, throwing open the question of succession. By threatening to invade Parthia in 20 BCE, Augustus had engineered the return of legionary standards captured by the Parthians at Carrhae (see 53 BCE). In 16 BCE, the Roman governor of Macedonia began pushing towards the River Danube, and from 12 BCE Tiberius, Augustus’s stepson, the son of his second wife Livia, moved north from Illyria to create the Roman province of Pannonia (modern Austria and Hungary). Tiberius’s brother Drusus pushed Roman control across the Rhine towards the Elbe between 12 and 9 BCE,
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when he died. Around this time, the Romans annexed the provinces of Raetia (in modern Switzerland) and Noricum (between the Alps and the Danube), moving the empire’s frontiers almost to a line along the Rhine and the Danube. Supporters of Tiberius, now the most high-profile general, tried to have him displace Lucius and Gaius Caesar as Augustus’s heir. Augustus himself did little to resolve the question of succession.
had reached the River Elbe. After his death, Augustus appointed Tiberius to replace him. Tiberius won a series of victories in 8 BCE, but then mysteriously resigned his offices and went into exile in Rhodes. This left Gaius and Lucius Caesar (both underage) as heirs apparent to the Roman Empire. In China, the reign of Yuandi (49–33 BCE) saw the economic retrenchment begun under Xuandi (see 70–61 BCE) continue. Some semi-independent kingdoms that the early Han had suppressed began to reappear. Yuandi and his successors Chengdi (r.33–7 BCE) and Aidi (r.7–1 BCE) also created numerous marquisates, many of which were granted to the sons of the new kings, weakening the state’s central control. Chengdi lacked a male heir, resulting in
ROMAN LITERATURE AT THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS The end of the Republic and the reign of Augustus saw a golden age in Latin literature. The orator Cicero and the historian Sallust marked the height of late Republican literature. After Augustus’s rise to power, the poets Virgil (right; 70–19 BCE), author of the Eclogues and the epic poem The Aeneid, and Horace (65–8 BCE), author of the Odes and Carmen Saeculare, both flourished under the patronage of Maecenas, a close confidant of Augustus.
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BY 9 BCE, DRUSUS HAD DEFEATED THE MAIN GERMAN TRIBES and
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Khazneh at Petra The Khazneh is one of Petra’s finest monuments. Carved out of a sheer cliff-face, it was probably a royal tomb – perhaps of Aretas IV (c.9 BCE–40 CE).
the succession of his half-nephew Aidi in 7 BCE. This caused dissent among nobles whose candidates for the throne had been overlooked. The Nabataean kingdom of northern Arabia grew rich on its control of the spice trade from southern Arabia, reaching its height in the mid-1st century BCE under Malichos I (c.59–c.30 BCE). It then faced a growing threat on its northern borders from Herod I. A disputed succession in 9/8 BCE between Aretas IV and his chief minister Syllaeus led the Romans to take an interest in the area. An expedition led by Gaius, grandson of Augustus, may even have briefly annexed Nabataea in 3–1 BCE, but the Romans pulled back, allowing Nabataea another century of independence.
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71
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BCE – 5 9 9 CE
THE CLASSICAL AGE
THE RISE OF THE
ROMAN EMPIRE
FROM CITY, TO REPUBLIC, TO DOMINANT EUROPEAN EMPIRE
AT L A N T I C OCEAN
Soon after its foundation in 753 BCE, the city of Rome began fighting its neighbours to gain new territory. Gradually the Romans became entangled in campaigns in the Italian Peninsula and beyond. By the 1st century CE, the Roman Empire had become the largest Europe had ever seen. their military successes to bolster their position in Rome. It was in this period that Pompey ompey annexed Syria and Julius Caesar conquered much of Gaul, between 58 and 51 BCE. The he collapse of the Roman R Republic and the accession of the first emperor, Augustus, in 27 BCE did not end the empire’s expansion. The he quest for security along the existing frontiers resulted in the frontiers being pushed even further forward. Rome's ome's final large-scale acquisitions were made in the reigns of Claudius, who oversaw the invasion of Britain in 43 CE, and Trajan, rajan, who conquered new provinces in Dacia (modern Romania) omania) and Mesopotamia between 106 and 117 CE.
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TO THE ROMANS I SET SE NO BOUNDARIES IN BOUNDA N TIME ME OR SPACE.
MI 4.5 LL ION
Virgil, Roman poet (70–19 BCE), the god Jupiter, prophesying the future greatness of Rome, from the Aeneid
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7:1
Roman population Around 1 CE, the Roman Empire contained just under one seventh of the world’s population – 45 million out of 300 million people.
KEY
45
Roman territory
A
RR
T
The early growth of Roman territories was slow, with wars against neighbours often threatening the survival of Rome itself. By 290 BCE the Romans dominated central Italy, taly, and began expanding into the Italian Peninsula. R Rivalry with Carthage led to the three P Punic unic Wars between 264 and 146 BC BCE E, but victories brought the acquisition of territory in Sicily, Sardinia, ardinia, Spain, and then North orth Africa itself. In the early 2nd century BC BCE E the R Romans omans fought campaigns in the Balkans, leading to the annexation of most of Greece in 146 BCE. T The pace of acquisition quickened in the later years of the Republic, epublic, as generals competed for political power and used
Olisipo
AC
ON
LU S I TAN I A Emerita Augusta
Toletum
B AE TI CA Tingis
MAU R E TAN I A TI N G I TAN A
100 CE By around 100 CE, the Mediterranean had become a Roman “lake”, and the acquisition of territories in northwest and Central Europe had brought the northern Roman frontier as far as the Rhine and the Danube.
MILLION
5,000,000 km²
An empire of non-citizens In 1 CE, only a tenth of the Roman population were full citizens. The rest were slaves or had limited civic rights.
117 CE
2,750,000 km² 25 BCE
72
Expanding empire Between the accession of Augustus and the death of Trajan, the Roman Empire almost doubled in size, acquiring vast new territories in northwestern Europe and western Asia.
A GROWING EMPIRE It took the Romans nearly 500 years to complete the conquest of Italy, but only half that time to enlarge their territories to include Spain, Gaul, parts of Germany, most of the Balkans, much of North Africa, and large parts of western Asia. Over the following 100 years they acquired Morocco, Britain, and Dacia, and made small advances into western Asia, but the empire began to contract after 250 CE.
240 BCE The Romans dominated most of the Italian Peninsula. Victory in the First Punic War (264–241 BCE) brought new territory in Sicily, but the Romans still faced resistance to their rule in northern Italy.
ia
a
Se
Eburacum
Ba
Camulodunum
G
Colonia e r m Agrippina
Virunun
ALPS COTTIAE
IS
SI
S
Ravenna ALPS MARITIMAE
Massilia
M
A
ITALIA
Aleria
Apulum
T
x Ro
ola
Carales
Messana
ni
Bla
Viminacium MODESIA SUPERIOR
Philippopolis
IA
THRACIA Thessalonica
BIT H
Ephesus
Delphi
Corinth Me di Sicilia te ACHAIA Carthage r r Syracuse Sparta an Thugga ea Creta n S ea
YN
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Leptis Magna
Athens
GALATIA
h
C
IL
D PA AP
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Antioch
SYRIA
Cyprus
Damascus
JUDEA
Jerusalem
Cyrene
Alexandria Memphis
Samosata Zeugma
A
Tyrus
CYRENE ET CRETA
a
Ancyra
Miletus LYCIA
Ptolemais
A
PONTUS
Bostra
AB
A
S
Trapezus
C
Sabratha
R
ck Sea
Byzantium
ASIA
EPIRUS
Utica
M AU RE TANI A CA E S ARI E NSI S
BOSPORAN KINGDOM
DACIA Durostorum
MACED ON IA
Sardinia
Valentia Carthago Nova
MOSIA INFERIOR
PANNONIA INFERIOR
Sirmium
Rome
Corsica s eare Bal
L
A
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Aquineum
N PAS U
D
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Aquileia Mediolanum
ALPS GRAIAE ET POENINAE
Quadi
Vindobona Carnuntum Brigetio M
A
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AQUI TANI A
AE
Marcomanni
ET
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A
LG
GERMANIA SUPERIOR
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Lugdunum
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GERMANIA INFERIOR
LUGDUNEN
a
Burgun
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Londinium
KILOMETRES THE APPROXIMATE LENGTH OF THE ROMAN FRONTIERS AT THEIR MAXIMUM EXTENT
Petra
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BRITANNIA
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10,000
tic
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AEGYPTUS
200 BCE The Roman defeat of Carthage in the Second Punic War brought new possessions in Spain and Sardinia. By 200 BCE, a toehold had also been gained in northwestern Greece.
S
d
r
Re
a
a
120 BCE Most of Spain had fallen into Roman possession, as well as Carthaginian territory in North Africa. Greece and parts of western Anatolia were also acquired.
60 BCE New North African territories were gained in 96 BCE, and in 63 BCE Syria and parts of Palestine were annexed. The frontiers in Anatolia were also pushed forward.
ea
14 CE The Roman borders had expanded to include Gaul beyond the Alps, as well as new provinces in Raetia and Noricum (Switzerland, south Germany, and Austria), and Pannonia (Hungary).
73
1–23
24–40
,,
,,
QUINCTILIUS VARUS, GIVE ME BACK MY LEGIONS. Emperor Augustus, on hearing of the Roman defeat in the Teutoberg Forest, 9 CE
WANG MANG WAS IN CHARGE OF BOTH THE CHINESE ARMY and the
government under Emperor Ping Di (r.1 BCE–6 CE). He strengthened his influence by marrying his daughter to the young emperor. On Ping Di’s death, many of the
28
THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF COIN ISSUED BY WANG MANG nobility rejected Wang Mang’s choice of successor and rose up in revolt. Wang Mang easily put them down, and in 9 he took the title of first Xin emperor. He reissued the currency, forbade the selling of private slaves, reorganized the commanderies
(China’s administrative regions), and reimposed several state monopolies. Serious floods on the Yellow River in 4–11 led to famine and revolts in rural areas. In 23, the peasant rebels called the “Red Eyebrows” joined forces with Han loyalists and overwhelmed Wang Mang’s armies. When the capital Chang’an fell, Gengshi became the first emperor of the restored Han dynasty. One of his first acts was to make Luoyang his capital. In Europe, Tiberius (see 20–2 BCE) returned to Germany in 4 to subdue the tribes there. The Marcomanni resisted, but a planned attack on them in 6 was postponed because of a revolt in Pannonia, which took three years to quell. A new Roman commander, Quinctilius Varus, was sent to Germany, but his corrupt rule angered the German tribes. In 9, Varus was ambushed in the Teutoberg Forest, and his three legions were annihilated. Augustus then ordered a withdrawal to the Rhine, where the Roman frontier remained for the next 400 years.
Consolidating ruler Rather than extending Roman territory through foreign conquests, Tiberius concentrated on strengthening the existing empire.
When Emperor Augustus (see 20–2 BCE) died in 14, Tiberius was his obvious heir (Lucius and Gaius Caesar having died). Tiberius already possessed most of Augustus’s powers and had the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard – the elite army unit based in Rome, which Augustus had established. Although there were moves in the senate to restore the Republic, Tiberius rapidly squashed them. His reign (to 37) was quiet at home. Germanicus, Tiberius’s nephew, campaigned extensively in Germany up to 16, but his efforts led to no permanent reacquisition of territory beyond the Rhine and he died of poisoning in 19. After Drusus, Tiberius’s son, died in 23, the emperor tired of public life and retired to the island of Capri, off Naples. Sejanus, head of the Praetorian
GENGSHI’S REIGN AS CHINESE EMPEROR WAS SHORT. He
Guard, took day-to-day power, but his rule was tyrannical and in 31 Tiberius suddenly reasserted himself and had Sejanus executed. Ponte di Tiberio, Rimini, Italy Completed in the reign of Tiberius, this bridge carried the Via Aemilia (which ran from Riminia to Piacenza) across the River Marecchia.
alienated the Red Eyebrows and angered many of China’s nobility and bureaucrats by moving the capital from Luoyang back to Chang’an. Much of China had already slipped from Gengshi’s grasp by 25, when Chang’an was sacked by the Red Eyebrows. The emperor was deposed and replaced by Guang Wudi (25–57), who is regarded as the first Eastern Han emperor. The new ruler had first to face a civil war; by 27, he had defeated the Red Eyebrows, but it took him until 36 to overcome the last of the warlords who opposed him. In 37, he abolished all except three of the kingdoms that had sprung up MONGOLIA
Sea of Japan
Gobi Pingchang Chang’an Mawangdui
Luoyang Gaixia
KOREA
JAPAN
East China Sea Taiwan
Guanzhou South China Sea
KEY Qin China in 206BCE Territory added by Former Han Dynasty 206BCE–9CE Great Wall under the Han
Chinese Han Empire When Guang Wudi began the Eastern Han Dynasty in 25, Chinese control extended deep into Central Asia. Much of this territory had been won under the Western Han Dynasty.
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41–50
This ornamental brick from China’s Eastern Han period shows a procession that includes horse-drawn carriages. IN INDIA, GROUPS OF YUEZHI NOMADS occupying land in Bactria
JESUS CHRIST (c.4 BCE–33 CE) Jesus, a carpenter from Nazareth, began his ministry in his early 30s . He taught in the Jewish tradition, calling for the reform of the Temple and for the love of one’s neighbour to take precedence over the strict observance of religious law. Jesus gathered a group of twelve disciples around him, but was targeted by Jewish conservatives afraid of his growing influence. In 33, the Roman authorities in Judaea executed Jesus by crucifixion, but the disciples, convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead, continued his teaching. under his predecessors, and reinstated Luoyang as the capital. He faced renewed tension with the Hsiung-nu on China’s northern frontier, but failed to take advantage of their split into two rival chiefdoms in 49. The Roman Empire once again faced an unclear succession at the death of Tiberius in 37. He had named two heirs, but Gemellus was soon pushed aside because Gaius, nicknamed Caligula (“little boots”), was popular with the senate and the army. Caligula’s behaviour as emperor became increasingly erratic – he had Gemellus executed, and had many of Tiberius’s supporters killed. He also had his sister’s husband – his heir apparent – condemned to death. After visiting the Rhineland
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legions in 39, Caligula marched them to the coast opposite Britain to launch an invasion; when they got there, he merely had them collect seashells along the beach. Independent Jewish kingdoms in Palestine collapsed as Roman power grew, creating a powerful ferment of religious change. John the Baptist preached in the 20s, followed in around 30 by a new preacher, Jesus. After Jesus’s death in 33, his disciples began to spread his message more widely. By around 50, communities of Christians, as Jesus’s followers were known, would be established throughout Western Asia, with particularly large groups in Antioch and the first appearance of Christians in Rome.
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s se po h de trarc ts a l e u T poin a p lig s Ca as a d ap grip ce 9 p n A la 3 nti e a rod is p A e l h i od Gal He in r He of
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united under Kujula Kadphises (30–80), who founded the Kushan Empire and conquered parts of Gandhara. Although few details of Kujula’s reign are known, he minted coins in imitation of both Greek and Roman models, demonstrating that Bactria and northwestern India remained very much a cultural crossroads. In northwestern Europe, a group of disgruntled officers of Rome’s Praetorian Guard assassinated Caligula in January 41, tired of his cruel and irrational behaviour (see 24–40). In 43, the new emperor, Claudius (r.41–54), sent an invasion force of four legions led by Aulus Plautius, governor of Pannonia, to conquer Britain. The Romans landed unopposed at Richborough, pushed on to London, and then captured
Christian catacomb, Rome At first, Roman Christians did not have their own cemeteries. Later, they buried their dead in underground complexes called catacombs.
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Colchester, the capital of the principal British resistance leader, Caractacus. Claudius himself made a brief appearance at the fall of Colchester, before returning to Rome to bask in the glory of having acquired a new province. In 47, the Romans paused briefly in their conquest of Britain, having reached a line roughly between the River Humber in the east and the River Severn in the west. They began establishing legionary fortresses in their new province, including at Exeter and Lincoln. Aulus Plautius’s replacement, Ostorius Scapula invaded Wales, where Caractacus was continuing the resistance. In 50, he defeated an army of Silurian and Ordovician tribesmen, and Caractacus fled to the imagined safety of the Brigantes tribe in northern England. However, the Brigantian queen, Cartimandua, handed Caractacus over to the Romans, and Roman Britain remained relatively trouble free during the following decade. The 40s saw a struggle in the early Christian community between those who wanted to remain within the Jewish tradition and those, led by Paul, who favoured the inclusion of gentiles (non-Jews) in the Christian church. Paul began a series of missionary journeys in 46 which led him through Anatolia and Greece to Rome, where he was martyred around 62. A charismatic preacher, Paul also wrote a powerful series of epistles (letters) to various fledgling Christian groups. In appealing to a wider group than
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EMPEROR CLAUDIUS (10 BCE–54 CE) Caligula’s uncle, Claudius, was an unlikely candidate for Roman emperor. However, he turned out to be intelligent and forceful, putting down two revolts in 42, after which he executed more than 300 senators. He was unfortunate in his choice of wives: he had his wife Messalina executed after she had an affair, and her successor Agrippina (Caligula’s sister) is reputed to have poisoned him. the Jews within the Roman empire, Paul ensured that Christianity spread sufficiently to help it weather the storms of persecution that began under the Emperor Nero in 64. By the late 4th century, Christianity would be the majority religion within the Roman Empire .
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75
51–61
70
62–72 THOUSAND
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED BY BOUDICCA’S ARMY DURING THE ICENI REVOLT The ruins at Masada, the last outpost of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, which began in 66.
WHEN CLAUDIUS DIED IN 54,
the Roman imperial throne fell to Nero (37–68), his adopted son and son-in-law. The young emperor’s reign began well when he promised the senate he would avoid making any arbitrary measures. However, the first sign of Nero’s tyranny surfaced in 59, when he had his mother Agrippina (15–59) murdered. In 62, a new praetorian prefect (commander of the imperial bodyguard), Tigellinus (c.10–69), took office. Tigellinus pandered to the less desirable side of Nero’s personality, whose rule became increasingly despotic. Following a fire that destroyed much of Rome in 64, Nero is said to have taken terrible retribution on Rome’s small Christian population, who proved convenient scapegoats. Later, during the reconstruction of Rome, Nero alienated senators by seizing their land to build himself a new palace. He also ordered additional taxes in Palestine, which sparked a Jewish revolt in 66. In Britain, the Romans faced a serious Iceni revolt in 60. When the king of the Iceni died, he left his lands to his queen, Boudicca. The revolt was triggered when
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the Roman procurator (chief financial official) ruled that Boudicca could not inherit her lands, and that they would be annexed by Rome. Boudicca raised an army and marched on Camulodunum (Colchester). Suetonius Paullinus, the governor of
s gin ty be ni ul istia a P hr int C Sa ing 52 read ce e sp Gre in
Boudicca This statue of Boudicca stands outside the Houses of Parliament in London, a city that the Iceni queen razed to the ground.
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IN THE EAST, Rome faced further troubles with Parthia over the border region of Armenia, where the Parthian king had installed his own candidate, Tiridates, as king in 53. A Roman force invaded Armenia in 59, took its capital cities of Artaxata and Tigranocerta and put in place a pro-Roman king, Tigranes VI. His ill-advised invasion of a Parthian ally in 61 led to his removal, and Tiridates was restored. A new Roman army was then roundly beaten by the Parthians in 62, and only a Roman push into Armenia the following year ended the war. Tiridates was allowed to keep the throne, as long as he travelled to Rome to seek Nero’s approval, which he eventually did in 66. Nero’s position as emperor became increasingly precarious when Calpurnius Piso led a conspiracy in 64, which prompted Nero to order further executions, including those of many senators. In early 68, a revolt broke out, led by Gaius Julius Vindex, governor of Gallia Lugdunensis. Shortly after the revolt of Vindex, the legion based in Spain proclaimed the governor, Sulpicius Galba, as emperor. Vindex’s revolt was put down by Verginius Rufus, the governor of Germany, but Nero panicked and committed suicide, believing Rufus would be the next to try to claim his throne.
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Britain, was away on campaign in Wales, and by the time he returned, Camulodunum had been sacked by the Iceni. The rebels then burnt Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans) before they were finally trapped and defeated by Paullinus. It is said the Iceni lost 80,000 warriors and Boudicca herself was captured, though she died, possibly poisoned, soon after.
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After Nero’s suicide, four men became emperor in rapid succession, making 69 the “Year of the Four Emperors”. First, the praetorian guard recognized Galba (3 BCE–69 CE) as emperor, but he made himself unpopular by refusing to give the praetorians the donative, a customary bonus payable on the accession of a new emperor. In January 69, the governor of Upper Germany, Aulus Vitellius, revolted, and one of Galba’s former supporters, Salvius Otho (32–69), angered when Galba recognized another senator as his heir, had the emperor murdered and took the throne. In April 69, the armies of Otho and Vitellius clashed at Bedriacum near Cremona in northern Italy, and the Vitellian army won. Otho committed suicide, but Vitellius soon faced a further conspiracy when T. Flavius Vespasianus
960 COMMITED SUICIDE
7 Survivors
Roman invasion When the Romans finally breached the walls of Masada, all except seven defenders committed suicide rather than fall into Roman hands.
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A fresco from Pompei – many of Pompei’s elaborate frescoes survived for nearly 2,000 years buried under the ash. BY THE MID-70S, CIVILIS’S REVOLT
anea
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Ptolemais
Caesarea
Area of major revolt 66
Bethlehem Gaza
Jewish victory
Jericho Jerusalem 70 CE Machaerus
Masada 74 CE
Jewish laws caused great discontent. In 60, the rebuilding of the Temple that Herod had ordered built decades before was finished, and 20,000 unemployed workmen added to the rising tension. The Roman procurator of Judaea aggravated these feelings with his heavy-handed rule, and in 66 an uprising broke out. Although the commanders of the uprising were competent, it lacked political leadership and the Jewish strongholds were gradually reduced, first by Vespasian and then by his son Titus (39–81). In 70, Jerusalem came under siege, and in late August the city fell and the Temple was destroyed. Perhaps as many as 200,000 people died, many sacred Jewish treasures were taken to Rome, and thousands of Jews were enslaved. Resistance continued at Masada until 74, when it fell after a two-year siege.
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had fizzled out and the rest of Vespasian’s reign was largely peaceful. With a reputation for frugality, he restored the empire’s finances, imposing levies on a number of provinces, including Egypt. By the time he died in 79, stability had been restored to such an extent that the succession of his eldest son, Titus (r.79–81), was unopposed. Two months after the accession of Titus as Roman emperor, on 25 August 79 the city of Pompeii, near modern Naples, was
destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Showers of ash came raining down from Vesuvius, and those who did not escape in time were overwhelmed by the pyroclastic flow (a fast-moving mass of hot gases, ash, and debris) from the volcano. Perhaps a tenth of the population of 20,000 died, including the naturalist Pliny the Elder, who was commanding a naval unit nearby and perished in a failed rescue attempt. In Britain, the Romancontrolled area continued to expand, with governor Petillius Cerialis (71–74) occupying the northern English kingdom of Brigantia. Julius Frontinus (74–77) completed the subjugation of Wales, defeating the Silures, but it was left to Julius Agricola (77–83/4) to send Roman armies
C ale d
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far into Scotland, until a final defeat of the Caledonii at Mons Graupius (possibly near Aberdeen) made it likely the whole of Scotland would be annexed. But emperor Domitian (81–96) was facing trouble on the Danube and a legion was withdrawn from Britain around 86, leaving an insufficient force to garrison northern Scotland, which was evacuated. Domitian had managed to fend off the threat from the Sarmatians, Marcomanni, and Quadi along the Danube by 84, but war then erupted with the Dacians (of modern Romania) who crossed the Danube and killed the governor of Roman Moesia. By 86, Domitian had defeated the Dacians, under their new king, Decebalus. Dacia was not occupied by Rome, leaving Decebalus in place to cause the Romans further trouble.
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(Vespasian) (9–79) – the general in charge of suppressing the Jewish revolt – set himself up as yet another rival emperor. The whole of the East and the Balkans defected immediately to Vespasian. At a second battle near Cremona in October, Vitellius’s forces were crushed. By December Vespasian’s army had taken Rome and Vitellius was executed shortly afterwards. Rome had an unchallenged ruler once again. Vespasian moved quickly to re-establish the loyalty of the army, dismissing Vitellius’s praetorian guard and recruiting another. He also had to face a serious revolt along the Rhine, where Julius Civilis, a noble of the Batavian people, joined forces with dissident legionaries and almost established an independent Gallic empire. Judaea had been under direct Roman rule since the death of King Agrippa I in 44. Foreign rule and Roman insensitivity towards
Beth Horton
Dead S ea
Med
Emmaus
Area of revolt in 69
LIS
iterr
SAMARIA
J U DA E A
KEY
Siege
Sea of Galilee
GALILEE Nazareth
DECA PO
Jewish revolts between 66 and 74 Although the Jewish rebels of 66 initially managed to gain control of a large part of Palestine, by 69 they had lost control of all but the area around Jerusalem.
KEY Atrebates, absorbed 70s Iceni, conquered 60–61 Brigantes, conquered 69–74
Stanwick ntes
a
Brig
Eboracum
Irish Sea
Roman expansion 43–47 Roman expansion 47–50 Roman expansion 69–74
Roman expansion 79–84 ni rita Deva Co Lindum C or n ovii Virconium Ca Iceni tu ve lla Dob un s unn es te i r i an lu Burrium Glevum Si ov Romans in Britain Camulodunum rin T Isca Verulamium By 74, Roman legions Londinium Calleva had reached the north Cantiaci Durotriges Dumnonii of England. They then Noviomagus Isca Dumnoniorum pushed north into Hengistbury Maiden Castle Anglesey
Or do vic es
Figure from Pompeii The bodies of those who died in the Pompeii eruption were coated in volcanic ash, which then solidified, leaving their outlines behind.
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Scotland until 83.
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91–100
101–117
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[AN EMPEROR] UNDER WHOM EVERYBODY WAS PERMITTED TO DO EVERYTHING.
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Fronto, Roman orator, on Emperor Nerva, from Cassius Dio’s History of Rome
Trajan’s Column, in Rome, gives a visual account of Trajan’s campaigns against Decebalus in the Dacian Wars. EMPEROR TRAJAN (98–117) WAS FROM A ROMAN FAMILY who had
DOMITIAN (51–96) BECAME ROMAN EMPEROR after the unexpected
death of his brother, Titus (39–81). Domitian had never commanded armies and was unprepared for the exercise of supreme power. He had some success in his early campaigns, but he over-extended himself against the Dacians, and in putting down a legionary revolt led by Saturninus, the governor of Germania Superior. This distraction allowed Decebalus, King of the Dacians (r.87–106), to renew his war against Rome, and Domitian was forced to pay off the Dacians with an annual subsidy. The conspiracy of Saturninus led Domitian to become paranoid and he had many senators executed for treason. In September 96, he was murdered in a palace conspiracy and the Senate chose the aged M. Cocceius Nerva (30–98) to replace him. The Senate then voted to destroy all statues of Domitian and to recall those he had exiled. However, in 97 Nerva faced a mutiny of the praetorian guard, who demanded the punishment of Domitian’s murderers. Nerva was forced to give in, weakening his authority. His position was further diminished by his lack of an heir. To rectify this he adopted M. Ulpius Traianus (Trajan), the governor of Upper Germany, a man with a strong military backing. Nerva died soon afterwards and Trajan became emperor.
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78
In Central Asia, the northern Hsiung-nu confederation (see 146–131 BCE) collapsed in 89, allowing the Han to make large gains in the region, led by general Ban Chao (32–102). Ban Chao became protector-general of the Western Regions in 92, and re-established control over the key oases along the Silk Route. By the time he retired in 102 the Han controlled most of the Tarim Basin. Chinese state organization became very complicated under the Han. Three supreme officials supervised large, complex departments. Each of these was subdivided into nine ministries. Governors oversaw each region, with regions divided into over 1,000 counties, each supervised by a magistrate. Eunuchs became increasingly influential at the Han court.
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Emperor Domitian Domitian’s reign began well, but his descent into tyranny proved too much for his opponents, who had him assassinated.
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settled in Spain – he was the first emperor to come from a Roman province rather than Italy. Having returned to Rome from Germany in 100 to claim his throne, he started a new Dacian War against Decebalus in 101. From a base at Viminacium (in modern Serbia), he pushed into central Dacia, and fought a major engagement at Tapae, in which both sides suffered serious losses. When Trajan’s legions neared the Dacian royal capital at Sarmizegetusa Regia, Decebalus sued for peace, agreeing to give up his army’s weapons and siege equipment, and to demolish his remaining forts. The Roman army did not withdraw totally, establishing a legionary base near the Sacred city This ruined temple is in the Dacian capital, Sarmizegetusa Regia (in modern-day Romania). It contained the kingdom’s most sacred shrines.
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mountains and building a bridge across the Danube at Drobeta to allow easier access across the river. Three years later, in 105, the Senate declared that Decebalus had violated the treaty, and Trajan embarked on his Second Dacian War. This time the legions reached, and took, Sarmizegetusa in 106. Decebalus fled and then committed suicide to avoid capture. The Romans acquired an enormous amount of treasure in Dacia, which allowed Trajan to embark on a building spree, including the construction of a new Forum in Rome. Dacia was annexed as Rome’s first province across the Danube. It remained in imperial hands for over 160 years. Some time around 106 the Roman governor of Syria annexed the Nabataean kingdom, which became the Roman province of Arabia. It was not Trajan’s last acquisition in the east – in 113 he set off on a campaign against Parthia. He began by attacking Armenia in 113–114, but it was his
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331,000 kg SILVER
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The Dacian Fortune The large amount of treasure Trajan acquired in Dacia allowed him to build impressive monuments to commemorate his Dacian victory.
campaign against Parthia itself that gave him greater success in the east than any previous Roman emperor. By late 114 the Armenians had submitted to him, and he pushed into Mesopotamia, capturing the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon. By the end of 115, Trajan had reached the Persian
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118–135
The remains of Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. The central portion of the wall occupies a high position that vastly enhances its defensive value.
Gulf near modern Basra, Iraq, where he is said to have remarked that, had he been younger, he might have pressed on to India. The newly conquered territories were organized as the provinces of Mesopotamia and Assyria, but they were already in revolt when Trajan returned home in 117. The Parthians rejected Trajan’s puppet king Parthamaspates, and by the time Trajan died in August 117 almost all of his gains in the east had been lost. On his death-bed Trajan adopted Publius Aelius Hadrianus (Hadrian), the governor of Syria, effectively appointing Hadrian as his successor. In 109, Trajan appointed the historian Pliny the Younger (61–c.112) as his personal representative to govern BithyniaPontus on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia. This was a controversial move, as Bithynia-Pontus was theoretically a senatorial province. The provinces of the empire had been divided between the emperor and the senate at the accession of Augustus in 27 BCE, with the emperor receiving only the provinces that held legionary garrisons. This division of the provinces persisted into the time of Trajan. Pliny stayed in BithyniaPontus for at least two years, trying to sort out the finances of the main cities, which had fallen into confusion. His letters to Trajan are an invaluable insight into the imperial government of the time.
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TRAJAN’S SUCCESSOR HADRIAN
(r.117–135) rejected his predecessor’s policy of expansion and concentrated on better defence of the imperial frontiers. In 122, Hadrian visited Britain, where there had been frontier troubles. He ordered the building of a huge barrier from the Solway Firth in the west to the River Tyne in the east. It took governor Aulus Platorius Nepos two years to complete Hadrian’s Wall (part in stone, and part in turf), which ran 76 Roman miles (113 kilometres), and was equipped with a series of forts and milecastles for its garrison. Hadrian’s Wall acted as the northern frontier line of Roman Britain for the next 40 years. The Parthian kingdom was left in some confusion by the campaigns of Trajan. His puppet king, Parthamaspates, was expelled in 117, but the Parthian kingdom then seems to have been divided between Vologeses
THE NUMBER OF VILLAGES RAZED DURING THE BAR-KOCHBA REVOLT III (r.105–147) who ruled the eastern portion, and Osroes (r.117–129) then Mithridates IV (r.129–140) in the west. There was no further conflict between Parthia and Rome for the time being. In India, the Kushan empire expanded enormously under Kanishka (127–140), who conquered Magadha and campaigned against the Chinese in Central Asia; his inscriptions
HADRIAN (76–138) Hadrian came from a Spanish background and was the adopted son of his predecessor, Trajan. He was mocked by some for his grecophile tendencies, and was the first emperor to sport a beard – a Greek fashion. Hadrian was the first emperor to travel widely throughout the Roman empire, giving him first-hand knowledge of the provinces, from Britain to North Africa.
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are found from the Oxus river in Afghanistan to as far south as Varanasi and Sanchi. He was a strong patron of Buddhism and presided over the fourth Buddhist Council, as well as building a great stupa at his capital Purushapura (Peshawar). Hadrian’s ban on circumcision, his plan to turn Jerusalem into the Roman town of Aelia Capitolina, and his intent to ban Jewish religious practices in Jerusalem caused a furious revolt in Jerusalem in 132, as religious Jews rose up against religious reforms. Led by Shimon Bar Kochba, the rebels had early successes against Rome. They set up the beginnings of an independent government and minted their own coins. In response, Hadrian summoned Julius Severus, the governor of Britain, to conduct a war against the rebels. Severus commanded an army formed of detachments from 12 legions. The rebels had no large towns under their control, and so adopted guerrilla warfare while still attempting to defend the smaller forts they held. In 135, the rebel’s last main stronghold at Bethar was captured amid great
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slaughter, after which the revolt petered out. Hadrian proceeded with his plan to outlaw Judaism in Palestine, and many of the Jews who had survived the rebellion fled abroad.
Treasured goblet This beautiful vase was found in Kapisa (Bagram) near Kabul, which was the Kushan summer capital in the 1st century.
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136–160
THOUSAND THE TOTAL POPULATION OF TEOTIHUACÁN AT ITS PEAK
THE CITY OF TEOTIHUACÁN IN THE VALLEY OF MEXICO
experienced massive growth during the 1st and 2nd centuries, with its population reaching over 80,000 before 200. The city was planned on a grid, with two huge pyramids – of the Moon and the Sun – at either end of the main street. The Teotihuacán II phase of the city (0–350) saw the building of the enormous Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the acquisition of an empire, with Teotihuacán dominating vast areas of Mexico and overseeing client kingdoms as far south as Guatemala. Hadrian had adopted Antoninus Pius (86–161) as his son and successor, a stop-gap until Antoninus’s relative, Marcus Aurelius (121–80), was old enough to rule, but Antoninus survived Hadrian by 23 years, and became Roman emperor in 138. He was
63
KILOMETRES THE LENGTH OF THE ANTONINE WALL IN SCOTLAND
turquoise mosaic pieces
Mexican mask This sumptuous mask from Teotihuacán bears the smooth, flat features that are characteristic of work from the city.
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The Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán in modern Mexico.
The ruins of Hatra, which was a Parthian-controlled city.
famed for his moderation and rarely left Rome. Disturbances in Dacia (in present-day Romania) around 140 and an uprising in North Africa in 145 did not unduly disturb the empire’s calm. Antoninus extended the frontier in both Scotland and Upper Germany, ordering the construction of a new turf barrier around 160km (100 miles) to the north of Hadrian’s Wall (see 188–135 BCE) in Britain. This Antonine Wall was 63km (35 miles) in length. The Hadrian’s Wall garrison was moved north to a new set of forts, but their stay was short – Marcus Aurelius, Antoninus Pius’s successor, ordered a pull-back to Hadrian’s Wall around 161, where the Roman frontier of Britain remained until the 5th century. As Christianity grew, so did the problem of defining a single doctrine. Among the alternative doctrines that sprang up in the 2nd century was Marcionism, which taught that the God of Christians was distinct from the Jewish God of the Old Testament and that Jesus Christ did not have a human nature. Justin Martyr (c.103–165) argued that Christianity was the fulfilment of Jewish prophecy and that Christians were the new chosen people. Justin also wrote to Marcus Aurelius, seeking to explain Christian doctrine.
MARCUS AURELIUS SUCCEEDED TO THE ROMAN THRONE jointly
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with Lucius Verus in 161. Marcus was the more capable of the two, but it was Lucius who was sent, in 162, to rescue the situation in the east after the governor of Cappadocia was defeated and killed by the Persians following a disastrous invasion of Armenia. By 163–164 Lucius had brought Armenia back under Roman control, and renamed its capital Kaine Polis (“New City”). A new pro-Roman king was installed there before the legions moved on, pushing deeper into Persian
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IF IT IS NOT RIGHT, DO NOT DO IT: IF IT IS NOT TRUE, DO NOT SAY IT.
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Emperor Marcus Aurelius, from Meditations, 161–180
territory, taking Edessa in Mesopotamia, and reaching the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon in 165. The Roman general Avidius Cassius (c.130–175) burnt the Parthian palace and then turned back westward. A swathe of Parthian territory down the Euphrates River was annexed as far east as Dura Europos (in southeastern Syria). However, victory celebrations were short-lived, for the troops brought the plague back to Rome and by 167 it had spread
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171–180
A painted stucco of the Moche’s most important god, Al Apaec, who is often depicted with the fangs of a snake.
widely throughout the Mediterranean. Barely had the Parthian War ended than the Marcomannic War began. In early 167, a group of Germanic warriors from the Langobardi and Obii tribes crossed the Danube to attack the Roman province of Pannonia. They were pushed back fairly easily, but in spring 168 Marcus Aurelius resolved to visit the region to assess the situation. Two more Germanic tribes, the Marcomanni and Quadi were threatening to force their way across the frontier unless they were admitted to settle in the empire, but Marcus’s presence deterred them. However, the expedition was cut short by the death of Lucius Verus from plague in early 169. Marcus returned to Italy, but was back in Pannonia later in the year to launch a massive offensive across the Danube. It was a disaster, with the Romans suffering around 20,000 dead and the Marcomanni and Quadi pouring into Italy, where they laid siege to Aquileia. Far from providing an easy victory for Marcus, the war dragged on for another 10 years. In China, the eunuch faction at court had become increasingly powerful and had even engineered the murder of the emperor Shaodi in 125. Under Emperor Huandi (146–68) a series of natural disasters weakened the authority
THE MOCHE CULTURE EMERGED ON THE COAST OF NORTHERN PERU between 100 and 200. From
Marcus Aurelius This statue shows Marcus Aurelius adopting a pose of victory, something he claimed but never quite achieved in his Marcomannic Wars.
of the central government, and the emperor relinquished active control of government to the eunuchs. In 168, an attempt by Dou Miao, regent for the 12-yearold emperor Lingdi (r.168–89), to have the eunuchs massacred failed – the plot was betrayed and Dou Miao was forced to commit suicide. Several hundred of Dou Miao’s supporters were executed and, with its enemies now dead, the eunuch faction was able to exercise power almost unopposed.
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their bases in the Peruvian valleys of Moche, Chicama, and Virú, these people spread to dominate almost the whole northern coastline. A warlike people, they sacrificed those whom they captured to their deities, including Al Apaec (“the decapitator”). They were skilled workers in gold and their pottery has an extraordinarily realistic quality. The Roman Empire was in crisis in 170 – the Marcomanni and Quadi had occupied parts of northern Italy, and an invasion by the Iazyges and Costobocci had overun large parts of the Balkans. The Romans trapped the Marcomanni as they returned across the Danube and killed many of them. The Quadi sued for peace later in 171, but the Marcommani remained recalcitrant, forcing a new offensive in 172. The forces of Marcus Aurelius could never quite strike the killer blow, and by 175 the war had reached a stalemate. In May that year, rumours that Marcus
THE GERMANIC TRIBES The Romans had faced Germanic tribes ever since they had reached the Rhine at the time of Julius Caesar. German groups across the Danube, such as the Quadi and Marcomanni, proved troublesome in the 2nd century, but by the late 3rd century new and more dangerous confederations of Germanic tribes arose, such as the Franks, Alamanns, and Goths, who overran much of the Roman Empire by the mid-5th century. Aurelius had died while on campaign prompted a revolt by Avidius Cassius, the governor of Syria. Avidius was declared emperor in Egypt, and received support in Arabia, as well as in his own province of Syria. Critically, however, he failed to secure the support of Martius Verus, the
Moche stirrup jar This jar has a typical Moche “stirrup” attached to the back of it. The realism of the paddling figure is characteristic of the culture’s ceramics.
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governor of Cappadocia, whom he had fought alongside during the Parthian War. As Martius’s army approached, the loyalty of the usurper’s troops wavered, and in July Avidius Cassius was murdered by a disaffected centurion, putting an end to his short-lived but dangerous rebellion. There were suggestions that Marcus’s wife Faustina encouraged Avidius, as she feared for her husband’s health and worried her own son Commodus was unfit to rule. Free from the distraction of Avidius’s revolt, Marcus Aurelius returned to the Danube in 177. In the winter of 179–80, the Roman army occupied positions deep across the Danube, and it looked as if Marcus might be able to create two new Roman provinces – Marcomannia and Samartia. However, Marcus was old and tired – he died in March 180. His son Commodus brought the war to a rapid conclusion, allowing him to return to Rome.
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BCE – 5 9 9 CE
THE CLASSICAL AGE
Gold dolphin earrings
decorative female head
Earrings adorned with animal-head motifs were especially popular in the eastern Roman empire. This pair bears a symbol of the sea god Neptune.
Plumb line
This bronze weighted plumb line was attached to a groma, an instrument used by the Romans to survey straight lines.
Precious necklace
This necklace, made up of gold and red garnets, seems to form the shape of a spectacular fruit tree.
garnet shaped like a fruit or berry
Bone pin
This flat, thin blade or pin is topped by a female head, an ornamental touch for an otherwise humdrum household item.
gold in the form of a leaf
bronze weight
ANCIENT ROME
cart carrying worshippers
THE ROMANS SPREAD A RICH MATERIAL CULTURE THROUGHOUT THEIR VAST EMPIRE
As Roman political control steadily expanded outside Italy, in its wake came the Roman way of life. Roman surveyors laid out new cities, local elites took up Roman practices, and the masses attended gladiatorial spectacles. On a domestic level, Roman fashions in clothing and accessories also spread.
Bronze dividers and foot-rule Dividers allowed engineers to copy scale plans or models at twice or half their size – the gap between the lower points is always twice that between the upper points. The rule, which was one Roman foot long (29.6cm/11.7in), folded for easy carrying.
Although many of the territories that the Romans conquered initially resisted, the populations of central pivot these provinces, particularly the former ruling classes, gradually adopted many Roman customs. Influential men became Roman citizens, towns were given new public buildings such as baths and courthouses, Roman legionary garrisons were established in strategic places, and new trade routes brought luxury goods from Rome. As a result, similar Roman artefacts have been found across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, dating from around the 1st century BCE to the 5th century CE.
metal crest to deflect blows
head of Oceanus
lower point
cursive letter forms
Ocean baths
The most important Roman baths were adorned with lavish mosaics, such as this one of Oceanus, the ocean god, from Sabratha in Libya.
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Wooden tablet
This type of tablet, made from very thin wood, was used by the Roman military for everyday letters and recordkeeping. This one was found at Vindolanda in England.
foot-rule
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ANCIENT ROME Procession bowl
This lekane, a type of shallow dish, is decorated with a scene of half-man, half-goat satyrs in a procession in honour of Bacchus, the god of wine. modernlooking grater flask containing oil
Ancient grater
Cheese played an important part in the Roman diet. Graters such as this one were invented to allow cheese to be used as a topping on other foodstuffs.
strigil for scraping
Amphora
The Romans transported liquid goods such as oil and wine in amphoras, a type of large, double-handled storage jar.
Bathing tools
At the baths, a Roman’s skin was oiled and then scraped to remove sweat and dirt. A ring was used to transport the tools.
Short sword
The Roman military sword, or gladius, had a short blade – ideal for attacks at close range. It was used by soldiers and some gladiators.
short blade ivory grip
satyr carrying cymbals
Military javelin
Each Roman legionary carried two of these pila (javelins). The javelin’s iron head was designed to bend on impact to prevent an opponent from removing it from shields or wounds.
long iron shank
handle shaped for throwing
Imperial coins
Coins bearing the head of the current emperor (here Augustus and Claudius) acted as powerful propaganda tools across the empire, showing even the masses an image of their ruler.
