History of Western civilization before AD 500 facts for kids
Western civilization is a big idea that describes how human societies developed, starting mainly in Ancient Greece and then spreading westwards. It's closely connected to the areas that were once part of the Western Roman Empire and later, Western Christendom (Christian Europe in the Middle Ages).
The civilizations of Classical Greece and the Roman Empire, along with Ancient Israel and early Christianity, were super important in shaping Western history. From Ancient Greece, we got ideas like democracy (where people vote) and a love for learning about truth and beauty. Rome taught us about strong governments, armies, amazing engineering, and fair laws. And from Ancient Israel came Christianity, which brought ideas about treating everyone like family. Other groups like the Germanic, Celtic, and Nordic people also added a lot to Europe's culture before Christianity arrived. After the Fall of Rome in the 5th century, Europe entered the Middle Ages. During this time, the Catholic Church became very powerful in the West, while the Eastern Roman Empire (also called the Byzantine Empire) kept going strong for many more centuries.
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Where the Ideas of "East" and "West" Began
The idea of Europe being the "West" and Asia being the "East" started a long time ago, in Classical Antiquity. It really took off during the Persian Wars, when the Greek city-states (seen as the West) fought against the huge Achaemenid Empire (seen as the East).
Later, during the Hellenistic period, Greek culture spread far into the East, even reaching places like India. This led to a mix of cultures, like Greco-Buddhism. When the Byzantine Empire was formed around the 4th century, it created a political split between Eastern and Western Europe. This division became even clearer centuries later with the East–West Schism, which separated Eastern Orthodox Christianity from Roman Catholic Christianity.
The Mediterranean and the Ancient West
The very first civilizations that influenced the West came from Mesopotamia. This area, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (mostly modern-day Iraq), is often called the "cradle of civilization" because it's where farming began about 10,000 years ago. People started raising animals and growing new types of wheat, which allowed them to stop being nomads and build villages, and then cities like Jericho.
Many important civilizations grew in Mesopotamia, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. Soon after, the Nile River valley in ancient Egypt became united under the Pharaohs around 3100 BC. Civilization quickly spread through the Fertile Crescent to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where the Phoenicians and Israelites later built important states.
The ancient peoples around the Mediterranean Sea greatly shaped the start of Western civilisation. The sea itself was like a highway, allowing people to trade goods like timber, copper, and food, as well as political and religious ideas, between Asia, Africa, and Europe. By 3100 BC, Egyptians were using sails on boats. Later, skilled sailors like the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans used their knowledge of winds and stars to travel long distances and control large areas.
Great ancient cities were connected by these routes. These included:
- Athens, the home of Athenian democracy and famous Greek philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates.
- Jerusalem, the Jewish capital, where Jesus of Nazareth taught.
- Rome, which became the center of the mighty Roman Empire, covering much of Europe and the Mediterranean.
We know a lot about Greek, Roman, and Judeo-Christian influences because these cultures wrote things down. However, Western history was also strongly shaped by groups like the Germanic, Scandinavian, and Celtic peoples who lived outside the Roman Empire. Around 1500 BC, people learned to work with iron, which led to better tools and weapons by 800 BC in Greece.
The earliest city-based civilizations in Europe were the Minoans on Crete and the Mycenaeans, which ended around 1100 BC. Then came the Greek Dark Ages. Ancient Greece refers to the period from the 8th to 2nd centuries BC. Classical Greece was a golden age, especially from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Under the leadership of Athens, Greece successfully fought off the powerful Persian invasion in battles like Marathon and Thermopylae. The Golden Age of Athens ended when Sparta defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC.
By the 6th century BC, Greek colonists had spread far and wide, from the Black Sea to Spain and through Italy, North Africa, and Turkey. The Ancient Olympic Games are said to have started in 776 BC. They became a huge cultural event where Greeks from all over met every four years to compete in sports like running, wrestling, and chariot racing. Trade grew, and by 670 BC, people started using coins instead of just trading goods. The Hippocratic Oath, a promise doctors make to practice medicine ethically, is believed to have been written by the Greek Hippocrates, who is often called the father of Western medicine.
The Greek city-states often competed and even fought each other. Athens became the most impressive. Learning from the Egyptians, Athenian art and architecture shined from 520 to 420 BC. The city finished the famous Parthenon around 447 BC to honor their goddess Athena. The Athenians also experimented with democracy, where property owners would meet almost every week to discuss laws and choose temporary leaders. This system helped prevent one person from gaining too much power. However, Athenian democracy didn't include everyone; women, slaves, the poor, and foreigners were not allowed to vote or participate.
