A Brief History of Humanity: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century

Chapter 14 Review of Historical Civilization

[-]. The Great Civilizations of the Ancient World
The first 12 chapters of this book describe the longest stretch of human history.In the Paleolithic Age, hunters who hunted ferocious beasts continued to improve their skills and gradually stepped into life in the civilized age.In the Neolithic Age, the descendants of hunters had already begun to build villages and domesticate the captured wild animals. At the same time, some inventions and creations that were valuable to life appeared.In the Bronze Age, some powerful tribal kingdoms were gradually civilized and rose rapidly.In the Iron Horse Age, more advanced civilizations continued to develop all over the world. The empires rose and fell one after another, and their powers changed continuously.

The previous description does not include all the tribes and nations in the world, and many interesting civilization histories have not been covered, such as the civilizations of various small nations in Northern Europe, the civilizations of the American Indians in northern Mexico, and the black civilizations in Africa. Those empires with great influence are weak and backward compared with the nation, so they are not mentioned in the previous article.

Great ancient civilizations Egypt, Babylon and Assyria, Crete and Aegean, Syria and Persia in the Near East; China and India in the Far East; Maya in the Far West; Roman civilization in the Mediterranean, including Carthias Basic Western civilization and Hellenistic Eastern civilization.These developed civilizations occupied a prominent position in ancient history. From a political point of view, they had glorious empires and made significant contributions in industrial economy, commerce and trade, literature and art, religious philosophy, etc., and thus had a great impact on world civilization. .

[-]. Weaknesses and deficiencies of ancient civilizations

The classical civilization of slavery and serfdom made brilliant achievements in literature, art, philosophy and religion, but the social and economic foundation at that time was not sound, and the status of ordinary people was extremely low, and their lives were too tired.At that time, the manufacturing process was completely manual, the agricultural production tools were extremely cumbersome, the farming methods were backward, and the lives of slaves and farmers were very difficult.Most of the citizens of the ancient empire were ordinary people, who had to work hard every day to obtain the minimum living security, and at the same time, they had to support the extravagant life of the upper noble class.Thus, slavery or serfdom was typical of most ancient civilizations.

The corrupt living landowners and great aristocrats of the upper class usually own a large number of slaves or serfs, and forcing slaves to work does not show the dignity of the master, nor does it make them elegant to plunder wealth from the poor.When the upper ruling class exploits the working people, it often exposes their extravagance, profligacy, greed and shamelessness.There was such a group of immoral upper-class nobles in the Roman Empire. When Rome became a world-class empire, the huge wealth expropriated by the ruling class induced the vices of vanity and arrogance among the nobles.It can even be said that the nobles did not know how to squander these huge wealth and powerful power, and the originally progressive Roman aristocratic regime gradually stagnated in this way.

The Decline and Decline of the Empire The third weakness of the ancient empire is political dictatorship. Despotism and one-man government are extremely dangerous.Most ancient empires adopted autocratic rule, and the entire empire was completely under the control of the individual monarch. If the rulers were as talented and wise as Ashoka, Augustus, or Hadrian, dictatorship might produce good government and promote prosperity. Empire progresses.If the dictators were as proficient in war and military as Trajan, Cyrus, Thutmose or Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, then the empire's wars of conquest and aggression could also be victorious.However, if the dictatorship is an incompetent and evil king, it will lead to tyranny and people's livelihood, which will inevitably lead to turmoil and chaos in the country, and such situations are very common.

Generally speaking, autocratic rulers have a firm grip on power, it is impossible to establish a federal government, and they will not devolve power to the localities.Therefore, the real management power of the provinces, counties and counties of the great empire was concentrated in the hands of one person, the will of the ruler represented the laws of the country, and both the dictator and the agents he appointed must have super intelligence.

In addition, the autocratic government also hides many hidden dangers of seizing power. Those ambitious ministers and generals who hold military power want to conspire to usurp the throne from time to time, which leads to turmoil.However, in a democratic country or a republic, power is in the hands of the masses, and it is difficult for any individual, no matter how smart and capable, to seize dictatorial power from the masses and groups.When the power of the country is in the hands of one person, and this person is an incompetent person, then the country's rule will lose the hearts of the people because of the king's fatuous and tyrannical rule, and eventually lead to the end of the country.In the history of the Roman Empire, court civil wars such as conspiracy, assassination, and usurpation of power continued to occur, smearing the glory of the empire.In the empires of Egypt, Assyria, Persia, China, and India, rebellions and usurpations of dictatorships also occurred frequently.All in all, the ancient autocratic empires could not solve the problem of dictatorship, nor did they know how to choose an outstanding talent to become the ruler of the country.

There had been democracies in Athens and the early Roman city-states, but these grand and spectacular attempts failed because of the expansion of imperial power and foreign wars.When a new territory was conquered, most of the local people became serfs or slaves, military rule prevailed, and democratic rights disappeared.Thus, democracy can hardly exist in a world of war and conquest.

Foreign Enemies For the coveted foreign enemies, those countries with vast fertile land and rich cities are extremely attractive fat, which is an important reason why many magnificent empires eventually collapsed.There are a large number of barbarians around the empire, such as Kassites, Huns, and Germans, who are always ready to invade. They are always salivating at the prosperous culture of the great empire.However, the invasion of foreign enemies is only the external reason for the decline of the empire, and the internal reason is often the extravagance and corruption of the ruling class.

