Social Studies Program of Studies:
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Suggested time for instruction: eleven weeks
SOL Standard WHI.4: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the civilizations of Persia, India, and China in terms of chronology, geography, social structures, government economy, religion, and contributions to later civilizations.
SOL Standard WH1.5: The student will demonstrate knowledge of ancient Greece in terms of its impact on Western civilization.
SOL Standard WHI.6: The student will demonstrate knowledge of ancient Rome from about 700 B.C. to 500 A.D. in terms of its impact on Western civilization.
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This era marks the rise of universalizing religions and the development of rational thought. Civilizations of this era were strongly influenced by increasing interregional contacts resulting from expanding trade patterns. The societies of this era arose in China, India, and the Mediterranean Basin. Other societies with classical characteristics arose independently in Mesoamerica and sub-Saharan Africa later in time and are a part of study in Eras 4 and 5. Historians refer to this time period as “classical” because ideas, institutions, and cultural styles of these civilizations were long-lasting. These civilizations influenced other societies and remain influential to this day.
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- What is a classical society?
- What were the similarities and differences among the classical societies of this era?
- What are the enduring legacies that developed during this era?
- What led to the collapse of classical societies?
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- Development and diffusion of technology: Iron technology was especially significant in shaping the economic, cultural, and political characteristics of Eurasia and Africa. The spread of writing affected social and cultural developments in various regions.
- Communication and exchange: Hellenistic ideas and cultural styles represent an important cultural blending or exchange in the history of the Mediterranean Basin, Central Asia, Southwest Asia, and India. Extensive trade networks, merchant communities, state power, and tributary systems of production, contributed to the economic integration of large regions of Africa and Eurasia.
- Belief systems: New religious and ethical systems contributed to the cultural integration of large regions of Eurasia.
- Social structure: Various systems of social inequality existed in the Han empire, the Maurya and Gupta empires, the Greek city-states, and the Roman empire. China, India, Persia, Greece, and Rome each exhibit unique cultural differences in family and social structures.
- Political legitimacy and authority: Military power, state bureaucracy, legal codes, belief systems, written languages, trade networks, and colonies were significant in the development of large regional empires. Democratic institutions developed in Athens, other Aegean city-states, and Rome.
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NOTE: Red Bolded content in the indicators is considered essential and must be taught in all classrooms. Content which is not bolded goes beyond the scope and sequence of the state standards.
Benchmark 3.0: The student will improve skills in historical research and geographic analysis during the classical Period. (WHI.1)
3.0 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
- Identify, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary sources to make generalizations about events and life during the Classical Period.
- Use maps, globes, artifacts, and pictures to analyze the physical and cultural landscapes of the world and interpret the past during the Classical Period.
- Identify major geographic features important to the study of world history during the Classical Period.
- Identify and compare modern political boundaries with the location of Classical Civilizations.
- Analyze trends in human migration and cultural interaction during the Classical Period.
Benchmark 3.1: The student understands the development of the Persian Empire. (WHI.4)
3.1 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
- Explain the founding, political organization, expansion, and cultural expression of the Persian Empire including tolerant rule, imperial bureaucracy, and their road system).
- Describe the basic teachings of Zoroastrianism.
Benchmark 3.2: The student understands religious and cultural developments in India during the Mauryan and Gupta Empires. (WHI.4)
3.2 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
- Evaluate the impact of the monsoon on the development of agriculture and settlement patterns in the Ganges River valley.
- Explain the evolution of early Hinduism including the hereditary caste system based on occupation (Aryan migrations, belief in many forms of one deity, reincarnation, karma, Vedas and Upanishads).
- Describe the life and teachings of the Buddha and explain the ways in which those teachings were a response to Hinduism (Siddhartha Gautama, Four Noble Truths, Eight-fold Path, Enlightenment, Nepal).
- Explain the growth of the Mauryan Empire.
- Evaluate the achievements of the Emperor Asoka (Rock Edicts, promotion of trade and travel) and assess his contributions to the expansion of Buddhism (missionaries).
- Analyze how Buddhism spread in India, Sri Lanka, Central Asia, and East Asia.
- Explain the rise of the Gupta Empire and analyze the factors and achievements that contributed to the empire’s stability, economic prosperity and contributions to the world during its Golden Age (art, literature, mathematics, cotton textiles).
