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DOCUMENTING THE EVOLUTION OF THE WORLD

HISTORY
BOOK OF

YEAR BY YEAR
ANCIENT CIVILISATION TO MEDIEVAL TIMES

Ancient armour

Prehistoric tools

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Mapping the skies

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Heroes & Heroines

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Medieval weapons

Life of the Aztecs

Great leaders

Welcome to
Book of

HISTORY

YEAR BY YEAR
Understanding the events that have come before us and how they
have shaped the world we live in is a fascinating subject. So oen,
we focus on specific dates such as 1066, 1215, 1914 and 1945, but
theres so much more going back so much further that should
be recognised. In Volume 1 of this book, we take you from ancient
civilisations to medieval times, covering the origins of humanity
and ancient Egypt to the rise of the Roman empire and the
emergence of the Vikings. Displayed in an illustrative timeline
and packed with incredible details, facts and images, this is the
ideal learning tool for people of all ages, taking you on an exciting
journey through the history of the world.

Book of

HISTORY

YEAR BY YEAR
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All About History Book of History Year by Year Volume 1 2014 Imagine Publishing Ltd
ISBN 978 1910 439 296

Part of the

bookazine series

1 2 3 4
8MYA3000BCE

3000700BCE

700BCE599CE

6001449

008 HUMAN
010
ORIGINS

020 EARLY
022
CIVILIZATIONS
CIVILIZATIONS

040 THE
042
CLASSICAL AGE
AGE
CLASSICAL

104 TRADE &

106
INVENTION

Features
Features

Features
Features

Features
Features

Features
Features

012 Colonizing
Colonizing the
014
thePlanet
Planet

026 The
The Story
028
StoryofofWriting
Writing

046 Ancient
Ancient Greece
048
Greece

120 The
The Vikings
122
Vikings

018 Prehistoric
Prehistoric Peoples
020
Peoples

030 Ancient
Ancient Empires
032
Empires

052 The
The Story
054
Storyofof
Metalworking
Metalworking

132 The
The Islamic
134
IslamicWorld
World

036 Ancient
Ancient Egypt
038
Egypt

062 The
The Story
064
StoryofofMoney
Money

142 The
The Aztecs,
144
Aztecs,Incas,
Incas,
and Maya
and
Maya

072 The
The Rise
074
Riseofofthe
the
Roman Empire
Roman
Empire

152 The
The Story
154
StoryofofPrinting
Printing

082 Ancient
Ancient Rome
Rome
084
094 Classical
Classical Trade
Trade
096

CONTENTS
006-007_Contents_final.indd 6

03/06/2011 17:39

HUMAN
ORIGINS

8 3000
Our earliest ancestors lived in Africa almost eight million
years ago. Over seven million years later, we appeared and
developed the skills including sophisticated tool-making
and agriculture that allowed us to colonize the world.

84.5 MYA

4.52 MYA

1.81.6 MYA

2 1.8 MYA

Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania is a site of great archaeological significance and it is sometimes referred
to as the Cradle of Mankind. At least two species of early hominin are associated with this area.
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
HUMAN AND OTHER APES DNA

and blood proteins suggest that

our lineage separated from that
of the chimpanzees between
8 and 6 million years ago (MYA).
Only a few fossil specimens date
to this time: Sahelanthropus
tchadensis (76 MYA), Orrorin

and still lived partially in trees.

Their brains were about the size
of those of modern chimpanzees,
but some australopithecines seem
to have used tools. The earliest
stone tools come from Ethiopia
and date to 2.6 MYA , but bones
with cut marks made by stone
tools have been found associated
with Australopithecus afarensis
nearby, and date to 3.4 MYA. The
australopithecines descendants
followed two distinct modes of
life: members of the genus
Paranthropus had huge jaws
and big teeth for eating tough
vegetable foods; meanwhile, Homo
rudolfensis and H. habilis seem to
have eaten more protein, using
tools to get at the protein-rich
marrow inside long-bones by
scavenging from carnivore kills.