Latin text
Proof of citizenship
Non-citizens who served 25 years in the Roman army were awarded citizenship and given bronze diplomas such as this one to record the grant.
extended neck-plate
Sling pellets
gridded visor to protect face
Roman legionaries normally relied on their swords, but auxiliary light infantry used other weapons to devastating effect, such as these metal sling pellets. small size would have offered little protection
Gladiator helmet
Roman gladiators bore a variety of arms and armour. This sort of helmet was worn by a Thracian, a type of gladiator whose equipment was modelled on that of ancient Thracian warriors.
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Bronze gladiator shield
Thracian gladiators – a class of lightly armed gladiator – carried lightweight, round shields such as this one for defence, and a scimitar, with a short, curved blade, to attack their opponents.
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181–192
193–211
In this engraving by Giovanni Stradano, Emperor Commodus shoots an arrow to subdue a leopard. Fighting in the arena as a gladiator was his great passion.
The Severan arch in Leptis Magna (in modern Libya) commemorates a visit by the North African emperor to his home town.
caused by the corruption of the eunuchs at the court of Han Emperor Lindi (r.168–89) and a succession of natural disasters led to the outbreak in 184 of a major insurrection, named the Yellow Turban revolt for the colour of its supporters’ headgear. Up to 400,000 rebels swept westward towards the capital. Another uprising fuelled by the Five Pecks of Rice sect then succeeded in taking over Sichuan in the southwest. Although the Yellow Turbans had been largely crushed by early 185, the control of the Han emperor was ever weakening. After Lingdi died in 189, he was replaced by his younger half-brother Xiandi (r.189–220) but he never exercised real power. Instead, control of the empire fell to Han general Cao Cao, who contended for 30 years with a series of rival warlords, notably Liu Bei in the southwest and Sun Quan in the south.
18
THE AGE AT WHICH COMMODUS BECAME SOLE EMPEROR
Commodus (r.180–92), Marcus Aurelius’s son, was the first Roman emperor to succeed his father for 90 years but he proved to be a disastrous choice. In 182, after an assassination attempt on him, apparently organized by his sister Lucilla, Commodus became increasingly despotic. Many senators who were implicated in the plot were executed and control of the government fell into the hands of Tigidius Perennis, the praetorian prefect (the commander of the imperial bodyguard). There were minor wars in Britain and in Dacia (much of modern Romania), but in 185 Perennis was suspected of a plot to make his own son emperor and was executed by his troops. Commodus increasingly devoted himself to fighting in the arena as a gladiator, while the imperial chamberlain Cleander dominated government and sold public offices to the highest bidder. The man in charge of the grain supply, Papirius Dionysius, engineered a shortage that led to Cleander’s downfall. This did not result in a more stable government as his replacement only lasted a short time before being murdered. Commodus increasingly identified himself with Hercules (the Greek hero) and renamed Rome after himself – colonia Commodiana. At the end of 192, the praetorian prefect Laetus was convinced that Commodus was planning to have him killed and on New Year’s Day 193 took the initiative and had the emperor poisoned and, when that did not work, strangled.
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IN CHINA, INCREASING DISSENT
BE HARMONIOUS WITH EACH OTHER, ENRICH THE SOLDIERS, IGNORE ALL OTHERS…
,,
Septimius Severus, dying words as quoted in Book 77 of Roman historian Dio Cassius’s Roman History, 211
IN 193, AFTER THE MURDER OF COMMODUS, Helvius Pertinax
(126–93), the prefect of the city, was declared emperor but he was murdered after three months. This was followed by rival claimants to the throne engaging in an auction outside the praetorian camp to decide who would be emperor. Didius Julianus (133–93) won, but Money offered to each soldier by Didius Julianus
25,000 SESTERCES
20,000 SESTERCES
Money offered to each soldier by Flavius Sulpicianus
Buying loyalty The larger bribes offered to the troops by Didius Julianus meant that he won the auction to be emperor.
his reign was short, as almost immediately the frontier armies rebelled: that on the Danube proclaimed Septimius Severus (c.145–211) emperor, while the Syrian legions raised their commander Pescennius Niger (c.135–94) to the imperial throne. Severus reached Rome first and, after granting the title of Caesar (junior emperor) to Clodius Albinus, governor of Britain, he turned east where, in spring 194, his armies defeated Niger at the Battle of Issus in Syria. Severus stayed in the east and in 195 attacked the Parthian Empire. But he was forced to return west to deal with Albinus who had revolted, and who was killed near Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France) in 197. Severus then returned to Parthia, this time occupying the capital Ctesiphon in 197. He pushed the line of Roman control towards the Tigris and created the new province of Mesopotamia. Trouble in Britain brought the ageing emperor to the province in 208. A large-scale Roman advance forced the Caledonians and Maetae north of the provincial frontier to come to terms in 209,
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JULIA DOMNA (170–217) The daughter of a Syrian high priest, Julia Domna married Septimius Severus in 187. A prophecy had predicted that she would wed an emperor and so it turned out. Forceful and intelligent, she failed to mediate between her sons Caracalla and Geta after their father’s death and to prevent Geta’s murder. When Caracalla was killed she deliberately starved herself to death in protest, a move that rallied support for the remaining Severan family. but they soon broke the peace and a new campaign was launched in 210. Severus was by now very ill, and his son Caracalla took over. In February 211 Severus died in Eboracum (modern York, England) and handed succession jointly to sons Caracalla and Geta. After the Scottish war both rushed back to Rome, but their joint rule was short-lived: Caracalla had Geta murdered in December 211.
to l n ise e of ika cá 0 R enc of T ua 0 n 2 y s i . t tih ty in c om ci o ign d e i pr yan pa tlan 0 T est c as a m 0 o c c a 2 M S c. larg eri 0 C in 21 s is e Am 8 – veru 0 th 2 Se of
it s; nd die s Ba cts us son a. 08 ndu r in r 2 e s l 6 – co ro ly ev hi cal a 20 elix f ter n Ita 1 S by ra et F o er 21 ded d Ca rs G wer a n l h e l o t ig n de e Bu re sou cc a a ur e p su Get a m sol ll me 06/05/11 5:05 PM a c ra ssu Ca to a
212–230
A carving of the Buddha from Sarnath in North India, where a school of Buddhist art flourished under the Kushans.
to shrink after the death of King Kanishka in 140, and particularly severe territorial losses were suffered under Huvishka (r.160–90). Kushan rule finally collapsed under Vasudeva (r.190–225) when Persian invaders swept through northwestern India. Although Kushan kings continued to rule a much-reduced realm for a further century, their influence was purely local and their heyday was at an end. In Rome, Caracalla’s government was unpopular. Among his measures was the Antonine Constitution of 212, by
which citizenship was granted to almost all free males in the empire. After a successful campaign on the Rhine (in 213), Caracalla ventured further afield, arriving in Egypt in 215. For some unknown reason, he became enraged and ordered the massacre of the citizens of Alexandria. The next year he launched an invasion of Parthia. His praetorian prefect Opellius Macrinus came to suspect that Caracalla wanted him dead, so he persuaded a disaffected soldier to murder the emperor. After Caracalla’s murder, the army declared Macrinus emperor. There was much residual loyalty
2,000
Arch of Caracalla Originally the arch was topped by a figure of the emperor riding in a chariot. It stands in Volubilis, the main town of Roman Mauretania Tingitana (in modern Morocco).
THE NUMBER OF BATHERS THAT COULD USE THE BATHS OF CARACALLA
divided into two when Vologeses VI’s brother set himself up as a rival king, Artabanus V; and a further Roman invasion in 216 ravaged much of the province of Media. Taking advantage of this disorder, the ruler of the southwestern province of Pars, Ardashir, expanded his territory and finally defeated Artabanus V c.224. Ardashir I was then declared king (r.224–42) as the first ruler of the Sasanian dynasty. Although Black Sea
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Persia was temporarily weakened by a civil war, the Sasanians proved to be much tougher adversaries to the Romans than the Parthians ever had been. In China in 220, Cao Cao’s son Cao Pi forced Xiandi to abdicate. Within two years Cao Pi, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan would each declare himself emperor. The Han dynasty and China’s unity were at an end. Ca
towards the Severan family, and a revolt broke out in Syria, which aimed to put Elagabalus (203–22), grandson of Julia Domna’s sister Julia Maesa, on the throne. Macrinus lost support and in June 218 he fled to Cappadocia where he was killed. In 221, Elagabalus adopted as his heir his cousin Alexanius. When the two fell out in 222, the army backed Alexianus and Elagabalus was murdered. Alexianus became Emperor Alexander Severus aged 13. In Persia, Parthian rule had been weakened, both by plague and by the effects of successive Roman invasions. In 207, the kingdom had been
Merv
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IN INDIA, THE AREA CONTROLLED BY THE KUSHAN DYNASTY began
Kabul
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Bronze diploma Diplomas were issued to auxiliary soldiers in the Roman army, granting them citizenship.This practice ceased after the Antonine Constitution.
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The Sasanian Empire in Persia After rapidly acquiring the former Parthian Empire, the Sasanians fought a series of wars with the Romans over control of Mesopotamia.
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THE NUMBER OF ROMAN EMPERORS THAT RULED BETWEEN 235 AND 284 Roman emperor Gordian III succeeded his father and grandfather.
IN CHINA, THE FINAL COLLAPSE OF THE HAN DYNASTY IN 220 was
followed by 350 years of instability. The Three Kingdoms period (220–80) saw China divided into the Wei kingdom of the north; (initially under Wei Wendi (r.220–26); the Shu Han kingdom in the west whose first ruler was Shu Han Xuande (r.221–23); and the southern Wu kingdom under Wu Wudi (r.222–52). Wei Wendi was a capable ruler, but his successors struggled to contain attacks by northern tribesmen. In 235, the Roman emperor Alexander Severus and his mother Julia Mamaea were murdered by mutinous troops, putting an end to the Severan dynasty. The uprising’s ringleader, Maximinus Thrax (r.235–38), an officer from a humble background, was proclaimed emperor, but he spent most of his reign raising funds to reward his troops for their support. This time marks the start of a period of “military anarchy” in which Rome had dozens of emperors, most of them short-lived rulers who were raised up by the frontier armies and just as quickly deposed and killed. A rebellion in 238 in North
Africa proclaimed the province’s elderly governor as Emperor Gordian I, but he was quickly and brutally put down. The Senate declared Maximinus deposed and proposed Pupienus and Balbinus as candidates. Popular sentiment favoured Gordian I’s grandson
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86
Yellow Sea
Jiankang
Chengdu SH U H AN
WU Taiwan
South China Sea
KEY Wei, 220–225
Wu, 222–280
Shu Han, 221–263
China under the Three Kingdoms Although the Wei kingdom faced the greatest challenges among the three kingdoms, it would eventually conquer the Wu and the Shu Han.
Gordian III (r.238–44), so all three briefly shared the throne. Balbinus and Pupienus were killed soon after, leaving Gordian III to rule alone. His six-year reign briefly restored some semblance of stability to the empire, but he was killed while leading an invasion of Persia in 243–44. Compounding the Roman Empire’s difficulties was the appearance of barbarian confederacies among the Germanic peoples of the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Principal among these were the Alemanni. In 213, Caracalla campaigned against them; by 260 they were able to invade Italy itself.
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Art from the Three Kingdoms High artistic achievements, such as this fine statue, were a feature of the late Han dynasty. Its collapse in 220 did not result in an equivalent decline in China’s artistic output.
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PERSIA ATTAINED A POSITION OF RENEWED STRENGTH under
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A mural of St Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage at the height of the Decian persecution. He was martyred in 257 during a campaign under Valerian.
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Shapur I (r.241–72). In 244, he won a decisive battle against Gordian III at Misiche near Ctesiphon. Shortly after, Gordian III was killed and replaced by his army commander Philip (or Philip “the Arab”). Philip made peace with Shapur but had to pay a large ransom to escape Sasanian territory. His successors broke the terms of the agreement, so in 256 Shapur I invaded Syria and captured the towns of Dura Europos and Antioch. Valerian, who by then was emperor (r.253–60), soon retook Antioch. But, in 260, he fell into a trap and was imprisoned by Shapur. The Romans were left Relief of Shapur I In this relief, Shapur I triumphs over the Roman emperors Gordian III and Valerian. After Valerian’s capture, Shapur is said to have used him as a footstool for mounting his horse.
in disarray and Shapur’s armies advanced as far as Iconium (modern Konya, Turkey). The western part of the Roman Empire also faced increasing pressure. The Romans suffered invasions of Dacia (much of modern Romania) by the Carpi people from c.214. The Carpi, together with a new group, the Goths, took part in a raid across the Danube in 239–40. In 248, Emperor Philip withdrew an annual tribute he had been paying the Carpi and the Goths, prompting them to pour into Moesia (modern Bulgaria). Philip sent Quintus Decius to deal with the invasion; he was so successful that his troops declared him emperor. Early in 249, Decius marched to Rome and defeated and killed Philip. Hearing of the Roman civil war, the Goths invaded again, causing Decius to return to the Balkans in 250. Under their warleader Cniva, the
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261–275
The main colonnade at Palmyra, which grew rich on tariffs paid by merchants who plied the desert route that passed through the Syrian city.
Germany. Postumus declared himself emperor, but unlike previous usurpers did not march on Rome, instead setting up a separate Gallic Empire; this initially controlled Britain, Spain, parts of western Germany, and Gaul. He established a form of government that mirrored that of the official empire, complete with its own Senate. In 269, Postumus was murdered by his own troops and replaced by his praetorian prefect Victorinus. Gallienus – faced with Gothic invasions and the revolt of Zenobia of Palmyra in the east – was never strong enough to put an end to the Gallic Empire. In 268 he was murdered by the army and replaced by Claudius II Gothicus (r.268–70), who was too busy fighting in the
SHAPUR I (d.272) Shapur’s early leadership experience came in a role assisting his father, Ardashir, in mopping up support for the Parthian Arsacid dynasty. Shapur’s defeats of Gordian III in 244 and of Valerian in 260 established a temporary Persian dominance in Syria and Mesopotamia. He used the many Roman prisoners captured in 256 at Antioch to build the new town of Veh Antiok Shapur (“Shapur’s town, better than Antioch”).
BRITANNIA
KEY Gallic Empire under Postumus, 260–68
F
Gallic Empire under Tetricus, 270–74
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Sepulchral relief from Palmyra The Palmyrenes buried their dead with exquisite and realistic personal portrayals; the dead were interred in tower tombs outside the city.
In China, Yuandi (r.260–64) restored Wei’s fortunes by conquering the Shu Han. But soon after he was overthrown by one of his own generals, Sima Yuan, who founded the Western Jin dynasty and took the title Wudi (r.265–89). His armies crushed and annexed the Wu kingdom in 280, thus briefly reuniting China.
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The Gallic Empire Postumus began the Gallic Empire in control of Gaul, Germany, Britain, and Spain. By its collapse in 274, the last ruler, Tetricus, had lost Spain.
ra
Goths ravaged the province of Moesia, laying siege to the main town of Nicopolis (modern Nikopol, Bulgaria). The campaign went badly for the Romans, ending in defeat and Decius’s death at the Battle of Abrittus in 251. In Japan, the Yamato kingdom emerged on the plain of Nara (in central Japan) around 250. Its rulers were interred in large burial mounds, and its armies conquered most of central Japan. Much of what is known comes from Chinese sources, who name the Queen of Yamato in 238 as Himiko.
disastrous for the western part of the Roman Empire as well as the east. Valerian’s son Gallienus (r.260–68), struggling to contain an invasion of Italy by the Germanic Iuthungi had no resources to reinforce the Rhine frontier, which was being breached by Alemmanic and Frankish raiders. The Governor of Germania Inferior, Marcus Postumus, revolted and killed Gallienus’s son Saloninus, who had been left in charge of Gaul and
Balkans to deal with Gaul. Only under Aurelian (r.270–74) was the Roman Empire strong enough, and by then the Gallic Empire was weakened, with its last ruler, Tetricus (r.270–74), facing splits in the army. In 274, Tetricus was captured near Châlons, and the Gallic Empire was reabsorbed. In the east, a serious challenge to Roman rule emerged after 260. The city of Palmyra (in Syria) proved Rome’s only reliable ally against the Sasanian advances of Persia. Its ruler Septimius Odaenathus (c.220–67) received a number of Roman titles, including Corrector Totius Orientis (“Marshal of the entire East”), and invaded the Sasanian Empire in 262 and 266. Odaenathus died in 267; and his wife Zenobia (r.267–73) created an empire of her own. By 269, her armies had taken Syria and Egypt, and in 271 she declared her son Vaballathus emperor. Aurelian marched east and soon rolled back the Palmyrene gains, besieging Palmyra in spring 272. Zenobia was captured while trying to escape, and Palmyra was sacked in 273 when it tried to throw off Roman rule again.
,,
VALERIAN’S CAPTURE BY THE PERSIANS in 260 proved
YOU DEMAND MY SURRENDER AS THOUGH YOU WERE NOT AWARE THAT CLEOPATRA PREFERRED TO DIE A QUEEN RATHER THAN REMAIN ALIVE.
,,
a Syracuse
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Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, to Aurelian Augustus from Historia Augusta c.375–400
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89
87
276–283
284–300
,,
PROBUS WAS ALMOST A SECOND HANNIBAL BECAUSE OF HIS KNOWLEDGE OF WARFARE…
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Aurelius Victor, Roman historian and official, in De Caesaribus, c.360
The Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán (near modern Mexico City) was built some time after 200 at one end of the city’s Avenue of the Dead; the Pyramid of the Sun sits at the other end. IN CHINA, THE FIRST EMPEROR OF THE WESTERN JIN DYNASTY, Wudi
(r.265–89), was a strong ruler who secured trade routes to the West and built a bridge over the Yellow River to improve communications. However, the wars of the Three Kingdoms period (see 231–244) had impoverished the state and as the tax burden rose, many peasants fled to landowners for protection, resulting in the rise of private armies. In the Roman Empire, Emperor Aurelian – who was murdered in 275 – was followed by two
short-lived emperors – Tacitus and Florianus – before Probus took power in 276. Within two years, Probus had defeated the Goths on the Danube and pushed back the Franks from the Rhine. A planned campaign against Persia was frustrated in 281 by the revolt of two usurpers in the West: Bonosus and Proculus. Despite his military successes, in 282 Probus was murdered by his own troops, who were resentful at being forced to work on civil engineering projects near Sirmium (in modern Serbia).
Jin sitting bear sculpture The first half of the Jin dynasty under Wudi gave China a period of comparative peace and stability, which allowed the arts to flourish.
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IN 284, THE ROMAN ARMY IN ASIA MINOR PROCLAIMED DIOCLES, the
former commander of the imperial bodyguard, Emperor Diocletian (r.284–305). In 285, he defeated Carinus (the then emperor of the Western Empire) and started a radical reorganization of the empire, reforming the army, and subdividing provinces. The challenges on the frontier were too great to be faced alone; in 285, he appointed Maximian (250–310) to rule alongside him, first as Caesar (junior emperor) then as Augustus (senior emperor). Other problems with Britain’s break from the empire under Carausius in 286, convinced Diocletian that more changes were necessary. In 293, he and Maximian appointed two Caesars: Constantius Chlorus (r.293–306) to assist Diocletian in the Western Empire and Galerius (r.293–311) to be Maximian’s junior in the East. This tetrarchy (four emperor system) enjoyed early successes in Britain (296) and in Egypt (298). In 294, Diocletian reformed the coinage, reissuing new bronze and silver coins, and in 301 he issued an Edict on Maximum Prices to try to curb rising inflation. Unlike his other measures, this one failed.
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Persian frieze The Paikuli frieze celebrates the victories of Narseh in Armenia and justifies his deposition of predecessor Vahram III.
After the death of Shapur I in 272 Persia faced a period of political instability. In 293, Narseh (r.293–302) ascended to the Persian throne. He resolved to recover land in Armenia and Mesopotamia that had been lost
SQUARE KILOMETRES
THE AREA OF TEOTIHUACAN CITY AT ITS PEAK
to the Romans. He launched a major invasion in 296, defeating the Caesar Galerius in 297. The next year, however, Galerius smashed Narseh’s army in Armenia and captured the Persian ruler’s family. Galerius marched as far as Ctesiphon, which he captured in 298. Narseh was forced to make peace (Treaty of Nisibis). Persia remained at peace with the Romans for 40 years. In the Valley of Mexico, the city of Teotihuacán reached the peak of its power around 300. Its main street – the Avenue of the Dead – ran between the Pyramid of the Moon and the Ciudadela (which may have been the palace of the ruler) and was lined with the residences of the lords of the city.
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301–319
This early 16th-century fresco of the Battle of Milvian Bridge is in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. Before the battle, the emperor Constantine is said to have seen a Christian monogram in a dream predicting his victory. SINCE PERSECUTIONS IN THE 250S AND 260S, THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY had experienced
some 40 years of tranquillity in the Roman Empire. All this changed in 303 when Diocletian issued an edict ordering the destruction of churches and the handing over and burning of Christian books. A sterner edict followed, calling for the arrest of Christian clergy, and one in 304 ordered that all Christians offer a sacrifice to the pagan gods. Devout Christians could not accede to these demands, and many of them were martyred. In 304, Diocletian fell seriously ill, and in 305 he announced that he and Maximian would abdicate. Constantius Chlorus and Galerius would take over as Augusti, while the new Caesars were to be Maximinus (Galerius’s nephew) and Flavius Severus
Palace of Diocletian Diocletian built the great palace at Split, Croatia, for his retirement after his abdication in 305. Here, he tended his cabbages.
75,000 MAXENTIUS
50,000 CONSTANTINE
Battle numbers at Milvian Bridge Maxentius’s forces outnumbered those of Constantine, but his army became trapped between Constantine’s men and the river.
(Galerius’s army colleague). The new tetrarchy soon unravelled. Constantius died in Eboracum (modern York, England) in July 306 and the troops there proclaimed his son Constantine the new Augustus. By October, Maxentius (r.306–12), the son of Maximian, was crowned emperor in Rome. Severus was killed trying to retake Rome from Maxentius, and Maximian restored himself to the position of Augustus. In 308, the Conference of Carnuntum was called to settle the disputes, presided over by Diocletian, who came out of retirement. Constantine accepted a demotion to Caesar in the West, with Licinius as Augustus (r.308–24), while Maximin Daia became Galerius’s Caesar in the East (r.310–13). This new arrangement was no more succesful than the old one.
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In 311, Galerius died and Maximin became Augustus in the East. He ordered renewed measures against Christians. Constantine, meanwhile, invaded Italy and in October 312 defeated and killed Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Before the battle, Constantine is said to have dreamt of the Chi-Rho symbol and ordered his troops to mark it on their shields. Licinius and Constantine met at Mediolanum (modern Milan) in 313, where they agreed to share power and issued the Edict of Milan, which granted toleration to all forms of worship, in effect legalizing Christianity. Licinius then turned East and defeated Maximin Daia, securing control
Chi-Rho symbol The monogram of Chi-Rho, the first two letters of Christ’s name in Greek, became an important early symbol of Christianity.
EUROPE
Colonia Agrippina
Londinium
Caspian Sea
Augusta Treverorum
Black Sea
Aguontum Poetovio Amisus Augustodunum Sinope Sirmium Aquileia Neocaesarea Lugdunum Chalcedon Amasia Mediolanum Caesarea Vienna Constantinople Ravenna Salonae Nicomedia Burdigala Valentia Cappadociae Florentia Nyssa Philippi Nemausus Pisa Edessa Nicaea Stobi Biterrae Anazarbus Massilia Troas Rome Cyzicus Thessalonica Tarsus Antioch Dura-Europos Hierapolis Sardes Neapolis Barcino Ephesus Nicopolis Palmyra Seleucia Myra Athens Miletus Tripolis Salamis Cos Rhegium Corinth Carales Damascus Paphos Messina Rhodes Berytus Tyre Hippo Carthago Corduba Sidon Syracusa Regius Nova Jerusalem Carthage Hispalis a Bethlehem Mediterranean Se Tipasa Melita Illiberris Petra Sicca Veneria Tingis Alexandria Cyrene Ptolemais
AT L A N T I C OC E A N
Leptis Magna
AFRICA
Coptus
Early spread of Christianity Christianity spread in the 2nd and 3rd centuries until there were strong Christian communities in Anatolia, southern Gaul, Italy, Egypt, and the province of Africa (Tunisia).
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over the Eastern provinces. The alliance between Constantine and Licinius broke down in 316; they patched up a peace in 317, and for six years the Roman Empire relapsed into an uneasy calm. In China, Wudi’s successor Huidi (r.290–306) was mentally disabled and so a succession of regents contended for imperial control. Huidi’s brother Huaidi (r.307–12) invited the northern Xiongnu tribesmen to help him against the competing Chinese factions, but they took him prisoner. The last Western Jin emperor Mindi (r.313–16) saw the Xiongnu sack the capital of Chang’an (modern Xi’an); the Jin moved south, where Yuandi (r.317–23) became the first Eastern Jin emperor in 317.
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KEY Areas strongly Christian by 325
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331–355
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IN OTHER MEN... TASTE FOR SLAUGHTER SOMETIMES LOSES ITS FORCE... IN CONSTANTIUS IT BECAME MORE VIOLENT.
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Ammianus Marcellinus (d.c.330) writing on the character of the Emperor Constantius II in The Later Roman Empire
It was largely Eastern Church leaders who gathered at the Council of Nicaea (depicted here) in 325; only eight Western bishops made the journey there. CHANDRAGUPTA I ASCENDED TO THE THRONE of a small kingdom
in the western Ganges Plain in 320. Through an advantageous marriage to Princess Kumaradevi of the powerful Liccachevi dynasty and by conquest, he expanded his realm to include most of the central Ganges, from Magadha (in southern Bihar) to Prayaga (in Uttar Pradesh). His descendants, the Guptas, ruled northern India for almost 150 years.
Having taken up the cause of Christianity in 313, the Roman Emperor Constantine (r.280–337) found that Christians themselves were far from united in doctrine or organization. Constantine called a church council at Nicaea in western Asia Minor in 325 to establish (and impose) orthodoxy in the face of a division over Arianism (the theology of Arius, who held that Jesus Christ was subordinate to God the Father). As well as Constantine, about 300 church leaders attended, and Arius’s views were condemned.
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THE NUMBER OF DISTRICTS IN CONSTANTINOPLE
The Column of Constantine The sole surviving monument from the forum that Constantine built for his new city is this column, which sits in central Istanbul today.
After defeating Licinius (r.308–24) in 324, Constantine founded a new capital for the Eastern Roman Empire at the ancient city of Byzantium, strategically sited between Europe and Asia. He demolished pagan temples and built new churches, such as Hagia Sophia, providing public buildings to rival those of Rome. The city of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) was publicly dedicated on 2 April 330. It was the seat of the Eastern Emperors for over 1,000 years.
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THE NUMBER OF TYPES OF PURE-GOLD COINS ISSUED BY SAMUDRAGUPTA IN 335, SAMUDRAGUPTA (r.335–75) SUCCEEDED HIS FATHER
Chandragupta I as ruler of the Gupta domains in northern India. An inscription he set up in Prayaga survives, recounting a series of campaigns he fought in Uttar Pradesh and Mathura, both of which were annexed to the Gupta kingdom. He also made conquests down the east coast of India, as far as Madras, and subdued West Bengal as well as parts of Rajasthan and the Punjab. Various other regions acknowledged his suzerainty, making him the most powerful Indian ruler since the Mauryas. Constantine died in 337, having accepted Christian baptism only on his deathbed. He had made no definite provision for succession, leaving his sons to divide the empire between them: Constantine II (r.337–40) held Spain, Gaul, and Britain; Constans (r.337–50) ruled Italy, and Constantius II (r.337–61)
governed the Eastern Empire. Their reigns began with a massacre at Constantinople in which almost all of their father’s other male relatives were killed in order to remove any possible rivals. Constantine II, who was the eldest, tried to assert his seniority, but died during an invasion of Italy in 340. Constans then took control of the entire Western Empire, where he was faced with a series of hard-fought campaigns against Frankish invaders in Gaul, and problems in Britain, which led him to visit the far-flung province (the last undisputed Roman Emperor to do so) in 343. Disputes between the two surviving brothers, particularly one over the status of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria (whom Constantius II had exiled, but Constans wanted restored), soured all relations between them. In 350, a senior military officer, Magnentius, revolted at
Gold Gupta coin Many Gupta coins contain images of horses, a possible reference to the ritual horse sacrifice performed by some Gupta rulers.
s, at siu m ts cil ana for ch ale r n , s u tar u h co s At dria Ch Jeru II s st f h r n c n o e, pu in ur mn xa ns tio lchr ha aga Ch nde Ale ria ra 7 S war ns 36 co h of to A ec epu 3 3 a s e 3 c e r m w on ly S Ty triar itud ne e Ro 5 C Ho h pa att t 33 the his of
Augustodunum in southern Gaul (modern Autun, France) and Constans was killed. Distracted by a war against Persia, Constantius II tolerated the upstart initially, but in 351 he moved against him. Since Constantius II had no heir, he promoted his cousin Gallus – one of the few survivors of the massacre of 337 – to the rank of Caesar in 351 and left him in charge in the East, while he campaigned against Magnentius in the West. Magnentius’s army was defeated at Mursa (in present-day Croatia); Italy and North Africa were rapidly recovered, and in 353 Magnentius committed suicide in Gaul. For the next seven years Constantius II ruled the empire alone, mainly preoccupied with Frankish incursions into Gaul, the revolt of the usurper Silvanus in 355, and a series of church councils that sought to resolve doctrinal disputes (Constantius II favoured Arianism over the traditional orthodoxy). In the end, Gallus proved too ambitious and in 354 he was deposed and executed. Constantius II turned instead to Gallus’s brother Julian, a studious youth with a penchant for pagan philosophy. In 355, after Silvanus’s revolt, Julian was despatched to Gaul as Caesar, where he proved surprisingly effective at combating Frankish raiders.
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The acropolis at Tikal, one of the greatest surviving series of ruins in the Mayan world.
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Northern Maya
NO R TH ER N M AYA
Yucatan Peninsula C ENTR A L M AYA
Central Maya Palenque
Southern Maya
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Tikal
Mayan site
Peten
Trade route
Maya kingdoms Classic Maya culture originated in lowland cities, such as Uaxactun and Tikal, but spread to the highlands and the Yucatán peninsula.
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some time in 200–300, with populations declining and building activity ceasing. But the region soon recovered, with the emergence of a new phase in Maya civilization, the Classic period (300–900), in which a series of powerful kingdoms emerged. Their great urban centres, such as those at Tikal (in Guatemala) and Palenque (in Mexico), are characterized by huge pyramidal temples and
KEY
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expeditions against neighbouring “Gaze, then the Agame, and the Siguene”, and it seems his armies may have occupied Meroë city (in northern Sudan). Enriched by such conquests and the control of trade from sub-Saharan Africa and Arabia, Aksum would dominate the region until the 7th century. The pre-Classic Maya kingdoms of Guatemala and Mexico underwent a collapse
Gul
PA
SQUARE KILOMETRES THE AREA OF THE CITY OF TIKAL c.400
palace complexes set in a central “acropolis”. The Mayans developed a hieroglyphic form of writing which survives on many of the stelae (carved stone slabs) they set up to commemorate important events; in Tikal the first such dated monument is from 292. The first named king of Tikal is Siyaj Chan K’awiil I (c.305), and by the reign of Chak Tok Ich’aak I (r.360– 78), Tikal was by far the largest and most powerful of the Classic Maya cities. The Roman Empire faced invasions on both its western and its eastern borders in the 340s and 350s. In the West, the Franks
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earliest states to embrace Christianity outside the Roman Empire. The Syrian Christian missionary Frumentius converted the king, Ezana (r.320–60) to Monophysitism (a doctrine emphasizing a single nature of Christ, the divine). A letter from Constantius II to Ezana in 357 has survived, urging Ezana to shift his allegiance to Arianism and to replace Frumentius with an Arian bishop – evidence that the Roman emperors took seriously the religious loyalties of their neighbours. Ezana conducted military campaigns beyond his borders; an inscription speaks of
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began to push across the Rhine, and in the early 350s they overran part of the Rhine frontier, occupying some old Roman fortresses. Caesar Julian engaged in a series of campaigns against the Franks (356–59) and drove them from most of the territory they had taken. In the East, conflict broke out again between the Romans and the Persians, under Shapur II (r.309–79), who took advantage of the political turmoil in the Roman Empire in the 350s. In 359, Shapur II advanced further west and took the great Roman fortress of Amida (modern Diyarbakir, Turkey). Other towns were captured and their populations deported to Persia, threatening the Roman position in the East.
Shapur II hunts a stag Sasanian rulers commissioned lavish silver items depicting themselves hunting wild beast as a display of their royal power.
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IN ETHIOPIA, THE KINGDOM OF AKSUM became one of the
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361–375
376–382
Here Emperor Julian is seen in religious debate. He attempted to sow discord among Christians by decreeing the return of those who had been exiled for religious reasons.
The church of Hagia Eirene in Istanbul was built by Constantine I.
comparative stability to the south of the country. Although many of the emperors were short-lived, the bureaucracy in the southern capital of Nanjing functioned efficiently and the period saw a cultural flowering. Artists such as Gu Kaizhi (c.345–406) painted masterpieces such as the Admonitions of the Instructress to the Palace Ladies, as well as producing works on the theory of painting. Northern China, on the other hand, was highly unstable, divided between the Sixteen Kingdoms, most of them ruled by nomadic groups. The Eastern Jin emperors alternated between a defensive stance towards the Sixteen Kingdoms and aggressive campaigns, notably under Mudi (r.345–61) who retook Sichuan and Luoyang. All these gains were lost, however, under Emperor Aidi (r.362–65). In 383, the Eastern Jin
THE NUMBER OF KINGDOMS IN CHINA FROM 304 TO 439 (under Xiaouwudi) would be forced to repel a major invasion in the north of the country. In the Roman Empire, Julian was proclaimed Augustus by his troops in 360, so he was a direct challenge to Constantius. The threat from the Persians, who were advancing through Asia Minor, was too great for
JULIAN THE APOSTATE (331–63) The nephew of Constantine I, Julian was educated as a Christian but c.351 became a pagan under the influence of Maximus of Ephesus. When Julian unexpectedly became emperor in 363, he tried to restore paganism in the empire, including banning Christians from teaching literature. He became known by Christian writers as “the Apostate” for his perceived betrayal of Christianity.
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Constantius to meet immediately. He died in November 361 as he was finally marching west to deal with the revolt. Now sole emperor, Julian immediately set about restoring the role of paganism in the Roman Empire, trying to establish a kind of pagan orthodoxy and an official pagan hierarchy of priests to counter Christianity’s strengths. He reopened pagan temples, and restored the right to sacrifice. In 363, Julian set out on a campaign against Persia, planning to punish its leader, Shapur II, for his attacks on the empire in 359–60. He reached Ctesiphon, but was then forced to retreat up the Tigris River. Being short of supplies, the Roman army suffered constant harassment from the Persians and, in one such skirmish, Julian was killed. The pagan reaction was over. On Julian’s death the army chose Jovian (r.363–64) as emperor,
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but he ceded key border provinces to Persia, which lost him popularity, and he died (probably murdered) within months. An officer of the imperial bodyguard, Valentinian (r.364–75), was then raised to the throne, and he selected his brother Valens (r.364–78) to be his co-ruler. Valentinian spent much of his reign along the Rhine dealing with Frankish and Alemannic invaders. He died in 375 after suffering some type of fit, brought on by his anger at barbarian Quadi envoys thought to have insulted him. The Western Roman Empire was then subdivided between Valentinian’s two sons Gratian (r.375–83) and Valentinian II (r.375–92). In the Eastern Empire, Valens was forced to spend most of the early 370s in Syria to contain the Persian threat, but growing trouble with barbarians along the Danube later forced him to turn to the Balkans. Sarmatian dagger This dagger belonged to the Sarmatians, a tribe of Iranian origin who specialized in horseback fighting, and were defeated by Valentinian I.
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IN CHINA, THE EASTERN JIN DYNASTY (317–420) brought
… THE BARBARIANS, [ARE] LIKE BEASTS … BROKEN LOOSE… OVER THE VAST EXTENT… OF COUNTRY.
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Ammianus Marcellinus, on the Gothic invasion of the Balkans c.390
IN 376, LARGE GROUPS OF GOTHS ARRIVED AT THE DANUBE FRONTIER, pressing to be admitted
to the Roman Empire. The Huns, a new nomadic group from Central Asia, were at their rear, and the Goths feared being squeezed between them and the imperial frontier. Emperor Valens did not wait for reinforcements before marching out to meet the Gothic army. On 9 August 378, near Adrianople, the Romans met the Goths, under Fritigern. Misled by the temporary absence of the Gothic cavalry, Valens attacked but his army was surrounded by the returning barbarian horsemen. Valens was killed and the Eastern army destroyed, leaving the Balkans open to the Goths. Gratian reacted by turning to Theodosius, a Spanish military officer, who he appointed as his imperial colleague. For the next three years Theodosius patiently negotiated, bought off some groups, and struck militarily where he could. In 382, the two s of len n, n, Va in Jia r Ji ol n e l u o e r iti sett 6 F rm nt ia et 37 e Fo s co l As s p to e a th hem pir th tend ntr o Em ex o Ce 6G wt 37 allo man int to e Ro th
at fe de der hs un ple t o s o 8 G an an 37 Rom Adri t e th s a len Va
383–391
392–400
,,
,,
THE THICKER THE HAY, THE EASIER IT IS MOWED. Alaric the Goth, speaking of his enemies c.400
St Jerome (c.347–420) completed the Vulgate, the first definitive translation of the Bible into Latin, c.405.
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P O NTUS Byzantium (Constantinople) A SI A NA
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094-095_361_400CE.indd 95
freed Theodosius to react when Maximus invaded Italy in 387. In August 388, he marched swiftly into northern Italy, capturing Maximus near Aquileia, and having him executed. As well as campaigning against the Goths and Maximus, Theodosius was preoccupied with the imposition of Orthodox Christianity. He moved against the Arians, deposing the Bishop of Constantinople in 380 and calling a council in 381 in the capital, which reaffirmed the anti-Arian decisions of the Council of Nicaea (see 325). He connived in the destruction of many pagan temples, including the great temple of Serapis in Alexandria, and in 391 he forbade all pagan sacrifices throughout the empire.
i
f il o nc le ou inop m C is d nt on ta an ec ons Ari 1 S C ns 8 3 em nd co
St Ambrose A Roman nobleman by birth, Ambrose was Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He exercised a powerful influence over Theodosius I.
was found hanged. His military commander Arbogast – suspected by some of Valentinian’s murder – promptly made Flavius Eugenius, a middle-ranking official, emperor. Theodosius refused to recognize Eugenius, and in 393 he invaded Italy. To gain support in the Senate – where paganism was still strong – the Christian Eugenius revoked all of Theodosius’s anti-pagan laws. But, in August 394, he was defeated by the Theodosian army at the River Frigidus near Aquileia. Theodosius did not enjoy his rule as sole emperor long, dying in January 395. The empire was then divided between his two sons: the older, Arcadius, taking the eastern part and his younger brother, Honorius, taking the
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peak of its influence in the late 4th century. In 378, a foreign lord called Siyaj Kak arrived in the city, possibly from Teotihuacán. His arrival, which may represent a military conquest, led to the death of Tikal’s ruler Chak Tok Ich’aak and the destruction of most of Tikal’s public monuments. Siyaj Kak installed a new dynasty on the throne of Tikal, possibly drawn from the ruling house of Teotihuacán, with Yax Nuun Ayiin (“Curl Snout”; r.379–404) as the first ruler. Monuments depict him in northern Mexican, rather than Mayan, dress. Under his rule, Tikal’s direct influence extended some 50 km (30 miles) away. In the Western Roman Empire, Gratian had spent much of his time since the Battle of Adrianople (378) in northern Italy, where he continued to act against pagans in Rome, ordering the removal of the Altar of Victory from the Senate House in 382. In 383, he led an army north to face an invasion of Gaul by the Alemanni, but was then faced with a revolt in Britain, where the legions declared their commander Magnus Maximus emperor. Many of Gratian’s commanders defected and in August 383 he was captured and executed by Maximus, who had crossed over to Gaul. Theodosius, fearful of trouble with Persia or a Gothic revolt in the Balkans if he moved west, recognized Maximus as his colleague. A peace with Persia in 386, however,
western one. Although there was no clear intention to do so, this split marked a permanent division; after 395 no one emperor ruled the whole empire again. The Goths had taken part on Theodosius’s side at the Battle of the River Frigidus and felt they had not been sufficiently rewarded for their losses. In 395, they rose up, led by Alaric (r.395–410). Despite an attempt by Stilicho (c.365–408), the half-Vandal commander of the Western Roman army, to suppress them, the Goths escaped and marauded throughout Greece in 396. Stilicho moved against Alaric again in 397, but once more failed to defeat him. A brief halt to the Gothic rampage came after Alaric’s appointment by the Eastern Roman government to magister militum (a senior general).
IN 392, VALENTINIAN II, WHO HAD CONTINUED TO RULE OVER ITALY,
a Alem ks an
Iron pillar of Delhi This iron pillar at Qutb complex on the outskirts of Delhi is said to have been erected on the orders of Chandragupta II.
IN CENTRAL AMERICA, THE MAYAN CITY OF TIKAL had reached the
Iazyges
sides agreed a truce, whereby the Goths were allowed to settle in the empire in return for providing troops for the Roman army. The Gupta Empire continued to expand under Chandragupta II (r.375–415) in northern India. He fought against the Sakas, annexing much of northwestern India. He also made an astute marriage alliance that extended his realm to the southwest.
Divided in two The split of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western divisions in 395 was permanent. By 476, its Western part would be overrun by barbarians.
KEY Eastern Roman Empire Western Roman Empire
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95
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THE CLASSICAL AGE
a
CLASSICAL TRADE
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Ba
Rome
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Byzantium
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KILOMETRES THE LENGTH OF THE TRADE ROUTE FROM CHANG’AN TO ROME
DACI A
E
Ostia
M
ins NIA E TA u n t a UR o A M M s la At Sijilmassa
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Aquileia
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GERMANY
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that lay on them were able to exact heavy tolls from merchants, which they used to build spectacular public monuments. Further west, in the Mediterranean, expensive goods such as fine wine were carried by sea; in general land transportation was expensive, and bulky, low-value products tended to be produced and consumed locally.
North Sea
Pe
BRITAIN
The growth of Roman power in the Mediterranean, the unification of China under the Qin and Han, and the establishment of the Parthian Empire in Iran created three large political blocs, which provided stable conditions under which very long-distance trade routes could flourish. The expansion of Han power westward in the 2nd century BCE brought the Chinese into contact with new powers they called An-hsi (Persia) and Li-chien (Rome). A Chinese embassy reached the court of Mithridates II of Parthia around 115 BCE. In the wake of diplomats came merchants, carrying the Chinese silk for which both Parthia and Rome had an insatiable appetite. The main Silk Route ran from China through Central Asia, down into Persia and then across Roman-controlled Syria towards the ports of the Mediterranean. A thriving trade also spanned the Indian Ocean, transporting spices from the East Indies and southern India to ports in Africa and southern Arabia; from here a land route led up through Petra, in present-day Jordan, to Syria. Control of these trade routes was very lucrative, and towns
Se
FLOURISHING TRADE BETWEEN CONTINENTS A WORLD APART
les
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op
700
ante
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EGYPT
Murzuk
Ahaggar
Alexandria
Tamanrasset Tibesti
S
ROMAN TRADE The expansion of the Roman Empire to cover much of Europe, western Asia, and North Africa created largely peaceful conditions in which both internal and external trade could flourish.
a
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Amomum Balsam of Judea
Nutmeg Pepper 100
150
200
250
250
PRICE IN DENARII
300
350
400
450
INC
500
GL W AS A R SE
AL IM
TON
Roman imports The Romans imported huge quantities of raw materials, including luxury goods such as gold and ivory and cheaper goods such as food.
GOL
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The price of spice According to the Roman author Pliny, the finest grade of spices such as cinnamon could fetch 300 denarii a Roman pound (340g/12oz), which was nearly enough to purchase a male slave.