The loss of strength, bravery and patriotism is surprising. Many ancient tribal peoples who were brave and warlike gradually lost their vitality in the development of civilization and became unable to defend themselves and fight against foreign enemies.Such as the Egyptian Empire, successively became the spoils of war of the Assyrians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Arabs and Turks.However, the once extremely powerful Assyrian Empire collapsed in front of the backward Persians, and the thriving Persian Empire succumbed to Alexander of Macedonia.The Roman super empire across the Eurasian continent was wantonly ravaged by the Germanic invaders. The powerful China with a long civilization was also conquered by the Mongolian barbarians. After the Indian Empire was conquered by the Mongols, it was then occupied by the Arabs.

It is obvious that the extravagant atmosphere of enjoying wealth wears down the vigor and courage of the upper rulers, and also corrodes the rule of the country. The coups in the palace frequently lead to the cowardice and incompetence of the ruling class.At the same time, the oppressed working masses hate the rulers and have no interest in sacrificing themselves to defend these incompetent and shameless masters.In Rome, Carthage, Egypt and other countries, the rulers enslaved or hired people to fight for them for a long time, and the nobles were weak and unable to defend themselves.The Roman Empire is a typical example. The people in the provinces have been burdened with heavy taxes and military service for a long time. They even long for foreign invasion, hoping that the invaders will destroy the Roman ruling class and end the oppressive rule of the Roman nobles.In fact, if the ruling classes have lost their manhood, it is not surprising that slaves and serfs lack patriotism.

The low status of women Another reason for the decline of ancient empires is the status of women.Early Roman legends contain some touching stories of intelligent and capable women who encouraged and assisted their husbands and sons in their careers.Women also sometimes became rulers, queens (or empresses) appeared in both Egypt and China, and in many families wives and mothers were loved and respected.But generally speaking, the status of women in ancient times was low and cannot be compared with the status of women today.

When a certain nation is invaded and conquered, the women in the tribe are usually reduced to slaves, sold and gifted arbitrarily, and become the private property of wealthy men.In ancient Greece, Egypt and other Asian countries, monarchs and male nobles had a large number of concubines and concubines. They were imprisoned in the harem, without personal freedom, and could not appear in front of ordinary people, let alone a normal social life. .For dictatorships, multiple concubines and concubines are an important root cause of the decline of the empire.Many historical documents record that the emperors were busy adjusting the contradictory relationship between their concubines and were exhausted all day long.In history, concubines, wives and concubines often fought for favor and murdered each other. Every concubine wanted his own son to be on the throne.The same is true in the majority of ordinary families. The low status of women means that the power of the family will inevitably weaken, and the family is the basic social organizational structure. The instability of the family also leads to the weakening of the country.

Another reason for the decline of most ancient empire civilizations is the reverence for antiquity.In the early stage of social civilization and progress, a large number of literary and artistic masterpieces emerged, governance and management methods were improved, and industrial production continued to develop and advance.But after that, most of them are resting and recuperating, even enjoying themselves, always looking back on the long history of civilization, so the country gradually loses the power of innovation and hinders the pace of progress.

For example, in Egypt, the early sculptures were exquisite, but the endless imitation of later generations made the art inferior and tasteless.The same was true of the Roman Empire, where after the golden age of the Augustan period ended, artists only wanted to repeat the styles of the dead masters.The same is happening in China and India.When "classical works" are blindly worshiped and imitated excessively, innovation and invention will be reduced to victims, and the current social development is bound to be bound by ancient thinking.

The disintegration of old beliefs. Various primitive religions in ancient times did not lay a solid foundation of belief for imperial civilization, and later emerging philosophical religions, such as Stoic philosophy and Buddhism, did not satisfy people's spiritual hunger and desire.With the loss of belief in the gods, human nature gradually degenerates, and is finally corrupted by daily vices.

In the later period of the Roman Empire, the influence of the old god beliefs gradually weakened. The well-educated upper class groups were attracted by Stoic philosophy, widely believed in foreign religions, or became atheists who believed in nothing.Gautama spread the "Eightfold Path" in India, but in the final analysis it is just a way of avoiding the world, calling on people to abandon emotions and desires and escape the suffering of life.The moral maxims of Confucius in China have become the standard guide for people's ethical life, but they cannot fundamentally encourage people to face life positively.The teachings of great philosophers such as the Stoics, Buddha, and Confucius were far from enough for the masses of Rome, India, and China.The rulers built temples and pagodas, and the people burned incense and offerings to gods and idols, and used various witchcraft and mysterious rituals, hoping to satisfy their inner religious instincts, but they still could not get moral guidance and spiritual power, let alone achieve the continuous progress of human beings. The realm of longing and pursuit.

[-]. New forces in civilization

The various primitive religions eventually weakened, and the belief systems of the old gods lost their former prestige.When people lose their faith, they also lose their strength and courage.If Greece and Rome had always believed in pagan idols, it can be asserted that the world heritage would not be well protected.European history may become a replica of Asian history, and the stories of European ancestors will not be much different from those of Chinese and Indians.

In the Near East, a brand-new religious force emerged, spreading from Asia to Europe, and from Europe across the vast ocean, bringing a new vitality and a new direction to the history of the world.This emerging force brought about profound and wonderful changes in the development history of world civilization. When it entered human life, it became the symbol of the end of ancient civilization and the beginning of a new world, opening a new era.

This new force is Christianity.

(End of this chapter)