SEVERAL DIFFERENT
AUSTRALOPITHECINE species

lived in Africa between 4.2 and

2 MYA. Although they walked on
two legs most of the time, they
were rather small and ape-like

7 MYA

THE TIME
WHEN
THE FIRST
HUMAN
ANCESTOR
APPEARS
tugenensis (6.15 MYA), and
two species of Ardipithecus,
kadabba (5.85.2 MYA) and
ramidus (4.4 MYA). While all
of these species seem to
have walked on two legs
like us, it is not certain
whether any were actual
ancestors of humans.
Because species are
constantly evolving, and
individuals of those species
can vary, it is difficult to tell
from isolated and often poorly
preserved fossils which species
they should be assigned to, or how
these are related to one another.
However, these fossils do tell us
a great deal about what the last
common ancestor we shared
with chimpanzees was like.

n e
us
ini
op ate
m nze e
hr
Ho pa erg
nt re-d
a
A
l
m
v
Y
i
i
he y p ee
7 M d ch es d
Sa ma anz t to
A
p
an eag
MY
sis him ugh
n
6
lin
e
7 ad in/c s tho
h
i
n
c
i
t
t m
u
ht
ho lit, b prig
sp lk u
a
w

YA

YA

M
4M
s
.2
4 . e cu s
5 hecu ly
7
th ) is
i
.
t
b
i
i
5 ip
dip rdi e,
ss of
d
Ar (A -lik ly
Ar a, po iant us
e te
s
du ze ni ht
bb ar id
mi an efi ig
da a v am
r a imp ut d upr
ka nly A. r
o
b ks
ch
012-013_8mya-160000ya.indd 12 wal

10

ULTIMATELY, THE
PARANTHROPINES WAY OF LIFE

was unsuccessful and they became

extinct after about 1.2 MYA , while
their cousins Homo habilis and
H. rudolfensis survived. These
early Homo species were not very
different from australopithecines.
It was with Homo ergaster (1.8
MYA) that our ancestors started
to look much more familiar.
H. ergaster was tall and slender,
and may have been the first
hominin (a term used to describe
humans and their ancestors)
without much body hair. Their
brains were larger than those of
their ancestors, and they lost the
last of their adaptations to
tree-climbing to become fully
adapted to walking and running.

ACHEULEAN TOOL

TOOLS
Many animal species use natural objects as tools, but the
manufacture of stone tools is unique to hominins. The earliest are
simply sharp flakes broken off stone cobbles by striking them with
a hammerstone. These are known as Oldowan tools, after
Olduvai Gorge where they were first found. Later tools, such as
Acheulean handaxes, required more skill. Our manufacture of tools
might be one explanation for the evolution of the human brain.

t
us
ks
no
ec
s
ar on
ith rly
cu rain at of till
p
e
t m ols
h a b th ; s
st
lo ea d
t
u
i
a
c
a
o
lie
str rst tifie
2 alop has han ees s
st ne t iopi
ar e a,
u
1
e
.
fi
z
i
r
t
E
A
e
l
h
n
t
4 s sis er
n n
t
r
to
an e
YA
YA
he de
Ea by s a, E
sto Go
Au ren arg imp bs tr
6M
2 M us, t be i
YA
l
ik
d
2 . own rom
5
afa ch n ch clim
3 M uce Dik
f
.
3. ican in to
n
u er ly
s
k
3 od at
m d al
ia
ol
afr min
o
to hiop
pr nes
m bitu
ho
Et
bo
ha
A
MY

YA

6M
3. rints
tp nic
oo lca i in
f
o
n
l
ini in v aeto nia
m d
a
Ho rve at L anz
T
e
es ash
pr