Myrrh (Ethiopian)
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Ginger
D
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Frankincense (first quality)
FOO
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Daphnitis (high-grade cinnamon) Malabathrum (finest cinnamon leaf)
AN
SL
Cassia (Chinese cinnamon)
S
Cardamom Cinnamon (uncultivated)
Roman exports The Romans paid for their imports with precious metal and coins, and exported products such as wine and glassware.
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Arabian Peninsula
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Bay of Bengal
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Fuzhou Quanzhou
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t i a n s m a a r S BOSPORAN BOSPORAN KINGDOM Panticapaeum (Kerch)
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World trade Trade routes c.1 CE criss-crossed the whole of the classical world. The means of transport used depended on location – Bactrian camels were used in Central Asia, while horses, bullocks, and yaks were used elsewhere. Maritime trade was also extensive – there was an active trading network around the Indian Ocean.
Aromata
Ho r n of Afr A fr ica
Ethiopian Highlands
Juba
I N D I A N Cana
Sarapion
Kushites
HAN TRADE The establishment of Chinese control in Central Asia from the late 3rd century BCE opened up a series of routes through Persia to the Mediterranean, which became collectively known as the Silk Route. However, it also involved the Han emperors in continuous and costly defence of their new territories.
30,000 QUANTITY
25,000 KEY Roman Empire and client states
15,000 10,000
RS
ES
SP
IC
ES
Trans–Saharan (rudimentary route)
silver
amber
tin
Indian Ocean
tortoiseshell
precious stones
Silk Route
ivory
China
animals
East Africa
horses
Amber
grain
Incense
spices
Other (rudimentary route)
wine
50
40
silk clothing incense slaves
30
20
10
YEAR (BCE)
olive oil
KEY Silk floss (catties)
Silk fabric (pieces)
Buying safety To guarantee security on their frontiers and along trade routes, the Han were forced to pay large bribes in silk to barbarian groups such as the Hsiung-nu.
0
STONES
0 Goods traded gold
PRECIOUS
Roman
HO
5000
Han Empire Trade routes
SILK
20,000
Han imports The Han valued spices as much as the Romans did, but they also sent trade expeditions to Ferghana in Central Asia in search of what they called “heavenly horses”.
LACQUERWARE
Han exports Knowledge of silk in China goes back to at least 2600 BCE, but under the Han it became a staple export item, alongside lacquerware.
timber
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401–423
424–433
,,
SO THE VANDALS, HAVING WRESTED LIBYA FROM THE ROMANS IN THIS WAY, MADE IT THEIR OWN...
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Procopius, Byzantine scholar, from History of the Wars, III iv 1, c.500–550
Around 200 stone heads decorated Tiwanaku’s Semi-subterranean temple. They may represent the group that founded the city – their flat head-dresses denote high status. ALTHOUGH THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE SEEMED RELATIVELY SECURE IN 400, within a decade it
Pepper Gold
0
10,000
20,000 POUNDS
commander Stilicho persuaded the Senate to agree to pay Alaric a huge bribe in exchange for leaving the city, but there seems to have been a coup d’état and Stilicho was overthrown and killed. In 409, Alaric had Attalus, the prefect of Rome, declared emperor in an attempt to seize the initiative, but all negotiations failed. So, on 24 August 410 the Visigoths entered Rome and subjected it to a three-day sack. The event shook the entire Roman world, but Alaric was unable to secure domination over Italy, as he died later the same year. In South America, the city of Tiwanaku, 25 km (15 miles) south
Ransom demands Alaric initially asked for a huge ransom in return for leaving Rome in 410. Even Silver when he moderated his demands, the 30,000 40,000 Senate refused, and so the city was sacked.
Visigoths ride on Rome Alaric’s sack of Rome in 410 was particularly shocking, as it was the first time the city had fallen since the Gauls took it in 390 BCE.
of Lake Titicaca (on the border between modern Peru and Bolivia), reached its greatest size in the 5th century, covering an area some 8 sq km (3 sq miles) in extent. Its central area contained a lavish series of ceremonial buildings and temples. These included the Semi-subterranean Temple, decorated with stone heads of humans and supernatural beings, and structures such as the massive and beautifully decorated Gateway of the Sun. These were erected by a major preColumbian culture that dominated the Altiplano (flat high plateau) of Peru and Bolivia, and whose influence extended into northern Bolivia.
, als de e s s nd th inva a th Rom s o V II e g ru g Go of ves o eI f isi laric ly sh aly Pe in in ’s sack n V u s i c e o t t p i e t a in n, us 1 r A It u in I m a r n s d a 0 o d e o f S r a a e e l r h n 4 de rn i d o v d ep u A a st ar to Su ic ue ing Iber on is in 410 ure 6 H an de ult he til ou un rthe 1 S h k rn 40 ans, ate pire ec ft 8 C s h pa 2 S hs pt no l etr Em ch le o s . 41 blis este ca 40 tend to S 40 igot o A c p ck n ta M ex le in Vis pe man es rthw 20 Tem bri ru Ro no c. 4 ilds lion l u b mi 50 tes ple tin) ine om (La ble nt y c ta or b ; e ate Bi s n m n r d ro lg he Co pe ritai ul an ; Je Vu f t m er a n s, St The ion o rp ed e in B to G an Spai in u l 4 t y r s A a a in la 40 ls, into y ag me 7 U ecl arm ses ns a 0 a d l d 4 II, the os o tr an ross s Ita s R I V cr c e 9 e g 40 eves vad sie 098-099_401_450.indd 98 n e Su ric i d b a an Al
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96
n II eI ter tin les as ee es , E agr ns m re tan t Ar I I o n s i u s to ec pi on d a nJ g siu ed e H ab m 1 C re ter on do rc th pt a E 41 aptu as ui S ded eo r, fo e to gu upt E h c a o t L n 0 ar e G 2 T er bu 42 wn; y fou um f th 42 emp l tri t ro a th nas 5 K er o u r 1 n e dy 4 rul an ov
of cities before moving southwest into Aquitania and then crossing the Pyrenees into Spain, where they occupied large swathes of Roman territory. In 416–18, the Roman army commander Constantius persuaded the Visigoths under Wallia (r.415–18) to invade Spain. There he smashed the Alans and the Siling Vandals, but allowed some of them to settle in southern Spain and left the Asing Vandals and Sueves in possession of northwestern Spain. Wallia was rewarded with official possession of much of southwestern Spain.
On the other side of the Mediterranean in 429, Boniface, the Roman Governor of North Africa, revolted against his long-term adversary Aëtius, and called on the Siling Vandals for help. The Vandal king, Gaiseric (r.428–77), crossed over the Straits of Gibraltar with – it was said – 80,000 of his people and, far from helping Boniface, swiftly occupied most of North Africa. In 435, he made a treaty with the Romans, recognizing his occupation of Mauretania (modern Algeria and Morocco). Gaiseric broke this and in 439 his warriors captured Carthage, the Roman capital there, and set up an independent Vandal kingdom.
North Sea
EUROPE KINGDOM OF THE BURGUNDIANS
EMPIRE OF THE HUNS
Bay of Biscay Black Sea Rome
Constantinople
Toletum Carthage
ROMAN EMPIRE
ea an S spi Ca
had suffered a series of disasters. Gothic raids in 401 and again in 405 ravaged northern Italy. Then on the last day of 406, hordes of Vandals, joined by two other barbarian groups, the Alans and Sueves, crossed the frozen Rhine near Mainz, sacked Treveri (modern Trier, Germany) and Remi (modern Reims, France), and forced their way southwest until they reached the Pyrenees. Meanwhile, the armies of Britain had raised up a series of usurpers as emperor from 406. The last of these, Constantine III (r.407–11), took most of the remaining Roman troops in Britain and crossed to Gaul in spring 407, aiming to seize the throne from the then head of the Western Roman Empire, Honorius. Although he was defeated and captured at Arles in 412, native leaders in Britain had already expelled the last Roman officials there in 410 – probably in revenge for their abandonment by Constantine’s legion. Britain was now independent from Rome. In 408, Alaric (r.c.395–410), leader of the Visigoths, invaded Italy once more. The Roman
THE BARBARIANS WHO HAD INITIALLY CROSSED THE RHINE IN 401 had gone on to sack a number
Mediterranean Sea
SASANIAN EMPIRE
AFRICA The barbarian invasions Barbarian groups took more and more Roman territory in the first half of the 5th century, leaving the Western emperors virtually powerless.
KEY Roman Empire
Franks
Huns
Jutes, Angles, Saxons
Goths
Irish
Alans
Picts
Vandals, Alans, Sueves
III ly an Ita f ini t es t d n s a e it o he ale e We inv forc rt t tra rica V S s ; h s Af po iu h ted in t os ët nis up cr orth fea or 4 A un o s de per als to N 42 th H ing t ohn d n oh em an in wi end er J 5 J es 9 V tar int urp 42 com 42 bral s i e u b G
of ch es ar tri ach ing a e P s, , pr ish ine riu ple ngu div d sto tino disti and mne al e n e c 8 N ta ne an nd eti 42 ons ctri um s co her C do s h t i as i ’ ; w st ne hri ture C na
Burgundians
Sasanian Empire
nd t le gg e a y a tru nifac mac S 31 Bo pre s 9– en su nd 42 twe for urt e eath e b tius co ’s d Aë man iface Ro Bon in
us an to m er sion sm G ne i op mis ian sti d es ish on lag ele elan s C B e n om s i iu e 9 Ir P ec Hun op to llad 42 rita out b P n B t a a 31 sio r P til the its roo At of c. 4 mis nde vis 17/06/2011 16:16 33 ing u s 4 d k n se
434–450
A colourful Buddhist mural from the Yungang caves, which were begun under the Northern Wei c.450.
Gongi’s abdication. His successor, Song Wudi (r.420–22), a former fisherman, had risen to become a general and founded the Liu Song dynasty. He strengthened the southern kingdom’s northern borders against the barbarian tribes, but under his son Wendi (r.424–53), the northerners captured Luoyang in 424, before, some 25 years later besieging the Liu Song capital of Nanking. Although Song Wudi had strengthened the central bureaucracy, the growing power and wealth of the Buddhist and Daoist monasteries weakened the economic basis of the state. Wendi’s successors were weak and by 479 the Liu Song were overthrown by the short-lived Qi dynasty (479–502). Meanwhile, in northern China the Sixteen Kingdoms had been united under the Toba Wei (a group of Turkic nomads), who founded the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534). The Northern Wei ruled over northern China, until its split into two in the early 6th century following a revolt against the imposition of Chinese dress and language on the Wei nomads. In Europe, the Western Roman Empire continued to lose ground, as barbarians occupied more and more of its territory. In the 420s the Visigoths under Theoderic at ius fe de dos ns heo u 4H fT e 43 my o rac ar n Th II i
(r.418–51) occupied sections of the Mediterranean shore of Gaul, before they were pushed back southwest in 430. About this time a new group of barbarians, the Huns, began to menace the empire. This nomadic group from Central Asia, whose pressure from the rear on the Goths had been indirectly responsible for the crisis of 378 in the Balkans, had since moved further west. In 424, the Roman general Aëtius recruited a force of Huns to help him bolster the cause of John, a usurper raised up at Rome after the death of Honorius in 423. Aëtius continued to use the Huns into the late 420s to secure his power base and his appointment as patrician (the most senior post in the late Roman Empire) in 429. In 435, he was able to call on them to aid an attack on the Burgundians who had raided across the lower Rhine; these were soundly
f n o an tio de, le g a o i c bli n C nc tin Pu sia reco nflic pire 8 o o 43 eod t to of c Em Th emp ion man att nfus Ro co s in law
,,
THE EASTERN JIN DYNASTY IN CHINA HAD ENDED IN 420, with
THE WORLD IS PASSING AWAY… LOSING ITS GRIP, THE WORLD IS SHORT OF BREATH.
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St Augustine of Hippo, theologian and philosopher, from Sermons 81, 8
defeated and thereafter confined to a region to the northwest of Italy. These were all just temporary successes, however, as the area controlled by the Western Roman emperors was diminishing steadily. The loss of almost all North Africa to the Vandals in 429–39 (and of Sicily in 440), of northern Gaul to the Franks by 450, of southwest Gaul to the Visigoths after 418, and of all save a few isolated outposts in Spain by the 430s meant the remaining strongholds in Italy and southeastern Gaul could not provide enough tax revenue to support armies to reconquer the lost provinces. The long reign of Valentinian III (r.425–55) in the Western Roman Empire did not provide any stability as he ascended to the throne as a child and never asserted himself until Northern Wei horse The art of the Northern Wei often evoked their nomadic origins, as in this beautiful terracotta horse.
the very end, when he had Aëtius, the Western Empire’s last effective general, murdered. The barbarians who settled on the former Roman territories began gradually to establish kingdoms of their own, notably the Franks in northern Gaul and the Visigoths in southwest Gaul and Spain. In Britain, the situation was rather different, since the province had rebelled against Rome rather than being subject to barbarian conquest. In a bygone era, the Roman army might have been expected to reassert its control there, but, with the empire increasingly dependent on barbarian troops fighting under their own commanders, there was virtually no army left to retake it. The Britons were left to their own devices. It seems that some Roman institutions survived for a while; in 429 Bishop Germanus of Auxerre visited the island and found men bearing Roman titles. But barbarian raiders – attracted by the weakness of the British defences and the lack of a central political authority to counter them – came in increasing numbers. Around 446, the leading men of Britain addressed a desperate
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FLAVIUS AËTIUS (c.395–454) Born of nobility in Moesia (modern Bulgaria), Aëtius spent time from 408 in the royal court of the Huns. He used these contacts to gain influence and rose to further prominence in the late 420s. The deaths of patricians Felix (in 430) and Boniface (in 433) left him with unrivalled dominance. He shored up the empire’s position, and in 451 he scored a notable victory against Attila the Hun. In 454 he was murdered by Valentinian III himself. letter to Aëtius, appealing for aid. No reply was sent to these “groans of the Britons”, and within a few years the Angle, Saxon, and Jutish raiders began to occupy parts of the former Roman province. of aw 50 nce n r dr c. 4 ue uacá s fa a eru fl ih s a a c n z I ot P e al Na m ph Te etch tem 50 fro gly rt . 4 ple etro dese str Gua c o as pe eat p s in gr ture pic
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In this undated painting Attila the Hun is shown with his army – he is said to have been turned aside from sacking Rome only by the pleas of Pope Leo I.
The baptism of Clovis the first: Clovis’s baptism made him an easier diplomatic partner for the eastern Roman Empire than his Arian neighbours.
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Undaunted, Attila invaded Italy in 452, but turned back short of Rome. Attila died after his wedding feast in 453, and his sons began a civil war that led to the Hunnish empire falling apart. Following the death of the Roman general Aëtius in 454, real power in the western Roman Empire was exercised by a series of barbarian kingmakers, such as Ricimer, the leader of the Roman army in Italy. In 457, Ricimer placed Majorian on the imperial throne. When Majorian became too independent-minded, Ricimer replaced him with Libius Severus (r.461–65), who he later had poisoned. Deprived of effective leadership, the Roman Empire lost more of its Gallic territories to the Visigoths and Franks.
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Pope Leo I The illustration on this manuscript shows Pope Leo I, an Italian aristocrat, persuading Attila the Hun not to attack Rome.
Clay bear figurine Clay haniwa figurines have been a feature of rich Japanese burials since the earliest times. The large burial mounds of Yamato rulers contain huge quantities of them.
507
expansion of the Yamato state. Complex irrigation systems began to appear, and rulers built ever larger burial mounds, such as the 486m (1,600ft) long Nintoku mound. Ojin founded a new line of kings, who exercised firmer control over Japan’s main islands from a royal centre in the Kawachi-Izumi area. Yamato
overseas contacts became more extensive, with ten diplomatic missions visiting China between 421 and 478, and increasing Yamato interference in civil wars between the Korean states of Paekche, Silla, and Koguryo. The Sasanian Persian Empire came under pressure from eastern nomadic groups in the later 5th century. The Hephthalite Huns moved into Bactria early in the century, and were a particular threat to the Sasanians, but a famine during the reign of Peroz (457–84) caused them to move west again. In 469 Peroz suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the Hephthalites. He was captured, and only released after leaving his son as a hostage. In 484, Peroz sought revenge in a new campaign against the Hephthalites, but was defeated and killed. Having demanded, and been refused, the hand in marriage of Honoria, the sister of Roman Emperor Valentinian III in 450, the Hunnish king Attila (see 401–450) marched into Gaul. He was defeated near Châlons by an army of Romans under Aëtius and Goths under Theodoric.
encouraged by the western Roman emperor Avitus, had invaded the Iberian Peninsula. The Visigothic king Theoderic II (r.453–66) defeated the Suevic ruler Rechiarius, who was threatening the Roman province of Tarraconensis, and the remaining Sueves retreated. Theoderic took most of Spain for himself, but left the Romans parts of the east coast. This policy was reversed by his successor Euric (r.466–84), who overran the remaining Roman territories in the late 470s. By the time of Alaric II (r.484–507) the Visigothic kingdom encompassed almost all of Spain, as well as Aquitaine and Provence in southern Gaul. The situation in Spain was
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Callinicus, disciple of Hypatius, from Life of Saint Hypatius, c.450
IN JAPAN, THE 5TH CENTURY SAW THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT and
repeated elsewhere in the Roman Empire, and the area of imperial control shrank to little more than Italy. Anthemius (r.467–472) tried to recover some ground, but an expeditionary force against Vandal-controlled North Africa in 468 ended in disaster. In Gaul, Euric conquered almost all remaining Roman territory in the south by 475. In 472, Anthemius was overthrown by Gundobad, a Burgundian. Gundobad placed Olybrius (r.472) and Glycerius (r.473–74) on the throne in quick sucession, but, despairing of the empire’s frailty, he then left for Burgundy. The last embers of the empire were contested in 475–76, between Julius Nepos and Romulus Augustulus, the son of Orestes, commander of the Roman army. Feeling that the
IN 456, THE VISIGOTHS,
OT
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[HUNS] TOOK CAPTIVE THE CHURCHES AND SLEW THE MONKS AND MAIDENS.
Barbarian kingdoms in Europe C.500 By 500, most of the former western Roman Empire was divided between several principal barbarian successor states: the Vandals in North Africa, the Visigoths in Spain and southern Gaul, and the Ostrogoths in Italy.
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interests of the Germanic barbarians in the army were being ignored, Orestes’s deputy, Odoacer, revolted and deposed Romulus in September 476. He did not appoint a new emperor, claiming that he ruled Italy on behalf of the eastern emperor Zeno (r.474–91). This marked the end of the Roman Empire in the west after 500 years. However, in the east the Roman Empire survived. The long reign of Theodosius II (408–50) had strengthened its position, and after 400 the eastern empire had not had to face such direct threats from Huns, Goths, Vandals, Alamanns, Burgundians, and Franks as the west. Marcian (r.450–57) had consolidated the eastern empire’s finances, leaving a surplus of 100,000 pounds of gold at his death. Leo I (r.457–74) fended off residual Gothic threats to the Balkans, and even made an attempt to recover North Africa in 468. Zeno (474–91) faced the challenge of the new Germanic rulers of
Italy, led by Odoacer. He resolved this by commissioning the king of the Ostrogoths, Theodoric, to topple Odoacer in 489. By 500, the eastern Roman Empire under Anastasius (r.492–518) was in little danger of the implosion that had erased its western counterpart just 25 years earlier. The western Roman Empire was replaced by a series of Germanic successor states.
Saxon brooch Anglo-Saxon art in the 5th century valued abstract geometric patterns, as seen on this brooch.
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Odoacer ruled as king of Italy, but the legitimacy of his rule was always questionable. In 489, an invasion by Theodoric’s Ostrogoths led to a four-year stand-off, with Odoacer blockading himself inside the old imperial capital of Ravenna. After the murder of Odoacer in 493, Theodoric established a regime in which the continuation of Roman administrative practices won
the loyalty of the old Roman aristocracy. In 497, the eastern emperor Anastasius I recognized Theodoric’s right to govern Italy, providing him with a secure base to consolidate his rule and extend it into Gaul. In northwestern Gaul the Franks had emerged as a threat in the late 4th century, and by the 460s they were carving out a kingdom under Childeric. His successor Clovis (r.481–511) transformed that kingdom, defeating Syagrius, ruler of a Roman enclave around Soissons, and expanding along the Rhine at the expense of the Alamans in the 490s. In 507, he defeated the Visigoths at the Battle of Vouillé and drove them out of most of southwestern Gaul. In the late 490s or early 500s, Clovis converted to Catholic Christianity, setting him apart from other barbarian rulers who were mostly Arians (members of an alternative Christian church). In Britain, the expulsion of Roman officials had been followed by a period in which petty kingdoms vied for power. These kingdoms were vulnerable to coastal raiders, and, late in the 5th century, groups of Germanic barbarians (Angles,
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THEODORIC THE GREAT (454–526) Son of Thiudmir, a king of the Ostrogoths, Theodoric spent 11 years as a Roman hostage, to guarantee the good behaviour of his father. He returned home to become king of the Ostrogoths in 471, and for the next 17 years alternately allied with and attacked Roman territories in the Balkans. In 493, Theodoric became the first Ostrogothic king of Italy. His rule was generally proRoman, and he was buried in this Roman-style mausoleum. Saxons, and Jutes) settled in Britain. The arrival of the Saxons has been dated to 449, when they were invited by the British king Vortigern. Seven years later, they revolted and set up a kingdom in Kent. Aelle founded a kingdom in Sussex around 477 and Cerdic, in Wessex (around modern Hampshire), by 495. A British victory at Mons Badonicus around 500 stemmed the Saxon tide, but the respite was short-lived.
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These 6th-century ivory panels show Emperor Anastasius. He amassed a vast financial surplus, which his successors spent on expanding the Eastern Roman Empire.
This 6th-century mosaic, from the curch of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, depicts Emperor Justinian with his retinue of officials, guards, and clergy.
IN THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
(generally called the Byzantine Empire from about this date), Anastasius (r.491–518) faced difficulties in the Balkans, as new groups, including the Bulgars, pressed southwards across the Danube between 493 and 502. More serious were problems on the eastern frontier, where the Persians insisted on Byzantine financial subsidies to pay for the defence of strategic passes in the Caucasus against barbarian incursions. In 502, the Persian ruler Kavadh began a war over the issue; the slow Byzantine reaction allowed him to capture Amida as well as several towns in Armenia. Byzantine forces retook Amida in 505, and Kavadh – preoccupied with a Hepthalite invasion in the east – agreed a truce, which lasted until 527. Anastasius was almost 60 when he became emperor in 491, and his place on the throne was only secured by his marriage in 492 to Ariadne, widow of his predecessor Zeno. Almost immediately Zeno’s brother Longinus revolted, and it took six years for Anastasius to subdue Longinus’s home area of Isauria (in western Asia Minor). Anastasius gained popularity by abolishing the chrysargyron tax for traders and craftsmen. Prosperity continued and over his reign his treasury amassed a surplus of 320,000 pounds of gold. He also implemented monetary reforms in 498 and 512 aimed at stabilizing the currency, which had suffered successive debasements in the 5th century. In religious
red enamel
Frankish fibula brooch Fibula brooches were practical as well as decorative, being used to fasten clothes.This brooch is decorated with the heads of birds.
terms Anastasius’s reign was less tranquil, as he was a follower of Monophysite Christianity, which held that Christ had only a single divine nature and did not combine human and divine in his person. At first, Anastasius supported Zeno’s Henotikon – an “act of union” issued in 482 that tried to broker a compromise between supporters of the orthodox creed (established at the Council of Chalcedon in 452) and the Monophysites. However, later his attitude became more proMonophysite, which led to serious rioting in 512, and the revolt of an
army officer, Vitalian, in Thrace in 513. Anastasius left no clear heir, and on his death Justin (r.518–27), head of the palace guard, seized the throne. Justin was of humble origins and relied heavily on his nephew Justinian. He restored Chalcedonian Christianity and developed good relations with the Ostrogoths of Italy and the Vandals of North Africa. Abroad, his reign was generally peaceful, apart from a minor campaign against Persia in early 527. In Gaul, Clovis, king of the Franks, had defeated Syagrius, ruler of a Roman enclave near Soissons, in 486, followed by the Alamanns and the Thuringians in 491. The Visigothic kingdom in southwestern Gaul was his next target, and it collapsed after a major Frankish victory at Vouillé in 507. Clovis’s marriage to Clotilde, daughter of the Burgundian king Chilperic, led him to convert to Catholic Christianity in the 490s, and he maintained cordial relations with the Byzantine emperor Anastasius, who gave him the title of consul c.508. Near the end of his reign, Clovis added several previously independent Frankish domains to his kingdom, notably that of the Ripuarian Franks. On his death in 511, Clovis’s kingdom was divided among his four sons – Theuderic, Childebert, Chlodomir, and Chlothar. This tradition of subdivision would weaken the Merovingian dynasty, as the descendants of Clovis were known. The Merovingians ruled Francia (France) until the 8th century.
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THE REIGN OF THE BYZANTINE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN (r.527–65)
began with important reforms. In 528, he commissioned a new law code to replace the confusion he had inherited. The new code, the Codex Justinianus, came into force in 529 (revised in 534). An enthusiastic builder, Justinian ordered the building of the great
THEODORA (C.500–548) Theodora, who Justinian married in 525, had once been a prostitute and the mistress of Hecebolus, the governor of Libya Pentapolis. After the death of his adoptive mother, Empress Lucipina (who had opposed their relationship), Justinian had the law changed in 524 to allow him to marry Theodora. Theodora became a forceful empress, stiffening Justinian’s resolve during the Nika revolt and acting as the protector of Monophysite Christians – she was one herself – during times of persecution.
church of Hagia Sophia in 534. The greatest challenge to his rule came in 532, when rioting among the Blue and Green chariot-racing factions got out of hand and turned into the Nika Revolt. The uprising almost caused Justinian to flee Constantinople, and its suppression killed 30,000 rebels. With his throne secure, Justinian looked abroad. In 533 he sent an army under Belisarius to Vandal-controlled North Africa, where Gelimer had deposed King Hilderic, a Byzantine ally. On 13 September, Belisarius defeated Gelimer’s army at Ad Decimum, just outside Carthage, and Vandal resistance collapsed. Carthage was occupied and Gelimer was sent as a captive to Constantinople. The rapid conquest of the Vandal kingdom encouraged Justinian to intervene in Italy. An excuse was provided by the murder in April 535 of his friend Amalasuintha, the Ostrogothic queen. Belisarius launched a strike against Italy in 535, landing on Sicily with 7,000 troops. Sicily was secured by the end of 535, and Belisarius moved into southern Italy early in 536. He took Naples after a three-week siege, causing the Ostrogothic king, Vitigis, to retreat northwards. On 9 December 536, in a symbolic restoration of the empire’s lost provinces, the Byzantine army occupied Rome. Rome was soon besieged by Goths. Belisarius finally took the Ostrogothic capital of Ravenna in 540. Suspicions that he planned to become emperor led to his recall, encouraging more Ostrogothic resistance.
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541–550
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THE PLAGUE FELL UPON THE WHOLE WORLD... NOT A SINGLE MAN IN THE WHOLE ROMAN EMPIRE COULD ESCAPE…
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Procopius, Byzantine scholar, from Secret History, c.550
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THE LATTER PART OF JUSTINIAN’S REIGN lacked the achievements of
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Justinian’s reconquests Vandal Italy fell to Justinian’s armies in 533, but it was devastated by the 20-year war needed to take it. An attempted Byzantine reconquest of Spain foundered, capturing only a few coastal areas.
Persia entered a new period of greatness under Khusrau I (r.531–79), who came to the throne at a time when the Mazdakites – a populist religious movement – had caused serious social tensions. Khusrau reformed the tax system and established a new army, encouraging poorer nobles and their followers to serve by
Cyprus
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paying salaries. Khusrau captured Antioch in 540, forcing Justinian to pay 5,000 pounds of gold to regain it. He attacked again, in 544, but a siege of Edessa failed and so he made a truce. A further Byzantine– Persian war (546–51) resulted in a 50-year peace.
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TO ME, AND TO MANY OTHERS, THESE TWO SEEMED NOT TO BE HUMAN BEINGS, BUT VERITABLE DEMONS… VAMPIRES.
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Procopius, Byzantine scholar, on Justinian and Empress Theodora, from Secret History, c.550
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its first half. A serious outbreak of plague – probably bubonic plague – began in Egypt in 540 and caused widespread mortalities, robbing the empire of desperately needed manpower. Tax revenues fell, further weakening the administration, and prices rose, leading to the passing of laws in 544 to reduce inflation. Further outbreaks of plague occurred in the 6th and 7th centuries, sapping the vitality of the Byzantine Empire. In Italy, the Ostrogoths made rapid advances after the departure of Belisarius. Their new king, Totila, secured the area north of the River Po, and in 542 took control of much of central Italy. Belisarius was recalled to retrieve the sitiation in 544, but Justinian starved him of resources and Rome fell in 546. Although the Byzantines retook Rome in 547, it fell once more to Totila in 550. Justinian sent two huge armies under Artabanes and Narses to finish off the Goths. Artabanes entered Ravenna in June 552, and in July Narses defeated Totila at the Battle of Busta Gallorum in the Apennines. Totila later died of his wounds. There was still some Ostrogoth resistance, but the war in Italy was effectively over.
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Ostrogothic brooch This gold and enamel brooch demonstrates the high level of workmanship in the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy. Its eagle imagery may indicate Roman influence.
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551–567
568–588
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WHEN JUSTIN HAD HEARD THESE EVENTS... HE HAD NO HEALTHY OR SANE THOUGHTS… HE FELL INTO A MENTAL DISORDER AND MADNESS AND AFTERWARDS HAD NO UNDERSTANDING OF EVENTS.
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Evagrius Scholasticus, scholar and aide to Gregory of Antioch, on Justin II’s reaction on the fall of Dara to the Persians, from Ecclesiastical History c.595
The 13th-century Iona Abbey (pictured) was built on the site of the original monastery founded by St Columba when he arrived on Iona in 563. MEROVINGIAN FRANCIA (FRANCE) HAD BEEN DIVIDED into separate
kingdoms on the death of Clovis in 511 (see 501–526). Despite this, Frankish power continued to grow. By 558, Chlothar I (511–61), who ruled the area of Francia around Soissons, had absorbed the Rheims kingdom and the region around Paris after their rulers died. This left Chlothar as the sole Merovingian ruler of Francia for three years, until his death in 561. Francia was once again divided, with Charibert I receiving Paris, Guntram getting Orléans, Sigibert Rheims, and Chilperic Soissons. It was not until 613 that the Frankish kingdom was reunited under Chlothar II (r.613–29). Ajanta cave art The Ajanta caves, a Buddhist holy site in Maharashtra, India, experienced a second major phase of use during the 6th century.
Ireland had been converted to Christianity by Patrick (d.461) in the mid-5th century and a strong monastic tradition took hold there. From the 6th century, Irish monks began conducting missions abroad. In 563, Columba (c.520–97) set up the abbey of Iona on an island off Scotland’s western coast. Iona became a centre of Irish-influenced monasticism, which extended into northern England, Scotland, and Francia with the foundation of the monastic centre at Luxeuil in 590. The Gupta Empire fell apart after the reign of Vishnugupta (r.540–50); and northern India split into a number of regional kingdoms. A minor branch of the Guptas ruled Magadha, but they were swept aside by the Maukharis of Kanauj. The region fell to the Vardhana king Harsha, who established an empire in the early 7th century.
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y ar ion ins iss beg nd h m a tla ris mb co II 3 I lu g S tin 56 Co izin us mes J l o e 5 c ne g 56 be anti or an r z ev By mpe e
JAPAN’S SOGA FAMILY CAME TO PROMINENCE IN 540, when Soga
no Iname was made chief minister. Emperor Bidatsu’s death in 585 led to a succession dispute, from which Iname’s grandson Yomei emerged successful. The next emperor, Sushun (r.586–93), had a Soga mother, reinforcing the family’s dominance. When Sushun was assassinated in 593, he was succeeded by Bidatsu’s widow Suiko (r.593–628), who was another Soga. Suiko’s reign saw the start of the Asuka Enlightenment, and was a time of great confidence in foreign affairs, state support for Buddhism, and flourishing arts. In 572, the Byzantine emperor Justin II (r.565–78) went to war with Persia after he refused to pay a tribute due under the terms of Justinian’s 50-year peace deal (see 527–540). In 573, Persia struck back, invading Syria and taking the
7
THE NUMBER OF YEARS THE “ENDLESS PEACE” OF 532 BETWEEN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND PERSIA LASTED
fortress of Dara. On hearing this, Justin went insane. His wife took power, and had to agree a humiliating peace with Persia. In 567, the Lombards, who had settled in the former Roman province of Pannonia (Hungary), destroyed the Gepids and then, under Alboin (reign c.560–72), moved southwest into Italy, where the Byzantine authorities were too weak to resist them. In 568–69 they occupied the plain of the Po River and set up dukes in major cities. By 572, when Pavia fell to them, they had founded duchies as far south as Benevento. Attempted
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Byzantine counterattacks in 575 were a disaster. Under Agilulf (r.590–616) the Lombard kingdom consolidated; the Byzantines were limited to small territories around Rome, Naples, and Ravenna. Under Khan Bayan (r.c.562–82), the Avars – nomadic horsemen from the northern Caucasus – exploited the vacuum left by the departure of the Lombards to carve out a vast territory centred around modern Austria. Their conquest of a number of Byzantine towns prompted Emperor Maurice (r.582–602) into a successful campaign to dislodge them.
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e ttl II h et ian lis Ba ng tin ph ub of in leti of us nd is I ro ecca tab he N J w P p m t es on t ain I 9 do rts r s s a e M m 6 o d s n s o h r e l r 5 ng ve y t o , co m lan e n pe san eriu va tat n p of ad i ax of ng ki con ianit Em in ib 0 A a s aria 7 S am st E rth m 58 g ria rist Bi am 57 yrrh que ern 74 oes by T . n u 5 c 0 h g ed k n h D 7 uh Hu c of e co sout Ma to C c. 5 M pla th re
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n tio uc ive str ens he n t o ef 5 C d s in ina 58 new all f Ch w o of rth no
589–599
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Painted c.581–618, this fresco is from China’s Dunhuang caves, in a strategic Silk Road oasis. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art.
China, rebelled and took the throne for himself as the emperor Wendi (r.581–604). In 589, he invaded southern China. His forces rapidly overcame those of the last Chen emperor, Hou Zhu. Wendi was now the country’s sole ruler and the first emperor of the Sui dynasty; after three centuries of division, China was finally united. Wendi disarmed private armies and established agricultural colonies along China’s frontiers to strengthen central control in remote areas. He implemented a major land reform that increased the number of households liable to the land tax from 4 million in 589, to almost 9 million in 606. Wendi also extended the country’s canal system to form a “Grand Canal”
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IN 581, YIANG JIAN, A GENERAL OF THE ZHOU RULERS of northern
NOT ANGLES, BUT ANGELS. Pope Gregory I, on seeing Anglo-Saxon slaves at a market in Rome
that allowed vessels to travel 2,000km (1,240 miles) from Hangzhuo in the southeast to the northeastern provinces around Beijing, via Luoyang in eastern central China. Austere, strict, and occasionally violent, Wendi seemed to have set the Sui dynasty on firm foundations; in the end, it lasted only 14 years after his death, when it was replaced by the Tang. In 582, Emperor Maurice succeeded Tiberius II (r.578–82) as the Byzantine emperor. He had been commander of the palace
POPE GREGORY I (590–604) From 572 to 574 Gregory I was prefect of Rome, and only became a monk on his father’s death. A man of great ability and energy, he was involved in resistance to the Lombards in Italy in the early part of his papacy, but he maintained good relations with the Merovingians in Francia and the Visigothic rulers of Spain. Relations with the Byzantine emperor Maurice broke down over the use of the title “ecumenical patriarch” by the Bishop of Constantinople, which Gregory viewed as a challenge to his authority.
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guard and then of the war against the Persians from 578. Tiberius’s overspending and ineffective campaigns against the Persians, Lombards, and Avars had emptied the imperial treasury, leaving Maurice facing an immediate financial crisis. His subsequent economizing led to mutinies by the eastern army in 588 and by that of the Balkans in 593. Maurice made his father Paul head of the Senate and his brother-in-law Philippicus head of the palace guard; such nepotism further increased his unpopularity. In 584, Maurice renewed the war with Persia, appointing Philippicus to oversee it. The new commander attacked Arzanene, but his campaign was disrupted by the defection of the Ghassanid Arabs – former allies alienated by the arrest of their king, al-Mundhir. The mutiny of the eastern troops in 588 caused Byzantine efforts to stall further, and in 589 they lost the city of Martyropolis (in present-day Turkey) to the Persians. The Byzantines were saved by the outbreak of a civil war in Persia; the involvement of a Byzantine army in the restoration of one Persian claimant, Chosroes II, led to the recovery of Martyropolis and Dara in 592.
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5
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In the Balkans, the Slavs – a non-Germanic people referred to as “Sclaveni” in contemporary sources – seem to have arrived north of the Danube in the early to mid-6th century. When the Avars moved into the region in c.559 the Slavs were pushed further south. By the end of the 6th century, Slavic groups had settled as far south as northern Greece, the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic, and Macedonia, as well as in those areas of Bulgaria, Bohemia, Moravia, Serbia, and Croatia where the great Slav kingdoms of the Middle Ages would later arise. In 596, Pope Gregory I sent a mission to Britain to revive Christianity, following the invasions by pagan Anglo-Saxons in the 5th and early 6th centuries. The missionaries set out under Augustine, a former prior of a monastery in Rome, and arrived in Kent the following year. Their reception was reasonably warm as Bertha, the wife of the Kentish king Aethelberht, was already Christian. After Aethelberht was baptized a Christian, Augustine was able to establish a church in Canterbury. King Saebert of Essex and King Sigebert of East Anglia – both
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dependent on Kent – also converted, but the infant English Church would suffer a series of setbacks before the last AngloSaxon kingdoms became Christian in the late 7th century.
Sui dynasty figurine This figure depicting a trader on a camel emphasizes China’s continuing concern with commerce along the Silk Road through Central Asia.
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TRADE AND INVENTION 600 1449
In the Medieval period, trade and travel unified the Old World in a single network, with new ideas and inventions emerging even as the political landscape was transformed. Meanwhile, in the New World, great civilizations reached their peak.
600–610
611–620
621–630
631–640
A coin depicting the Eastern Roman emperor Heraclius.
A Tang dynasty Mendicant friar, with an unusual travelling companion.
This 1721 engraving by Austrian architect Johann Fischer von Erlach shows Al-Haram Mosque and Ka’aba in Mecca.
The ruins of the 7th century Byzantine fortresses at Sbeitla, Tunisia.
began when the emperor Maurice (r.582–602) dispatched his armies to the northern Balkans to regain imperial control of the Danube frontier from the Avars (see 568–88). In 602, the army rebelled under officer Phocas and Maurice was killed. Phocas became emperor but Chosroes II of Sasanian Persia took advantage of the eastern empire’s weakness, while the Avars invaded from the north. In 610 the son of the military governor of Roman Africa, Heraclius, executed Phocas and declared himself emperor. In 606, in northern India, Harsha (c.590–647) acceded to the thrones of Thanesar and Kannauj, establishing the last native Indian empire of ancient times.
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THE EMPEROR HARSHA, NOBLE IN BIRTH AND OF WELL-CHOSEN NAME, THE SURPASSER OF ALL THE VICTORIES WON BY ALL THE KINGS OF ANCIENT TIMES...
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Banabhatta, Indian poet, from The Deeds of Harsha, c.640
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108-109_600-650CE.indd 108
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MUHAMMAD FIRST RECEIVED A DIVINE REVELATION IN 610 and
Tang dynasty horse sculpture Horses were symbols of military prowess, especially warhorses from the western fringes of the empire.
began to preach in Mecca from 613; but the start of the Islamic era is traditionally marked by the Hegira or hijra, the flight to Medina. Hostility from the Meccan authorities forced Muhammad to flee to Medina with his family and followers in 622. In Medina, Muhammad established a political and religious power base. He fought a series of attacks by Meccan forces, with their ultimate surrender in 630 when he took possession of the Ka’aba, the holiest shrine in the
Arabian Peninsula. Muhammad’s rule was then unchallenged. Heraclius began to claw back territory ceded to the Persians, starting at the Battle of Issus in 622 and later, in 627, at the Battle of Nineveh. In 628 the Sasanian and Byzantine Empires made peace, exhausted by decades of war and unaware of the storm brewing to the south. In China the emperor’s son, Taizong, consolidated Tang power by suppressing rebellions across the empire. In 626, Taizong forced his father to step down and inaugurated a golden age of trade, prosperity, and cultural exchange.
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community – united by Islam, which transcended traditional rivalries – was ready for expansion. Although Muhammad had left no guidance as to his successor (caliph), four men tied to the prophet by marriage emerged as
THOSE WHO ARE PATIENT IN ADVERSITY AND FORGIVE WRONGS ARE THE DOERS OF EXCELLENCE.
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Prophet Muhammad
SASANIAN CONQUESTS RESTORED THE PERSIAN EMPIRE at the
expense of the Byzantines with the falls of Jerusalem in 614 and Egypt in 619. By 618, Constantinople was besieged by the Avars, and their Slavic subjects. In 620, Heraclius bought off the Avars in order to focus on repelling the Persians. In 613 Clothar II (584-629) reunited the Frankish kingdom, bringing an end to civil war. His Edict of Paris, issued in 614, introduced reforms to the Merovingian church and state. In 616–17, rebellions against the despotic rule of Yangdi (r.604-17) caused the collapse of the Sui dynasty in China. A year later military governor Li Yuan founded the Tang dynasty, which ruled until 906.
BY THE TIME OF MUHAMMAD’S DEATH IN 632, the young Muslim
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UPHEAVAL IN THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
MUHAMMAD (570–632) Born in Mecca, Muhammad ibn Abdallah worked as a merchant and shepherd before growing discontented and retiring to a life of contemplation. In 610, he received the first of a series of divine revelations – these became the Qu’ran. He preached a monotheistic faith based on complete submission to God (Islam). Before his death he unified Arabian tribes within his new religion.
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9
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the Rashidun, or “rightly guided”, caliphs. The first caliph, Abu Bakr (r. 632–34), suppressed an Arabian rebellion, re-established Islamic dominion over Arabia, and began the conquest of Syria. His successor Umar (r.634–44) became caliph in 634 and oversaw the conquest of Syria and the defeat of the Byzantines at Ajnadayn. By 637, Umar controlled Jerusalem and Damascus, and, in the same year, Arab forces conquered Persia (modern Iran and Iraq), occupying the Sasanian capital at Ctesiphon. Umar established several important practices: the creation of garrison towns in conquered territory to separate the invading Arabic forces from the locals; the recruitment of soldiers through slavery and tribal
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641–650
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THEY BEQUEATHED THE GLEAMING GOLD, TREASURE OF MEN, TO EARTH From the Old English epic poem, Beowulf
One of 20 burial mounds of this type at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England, which conceal the graves and funerary treasures of the royal line of East Anglia.
MONGOLIA
N MA
UR
IA
KO RE A
i Gob Turfan n Ordos Sh a Tashkent n Tie Desert Anxi Samarkand Dunhuang Kashgar Takla Makan Desert Bactra Jinchang Chang’an Perwali Khotan Taxila Peshawar Plateau of CHINA H i Tibet Thar ma layas Desert Mathura Sarnath Pataliputra Bodh Gaya BURMA INDIA Barygaza Nasik Ratnagiri Arabian Bay of Bengal Sea Nagarjunakonda INDOCHINA
CH
East China Sea
Hangzhou
Taiwan
27 METRES
THE LENGTH OF THE SUTTON HOO SHIP
Philippine Islands S outh China Sea
region. In 642, for instance, the Christian king Oswald of Northumbria, hitherto one of the most powerful kingdoms, was slain by the pagan king Penda of Mercia. The great Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk – filled with marvellously worked artefacts, weapons and treasures
– is believed to have once contained the body of an Anglo Saxon king. One of the last burials of this type in England, the artefacts comprise a fusion of Christian and non-Christian elements, suggesting transition as Christianity gained in popularity and strength.
dragon’s head crest
Kanchipuram
KEY Xuanzang’s route
INDIAN OCEAN
The travels of Xuanzang The young monk left the Tang capital, Chang’an, in around 630. He crossed Central Asia and reached India in 645.
affiliation – those recruited for fighting were made dependents of tribal members; and a taxation system that favoured Muslims and encouraged conversion but allowed Christians and Jews to follow their religions. Buddhism became increasingly influential in Tang China; the Buddhist monk Xuanzang journeyed far and wide in search of wisdom. His travels became legendary and foresaw the increasing mobility of people and ideas along the Silk Road, made possible by the power of the Tang and later the caliphate. Also travelling the Silk Road, Nestorian Christians reached China from Persia in 635.