Ancient Greek philosophy began in the 6th century BC. It explored many topics like how society should be run, how to live a good life, and the nature of reality. Plato was a famous Greek philosopher and mathematician who founded the Academy in Athens, the first place for higher learning in the Western world. Inspired by his teacher Socrates, Plato and his student Aristotle helped create the basis for Western philosophy and science.
Homer is a legendary ancient Greek poet, famous for his epic poems Iliad and Odyssey. These stories are among the very first great works of Western literature and have had a huge impact on storytelling ever since.
Alexander the Great (356 BC-323 BC) was a Greek king from Macedon who built one of the largest empires in ancient history. He was taught by the philosopher Aristotle. As a ruler, he defeated the Persian king Darius III and conquered the Persian Empire. His Macedonian Empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. He died in Babylon in 323 BC, and his empire soon broke apart. However, his conquests led to Greek settlers moving across the region, which had lasting effects on history and culture.
The city of Alexandria in Egypt, founded by Alexander in 330 BC, became a new center of learning for the Western World, taking over from Athens. It was home to great thinkers like the mathematician Euclid and the anatomist Herophilus. Alexandria also had the famous Library of Alexandria and was where the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek.
The ancient Greeks were excellent in engineering, science, logic, politics, and medicine. Their culture strongly influenced the Roman Empire, which then spread a version of it across the Mediterranean and Europe. This is why Classical Greece is seen as the main foundation of Western civilization.
Ancient Rome started as a small farming community on the River Tiber in Italy around the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, the Roman Empire grew to be one of the largest empires in the ancient world. Over centuries, Roman civilization changed from being ruled by kings to an oligarchic republic (ruled by a few powerful families) and then to an autocratic empire (ruled by one all-powerful emperor). It came to control much of Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region through conquest and by absorbing other cultures.
After being ruled by kings, the Romans established a republic in 509 BC that lasted for five centuries. At first, a few powerful families shared power, but later, elected leaders and representative assemblies ruled. Rome grew from a minor power in Italy by becoming skilled at warfare. After defeating their rivals, especially Carthage, the Romans expanded their empire overseas into North Africa. Roman engineers built a network of roads throughout their empire, starting with the Appian Way in Italy in 312 BC. Soldiers, merchants, slaves, and citizens traveled along these roads, connecting a thriving trading empire. Roman engineering was so impressive that many of their roads, bridges, and aqueducts still stand today. The city of Rome itself likely had a population of nearly a million people, with huge public buildings like the Colosseum (for sports), bathhouses (for relaxation), and the Roman Forum (for public life). Slavery was a big part of the economy, but it also caused problems, like the slave rebellion led by Spartacus in 71 BC.
Julius Caesar (100 BC-44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in changing the Roman Republic into an empire. People who feared he wanted to become king assassinated him in the Roman Senate in 44 BC. His chosen heir, Augustus, outsmarted his rivals and became the first de facto emperor in 27 BC. His successors became all-powerful and were even worshipped as gods. Rome then entered a period of imperial rule and stability, though some emperors were known for their strange behavior.
Roman civilization and history greatly influenced the development of government, law, warfare, art, literature, architecture, technology, religion, and language in the Western world. Ecclesiastical Latin, the official language of the Roman Catholic Church, is a direct link to the classical world. The ancient languages of Latin and Greek influenced every European language, giving them many learned words. Latin was the international language for centuries and later developed into the Romance languages (like French, Spanish, Italian). Latin and Greek continue to influence English, especially in scientific, technical, and legal words.
Judaism and the Rise of Christianity
The history of Judaism goes back about 4,000 years. The Hebrews were nomads who developed one of the most lasting monotheistic religions (worshipping one God), and it's the oldest one still practiced today. Abraham is traditionally seen as the father of the Jewish people, and Moses as the lawgiver who led them out of slavery in Egypt to the "Promised Land" of Israel. While the exact historical details of these stories are debated, the tales from the Hebrew Bible have inspired countless works of Western art, literature, and learning.
Around 1000 BC, the Israelites had a powerful period under King David, who captured Jerusalem. His son, King Solomon, built the first magnificent Temple in Jerusalem to worship God. The Jews rejected the idea of worshipping many gods, which was common then, and only worshipped Yahweh. His Ten Commandments gave them rules for how to live morally. The Jews also observed the Sabbath as a "day of rest," which historian Geoffrey Blainey called "one of the first wide-ranging laws of social-welfare in the world." In 587 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire destroyed the Temple, and Jewish leaders were forced into exile. They returned a century later but faced a series of foreign rulers. Judaism's texts, traditions, and values have played a huge role in later religions like Christianity and Islam. Many parts of Judaism have also influenced Western ideas about ethics and law.
