Transcript Cycles of Civilization

Cycles of Civilization
Ancient Philosophy
Tribal Stage
• Indo-European
– Pastoralists
– Horse technology
Civilizations
• Mediterranean
– Minoan
– Greek
– Roman
• North European
– Medieval-North European agriculture
– Mercantile-trade over oceans
– Industrial
Mediterranean
• Ancient Mediterranean civilizations were
based on a specialized agricultural system
designed to conserve water.
• It involved the intermixing of crops and,
thus, was quite labor intensive.
• It was based on the cultivation of wheat,
olives, and grapes.
Minoan
• Pre-Palace Stage
• First Palace
• Second Palace
Greek
• Mycenean-Bronze Age
• Classical
– Polis
– High culture
• Hellenistic-Alexandrian Empire
ROME
• The Romans begin with small mutually
supportive groups, clan
• Military service and self-sufficient farms
became the basis for Roman society.
Rome
• The second stage, the contractual, expansive, or exploitative state
of risk-take individualists came with the Punic Wars, which began a
trend of rapid expansion and development.
• The subsistence economy changed into a market economy.
• As a result, the wealthy expelled the small farmers off their land and
created large estates for cultivating cash crops.
• In conjunction with this, slave labor developed using prisoners of
war. Rome's foreign wars made the senatorial landed aristocracy
rich.
• As a result of economic dislocation, a large portion of the population
of Rome became unemployed and dependent on the public dole.
Rome
• This led to the development of the third
stage that began with Julius Caesar in
which Roman society began to change
from one based on contract to one based
on command and hierarchy. Caesar
provided jobs for the unemployed and
public land for the poor.
Rome
• During the empire stage, more and more
interdependencies developed. This led to
the overtaxing of the colonies and the
heavy dependence upon force to generate
these taxes. This made the empire easy
prey to the barbarians and led to its
collapse.
Ancient Greece
• [In earlier days] Attica yielded far more
abundant produce. In comparison of what
then was, there are remaining only the
bones of the wasted body; all the richer
and softer parts of the soil having fallen
away, and the mere skeleton of the land
being left.
Ancient Greece
• But in the primitive state of the country, the
mountains were high hills covered with soil, and
plains were full of rich earth, and thee was
abundance of wood in the mountains. Of this last
traces still remain, for although some of the
mountains now only afford sustenance to bees,
not so very long ago there were still to be seen
roofs of timber cut from trees growing there,
which were of such a size sufficient to cover the
largest houses; and there were many other high
trees, cultivated by man and bearing abundance
of food for cattle.
Ancient Greek
Environmental Cycles
• Moreover, the land reaped the benefit of the
annual rainfall, not as now losing the water
which flows off the bare earth into the sea, but,
having an abundant supply in all places, and
receiving it into herself and treasuring it up in the
close clay soil, it let off into the hollows the
streams which it absorbed from the heights,
providing everywhere abundant fountains and
rivers, of which there may still be observed
sacred memorials in places where fountains
once existed; and this proves the truth of what I
am saying. (Plato)
Deforestation
• Energy needs
– Fuel
– Metallurgy-iron making
– Bricks
– Quicklime (cement)
– pottery
Deforestation
• It is estimated that each household
required 1-2 tons of wood per year
Consequences
• Soil erosion
• Overgrazing-goats
• Wildlife extinction
Athenian Empire
•
•
•
•
Based on tribute
Tribute from taxes
Taxes from agriculture
Intensive agriculture led to agricultural
decline
Current Trend
• In 1981 a committee of the Council on
Environment Quality concluded that "about
225 million acres of land in the US are
undergoing severe desertification - an
area roughly the size of the 13 original
states."
(Source: David Sheridan: Desertification
of the United States. Washington DC.
Superintendent of Documents, 1981)