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at
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ISLAMIC EXPANSION CONTINUED
as the Arabs defeated the Persian counterattack at the Battle of Nihavand in 642, dealing the final blow to the Sasanian Empire; the last emperor, Yazdgird III, died in 651, and with him died Zoroastrianism, the religion of the empire. Conversion of the population to Islam proceeded slowly but steadily over the following centuries. The Arabs met with similar success in Egypt where the Byzantines offered only token resistance. The fall of Alexandria came in 642, the same year that the Muslims founded the military settlement of Fustat, which later became Cairo. The following year the marauding Islamic armies conquered Tripolitania in North Africa as their advance continued,
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108-109_600-650CE.indd 109
unchecked even by the assassination in 644 of Umar by a Persian slave. His successor, Uthman, promulgated the first written version of the Qu’ran, which had previously been transmitted orally. After launching successful expeditions against the Tibetans and Mongolians, but failing to conquer Korea, the Tang emperor Taizong (r.626–49) died in 649, and his weak-willed son began to cede increasing influence to the Empress Wu (624–705). In Japan, the Fujiwara clan enacted the Taika reforms in 646, bringing all land into imperial ownership and centralizing power following the Chinese model. In England, Christian converts battled pagan kings for control over territory and the religious and cultural direction of the Sutton Hoo helmet This reconstruction is made from iron with highly-decorated panels of tinned bronze.
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109
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651–670
671–690
The weathered landscape of central Anatolia, a Byzantine territory that suffered repeated raids from Arab forces in the 7th century.
A modern-day depiction of the Battle of Karbala; al-Husayn’s death is commemorated in the annual Shiite ritual of the ashura.
THE SPLIT BETWEEN SUNNI AND SHIITE MUSLIMS was the outcome
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108
KHAZAR EMPIRE
E U R OPE
re Magh
Khurasan
a n S ea
Constantinople
SASANIAN EMPIRE Kerman Khuzis Meso tan F a r s pota mia Oman Syria Armenia
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Arabian Peninsula
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Atlas Mountains
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of fierce disagreement over how succession to the caliphate ought to be decided; either by selection (as in the case of the first three caliphs) or by hereditary descent. Caliph Uthman (r. 644–56) had promoted members of his own clan, the Umayyads. He was assassinated in 656 by Egyptian soldiers, nursing grievances over their lower status. Ali Ibn Abi Talib became the fourth caliph. As Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law – next in line by descent – Ali enjoyed unique status in the Islamic world, but he faced many challenges. At the Battle of the Camel in 656 Ali overcame a revolt by the prophet’s widow A’isha and her allies, opposing his inclusive policies. In 657, the Umayyad emir of Syria, Mu’awiya, asserted his claim on the caliphate; Ali was also challenged by the Kharijis, a sect who objected to the application of the hereditary principle. In 661, Ali was murdered by a Khariji, opening the way for Mu’awiya to declare himself caliph, instituting the Arab Umayyad dynasty. Ali’s supporters formed a party of their own, which evolved into a distinctive branch of Islam, the Shiites, in opposition to the Sunni. Emperor Constans II attempted to re-establish
THE MAYA CITY-STATE OF TIKAL BEGAN ITS RESURGENCE after a
ASIA
Aral Sea
Yemen
AF R ICA
Expansion under the caliphate The rapid Arab expansion continued throughout the latter half of the 7th century. Islamic armies pushed into Central Asia and North Africa, bringing them within striking distance of Spain.
Byzantine claims to Italy by relocating his court to Rome in 663, but raids deep into Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) by Arab forces led to a collapse in his authority; in 668, he was assassinated and Constantine IV took the throne. Arab incursions into
KEY Muslim lands by 656 Byzantine Empire c.610 Sasanian Empire c.610 Frankish Kingdoms c.610
Anatolia continued and by 670 they had reached the Byzantine capital, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), launching the first siege on the city, which would last until 677. The Unified Silla kingdom in Korea brought to an end the long Three Kingdoms period, with the help of Tang China. In 660 the Tang destroyed the kingdom of Paekche, while in 668 Silla and Tang forces combined to overcome Koguryo, thus bringing all of the Korean Peninsula under Silla control. Stoneware bird This grey stoneware incense burner dates from the Silla kingdom, which was on the verge of becoming the dominant power during Korea’s late Three Kingdoms period.
ler es ru n sh tio com sion es f gli a e m s n o eo En si li b cce c y – s e t r s a om by er l b ta ld to ss n; A e su gd ca y-s bui rva hit n ov 6 A ma th kin a Pa a cit nd bse f W ma 65 Uth but a 7 a o l e o y o il or d 65 Ma ue cal of liph uted no t R ity 8S K of lenq omi Sy dop tian ca disp 66 ifies 64 gy a hris n Pa tron is 6 u r C as cle ltic Ce
it; ine pl nt I; e s fth za s I iit es fi m By tan des r f h f e a S s l u eo n o on ce nq n ni– com f Is ieg ople ) tio or C V ac co ista un a be ph o S a I s S n t n n 7 b 1 si per ine iy cali irs nti 67 ra gha as t 66 ’aw 0 F sta (to ss em tan 4 A Af 67 Con s Mu 66 h of 8A n 6 6 Co uc m
century-long period of political and cultural domination by neighbouring city-states known as the Tikal hiatus, which had been marked by an absence of inscriptions in the city’s petroglyphic record. An inscription dated to 672 records a military campaign against the rival city-state of Dos Pilas, and in the following decades Tikal restored its position among the Maya of the Late Classic period (600–900). The city’s rulers engaged in a construction programme to match their political ambitions, building many impressive structures including massive pyramids, ball
courts, causeways, observatories, and palaces. The Arab forces besieging the city of Constantinople (see 670) were unable to breach its massive walls and were eventually beaten off with the use of a new Byzantine secret weapon– “Greek fire” (see 711–20). Its deployment may also have helped destroy the Arab fleet at the Battle of Syllaeum in 677, forcing the caliphate to agree a 30-year truce. The truce bought breathing space for the embattled Byzantine Empire, struggling to hold back the Bulgars, who established the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 on conquered Byzantine territory north of the Balkan mountains.
ARAB CONQUESTS Having consolidated their conquests of Persia and Byzantine North Africa, Arab armies pressed on eastwards and westwards. In Central Asia, Arab forces crossed the Oxus river in 667 and continued to advance to within range of the Silk Road kingdom of Bukhara. In Africa, they crushed the Berber kingdoms, reaching Tangiers in 683.
ya
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691–700
Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock – a shrine sacred to all three Abrahamic faiths – has an octagonal floorplan and a massive gold dome.
At the Battle of Karbala in 680 the Shiite leader al-Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad, was surrounded by Umayyad troops, deprived of water for several days, and eventually killed. His death was proclaimed a martyrdom by the Shiites, who commemorate it to this day. In China in 690, the Empress Wu finally took the throne in her own name – the only woman in Chinese history to do so – after decades of controlling it through her husband and sons. She even created her own dynasty, Zhou, which she headed until 705.
3,000
THE NUMBER OF MAJOR STONE BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTED IN TIKAL’S LATE CLASSIC PERIOD ABD AL-MALIK HAD BECOME CALIPH IN 685, instituting
important changes to the way the caliphate was ruled, centralizing government, insisting that all state business was conducted in Arabic, setting up the barid (a postal/intelligence gathering service), and issuing, around 697, new coinage: the dinar and dirham. He also commissioned a great shrine to be built on the
,, Temple at Tikal Flanking Tikal’s Great Plaza, the 38m (122ft) high Temple II was built during the construction boom of the Late Classic resurgence.
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I HAVE NOT SEEN THE EQUAL; NEITHER HAVE I HEARD TELL OF ANYTHING… THAT COULD RIVAL IN GRACE THIS DOME OF THE ROCK…
,,
Mukaddasi, Arab geographer, c.10th century
Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock (or Qubbat as-Sakhrah), completed in 692. The harsh ten-year rule of the Byzantine emperor Justinian II had aroused widespread opposition and in 695 he was deposed and had his nose cut off by Leontius, who became emperor in his stead. However, in 698, the loss of Carthage, the last Byzantine stronghold in North Africa, to the Arabs led to another revolt and Leontius suffered the same fate as his predecessor. The turn of the century was a time of change and unrest in the Americas. In North America, the spear was superceded by widespread adoption of the bow and arrow. In the Valley of Mexico around 700, the great city-state of Teotihuacán, which once housed over 100,000 people, collapsed bringing six centuries of growth and dominance to an end. Social, economic, and environmental factors were probably to blame.
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Ancient Teotihuacán mask This mask was probably tied to a figurine representing a god. The mask would have been decorated with inlays and ear ornaments.
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109
701–710
711–720
721–730
A detail from the illuminated manuscript of the Lindisfarne Gospels.
Greek fire being deployed, as illustrated in the Madrid Skylitzes manuscript from the 12th century, which chronicles the history of the Byzantine Empire.
An iconic image of Christ held by Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople.
caliphate control from Provence to the borders of China. The Arabs did experience some setbacks, however. In 717, yet another incursion into Byzantine lands triggered a change at the head of the empire, bringing Leo III, founder of the Isaurian Dynasty, to the throne. Although unable to prevent the Arabs from reaching the walls of the capital and launching the second siege of Constantinople (717–18), Leo’s energetic command of the defence, and the deployment of the secret weapon “Greek fire”, halted Arab advances in the Eastern Mediterranean. Byzantine fleets, wielding Greek firespouting siphons, gained control of the seas, and Leo was able to begin restoring the empire. In 713, the Tang emperor Xuanzong came to the throne. His 43-year reign would see Tang China reach its apogee, economically and culturally, with the establishment of many schools, patronage of the arts, and a great literary flowering.
ANGLO-SAXON ART FUSED GERMANIC AND CELTIC ELEMENTS, and, through
travellers and Christian pilgrims, it also reflected Roman and Byzantine influences. A product of this unique synthesis was the Lindisfarne Gospels, an illuminated manuscript produced c.701 at the priory of Lindisfarne, on Holy Island, off the northeast coast of England. In 705, with the help of Bulgar allies, the deposed emperor Justinian II returned from exile (see 690–700), regained the Byzantine throne, and exacted brutal revenge on those who had mutilated him. By 705, Zoroastrian refugees fleeing the Islamic conquest of Persia established communities in India and became known as the Parsees. Persian Zoroastrian emigration continued during the following centuries.
Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory The Benedictine Priory, built in the 12th century, replaced an earlier church founded by St Aidan in 635.
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112-113_701CE-750CE.indd 112
112
110
His favourite concubine This Tang dynasty scroll shows Xuanzong watching his concubine Yang Guifei mount a horse. The emperor’s love for her inspired much drama and poetry. IN 710, THE VISIGOTHIC KINGDOM OF SPAIN had descended into civil
war, presenting a tempting prospect to the Islamic armies now established in North Africa, just a short distance away across the Straits of Gibraltar. In 711, a Muslim army under general Tariq ibn Ziyad, landed at Gibraltar. Tariq was a Berber (native of northwestern Africa), or, in the parlance of the times, a Moor, and it was a mixed army of Arabs and Moors that achieved the conquest of Spain, known to the Islamic world as al-Andalus. According to tradition, Tariq defeated the Visigothic king, Roderick, at the Battle of Guadalete, and by the end of the year most of the Iberian peninsula was under Islamic control. Only the northwest, known as Asturias, managed to
resist the invaders, with defeat at the Battle of Covadonga in 718 checking the Arab advance. The year 718 is one of the dates traditionally given for the start of the process of Christian reconquest of Spain. Nonetheless, by the end of the decade further expeditions across the Pyrenees, and successful campaigns in Central Asia, had extended
GREEK FIRE The Arab expansion indirectly proved the saviour of the Byzantine Empire, when Kallinikos, a Syrian Greek forced into exile by the Arab invasion, brought to Constantinople the recipe for a secret weapon that came to be known as Greek fire. Now believed to have been a concoction of naphtha, sulphur, quicklime, and nitre – a sort of medieval napalm – this highly flammable mixture was sprayed at enemies from a siphon device that could be fitted to the prow of a Byzantine war galley.
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CASA GRANDE FLOURISHED AROUND THE 720s. The success of
this settlement of the Hohokam, an ancient people of the Sonoran desert in modern-day Arizona, lay in a watering system that allowed a range of crops to be grown, despite the arid environment. The Hohokam lived here for more than a millennium; they were known as “canal builders” because of their sophisticated irrigation technology. Casa Grande was at the centre of a trade network that stretched from the Pacific coast to Tucson and to the Gulf of Mexico. The earliest structures at Casa Grande were probably pit houses; the “great house” that gives the site its name came much later. In 725, the Khazars, a Turkic people of Central Asian origin, established their capital at Atil, on the Volga delta at the northwestern corner of the Caspian Sea. From here they controlled trade routes to all corners of Asia and built an empire that would control a huge swathe of Eastern Europe and Western Asia for centuries to come. In Byzantium in 726, the emperor Leo III (see 711–20) instituted a policy of iconoclasm (smashing images deemed sacrilegious) in response to the idea that God was punishing Christian Byzantines by their loss of land to the Arabs and Slavs. The controversy encouraged the Roman papacy to assert their independence from Byzantine imperial authority. , ne e tio nk s uk e Ra mo ab by d attl m h r s oru gli able 1A d eB r 72 ecke t th e mp En Te the Vene the e ch do a lous D by he zes ing u 5 u i t E To 72 ork as lar f dat of a w own popu m o kn de, yste Be BC s / AD
in m ka f sm eo ho t o cla or L th Ho en e in o n r 5 2 lem d d co pe grow er w 6I m c.7 sett Gran nde u 72 he e pose ic po t sa a fo : a op ast C zon m o n t iu i nt cy mo Ar za oli of 16/05/11 4:26 PM By es p us
731–740
741–750
In 1837, artist Steuben depicted the Battle of Tours–Poitiers as a clash over the fate of Christian Europe. In reality Islamic raiders were beaten back in a minor skirmish.
The Great Mosque at Samarra, Iraq, built by the Abbasid Caliphate. Once the largest mosque in the world, the minaret stands at 52m (171ft) tall.
PEOPLE PER SQUARE KILOMETRE THE POPULATION DENSITY OF TIKAL SINCE CONQUERING SPAIN, ISLAMIC FORCES had made
regular raids across the Pyrenees, striking deep into modern-day France before retreating to al-Andalus. In 721, an incursion into Aquitaine – a dukedom nominally in vassalage to the Frankish kingdom – had been checked by Duke Eudo at the Battle of Toulouse. But in 731, Eudo was unable to halt a fresh invasion of Islamic forces under Abd al-Rahman I, emir of al-Andalus. After defeat at the Battle of Arles, Eudo was forced to appeal to Charles Martel, the Frankish mayor of the palace, for help. Martel raised an army and met the Islamic forces on the banks of the Loire, between Tours and Poitiers, in 732. He was victorious at the Battle of Tours–Poitiers, and subsequent Christian historians would depict this as one of the defining clashes of the age – the moment at which Islamic expansion was
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overtaxed the surrounding ecology and exceeded their ability to cope with drought. Collapse was just around the corner.
culmination of growing tension in the Islamic world. Under the Umayyads (see 651–70) the Arab elite stubbornly maintained their special tax and political status, failing to deal with the growing grievances of the mawali (nonArab Muslims). In 747, revolt broke out in Persian Khorasan, stronghold of the Abbasid clan, who traced their descent back to Muhammad through his uncle, al-Abbas. In 749, Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah was proclaimed caliph at Kufa in Iraq, and the following year at the Battle of the Zab he defeated Marwan II, the last Umayyad caliph. Marwan fled to Egypt but his head was sent back to Damascus, whereupon al-Saffah instigated a general massacre of the Umayyad clan to remove potential opposition. In 741 Charles Martel (see 731–40) died and was succeeded by his sons Pepin the Short and
Carloman. In 748, Pepin had a son, Charles, who would go on to unite most of Western Europe under one banner (see 761–90). Tiwanaku, a pre-Columbian city on the altiplano (high plains) of Bolivia, reached it’s height in around 750. Tiwanaku was the centre of a civilization that flourished from the third to tenth centuries (see 951–60). The city itself was probably a ceremonial and trading centre; its cultural and economic influence spread far through South America, and it would profoundly affect the development of later civilizations in the Andean region. Tiwanaku thrived in the harsh environment of the Bolivian altiplan thanks to its sophisticated raised-field agriculture system and extensive use of terracing and irrigation, which enabled it to achieve yields in excess of even modern petrochemical farming (see below), and supported the development of a sophisticated culture. The Tiwanaku people built pyramids, temples, and colossal statues.
25
Tiwanaku yields Raised fields combined with irrigation canals enabled Tiwanaku to achieve yields of up to 21 tonnes per hectare, according to experimental reconstructions.
Statue of Chaak, Mayan god Mayans would have sought help from god of rain and thunder, Chaak, for their crops. Their civilization sat in a region of poor soil and fragile ecology, so rain was vital.
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THE FOUNDATION OF THE ABBASID CALIPHATE IN 750 was the
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YIELD (TONS/HECTARE)
790
checked and Europe preserved for Christianity. Arabic sources record it as a minor skirmish, and in reality its main significance was that it demonstrated the need for the Frankish kingdoms to present a unified defence. The Maya city-states of the Late Classic period reached the peak of their power and sophistication in the mid-8th century in Central America. The population of Tikal, for instance, swelled to at least 60,000, in a city spread out over 76 sq km (47 sq miles). Mayan rulers built stone temples, palaces, ballcourts, and observatories, and controlled a trade network stretching from California to South America. Yet the height of the city-states’ glory sowed the seeds of downfall, as the populations
20 15 10 5 0
Traditional
Modern Tiwanaku Petrochemical Intensive
FARMING YIELDS COMPARED
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113
111
751–760
761–770
771–780
The interior of the Mosque of Cordoba, Spain, shows architecture from the earliest phase of construction during the reign of Abd al-Rahman I.
The two-tier crop rotation system introduced in the 760s divided fields between cultivated and fallow land, then alternated, promoting soil fertility.
Roland bids farewell to Charlemagne, in this medieval illustration on vellum.
UNDER THE NEW ABBASID CALIPHS (see 741–50) the Islamic
empire continued to grow. Initial success came in 751 against the Chinese in the Silk Route kingdom of Tashkent. The Islamic armies were victorious at the Battle of Talas River near Samarkand,
which led to the loss of most of Tang China’s Central Asian possessions and introduced the Islamic world to papermaking. Outlying regions of the caliphate asserted their autonomy. In Spain in 756, one of the last surviving Umayyads, Abd al-Rahman I, declared an independent Emirate of Cordoba. In Europe, the Carolingian Pepin III (c.714–68) deposed the last Merovingian king, Childeric III. With the pope’s support Pepin was crowned and was soon able to return the papal favour. When the Lombards conquered Ravenna, the last Byzantine territory in Italy, the Lombard king, Aistulf then set his eyes on Rome. Pope Stephen II appealed to Pepin for help, and in 755 and 756 Pepin invaded Italy, seizing Ravenna. It was later claimed by the papacy in a document entitled the Donation of Pepin, that Pepin had conceded all former conquered territories in northern Italy to the pope, but this was almost certainly not the case. Pepin III Also known as Pepin the Short, Pepin III was the first Carolingian King of the Franks. This carving from his tomb dates to the 13th century.
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Charlemagne’s European Conquests Charlemagne inherited land from his father then embarked on war after war, continuing the work of his father and grandfather.
THE DEATH OF PEPIN III IN 758,
had seen the Frankish kingdom customarily divided between his sons Carloman and Charles (see panel, below). Meanwhile, the great monastic retreat on the Scottish isle of Iona was developing a reputation for piety and scholarship. It is possible that one of the treasures of Celtic Christianity – the Book of Kells – was produced by monks in the monastery at Iona. Lavishly decorated and illuminated, this priceless artefact survived the Viking raids (see 791–800), and for safekeeping it was later transferred to a monastery at Kells in Ireland. The founding of Baghdad in 762 signalled the arrival of the first truly Islamic imperial city. Sited near Ctesiphon (the old
Hamburg Aachen Paris AT L A N T I C OCEAN
E URO PE KEY Avignon Frankish Empire on Charlemagne’s Rome accession Charlemagne’s M ed iter r a n ea n conquests S ea
Regions recognising Charlemagne as overlord
Sasanian capital), the new city was carefully laid out on a circular plan and was connected to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by canals. Baghdad became a trading hub that attracted merchants from northern Europe, India, and China.
CHARLEMAGNE (748–814 ) Athletic and physically impressive, Charlemagne spoke Latin and understood Greek, but never learned to read. His intent was to extend Frankish hegemony, foster a close relationship with the papacy, and reform the Church to ensure divine support for the Frankish Kingdom. This depiction from a 15th century tapestry is testament his enduring legacy.
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KEY Frankish Empire on Charlemagne’s accession Charlemagne’s conquests Regions recognizing Charlemagne as overlord
THE DEATH OF CARLOMAN IN 771
meant that Charlemagne became sole ruler of the Franks. The following year he launched a series of bloody campaigns with the aim of bringing the peoples east of the Rhine back under Frankish rule – they had been subject to the authority of the preceding Merovingian Dynasty. At this time the various Saxon tribes were still pagans, and Charlemagne was determined to convert them to Christianity and thus bring them under the hegemony of the Frankish state. From 773–74 he conquered the kingdom of the Lombards, bringing northern Italy into his empire and establishing his rule over Venetia, Dalmatia, and Corsica, thus extending his reach down both sides of the Adriatic coast and into the Mediterranean. In the late 770s, he attempted to project his power into Spain by taking advantage of infighting among the Muslim rulers. Invited to intervene in local politics by disgruntled emirs, Charlemagne
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114-115_751-800.indd 115
791–800
Offa’s Dyke, which roughly follows the line of the Welsh–English border, was constructed during the reign of Offa of Mercia; stretches are still visible today.
The giant Buddha at Leshan in China was begun in 713 and finished 90 years later.
CHARLEMAGNE’S CONQUEST OF WEST SAXONY in 782 comprised
a bloody development with the mass execution of 4,500 Saxon prisoners at Werden. This event was appropriated by Nazi
historians in the 1930s as a sort of pre-Christian Germanic martyrdom, while others have called into question its details and even occurrence. Meanwhile, concerned about ignorance and illiteracy among clergy, Charlemagne launched a Carolingian cultural renaissance. In 786, Haroun al-Rashid (r.786–809) acceded to the caliphate in Baghdad. Under his rule the Barmakid family gained great power as his viziers (high-ranking advisors) and favourites, while the intellectual and cultural flowering of the Islamic world gathered pace. Growing enthusiasm among the rich and powerful for books encouraged scholars to begin translating ancient Greek and Roman texts into Arabic. In 785, Offa of Mercia (r.757–96), effective overlord of Britain, started constructing the monumental earthwork known as Offa’s Dyke, on the border between Wales and Mercia. Originally 27m (89ft) wide and 8m (26ft) high, the purpose of the dyke is unknown, and it probably fell into disuse soon after its completion.
Imperial gift An exquisite water jug sent to Charlemagne by Haroun al-Rashid, probably c.800.
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VIKING RAIDS on the shores of
the British Isles started in 789 and gathered pace in the 790s with the looting of the rich monasteries of Lindisfarne and Iona. The “Vikings” (possibly from the Old Norse language) originated in Scandanavia. In Tang China, the influence of Buddhism continued to grow, signalled by monuments such as the Leshan Buddha, a giant statue of the seated Buddha carved into a bluff next to the confluence of several major rivers. In Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), the emperor invited his mother Irene to become co-ruler in 792; four years later she had him blinded and declared herself empress. This move spurred the scholar Alcuin of York to suggest that the imperial seat was effectively vacant, and on 25 December 800, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans by his ally, Pope Leo III. In the same year he received an embassy from Haroun al-Rashid, emblematic of how the focus of power in Europe had shifted. In 800, the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad were forced to recognize
Functional and stylish brooch Skilfully crafted out of gold, this Viking brooch was not only beautiful but also practical, used to fasten cloaks or other clothing.
more or less complete loss of authority in Africa west of Egypt. They conceded to the emir of the province of Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia and part of Algeria) the right to make his post hereditary. The emir, Ibrahim ibn Aghlab, thus founded the Aghlabid Dynasty. This paid tribute to Baghdad and nominally recognized Abbasid authority, but ruled much of North Africa as an independent state.
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sent his armies across the Pyrenees but they failed to take the city of Saragossa (modernday Zaragoza in Spain) and were forced to retreat. This botched expedition inadvertently launched one of the great romances of medieval times, the legend of Roland. In 778, Roland, one of Charlemagne’s generals, was killed during an attack on the rearguard of the Carolingian armies as they retreated through the Pyrenean valley of Roncesvalles. The attack was actually carried out by Basques, but Roland’s Breton followers took up the tale and as it spread through France in the following centuries it morphed into a legend with many fictitious elements: Roland became the nephew of an elderly, white-bearded Charlemagne; his attackers the perfidious Saracens; and Roland was Count of the Marches of Brittany. By the 11th century, the “Song of Roland” appeared as an early chanson de geste; a heroic epic of the age of chivalry. In Constantinople, the death of Emperor Leo IV brought to the throne his infant son, Constantine VI. During his minority the empire was under the regency of the Empress Irene, his mother.
781–790
[CHARLEMAGNE] WAS LARGE AND STRONG AND OF LOFTY STATURE, THOUGH NOT DISPROPORTIONATELY TALL.
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Einhard, Charlemagne’s friend and Frankish historian, c.830
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801–810
504
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Jayavarman II This statue of Jayavarman II from the 12th-century Bayon temple at Angkor Thom, was constructed by his namesake, Jayavarman VII.
around 770, was powerful enough to establish an independent Khmer Empire and have himself proclaimed chakravartin, or “universal ruler”. In Sanskrit this translates as “god-king”– the authority of Khmer kings rested on their direct link to the gods, which was reflected in the monuments they would construct at the temple city of Angkor in centuries to come (see 880–90). Around 801, Bulan, the Khan of the Khazar Empire (see 861-70), hosted a debate between the three Abrahamic faiths, and chose Judaism.
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Louis the Pious in a copy of Raban Maur’s Book of the Cross.
This 14th-century manuscript depicts scholars seated in the House of Wisdom; the Abbasid caliphs recruited scholars of all religions, from Europe to China.
CONFLICT BETWEEN THE BYZANTINES AND BULGARS
THE HOUSE OF WISDOM, or Bait al-Hikma, was an institute devoted to the translation of classical scholarship and the pursuit of learning in Abbasid Baghdad. It was the epicentre of the Islamic intellectual renaissance, the heart of the Translation Movement, and the home of great scholars such as Al-Kharwizmi (c.780–850); algebra takes its name from his great treatise on mathematics of c.830, the Kitab al-Jabir, or The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing. The House of Wisdom was consolidated c.822 by al-Ma’mun. After the death of his father Haroun al-Rashid (see 791–800), and after a brief struggle, he had succeeded to the Caliphate in 813 and continued the tradition of intellectual patronage, building observatories and gathering the best scholars from around the
THE NUMBER OF STATUES AT BOROBUDUR TEMPLE
THE TIBETAN EMPIRE EXPANDED
in the early part of the 9th century, and extended its control to the Bay of Bengal. Its influence in Central Asia was indicative of Tang China’s weakness in the region. Meanwhile, in northern India the Gurjara-Prathihara dynasty, which had united the region and held back the advance of Islam, continued to grow in strength with the conquest of Kanauj in modern-day India by Nagabhata II, around 801. The Temple of Borobudur, a Buddhist monument in central Java, Southeast Asia, was completed in the early 9th century. The colossal structure, which is the largest Buddhist monument in the world, contains over 2 million stone blocks and is covered in almost 2,000 sqm (21,500 sqft) of carvings. The monument is a three-dimensional mandala, or cosmic wheel; walking its path, which is a journey of over 3km (2 miles), re-enacts the journey towards nirvana (englightenment). Its construction was an epic achievement, and a testament to the power of the Srivijayan Empire (c.760–1402), which had grown rich from the extensive maritime trade of the region. For much of this era Srivijayan influence extended over the Southeast Asian mainland, including the Mekong basin kingdom formerly known to the Chinese as Funan. But, in 802, Jayavarman II, a vassal ruler whose family had been quietly extending their territory since
811–820
(see 671–90) continued through the early part of the 9th century. Despite Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I (r. 802–11) twice sacking the Bulgar capital Pliskas, in 809 and 811, the Bulgar khan, Krum, fought back, meeting his foe in battle later in 811. Nicephorus was killed and Krum had his foe’s skull lined with silver for use as a drinking cup. Two years later, Krum attempted to besiege the Byzantine capital Constantinople, but was unable to breach the walls and so retreated, devastating Thrace for good measure. Charlemagne (see 760–800) died in 814 and his last remaining son, Louis the Pious (r. 814–40), acceded to the throne. He had been crowned co-emperor by his father the year before.
ISLAMIC SCIENCE Thanks to the House of Wisdom and other similar centres of scholarship across the Caliphate, Islamic scholars went far beyond the learning of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Islamic scientists made great advances in fields such as alchemy (proto-chemistry), medicine, toxicology, metallurgy, mathematics, and astronomy. This illustration from The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices shows an innovative handwashing device.
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400
THOUSAND THE NUMBER OF BOOKS IN THE HOUSE OF WISDOM
world. Mimicking the practises of the Abbasid’s Persian predecessors – the Sasanians – the Translation Movement collected manuscripts from other cultures and older traditions, and translated them into Arabic, thus preserving much ancient scholarship that would otherwise have been lost. Ptolemy’s seminal work on cosmology, the Almagest, for instance, was translated from Greek into Arabic around 827, and it was only through this translation that European scholars would later be able to access this ancient text. Civil strife in the Carolingian Empire (800–88) resulted from tension between Louis the Pious and his sons over their inheritances. After the death in 819 of his first wife – mother of his sons Lothair, Pepin, and Louis the German – Louis the Pious had married the ambitious Judith of Bavaria who prevailed on Louis to grant to her son, Charles the Bald (823–77), lands that had previously been promised to Lothair. In retaliation Lothair,
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Louis’ co-emperor since 824, rallied his brothers in revolt against their father. In early 830, Louis was deposed, and although Lothair’s misrule saw his father restored by the autumn, the older man’s authority was compromised and the scene set for worse conflict to come. Wessex, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in south and west England, became the dominant English power as a result of the victory of King Egbert over King Beornwulf of Mercia at the Battle of Ellandun, Wiltshire, in 825. Egbert was subsequently able to conquer the southeastern counties of England, and by around 828 Wessex was the most powerful state in the land, with Egbert recognized as bretwalda, or overlord, of England until his death in 839. The emergence of Great Moravia began around 830, with the establishment of the Principality of Moimir, to the west of the White Carpathians, under the rule of Moimir I. Moimir was one of two Slavic polities to establish themselves in the power vacuum left by the collapse of the Avars in 805; the other – to the east of the White Carpathians, in what is now Slovakia – was Nitra, under the rule of Prince Pribina. In 833, Moimir would conquer Nitra, setting his principality on the path to becoming the Great Moravian Empire.
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831–840
841–850
The area around Segesta in Sicily, with its Greek ruins, was occupied early on in the Aghlabid invasion of the island.
The ancient city of Pagan, in Burma, became the capital of a powerful Buddhist state occupying roughly the same area as the current region.
THE ISLAMIC CONQUEST OF SICILY
had begun in 827 with the arrival of an invasion force from Aghlabid in North Africa, sent by the Emir Ziyadat Allah I (r. 817–38) to take advantage of internal divisions among the Byzantine rulers of the island. Hindered by outbreaks of plague, the Islamic forces made little headway until 831 when Palermo fell after a year-long siege. The city then became the capital of Islamic Sicily, although total conquest of the island did not happen until 902. The Field of Lies, in Alsace in 833, was a meeting brokered by
the Pope to mediate between the Frankish rulers, which resulted in the desertion of Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald by their followers, and their subsequent imprisonment. This was one episode in a series of conflicts that saw the collapse of central authority and increasing Frankish vulnerability to raids from the Norsemen to the north and west, Bulgars and Magyars to the east, and Saracen pirates to the south. Saracen warriors “Saracens” was a European term for Muslims, especially those occupying Sicily and raiding Europe.
THE TREATY OF VERDUN in
843 marked the definitive division of Charlemagne’s empire. After the death of Louis the Pious in 840, his three surviving sons (see 821–30) embroiled themselves in further conflict over land. In 842, Charles the Bald and Louis the German teamed up and swore oaths to impose a settlement on Lothair that saw the Frankish Empire divided into regions. These broadly equated to France in the west, Germany in the east, and a middle kingdom that would later become known as Lotharii regnum, or Lotharingia (modern Lorraine). The rise of the Cholas, a Tamil dynasty of southern India, can be dated to 846, when the Chola king Vijayalaya, captured the city of Tanjore from the Pandya kingdom. The Capitulary of Meersen was a proclamation by the West Frankish king Charles the Bald in 847, ordering every free man to choose himself a lord. Charles intended the decree to facilitate the levy of armies, but it was also indicative of the increasing inability of the Frankish rulers to protect their subjects. In place of central authority, the peasants relied on local lords; they gave up freedoms and bound themselves to a feudal aristocracy in return
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for protection from Vikings and other raiders. In around 848, the Burmese city-state of Pagan was founded in the Irrawaddy Valley. Indian influence is readily perceivable in the architecture of this part of Southeast Asia due to cultural, religious, and mercantile ties. The legendary discovery of coffee is dated to around 850 when it is said that an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi noticed that, after eating some red berries, his goats became extremely lively. He brought a sample to a local Islamic holy man, who, disapproving of intoxicants, threw them on the fire where they roasted and released a delicious aroma.
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Coffee plant The coffee bush is native to the mountains of Ethiopia and Yemen, where it was first recorded in use in the mid-15th century.
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115
851–860
861–870
871–880
Monument in the courtyard of the Maya city of Palenque.
The frontispiece of The Diamond Sutra, the earliest known printed work, shows Buddha explaining the sutra (sermon) to an elderly disciple.
The landscape of Iceland offered scant welcome, yet Vikings settled here by 874. ALFRED THE GREAT OF ENGLAND,
THE DECLINE OF THE CLASSIC MAYA civilization continued as the
wave of abandonments that began with Palenque at the end of the 9th century spread south and east into the Classic Maya heartland. The last recorded inscriptions at Mayan cities Quiriguá and Copán date to 810 and 822; at Caracol to 859; and at Tikal to 889. A combination of drought, famine, disease, and social upheaval were probably responsible, as overpopulated cities and their overstretched resources reached a tipping point. The first recorded use of a crossbow was in France in 851. Although slower to reload than a longbow, the crossbow, or arbalest, required little training or strength to operate. The Fujiwara regency, assumed by Yoshifusa (c.804–72) on the accession of his grandson, the child-emperor Seiwa in 858, marked the Fujiwara clan’s domination of Japanese power.
NUMBER OF ARROWS PER MINUTE
12 9 6 3 0
Crossbow
Longbow
Crossbow vs longbow Although the longbow could be fired much faster, the crossbow had a greater range and was easy to operate. d ue tin ic on lass n C C io s of 50 e of zat ce ue ing e c.8 clin ivili ow Fran ag son urop l c b e i P d ya E ss o 7 po ro d t 85 got tern ted Ma 1 C ce er Wes fec 85 rodu n in m i s int fro real ce
f n go f yi n din m o nc n u do ain ge a cla er o e r r 7 F ing Sp ra wa pow 8 5 k e in wa uji n r uji n; F ld o ar F o v 8 pa h Na 85 Ja ent m ce
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KHAZAR EMPIRE The Caspian Sea is still known in the region as the Khazar Sea for the empire that ruled the area between it and the Black Sea from the 8th to 10th centuries. A contributing cause to the empire’s decline may have been a rise of 7m (23 ft) in the sea level. CYRILLIC SCRIPT WAS INVENTED
by the Byzantine missionary later known as St Cyril in around 863. Originally named Constantine, Cyril and his brother Methodius were sent to convert the Slavs in Moravia by Byzantine emperor, Michael III in around 862. Cyril devised a new “Glagolitic” script to translate the Bible into Slavic; this later became Cyrillic script. In 867, Basil, a favourite of Michael III, deposed his master and took the throne as Basil I. His reign marked the start of one of the most glorious periods of Byzantine history. Intent on restoring the empire internally and externally, Basil rebuilt the army and navy and revised the legal system. The Diamond Sutra of 868 is the world’s oldest surviving printed book. An illustrated Buddhist text, it was found in a cave in Dunhuang, a Silk Road town in northwest China.
Around the mid-9th century, the Khazars adopted Judaisim (see 801–10). According to tradition, they chose an Abrahamic faith to put them on equal footing with Christianity in the Byzantine Empire and Islam in the Caliphate.
Early Cyrillic script This wax tablet contains psalms of David, written in the early 11th century. It is believed to be the oldest document written in Cyrillic.
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an educated man who had spent time in Rome with the Pope, acceded to the throne of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex in 871. During the reign of his elder brother Aethelred I (r.865–71), Danish Vikings had invaded Wessex, but Alfred had helped defeat them at the Battle of Ashdown in 870. On assuming the kingship, Alfred averted crisis by defeating the Danes at Wilton in southwest England, but another attack in 875 caught him unawares and he was forced to retreat to the Somerset marshes. According to the popular legend, Alfred was here given shelter by a peasant woman who, unaware of his identity, left him to watch some cakes that were cooking on the fire. Preoccupied with the problems of his kingdom, Alfred let the cakes burn. Nonetheless he was able to summon his armies and defeated the Danish king Guthrum at the Battle of Edington in 878, forcing him to conclude the Peace of Wedmore, under the terms of which Guthrum converted to Christianity and agreed to a division of the country (see 881–90). The settlement of Iceland demonstrated how the Vikings were advancing on other fronts. Irish monks had probably already reached the North Atlantic island, and Viking navigators had other clues to its existence, such as the passage of migrating birds. Vikings had already visited the
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King Alfred A statue of King Alfred was erected at his capital, Winchester, in 1901. His sword doubles as a crucifix, emblematic of his militant faith.
island and even over-wintered there, but the first permanent settlement, according to the medieval Icelandic Landámabók (Book of Settlement), was by the Norwegian chieftain Ingolfur Arnarson in around 874. According to legend, he selected the spot for his homestead by throwing his
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nd he i, t s gla re ng hd i’ite En mo Ta na a t n h i ed i s -M S Al er ain Ch ton f W of elv ag in ing ce o lt ght ce f Tw d o a n E o ev ou ra of Pe t r dr ea am le by an le pp att ed as rrib B sa en Im i w e 8 o 4 D dd 4 P r te 87 foll 87 Hi 87 afte
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WE DISCERN ACROSS THE CENTURIES A COMMANDING AND VERSATILE INTELLIGENCE, WIELDING WITH EQUAL FORCE THE SWORD OF WAR AND OF JUSTICE.
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Winston Churchill, British Politician, on King Alfred, 1956–58
throne pillars overboard and following their drift. The Twelfth Imam, al-Mahdi – believed by some Shi’ites to be the ultimate saviour of humankind – miraculously disappeared in 874. According to some Shi’ites, when the Eleventh Imam, Hasan al-Askari, died in 874, his successor, a seven-yearold boy, went into literal and spiritual hiding, and ever since has been said to be “occulted”, or hidden until the day of his messianic return. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a unique written record of events from wars and politics to the weather, was kept from around 880 until the mid-12th century. It was indicative of the scholarship that King Alfred fostered, inviting scholars to England and translating major classical works himself. nt sa ea , p al, o a r e Zh ne ron ng ge th ua ned rial ror H e 0 ur pe 88 bel t im emp re urps ang us m T fro
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881–890
891–900
The façade of a building known as the Nunnery annex, at Chichen Itza, the leading Maya city-state of the Late or Terminal Classic Period.
Symeon of Bulgaria, depicted in the centre, had been educated as a monk in Constantinople before returning to take control of the Bulgars in 893.
SWEDISH VIKINGS, known as the
THE GROWING POWER OF THE BULGAR KHANATE (see 811–20)
Varangians or Rus, used rivers such as the Volga and Dnieper to push ever further inland from the Baltic, establishing dominion over the eastern Slavs of the region. Having founded the settlement of Novgorod in 862 and launched audacious raids on Constantinople by navigating rivers all the way to the Black Sea, they now colonized ever further south. In 882, the Rus prince Oleg (r. 882–912) defeated his rivals Askold and Dir, seized their settlement at Kiev, and transferred his capital there from Novgorod. The city would become the capital of Kievan Rus, a loose federation of territories, until 1169. The Danelaw – the part of England in which Viking law was upheld – was formalized by the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum in 886, following renewed attacks by Guthrum. Alfred would keep the south, including London, while the area to the north of a line between the Thames and Lea rivers went to the Danish, who would live under their own laws. In 887, Charles the Fat (c.839–88), the last Carolingian king to rule both the primary Frankish territories, West and East Francia (modern-day France and Germany), was deposed. Charles, already king of the East Franks since 879, had been elected king of the West Franks in 884. However, he was a victim of the declining power and authority of the Carolingian monarchs (see 841–50). Unable or unwilling to meet the Vikings in battle – specifically during their Siege of
Slavonic–Viking Jewellery Viking invaders conquered territories along Russia’s waterways, establishing a hybrid culture that mixed Slavonic and Viking styles.
Paris in 885–86 – he was proven incapable of protecting his people. Odo, Count of Paris (c.860–98), who had led a heroic defence against the Vikings in 885, was elected king of West Francia in 887. From now on, East and West Francia would develop as separate regions. The catastrophic decline of the Classic Maya city-states of the southern lowlands continued throughout the 9th century, and Tikal was abandoned by around 889. Maya city-states of the north (the area of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula) now took precedence in what is known as the Late or Terminal Classic Period. Foremost among these civilizations was Chichen Itza, which commanded the advantage of cenotes, or water holes; of vital importance in this droughtvulnerable region.
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worried the Byzantine emperor Leo VI, who in 895 prompted the Magyars to attack the Bulgars. However, this merely provoked the new khan, Symeon (r.893–927), to mobilize the Pechenegs – a tribe that had recently arrived on the Dnieper – to invade Magyar lands. The Magyars were forced to migrate west, settling in presentday Hungary, from where they launched extensive raids on Frankish territories for years to come. In the summer of 896, Symeon defeated a Byzantine army at Bulgarophygon, in
modern-day Turkey, forcing the Byzantine emperor to pay tribute. Symeon would rule for another 30 years, vying for the Byzantine throne, only to be thwarted by the impenetrable walls of its capital, Constantinople, on numerous occasions. The Toltecs (c.800–1000) were probably refugees from the collapsed Teotihuacan culture (see 690–700), who settled in the Valley of Mexico, founding a capital at Tula c.900, and forging a militaristic empire that inspired their descendants, the Aztecs.
Toltec coyote Toltec art, such as this depiction of a coyote-god, influenced other pre-Columbian American civilizations, including the Aztecs.
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901–910
911–920
This stone relief is from the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Breakdown of central authority in the period led to economic contraction. TANG CHINA HAD BEEN IN MILITARY DECLINE since defeat by
the Arabs at the Battle of Talas River in 751–760, and the Huang Zhao rebellion of the 880s signalled the end of the dynasty. Zhuwen (c.852–912) was a warlord who had originally been part of the Huang Zhao uprising and then instrumental in the rebel defeat. Richly rewarded for his role, he steadily built up his power base until in 904 he was ready to seize control, executing the Tang emperor Zhaozong and most of his sons, and installing the emperor’s 13-year-son on the throne as a puppet ruler. In 907, he took the throne for himself, founding the Later Liang Dynasty, but although he controlled the northern heartland of China – the Yellow River Valley region of Huang He – he was unable to prevent the south
Fatimid era text Named for Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima, the Fatimids proved patrons of learning through their sponsorship of Cairo’s al-Azhar school.