,
y
uc s
L ecu 3
h
1
pit e;
8
f
3.1 tr alo , aliv les o t
s si s
a firs
u
m
f
A en fe

r
po
m
d
afa s an s for grou ssils
e
e
o

l
f
g
y
a
m ng a mil nsis
fa re
ryi
va
af a
A.
A
MY

Swanscombe
Mauer
Steinheim

Atapuerca
Tautavel 1.2 MYA
Ceprano
Isernia
la Pineta

EUROPE
Petralona

Dmanisi

Kocabas
Ubeidiya

1.7 MYA

PROBABLY
MORE THAN
1.8 MYA

AFRICA
Lake Turkana
Olduvai Gorge

Bodo
Konso-Gardula
Koobi Fora
Olorgesailie

NOT LONG AFTER THE

APPEARANCE of Homo ergaster,

OLDOWAN TOOL

Lucy
This unusually complete skeleton
of Australopithecus afarensis,
discovered in Kenya in 1974, was
named after the Beatles song
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.

Boxgrove

0.95 MYA

as
,
,h
an isei and
)
m
o
mo n
2 er
s b eth
1.
Ho yma
A
5 ck pu te
d ith
MY
n
2 . utra thro ing
a
.6
w
N r an rind aws
1 (h ed d
1.9 bil is ciat an nes
Pa ge g ful j
s
o
a
l
r
s
u
h as too d bo
h we
is ne rke
po
sto t-ma
cu
A
MY

YA

1M s
2 o p u t
r rs
h
fi
nt
r a us, e to
Pa ust pin red
b
ro thro ove
c
n
ra dis
pa be

mo
Ho uch
m
re
8
1. er is mo its
st and an rs
a
h
g
er aller er t esto
t nd nc
a
sle
A
MY

hominins expanded their range

beyond Africa for the first time.
A species called H. georgicus
appeared in Dmanisi in Georgia by
1.7 MYA . Another close relative of
Homo ergaster, Homo erectus,
lived in China and Indonesia
perhaps not long afterward.
Some archaeologists believe that
earlier groups of hominins may
also have left Africa, as some of
the skulls from Dmanisi and from
the much later site of Liang Bua
in Flores in Indonesia (currently
known as Homo floresiensis)
resemble those of Homo habilis
and Homo rudolfensis.
Living further north would have
required a different way of life
st
lie
ia
ar inin ras
E
m
A
Eu s),
o
MY
h
u
m
1.7 own fro rgic in
kn sils geo nisi
s
o
a
o
f om m
(H m D a
i
fro org
Ge

an
ule
he ear a
c
A pp rk
A
MY
s a ma step
65 xe y
1. nda ma cant man
ha they nifi n hu ence
sig rd i llig
wa inte
25/05/2011 16:50
for

1.60.35 MYA

350,000160,000 YA

,,

,,

ALL LIVING HUMANS DESCENDED

FROM COMMON ANCESTORS WHO LIVED
IN AFRICA LESS THAN 200,000 YEARS AGO.
Stephen Jay Gould, American palaeontologist, from I have Landed: the end of
a beginning in natural history, 2002

ACHEULEAN HANDAXES made by

1.61.3 MYA

ASIA

Zhoukoudian
Hexian

Lantian

Nanjing
Yunxian

Narmada

1.51 MYA

Homo ergaster and H. erectus were

produced across most of Africa
and Eurasia, and demonstrate the
ability to learn complex skills
from one another and pass them
down over generations. To make
these tools, knappers had to think
several steps ahead in order to
select a suitable stone and to
prepare and place each strike.
Handaxes were used for a wide
range of activities, including
butchery, but they might also have
been important for personal or
group identity, demonstrating
their makers strength and skill.