- Analyze the Gupta decline and the importance of Hun invasions to the empire’s disintegration.
Benchmark 3.3 The student understands how China became unified under the early imperial dynasties. (WHI.4)
3.3 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
- Assess the significance of the Zhou dynasty’s imperial rule including the dynastic cycle, divine rule, and the concept of the Mandate of Heaven.
- Describe the lives of Confucius and Laozi and compare the fundamental teachings of Confucianism (humans are good, respect for elders, filial piety, politeness, education and ancestor worship) and Taoism/Daoism (humility, simple life and inner peace, harmony with nature, yin/yang).
- Assess the policies and achievements of the emperor Qin Shi Huangdi in establishing a unified imperial realm during the Qin dynasty (Legalism, Great Wall).
- Analyze the political, social, and ideological contributions of the Han to the development of the imperial bureaucratic state and the expansion of the empire (civil service system).
- Evaluate the literary, artistic, philosophical, and technological achievements of the Han dynasty (silk, paper, porcelain).
- Analyze the commercial and cultural significance of the Silk Roads in the period of the Han and Roman empires.
- Analyze the reasons for the collapse of the Han empire.
Benchmark 3.4: The student understands the emergence of early Greek societies as well as their major cultural achievements. (WHI.5)
3.4 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
- Explain the influence of the Minoans, Myceneans, and Dorians in the Mediterranean Basin.
- Analyze the influence of geography on Greek economic, social, and political development (Aegean Sea, Greek peninsula, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Asia Minor, Dardenelles, limited arable land, shift from barter to coins, impact of mountainous terrain, city-states, Troy, Athens, Sparta, Macedonia).
- Analyze the factors that led the Greeks to found colonies (overpopulation, search for arable land) and their role in the import/export economy (spread of Hellenic culture through commerce).
- Describe the political, social, economic, and legal character of the polis in Greek city-states (free adult male citizens, civic participation, commercial life, women/foreigners/slaves had no political rights).
- Describe the stages in evolution of Athenian government (monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, democracy) including the reforms passed by the tyrants (Solon, Draco).
- Assess the importance of Athenian ideas about democracy and citizenship for the development of Western political thought and institutions.
- Compare Athenian democracy (direct democracy, public debate, civic duties) with the rigid militaristic oligarchy of Sparta.
- Explain hierarchical relationships within Greek society, including the civic, economic, and social tasks performed by men and women of different classes.
- Analyze the causes, events, and consequences of the Persian Wars 499 – 449 B.C. (unified the Greek city states, Marathon, Salamis).
- Describe the Golden age of Pericles (rebuilt Athens, constructed the Parthenon, extended democracy).
- Analyze the causes and consequences of the Peloponnesian Wars 431 – 404 B.C. (Delian and Peloponnesian Leagues, why Athens lost, slowing of cultural advance, weakening of political power, Macedonian conquest).
- Explain the leading ideas of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the contributions of Herodotus, Thucydides, Phidias, Hippocrates, Euclid, Pythagoras, and Archimedes.
- Assess how Greek religion and myths explained natural phenomenon, described human qualities, chronicled life events, and impacted Western culture (polytheism, Zeus, Hera, Athena, Artemus, Aphrodite, Apollo literature, art, monumental architecture, politics).
- Assess how Greek drama and literature reflected social values and attitudes (Homer, Iliad, Odyssey, Aeschylus, Sophocles).
- Identify the major characteristics of Hellenic architecture (Doric i.e. Parthenon, Ionic, Corinthian columns), sculpture, and vase painting and how these art forms expressed or influenced social values and attitudes.
Benchmark 3.5: The student understands that Hellenistic culture blends elements of Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian societies. (WHI.5)
3.5 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
- Analyze the rise of Macedonia and conquering of Greece under Philip II and explain the campaigns, the scope, and success of Alexander’s imperial conquests (empire from Greece through Egypt to India).
- Assess Alexander’s achievements as a military and political leader and analyze why the empire broke apart into successor kingdoms.
- Evaluate major achievements in Hellenistic art, philosophy, science, and political thought.
- Assess the Greek impact on Southwest Asia and Egypt and Hellenistic culture as the blending of Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian cultural traditions (oriental elements, spread through trade).