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fragmenting into ten independent kingdoms. The Later Liang Dynasty was short-lived (907– 923), with a succession of groups seizing control of the Huang He region and founding dynasties of their own, but proving unable to hold on to power. This period of anarchy, known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, lasted until the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty (see 951–960), and was a time of great hardship. Authority broke down, the economy collapsed, and barter replaced money in many areas. There was extensive flood and famine as flood defences and irrigation works fell into disrepair. To the west and north of the Five Dynasties region, Shatuo Turks and Khitan Mongols consolidated kingdoms of their own. The Khitans of southern Manchuria established their empire in 905 under the leadership of Yelü Abaoji (872–926). He went on to declare himself emperor in 916, founding the Liao Dynasty, which lasted until 1125, including a brief period as one of the Five Dynasties controlling northern China. In 909, Sa’id ibn-Husayn, an Ismaili Shi’ite, overthrew the Sunni Aghlabid Dynasty in Kairouan (modern-day Tunisia), declared himself al-Mahdi (the Shi’ite messiah), and founded the Fatimid Dynasty, named for the daughter of the prophet Muhammad, from whom he claimed descent. The Abbey of Cluny in Burgundy, founded in 910 by William the
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ABD AL-RAHMAN III BECAME THE NEW UMAYYAD RULER of the
ABBEY OF CLUNY William the Pious, who donated the land for the abbey in 910, placed no obligations on its Benedictine monks, so that it was free from secular oversight and answerable only to the Pope. Cluny became the centre of a monastic empire of great power, governing around 10,000 monks. In 1098, Pope Urban II, a former Abbot of Cluny, declared it “the light of the world”. Pious, Duke of Aquitaine, became the centre of a monastic “empire” in Europe (see panel, above). Displaced westwards by the Pechenegs (see 891–900), the Magyars launched a series of devastating raids throughout the decade. In 901, they ravaged The Five Dynasties A succession of regimes was unable to consolidate power, leaving warlords to the north and south to set up independent kingdoms. The fractured geopolitical situation is reflected in this map, which shows a tangle of borders and states.
Carinthia, in 906 and 907 they wreaked havoc in Moravia, and in 908 they attacked Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. With the Frankish emperor unwilling or unable to help, the East Franks elected regional “dukes” to defend against the incursions.
GANZHOU
Khitans
Cordoba emirate on the death of his grandfather, Abdallah, in 912. His territories had been reduced by rebellions and he quickly set about regaining much of his lost kingdom. During his reign and that of his successors, Cordoba reached the peak of its power (see 921–930). According to traditional sources, Prince Igor, ruler of Kievan Rus from 914–945, was the son of the legendary Rurik, who founded Novgorod in 862. Under his protection, Kievan Rus (see 881–890) became a Igor I of Kiev Igor, who ruled from 914 until his death in 945, gestures to his court in this19th-century illustration.
YAN
SHAZHOU
Uighurs
Tibetans
Yellow Sea
LATER TANG
JINGNAN
FORMER SHU CHU
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SOUTHERN HAN ANNAM
KEY Chinese states States occupied by non–Chinese peoples
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South China Sea
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931–950
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921–930
IN THIS YEAR, KING AETHELSTAN, LORD OF WARRIORS, RING-GIVER TO MEN… WON ETERNAL GLORY, IN BATTLE WITH SWORD EDGES, AROUND BRUNABURH
,,
Unknown author, from the Old English poem, The Battle of Brunaburh, 937
formidable power in the region, earning the respect of the Byzantines by force of arms during the Rus-Byzantine war of 941, and winning lucrative trade concessions from them. In 911, in recognition of helplessness in the face of constant and devastating Viking raids (see 881–890), the West Frankish king, Charles III, granted a large area of land guarding the mouth of the River Seine, which consisted of a large part of what later became Normandy, to the Norse chieftain, Rollo, also known as Hrolf, on the condition that he became a Christian. Charles’ grip on the crown was tenuous; the authority of the Carolingian monarchs had declined precipitously, with local counts ruling what were
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effectively independent fiefs that owed only nominal authority to the king (see 841–850). A powerful faction of West Frankish magnates had elected Count Odo of Paris to the kingship in 887, so Charles spent much of his reign engaged in civil war with Odo and his descendants. One of the tribal dukes who came to power with the impotence of the Carolingians in the face of the Magyar threat, Henry I, was elected king of the East Franks in 919, founding the Saxon Dynasty. The last Carolingian monarch of the East Frankish kingdom, Louis the Child, died in 911, after which Conrad, duke of Franconia, was elected as king. On his death he nominated his strongest rival, Henry, as successor.
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Lögberg, or Law Rock, in Iceland is the centre of the oldest parliament. NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THOUSANDS
This decorative panel at the Caliph’s Palace in Madinat az-Zahra, Spain, was erected by Al-Rahman III in imitation of the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad.
IN 932, THE UMMAYAD CALIPH ABD AL-RAHMAN III (see 911–920)
100 80 60 40 20 0
8th
9th
10th
CENTURY
Cordoba’s population growth This estimate shows how Cordoba grew rapidly from a small town to become one of the world’s biggest medieval cities. THE WANING AUTHORITY OF THE ABBASIDS IN BAGHDAD prompted
Abd al-Rahman III to declare himself the true caliph in 929, thus amending his kingdom, from emirate to caliphate. During the 10th century, his capital, Cordoba, became the largest and most developed city in Western Europe. In 930, Icelanders started meeting to decide on justice and legislation at an outdoor assembly on the plains of Thingvellir. All free men who had not been outlawed could attend the Althing, making it the oldest representative assembly in the world. During what archaeologists call the Pueblo II phase, the Pueblo peoples of Chaco Canyon, North America, were thriving. They built immense structures called “great houses”, some with up to 700 rooms.
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captured Toledo, bringing all of Muslim Spain back under one banner. Al-Rahman also waged a successful war against the Christian kingdoms of Leon and Navarre on his northern borders, forcing them to acknowledge his overlordship. In general, Jews and Christians enjoyed tolerance under the caliphate, though they remained second-class citizens, making issues such as tax status a driving force behind conversion. The Silla kingdom (see 651–670) was conquered by the Koryo kingdom in 935, completing the reunification of Korea under the Koryo leader Wang Kon, who now became King T’aejo (r.918–943). Wang Kon had acceded to power in the Three Kingdoms state of Koguryo in 918, renaming it and leading it in successful military ventures against the Kingdom of Paekche, who were conquered in 934, and the Silla. During his reign, T’aejo consolidated power by incorporating Silla nobility into his new ruling bureaucracy. In one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on British soil, the Anglo-Saxon king Athelstan (c.893–939) crushed an alliance of forces in 937, cementing his control of Britain and his kingship of a the now unified Anglo-Saxon realm of England. Alarmed by the prospect of Anglo-Saxon expansionism, the king of Alba (in modern-day Scotland) had joined forces with the Vikings and other northern British realms to
counter the threat. The results were immortalized in an Old English poem recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (see 871–880), which reported that five kings and seven earls died on the battlefield, alongside “unnumber’d crowds” of soldiers. Victory confined the Welsh and Scottish to their borders, halted Viking expansionism, and helped create England as a nation. In 946, the Persian Shi’ite Buwayhids took Baghdad and forced the caliph to recognize Ahmad ibn-Buwayh as supreme commander. Although Abbasid caliphs remained in place until 1258, they were mere figureheads; real power now passed to Buwayhid sultans who ruled from their capital in Shiraz, Persia. Henry I (see 911–920) was one of the tribal dukes who came to power in the face of Magyar threat to the Carolingians. Known as Henry the Fowler, he enlarged the kingdom and inflicted the first great defeat that the Magyars (see 901–910) had experienced since beginning their raids into Europe, at the Battle of Riade in 933. Henry was powerful enough to ensure that on his death the succession would be hereditary, and the election of 936 was a formality, acknowledging his son, Otto, as the new king. Otto’s coronation ceremony in 962 consciously emulated that of Charlemagne (see 761–770), and he was crowned at Aachen, the old imperial capital.
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20/05/2011 14:50
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Gold arm ring Thor’s hammer pendant
Thor’s hammer – a symbol of power and virility – was a common theme for jewellery. Thor was the Norse god of thunder.
gold beading and wire work
Decorated with patterns made by stamping, beading, and minute engraving, this arm ring from Räbylille in Denmark has crosses and tree motifs.
sword indicates that rider is a warrior
Silver figure of horseman
Statue of Frey The Vikings worshipped Frey, the Norse god of fertility. This statue from Sweden shows Frey holding his beard – a symbol of growth and virility.
This stylized metal figure from Sweden probably represents a warrior on horseback. The Vikings were fine horsemen, but they preferred to travel by ship.
THE VIKINGS
ends of ring are in shape of cat heads
THE ARTISTRY AND SKILL OF VIKING ARTISANS BELIES THEIR REPUTATION AS SAVAGES
Between the 8th and 11th centuries, the Viking world spanned Europe, from the Pontic Steppes in the south and east to the shores of North America in the west and north. This realm was tied together by a culture of arts and crafts. The unifying motifs of Viking art and crafts were elaborate ornamentation, interlacing patterns, and stylized animals. The material culture of the Vikings was mostly utilitarian yet finely crafted. Common, ceremonial, and military objects were ornamented heavily. Techniques such as etching, engraving, and inlaying and the use of metal beading helped to create patterns of interweaving tendrils, “gripping beasts”, and stylized limbs.
buckle plate for securing baldric
baldric (sling-like shoulder strap)
Wooden shield
Shields were made from spruce, fir, pine, or linden wood with iron handles behind an iron boss. They were painted with bright colours and often had intricate designs.
Silver brooch/pin
This gold-coated silver brooch or cloak pin from Sweden is highlighted with niello, a black metallic compound.
colours signified intent or allegiance iron blade
stout wooden haft with runic inscription
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Axe
Axes were commonly used by poor Vikings, as they were cheaper than swords. This Danish axe has a metal blade and a wooden haft.
double-edged blade
Sword
Swords were rare and extremely valuable for the Vikings. This sword could be easily drawn out from its sheath and wielded with one hand.
26/05/2011 18:23 17:07
THE VIKINGS Gilded weather vane
ornate etching
Weather vanes were originally mounted on the prows of ships and later on the tops of churches. This gilded weather vane was found in Sweden.
lion figure indicates wind direction
Buckle plate
This metal plate was fixed to a Viking’s leather belt so that it could be buckled. It has two sections, one for each end of the belt. carved teeth
Hair comb
A typical Viking grooming kit included a comb, tweezers, and scoops for cleaning ears. This wooden comb has a handle secured with iron rivets.
silver and gold inlay work
Brooch
This box brooch (top view), from Martens on the Swedish island of Gotland, is decorated with four squatting human figures in gold.
stylized great beast with sinuous limbs
Early Danish coins
iron crest
Originally, the Vikings used looted coins, hack silver (chunks), and barter in place of their own money. King Harald Bluetooth started mass minting of coins in 975.
Trading weights
Found in Sweden, these brass-coated iron weights were used to measure quantities of goods and the value of hack silver.
dragon head used to terrify enemies
symbol indicates weight
carved from an animal horn
carved scale patterns
Drinking horn
Vikings believed they would use drinking horns like this in Valhalla, the heaven for warriors, if they died in battle. This drinking vessel was used in feasting.
beech panel with tin and iron studs
Helmet
Made from iron plates welded together over a leather cap, this Norwegian helmet has an attached face guard, complete with nose protector.
Sledge face guard
This oak-and-beech sledge is from a ship burial at Oseberg in Norway. It has finely carved runners and animal heads on each corner post of the box.
Ship’s prow ornament
Elements of Viking culture were derived from and prefigured in earlier cultures. For example, this wooden prow ornament is from Saxon times.
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951– 960
961– 970
971– 980
,,
A RECKLESS MAN BY NATURE [WHO]… ATTEMPTED UNUSUAL DEEDS Leo the Deacon on John Tzimisces, late 10th century
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Bronze Mirror This intricately decorated mirror from the Song dynasty illustrates the artistic sophistication of China in this period.
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declined precipitously in the second half of the 10th century. Sophisticated agricultural and irrigation techniques (see 741–50) had allowed Tiwanaku to support a population of up to 60,000 people, with up to 1.4 million in the wider region, according to some estimates. A prolonged drought is believed to have been responsible for its decline and archaeological evidence suggests that the main city was abandoned as citizens
retreated to smaller, rural settlements, and returned to a pre-urban lifestyle. The establishment of the Song dynasty in China brought an end to the anarchy and warfare of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era (see 901–10). Known as the Northern Song in its early stages because the capital was at Kaifeng in northern China, the dynasty was founded by Zhao Kuangyin (r.960-76), who was a general under the Late Zhou, the last of the Five Dynasties. He dealt with the threat from external states such as the Khitan Liao (see 901–10), the Tangut kingdom of Xia Xia, a confederation of Tibetan tribes, and conquered several of the Ten Kingdoms to the south. Zhao used the civil service examination system to assert control over the military, and centralize power. Emperor Otto I, “the Great” (912–73), defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955. Since being displaced by Byzantine–Bulgar conflict (see 891–900), the Magyars had raided Frankish territories, reaching as far west as Aquitaine in 951. The son of Henry I (see 911–20), Otto vigorously asserted royal authority from his coronation in 936, gaining control of all the East Frankish duchies. His powerful army ended the Magyar menace and also defeated the Wends – tribes on the eastern border engaged in a long struggle to resist Frankish colonization and Christianization.
G to
THE PRE-INCA, ANDEAN CIVILIZATION OF TIWANAKU
This detail from the imperial crown of Otto I shows the biblical figure, King Solomon, holding a scroll.
AT L
This detail from the “Gateway of the Sun”, a great stone doorway at Tiwanaku, is carved with a figure known as the Staff God.
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GREECE Athens
Tunis
M
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THE POPE’S IMPERIAL CORONATION OF OTTO I as emperor in 962,
revived the Carolingian Roman Empire in the West. In 961, Otto made an expedition to Italy in response to a plea for protection from Pope John XII, and in Pavia he had assumed the Italian crown. The following year he went to Rome to receive the imperial crown and assert his authority over the fractious papacy. His son was crowned co-emperor as Otto II in 967. In 965, King of Denmark, Harald Bluetooth, converted to Christianity, and the religion spread rapidly through the Nordic region. Denmark had been forced to accept missionaries as the consequence of defeat by the East Frankish king, Henry I, in
a
Constantinople Asia Minor
ASIA
anean Sea
Viking sea routes By the late 10th century, Viking seafarers had penetrated to every corner of Europe and beyond, reaching as far as Greenland in the north.
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KEY Viking expansionist exploration 8–10th centuries
933. Further afield, Vikings continued to prosper as they penetrated into all parts of Europe. The death of Byzantine emperor Constantine VII in 963 brought his infant son Basil II (958–1025) to the throne. In practice, authority was assumed by the general Nicephorus Phocas. As Nicephorus II (r.963–969), he continued the restoration of the empire that had begun with the reconquest of Crete in 961, regaining Cyprus and Cilicia in 965, subduing the Bulgars in 966–69, and invading northern Syria in 969. That same year he was assassinated by his nephew, John Tzimisces.
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e tin II an yz ine V s s n B oh Ru of tant horu or d l J le an ne I ra unc or ath ons icep per II ev i e e w n K o r s ds t ro 3 D r C l N Em us ge s hi pe ar a by I c Ot 96 pero era es phor g c hin ed o I r to ine ate e em n t t y n i m t C e n o n e o y i a tr Em ); g beco Nic 7 O er yz ass com t pla ed in es 5 96 emp s us 9 B ss be 90 as sd oFir 96 es a to ar (b. hoc c z 9 P ha isc 96 5K im Tz 96
Longboat crew in battle By keeping part of the crew at the oars Viking raiding parties maintained an aggressive posture without sacrificing mobility. DURING HIS SHORT REIGN, JOHN TZIMISCES, nephew of Nicephorus
II (see 961–70), won a string of victories. Having fought off a revolt by general Bardas Phocas in 971, Tzimisces crushed a campaign by the Kievan Rus leader, Sviatoslav, and conquered Bulgaria as far as the Danube. In 972, he campaigned in the East, taking Edessa, Damascus, and Beirut, reaching the gates of Jerusalem in 976. He died suddenly that year. In 980, the Vikings started raiding England again, though they suffered a reverse in Ireland, where Malachy II forced Viking Dublin to pay tribute.
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981– 990
991– 1000
Venice’s modern splendour is the result of control of the lucrative trade routes between Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the East in the 10th century. IN 981, THE ISLAMIC FORCES OF CORDOBA defeated the Christian
kingdom of Leon in Spain, under the leadership of Al-Mansur. “Al-Mansur” was the honorific title taken by Muhammad ibn Abi’ Amir, the powerful and energetic vizier who was the true power behind the Umayyad throne (see 911–20). He campaigned successfully against Leon, Navarre, and Catalonia, making their kings subordinate to the caliphate, and extended Umayyad control to Africa via campaigns in Mauretania (modern-day Morocco and part of Algeria). In 986, the Viking explorer, Eric the Red, led a party of Icelandic colonists to the shores of the bleak landmass he misleadingly named
rectangular wool-cloth sail
Al-Mansur This 17th century oil painting depicts Al Mansur, or Almanzor to his Christian subordinates. Al Mansur means “the Victorious”.
Balam, Chichen Itza was conquered by Toltecs led by Kukulcan, the Mayan name for the Toltec god Quetzlcoatl or “the feathered serpent” – possibly the exiled Toltec king, Topiltzin. Despite the record in the chronicle, however, archaeological findings suggest that the city collapsed around this time. By the end of the 10th century, the mercantile powers of Venice and Genoa were beginning to dominate the Adriatic and Tyhrrenian seas respectively. Venice, in particular, enjoyed lucrative trade links with the Byzantine Empire.
“Greenland” in the hope of attracting settlers. He succeeded in recruiting 24 boatloads of men, women, and children willing to entrust their lives to Viking longboats, and brave the perilous crossing. Only 14 ships arrived, but they quickly established a thriving colony that may have eventually numbered around 5,000 people. Otto II, the emperor and king of East Francia, died of malaria in
Viking longboat Considered by some to be the greatest technical achievement of the early medieval era, the Viking longboat combined river, close-to-shore, and ocean-going capacity.
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983 after an expedition to southern Italy. Although his infant son, Otto III (r.983–1001), managed to hold on to the crown thanks to the strong regency of his mother, Theophano, the East Franks were also faced with an uprising among the Wends, the forcibly converted Slavic tribes on the eastern border. The Wends restored their pagan religion and resisted Frankish colonization for nearly two centuries. In 987, Toltec forces conquered the Yucatán Maya and made Chichen Itza the capital of a Toltec–Maya state. According to the early Mayan chronicle Chilam
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TOLTECS The Toltecs, who ruled a state centred on Tula in modern-day Mexico, were notable for their aggressive militarism, which changed society in Central America, paving the way for militaristic states such as the Aztec. The term “Toltec” came to mean “city-dweller” or “civilized person”, but its literal meaning is “reed person” – signifying an inhabitant of Tollan (“Place of the Reeds”, the city now known as Tula). Toltec art and architecture, characterized by monumental masonry and giant statues, was greatly influential in the region.
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10,000
KILOGRAMS THE WEIGHT IN SILVER OF THE DANEGELD IN 991
IN 991, A FORCE OF ANGLO-SAXON WARRIORS made a stand against
a much larger army of Vikings at the Battle of Maldon in East Anglia, England. They were slaughtered. The English king, Aethelred II, “the Unready” (r.978–1016), was forced to pay a tribute known as the Danegeld, to buy off further incursions. Byzantine emperor Basil II launched the first of a long series of campaigns against his greatest enemy, the Bulgarian tsar Samuel, in 996. Basil had won major victories in Syria the year before, but it took him nearly 20 years to finally defeat the Bulgarians. From around 1000, the inhabitants of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui – an island in the Pacific Ocean – began to carve monumental statues known as moai. Thought to represent ancestors and to channel mana – spiritual energy – the cult of moai consumed the Easter Islanders to the point where they may have fatally compromised their environment – setting them on the path to ecological disaster.
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1011 – 1020
1021 – 1030
These ruins at Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, reveal one of more than a dozen Great Houses constructed by the Anasazi.
One of the greatest but cruellest Byzantine emperors, Basil II became emperor in 976. Aged 20, he ruled for nearly 50 years.
The Brihadishvara temple was built by the Cholas in their capital Tanjore.
MURASAKI SHIKIBU (LADY MURASAKI) wrote the novel Genji
IN 1025, THE CHOLA KING RAJENDRA CHOLADEVRA launched
AROUND 1000, THE ANCIENT PUEBLO CIVILIZATION centred on
Chaco Canyon in southwest North America reached its climax. The Anasazi used sophisticated dryland agriculture and hydrology to thrive in the arid environment, and controlled trade routes that extended as far as the Pacific coast of present-day California and the Valley of Mexico. They achieved impressive feats of architecture, most notably the construction of Great Houses such as Pueblo Bonito, one of 13 such buildings in Chaco Canyon. Pueblo Bonito was six stories high and comprised more than 600 rooms. It probably functioned as a ceremonial centre, storage depot, and elite residence. Well-maintained roads – some with stone kerbs – connected Chaco Canyon to thousands of smaller Anasazi settlements across the region. The canyon itself may have been home to as
many as 10,000 people, and this set the Anasazi on a collision course with the fragile ecology of the region (see 1161–65). Mahmud of Ghazni (c.971–1030) was a Muslim intent on spreading the faith into India. In 1001, at Peshawar, he defeated Jaipal, raja of Punjab, who then committed suicide. Probably the first European to set foot on North America, Leif Ericson landed in a place he called Vinland in around 1002. Shortly after this discovery, Greenlanders under Thorfinn Karlsefni tried to establish a colony, spending three winters there. The remains of settlements at L’ Anse aux Meadows, in northern Newfoundland, attest to Viking presence in North America.
LEIF ERICSON (970–1020 ) Leif was the son of Eric the Red, founder of the Greenland colony (see 981–990). Stories differ on the exact details of his discovery of North America. According to one account, he was returning from a visit to Norway in 1002, where he had been converted to Christianity, and was blown off course, landing at the place he called Vinland because of the grapes growing there. Another account suggests that he aimed for a land sighted to the west by an Icelandic trader.
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3,000 survivors
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Lady Murasaki A scene from a 16th century hanging scroll depicts author Lady Murasaki. Of noble birth, she chronicled the affairs of the Heian court.
of shock. By the end of the decade the Bulgarians finally submitted to Byzantine annexation.
1,000 survivors
4,000
6,000
KILLED
KILLED
GAELIC
VIKING
The bloody Battle of Clontarf Fought between the largest armies yet assembled in Ireland, the Battle of Clontarf was a bloody affair. Up to 4,000 Gaels and up to 6,000 Norse and their allies were killed.
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Monogatari (The Tale of Genji) in instalments between 1011 and 1021. It is regarded as the first Japanese novel, and possibly the first psychological novel in world literature. In 1014, Brian Boru, High King of Ireland and self-styled Emperor of the Gael, defeated a coalition of Dublin Vikings and Celtic Leinstermen at Clontarf, in Ireland. Although the Norse kingdom was crushed and Viking incursions into Ireland halted, Brian Boru was killed in the battle and his dream of a united Irish kingdom fell apart thereafter. In 1014, at the culmination of an 18-year war (see 991–1000), the Byzantine emperor Basil II defeated the armies of the Bulgarian tsar at Belasita. Earning the name Bulgaroktonos (Bulgar Slayer), he put out the eyes of 15,000 captured warriors before sending them home. Basil’s arch-enemy, Samuel the Bulgarian, was said to have died
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an audacious naval expedition against the maritime empire of Srivijaya in Sumatra, also sacking the Pegu kingdom in Burma. Rajendra had inherited a strong kingdom from his father, Rajaraja I, who had conquered Sri Lanka and instituted a programme of Hindu temple building centred on the Chola capital of Tanjore. Under Rajendra, the Cholas expanded their kingdom to include Bengal, and shattered the power of Srivijaya, securing control of the lucrative IndianChinese trade routes. Cnut (also known as Canute) was the son of Sven Forkbeard, king of Denmark and Norway, who had invaded England and driven the AngloSaxon king, Aethelred II, into exile in Normandy in 1013. After staging his own successful invasion in 1015, Cnut was accepted as overlord of all England in 1016, and went on to expand his empire. By 1030, it included Norway, Denmark, and the Faroe, Shetland, and Orkney islands. Chola sculpture of Shiva The Cholas were staunch Hindus and enthusiastic temple builders. Shiva, one of the major Hindu deities, is depicted here as a young and handsome man.
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A wise and capable king, Cnut managed conciliation between his Danish and Anglo-Saxon subjects. He collected Danegeld (Danish tax) to pay for a standing navy and army – an important innovation.
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1031 – 1040
1041 – 1050
The Seljuks are shown here battling the Byzantines, having already conquered Persia.
Between 1041 and 1048, Bi Sheng invented the first moveable type printing system, using clay letters held in wax within an iron frame.
IN 1037, THE SELJUKS, UNDER CHAGRI BEG AND HIS BROTHER TUGHRIL BEG, invaded Khurasan
BANTU IS A FAMILY OF LANGUAGES
in Persia. In 1040, they crushed the Ghaznavids at the Battle of Dandanqan, winning control of eastern Persia, the first step on the road to creating a new Islamic empire. The Seljuks were Oghuz Turks, originally nomads from Central Asia who had converted to Islam and moved to Transoxiana where they served as mercenaries in the region, before turning their attentions to Khurasan. In 1031, 40 lesser dynasties were founded on the shattered remnants of the Cordoba caliphate, in Spain. Known as the Muluk al-Tawa’if (“Party Kings”), these short-lived dynasties took control of different provinces of Cordoba after the strife that brought down the Umayyads following the execution of Abd al-Rahman Sanchol, son of al-Mansur, in 1009. He was the last capable leader of the caliphate but his attempt to move out from behind the throne and take the crown led to his downfall. Subsequently, the Berber faction nominated their own candidate for caliph and Cordoba descended into civil war for 22 years. In 1031, the death of Hisham III, the last Umayyad caliph, who had already lost control of several provinces, led to the
King and Emperor Ferdinand I was the first ruler of Castile to call himself king. He added the title of emperor after his conquest of Leon.
final break up of the caliphate, with the Abbadids seizing Seville, the Jahwarids taking Cordoba and the Hudids seizing Saragossa. With the Islamic state in disarray the Christian kingdoms to the north were encouraged to expand southwards. Sancho III of Navarre, who had conquered Castile and was overlord of Christian Spain, died in 1035, and his kingdoms were divided between his two sons. Ferdinand inherited Castile, and in 1037 he killed his brother-inlaw, the king of Leon and made himself emperor there in 1039. He went on to conquer Navarre and impose serfdom on parts of Muslim Spain and Portugal.
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that originated in the Bantu homeland (now southern Nigeria and northwestern Cameroon). Bantu-speaking people spread from here to the east and south and Bantu became the dominant language family in sub-Saharan Africa, although whether this indicates conquest, colonization, or simply cultural influence is less clear. The Bantu expansion started in the Late Stone Age, accelerating as the Bantu speakers acquired iron technology and cattle-husbandry skills. By the mid-11th century, Bantu tribes had become sophisticated pastoralists, able to sustain high population densities and complex social and economic networks. This in turn led to the emergence of chiefdoms, and Bantu speakers dominated Central and southern Africa. In 1044, Anawrata seized power in the Pagan kingdom in Burma. His military prowess and skilful
use of Hinayana Buddhism as a cultural and political driver made Pagan the centre of Burmese politics, culture, and religion. He developed Burmese as a written language, instituted a programme of building, and forged trade and cultural links to India and China. In China, sometime between 1041 and 1048, the commoner Bi (or Pi) Sheng invented the first moveable type system. Block printing had been in use in China for centuries, and since the Later Tang dynasty (923–36) had been used for most book production, but Bi Sheng introduced the innovation of using tiny clay blocks – one for each character. The characters were moulded on the ends of thin rods of wet clay, which were fired to harden them. Unlike wood, this clay type did not distort when wet and could be used over and over again.
KEY Bantu homeland 2000 BCE Spread of Bantu
Bantu expansion From their homeland in the border region of southern Nigeria and northwestern Cameroon, Bantu speaking people spread east and south, through the tropical forest, eventually spreading to all parts of central and southern Africa.
AFR ICA
Lake Victoria Lake Tanganyika AT L A N T I C OCEAN
c.1000
c.1000
Lake Nyasa
Kalahari Desert c.1000
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1061–70
Labanga Mosque in Ghana is possibly the oldest mosque in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana was Islamicized by the Almoravids in the 11th century.
In this detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, completed in 1080, William the Conqueror exhorts his troops to prepare themselves for battle.
IN MOROCCO, IN 1054, A FIREBRAND CLERIC NAMED IBN YASIN inspired
the unification of Saharan tribal groups.The confederation – known as the Almoravids, from the Arabic “al-Murabitun” (“people of the frontier garrisons”) – built an empire that would eventually encompass much of northwestern Africa and Muslim Spain (see 1081–90). In 1056, the Almoravids began the Islamic
conquest of West Africa, where a number of powerful states had arisen, including that of Ghana. Yoruba was the name given by outsiders to a group of city-states in Nigeria that shared a common language and culture. The oldest and most prestigious Yoruba kingdom was Ife, where a sophisticated urban culture was well established by the mid-11th century. Ife was the spiritual and mythical centre of the Yoruba, but its poor location meant that it never exerted wide-ranging military or political control over the other Yoruba states. Ife is most famous for its artistic achievements, most notably terracotta and bronze heads. In 1059, Pope Nicholas II recognized Robert Guiscard the Norman as Duke of Apulia and Calabria, and Count of Sicily – territories under Byzantine and Arab control – legitimizing his attempts to conquer them.
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IN 1066, AT THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS, William Duke of
Normandy (c.1028–87) defeated Harold Godwinson (c.1022–66), the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. England had fallen into the Norman orbit earlier, with Edward the Confessor spending his youth in exile at the Norman court while Cnut (see 1021–30) ruled England. William claimed that Edward had promised him the English crown, but when Edward died, in 1066, Harold was elected king. He marched north to defeat a Norse invasion, before dashing south to Hastings to face William, where he was killed and his army shattered. William the Conqueror quickly took southeast England, then the southwest, and suppressed a great uprising in the north in 1069. Under their leader Tughril Beg, the Seljuks had occupied Baghdad and ended the Buwayhid dynasty (see 931–50), retaining the Abbasid caliph as a figurehead but giving him the title of sultan. Tughril Beg died in 1063; his successor Alp Arslan extended Seljuk dominion into Anatolia, Armenia, and Syria.
2:1
Battle of Hastings Anglo-Saxon casualties outnumbered Norman losses by two-to-one, thanks in part to their forced march from the north, and the advanced Norman tactics. es id av lish ch e or ad m stab ake l nv iet s i ria 2 A m e arr -v k 6 r y M o co pa u S 10 gd l at T i m k and Da ha kin pita lju 68 s C Se ana ca 10 feat nam 65 soxi 0 e 1 an d Viet Tr in
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1071–80
INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY Which was greater: secular or religious authority? This was the question at the heart of the Investiture Controversy. This 12thcentury manuscript illumination shows Henry IV requesting mediation from Matilda of Tuscany and Hugh of Cluny. Matilda was one of the most powerful women of the Middle Ages. It was her stronghold of Canossa where Henry made his penitence. SINCE CHARLEMAGNE’S CORONATION BY THE POPE (see
791–800), the Western emperors had considered it their divine right to appoint – or invest – bishops. Emperors had derived great income and power through their dispensation of religious offices, and Emperor Henry III (1017–56) had gone further still, in 1046, insisting that it was the emperor’s right to appoint the pope. Pope Gregory VII represented the opposite view; he held that only popes had the right to invest clerics. In 1075, at the Lent synod, Gregory issued a decree forbidding lay investiture. The emperor, Henry IV (1050– 1106), who was fighting to reduce the power of German prelates, defied the decree. In 1076, Gregory excommunicated him, absolving his subjects of their oaths of loyalty and triggering a rebellion by Saxon nobles
against the king. In 1077, Henry IV crossed the Alps in the dead of winter and appeared at Canossa, dressed as a penitent, to submit to the pope (see panel, above). He was absolved but controversy quickly flared up again, with a rival, Rudolf of Swabia, being elected to the German (formerly East Frankish) throne. In 1080, Henry had a rival pope elected, while Gregory allied himself with Roger Guiscard, Count of Sicily, against the imperial camp. In 1071, the Seljuks crushed the Byzantine army at Manzikert, capturing and ransoming Emperor Romanus IV and going on to conquer Anatolia (presentday Turkey). This began its transformation into a Muslim Turkish region. In 1077, the Seljuks established the Sultanate of Rum there, while other conquests brought them Syria and Jerusalem.
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1081–90
1091–1100
,,
LET SUCH AS ARE GOING TO FIGHT FOR CHRISTIANITY PUT THE FORM OF THE CROSS UPON THEIR GARMENTS THAT THEY MAY OUTWARDLY DEMONSTRATE THEIR DEVOTION TO THEIR INWARD FAITH.
,,
Pope Urban II, 1095
Hassan-i Sabbah leads initiations at Alamut, in an illustration from Marco Polo’s 13th-century Travels. IN 1090, A GROUP OF ISMAILI SHI’ITES BECAME INVOLVED IN A DISPUTE over the Fatimid
13
succession in Cairo (see 901–10). Under the leadership of the charismatic Hassan-i Sabbah, this group recognized the claims of an infant called Nizar, and were therefore known as Nizari Ismailis. Forced to flee Cairo, Hassan led the Nizaris to his homeland in Persia where they captured a fortress known as Alamut in the mountainous region of Kazvin and made it the base of a de facto Nizari kingdom. Thus was born the group later known as the Assassins – a name derived from the word “hashashins”, a label applied by their enemies who claimed they used intoxicants such as hashish to brainwash devotees into blind obedience. Alarmed by the advances of Alfonso VI of Castile, the Abbadids (see 1031) summoned the Almoravids from North Africa to defend against the Christian
THOUSAND
THE NUMBER OF PLACES LISTED IN THE DOMESDAY BOOK threat. Defeating Alfonso at Zallaka in 1086, they annexed most of Islamic Spain. In 1085, William the Conqueror (see 1061) commissioned a survey of his new kingdom – known as the Domesday Book – probably to regulate military service and assess taxation opportunities.
The Domesday Book Nicknamed “Domesday” in reflection of the trepidation that the great undertaking inspired in the native English, William’s survey actually comprised two manuscripts; the Great and Little Domesday. in ka d lla ate ius one a I ) n e Z f e thr of de pe 020 oV m o m ne ns nd Po .1 tle Co anti at lfons of rn c lfo do a ain B A s h s i o e p t z S ids 86 – A vid 85 Tol ea II (b lex By 10 ain ora 10 es ia in tim tine 5 D ry V 1 A s to a k 8 c 8 p m F a e s S Al t len 10 ego 10 ced 89 ale by Va 10 e P Gr ac tak
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IN 1092, CHINESE POLYMATH SU SUNG DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED A COSMIC ENGINE.
This mechanical astronomical clock was 9m (30ft) high, and was water-driven with an armillary sphere, which showed the position of celestial objects. In 1094, a Castilian who had served both Christian and Islamic Masters, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known by the Moors as El Cid (“the lord”), captured Valencia in eastern Spain and established himself as ruler. At the Council of Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban, a French Cluniac (see 910), preached to an assembly of mainly Frankish clerics and nobles about Muslim “defilement” of the Holy Land, urging his audience to take up arms in a holy war. Urban had been entreated by the Byzantines for help against the Seljuks, and saw a way to channel the energies of European nobility away from constant in-fighting and towards a Christian expansion that would benefit the papacy. Fired by religious zeal and spurred by the promise of remission of sins, together with the prospect of winning booty, land, and control of the lucrative trade with the Orient, many nobles of France (formerly West Francia) and Lorraine joined, or “took the cross”. Other nations were either in conflict with the papacy or indifferent, so the First Crusade was a largely French affair. Taking advantage of disarray in the Muslim world, three groups of Crusaders under Godfrey
Battle of the Crusades This manuscript illustration shows Crusader knights joining battle with Saracens – the generic term used by Europeans to refer to their Muslim foes. Around 30,000 knights took part in the First Crusade.
and Baldwin of Bouillon, Count Raymond of Toulouse, and the Norman Bohemond of Otranto, took the Seljuk Rum capital of Nicaea in 1097, conquered Edessa in the same year, captured Antioch in 1098, and marched on Jerusalem in 1099. Godfrey was elected king of Jerusalem but took the title Defender of the Holy Sepulchre; his brother, Baldwin
became king the following year. Under the overlordship of the King of Jerusalem, the Crusaders established four principal states: the kingdom of Jerusalem, which thrived on trade mediated by the Italian trading powers; the county of Tripoli, set up by Raymond; the county of Edessa, established by Baldwin; and the principality of Antioch, set up by Bohemund.
75,000 SARACENS
15,000
CRUSADERS
The Siege of Antioch Islamic forces at the Siege of Antioch outnumbered the Crusaders considerably. In fact Antioch fell only when a traitor opened a gate to a party of knights led by Bohemond of Otranto.
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An illustration from Edward Fitzgerald’s translation of the Rubaiyat; of the 600 verses, only around 120 are thought to have been written by Khayyam himself.
Monumental ruins in the city of Great Zimbabwe, capital of the Mwene Mutapa Empire. After it seized control of the gold trade, the empire grew rich.
The 12th-century Cathedral of St Nicholas at Novgorod, Russia.
NOTED FOR ITS FINE ARTS AND CRAFTS and construction of
THE 12TH CENTURY SAW AN EXPLOSION OF CATHEDRAL BUILDING all over Europe, as
SOMETIME AROUND THE START OF THE 12TH CENTURY, OMAR KHAYYAM (1048–1131), an
astronomer and mathematician in the service of the Seljuk sultans, composed a series of four-line poems, or “roba’iyat”, which became famous thanks to the translation made by Edward Fitzgerald in 1859. Khayyam’s career reflected the Seljuk era. At Samarkand, in the early 1070s, he was able to pursue his mathematical studies thanks to patronage from a local jurist, and under the strong Seljuk sultan Malik Shah (r.1072–92), Khayyam was invited to Isfahan in 1073 to set up an observatory and lead a team of top scholars. In this period he made many mathematical and astronomical breakthroughs, including an unprecedented accurate measurement of the length of the year to 12 decimal places. Although he is now most famous for the Rubaiyat, it is not certain that Khayyam wrote most or any of the verses involved, and he was little regarded as a poet in his own time. Much of the current reputation of the work derives from the very free translation by Edward Fitzgerald. The success of the First Crusade (see 1091–1100) owed
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much to the disarray of the Islamic regimes it had dispossessed. The Fatimid Caliphate in Cairo was rich but decadent; the Abbasids in Baghdad were little more than figureheads; the Seljuk Turks had failed to forge a unified empire, and instead warlords and tribal groups had set up a patchwork of competing states such as Rum, Danishmend, and Damascus. Throughout the early 12th century, the Crusaders battled constantly against these foes. In 1101, Raymond IV of Toulouse (c.1042–1105) led a new Crusader Baldwin of Bourcq This coin features Baldwin of Bourcq, cousin of Baldwin I who he succeeded as count of Edessa, then as king of Jerusalem (see 1118).
army from Constantinople against the Sultanate of Rum, taking Ankara in June, only to be destroyed by Danishmend Turks in August. Baldwin I of Jerusalem (c.1058–1118) steadily improved his access to the Mediterranean by taking a series of coastal cities from the Fatimids, defeating them at Jaffa in 1102, Acre in 1104, and Ramleh in 1105, although Raymond died in an attempt to take Tripoli in 1105.
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monumental temple mounds, the post-Moche culture, known as the Sicán or Lambayeque on the northern coast of Peru, reached its height in the early 11th century. But a prolonged drought, followed by catastrophic flooding, led to cultural and political collapse. In the early 12th century, the state recovered from the convulsions of the 11th century and rebuilt around a new capital at Túcume. New temples were built and the capital flourished until its conquest by the Chimú (see 1375), by which time there were 26 mounds and accompanying enclosures. In central southern Africa, in what is now Zimbabwe, the Mwene Mutapa Empire, also known as Great Zimbabwe after its monumental capital, emerged as the most significant regional power. A kingdom of the Shona peoples that emerged around 900, Mwene Mutapa was initially based on cattle herding, but from around 1100 it took control of the lucrative trade routes linking the gold, iron, and ivory production centres of the interior to the Arab trading kingdoms on the east coast, which offered luxury goods from Asia.
population growth, increased wealth, and architectural advances combined with religious zeal, civic pride, and the personal ambition of potentates. The development of the Romanesque and Gothic styles was given expression in the great cathedrals, but each region developed its own, distinctive idiom. In Novgorod, for instance, the Cathedral of St Nicholas (started in 1113) was given domed cupolas. The Investiture Controversy between the papacy and the Western emperors rumbled on (see 1071–80). Henry IV’s failure to reconcile with the papacy had helped bring about his downfall; concerned that the ongoing dispute was undermining royal authority, his own family had conspired against him, and he was imprisoned. His successor, Henry V (1086–1125) launched a powerful expedition to Italy to force an imperial coronation. Under duress (he was a prisoner of Henry at the time), Pope Paschal II offered major concessions on the investiture issue in the Treaty of Sutri, but he repudiated them the following year and the issue remained unsettled (see 1122).
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Stained glass window of a Templar Knight in Warwickshire, England.
Guelph and Ghibelline forces join battle in Italy. These factions, based on the German Welf and Hohenstaufen dynasties, would come to dominate Italian politics.
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IN 1121, MOHAMMAD IB-TUMART, A BERBER LEADER from the Atlas
IN THIS RELIGIOUS ORDER HAS FLOURISHED AND IS REVITALIZED THE ORDER OF KNIGHTHOOD.
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From The Primitive Rule of the Knights Templar
In Jerusalem, in 1119, a group of knights, led by the French Hugues de Payens (c.1070–1136), formed an order to protect pilgrims travelling along the dangerous road from Jaffa, on the coast, to the holy city. The new king of Jerusalem, Baldwin II (cousin of Baldwin I and his successor as count of Edessa), assigned them quarters in part of the Temple Mount compound, next to the site where the Temple of Solomon had once stood. Accordingly, they called themselves the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon – also known as the Knights Templar. Bologna University was the first in the western world. It was founded in 1119 (or possibly earlier, depending on the source). Institutions such as Bologna University were the incubators for the philosophical school of thought known as Scholasticism (see panel, right).
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SCHOLASTICISM The school of thought known as Scholasticism – because it was taught by the scholastics, or school masters – developed as the dominant philosophy of learning in medieval Europe, hand in hand with the emergence of the universities. Scholasticism was an approach to learning that used a method of formal discussion and debating. It became the intellectual basis for medieval religious and philosophical dogma. at Ascalon (Ashkelon), Venetian ships destroyed the Fatimid fleet. This marked the start of the dominance of Italian maritime power in the Mediterranean. Emperor Henry V died in 1125, with no male heir, and an election was held to choose his successor. The closest heir was Conrad of Swabia (1122–90), of the house of Hohenstaufen (allied to the Salian dynasty and their anti-papal policies), but the powerful archbishops of Mainz and Cologne angled for the election of a candidate more friendly to the Church. Lothair of Saxony (1075–1137), of the house of Welf, was chosen and became Aristotle in translation A page from a translation of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, written on vellum – a writing material made from calf skin, which is more durable than papyrus or paper.