Trinil
Sangiran Mojokerto
Ngandong

KEY

Paranthropines
517 cubic cm
(32 cubic inches)

Less likely route

Hominins beyond Africa

Our earliest ancestors evolved in
Africa. Possible dispersal routes
from Africa are shown on this map,
with dates referring to the earliest
fossils known from each region.

ds
Fin us o as
A
t
MY
ec ted t but
1
r
o e a a,
d
65
1. Hom ava 5 my date
of m J s 1. y to mya
fro rly a ikel nd 1
ea re l rou
o
m m a
fro

n
ow
kn ina
st Ch en
e
i
in be s
rl
Ea acts ave ectu
f
YA
m
h
r
6 M arte t to o e s fro te
.
1
a
m il
h
ug y Ho oss tly d ya
o
th e b gh f ren .8 m
0
r
d
u
a
cu nly
m ltho n13
012-013_8mya-160000ya.indd
a gio to o
re

Homo heidelbergensis
1,204 cubic cm
(73 cubic inches)

Australopithecines
461 cubic cm
(28 cubic inches)

Site of fossil finds

More likely route

to life in the African savanna.

The climate was cooler and
environments were more
seasonal, with significant
variation in food resources
over the course of a year.
Fewer edible plants meant
that hominins would have had
to rely more on harder-to-find
and fiercely competed-for
animal protein for food. They
needed to move over greater
distances and work together to
share resources and information
to survive in these regions.

While Homo Erectus continued

to thrive in Asia, Homo antecessor
had appeared as far west as
northern Spain and Italy by 1.2 MYA.
Marks on their bones at the site of
Atapuerca in Spain suggest they
practised cannibalism. However,
these early colonists may not
have thrived in these unfamiliar
landscapes, as very few sites are
known. By 600,000 years ago,
a new hominin species, Homo
heidelbergensis, had spread
much more widely across Europe.
H. heidelbergensis seem to have
been good hunters, or at least
proficient scavengers.

Homo neanderthalensis
1,426 cubic cm
(87 cubic inches)

Homo habilis
Homo rudolfensis
648 cubic cm
(40 cubic inches)
Homo erectus
Homo ergaster
969 cubic cm
(59 cubic inches)

Homo sapiens
1,478 cubic cm
(90 cubic inches)

HOMININ BRAIN SIZES

Humans have a disproportionately large brain for a primate of
their size, but archaeologists disagree about how and why this
expansion happened. Switching to fatty and calorific foods such
as bone marrow and meat may have powered brain growth, and
also demanded more complex tools and effective hunting and
foraging skills. Social skills were also a part of this process, as
increasing group co-operation and pair-bonding were necessary
to sustain the longer periods of childhood that infants needed
for their larger brains to develop.

na
ka ost n
o
ur
T alm leto om ia
A
MY
an ske nt H an
1.5 y is ete sce Tanz
bo mpl dole om
co an a er fr
of gast
er

e
nc
ide in
Ev ites ay
s
m l
t
. 4 e a ut ra
of
1 fir a, b atu
ce o
an om r
1.5 of fric be n
r
a
H
hA
pe sso
ut
Ap ans ece
A
So
MY
pe ant
o
2
1. Eur
st
fir
A
MY

e t
st
Fir denc re a ov,
y
vi f fi aq
tic rit
e
9
o
e
Ya
ne la
l
0.7 liabl tro not
ag t po
m
n
n
re co r Be
s
re
rth cur
for she
Ea es
A
Ge ael
Y
m
8 M ssu
Isr
0.7 ld a
fie
A
MY

mo
Ho sis
en ad
e
g
6
r
tiv y
0. lbe spre
nc
d
sti tom e
ide ide
i
e
ne
a
p
D
h ww
A
de se
an uro
M Y al
ar in u
E
no
h
4
0. erth ross
e- rs
c
Fir pea
d
A
s
an s a
M Y en
4
Ne pear
0. ood
ap
w
A
MY