Benchmark 3.6: The student understands the causes and consequences of the unification of the Mediterranean basin under Roman rule. (WHI.6)
3.6 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
- Describe the influence of geography on, and the contributions of the Etruscans and the western Greek colonies to, the development of early Roman civilization (central location, Italian Peninsula, Alps and Mediterranean for protection from eastern powers, sea borne commerce).
- Analyze the causes, events, and consequences of the Punic Wars 264-146 B.C. (trade competition with Carthage, Hannibal, Roman victory, destruction of Carthage, expanded trade and wealth for Rome).
- Describe the major phases in the territorial and cultural expansion of Rome (Punic Wars, campaigns of Caesar, Africa, Asia, Gaul, the British Isles, Hellenistic world).
- Analyze how Roman unity contributed to the growth of trade among the lands of the Mediterranean Basin, Africa, India, and East Asia (Pax Romana, Silk Roads).
- Assess how Roman religion and myths explained natural phenomenon, described human qualities, chronicled life events, and impacted Western culture (Greek influence, polytheistic, Jupiter, Juno, Apollo, Diana, Venus, Minerva, literature, art, monumental architecture, politics).
- Describe the political and social institutions of the Roman Republic (including representative democracy, patricians, plebeians, foreign citizenship, Twelve Tables, Senate, assemblies, consul, veto, tribune, slavery) and rights and responsibilities of citizenship (taxes, military service).
- Analyze how Rome was transformed from a republic to an empire (spread of slavery, migration of farmers, unemployment, inflation, civil war, first triumvirate, Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Augustus Caesar).
- Assess the economic, social and political impact of Imperial Rome (expansion and solidification of Roman Empire particularly in the Near East, luxury goods, latifundia, rise of the mob) and the Pax Romana (imperial authority, uniform currency, safe roads, stable social classes, family emphasis, civil service, uniform law).
- Describe the origins, traditions, customs, beliefs, and spread of Christianity and explain the importance of Peter in the establishment of Rome as the center of the Roman Catholic Church (monotheism, Judaism, Jesus of Nazareth, Messiah, incarnation of God, life after death, New Testament, Apostles, Paul, persecution, church councils, Constantine, Edict of Milan).
- Identify the major contributions of Roman civilization (including Pantheon, Colosseum, Forum, roads, aqueducts, arches, public health, baths, water systems, medical schools, Latin, Romance languages, mythology, innocent until proven guilty, Ptolemy, Virgil’s Aeneid).
- Evaluate the conditions contributing to the gradual decline of the Roman Empire in the West (476 A.D.), including the first wave of Germanic migrations and invasions (lack of rules of succession, loyalty to the church over the Emperor, inflation, moral decay, undisciplined army, civil wars, weak administration, division of Empire, shift of capital by Constantine from Rome to Byzantium/Constantinople, invasion).
Benchmark 3.7 The student understands major global trends of the classical period. (WHI.6)
3.7 Performance Indicators
Students reach this benchmark when they are able to:
- Define the concept of “classical civilizations” and assess the enduring importance of ideas, institutions, and art forms that emerged in the classical period.
- Compare institutions of slavery or other forms of coerced labor in classical China, India, Greece, and Rome.
- Analyze ways in which trade networks contributed to the economic integration of large regions of Africa and Eurasia (Mediterranean Basin, Silk Roads).
- Compare family structure and gender roles in classical societies.
- Explain the significance of Greek/Hellenistic ideas and cultural styles in the history of the Mediterranean Basin, Europe, Southwest Asia, and India.
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- Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism arose during this period affecting the lives of people throughout the world.
- Great empires in China, Greece, India, Persia, and Rome made enduring contributions in the fields of law and government.
- Great cities served as centers of commerce and culture promoting the development of new ideas and philosophies.
- Great works of literature on human emotion, ethics, and fate were written during this period and are still read today.
- Classical civilizations of this age defined artistic and architectural styles that endured for many centuries and continue to influence our lives today.
- The development of important technologies such as iron, paper, block printing, the compass, porcelain, terraced farming, and concrete provided tools upon which future civilizations could develop.
- Canals, roads, sewers, piped water, irrigation, postal systems, universities, and hospitals improved living conditions for most people.
- The Indian caste system and the Chinese belief in filial piety reflected the ideals of each society and provided frameworks for social order.
- Systems of political order such as the Persian provincial system, Athenian democracy, the Chinese civil service, and Roman law helped to firmly establish bureaucratic institutions in societies.
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