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Mountains, was hailed as the al-Mahdi (the Muslim messiah – see 874) and led his forces, known as the Almohads, in a campaign of conquest against Almoravid territories in Africa. A synod at the German town of Worms, in 1122, presided by a papal legate drew up a concordat (agreement) ending the Investiture Controversy – though not the imperial–papal rivalry. A compromise was agreed along the lines already adopted between Henry I of England and Anselm (see 1107), under which the emperor would be involved in investiture but not control it. Essentially it was a victory for the papacy. In 1123, Frankish forces from Jerusalem defeated a Fatimid army at Ibelin, while off the coast
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Emperor Lothair II (III in some sources). Immediately he was plunged into a bitter civil war with the Hohenstaufens, and the two opposing sides became entrenched as pro-papal and pro-imperial factions known as the Guelphs and Ghibellines respectively. They would plague relations between and within the city-states of northern Italy into the 14th century – long after they had ceased to dominate German power politics – as they became associated with class struggles and reactionary versus reforming parties. The work of Aristotle (384–322 BCE) had survived in Byzantium and among the Arabs, but Western Europeans only had access to a translation by the
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philosopher Boethius of one treatise on logic. This began to change in the early 12th century, as the conquest of Islamic areas such as Toledo and Sicily gave Christian scholars access to Arabic works. Increasing exposure to the works of Aristotle led medieval scholars to consider him the “master of those who know” and the chief authority on matters of reason. In 1125, the French king Louis VI (1081–1137) successfully rallied French nobles to repel an English–German invasion. This proved to be a milestone in the French monarchy’s attempts to assert its authority, and thus in the emergence of France as a nation-state.
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A mosaic shows Roger II being symbolically crowned by Christ.
St Alban’s Chronicle, shows Matilda of England holding a charter.
An illustration from a 15th-century copy of the History of the Kings of Britain, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, shows Brutus the Trojan setting sail for Britain.
A scene from the Siege of Damascus, a battle of the Second Crusade.
IN 1126, THE JIN – the Jurchen dynasty established by Aguda (see 1115) in Manchuria – turned on their erstwhile Chinese allies, overrunning northern China and seizing the Northern Song capital at Kaifeng. The Jin took control of northern China and moved the capital to Beijing. This marked the end of the Northern Song. However, a Song prince, Gaozong, escaped to the south and established the Southern Song dynasty in Hangzhou in 1127. The death of Pope Honorius, in 1130, resulted in the election of two rival popes, Innocent II and Anacletus II. During this papal schism, Roger II, count of Sicily, recognized Anacletus as pope – his reward was the throne of Sicily.
THE DEATH OF HENRY I, IN 1135, PITCHED ENGLAND INTO DYNASTIC STRIFE. His only male heir died in
IN 1137, LOTHAIR DIED SUDDENLY
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1120 while crossing the English Channel, and although Henry had made his nobles swear allegiance to his daughter, the Empress Matilda (1102–67), she had spent little time in England and her second husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, was unpopular with the English nobles. Among those who had sworn fealty to Matilda was Henry’s nephew and ward Stephen of Blois (r.1135–54). On his uncle’s death he immediately went to London, secured the support of most of the nobles and the Church, and had himself proclaimed king. However, Matilda refused to renounce her claim, and their contest would lead to a period of warfare and breakdown of central authority known as the Anarchy (see 1136–40). In 1133, Lothair II (1070–1137) went to Italy to intervene in the papal schism, installing Innocent II. In return, the Pope confirmed the Matildine inheritance (the vast estates of Matilda of Tuscany, which she had willed first to the papacy and then to the emperor, sparking a dispute that would become tied up with the Guelph versus Ghibelline contest – (see 1121–25) and crowned Lothair as emperor. In 1135, Lothair pacified his rivals, Conrad of Hohenstaufen and his brother Frederick of Swabia, apparently securing the German crown for his son-in-law Henry the Proud, of the House of Welf.
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while returning from a successful campaign in Italy against Roger of Sicily. Lothair’s plans to concentrate German territories in the hands of the Welf clan, and create a stable inheritance for his son-in-law, evaporated when the election of 1138 chose the Waiblinger Conrad of Hohenstaufen (1135–95). The Waiblingers were descended from the dukes of Franconia; the name was later corrupted by the Italians into “Ghibelline”. Conrad set about reversing the grants of Lothair, taking Saxony away from the Welfs, which promptly sparked renewed civil war. In 1139, Matilda entered England to reclaim her crown from the usurper Stephen of Blois. Stephen had failed to Legendary castle Tintagel, Cornwall, where the ruins of a 13th-century castle still stand, is featured in the Arthurian legends created by Geoffrey of Monmouth.
strengthen his position since taking the crown, alienating many of his nobles, on one hand, and powerful clerics, on the other. He particularly blundered by arresting his chief minister Roger, Bishop of Salisbury. At a stroke, he lost many of his ablest administrators, and was henceforth unable to rein in the depredations of barons and other landowners, who became laws unto themselves. The country deteriorated into a state of anarchy famously lamented by the author of the Peterborough Chronicle, who wrote that under Stephen’s reign the English “suffered nineteen long winters… when Christ and all his saints slept”. Sometime around 1140, the Welsh cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth (c.1100–55) wrote the History of the Kings of Britain, an important example of early Anglo-Norman literature that introduced the legend of King Arthur to a European audience.
IN 1141, JOHN OF SEVILLE TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC
the Epitome of the Whole of Astrology, while in 1142 Adelard of Bath translated an Arabic version of Euclid’s Elements of Geometry, one of the founding texts of mathematics. This transmission of learning, ancient and contemporary, via Arabic into Latin, was a key contributor to the emergence of an intellectual renaissance in Europe, and beyond that to the scientific achievements of the Early Modern period (1500–1800). In an attempt to end the civil war that was convulsing Germany, an 1142 meeting, or diet, at Frankfurt confirmed the Welf Henry the Lion (1129–95) as Duke of Saxony (which he had already taken by force). Henry engaged in a vigorous renewal of German expansion to the east, where his
Pot helm helmet This type of helmet was typical of those worn by Crusader knights. Made of steel, the pot helm helmet completely covered the head save for two small eyeslits.
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Angkor Wat, in Cambodia, was built during the reign of Suryavarman II. It covers nearly 200 hectares (500 acres) and the central tower is 42m (138ft) high.
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Pope Eugenius III, from Papal bull calling for the Second Crusade, 1145
campaigns against the heathen Slavs were given the status of Crusades. In 1144, the atabeg (governor) of Mosul, Imad el-Din Zengi (1085–1146), founder of the Zengid dynasty, took advantage of feuding between the Crusader principalities to seize the Crusader county of Edessa. Fulk, king of Jerusalem, had died in 1143 and his successor Baldwin III (1130–63) was only a child, under the regency of his mother Melisende. She did not have the authority to settle a dispute between Antioch and Edessa, and Imad el-Din besieged Edessa until it fell to him. The loss of Edessa caused alarm and outrage in Europe, and provided the trigger for the Second Crusade (see 1146–50). In 1145, Eugenius III issued a call-to-arms in the form of a Papal bull.
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IN 1146, THE INFLUENTIAL CISTERCIAN MONK, BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX (1090–1153), egged on
by Pope Eugenius III, preached a new Crusade to liberate Edessa from the clutches of the Zengids; Conrad III of Germany (1093– 1152) and Louis VII of France (1120–80) “took the cross”. But the expedition was a disastrous affair, except for incidental success in Portugal achieved by a contingent of English and Flemish Crusaders who helped AfonsoHenriques, Count of Portugal, take Lisbon from the Moors in 1147. Conrad and Louis took different routes to the Holy Land, their armies meeting equally disastrous fates as they struggled through Anatolia. In 1148, forced to hitch a lift on a Byzantine ship, having lost his army at the Battle of Dorylaeum, Conrad met up with Louis. Rather than pitch their 25,000 20,000 CRUSADERS
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THOSE WHO ARE OF GOD... STRIVE TO OPPOSE THE MULTITUDE OF THE INFIDELS, WHO REJOICE IN A VICTORY GAINED OVER US, AND DEFEND THE ORIENTAL CHURCH FREED FROM THEIR TYRANNY BY SO GREAT AN OUTPOURING OF THE BLOOD OF YOUR FATHERS...
15,000 10,000 5,000 0 French
German
French and German Crusaders The German force outnumbered the French contingent during the Second Crusade. Neither army achieved any success: defeat in Anatolia preceded failure at Damascus.
Koutoubia Mosque in Morocco The Koutoubia (“booksellers”) Mosque, built by the Almohads, reflects the mercantile success of Almohad Marrakech, where book, cloth, and other souqs flourished.
depleted forces against the powerful Zengids, they decided instead to launch an attack on Damascus, the only Muslim state that was friendly to the Crusader kingdoms. Hampered by lack of supplies and threatened by the Zengid leader Nur al-Din, successor to Imad el-Din, the Siege of Damascus also failed. The Second Crusade broke up having failed to achieve anything beyond a damaging fallout. Louis was cuckolded by one of his generals, eventually leading to a divorce from his wife, Eleanor of
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Aquitaine (c.1122–04), and the loss of her territories (see 1151–55). The Byzantines were forced to step in where the Crusade had failed, occupying western Edessa, but Roger of Sicily took advantage of Byzantine distraction to invade and plunder Greece in 1147. The disasters of the Second Crusade marked the beginning of the decline of the Frankish Crusader kingdoms. In 1147, the Almohads under Abd al-Mu’min (1094–1163) completed the conquest of Almoravid Morocco, taking Marrakech, before invading Moorish Spain (although it took them until 1172 to subjugate all the Islamic kingdoms). Suryavarman II (c.1113–50) was the most warlike Khmer king, although most of his foreign adventures were unsuccessful. He launched attacks against the Dai Vet of northern Vietnam and made repeated attempts to subjugate the Champa. More significant was his building programme, the zenith of which was the temple of Angkor Wat. This vast complex includes five towers symbolizing holy mountains, and masses of elaborate carvings.
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HECTARES THE AREA OF ANGKOR WAT
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TRADE AND INVENTION
Star–shaped tile
1267 • IRAN Though distinctively Islamic in its use of lustre (a ceramic technology mimicking gilding) and arabesques (stylized foliage), this tile shows Mongol influence with the inclusion of dog-like animals.
foliage in gold leaf
Persian ceramic and gold leaf ewer
1200–1399 • IRAN It was prohibited to make drinking vessels from gold and silver, as these were considered indulgent, so Islamic craftsmen became expert in alternatives such as ceramic, which was then richly decorated.
Bronze vase
18 TH CENTURY • CHINA Although this bronze vase from China displays a text from the Qu’ran in Arabic, it nonetheless shows clear Chinese influence.
THE ISLAMIC WORLD
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND RELIGIOUS INSPIRATION COMBINE TO CREATE A UNIQUE HERITAGE OF ARTS AND CRAFTS
Islamic arts and crafts were shaped by religious restrictions, cultural heritage acquired through conquest, and the elaboration of unique features, notably the use of ornamentation and colour, and inclusion of Arabic script. inlaid with ornate foliage
Through its rapid conquest of a huge empire, the Islamic caliphate was exposed to a diverse mix of cultural styles and heritages; Islamic art reflects these while maintaining a high degree of homogeneity due to religious uniformity. Restrictions imposed by Islam, such as prohibitions on representative art and on the use of gold and silver, generated creative responses, especially stylized abstract designs, elaborate ornamentation, strong use of colour, and the use of Arabic script and Qu’ranic quotations. Jade necklace
1875–1925 • ORIGIN UNKNOWN This jade necklace is made from five pieces, all different in shape and engraved with verses from the Qu’ran. Such artefacts could serve as amulets with quasi-magical powers.
Surgical scissors and scalpel
10 TH CENTURY • ORIGIN UNKNOWN Islamic physicians made huge advances in medicine and surgery, including devising a range of surgical instruments such as the mibda (scalpel) and miqass (scissors).
script border to prevent clipping
Pendant
18 TH CENTURY • INDIA From the Indian Mughal Empire, this gold pendant shows how Muslim rulers sometimes disregarded prohibitions on representative art and the use of precious metals.
Coins
inscription reads “Allah, Muhammad, Fatima, and ‘Ali, Hasan, and Husayn”
720–910 • SYRIA/EGYPT Coins from the Ummayad and Abbadis caliphates, minted in Damascus and Cairo, bear Arabic text in place of pictures of heads of state.
Khanjar
19 TH CENTURY • INDIA Although from India, this curved, double-edged dagger is actually a traditional Omani blade. It is decorated with ornate foliage, a typical Islamic motif.
Ornate gilded Shi’ite alam
17 TH CENTURY • IRAN This alam, or standard, made of brass and gold, symbolically recalls the Shi’ite standard planted at the Battle of Kerbala in 680.
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T H E I S L A M I C WO R L D
head is hinged to body
twisted cord design in ochre, black, and white
Bowl
1000–1199 • IRAN/IRAQ The bold colours of this simple bowl are typically Islamic, as is the interlacing cord design. The lace of highlighted detail lends a meditative quality to the design.
Feline incense burner
11–12 TH CENTURIES • IRAN/AFGHANISTAN Burners like this, in the shape of a big cat, were used in the courts of Medieval Islamic kings – lions and cheetahs symbolized power. The head tilts to allow insertion of charcoal.
rim markings indicate city or location
Candlestick
15TH CENTURY • MAMLUK EGYPT To circumvent the prohibition on precious metals, Islamic metalworkers became adept at combining baser metals like brass with silver and gold inlay.
Calligraphy scissors
1700–99 • IRAN These scissors were used for shaping pens and brushes. The blades are inlaid with gold, a variety of damascening known as koftgari.
Qibla compass DATE AND ORIGIN UNKNOWN
This ornamental compass was used to indicate the direction, qibla, of Mecca, so that worshippers could orient themselves properly for prayer.
Pen case
Islamic lamp
1700–1899 • ORIGIN UNKNOWN This hexagonal case for carrying pens bares geometric shapes, a typical feature of Islamic design.
DATE AND ORIGIN UNKNOWN
This hourglass-shaped lamp bares a design of Arabic script on the side, which is picked out in vibrant blue, a ceramic dye perfected by Islamic craftsmen.
Illuminated Divan bold colours and gold leaf
no empty space left unfilled
Arabic script inscribed with careful calligraphy
illuminations flout normal prohibitions
1800–99 • INDIA A Divan, or Diwan, is a collection or anthology of poems, inspired by ancient Persian poetry models. This illuminated Divan of the Persian poet Hafez from 19th-century India has typical Kashmiri painted lacquer covers.
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1151–55
1156–60
1161–65
Monks Mound, the largest mound at Cahokia, is over 30m (100ft) high. It has been estimated that it took 15 million baskets of earth to make it.
The University of Bologna was originally a school for jurists.
The Hassan Tower in Rabat, Morocco, is all that was built of what was intended to be an Almohad super-mosque.
THE CITY OF CAHOKIA SPRANG UP AT THE CLIMAX of the
Mississippian (or Cahokian) culture of the American Bottom (an area of the Mississippi River Valley). Around the mid-12th century they constructed more than 100 mounds, including one with a base that is larger than that of the Great Pyramid at Giza, along with a huge landscaped plaza that may be the biggest earthen city square in the world. The most remarkable feature of Cahokia is the speed with which it came into existence. Until around 1050, Mississippians lived in small villages and had never built on anything approaching this scale. By the 1150s the city may have covered 493 hectares (4,000 acres) and been home to 30,000 people. Its cultural and economic influence spread across the Midwest, from the present Canadian border to the Gulf Coast. Perhaps because urban living was so exceptional for the
Mississippians, Cahokia would decline rapidly, within around a century, with a return to low-density farming communities. In 1152, Conrad III (b.1093), king of the Romans, died and his nephew Frederick of Swabia, known as Barbarossa (see panel, below) was elected as successor. Of combined Welf and Waiblinger parentage (see 1131–35), he brought relative peace to Germany. His coronation as emperor in Rome was delayed because the city was in the grip of a revolutionary commune led by radical reformer Arnold of Brescia (1090–1155). Frederick allied with the papacy against Arnold and Norman Sicily, making his first expedition to Italy in 1154. The following year, in the face of Roman hostility, he was crowned by the new pope, Adrian IV (1100–59), but had to retreat to Germany, abandoning Adrian, who was forced to ally himself with the Normans.
FREDERICK BARBAROSSA (1122–90) Energetic and ambitious, Frederick I was determined to make Germany the dominant state in Europe, and to reassert authority over all the imperial lands in Italy. Aware of the historic context of his office, he desired to restore the imperial crown to Roman-era glory, and began to style his realm the Holy Roman Empire. In Germany, he pacified rebels and expanded royal lands.
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WITH ORIGINS DATING BACK TO PERHAPS 1088, BOLOGNA CLAIMS
to be the oldest university in the Western world (see 1116–20) – in the sense of an institution specifically designated as a universitas, as opposed to a studium generale, as centres for teaching had previously been known. In 1158, the emperor Frederick I (1122–90), on the advice of scholars who may have been Bologna alumni, granted the university a charter, firmly establishing the institution as an independent centre of scholarship. Early universities tended to specialize in one field of study, and Bologna was dedicated to law. In 1159, Alexander III (c.1100–81) was chosen as pope, although his election was opposed by the emperor, Frederick I. Frederick had once again invaded Italy, this time intent on assuming his full imperial inheritance. With the aid of the League of Pavia (Bresci, Parma, and others), he had subdued Milan and its associated cities, but at the Diet of Roncaglia, in 1158, he had gone too far. Harking back to the Roman era, Frederick insisted that ancient law gave him the right to appoint an imperial podestà (local governor) to rule each city. Milan was pushed into revolt, and other cities joined them in forming a Lombard League under the auspices of the papacy. Alexander III would earn the title “the Great” for leading this anti-imperial rebellion.
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The Bodhisattva Guanyin This 12th-century Chinese statue depicts the Buddhist deity Guanyin, who protects those in danger – perhaps accounting for his popularity. IN 1161, THE SOUTHERN SONG REPULSED AN INCURSION by the
northern Jin (see 1126–30), securing their kingdom from invasion. A peace treaty of 1165 recognized an uneasy truce between the two powers. The Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu’min died in 1163, having destroyed the Almoravids and extended Almohad rule from Morocco to Tunisia (the province of Ifriqiya). He made his office
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hereditary, and his son Yusuf abn Ya’qub (1135–84) succeeded him. He would spend most of his reign battling internal opposition, although he was also noted for military success in Muslim Spain and for his patronage of the arts. In 1164, the Zengid emir Nur al-Din (1118–74) defeated the Crusader princes at Artah. Throughout the 1160s, Nur al-Din contested with the Crusader kingdoms, particularly as they vied for control of the ailing Fatimid kingdom in Egypt, led by the vizier Shawar. Amalric, who had become king of Jerusalem in 1162, was the first to occupy Egypt, but Zengid success at Artah forced him to march north, leaving the way clear for Nur al-Din’s general Shirkuh and his nephew Saladin to invade Egypt (see 1167). Around the mid-12th century, the dense urban culture of the ancient Pueblo peoples at Chaco Canyon in North America collapsed, probably because their marginal system of agriculture had overtaxed the fragile dryland ecology, leaving them vulnerable to drought. Dating of timbers from the Chaco Canyon pueblos show that the youngest timbers date from around the 1160s – in other words, there was no construction after this. Other Pueblo, or Anasazi, sites show evidence from this period of fortification, destruction, and even cannibalism, but there is also evidence of orderly abandonment, presumably by people moving to new sites.
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1166–70
1171–75
,,
WILL NO ONE RID ME OF THIS TURBULENT PRIEST?
,,
Attributed to Henry II, 1170
The murder of Thomas Becket is depicted in stained glass at Canterbury Cathedral. Canonized in 1173 , Becket became one of the most popular English saints. IN 1170, THOMAS BECKET, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY,
was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, England, by four knights of the court of Henry II (r.1154–89). Although he swore that he had not ordered the crime, and was absolved of responsibility by Pope Alexander in 1172, Henry’s famous outburst (see above) had prompted the action of the knights. The context for this outrage was an ongoing dispute over the extent of ecclesiastical
versus royal jurisdiction. During the anarchy of Stephen’s reign (see 1136–40), clerical courts had encroached on areas previously under royal jurisdiction. Following Stephen’s death, Henry Plantagenet came to the throne. He controlled England alongside the territories of Anjou, Normandy, and Aquitaine – known as the Angevin Empire – and set about instituting a badly needed reorganization of his new kingdom. Taxation reforms,
tablet in clay with moulded design
Muhammad of Ghur, travelling by elephant, leads his army in the Islamic conquest of India.
for instance, replaced the Danegeld with new levies, but it was the judicial reform that brought him into conflict with his friend and chancellor Thomas Becket. Becket had already been forced into exile after being found guilty of violating the Constitutions of Clarendon (see 1164). On his return he vexed Henry by excommunicating royally favoured bishops. At its height, in the late 12th century, the commercial empire of Srivijaya, based in Sumatra, controlled much of the Malay Archipelago. Its authority extended to colonies around the East Indies and as far as Sri Lanka and Taiwan. Srivijayan power was based almost exclusively on its maritime prowess. By securing the seas in the region against piracy they enabled and directed trade between China, India, and the Islamic world, but imposition of heavy duties and taxes stoked resentment and, eventually, revolt. Frederick I’s fourth expedition to Italy, beginning in 1166, prompted the renewal of the Lombard League (see 1156–60) and the construction of the mighty fortress town Alessandria, named for the pope. With this citadel guarding the mountain passes, Italy became virtually independent of imperial authority. Votive tablet This votive tablet from the trading empire of Srivijaya is engraved with Buddhist figures. The ruling Sailendras were ardent Buddhists.
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THE GHURIDS WERE A DYNASTY FOUNDED IN 1151 by Ala-ud-Din
Husayn, who conquered much of Ghaznavid Afghanistan and founded a new state based at Ghur in western Afghanistan. In 1173, Ghiyas-ud-Din became emir, making his brother Mu’izz-du-Din, better known as Muhammad of Ghur, co-emir. Together the brothers brought most of Afghanistan under their control, and in 1175 Muhammad launched the Islamic invasion of northern India. The Spanish rabbi Benjamin of Tudela (1130–73) was the first recorded European to have approached the borders of China, in an epic journey he made from 1159 to 1173. His account, The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela, recounts many exotic legends, including Noah’s Ark resting on Mount Ararat. In the medieval period, the city of Pisa, in Tuscany, became the centre of a thriving city-state. Its cathedral was constructed in the 11th century, but in 1173 work began on a separate bell tower. Even during construction the foundations sank and the tower began to slant. Eventually it came to lean 4.5m (15ft) from the perpendicular. During the 1170s, a new religious movement emerged in Lyons. Also known as the Poor Men of Lyons and the Vaudois, the Waldenses were led by Peter Waldes (c.1140–1218), a rich merchant who gave away his property and began to preach a radical creed of gospel simplicity
Leaning Tower of Pisa Pisa’s famous leaning tower is 54.5m (179ft) tall and 17.5m (57ft) in diameter at the base.
that rejected many of the teachings of Catholicism. Despite initial blessing by Pope Alexander III, the Waldensians’ refusal to abide by his injunction against preaching led to their denunciation as heretics in 1179 and a long history of persecution (see 1206–10). In 1174, the Zengid emir Nur al-Din died. His nephew Saladin, who had already assumed control of Egypt, quickly marched north to secure Syria, and was duly recognized as sultan of Egypt and Syria by the caliph in Baghdad, founding the Ayyubid dynasty.
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SALADIN’S HOPE HAD AN EASY PASSAGE, HIS PATHS WERE FRAGRANT, HIS GIFTS POURED OUT, … HIS POWER WAS MANIFEST, HIS AUTHORITY SUPREME.
,,
Imad al Din, Secretary to Saladin, from Lightning of Syria, c.1200
This depiction of the Battle of Yashima during the Gempei wars illustrates a heavily armed Minamoto discovering the terrified mother of Emperor Taira. EMPEROR FREDERICK BARBARROSA’S FIFTH EXPEDITION TO ITALY in 1176 (see also
1151–55) ended in disaster for the imperial forces when his army was crushed at the Battle of Legnano. The battle marked one of the earliest occasions in the medieval era when cavalry were defeated by infantry. This had class implications as knights on horses generally belonged to the feudal aristocracy, while footmen with pikes represented freemen of the rising bourgeoisie. In 1177, Frederick was forced to concede the Peace of Venice with the pope; a prelude to the more
comprehensive Peace of Constance in 1183 (see 1181–85). Now reconciled with the emperor, Pope Alexander III was able to call an ecumenical council at the Lateran Palace in Rome, in 1179. The council decreed that papal elections would be solely in the hands of the cardinals, and that a two-thirds majority was needed to elect a pope. It was hoped that this would draw a line under years of contention between papal candidates elected by the anti-imperial party and “anti-popes” – persons selected by the emperor to oppose the legitimately elected or sitting pope. In 1176, the army of Byzantine emperor Manuel Commenus was destroyed by the Turks of the Sultanate of Rum (see 1100–05) at the Battle of Myriocephalum. The Byzantines were never again able to send land forces to help the Crusaders. The Gempei Wars (1180–85) in Japan
Pope Alexander III This 14th-century fresco shows Pope Alexander III presenting a sword to the Venetian Doge for use against the emperor, Frederick Barbarossa. y db m ate alu e f e ph yd e m ioc ar Myr e in of nt za ttle By Ba 6 t 7 a 11 rks Tu
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COAL AND IRON IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE Growing populations, new agricultural implements, and constant military activity increased the demand for iron in the Middle Ages. Charcoal was still the main source of power for iron forges, but deforestation caused wood shortages. As a consequence, demand for coal increased in and scavenging for sea coal was increasingly supplemented by mining. The first record of a coal mine comes from Escomb near Durham, in northern England in 1183. marked the end of Taira domination of Japan (see 641–650), and the start of the Minamoto shogunate. Civil wars in 1156 and 1159 had left control of Japan in the hands of Taira no Kiyomori (c.1118–81), who quickly assumed a similar level of power to the Fujiwara clan (see 851–860). Not only did he act as prime minister, but he also married his daughters to the imperial family, enabling him to place his infant grandson on the throne as emperor in 1180. But his excessive lust for power and perceived corruption alienated his provincial supporters, and in the same year there was an uprising by the Minamoto clan against Taira rule, which grew into the five-year-long Gempei Wars.
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BY THE 1180S, THE CRUSADER KINGDOMS OF OUTREMER (“beyond
the sea”, as they were known in Europe) were in an increasingly precarious position. Europe was deaf to entreaties for Crusader reinforcements, and the Christian Byzantines were preoccupied with other matters, such as war with Norman Sicily. Meanwhile, their Muslim opponents were gathering under the leadership of Saladin, or Salah al-Din, (c.1137–93) the sultan of Egypt and Syria. By 1183, he had suppressed Christian rebels at Edessa and Aleppo, and with both sides reeling from the effects of a drought, had brokered a peace treaty with the leper king of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV (c.1161–85). The uneasy peace was shattered, however, by the actions of Reynald of Châtillon, an adventurer from the Second Crusade, who persistently raided unarmed caravans of Islamic pilgrims, and sponsored a pirate fleet that pillaged the Red Sea.
Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria Saladin escapes from battle on a camel in this 18th-century engraving. He was renowned as a generous and principled leader.
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Saladin mobilized his army, intent on punishing Reynald, but his progress was checked by Frankish fortresses and another prolonged famine. In 1185, Baldwin died and his sickly infant nephew inherited the crown as Baldwin V (1177–86). In 1183, the peace between Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and his Italian foes was ratified as the Peace of Constance, but although imperial authority over Italy was recognized, the Lombard cities were granted effective autonomy. The Battle of Dannoura of 1185 marked the climax of the Gempei Wars. Warrior Minamoto Yoshitsune, younger brother of Yoritomo, the founder of the shogunate, destroyed the Taira in the naval battle.
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1191–1200
The Horns of Hattin, an extinct volcano crowned with two rocky outcrops, was the site of the Battle of Hattin in 1187.
King Richard I of England, also known as Richard the Lionheart, is shown leading Crusaders into battle.
ON 4TH JULY 1187, THE CRUSADER ARMY WAS DEFEATED by the
forces of Saladin. The Crusader forces were led by the new king of Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan, who had seized power on the death of the infant Baldwin V in 1186. Baldwin’s regents had negotiated another truce with Saladin, but
3:2
Battle of Hattin Saladin’s troops outnumbered the Crusaders by 30,000 to 20,000, yet his success was owed to his tactics and the Christians’ desperate thirst.
once again, Reynald of Châtillon had broken it, raiding a caravan of pilgrims and provoking Saladin into a final campaign to sweep the Holy Land clear of the Christian principalities. Goaded by Reynald, King Guy led a combined force of Crusader knights, Templars, Hospitallers, and English mercenaries (see 1116–20) across a waterless plateau in the blazing heat to take up a position on the Horns of Hattin, an extinct volcano. Between them and Lake Tiberias – the main source of fresh water for the thirst-crazed knights – lay the well-rested and provisioned army of Saladin. Using raiding tactics, Saladin drove the Crusaders into desperate confusion, surrounding and capturing them all. More than
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200 Templars and Hospitallers were executed, while Saladin personally beheaded Reynald. King Guy was later released, but, with his army annihilated, it was easy for Saladin to cow many of the remaining Crusader strongholds into surrender. He took Acre in July and Jerusalem in October. Tyre, Antioch, Tripoli, and a few castles were all that remained of the Crusader kingdoms. The Crusader kingdom of Outremer had been pleading for European assistance for years and the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 finally prompted Pope Gregory VIII to preach a new Crusade. The dispatch of Anglo-French forces was delayed by disputes between Henry II of England and Philip II of France, and then by the death of Henry and the accession of Richard I in 1189. Richard I and Philip II finally set out in late 1190. Frederick Barbarossa had already set out overland in 1189, but was drowned en route the following year. metal plated gloves or tekko skirts split for ease of movement
Samurai armour This beautifully presented Japanese armour dates from the 19th century, though the first samurai warriors fought with similar armour in the 12th century.
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THE THIRD CRUSADE was hampered by infighting among the European factions of the Crusaders of Outremer, and although Richard the Lionheart won most of his battles, he was unable to achieve his sworn aim of “liberating” Jerusalem. The Crusade had already got off to a bad start (see 1186–90), and there were further delays en route when, in 1191, Richard stopped to conquer Byzantine Cyprus. He sold the island to the Templars, who would later pass it on to the diminished Crusader kingdoms, where it became one of the main supports for continuing Christian presence in the Holy Land. On finally arriving in Palestine, Richard joined Philip II of France in the siege of Acre, which was actually a double siege – King Guy had laid siege to the city on his release from captivity (see 1186–90), but Saladin had then encircled his forces. Acre was taken by the Crusaders in July and much of the population was massacred. Philip II returned to France, but Richard I had sworn to liberate Jerusalem, and marched along the coast, retaking towns and defeating Saladin at Arsuf in September. Although he would go on to clear Muslim forces from the rest of the coastal strip, and camp within sight of Jerusalem, Richard realized he did not have the forces needed to take
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CRUSADER ARMOUR
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and hold the holy city. With continued infighting among the Crusader barons, the murder of Conrad of Montferrat by Assassins (see 1081–90) soon after being made king, reinforcements arriving for Saladin, and bad news from England – where his brother John was scheming to seize the crown – Richard was forced to conclude a peace treaty with Saladin in 1192. Outremer would henceforth be confined to a 145km (90 mile) coastal strip, from Tyre to Jaffa, along with Antioch and Tripoli. In 1192, Minamoto Yoritomo (see 1181–85) awarded himself the title Seii tai-shogun (“barbarian-subduing great general”). Since the end of the Gempei Wars, Yoritomo had dispatched all challengers, including his brother Yoshitsune. As undisputed military dictator, his bakufu, or administration, at Kamakura now supplanted the imperial court. Japan would be ruled by shoguns – military dictators - for centuries to come. In 1192, the Ghurids of Persia defeated a Hindu rebellion at the Battle of Taraori near Thanesar in India. The following year, Delhi was taken and Muhammad of Ghur founded the Sultanate of Delhi.
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1206–10
A Persian painting shows Temujin, later known as Genghis Khan, battling the Tartars. The Tartar tribes fought constantly with the Mongols.
Peterhouse college, Cambridge was founded 75 years after the university.
1199, intent on restoring papal supervision to the crusading movement, and hoping to reunite the Greek and Latin churches to fulfil his vision of a single Christian dominion under the papacy. In 1201, envoys met Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice, to arrange passage to Egypt for the Fourth Crusade. Under the Peace of Venice (see 1176–80), the Venetians agreed to transport 33,500 men and 4,500 horses for a payment of 85,000 marks. In addition, they would supply 50 war galleys in return for half of the Crusaders’ conquests. When the Crusaders gathered in Venice in 1202, it transpired there were too few of them, and they could not pay the agreed bill. Instead, they agreed to help Venice by taking Zara in Dalmatia – a rich source of wood for Venetian galleys. Pope Innocent protested, but worse was to come. In 1204, the Crusaders arrived in
Constantinople, where relations with the Byzantines quickly soured; the city was taken for the first time in its history, and was brutally sacked. A new Latin Empire of the East was proclaimed under a new emperor, Baldwin of Flanders, while Venice was awarded nearly half the city, numerous Mediterranean islands, and other territories. Although the Byzantine emperors relocated to Byzantine Nicaea, the Fourth Crusade marked the end of the Byzantine Empire as a true power, which discredited the Crusading movement and helped the Turks. In the late 12th century, the Mongolian and Turkic nomads of the steppes were fearsome but disunited. Temujin (c.1162–1227), who later became known as Genghis Khan, was a minor leader who became a nokhor (companion) to Toghril, Khan of the Kereits, the dominant tribe in Central Mongolia. Through ability and charisma, he rose to become a great general, crushing the
Novgorod Kiev
Bolgar KHANATE OF THE GOLDEN HORDE
CHAGATAI KHANATE
Jayavarman VII This bronze statue of King Jayavarman VII, in Mahayana Buddhist style, portrays a serene and contemplative king.
neighbouring Tartar tribes in 1202, but inciting resentment among other Kereits so that in 1203 he clashed with Toghril himself. He emerged from this confrontation as the dominant leader among the Mongol tribes. Jayavarman VII (c.1125–1220) had returned from exile to claim the Khmer crown in 1181. He
ASIA
Karakorum EMPIRE OF THE KEY GREAT KHAN Constantinople Beijing Campaigns of Genghis Trebizond Nishapur M e d i terr Ningxia an e Kashgar JAPAN Khan 1206-1227 an S ea Balkh Lhasa Kaifeng Herat Hamadan Empire of Genghis IL-KHANATE Kabul Ningbo CHINA Khan 1227 Dali Patna Medina BURMA Guangzhou Silk road Mecca INDIA Pagan AFRICA Hanoi Arabian South Sea Map of Genghis Khan’s empire China Sea Temujin would go on to unite the Mongol
EUROPE
Gran
Tashkent Bukhara
tribes and conquer a huge empire. His successors would extend it still further.
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avenged the destruction of the capital by deposing the Champa king in 1191, suppressed a revolt in the west, restored Angkor, and finally gained ascendancy over the Champa kingdom. Jayavarman made Mahayana Buddhism the state religion and taxed the resources of the kingdom to build great temples, as well as hospitals, shrines, roads, and bridges. One of his temples, Preah Khan, was served by 98,000 retainers. In around 1200, the Chimú state, centred on their capital at Chan Chan in the Moche valley in Peru, began to expand. Their power rested on their mastery of intensive agriculture techniques and elaborate irrigation. At Chan Chan, Chimú leaders built citadels, or palaces, high-walled buildings with audience chambers and storage depots. It is believed that each new Chimú ruler was obliged to build and fund his own citadel, which drove the expansion of the empire. In 1202, the mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, better known as Fibonacci (c.1177–1250), produced the most influential book in European mathematics to date, the Liber Abaci, or Book of Calculation. Based on Arabic mathematics, it introduced Europe to Hindu numerals (0–9) and to the word zephirum, a Latinized version of an Arabic word that, in the Venetian dialect, became zero in algebra, addition, and the Fibonacci Sequence.
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BY 1206, TEMUJIN HAD UNITED ALL THE TRIBES OF MONGOLIA into
the Khamag Mongol Ulus “the All Mongol State”, reorganizing tribal society into an army grouped on a decimal system. At the Mongolian capital of Karakorum, he took the title Chinggis Khan or “ruler of the world”. The name is now most commenly spelled, “Genghis”. In 1208, Pope Innocent III proclaimed a crusade against heretics in the south of France – the Albigensians (Cathars based around Albi) and Waldenses (see 1171–75). Their teachings challenged the worldliness of the established church, while their anticlericalism attracted nobles keen to appropriate church lands; the Cathars, for instance, were under the protection of Raymond of Toulouse, who ruled much of southern France. The pope’s declaration gave license for the French king, Philip II (1165–1223), to allow his northern lords to wreak havoc in areas outside of
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POPE INNOCENT III HAD PROCLAIMED A NEW CRUSADE in
KILL THEM ALL, GOD WILL KNOW HIS OWN.
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Abbot Arnaud Amaury, on the Albigensian Crusade
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1216–20
1211–15
1221–25
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I AM THE PUNISHMENT OF GOD...
Genghis Khan, Mongolian warlord
This 19th-century oil painting depicts the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, said to have been the decisive battle of the Reconquista. PETER II OF ARAGON (1178–1213) AND ALFONSO VIII OF CASTILE (1155–1214) defeated the
PERSECUTION OF THE CATHARS Although only 200 Cathars lived in the town of Beziers in Languedoc, Crusaders massacred the entire population in 1209. Asked how the attackers should distinguish between Catholics and heretics, crusade leader Abbot Amaury is reputed to have given his famous order to “kill them all”. In its pursuit of Cathars, the papacy would eventually create the Inquisition (see 1231–35). his control, preparing the way for an expansion of royal power. In 1209, Cambridge University was founded by scholars who had relocated from Oxford. By 1226, they had aquired some formal organization.
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Almohads (see 1146–50) at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. Alfonso had earlier been crushingly defeated by the Almohads in 1195 but had fought off invasions by the other Christian Spanish kingdoms and rebuilt his army. After this decisive victory, the Almohads were soon expelled from Spain, leaving only local Muslim dynasties that could not stand up to the Christian advance. Accordingly, this battle is traditionally said to be a decisive point in the Christian reconquest or “reconquista” of Moorish Spain (see 1241–45). Having lost most of his lands in France, King John of England (1166–1216) joined in alliance with Emperor Otto IV (1178–1215) and others, but they were crushed at the Battle of Bouvines in Flanders in 1214 by Philip II of France and the rival German emperor, Frederick II. This ended AngloNorman hopes of regaining French territories. King John’s barons were forced to concentrate on England, where they had cause for discontent. Thanks to a dispute with the pope, the king had been briefly excommunicated. More importantly, he was taxing the barons heavily and invalidating the
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law when it suited him. The barons revolted and after a brief civil war, John was forced to sign the Articles of the Barons, known in history as the Great Charter or Magna Carta. Although this mainly concerned the rights of barons, in stating that the king was not above the law, it was an important milestone for human rights. King John immediately disowned the charter and war 3 clauses still in use
4 surviving copies
A detail from the south gate of the great Khmer city of Angkor Thom.
8
METRES
THE HEIGHT OF THE WALLS OF ANGKOR THOM JAYAVARMAN VII DIED IN AROUND 1220, having seen his greatest
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ORIGINAL COPIES
The Magna Carta Of the 63 clauses contained in the original Magna Carta, only three survive as laws today. Numerous copies were made, to be distributed around England; four survive.
broke out once more, this time with added French involvement. Retreating from a French invasion force in 1216, the king lost his baggage train – and royal treasure – while crossing the Wash in Lincolnshire, England, and died soon after. His infant son, Henry III (1207–72) came to the throne.
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creation take shape. At Angkor, in modern-day Cambodia he had created a new city, Angkor Thom, centred on the great state temple of Bayon. The temple comprises towers decorated with huge, sculpted faces; the identities of these are disputed, although they may include Jayavarman himself. Having conquered most of Central Asia and northern China, Genghis Khan’s empire (see 1201–05) now bordered the Khwarazm Empire of Persia.
Mongolian dagger The Mongolians had a deservedly fearsome reputation. After archers had decimated the enemy, fighters with hand weapons would close in.
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DOMINGO DE GUZMAN, A CASTILIAN CLERIC DIED IN 1221. In 1203, he
had gone to Rome to ask permission to do missionary work with the Tartars (see 1201–10), but was sent to France to preach to the Cathars of Languedoc instead. By adopting absolute poverty, he was able to challenge the Cathars and make some headway, although ultimately his failure to “correct” the heretics led to the Albigensian Crusade (see 1206–10). However, like Francis of Assisi (see 1226–30), he had created a new kind of monastic order – the Dominicans – adapted to the new urban culture. The Dominicans and Franciscans were mendicant friars, mainly recruited from the middle classes, living off charity rather than farming, and devoted to preaching and charity in towns and cities. A largely ineffective affair, the Fifth Crusade was the fruit of Pope Innocent’s determination to reboot the Crusading movement. Targeting Egypt, the Crusaders took that but then lost Damietta, and failed to account for the Nile floods, which foiled their advance on Cairo. They high-handedly rejected a treaty offered by the sultan that would have given them Jerusalem, and left Egypt in 1221 having accomplished nothing.
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1231–35
1236–40
This 13th-century painting by Giotto di Bonodore shows St Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds.
This 14th-century image shows Pope Gregory IX receiving a list of heretics.
Steppe landscape; little changed since the days of the Mongol Empire.
IN 1231, POPE GREGORY IX
ON HIS DEATH, GENGHIS KHAN had informally divided his empire between four of his sons. Given authority over the west, Batu Khan (c.1207–55) established the Kipchak Khanate, also known as the Golden Horde Khanate. In the winter of 1237, when the frozen rivers allowed his cavalry to cross, Batu invaded Russia. Over the next four years, his armies conquered the Russian principalities and blazed a trail of destruction deep into Central Europe. Under the overlordship of Ogodei (see 1231–35), the expanding reach of the Mongol Empire had important implications for pan-Eurasian trade. The Pax Mongolica or “Mongol Peace” achieved in the lands under Mongolian control made the perilous passage across Central Asia and the silk road increasingly viable, enabling the first direct contact between Europeans and the Chinese since Roman times in around 1240. By 1236, the Teutonic Knights – a military order formed in 1198 by German merchants serving at the Hospital of St Mary of the Teutons in Jerusalem – had completed the subjugation of the Pomeranians, a pagan tribe in Prussia. Under their grand master, Hermann von Salza (c.1179–1239), the knights established numerous strongholds, and in 1237, they merged with the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and advanced into Livonia (presentday Estonia and Latvia).
1,000,000
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED DURING THE ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE
THE RENEWAL OF THE ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE (see
1206–10) in 1226 was in spite of the Pope declaring an “official” end to the Crusade at the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. In reality, the battle for the south of France descended into vicious guerrilla warfare. Renewal of the Crusade
was followed eventually by the submission of Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse – the Cathars’ protector. Under the Treaty of Meaux (also known as the Peace of Paris) of 1229, the town of Toulouse was ceded to the Capetian dynasty – the ruling house of France from 987 to 1328.
Crusader coin A rare Crusader coin from the Kingdom of Jerusalem illustrates the effects of intermingling policy: the inscription is written in Arabic.
Meanwhile, Emperor Frederick II of Germany realized that peace with the Muslims was better than unwinnable military adventures. In 1229, he concluded a treaty with the sultan of Egypt that restored Jerusalem and some surrounding land to the Christians. The Sixth Crusade thus passed without bloodshed, although Frederick was roundly condemned for this achievment. A former soldier, Francis of Assisi had founded the Franciscan order in 1209 (see 1221–25). In 1224, he received the stigmata (the wounds of Christ), and he was canonized just two years after his death in 1226.
Cathar stronghold The Cathar castle of Peyrepertuse in the Pyrenees was located in a strategic defensive position on the French–Spanish border.
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established the Papal Inquisition, a campaign by the church against heresy. Prior to 1231, the investigation of heresy had been the responsibility of bishops but it now became the preserve of specialist inquisitors, mostly drawn from the Dominican and Franciscan orders (see 1221–25). In 1233, the Dominicans were charged with bringing the Inquisition to Languedoc in France, where the Cathar heresy clung on despite the military defeat of the Count of Toulouse (see 1226–30). Mongolian expansion continued, though Genghis Khan (see 1201–05) had died in 1227 while suppressing a rebellion in Xia Xia in China. He was succeeded by his second son, Ogodei (c.1186–1241), who was still more ambitious. Ogodei sent armies to the east and west, leading the final assault on the Chinese Jin Empire (see 1126– 30), which was conquered by 1234. The Southern Song had aided the Mongol advance, but when they tried to seize Kaifeng in northern China in 1235, the Mongols turned on them. In 1235, Sundiata, king of the Keita, a Mande people from sub-Saharan Mali, defeated the Susu king Sumnaguru at the Battle of Kirina. The Susu had destroyed the old Ghana Empire (c.830–1235), and Sundiata now built a new Mande empire on the ruins of Ghana.