BY AROUND 350,000 YEARS AGO,

while Homo erectus continued to

hold sway over eastern Asia,
Homo heidelbergensis in Europe
and Western Asia had evolved into
Homo neanderthalensis.
Neanderthals were stockier and
stronger than modern humans,
and their brains were as large
or even larger, although shaped
slightly differently. Neanderthals
were almost certainly very
accomplished hunters. They were
also highly skilled at making
stone tools and heavy thrusting
spears with which they tackled
even large and dangerous animal
prey, such as horses and bison.
However, despite burying their
dead which may have indicated
ceremonial practices or belief in
an afterlife Neanderthals do not
seem to have created more than
the most limited art or used any
symbols, as all modern humans
do. Whether or not they spoke in a
similar way to modern humans is
also difficult to establish. Although
e
nc s
ide re
Ev d co
nt
ne
re e
3 epa ak po
.
0 pr o m om
of ed t le-c
us ltip
u
m ols
to
A
MY

Burying the dead

Neanderthals often disposed
of their dead with care. Some
were buried in graves, as here
at Kebara Cave in Israel, which
dates to 60,000 BCE.

their throat and voice box anatomy

suggests that a Neanderthal
language may have been limited
compared to that of humans, they
must have communicated in some
fashion, perhaps by combining a
less complex form of vocalization
with expressive miming.

200,000

THE NUMBER
OF YEARS THE
NEANDERTHAL
DOMINATED
EUROPE AND
WESTERN ASIA

t
d
ha
ise rek e
Inc Be ld b
A
u
M Y rom co
f
l
28
0. bble srae
I
e
,
p m rt
Ra st a
fir

e
YA
ag
7M ng ng
.12 als e unti
0

h
h
86 ert nal
0.1 and mu kills
Ne com ass
in d m
an

ns
n
ial
er
pie e
nd
od etal
sa som t
ro mon
M
o
h
l
s
e
in
bu
m s
YA
toc om an
for
sk ar o
Ho ll ha res, tive
3M
Mi st c um
A
ce ts
A
0. man ppe om s
MY
ku eatu tinc ith
lh
en en
M Y e la
a
i
H
l
s
6
u
d
s
w
2
a
i
s
;
m
h it
v
an en
0. s th of
0.1 altu ive f s dis tics ans
t e pig
tra fric erg
id imit are ris um
e i stor
irs ral
A lb
v
F
h
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e
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ce
pr sh act ern
ide
MY
na
an
25/05/2011 16:51
he
ar d
28 of
ch mo
0. se
u

11

MYA

3000

HUMAN ORIGINS

BCE

COLONIZING THE

PLANET

THE SPREAD OF MODERN HUMANS ACROSS THE WORLD

NORTH AMERICA

ASIA

H
Clovis

22,000
YEARS AGO

12,000
YEARS AGO

Meadowcroft

Buttermilk Creek
Cactus Hill

AT L A N T I C
OCEAN

T H
S O U

Homo sapiens colonization of the globe involved many stops, starts, and sometimes retreats, as well
as waves of different groups of people in some areas. Homo sapiens may have moved into Eurasia
rasia
via the Mediterranean coast of western Asia, spreading
preading into Western Europe by 35,000 years ago
go
(YA
eople may also have taken a southern route
Y ). Archaeological evidence suggests that people
across Arabia into southern Asia. There may also
lso have been movement eastward, perhaps
much earlier, as stone tools have been found in India from 77,000 YA
Y and Malaysia from
70,000 YYA
A. Some possible Homo sapiens finds from southern China are dated to 68,000 Y
YA
A
(Liujiang), and even 100,000 YA
Y (Zhirendong). However, these finds remain controversial, and
most scholars favour later dates here. In Australia,
stralia, widespread colonization probably did
not occur until 45,000 YA
ave been dated to as early as 60,000 YA
Y , though some sites have
Y .
Further north, Homo sapiens first spread across
cross northern Eurasia around 35,000YA
Y .
However, they may have retreated during the last
ast Ice Age, and not re-colonized the
region until after 14,00013,000 YA
Y . Genetically, the North American colonists are likely
to have originated in East Asia. They probably travelled
ravelled across the plain of Beringia
now beneath the Bering Straits between Siberia
iberia and Alaska, but exposed by low sea
levels at the height of the last Ice Age. Distinctive
istinctive Clovis spear points (flaked on both
sides) are found across North America around 12,000 YA
Y , so modern humans were
widespread at that point, but earlier sites are also known, including South American
sites such as Monte Verde (15,50015,000 YA
Y ).

