For several million years after the
first appearance of primates on the surface of the earth, human beings lived in small
communities, seeking to survive by hunting, fishing, and foraging in a frequently hostile
environment. Then suddenly, in the space of a few thousand years, there was
an abrupt
change of direction, as human beings in a few widely scattered areas of the globe
began to
master the art of cultivating food crops. As food production increased, the
population in
these areas rose correspondingly, and people began to congregate in larger communities.
Governments were formed to provide protection and other needed services to the local
population. Cities appeared and became centers of cultural and religious development.
Historians call this process the beginnings of civilization.
The first civilizations that emerged in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China all shared a number of basic characteristics. Each developed in a river valley that was able to provide the agricultural resources needed to maintain a large population. Although agricultural practices varied considerably from civilization to civilization, in each civilization a part of the population lived in cities, which became the focal points for political, economic, social, cultural, and religious development. These cities were much larger than the Neolithic towns that preceded them, and the new configurations in turn gave rise to significant changes in political, military, social, and economic structures.
All of
these early civilizations established some kind of organized government bureaucracy to
meet the administrative demands of the growing population while armies were organized for
protection and to gain land and power. A new social structure based on economic power
arose. While kings and an upper class of priests, political leaders, and warriors
dominated, there also existed a large group of free people (farmers, artisans,
craftspeople) and at the very bottom, socially, a class of slaves. Abundant agricultural
yields in these regions created opportunities for economic specialization as a surplus
of goods enabled some people to work in occupations other than farming. The demand of
ruling elites for luxury items encouraged artisans and craftspeople to create new
products. As urban populations exported finished goods in exchange for raw materials from
neighboring populations, organized trade grew substantially.
The new
urban civilizations were also characterized by significant religious and cultural
developments. The gods were often deemed critical to a community's success, and
professional priestly classes regulated relations with the gods. Writing was an important
development in the new civilizations. Rulers, priests, merchants, and artisans used
writing to keep records and even create new kinds of literary expression. New forms of
artistic activity, including monumental architectural structures, occupied a prominent
place in the new urban environments.
Although
trade occasionally brought the new civilizations into contact with one another and in
many cases led to the expansion of new technology from one region to another, by and large
the early river valley civilizations developed independently with each grounded in local
developments ultimately related to the new agricultural practices of the Neolithic Age.
Taken together, however, the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China
constituted nothing less than a revolutionary stage in the growth of human society.
From the
beginnings of the first civilizations around 300 B.C.E., there was an ongoing movement
toward the creation of larger territorial states with more sophisticated systems of
control. This process reached a high point in the first millennium B.C.E. Between 1000 and
500 B.C.E., the Assyrians and Persians amassed empires that encompassed either large areas
or all of the ancient Middle East. The conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth
century B.C.E. created an even larger, if short-lived, empire that was soon divided into
the four Hellenistic kingdoms. Later, the western portion of the Hellenistic kingdoms
as well as the Mediterranean world and much of western Europe fell subject to the mighty
empire of the Romans. At the same time, much of India became part of the
Mauryan Empire.
Finally, in the last few centuries B.C.E., the Qin and Han dynasties of China created a
unified Chinese state.
All of
these empires exhibited some common characteristics. Each developed some kind of
efficient
administrative system that enabled it to control vast territories and to integrate diverse
populations and regions. The administrative division of imperial lands into provinces
directed by a centrally appointed governor and the collection of taxes in some form from
subject populations enabled these vast empires to flourish. Of course, these empires were
ultimately dependent on the effective use of military power. Each empire maintained some
kind of professional standing army that enabled it to conquer new territories.
Moreover,
military forces were used to maintain the new imperial frontiers, often buttressed by
defensive frontier fortresses. The Great Wall of China still bears witness to the
importance of these barriers. Roads, too, were an element in the administration of
empires. A system of well-constructed roads enabled the Romans to communicate with the
far-flung provinces of their empire. The Chinese dug canals that enabled the state to
transport troops and supplies thousands of miles to the southern border of the empire.
These
empires also concentrated enormous wealth in the hands of the ruling elites. The vast
landed estates of the elite may no longer be evident, but the remaining ruins of
immense
imperial palaces and lavish public buildings erected by rulers are visible testaments to
imperial wealth. They are also reminders that these empires ultimately relied on economic
exploitation.
But
empires also provided benefits to their inhabitants. Efficiently governed states often
created favorable conditions for economic prosperity. Imperial regimes invested in
public works projects—such as the construction of roads and harbors—that
benefited the empire's subjects. Empires also facilitated the growth of manufacturing and
trade as both raw materials and luxury goods flowed into the hands of the wealthy ruling
elites. Trade also brought increasing contacts between empires. The Silk Road that linked
the Chinese and Roman empires made it possible for wealthy Romans to have the precious
silks of China.
For
millions of people within the empires, religious and philosophical systems that seemed to
give meaning to life provided a sense of cultural identity. Great religions, such as
Hinduism and Buddhism, sought to encourage the right relationship between human beings and
the higher powers of the universe. Greek philosophy, Confucianism, and Daoism (also known
as Taoism) all sought to help people live in harmony with the universe by understanding
the underlying patterns of reality. Moreover, both philosophical and religious systems
provided ethical codes, often embodied in written scriptures, that provided guidelines for
everyday life.
While
examining the achievements and the challenges faced by these early civilizations, however,
we must be careful not to ignore events taking place elsewhere on the globe. Beyond the
islands of civilization that will be discussed in these early chapters, life was
changing for peoples in other areas as well—in the steppes of Central Asia, on the
Arabian peninsula, and in the Sahara. Here climatic changes were forcing peoples who had
previously lived by hunting, fishing, and foraging to adopt new methods to survive. Some
turned to agriculture, while others attempted to survive by trade or the domestication of
cattle, sheep, or other mammals. As time passed, contacts between such nomadic peoples and
the settled civilizations became increasingly frequent. The dynamic relationship between
these two types of societies became a crucial theme in the process of human evolution
throughout the later course of history. In some ways, the relationship was a fruitful one,
because it facilitated cross-cultural contacts and the exchange of new ideas and new
technology. In other cases, the relationship was marked by tension and conflict, as
pastoral and sedentary societies fought over territory. Nomadic warriors made periodic
raids against settled communities, and the latter sent expeditions to pacify pastoral
populations and bring them under control.
In the end, it was the failure of these two types of human society to establish an amicable relationship that brought an end to most of the ancient empires. Before the end of the first millennium B.C.E., both ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia had been overrun by nomadic peoples. A few centuries later, China and the Roman Empire would meet the same fate. But the fall of these ancient civilizations cannot be laid entirely at the feet of barbarians from beyond the frontier. Internal weaknesses were also a contributing factor. At the same time, however, these ancient civilizations left a legacy that soon gave birth to new forms of society, while spreading the concept of civilization to other parts of the globe.