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1241–45
1246–50
This miniature from the Annalistic Code of the 16th century depicts the “Battle of the Ice”, fought on the frozen waters of Lake Peipus, Novgorod.
In this 16th-century painting, Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Lon, accepts the surrender of the city of Seville from the Moors in 1248.
IN 1241, THE GERMAN TRADING TOWNS OF LUBECK AND HAMBURG
IN 1247, FERDINAND III OF CASTILE AND LEON (c.1199–1252) laid siege
formed an alliance to protect the Baltic trade routes. This was the first act in the formation of the Hanseatic League (from the medieval Latin hansa, meaning a group or association). Lübeck quickly became the centre of expanding German trade in the Baltic region, which extended along the Russian rivers as far as Novgorod, and linked to the European trading centres of England and Flanders. In 1242, the efforts of the Teutonic Knights (see 1236–40)
RECONQUISTA The notion of the Reconquista – the Christian reconquest of Islamic Spain – as a single, continuous project, is a myth, first created by clerical propagandists in the 14th century. In practice, the advance of the Christian kingdoms was by degrees, driven by the need for land, and facilitated by Muslim dissention and advances in military technology.
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Medieval trade A manuscript illumination of the port of Hamburg, a founder member of the Hanseatic League, which had its roots in an alliance of 1241 with Lübeck.
to extend their Livonian territories eastward and launch the conversion of the Russians from the Greek to the Roman church were checked by defeat at the Battle of Lake Peipus. Led by Alexander Nevski, prince of Novgorod, the Russians checked the knights’ progress and Lake Peipus thereafter served as the eastern limit of Livonia. In a series of stunning victories in Eastern and Central Europe, the Mongol armies destroyed all opposition. Early in 1241, an army of horsemen crossed the frozen River Vistula into Poland, sacking Kracow and defeating an alliance of Poles, Silesians, and Teutonic Knights at Leignitz in April. Just three days later, another force under Batu (see 1236–40) overwhelmed the Hungarian army in their camp at Mohi. By December, Batu was destroying Pest, the largest city in Hungary. The Mongols had reached the gates of Vienna when, in 1242, the news reached them that Ogodei, the Great Khan, had died. As was
traditional, Batu withdrew his forces back to Karakorum, the Mongol capital, for the election of a new leader. Elsewhere, Mongol forces had penetrated the Indian subcontinent, sacking Lahore in 1241. In 1244, Jerusalem, which had been under partial Christian control since Frederick II’s treaty with the sultan of Egypt (see 1226–30), was lost to medieval Christians for the final time. The Egyptian sultan, Ayyub, was engaged in a contest with the Syrian branch of the Ayyubids (see 1171–75) at Damascus, which had allied itself with the Christian Crusader kingdoms. In 1244, Ayyub’s forces overran Jerusalem and expelled the Christians.
to the Moorish city of Seville. It fell to him in 1248, and with it the last Moorish kingdom in Spain – with the exception of Granada. Here, Mohammad ibn-Yusuf ibn Nasr had established the Nasrid dynasty in 1230. By 1238, the Nasrids had begun to reconstruct an old fortress, the Alhambra, which would become one of the wonders of world architecture by the mid-14th century (see 1350–55). In 1246, the emir of Granada agreed to become Ferdinand’s vassal, but the last relic of Moorish al-Andalus would resist Christian pressure until 1492 (see 1490–92). Louis IX of France (1214–70) was much respected throughout Europe and had a reputation for justice. Under his reign, royal control was extended to the Mediterranean, and the previously autonomous realms of Languedoc and Provence would become part of French Capetian territories. In 1244, Louis “took the cross”, embarking on a crusade in 1248. Theobald of Navarre had launched
THE CRUSADES
1096–99 1145–49 1189–92 1202–04 1213–21 1228–29 1248–54
FIRST CRUSADE SECOND CRUSADE THIRD CRUSADE FOURTH CRUSADE FIFTH CRUSADE SIXTH CRUSADE SEVENTH CRUSADE
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a crusade in 1239, but it was so unsuccessful that it is not usually recognized as an ordinate crusade; Louis’ crusade of 1248 is accounted the Seventh, the last Crusade of this magnitude ever undertaken. Louis landed in Egypt and took Damietta without opposition, but in 1250 his army was destroyed by the Egyptians at Fariskur and he was taken captive. His mother, Blanche of Castile, raised a large ransom to buy his freedom. The Mamluks (or Mamelukes) of Egypt were slave soldiers captured from Turkic and Circassian tribes (of the Pontic– Caspian steppes), who formed the main component of the Ayyubid army. Eventually they became strong enough to take power for themselves, murdering Turan Shah, the last Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, in 1250. At first the Mamluk commander Izz-ad-Din Aybak used the sultan’s widow as a puppet ruler, but he soon married her and founded the Mamluk dynasty, the first slave dynasty to hold power in its own name.
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25/05/2011 16:56
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TRADE AND INVENTION
sharp obsidian blade
eagle head sculpted in gold
Lip ornament
Human mask
Warrior effigy pot
MIXTEC
AZTEC
MOCHE
This eagle-shaped lip plug, or labret, would have been worn by a member of the Aztec elite. The Mixtec, a conquered tribe, made most Aztec gold jewellery.
Found at the Great Temple of the Aztecs in their capital Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), this greenstone mask was a votive offering.
This pot from the Moche culture of the north coast of Peru shows a warrior in a head-dress grasping a club. Constant warfare was a way of life.
THE AZTECS, INCAS, AND MAYA
heavy wooden handle
THE EXTRAORDINARY ARTISTIC TRADITIONS OF PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA THAT SPANNED MILLENNIA
The Incas, Aztecs, and Maya were advanced civilizations with sophisticated arts and crafts and highly developed graphic systems. The artefacts they created dazzled the medieval European invaders and still fascinate today.
Obsidian knife AZTEC
Long-bladed, razor-sharp obsidian knives such as this one were used by warriors and in the gory human sacrifices practised by the Aztecs.
The art and culture of the pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica and the Andes represent the height of ancient traditions stretching back to the 4th millennium BCE. The conquistadors had a devastating effect on these cultures, but the artefacts that survive are a testament to their rich heritage. Much of Incan culture came from client states, such as the Moche, while the Aztecs and Mayans derived theirs from older cultures, such as the Olmecs.
Maquahuitl AZTEC
Lacking iron or steel, pre-Columbian Americans used obsidian (volcanic glass) to form cutting edges. The maquahuitl – a wooden club fringed with obsidian blades – was a common Aztec weapon.
Sun stone
skin of flayed victim
AZTEC
This sun stone, or calendar stone, is the largest Aztec sculpture ever found. It represents the Aztecs’ mythical history of the universe. The Sun, believed to have been formed in the most recent era of creation, is at the centre. decorated with pictoglyphs band showing days of month
disc is 4m (13ft) across
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Xipe Totec, god of the springtime TEOTIHUACAN
The name of this grisly god translates as “our flayed lord”; he is depicted wearing the skin of a sacrificial victim, denoting the spring renewal of the Earth’s “skin”.
Priceless heart AZTEC
The heart was considered the most precious organ that could be offered to the gods, and this replica was carved in jade, which the Aztecs regarded as their most valuable substance.
03/07/2012 27/06/2012 11:38 15:36
T H E A Z T E C S , I N CA S , A N D M AYA Necklace
Tomb figurine
INCA
INCA
Turquoise was highly valued by the Incas (Aztecs and Mayans preferred jade and other greenstones), and this rare necklace is made from beads of gold, turquoise, and red shell.
This cast gold figurine representing an Inca god made up part of the grave goods interred in the tomb of a high-status individual.
size and position of knots records numbers
ornate head-dress
hunter disguised as deer
heavy earplugs
Panpipes INCA
Known in Europe as the syrinx, the panpipes were among the most common Inca musical instruments. This unusual set is made of quills from the feathers of a condor.
elaborate carvings
Decorative plate MAYA
This plate from the Yucatan Maya shows hunting scenes – in the centre, a hunter drapes a deer he has caught across his head and shoulders, while around the edges other hunters wear deer masks.
Counting device
Greenstone yoke
INCA
AZTEC
Codex Tro–Cortesianus MAYA
One of only four surviving Mayan codices, this one records instructions for divination (predicting the future) and priestly rituals. Sheets of bark paper were coated in gesso (chalky paste) to form a writing surface.
Jaina figurine MAYA
This pottery figure from the island of Jaina shows a powerful man dressed in all his finery, with a heavy bead necklace, massive head-dress, and ear plugs.
Yokes were worn as protective belts in the sacred ball game ulama, played by most Mesoamerican cultures. This ornate yoke was probably a ceremonial replica. bars and dots represent numbers
This quipu, or counting device, was a versatile accounting tool that helped the Incas keep track of the tribute and population of their empire – data was recorded in lengths of string and knots. codex was read from top to bottom, then left to right
145 144-145_178147_Aztec_Inca_Maya.indd 144-145_178147_Aztec_Inca_Maya.indd 145 145
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03/07/2012 11:3 27/06/2012 15:36
1251–55
1256–60
Although not as sophisticated as Mayan hieroglyphs, Aztec pictographs such as the one shown could express simple concepts.
This illustration of Mongols battling the Seljuks is from a chronicle by Rashid al-Din, a Muslim minister in the service of the Il-Khanate.
today as the Aztecs – were established in the Valley of Mexico. Aztec legend suggests that they migrated from the ancestral homeland of Aztlan in the early 12th century. Settling at Chapultepec, near Lake Texcoco, Mexico, in around 1250, they were soon expelled by the Tepanecs, one of the tribal confederations competing for dominance in the wake of the Toltec collapse in the early 12th century. Although the Mongols had conquered most of the Russian principalities (see 1236–40), and the Golden Horde Khanate had claimed authority over Russia, surprisingly little changed for the Russians. In return for tribute and military service, the Russian princes were left in power and the Russian Church was not interfered with. Alexander Nevski (c.1220–63), the prince of Novgorod who had led the Russians to victory against the Teutonic Knights in 1242, became the dominant Russian noble, appointed Grand Duke of Vladimir after his brother was driven out by the Mongols. Under the support of the new Great Khan, Mongke (r.1251–59), his brothers Kublai and Hulagu renewed the Mongol expansion.
In 1253, Hulagu led a huge army into Western Asia to conquer the Great Seljuk sultanate (see 1031–40), while Kublai launched campaigns against the Southern Song and the Kingdom of Nanchao in China.
Prince of Novgorod This statue depicts Russian leader, Alexander Nevski, whose name derives from the Russian victory at the Battle of the River Neva. cs ki s vs zte y ht Ne es n s s A alle ng r nig 0 in ha uer geri e om sia K 5 nV r , d K 2 , a s q g i ic an ec Rus lai on rig ple c.1 ttle ico l w te on er lex 3) b in ut sb ivi sta ub 4) c a, t eo se Mex Te onig 2 A 126 ince 4 C der sia 3 K 129 Chin hai p 4 f 5 5 5 5 o 12 20– g pr 12 usa rn A 12 nd K 12 15– ao, of T a (12 din Cr ste (12 nch ion fou ussi lea We Na grat Pr i m
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146
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HULAGU KHAN (SEE 1251–1255) CONTINUED HIS CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE SELJUKS and other
Islamic powers. In 1256, he crushed the Order of the Assassins (see 1081–90), taking their stronghold at Alamut in Persia. In 1258, he sacked Baghdad and executed the Abbasid Caliph – the figurehead of Islam – in just one of countless atrocities committed by Mongol invaders who massacred hundreds of thousands of Muslims during their campaigns. In 1259, Hulagu penetrated deep into Syria, but as with Batu’s campaign in Europe 18 years earlier (see 1241–45), his progress was halted by news of the death of the Great Khan, and he withdrew his armies while he returned to the Mongolian capital to help select a new leader. Taking advantage of Hulagu’s withdrawal, the Mamluk general al-Zahir Baybars marched north and struck at the Mongol garrisons in Syria. At the Battle of Ayn Jalut in Palestine, General Baybars defeated the Mongols and expelled them from Palestine and Syria. On his return to Egypt he murdered the sultan and took his place. Distracted by dynastic struggles, and later by a protracted inter-khanate war, Hulagu was not able to
KUBLAI KHAN (1215–94) The grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai spent eight years campaigning in southern China before succeeding his brother Mongke as Great Khan in 1260. His own kingdom, the Great Khanate, encompassed Mongolia and China, where he founded the Yuan dynasty, moved the capital to Shangdu, and did much to foster trade and international links. regain his Syrian conquests and the westward expansion of the Mongol Empire was halted. Hulagu’s conquests, which encompassed Iran, Iraq, most of Anatolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, became the Il-Khanate, or Ilkhanate. Meanwhile, the Mamluks gave refuge to a fugitive Abbasid prince, setting him up in Cairo as the new caliph. Recognized as guardians of the Islamic faith, the Mamluks were
formally made sultans of Egypt, Syria, and the Levant. Alfonso X of Castile (r.1252–1284) won the nickname “the Wise” thanks to his learning, patronage of the arts and Castilian literature, sponsorship of natural philosophy, and judicial reforms. He oversaw the final expulsion of the Almohads (see 1121–25) from Spain in 1257.
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BY THE MID-13TH CENTURY, THE MEXICA TRIBE – better known
HAD I BEEN PRESENT AT THE CREATION, I WOULD HAVE GIVEN SOME USEFUL HINTS FOR THE BETTER ORDERING OF THE UNIVERSE.
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Alfonso X, the Wise, on the Ptolemaic system
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1261–65
1266–71
1272–75
This example of Mamluk architecture from the height of the sultanate adorns the entrance to the mausoleum of Qalawun in Cairo, Egypt.
Geneta Mariam church in Ethiopia, built during the Solomonid era.
Former stronghold of the Knights Hospitaller, Krak des Chevaliers or “fortress of the knights” in Syria was taken by the Mamluks and fortified further.
ITALIAN NOBLEMAN AND LATER DOMINICAN MONK, THOMAS AQUINAS (1225–74) became one of
tes iles as m ple nt ho om a Ge T ) ’s c de at on 67 6 4 s ntr ar o 12 , on d 12 uina a co B t ( d im kille ham n nd S Aq mm o 5 ort ves 8) c a u 6 e l S S ng 12 ntf of E .120 64 E Mo ttle d (b 12 r in Ba glan Wa En
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M e d i t e r r an e
COST OF PAPER
an
Se
a
THE SOLOMONID DYNASTY IN ETHOPIA was founded in 1270 by
Yekuno Amlak, displacing the previous Zagwe dynasty, and claiming to have restored the legitimate line of the ancient Christian kings of Aksum. Amlak claimed descent from the biblical Solomon, via the possibly Ethiopian Queen of Sheba. The town of Fabriano in Italy lies close to the Adriatic port of Ancona, which was notable in the 13th century for trade with the Muslim world. This is probably how paper manufacture became established there in the 1270s. Use of animal gelatin in place of more degradable vegetable gel made Fabriano paper more durable, and the town became the principal paper manufacturing site in Europe. In 1270, Louis IX of France made another attempt at crusading, but on the request of Charles of Anjou, the Eighth Crusade was diverted to Tunis where disease killed Louis and his army.
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GOBI
Baghdad ML UK S Mecca
MALI
Aden
Shangdu Khanbaliq
Tabriz
Antioch MA
S a ha r a
Cost of paper versus parchment After paper-making technology was introduced to Italy, the cost of vegetable-based paper fell to 1/6 of the cost of animal-based parchment.
Karakorum
ASIA Constantinople
Rome
ea
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Venice
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Thomas Aquinas This 15th-century altarpiece depicts Thomas Aquinas, whose philosophy still underpins Catholic dogma.
EUROPE
COST OF PARCHMENT
EM P I R E O F TH E G R EAT K H A N
C H AGATA I K H A NATE
K H A NATE O F TH E GOL DE N H O R DE
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the most important philosophers in the history of Western thought. Renowned for his work in uniting faith and reason, Aquinas’s period of greatest productivity occurred between 1258 and 1273, when he penned his two bestknown works, the Summa contra Gentiles and the Summa Theologiae. In 1261, Michael VIII Paleologus (r.1259–61), the Byzantine emperor of Nicaea, concluded the Treaty of Nymphaeum with the Genoese, agreeing to cede them all the trading privileges once enjoyed by the Venetians (see 981–990). He had already secured an alliance with the Bulgarians, and was now poised to achieve his dream of re-taking Constantinople from the Latin Empire (Constantinople and environs, captured from the Byzantines during the fourth crusade), and reconstituting the Byzantine Greek Empire. In July 1261, a Byzantine army took advantage of the absence of the Venetian fleet to cross the Bosporus strait and take Constantinople. The Latin emperor, Baldwin II fled, and the Paleologus Empire was established.
Paleologus would campaign tirelessly to restore lost Byzantine lands. The Second Baron’s War in England between 1264 and 1267 was brought about by a combination of newly kindled national consciousness and resentment at foreign interference. Henry III of England (r.1216–72) had introduced many foreign officers into government and taxed the English heavily to fund overseas adventures and papal extortion. Rebels led by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, captured the king at Lewes in 1265 and summoned the first European parliament that included elected representatives. Meanwhile, the Mamluks began a push to rid the Holy Land of the Crusader kingdoms once and for all.
Balkh
H T I B E T C H I NA IL-KHANATE i m a layas Hormuz I NDI A Arabian Sea
AFRICA
Pagan
Calicut
Hangzhou Quanzhou Guangzhou South China Sea
Angkor
INDIAN OCEAN
Travels of Marco Polo To reach China, Marco Polo travelled through Anatolia, Iran, and Afghanistan. On his return, he sailed to Hormuz in Persia via Sumatra. IN 1271,THE VENETIAN MERCHANT AND EXPLORER, MARCO POLO
(c. 1254–1324), travelled to China. Arriving at Kublai Khan’s court in 1275, the Great Khan employed Marco Polo in various capacities. In 1292, he escorted a Mongol princess to Persia, returning to Italy three years later and writing a travel memoir while a prisoner of the Genoese. Polo’s memoir, The Travels – known by Italians as Il Milione, because of the belief that it contains a million lies – is a fascinating portrait of the Mongolian Empire at its height. The Pax Mongolica (see 1236–40) allowed freedom of movement through lands under the authority of Il-khanate, and it was said that a virgin with a pot of gold on her head could pass unmolested from Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) to Beijing. In 1272, Edward Plantagenet (r.1272–1307), heir apparent to the English throne, returned from the
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KEY Route of Marco Polo 1271–1295 Silk road
Holy Land, having forced the Mamluks to conclude a 10-year truce in his attempts to destroy Acre, one of the last remaining Crusader footholds in Outremer. The Mamluks had already taken the apparently impregnable Krak des Chevaliers from the Knights Hospitaller in 1271.
22
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147
145
1276–85
1286–90
Statues adorn the Meenakshi Temple at Madurai, in India. Originally constructed by Kulasekhara Pandya, the temple was destroyed by Muslim invaders and later rebuilt.
Guglielmo Berardi da Narbona was killed at the Battle of Campaldino.
IN SOUTHERN INDIA, KING KULASEKHARA I (r.1268–1308)
expanded the empire of the Pandyas to its greatest extent. The Pandyas were an ancient Tamil people of the far south, who contended for supremacy over the centuries with neighbouring kingdoms such as the Cholas and the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Under Sundara (r.1251–68) the Pandya empire had expanded dramatically and reduced some neighbouring states to vassalage. His son Kulasekhara went on to conquer Kerala, Kongu, and Ceylon, and in 1279 he defeated the last Chola king, Rajendra III, and annexed his territories. The Divine wind An engraving shows the destruction of the Mongol fleet by the kamikaze (“divine wind”) in 1281.
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148
146
greatness of the Pandya court was attested to by Venetian merchant, Marco Polo, who would pass through in 1293, but the empire was short-lived, breaking up in the early 14th century due to family quarrels and Muslim invasions. By the late 13th century, the Maori had settled in New Zealand – with the exception of Antarctica, the last land mass to be colonized by humans. Dating the Maori colonization is contentious. According to estimates based on Maori traditions, the first Polynesians visited the islands in the early 10th century, and waves of colonization climaxed with the arrival of the Great Fleet of ocean-going canoes in 1350. Archaeological findings tell a slightly different story. However, it seems likely that Polynesians, probably from Tahiti, arrived in
New Zealand around 1280, dividing the territory between hapu (clans). Hapu that traced a common ancestry formed iwi (tribes), some of which could trace their lineage back to a single waka houra (ocean-going canoe). Having conquered Korea and most of China, Kublai Khan (1215–94) set his sights on Japan, sending embassies demanding submission as early as 1268. Under the bold leadership of the Hojo regency, the Japanese refused to be cowed. After a failed invasion attempt in 1274, Kublai sent 150,000 men in two huge fleets in 1281, but the Japanese held off the invading armada until a great typhoon, known in Japan as the kamikaze (“divine wind”), devastated the Mongol fleet.
MAORI CARVING Maori culture is noted for its tradition of arts and crafts; chief among these is Te Toi Whakairo (carving). Master craftsmen were believed to channel the voices of the spirits and ancestors, and intricately carved posts and lintels adorning structures around the marae (sacred space) and waka (canoes) were believed to accumulate and pass on mana (spiritual power).
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IN THE 1280S, A TRIBE OF TURKOMAN NOMADIC HORSEMEN
and raiders based in northwestern Anatolia, known as the Ottomans, elected Osman (1258–1354) as their chieftain. At this time, the political map of Anatolia was fractured: the Mongol onslaught had broken up Seljuk Rum and replaced it with many small principalities, while also driving waves of Muslim refugees into the region. Meanwhile, the Byzantine Empire had been successively reduced and broken up by Seljuk and Latin encroachment. Osman was able to lead his tribe in a territorial expansion, rapidly conquering Byzantine territory. Florence, like many other Italian cities, had developed into a largely autonomous republic or commune. It was typically easier for the German emperors – the notional feudal overlords – to grant cities powers of self-government than try to control them directly. Since the mid-13th century, Florence had see-sawed violently between Guelph and Ghibelline regimes (see 1221–25). This Guelph–Ghibelline conflict had gripped the Italian city-states, providing a vehicle for the expression of local class tensions as well as national and international politics. When one faction gained the upper hand in a city, the other was typically expelled. In the 1280s, the Guelphs had the upper hand, and Guelph partisans exiled from Arezzo encouraged them to take up arms against the rival city. The Florentines defeated Arezzo at the y m an ar ap n’s t; he de J a he ish h ie va K ft i i V in n o f Jew bla y Da s to o i u o K b at n pil on 86 ed pla m cti re) 12 feat ons Co olle atu e d 6 r d an c 28 (a lite ab c.1 har lah Zo bba Ka
y m ar re n’s mpi a) a h se E oe i K an urm en etian bla Pag ay B G u re n e K s -d Th t Ve f Ac 87 roy nt 87 fea t of 12 est rese 2 d (p 1 de ee fl 12/05/11 2:02 PM
Ornate Mughal screen This screen from the main gateway of the Qutb complex in Delhi was built by the Khalji sultan Ala-ud-din, murderer and successor of Firuz. of ion e as hor v l in La go at e on lted M ak a h st 9 87 28 luk 12 njab 1 m Pu Ma ipoli Tr
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1296–1300
The Eleanor Cross at Geddington, Northamptonshire, England, features an ogee arch, marking a milestone for the English Gothic style.
William Wallace was outlawed for killing one of Edward’s sheriffs in 1296. He was one of the first men to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.
IN 1291, AFTER A DESPERATE SIX-WEEK SIEGE, the Mamluks
THE EXTINCTION OF THE CANMORE DYNASTY, followed by dissent
underway. Capable of carrying more cargo and a larger crew, the construction of the first of the great galleys in 1294 heralded a distinct advantage for the Venetians.
165 THE NUMBER OF GALLEYS IN THE 1295 FLEET OF GENOA
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Battle of Stirling Bridge Under William Wallace, an estimated 2,500 Scots defeated a much larger force of English soldiers (numbering up to 10,000) at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
The Genoese–Venetian naval conflict continued, with battles in the Black Sea and the Greek islands. At the Battle of Curzola, in 1298, the Genoese fleet inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Venetians, destroying all but a few of their ships and killing up to 7,000 men.
North Sea
a
Murano glass This Murano glass vessel dates to around 1330. As well as increasing fire safety, concentrating the glass industry on an island helped to regulate it and guard its secrets.
among the Scottish nobles, had allowed Edward I to exercise increasing dominance over the Scots, and in 1292 he awarded the crown to John Baliol. However, in 1295, Baliol made an alliance with England’s enemy, France. The following year Edward launched a campaign to subdue the Scots, defeating them at Dunbar, and taking the Stone of Destiny – the Scottish coronation stone – back to London. In 1297, the Scottish nationalist William Wallace (c.1272–1305) led a revolt against English dominance, overcoming a larger English army at Stirling Bridge, but he was defeated at Falkirk in 1298 and forced into years of guerrilla warfare and overseas fundraising.
Se
took Acre, the last major Crusader stronghold in Palestine, and a few months later they took Beirut, the last remnant of the Crusader kingdom known as Outremer (see 1181–85). After nearly 200 years, Christian presence in the Holy Land was extinguished, and the Mamluks plundered the region to deter future Crusades. To limit the risk of disastrous fires, Venice moved its glassmaking industry to the island of Murano in 1291. Venetian glass makers were the only ones in Europe to master the art of producing clear glass. Their expertise in working with glass had earlier born fruit in the invention of spectacles (see 1284). Edward I of England (r.1272– 1307) had married Eleanor of Castile in 1254. Though unpopular with the English, she and Edward enjoyed a happy marriage, and he was devastated when she died in 1290. The following year he ordered the erection of 12 so-called Eleanor crosses to mark the passage of her funeral cortege to London. The contest for mastery of the Mediterranean between Genoa and Venice continued, with a Genoese fleet defeating the Venetians off Laiazzo in 1294. The following year, Genoa put together a huge fleet, with the aim of landing a killer blow. However, despite a formal challenge being made, it was not engaged. Developments in Venetian shipbuilding, however, were
lti
c
Battle of Campaldino, heralding the start of a period of Florentine dominance in Tuscany. Among those battling on the Florentine side was the poet Dante Alighieri (see 1311–17). The line of Slave Kings of Delhi came to an end in 1290 with the seizure of power by Firuz of the Khalji Turks – a tribe living in Afghanistan – thus founding the Khalji dynasty. Firuz is best remembered for releasing into Bengal 1,000 Thugs or Thuggees, cult followers of the goddess Kali devoted to murder and robbery in her name.
1291–95
ATL A NTIC OC EA N
Ba
ENGLAND London Southampton Bruges
EUROPE
Frankfurt
Paris Bay of Biscay
Danzig
Tana
FRANCE Venice
HUNGARY
Moncastro
Kaffa
CASTILE Marseille Genoa Lisbon Black Sea Varna Bastia Valencia Dubrovnik Rome Trebizond Murcia Cadiz Naples Constantinople Málaga Trapani Honein Phocaea Palermo Bougie Bône
Tunis
AFRICA
Syracuse
Me
dite
Rhodes Cyprus
Crete
rrane
Genoese trade routes The Genoese opened a lucrative trade route to the North Sea, and competed with Venice to dominate trade with the Byzantines and the East.
Famagusta Beirut
an Sea
KEY Trade routes
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149
147
1301–10
1311–17
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LET EVIL SWIFTLY BEFALL THOSE WHO HAVE WRONGLY CONDEMNED US – GOD WILL AVENGE US.
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Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, cursing King Philip and Pope Clement V, 1314
Domenico di Michelino’s painting The Comedy Illuminating Florence, depicts Dante, the city of Florence, and scenes from the Divine Comedy. ALTHOUGH THE GHIBELLINES HAD BEEN EXPELLED FROM FLORENCE
(see 1286–90), factionalism still plagued the city, with a drawn-out power struggle between the old aristocratic nobility, the new mercantile nobles, and the powerful guilds. The Guelph faction split into Black (extreme) and White (moderate) parties. In 1301, the Whites expelled the Blacks, only for them to return when Charles, count of Valois, entered the city. The following year the Black Guelphs sentenced the Whites to death or exile – among them the poet Dante Alighieri (see panel, right). In 1301, Pope Boniface VIII (c.1235–1303) supposedly issued a bull asserting papal supremacy over France. In fact, the bull was a forgery, put out by the French king Philip IV the Fair (r.1285–1314) to stir up animosity against the pope. Philip “responded” by calling one of the first Estates General
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– including representatives of the towns and clergy – and received their backing. Boniface excommunicated Philip and Philip called for the Pope to face criminal charges. In 1303, agents acting for Philip forced their way into the papal apartments in Anagni and arrested the Pope, who died soon after. Facing tumultuous conditions in Italy, in 1303 the cardinals elected the archbishop of Bordeaux as Pope Clement V. Although hoping to establish himself in Italy when the violence subsided, Clement remained in southern France, finally settling in Avignon in 1309, then owned by the king of Naples. This temporary arrangement for the papacy would last until 1378. Palais des Papes Situated on a rocky outcrop, the papal palace in Avignon is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe.
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The torture of Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar. FROM THEIR HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, WHEN THEY HAD BEEN SO POOR
that two knights sometimes had to share a horse, the Knights Templar had risen to dizzying heights. With the backing of Cistercian abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), and subsequently the Pope, they had won exemption from secular jurisdiction and taxation, and thrived as donations of land and money poured in. By the 13th century they had become de facto bankers to much of Europe, able to direct a large fleet and maintain the primary Crusader army in Outremer. Templar knights rose to prominence all over Europe, especially in England, where the Master of the Temple was the first baron of the realm. In the early 13th century, then Master William Marshal ruled the country as regent for the young king Henry III (1207–72). However, after the fall of Outremer, the Templars were struggling to stay afloat, and presented an easy target for their enemy, Philip IV of France. Philip coveted the Templar lands and cooked up charges of heresy in which to indict them. On 13 October 1307, Philip’s officials simultaneously arrested every Templar in France. They were accused of a variety of crimes, including sexual and occult outrages and worshipping an idol. The use of torture obtained lurid confessions, and over the next few
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Red Sea
and the richness of their accessories. At Hereford Cathedral a huge Mappa Mundi (map of the world) was created in around 1300 (its creation is variously dated to 1285 and 1314) and used as an altarpiece; it is the largest mappa mundi in existence. Such maps encapsulated the medieval world view on the eve of the Age of Discovery. At the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland (r.1306–29), finally expelled the English from Scotland.
Hereford Mappa Mundi The world is shown as a disc, with Jerusalem at the centre. Trade and pilgrimage routes are illustrated, together with places of interest.
years around 60 Templars were executed. Elsewhere in Europe, some arrests were made, but there was much less appetite for condemning the order. At the Council of Vienne (1311–12), Philip forced Pope Clement to dissolve the Templars, and in 1314 the last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake. Hereford, in England, was an important centre for the wool trade – one of the main sources of wealth in medieval England. Foreign buyers flocked to the country to buy wool for export to the textile industries of Flanders and Italy, and the wool trade was described as “the jewel in the realm”. The wealth of places such as Hereford was expressed in the magnificence of their cathedrals
DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265–1321) Dante is the greatest Italian poet to have lived and one of the most important writers in European literature. He is best known for his epic poem the Divine Comedy, and for his tragic love for Beatrice, who married another and died young. Exiled from his native Florence for political reasons, Dante spent much of his life travelling from one city to another. He died in Ravenna in 1321.
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al a riv n e n rn pp Di i, en ma h pir a e ste re dr m p Ma ted t -a elh We ailu ar etw e Ge dea II t E am rd rea b b D t n e o f i i f V h c u of dom r th r V e p ye C er ndi ine cro us ai es Wa to afte nry 7 Q n ng gir 31 ulta u ki Deo 14 nts wn f He am ws evio 4 H Mu 3 D cupi 1 3 1 F 1 o pr o 1 ma ro , s ind of 13 13 oc 16 oll c i ak 13 pe f the ar s H cla rial ub exe ro pe u M n E 26/05/2011 19:09 im an
1318–25
1326–39
The earliest European illustration of a cannon, from a book by Walter de Milemete, presented to the future Edward III of England in 1326.
The gilded bronze doors on the Baptistry in Florence, sculpted and cast by Andrea Pisano, took six years to make after he won the commission in 1329.
GUNPOWDER WAS SLOWLY BUT STEADILY CHANGING THE FACE OF WARFARE. Arabs and Moors had
FLORENCE IN THE 1320S AND 1330S WAS HOME TO ARTISTS
25
probably gained knowledge of gunpowder from the Chinese, using cannons in Spain as early as 1284. The Mamluks are believed to have used handguns at Ain Jalut, while the Mongols acquired the technology on conquering China. Europeans probably picked it up from Spain and contact with the Mongols. The first record of cannons forged from iron comes from Metz in 1324; later that year an English fortress in Gascony was bombarded for a month. The Mali Empire of West Africa reached its height under Mansa Musa (r.1312–37), extending from the Atlantic to Nigeria, and from the Sahara to the rainforest. His great wealth was based on Mali’s gold, and when he travelled on pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324–25, he dispensed so much gold on his Moscow
Tangier Marrakesh
Fez
Cairo MAMLUKS
Timbuktu MALI
Niani
Bulgar New Sarai
Kiev
Constantinople Antioch
Granada
S ahar a
Jenne
AFRICA
passage through Cairo that he destabilized the economy. On his return, he employed an Andalusian architect to build a new palace at Timbuktu, which became a centre for Islamic scholarship. Mali was later visited by the Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta (c.1304–69), who first set out on his travels in 1325. KHANATE OF THE GOLDEN HORDE
ASIA
EMPIRE OF THE GREAT KHAN
Astrakhan Tabriz
CHAGATAI KHANATE
Samarkand
IL-KHANATE Balkh H C HINA Baghdad Multan i m a l a Hangzhou yas Delhi Hormuz Quanzhou Guangzhou Mecca Arabian INDIA Sea Aden South Calicut
Acre Jerusalem
Mogadishu Malindi Zanzibar Kilwa
THE FIRST KING AFTER THE CONQUEST WHO WAS NOT A MAN OF BUSINESS.
China Sea
INDIAN OCEAN
The travels of Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta’s first journey was the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. He made seven further journeys, visiting almost every corner of the Muslim world.
KEY
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Route of Ibn Battuta 1325–1345
,,
William Stubbs, English historian, describing Edward II, 1875
Silk road
d
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150-151_1301-1340.indd 151
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EUROPE
THE PERCENTAGE OF TIMBUKTU’S POPULATION AT SANKORE UNIVERSITY
including Giotto di Bondone (c.1267–1337) and Andrea Pisano (c.1290–1349) – both seen as forerunners of the Italian Renaissance (see pp.208–09). Giotto painted naturalistic frescoes on the walls of the Basilica of Santa Croce in around 1325, and in 1334 was put in charge of the construction of the Duomo (cathedral). Greatly influenced by Giotto, Pisano won a commission to craft a set of bronze doors for the Baptistry of Florence, finishing them in 1336. The Tughluk dynasty of the Delhi sultanate had expanded the reach of the Muslim state, reducing neighbouring Hindu kingdoms to vassal status, and repelling a series of Mongol incursions. In 1325, Muhammad Tughluk (c.1300–51) murdered his father and took the throne, quickly establishing a reputation for cruelty. In 1327, he transferred the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad for defensive reasons, forcing the entire population to relocate. In 1336, a revolt led by Harihara I and his brother Bukka of the
d an r a II r ed rd oge pos g ye a dw by R n de owin E l e l 26 ed th fo 13 ptur er, the ca rtim red Mo rde u m
Sangama dynasty in the south, led to the establishment of the last great Hindu empire in India, centred on the city of Vijayanagar. Edward II of England invested power in favourites, especially Piers Gaveston (murdered by resentful barons in 1312) and the Despenser family. He also alienated his wife, Isabella of France, who was sent to France in 1325 to arrange the marriage of their son. While there, she became the lover of Roger Mortimer, and when they returned, in 1326, they led a revolt against the king. The Despensers were hanged, Edward was forced to abdicate in favour of his teenage son, and Roger and Isabella ruled as regents. Eight months later, Edward II was horribly murdered. The regents ceded Gascony to France and acknowledged Robert the Bruce as king of an independent Scotland. In 1330, Edward III (r.1327– 77) had Mortimer hanged and began his own rule. Rising tension with France was exacerbated by Edward’s embargo on wool exports to
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Flanders, which triggered a revolt there against French domination. In 1337, Philip VI of France declared Edward’s French territories forfeit, while Edward claimed the French crown, triggering the start of the Hundred Years War. Vijayanagar sculpture Lord Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, is shown carved on a rock surface in Vijayanagar, the heart of the last great Hindu empire.
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151
149
1340–44
1350–55
1345–49
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WHATEVER THE WORLD FINDS PLEASING, IS BUT A BRIEF DREAM. Petrarch, Florentine scholar and poet, from Canzoniere number 1 (c.1352)
The Strait of Gibraltar, where Marinid forces destroyed the Castilian fleet.
An illustration from Froissart’s Chronicle, of 1346, depicts the Battle of Crecy, at which the English used mobile artillery for the first time.
THE BATTLE OF RIO SALADO IS CONSIDERED, BY SOME, to be the
HAVING GAINED MASTERY OF THE ENGLISH CHANNEL at the naval
defining battle of the Reconquista, ending forever the threat of Islamic incursion into the Iberian Peninsula from Africa. The Marinid dynasty of Morocco, which had overthrown the Almohads in the mid-13th century, gathered a vast force and destroyed the Castilian fleet in the Strait of Gibraltar. The Marinids then marched inland to the River Salado where they were defeated by the Christian kings Alfonso XI of Castile (r.1312–50) and Afonso IV of Portugal (r.1325–57).
800,000 THE AMOUNT IN FLORINS OWED BY EDWARD III
To finance his expensive war in France, Edward III of England (r.1327–77) had taken out huge loans from Florentine bankers, especially the Peruzzi family. When the money ran out, Edward renounced his loan in 1342. With the king of Naples also defaulting on loans, the Peruzzi were bankrupted, throwing Florence into economic chaos. Walter de Brienne, the mercenary duke of Athens, was called in to take power in Florence but, eventually, a mercantile oligarchy took over. f
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152
150
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battle of Sluys in 1340, Edward III was free to invade France. He landed in Normandy in 1346 and took Caen, but retreated in the face of a huge French army. At bay, on the borders of the forest of Crecy, Edward took up a defensive position and inflicted a crushing defeat on the forces of Philip VI. This was largely thanks to the indiscipline and arrogance of the French knights and the effectiveness of the Welsh and English longbowmen. At the cost of a handful of casualties, the English killed tens of thousands, including the kings of Bohemia and Majorca, the duke of Lorraine, the count of Flanders, the count of Blois, eight other counts, and three archbishops. The English use of combined aristocratic and yeoman forces had produced a powerful new form of army. They would go on to besiege Calais,
TOTAL POPULATION
45% KILLED
Plague deaths It is estimated that up to 45 per cent of the total population of Europe was killed by the various waves of the Black Death plague.
THE PAPACY WAS REFORMING ITS BUREAUCRACY and improving its
THE BLACK DEATH The effects of the Black Death are best recorded in Europe, where it had profound consequences. It depopulated the land, depressed the economy, checked intellectual and artistic progress, changed the social order, contributed to the end of feudalism, and triggered a wave of antiSemitic pogroms on Jews, who were blamed for the pestilence, forcing many to migrate to Eastern Europe. which fell in 1347, after a protracted siege. Also in 1347, the Black Death arrived in Europe. It is thought to have been carried initially by Genoans returning from the Crimea, where they had been exposed to it by infected Mongols. Transmitted by fleas that were carried by rats, the plague was spread by ship to the principal ports, and then to every corner of Europe and Western Asia. A large proportion of the population died.
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finances under the Avignon popes. In 1348, Clement VI (1291–1352) bought Avignon from Joanne of Naples and work continued on its papal palace. Scholars and artists were attracted to the papal city, briefly among them the Florentine Francesco Petrarch (1304–74), who had been crowned poet laureate in Rome in 1341. In 1351, Petrarch started to arrange his poems in sonnet form. He was also a scholar, whose translation and popularization of Classical literature contributed to the emergence of humanism, a new school of philosophy that would help to trigger the Renaissance. In 1354, the Nasrid king of Granada, Yusuf I, was murdered by his son Mohammed V (1338– 91) who took the throne. Under Mohammed, the Alhambra – the fortress-palace of Granada – was further developed, becoming a treasure of Islamic architecture. The Ottomans were invited to Gallipoli, on the Dardanelles (the straits separating Asia from Europe), by John Cantacuzenus (c.1292–1383), claimant to the Byzantine throne, to help in his attempt to gain power. Led by Orhan, the Turkish dynasty soon seized the peninsula, securing themselves a foothold in Europe.
Architectural jewel The Court of the Lions is at the heart of the Alhambra palace, built by Mohammed V as the winter residence of the royal family. n ee tw be s rt lan e sta Mi es ar and iam W S d ed 51 ce on 13 oren ec orm Fl 1S mf 5 13 gdo kin
tli ich ap f m ng o a Ac ki 51 es 13 com tecs e b e Az th
e to tes th ts s ple on ns n, tar et joi atio nd om mer h s sonn h c r c c a e i r io eca ur fed rn ies ra is cc et p h ca s D 1 Z on Be cit oc hi 1 P velo 35 s C d by her 5 B 1 s t i e o 13 de 51 Sw llow 13 fo
es ttl ba y a r p o am rit s Ch ter an m i 53 gain Viet 3 tto ipol i 1 re O l a 54 al to m D 13 ize G fro se
, zo f en Ri tor o d i D ta se ola dic po led 4 C and e, de kil 5 13 une om and R b tri
1366–72
This mural features Timur Leng, who rose from humble beginnings to found the Timurid dynasty after outmatching the conquests of Genghis Khan.
Constructed of brick and timber, the Bell Tower of Xi’an, was built during the early Ming dynasty, in the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming emperor.
BOHEMIA HAD EMERGED AS A POWERFUL STATE under the
Premyslid dynasty in the 13th century. Under the Luxembourg dynasty, it became the central force in German imperial geopolitics, while its ruler Charles I (Charles IV as Holy Roman Emperor) sought to modernize the imperial institution and advance the fortunes of Bohemia. In 1348, he had enlarged the kingdom by granting it territories such as Moravia and Silesia, and refounded Prague to become one of the foremost cities in Europe, with a major university. In 1356, Charles IV issued the Golden Bull, which regularized the election of the emperor to a majority vote of seven electoral princes, most of which were hereditary; the papacy would have no role. This, in turn, allowed the electoral principalities to develop sovereign states, and set the constitutional basis of the Holy Roman Empire until its final
dissolution in 1806. The Bull established Bohemia as first among the electors and guaranteed its independence. Timur Leng (1336–1405) – also known as Tamerlane – rose from modest beginnings to become leader of a Turkic-Mongol Chagatai tribe in Transoxiana, Central Asia, in around 1362. Despite having a limp, and the fact that he was not of Chinggid descent (directly descended from Genghis Khan – only Chinggids could become khans), he was destined to become one of the greatest conquerors in history. Edward of Woodstock, eldest son of Edward III, also known as the Black Prince (1330–76), had won his spurs at the Battle of Crécy aged just 16. He went on to become one of the most effective English commanders. When hostilities renewed between England and France in 1355, he invaded France, winning a great victory near Poitiers in 1356, in which he captured King John of France.
Golden Bull Edicts issued with golden seals were called Golden Bulls. That of Emperor Charles IV sought to prevent future imperial elections descending into conflict.
