Journal 2

Chapters 4-7 cover ancient civilization to classical era.  The earliest empires developed in era of Fist Civilizations.  Empire are political systems with coercive power.  They are larger, more aggressive states which conquer other states and include multiple people and cultures under a single political system.  Eurasian empires of the classical era include Persian Empire; Greek Empire, Roman Empire, Chinese Empire and Mauryan and Gupta Empires.  In the period around 500 B.C.E, there was a great emergence of durable cultural traditions that have shaped the world ever since (China, India, Middle East and Greece).  The major social changes include iron-age technology led to higher productivity and deadlier war, growing cities, increasing commerce, emergence of new states and empires and new contracts between civilizations.  Classical civilization were hierarchical and patriarchal, but they varied in how they organized their societies.  Chinese society was shaped more by state actions than were other societies.

There are a lot of material and reading in Part 2 and I need more time to read.  It it is not easy for me to write this blog.