Ancient History Essays - Assignment Example

id 3 Essays Question Introduction The Greco –Persian wars were a series of war that was fought between Persia and ancient Greece in 5th BC. The battle continued for a period of fifty years from the period of 499 to 449. The main source for the emergence of the Greco –Persian war was Herodotus who was a Greek historian, he is well known as the father of the history. The root cause of the war was the Ionian revolt. It resulted from the long term interaction between the Greece and the Persians. Discussion In the initial stage or phase of the conflict between the Greece and the Persian it was found that the Persian military were ruled by king Darius I from the period of 550 to 480 BC. The Persian was defeated by the Greek allies and the Athenians. They were defeated in the famous land of Marathon during the period of 490 BC. The news of the victory was transferred from Marathon to Athens by a messenger. This is considered as the origin of the modern Olympic event of Marathon (Holland 34). During the second stage of the war it was found that the Persian in order to take revenge from the Athenians arrived on the Greek shore with more than 2, 00,000 men between their navy and army under the order of king Xeres during the period of 519 to 465 BC. King Xeres is the son of the deceased King Darius I. The powerful and the intelligent party consisting of only 5,000 Greeks including the Spartans, Locrians and Phocians under the commandment of one of the Spartan Kings known as Leonidas who was the successor of Hercules led the force of Persia through the narrow pass between the sea and the cliffs at Thermopylae. They were ultimately crushed by the Persians but the Spartans fought till the death of the Persian King. But in the naval battle which took place in Salamis during the period of 480 BC which was planned by the Athenian General. The navy of Athenian beat the Persian navy. Later on in the battle which took place in salamis during the period in 479 BC in which the Spartan army defeated the Persian army. After the Persian was defeated they were driven out from the Greece territory. The Athenians have saved or protected the people of Greece from the Persian domination (Hanson 41). The rise of the Greece in the classical age is not a miracle; the main reason for their development is the political breakthrough and the economic improvement. The defeat of Persian Empire by Greece led to the rise of Greece. Conclusion The classical period observed the invasion of the Greece and its independence from the Persian Empire. It has powerful influence and impact on the Roman Empire and it influenced the foundation and the development of the Western civilization. The classical period of ancient Greece is commonly known as the Hellenic period. The classical period follows the archaic period and this period is mainly succeeded by the Hellenistic period. Question 2 Introduction Sparta and Athens have cooperated with each other during the Persian war, but the relation between these two states deteriorated in the decades which followed the Victorian victories. The disagreement between these two states lead to the emergence of war .The negotiation for settling the disagreements collapsed and the result was devastating war between them. The war continued during the period from 431 to 404 BC. This war is known as the Peloponnese War after the location of the allies and Sparta in Peloponnese. Discussion The history or the emergence of the Peloponnesian War discloses the unpredictability of the war and also the consequences of the war in general. The first phase of the Peloponnesian war started in the year 460 to 446 BC, the war mainly took place between the northern states of Peloponnese and the Athens. The most remarkable gain or achievement of the Peloponnese is the capture of more than 457 islands of Aegina by occupying an important and significant position between Peloponnese and Athens in the middle of the Saronic Gulf. Sparta for the first time intervenes in the same year by defeating the Athenians very close or near to their home at Tanagra. The war was continued inconclusively (Kagan 70). The warriors of Athens faced difficulty in consolidating any gain with her whom she discussed on the land, but her superiority in the naval power indicated that she can continuously attack the towns and the cities in the Peloponnesian coast. The continuation of the twenty seven years of war leads to the emergence of complex situation for both the parties in the battle field. The Sparta and Athens both fought against each other with an increasing extent of cruelty and brutality. The end of the war was suddenly experienced in 405. The surviving Athenian warriors was destroyed and surprised by the Spartans in the Hellespont (Smith 52). This was for the first time that the Athens lost their control over the Aegean Sea; the reason behind this was that they did not have control over themselves. The blockade of the land routes by the Spartan through Attica lead to the inevitable capitulation in 404. Therefore the Athenians were forced to swallow the bitter pill in acknowledging the rule of the Sparta though not for a long period of time. The Athenian oligarchy imposed strict rules that were imposed by the Sparta in the state with harsh and brutal injustice which led the democratic faction to recover its control just after one year in 403. But four years later the indirect result of this event is the death of Socrates (Hammond 72). Conclusion The Peloponnesian war which took place during the period of 431 to 404 BC was mainly due to the territorial, political and economic conflict between the Athenian led Delian League and Spartan led Peloponnesian league. Although the war started with minor conflict and disagreement between the two states, it resulted in the battle between the dueling leagues. The Peloponnesian league were threatened by the strength and the dominance of the Athenian in the area, therefore they built or developed their league by recruiting the city states for support with their league. Question 3 Introduction Chinese philosophers influenced the intellectual development of the region to a large extent. The concept of philosophy in China emerged from the western philosophy. It is considered as an alternative to the traditional philosophy. The rich culture and heritage of China also contributed to the emergence of more philosophers in the country. The philosophy is regarded as the source of generating ideas and innovations. It is based on developing new ideas on the basis of past belief or faith. It significantly influenced the people from the East Asia. Discussion The civilization of China developed and aroused in vast areas. It developed more than United States. Despite the political instability in the country, the philosophers contributed significantly in the development of the culture and intellectuality of the country. The most influential minds in the Chinese intellectual tradition developed in the last period of the Zhou Dynasty, it is considered as the significant period for the emergence of the artistic and intellectual minds of the philosophers of the country (Violatti). The Zhou people were not the invaders but they were the Chinese speaking people who were the descendants of Longshan culture. Many of the books and the literature contributed by the authors of china facilitated the development and improvement of the Chinese culture. The classical works of the Chinese philosophers is influential in there development of the Chinese culture. The philosophers are of the view that the wise person generally accepts the ebb and flow of the life. The two important philosophies prevalent in the region are Legalism and Taoism. The Chinese philosophers devoted themselves towards the cultivation of the minds at the interest or the need of science and also inquiry into the nature. They preferred and believed on the certainty of perception in order to convert their vision or ideas into the form of science. It is because of the effort and the contribution of the philosophers, the Chinese philosophy is considered as the world’s most practical and human philosophy. It is often compared or related with Confucianism. The philosophers contributed to the development of the theories that are correlatively correspondent between earth, humanity and heaven in order to develop shared representation of the cosmic order and development of the idea of canon or classic. The practitioners of various sciences applied these concepts in different models associated with human body and the movement of the stars, sun and the moon. The effort and the contribution of the philosophers resulted in the formation and propagation of two significantly competing intellectual communities such as technical experts and philosophical literary leaders (Fukuyama 18). Conclusion The Chinese philosophers established a relation between the science and philosophy. It contributes effectively towards the development of science together with the improvement in its culture. The philosophers lead to the intellectual development of the region by encouraging various innovations and development both in terms of enriching the culture and improving the science and technology. Works cited Fukuyama, Francis. The End of History and the Last Man. New York: Simon and Schuster. 2006. Print. Hammond, Martin. The Peloponnesian War. England: OUP Oxford. 2009. Print. Hanson, Victor. Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the fall of Rome. 2010. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Holland, Tom. Persian Fire: The First World Empire, Battle for the West. London: Hachette UK. 2011. Print. Kagan, Donald. The Peloponnesian War. London: Paw Prints. 2008. Print. Smith, Bonnie G, et al., Crossroads and Cultures, Combined Volume: A History of the Worlds Peoples Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. 2012. Print. Violatti, Cristian. Zhou Dynasty. January 3 2014. Web. 27 June 2015. < http://www.ancient.eu/Zhou_Dynasty/>. Read More