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152-153_1340-1372.indd 153
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EDWARD, THE BLACK PRINCE, HAD BEEN MADE PRINCE OF GASCONY AND AQUITAINE in 1362, moving to
Bordeaux and becoming a major player in continental affairs. In 1367, he intervened in a dynastic dispute in Castile, where French ally Henry of Trastamara (1334– 79) had deposed English ally Pedro I, thereby placing control of the Castilian navy in the French camp. Edward defeated Henry at Nájera but was forced to withdraw owing to illness. Subsequently, Henry regained the Castilian throne. In 1372 – after Charles V of France (r.1364–80) had fomented a Gascon rebellion, restarting the Hundred Years War – the Castilian navy proved instrumental in defeating an English fleet at La Rochelle. China was reunited by conquest from the south, as a native rebellion drove out the Mongol Yuan dynasty. In 1368, rebels under Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–98) – a former peasant turned Buddhist monk then general – struck north from their base in Nanjing, displacing the Yuan from Beijing. Taking the imperial name Hongwu, Yuanzhang established the Ming dynasty, setting up a strong, centralized, government, in which the position of emperor was strengthened, but so was access to the bureaucracy. In 1372, he passed an edict attempting to ban maritime trade and thus limit contact with foreigners.
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els xp g e ds n a zh foun Ba an 67 Yu and 13 u y Zh ast 68 yn sty 13 an d yna u Y ng d Mi e ttl
THE SPAN, IN YEARS, OF THE MING DYNASTY
Under Murad I (r.1362–89), the Ottoman Turks extended their control deep into the Balkans. In 1371, Murad defeated an alliance of Serbs, Byzantines, and Bulgars, and held control over much of Thrace, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Serbia. He also created the Janissaries, a slave-warrior corps that became the mainstay of Ottoman armies. 70,000 60,000
7,000 dead
50,000 40,000 30,000
100 dead
20,000 10,000 0
English
d re nd Hu ar 9 6 W 13 ars ts Ye star e r
t s ng ea ain Le nd gu wer eg ing r a r a u f Le po et llow se rk Tim a eo tic its Tib fo llap ttl en 69 am ea of 68 ce co Ba om 13 ers S ns eak 13 den uan a 1 7 rn H p u en Y 13 Che nq 69 ep co 13 nd
i
French
Battle of Nájera Outnumbered by almost three to one, the English–Gascon army defeated the French–Castilian forces with the loss of only around 100 men.
ra
áje
N of
276
NUMBER OF TROOPS
To many people, Petrarch is known as the “father of humanism”.
1356–65
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153
151
6 0 0 –14 49
TRADE AND INVENTION
THE STORY OF
PRINTING
A REVOLUTION IN HUMAN COMMUNICATION CHANGES THE WORLD FOREVER
By making it possible to communicate and disseminate information at a speed and scale previously unthinkable, printing wrought changes that are still unfolding today, from triggering religious mania, to scientific and political revolutions – even changing language itself. Printing is the impression of marks on a medium – most commonly ink on paper. The earliest writing, cuneiform, was a form of printing composed of indentations made by a stylus in clay. Printing, in the modern sense of the word, first arose in 8th-century China with the development of block printing. Blocks of wood carved into bas-relief were used as stamps to reproduce multiple copies of a single text, complete with images, such as the Diamond Sutra, the earliest dateable printed book (see 861–70). MECHANICAL PRINTING Block printing was laborious and slow, as each block was specific to one page. Moveable type was a major advance (see panel, opposite), first achieved in
bar to lower platen
eastern Asia but perfected by German printer Johannes Gutenberg (see 1454–55). His printing press was so advanced that, except for refinements such as new typefaces and mechanization of the presses and paper handling, the basic process remained unchanged until the 19th century. In the 1880s, the development of linotype allowed a typesetter to compose lines of type using a keyboard, rather than by hand. Stereotyping made it possible to duplicate complete pages for multiple printing. In the 20th century, filmsetting enabled rapid photographic creation of printing plates. By the end of the century, computers allowed every aspect of printing, from typesetting and graphics to inking and drying, to be done on one machine.
paper is pressed against form to produce imprint
form, or frame, for setting Gutenberg’s special type
wooden coffin, which slides under platen
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HE WHO FIRST SHORTENED THE LABOUR OF COPYISTS BY DEVICE OF MOVEABLE TYPES WAS … CREATING A WHOLE NEW DEMOCRATIC WORLD; HE HAD INVENTED THE ART OF PRINTING.
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Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist and historian, 1759–1881
868 Block printed book
c.2291–2254 BCE Sumerian cuneiform
Stamping cuneiform inscriptions, rather than drawing them by hand, is introduced. Stamps are pressed into soft clay bricks, which are then fired.
8th century Block printing
Sumerian cuneiform
Printing using carved wooden blocks and ink is known as xylography; the earliest surviving xylographic fragment is a Buddhist dharani scroll from Korea.
The earliest dated book (entire manuscript) is the Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist text found in a cave in Dunhuang, China.
Japanese dharani scroll
c.1275–1313 Moveable type
Invented in China in the 11th century, moveable type is refined by Wang Shen, who uses over 60,000 wooden types in his treatise.
1377 Moveable metal type
The Diamond Sutra
The first metal moveable type is cast in bronze in Korea and is used to produce the Jikji Simche Yojeol, a Buddhist scripture.
c.1455–56 The printing press
Gutenberg prints the first book in Europe – the Gutenberg or 42-line Bible (because of the number of lines on each page). Gutenberg’s printing press
Early Korean book
1790s–1820s Metal presses
The all-metal Columbian printing press is the first to replace the screw with levers and weights. Columbian metal press
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T H E S TO R Y O F P R I N T I N G
screw, or spindle, adapted from wine press
MOVEABLE TYPE
square sleeve, or socket
The key technology in the printing revolution was moveable type, in which each character in a script had a corresponding single, small block, or type, allowing lines of type to be assembled, and then reordered for different texts. The first book, printed by moveable type cast in bronze, was published in Korea in the late 14th century. Gutenberg improved upon this technology by developing a technique that enabled rapid, precision casting of metal type.
heavy platen, or printing plate
ink impression on paper
raised moveable type
leather ink balls stuffed with horsehair
Letterpress printing with moveable type
sturdy construction for industrial-scale production
Gutenberg’s press Gutenberg created a screw press for pressing inked type, set on a wooden frame, against a sheet of paper. This was a dramatic improvement on the traditional method of taking impressions by means of rubbing.
Late 20th century–present Desktop printing
Laser printer
1886 Linotype
A linotype machine allows a typesetter to make up entire lines of type, using a typewriter-like keyboard, rather than handcompositing letter-by-letter. Linotype typesetter
1903 Offset printing
In offset printing, the inked image is transferred (or offset) from the printing plate to the paper via a rubber sheet, achieving smooth, precise transfer and reducing wear on the plate.
Early photocopier
The laser printer offers technology that would once have filled an entire workshop.
1949 Photocopying
Developed by American Chester Carlson at the Xerox Corporation in the US, the photocopier uses electrostatic distribution of powder ink or toner, rather than wet ink, to create an exact copy.
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1373–80
1381–85
A 16th-century painting captures the triumphant return of the Doge to Venice after victory over the Genoese.
An illustration from Froissart’s Chronicle depicts the Peasants’ Revolt, the first great popular rebellion in English history, led by Wat Tyler, who was executed by the mayor of London.
THE WAR OF CHIOGGIA, BETWEEN VENICE AND GENOA, was triggered
THE BLACK DEATH AND SUBSEQUENT LABOUR SHORTAGES
by the continuing contest for control of the trade routes through the Dardanelles, along which flowed the lucrative trade of the Byzantine Empire and the Silk Road beyond it. In 1376, the Byzantine emperor John V Palaeologus (r.1341–76) granted to Venice the Aegean island of Tenedos, key to the Dardanelles. Meanwhile, his son and rival Andronicus IV (1348–85) granted it to Genoa. In the ensuing war, the Genoans defeated the Venetians at Pola and, in 1379, seized Chioggia in Italy and blockaded Venice. Under Vittorio Pisano, the Venetians counterblockaded the Genoese fleet, starving it into submission. Genoese maritime power was broken and Venice now controlled the Levantine trade.
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NOTHING GREAT IS EVER ACHIEVED WITHOUT MUCH ENDURING.
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St Catherine of Siena, (1347–80)
In 1376, Dominican mystic and miracle worker Catherine of Siena travelled to Avignon to convince Gregory XI (c.1336–78) to return the papacy to Rome. A few months later, Gregory went to Rome to attempt to restore order in the Papal States, and died soon
Executioner of Cesena The anti-pope Clement VII was known as the “executioner of Cesena” for his brutal suppression of a rebellion in the Papal States while acting as a papal legate.
after. The Roman mob pressured the conclave of cardinals to choose an Italian pope, and Urban VI (c.1318–89) was duly elected. French cardinals, meanwhile, elected Robert of Geneva (1342–94) as anti-pope Clement VII. The French king, Charles V, threw his weight behind Clement, while Richard II of England allied with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in supporting the Roman candidate. Thus began the Western, or Great Schism, which saw rival popes installed in Rome and Avignon until 1417.
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contributed to rising social tension in England. Around 1362, for instance, the poor country priest William Langland had written Piers Plowman, a poem in English sympathizing with the plight of the poor peasant. Churchman and scholar John Wycliffe (or Wiclif) had caused a stir with writings that prefigured Protestantism, and a popular Biblical egalitarian sect, known as the Lollards, partially inspired by Wycliffe, was winning widespread support. In 1377, the so-called Bad Parliament, dominated by the king’s son John of Gaunt, earl of Lancaster and soon-to-be regent to his infant nephew Richard II (1367– 1400), introduced a poll tax; subsequent parliaments extended it, causing widespread grievance. In 1381, attempts to reintroduce serfdom triggered the Peasants’ Revolt, which saw peasants rising against landlords, burning manors, and destroying records. Up to 100,000 men, under Jack Straw and Wat Tyler,
marched on London and siezed the Tower, burning the palace of John of Gaunt and killing Archbishop Sudbury, who was blamed for the poll taxes. Richard II cleverly appeased the rebels; Tyler was executed and the revolt was brutally suppressed. Japanese Noh drama developed in the 14th century, mainly under the aegis of Kanami Kiyotsugo (1333–84) and his son Zeami Motokiyo (1363–1443), who wrote
Noh mask In Noh drama, which involves music, singing, speech, and mime, masks are used by the principal character, and by female and elderly characters.
mask usually made of wood or clay
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hundreds of Noh plays and developed the highly stylized and symbolic performances. Castilian influence in Portugal in the 1380s threatened the independence of the kingdom and sparked resentment among the Portuguese. An uprising triggered by a nun resulted in Joäo (1358–1453), illegitimate son of Pedro I, seizing control of the country. In 1384, John I of Castile (1358–90) invaded Portugal, but Joäo was elected king by the Portuguese parliament and, with English help, defeated Castile at the Battle of Aljubarrota, in 1385. In doing so, he freed Portugal from Castilian influence and, after marrying the daughter of John of Gaunt, founded the AngloPortuguese Avis dynasty. In 1384, Philip the Bold of Burgundy inherited the county of Flanders, adding to his extensive territories. France, ruled by the young and mentally ill Charles VI, was now dominated by rivalry between the houses of Burgundy and Orléans.
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1391–1400
Travelling pilgrims are shown in an illustration from the Canterbury Tales. This unfinished poem by Geoffrey Chaucer, 17,000 lines long, vividly illustrates the medieval world view on social, religious, and moral matters.
A miniature from the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul, shows the Battle of Nicopolis, at which the Ottomans destroyed a crusading army.
JAGIELLO OF LITHUANIA (C.1362– 1434), THE LAST PAGAN RULER in
THE START OF THE MING DYNASTY IN CHINA TRIGGERED CHANGE IN KOREA, which was considered a
CHRISTIANIZATION OF EUROPE
Europe, was crowned king of Poland and converted to Christianity in 1386. Marriage to Jadwiga of Poland united the two kingdoms, and brought Lithuania into the Catholic Church, although pagan traditions lingered on. Timur Leng (see 1356–65) completed his conquest of Persia in 1386 and raided deep into the Caucasus, sacking Tbilisi in Georgia and capturing the Georgian king. However, when the army of the Golden Horde attacked his Central Asian territories, in 1387, he was forced to turn back and meet them. It took another nine years for him to destroy the threat. Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340–1400) was a soldier, scholar, writer, diplomat, government official, and
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The Timurid Empire Established by Timur Leng, the Timurid Empire eventually reached a greater extent even than that of Genghis Khan, but it would not long survive Timur’s death.
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MAMLUK SULTANATE
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Aleppo
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Member of Parliament. He was instrumental in the development of Middle English – a combination of Old English and French influences. His greatest work, the
KHANATE OF THE GOLDEN HORDE
Yelets
Kaffa Black Sea Ankara
In Europe, the medieval period saw the vigorous advance of Christianity until it encompassed the entire region (with just a few exceptions). The spectacular success in converting Europe posed extreme challenges to the Church, as it struggled to reconcile temporal and spiritual power. Internal forces would continue to revolutionize the religion.
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KEY Campaigns of Timur Extent of Timur’s empire
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Canterbury Tales, partially modelled on Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, tells the story of pilgrims on the road to the shrine of Thomas Becket (see 1170); it was begun in 1387. At the Battle of Kosovo, in 1389, the Ottomans defeated the Serbs and Bosnians, smashing the Serbian empire and absorbing most of its territories. The Ottoman leader, Murad, was killed in the battle but his son Bayezid the Thunderbolt (1360–1403) took over. News of Murad’s death prompted the Ottoman vassals in Europe and Anatolia to revolt, but Bayezid swiftly reduced most of them, bringing their territories under direct Ottoman rule. The Ottomans now controlled most of Anatolia and the Balkans south of the Danube. Bayezid introduced the devshirme – the levy of Christian children who were converted to Islam and used in the administration and Janissary corps.
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client state by the Ming. The Koryo empire had supported the new Chinese dynasty, but this did not prevent the Ming from threatening to invade. In 1388, Yi Songgye (1335–1408), a leading general who favoured the Chinese, seized power in Korea. In 1392, as King Taejo, he founded the Yi dynasty, also known as the Choson (or Joseon), a name taken from an ancient Korean kingdom. Taejo restructured his government on the Chinese model, and instituted wide-ranging land reforms to redistribute estates from the hands of the oligarchy, replacing them with a new class of technocrats known as the yangban. Neo-Confucianism was adopted as the state religion, and a new capital was founded at Hanseong (Seoul). The Yi dynasty lasted until 1910. In Japan, the union of the northern and southern imperial courts in 1392 brought to an end the Yoshino period (also known as the Period of Northern and Southern
Courts). During this period, the line of the emperor Godaigo – driven out of the capital, Kyoto, by the Ashikaga shogun Takauji, in 1336 – had maintained a rival court in the mountainous Yoshino region south of Nara. Japan was wracked by civil war until the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358–1408) negotiated a reunification and brought Ashikaga power to its apogee. The Nicopolis Crusade of 1396 – intended to roll back the Ottoman advance in the Balkans – saw a Franco-Hungarian expedition led by Sigismund of Hungary humiliatingly crushed at the Bulgarian town of Nicopolis on the Danube. A huge army, featuring volunteers from most of the Christian states, proved ill-disciplined. The failure of this adventure proved that Christian Europe had to look to its defence.
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1404–07
1408–10
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WE HAVE SET EYES ON... REGIONS... FAR AWAY...
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Zheng He, Chinese explorer
The wall of skulls at the Templo Mayor archaeological site in Mexico City is made from skulls carved in stone, covered with stucco; the Aztecs practised human sacrifice at the vast temples in the centre of Tenochtitlan. FOUNDED BY THE AZTECS IN 1325, the city of Tenochtitlan – existing on the apparently unpromising site of a marshy island in a partially brackish lake – reached its height at the beginning of the 15th century. Tenochtitlan means “Place of the Fruit of the Cactus” – a reference to the vision that supposedly informed the choice of location. In this vision, the tossed heart of a conquered enemy landed on the island where an eagle wrestled with a snake on a cactus growing out of a rock – as depicted on the present-day Mexican flag. The Aztecs drained the island, reclaiming surrounding land, and joined the land together with causeways. Tenayuca
Pantlaco
VALLEY OF MEXICO
Atepehuacán
Tacuba
Altepetlac
Popotlan
Tlatelolco
Dyke of Netzahualcoyotl
Tepeyacac
Coltonco Azcapotzalco
Meanwhile, they expanded their political territory through marriages, alliances, and conquest. After a flood, Tenochtitlan was laid out on a grid pattern, with quarters arranged around a central sacred district, regarded as the centre of the world. A huge population of up to 200,000 was supported by intensive agriculture and extensive networks of trade and tribute. The African Songhay kingdom was centred on the trading metropolis of Gao, in the Niger Bend area of West Africa. Gao had long been a prosperous city thanks to interregional and trans-Saharan trade with the Islamic world, especially in salt, gold, slaves, and ivory. In the mid-13th century, because of the allure of its riches, it became an eastern Atzacualco province of the Mali Empire (see 1231–35). However, in the early
Lake Texcoco
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TENOCHTITLAN Tlacateco
Mixiucan
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Xola-Xalac Tepetlatzinco
Map of Tenochtitlan Causeways connected Tenochtitlan to other settlements on the lake and the mainland. The city and its emperor dominated the Valley of Mexico. KEY street
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Wladyslaw II Jagiello of Poland prepares for the Battle of Tannenberg. HAVING CONQUERED AS FAR AS RUSSIA in the East, Timur Leng
Songhay gold coin This coin from the Songhay Empire is from the Songhay city of Gao; rich and powerful, the city provided the basis for building the empire.
15th century, Mali declined and Gao won its independence, beginning the growth of a Songhay Empire that would eclipse the other two largest empires of the late Iron Age in West Africa – Ghana and Mali. In 1398, Timur Leng (see 1356–65) had invaded northern India and destroyed the Delhi sultanate with astonishing speed and terrifying cruelty. Marching 260km (160 miles) in two days, he captured and massacred 100,000 fugitives outside Delhi before sacking the city, supposedly building a huge pyramid from the skulls of his victims. In 1401, Timur massacred the population of Baghdad and launched an invasion of Syria. He then moved against the Ottomans (see 1286–90), occupying Anatolia and restoring the old Turkoman principalities.
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(see 1386–90) set his sights on the greatest empire – China. In 1405, he embarked on a campaign, but died en route to China and was buried at his capital, Samarkand. Despite his possibly exaggerated reputation for cruelty, Timur was a devout Muslim and a patron of the arts and architecture. His enormous empire did not long survive him, quickly breaking down into a Timurid state ruled by his son Shah Rukh (1377–1447), which soon fragmented further. In 1404, John the Fearless (1371–1419) became duke of Burgundy, leading opposition to the regency of Louis, duke of Orleans (1372–1407), brother of the mad king, Charles VI of France (1368–1422). In 1407, John ordered the assassination of Louis, triggering civil war between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs (named for the count of Armagnac, the father-in-law of Charles, the new duke of Orleans). The Burgundians, who favoured peace with the English, were popular in Paris and the north, while the Armagnacs, who were anti-English and pro-war, had the support of Queen Isabeau of Bavaria, the great nobles, and the south of the country. In 1404, Zheng He, (1371–1435) – a Muslim captured from Yunnan in China as a boy, castrated, and pressed into military service – was named grand, or high-ranking, eunuch at the imperial court. The following year he led the first of seven epic voyages of discovery.
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THE RELENTLESS ADVANCE OF THE ORDER OF TEUTONIC KNIGHTS
(see 1236–40) had brought Prussia and much of the Baltic coast under their control, cutting Poland off from the sea. The union of Poland and Lithuania under King Wladyslaw II Jagiello (c.1362–1434) posed a new threat to the Order, and the Great Northern War ensued. At the Battle of Tannenberg in 1410 – one of the greatest cavalry confrontations of the age – a huge Polish–Lithuanian army of up to 16,500, including Bohemian mercenaries, Russians, and even Tatars (Turkic Mongols), defeated
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The Holy Trinity This detail from Andrei Rublev’s greatest icon, painted around 1410, shows the three angels who visited Abraham. Each angel represents a different aspect of the Trinity.
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1416–20
This later depiction of the Battle of Agincourt shows cavalry engaged in conflict; around 10,000 French troops were killed or captured.
This illustration from the Chronicle of Ulrich von Richental shows the papal electors taking their leave from Emperor Sigismund at the Council of Constance.
IN 1413, HENRY IV OF ENGLAND DIED and his son, Henry V
(1386–1422), came to the throne. In 1415, Henry concluded an alliance with Burgundy and reasserted the English claim to the French crown as a pretext for renewing the Hundred Years War (see panel, right). In October, Henry inflicted a terrible defeat on a far superior French force at Agincourt, taking the Duke of Orleans prisoner, and going on to conquer Normandy.
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the forces of the Teutonic Knights who were around 11,000 strong. The Order was crushed, but Jagiello was unable to keep the powerful Polish nobles in order and thus could not press home his advantage. The Peace of Thorn, concluded the following year, failed to secure Polish access to the Baltic and enabled the Teutonic Knights to regain some of their advantage. Andrei Rublev (c.1370–1430) was a Russian monk and painter, based at the St Sergius monastery of the Holy Trinity in Moscow. He worked during a period of monastic revival in Russia, when the Eastern Orthodox Church offered comfort in the face of internecine war and the hated Mongol Yoke – the tribute and service exacted by the Golden Horde. Though inspired by the great icon painter Theophanes the Greek, Rublev was celebrated for pioneering a new, more serene and symmetrical style.
1411–15
convene a general council – the Council of Constance – to resolve the split in the Catholic Church known as the Great Schism (see 1373–80). In 1415, the Council deposed the existing claimants, and condemned the Bohemian priest, religious reformer, and philosopher Jan Huss, who was executed the same year.
THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE ENDED THE GREAT SCHISM in 1417
by trying and deposing the last anti-pope, Benedict XIII, and electing Martin V (c.1348–1431) as the sole true pope. The burning at the stake of Bohemian religious reformer Jan Huss (see 1411–15), and the death of Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia
...THE LIVING FELL ON TOP OF THE DEAD, AND OTHERS FALLING ON TOP OF THE LIVING WERE KILLED AS WELL. .
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From Gesta Henrici Quinti, c.1416
During Chinese explorer Zheng He’s fourth and greatest expedition in 1413, he visited Calicut in India, and reached Hormuz on the Persian Gulf, sending ships to explore down the African coast as far as Malindi in Kenya. The fleet included 63 ships of up to 80m (260ft) long. In 1414, anti-pope John XXIII – one of three men claiming to be pope – was expelled from Rome by King Ladislas of Naples. John sought refuge with the emperor, Sigismund, who forced him to
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THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR The series of conflicts from 1337 to 1453, later known as the Hundred Years War, was triggered by a combination of factors: tensions over the status of the duchy of Guienne, which belonged to the kings of England but owed sovereignty to the French crown; English claims to that crown, based on descent from the Capetians; anxieties of influence on both sides; and the need of English kings to use foreign adventures to shore up support at home. There should have been little contest between France, the most powerful nation in Europe, and smaller, poorer England, but the English used new tactics and weapons, especially the longbow, to devastating effect. The war drained resources on both sides, but also forged a new degree of national identity for both countries.
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(1361–1419), sparked a Hussite uprising in Bohemia. This combined a religious tussle between the papacy and anti-papists, with a nationalist struggle between Czechs (Bohemians and Moravians) and Germans. The Hussites made up of moderate (Utraquist) and extreme (Taborite) factions, united to face a crusading alliance led by Wenceslaus’ brother, the emperor Sigismund. The Hussites defeated the alliance outside Prague. In 1411, peace was concluded between Portugal and Castile (see 1381–85). Portugal now began to look outwards, winning a foothold on the north coast of Africa at Ceuta in 1415. Explorer Henry the Navigator (1394–1460) distinguished himself in the expedition; his visit to Africa sparked an interest in exploration, and he may have set up the first school of navigation in Europe at Sagres, in Portugal (see 1434).
45
THE NUMBER OF SESSIONS HELD AT THE 42-MONTHLONG COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE r xes ro pe ) fi m 424 e 1 ce ing 60– on, ervi 7 M (13 can vil s 1 e 14 ngl cian s ci Yo nfu tute m e Co insti syst re am ex
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1421–22
1423–25
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Fillipo Maria Visconti of Milan sits in state; having assassinated his brother to become duke of Milan, he restored Visconti hegemony over northern Italy.
The Doge’s Palace, seat of the doge of Venice, is a masterpiece of 14th-century Gothic architecture, overlain with 15th, 16th, and 17th century additions.
Joan of Arc here leads troops into battle, wielding a crossbow.
SULTAN MEHMED I (1382–1421) had
IN THE 1420S, THE CULTURAL MOVEMENT known later as the
successfully restored the Ottoman state after the Timurid invasion (see 1401–03), although his navy had come off worse in a conflict with the Venetians at the Battle of Galipoli in 1416, forcing the Ottomans to recognize Venetian claims in Albania. In 1421, Mehmed died and his son, Murad II (1404–51) became sultan. Domestically, he restored the devshirme practice of training Christian slaves for key roles in government; externally, he pursued a policy of renewed expansion, beginning with the first Ottoman siege of Constantinople. The siege was unsuccessful and Mehmed was distracted by an uprising led by the Sufi theologian and preacher, Sheikh Bedreddin – it was suppressed, and the sheikh was executed. The Visconti family had ruled Milan since Archbishop Otto Visconti rose to power in 1277; their domain had spread to encompass much of northern Italy, reaching its height under Gian Galeazzo (1351–1402), sole ruler from 1385. He had made marriage alliances with the chief monarchs of Europe; was made hereditary duke in 1395; mastered Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Pisa, Siena, Assisi, and Perugia
Sultan Murad II Murad defended and extended the Ottoman Empire, and was also a patron of poetry and learning, making his court a cultural centre.
between 1386 and 1400; and threatened Florence until his death in 1402. Strife between his sons Gian Maria and Filippo Maria saw this empire disintegrate, but when Filippo had Gian assassinated in 1412, he set about restoring it, regaining Genoa in 1421. The Visconti patronized the arts and scholarship, helping to drive the Renaissance .(see pp. 208–09). The French had suffered great losses at Agincourt (see 1411– 15), and in 1420, at the prompting of the pro-English Burgundians, Charles VI of France had accepted the Treaty of Troyes and acknowledged Henry V of England as his heir and immediate regent. The agreement ceded all the conquered lands up to the Loire to the English and declared the dauphin, Charles, to be illegitimate. The English now controlled northern France. In 1422, both Henry and Charles died, and under the terms of the Treaty, the infant Henry VI was acclaimed king of both England and France. The dauphin, based at Bourges, refused to accept this, and the Hundred Years War (see 1411–15) continued.
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Italian or High Renaissance gathered pace, particularly in the field of painting and the visual arts. In 1424, the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378–1455) completed the gilded bronze doors for the Florence Baptistry that he had been commissioned to make in 1403; the following year he was commissioned for a further set. Working at the same time as Ghiberti were a host of other artists, including Brunelleschi, Jacopo della Quercia, Masaccio, Donatello, Gentile da Fabriano, Jan van Eyck, and many more. The Tribute Money Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone Masaccio died aged just 27, but created some of the most influential artworks of the Renaissance.
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Although Florence was the heart of the Renaissance in the 15th century, the other great Italian power centres of Milan, Rome, and Venice also fostered artistic and architectural achievement. In Venice, the Doge’s Palace, which had been evolving since its origins in the 9th century, embodied many of the architectural highpoints of the previous six centuries. The current building began to take shape around 1340; work on the side overlooking the Piazzetta did not begin until 1424, under doge Francesco Foscari (1373–1457). In 1424, Timur’s descendant, Ulugh Beg (1394–1449) – astronomer and future Mongol leader – built a great observatory in Samarkand. It was equipped with a 40m (130ft) sextant, and Ulugh and his team of scholars catalogued over a thousand stars.
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Bodkin point This type of arrowhead is an uncomplicated, squared, metal spike, extensively used during the wars of the Middle Ages.
THE DAUGHTER OF A FARMER, JOAN OF ARC (1412–31) was 16
when in 1429 voices in her head commanded her to bear aid to the French dauphin (see 1421–22). The English under John, duke of Bedford (1389–1435), had made further gains against the forces of the dauphin and were besieging Orleans, while the dauphin had still not managed to secure his coronation. Joan succeeded in
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1431–33
1434
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WE READ THAT WE OUGHT TO FORGIVE OUR ENEMIES; BUT WE DO NOT READ THAT WE OUGHT TO FORGIVE OUR FRIENDS.
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Cosimo de Medici
The Arnolfini Marriage by Jan van Eyck is noted for its detailed interior.
obtaining an interview with him at Chinon, won him over, and was provided with troops and the title chef de guerre (“war leader”). She successfully relieved Orleans, going on to defeat the English twice more, and stood next to the dauphin at his coronation as Charles VII at Reims in 1429. Joan failed to take Paris, however, and the following year, she was captured by the Burgundians, who ransomed her to their English allies (see 1431–33). In 1428, Le Loi, leader of Vietnamese resistance to the Chinese occupation, expelled the Chinese and founded the Le dynasty of Dai Viet. On admitting Chinese authority, his dynasty was recognized by the Ming.
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FROM 1431 TO 1433, ZHENG HE
(see 1404–07) made a seventh and final expedition, returning to the Persian Gulf. Despite this last trip, China’s period of exploration had come to an end with the death of Emperor Yongle in 1424, after which the Ming dynasty returned to its isolationist policy.
SHIP LENGTHS
22m 134m
COLUMBUS’S SHIP ZHENG HE’S SHIP
Surrendering the lead in exploration to Portugal and the Europeans would have profound consequences for the Chinese, and world history. Not all the great Renaissance painters were Italian; Jan van Eyck (c.1390–1441) was Flemish. Celebrated for his mastery of realism and his perfection of oil painting, van Eyck produced some of his greatest masterpieces in the 1430s. In 1432, he and his brother Hubert completed their largest surviving work, the altarpiece of St Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. Later that year, in London, van Eyck painted the Portrait of an Unknown Man and the Man with the Red Turban; possibly a self-portrait. In 1431, Joan of Arc was turned over by the English to the French ecclesiastical authorities for trial. She was found guilty of heresy, and was burned at the stake in Rouen.
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t tis ar es ish plet he m m of t b of Fle co ts m t ac ars 32 yck ation La as p 4 w 1 n E o r s ti c m e ’s l nt a Ad Co ssit y He que a v g M 3 n e u in n 3 Ja the he ubs Ch 14 nd H 3 Z d s of ee 43 e an tion u 1 la g ag ya iso Pr vo
Painting of the first Medici ruler of Florence, Cosimo. SINCE THE 1380S, FLORENCE HAD BEEN DOMINATED by the Albizzi
family, who extended the city’s control of Tuscany. The attempts of Visconti Milan (see 1421–22) to gain control over all of Tuscany forced Florence into a ruinously expensive war, although alliance with Venice saw Milan defeated. A leader of the peace party was wool merchant and banker Giovanni de Medici, possibly the richest man in Europe. After his death in 1429 and a disastrous war with Lucca in Tuscany, the Albizzi succeeded in having Giovanni’s son, Cosimo de Medici banished from Florence in 1433, but new elections saw him recalled the following year, marking the start of Medici domination of the city. Cosimo combined business acumen with political shrewdness, winning popular support for his policies. All attempts by anti-Hussite forces under the emperor Sigismund to dislodge the Hussites and regain control of the Czech territories had failed (see 1416–20). The superior organization and tactics of the Hussites, first under Jan Zizka and after his death in 1424 under Andrew Prokops, made them militarily powerful. In 1430, they invaded Germany and raided as far as Franconia. Negotiations with the ecumenical Council of Basel in 1413 led to the Compact of Prague, or Compactacta, under which moderate Hussites (the Utraquists) agreed to go back to the Catholic Church. The extreme anti-papist Taborites rejected the
Compact, and civil war broke out between the factions, which represented different classes as well as religious ideals. In 1434, at the Battle of Lipany the upperclass Utraquists vanquished the Taborites, killing Prokops. The rising power of the Sukhothai kingdom of Thailand had increasingly threatened the Khmer Empire (see 1201–05) through the 14th century. Repeated Thai raids, particularly an incursion in 1431, may have helped
The Windrose The Windrose mosaic at Sagres in Portugal – possibly a sundial – was commissioned by Portuguese navigator, Prince Henry.
trigger the 1434 abandonment of Angkor (see 1146–50) and the transfer of the Khmer capital to Phnom Penh, further south, although it is also possible that the new location offered better connections for foreign trade. Sponsored by Prince Henry the Navigator (see 1416–20), Portuguese explorers pushing out
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into the Atlantic had discovered the islands of Madeira and the Azores. Henry personally oversaw the colonization of these Atlantic outposts, successfully establishing them as centres of agricultural production and forward bases for Portuguese exploration. Henry’s next target was to round Cape Bojador on the coast of West Africa, the furthest limit of Portuguese exploration; contemporary European sailors’ lore viewed the seas beyond as a
dangerous and terrifying otherworld. Cape Bojador was finally rounded by Gil Eannes in 1434. The experiences of his sailors on these voyages of discovery convinced Henry that the traditional barca ships in use were unsuitable, and he worked with shipwrights to design a new type of vessel, the caravel. This was smaller, lighter, and swifter, with a shallow draft for nearshore operations and more space for stores to allow the ships to stay at sea for longer.
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1435–37
1438–40
1441–44
This manuscript illustration shows Charles VII entering Paris in triumph.
Founded by King Henry VI of England, construction of Eton college was halted when the king was deposed during the War of the Roses.
Fresco by Domenico di Bartolo, (c.1410-1461), of the Sienese school, from Siena’s hospital of Santa Maria della Scala.
IN 1438, PACHACUTEC (C.1438– 1472) BECAME THE NINTH INCA KING, or Sapa Inca. His reign
MACHU PICCHU (meaning “Old
,,
THOUGH ALLIED WITH THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION OF FRANCE,
the Burgundians (see 1404–07) were increasingly concerned at English gains. With the Treaty of Arras, the Burgundians and the French king, Charles VII, made peace but the English, unwilling to accept the terms, withdrew from negotiations. The following year, the French alliance took Paris from English control. The 1430s saw increasing tension between the papacy and the conciliar movement, which held that the Church ought to be governed by a Church council, rather than an individual pope. Pope Eugenius IV summoned a General Council at Basel in 1431, but it was dominated by anti-papal sentiment and, in 1437, he tried to transfer the Council to Ferrara, where it would be more amenable to his influence. Most of the delegates refused to leave Basel, resulting in two concurrent councils. ; as rr ns e f A ndia anc i’s n o lia ch ty gu Fr Ita lles ea Bur II of r f e T f V n o un 35 e o es h tio Br 14 ianc harl glis ple ppo m all th C t En i e Co Fil nc wi ains 36 ct ore ag 14 chite , Fl o ar om Du
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Latacunga
Amazon Basin
Ingapirca
Piura
Huancabamba
Chan Chan
Chiquitoy
Huánuco
s
Joan of Arc, Christian visionary
Quito
de
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heralded the beginning of a great expansion of the Inca realm, which had been confined to the immediate area around Cuzco since its foundation (see 1201– 1205). It began with invasion by the rival Chancas, who besieged Cuzco, and were completely defeated. Inca expansion was facilitated by the sophisticated nature of most of the kingdoms and tribes they conquered; tight-knit, centralized administration focused on the emperor; a genius for organization and record-keeping (despite having no writing); and an imperial road-building programme rivalled only by the Roman Empire. In 1440, the young king of England founded a new college at Eton. The King’s College of Our Lady of Eton near Windsor, now known as Eton College, was intended to be part of a large foundation including a massive church, an almshouse, and 70 scholars who were
An
THE KINGDOM OF FRANCE… WILL BE THUS RULED BY KING CHARLES VII… HE WILL ENTER PARIS IN GOOD COMPANY.
Jauja
Pachacamac
Vilcas Nazca
PA C I F I C OCEAN
Machu Picchu Cuzco Lake Titicaca Juli Pomata
KEY Expansion by 1400 Expansion in the reign of Pachacutec
Inca expansion The Inca Empire had expanded greatly between 1400 and the end of Pachacutec’s reign. It would triple in size by the 16th century.
Peak” in Quechua, the language of the Incas) is a mountaintop citadel about 70km (43 miles) northwest of Cuzco. Construction probably began in the 1440s, under the auspices of Pachacutec. The maximum population of Machu Picchu was possibly only around 1,000, and it is thought that it served as a ceremonial centre, as well as being an impregnable stronghold for the Inca elite in case of attack. Resistance to Ottoman occupation of the Balkans increased, and in 1443, a crusading army defeated the Ottomans at Nis, in Bulgaria. The Ottoman sultan, Murad II (see 1421–22), was forced out of retirement to take over from his son, Mehmed II, to whom he had
attempted to entrust his crown. At Adrianople, Murad made a 10-year truce with Albanian military leader Hunyadi Skandebeg and other resistors of Ottoman advance. However, with the pope preaching crusade, the resistors were absolved of their oaths of peace and they launched a new attack. Led by Hunyadi and Wladyslaw III of Poland and Hungary (1424–1444), the crusading army – the last major Machu Picchu High above the Urubamba Valley in the Peruvian Andes, on an inaccessible ridge, lies Machu Picchu, sacred citadel of the Inca kings.
to receive free education before going on to King’s College, Cambridge. With the Ottomans (see 1286–90) occupying territories on all sides of the tiny remnants of the Byzantine Empire, and threatening Constantinople itself, the embattled Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaeologus (see 1448–49) arrived in Europe to plead for help from the Council of Ferrara in 1438. Gold llama statuette The Inca were so rich in gold that emperor Atahualpa was able to offer a ransom of 750 tonnes of it when captured by conquistadors in 1532.
e on tin VIII s at seek e r ec l cti e an pir cut we se IV; ru , t o yz ohn rriv a to s a m a s p e B B J on hu a E ach s a rar an es rica of gen V 38 or Inc P s C icc cil Eu lix tak Af 14 per logu Fer ttom of Inca 40 hu P e, un pe e Fe re est 4 o n a em laeo il of st O o 1 c o a p C P u W p o c. Ma mpir si Pa unc gain 39 es -p Ew ire, an Sa of a E 14 pos anti ba mp xp der Co lp a E O E Inc gins de cts he 38 s un 39 nin e 4 4 l n be 1 gi 1 Be e be in za or Sf ats co defe ies n s an to e r ult s nc ce na s E nd ra eni rce n s egin ia nd ngla aI F a V u e m m ) b rb fo E m 38 or zu mes tto –51 f Se VI ge, e 14 ng f ese t O o y c nd 4 to c n ti nr lle 39 40 Mo be r a n ac Mila He Co 14 II (1 ques 40 469) pero inio 0 4 4 n d 1 –1 m om 14 ra co 98 c e ds d Mu 13 te (c. Az xpan e
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1445–47
1448–49
The rocky north coast between Paul and Ribeira Grande in Santa Antao in the Cape Verde islands.
Illustration from a Muromachi period manuscript, the arts flourished in Japan under Ashikaga patronage.
HENRY THE NAVIGATOR’S EXPENSIVE PROJECT to open up
2:1
Battle of Varna The Hungarian-led crusader army, with a strength of 30,000, suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Ottoman troops, who numbered 60,000.
attempt to expel the Ottomans from the Balkans and relieve Constantinople – was decisively crushed by Murad at the Battle of Varna. Wladyslaw disappeared in the battle and was presumed dead, despite rumours of his miraculous survival.
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the coast of Africa (see 1434) was met with scepticism at home in Portugal, until in 1441, one of his ships returned with gold dust and slaves, prompting an acceleration of activity. Between 1444 and 1446, around 35 of Henry’s vessels sailed for the West African coast. In 1445, sailing in one of Henry’s new caravels, explorer Dinis Dias sighted the mouth of the Senegal River, which offered a trade route deep into the African interior, and rounded Cape Verde, the westernmost point of Africa. Dias returned the following year as part of a fleet of caravels intending to plant the Portuguese flag and explore what Henry believed might be the western branch of the Nile, while another of Henry’s captains, Nuño Tristão, sighted the Gambia River. The marriage of Margaret of Anjou (c.1430–82) to Henry VI of England in 1445 was negotiated by William de la Pole, chief advisor to the king and power behind the throne, whose aim was to stop the war in France (see 1435–37). At first, the match and the bride were popular in England, but in 1448, the territory of Maine in northern France was lost to Charles VII and the queen was blamed for her influence over the weak king. Margaret would survive this, however, and become an important player in the Wars of the Roses (see 1454–55). The death of Filippo Maria Visconti in 1447 signalled the end of the Visconti ducal line of Milan
e ag rri to er Ma jou 5 n lor 4 xp e 14 t of A land e l p i e g r e es Ca A p gar f En gu ds 23 Mar VI o rtu roun rica o f y P f o nr s 4 5 ia t A He 14 nis D Wes , Di rde Ve of ub 8) a’q 146 at Y ge – If a na e ar 399 of l, 5 Z a (1 ate Ada ia lde abw o 4 b tg 14 iopi ltan n of mal as Zim u a So h Et ts s sult 5 L reat 4 a s 4 G e f ll c.1 of de d ki an
(see 1421–22). There were multiple claimants to the ducal throne, and eager to avoid domination by a foreigner, the Milanese powers immediately constituted the Aurea Repubblica Ambrosiana of Milan, or the Ambrosian Republic, but they faced insurmountable obstacles. Riven by internal dissension and unwilling to lose control of the other cities controlled by Milan, they were soon forced to turn military control over to a condotierre, or mercenary soldierleader - the powerful Muzio Attendolo, nicknamed Sforza meaning “exert” or “force”. In the mid-15th century, the Shona kingdom of Mwene Mutapa, also known as Great Zimbabwe (see 1106–10), was nearing the end of its glory days. By this time, the riches of the gold fields had funded construction of the Great Enclosure, an elliptical space enclosed by a giant wall 244m (800ft) around, and up to 11m (36ft) high in places, built from almost a million granite blocks. Population of Great Zimbabwe
50,000 POPULATION OF LONDON
20,000
Golden age of Great Zimbabwe In the mid-15th century, the population of Great Zimbabwe was just under half the size of the population of London.
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ian os d br nde n m u A fo ila 47 ic in M 14 ubl p e R
IN 1449, ASHIKAGA YOSHIMASA (1435–90) BECAME SHOGUN, or
military dictator, of Japan. Although his reign marked a cultural highpoint of the Ashikaga, or Muromachi period (1336–1573) it was also a period of increasing civil strife. Repeated famines triggered constant uprisings, while the Ashikaga practice of issuing tokuseirei or “acts of grace” to cancel debts, damaged the economy. Despite this, Yoshimasa presided over a cultural flowering at his Higashiyama estate. The new pope, Nicholas V, elected in 1447, was intent on bringing an end to the schism caused by his predecessor’s clash with the Council of Basel (see 1435–37), and on restoring peace to Italy and achieving harmonious relations with other rulers. At the Concordat of Vienna in 1448, he made concessions to Emperor Frederick III and the other German princes, who in return abandoned the Council of Basel and recognized some papal powers. The following year, the Council of Basel finally disbanded and the anti-pope, Felix V, abdicated in return for a cardinalship. This marked the final victory of the papacy over the conciliar movement. Following the death of Byzantine emperor John VIII, his brother Constantine XI Palaeologus (see panel, right) acceded to the throne in Constantinople – he would be the last Byzantine emperor. The Ottomans had defeated another of Jan Hunyadi’s crusades to clear
PALAEOLOGUS (1404–53) Constantine XI Palaeologus succeeded to the remnants of a once-great empire, left without the resources to defend itself. He was the last emperor of Byzantium, a state that had lasted throughout the medieval period, providing a unique bridge between east and west, ancient and modern. He died on the walls of Constantinople, having done everything in his power to secure its defence. them from the Balkans at the second Battle of Kosovo in 1448, regaining control of Albania. It was clear that there would be no European rescue for the embattled Byzantines. The Ottomans were closing in on Constantinople.
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ec e
ur op e M ed ie
va lE
re G Em pi re
YEAR BY YEAR
1449
Ro m an
or y ist H c Az te & In ca
HISTORY
at Le ad er
s
re An ci en tG Eg yp tia n
Ti m es
8,000,000 BCE
BOOK OF
A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE EVENTS THAT SHAPED THE WORLD
Ancient crafts
THE ORIGINS OF HUMANITY Discover how humans evolved and learnt the skills needed to colonise the world
ANCIENT CIVILISATIONS
Building the Acropolis
As communities flourished, find out how the likes of Ancient Egypt started taking shape
VOLUME 1
Islamic history
THE CLASSICAL AGE
The power of the pyramids
From Greece and Rome to Persia and China, track the developments in science, art and politics
TRADE & INVENTION
See how trade and travel unified the Old World, while the New World emerged