In 63 BC, Judea became part of the Roman Empire. Around 6 BC, Jesus was born into a Jewish family in Nazareth. Because of him, the worship of the God of Israel would spread and later become dominant throughout the Western World. The Western calendar even divides time into Before Christ (BC) and Anno Domini (AD), based on his birth.
Christianity began as a group within Judaism in the mid-1st century, based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus's life story is told in the New Testament of the Bible, which is a foundational text of Western Civilization. According to the New Testament, Jesus was raised by Mary (called the "Blessed Virgin" and "Mother of God") and her husband Joseph. Jesus's birth is celebrated at Christmas. Jesus learned the Hebrew Bible and, like John the Baptist, became an influential preacher. He gathered Twelve Disciples to help him. He was a great storyteller, using parables, and a moral philosopher. Jesus urged his followers to worship God, act without violence or prejudice, and care for the sick, hungry, and poor. He criticized the powerful religious leaders, which angered them and the Roman authorities. They convinced the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, to have him executed for causing trouble. In Jerusalem, around AD 30, Jesus was crucified (nailed alive to a wooden cross) and died. According to the Bible, his body disappeared from his tomb three days later because he had been resurrected from the dead. Easter celebrates this event.
Jesus's early followers, including the apostles Paul and Peter, spread a new understanding of him throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. This led to the creation of institutions like the Catholic Church, with Peter remembered as its first pope. Paul, in particular, stressed that the faith was for everyone, not just Jews, and the religion grew beyond the Jewish population. Later, Jesus was called "Christ" (meaning "anointed one" in Greek), and his followers became known as Christians. Early Christians often faced persecution from authorities or angry crowds, especially because they refused to worship the emperors. Emperor Nero famously blamed them for the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64 and had them killed in cruel ways.
Despite this, carried by merchants and missionaries, the new religion quickly grew. Emperor Constantine's Edict of Milan in AD 313 stopped the persecutions. His own conversion to Christianity was a major turning point. In AD 325, Constantine called the First Council of Nicaea to unite Christians and make Christianity the official religion of the Empire. The council created the Nicene Creed, which stated the Christian faith. Constantine also made Sunday a "day of rest" for Roman society.
The Roman Empire's population and wealth had been moving east. The Emperor Diocletian divided the Empire into East and West in AD 285, setting the stage for this split. Around 330, Constantine established the city of Constantinople as a new imperial capital for the Byzantine Empire. With its strong defenses and beautiful buildings, the city stood for another thousand years as a "Roman Capital." The Hagia Sophia Cathedral is one of the greatest examples of Byzantine architecture, with its huge dome and stunning mosaics.
The city of Rome itself never fully recovered after being attacked by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 455. While the Eastern and Western Roman Empires continued to share some culture, the history of Christianity and Western culture took different paths. This led to the final East–West Schism in 1054, separating Roman and Eastern Christianity.
As the Western Roman Empire began to fall apart, Augustine was a Bishop in North Africa. He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian whose writings greatly influenced Western Christianity. He developed the idea of the church as a spiritual "City of God," separate from the earthly world. His book Confessions, which tells about his youth and conversion to Christianity, is considered one of the first autobiographies in Western literature. Augustine deeply shaped the way people thought in the Middle Ages.
The Fall of Rome
The Western Roman Empire, which had ruled much of modern-day Italy, France, Spain, and Great Britain for centuries, collapsed in 476 AD. This happened due to a mix of economic problems and a much weaker military, which allowed barbarian tribes from northern Europe to invade. Historians still debate the exact reasons for Rome's fall, but it involved the slow breakdown of Rome's political, economic, and military systems, along with these invasions.
In Britain, Germanic tribes like the Angles and Saxons invaded. In Gaul (modern-day France and Belgium), the Franks settled. In Spain, the Visigoths invaded, and Italy was conquered by the Ostrogoths.
The Western Empire's decline happened over about three centuries, ending in 476 AD when Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was removed from power by Odoacer, a Germanic leader. Some historians question how important this exact date is, especially since the Eastern Roman Empire continued until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.
See also
- Western world
- Western culture
- History of Europe
- Role of the Catholic Church in Western civilization
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