It’s pretty cool and significant that the two waves of
civilization are the waves that involved a lot of philosophical and religious
thought that are still predominate today. If that isn’t significance, I don’t
know what is.
It’s strange to see so many huge technological advances
swept under the rug because they were not the two biggest advances of human
history. Sure the discovery of gunpowder and silk making are above modest
achievements. Life without the trading on the Silk Road or war on that level
have huge implications historically. I understand we are doing an overview, but
surely those are a bit bigger than being lumped into one sentence.
It’s always fascinating to see early bureaucracies in action
and remember in other classes insisting that bureaucracies came much later. Or
maybe people just forgot the secret of them, like cement. Romans were the first
people to use cement in buildings and this art was lost until the Renaissance.
Kinda gives hope that while there is still a lot humans do not know, there’s a
chance to discover or rediscover it. Knowledge may not be lost forever.
I can’t help but notice that classical Greece seems to have
a lot in common with Mesopotamia. Small city-states clashing with one another
despite a similar language and religion. Also, very focused on males. I like
that they would put aside their differences for the Olympics but that didn’t do
much to lessen tensions or further diplomacy. Some things never change.
I love that it’s the winner of the war between Greece and
Persia that actually changes, not the loser. Persia, despite losing a war, just
keeps chugging along. Meanwhile, Greece goes super nationalistic and changes
everything. Then there’s a civil war and they get conquered. But by being
conquered and part of a greater empire, their culture is spread.
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