Skeletal and DNA evidence suggests that our species, Homo sapiens,
sapiens, evolved
in Africa and then spread across the globe. The first traces of modern
humans beyond Africa come from fossils in Israel and possibly from stone
tools found in Arabia. They date to before 100,000 years ago.

PA C I F I C
OCEAN
Philippine
Islands
2500 BCE

3000 BCE

Pedra
Furada

Hawaiian
Islands
500 BCE 1 CE

500 BCE
Borneo

New
Guinea

1500 BCE

4001200 CE

A
I C

Samoan
Islands

1400750 BCE
Fiji

AUSTRALIA
1250 CE
NEW
ZEALAND

LAT
AT
VA
A E ARRIVA
V LS
The islands of Oceania were some of the last parts of the
globe to be colonized, via the Philippines, by
Austronesian-speaking early farmers from Taiwan. The
more remote northern and eastern islands of Micronesia
and Polynesia remained uninhabited until after 700 CE,
and New Zealand was populated as late as 1250 CE.

12

PA C I F I C
OCEAN

Tracking language
The spread of languages can
often be tracked to reflect the
movement of people. This map
shows the spread of Austronesian
speakers across Oceania. Earlier
settlers were already present in
some western areas.

Monte Verde

15,00011,000
YEARS AGO

13,000 YEARS AGO

Bering Straits

C O LO N I Z I N G T H E P L A N E T

14,000 YEARS AGO

Swan Point

Ushki Lake

Bluefish Caves
Tuluaq Hill
(SluicewayTuluaq complex)

KEY
General direction
of Homo sapiens
around the world

Berelekh
Yana
Ust-Mil

Site of early
Homo sapiens

Diuktai

35,000
YEARS AGO

Kara-Bom

31,000 YEARS AGO

45,000 YEARS AGO

Istllsk
Pestera cu Oase

77,00045,000 YEARS AGO Liujiang

Uagizli Magara
Ksar Akil
Qafzeh

Zhirendong

OC

Bacho
Kiro
Temnata
Cave
Skhul

Cova Beneito

Jebel Irhoud

Yamashita-Cho

Kostienki

FI

40,000

El Pendo YEARS AGO

Abrc Roman

CI

Gorham's Cave

Le Piage
Riparo Mochi

O P

32,000
YEARS AGO

PA

Arcy-sur-Cure
Saint Csaire
El Castillo
Cueva Morn
Gato Preto

E U R

Trou Magrite
Hhlenstein-Stadel
Vindija Cave
Korolevo I

Paviland Cave
Kent's Cavern

Tianyuan

42,000
YEARS AGO

EA

100,000
YEARS AGO

Jebel Faya

Matenkupkum, Balof 2,
and Panakiwuk

Jwalapuram

C A

Niah Caves

Kota Tampan

160,000 YEARS AGO

Herto

Huon Peninsula

INDIAN
OCEAN

Omo Kibish

1.7 MYA Temperate grassland,

mediterranean shrubland

Malakunanja
Nawalabila I
Riwi and
Carpenter's Gap
Ngarrabulgan

TIME

Puritjarra

40,000 YA

Going global
Skeletal and genetic evidence suggests that modern humans
originated in Africa, and spread across the globe from there,
as reflected on this map. This is called the Out of Africa
theory. An alternative multiregional theory suggests that
Homo sapiens evolved simultaneously in many different parts
of the world, from ancestors who had left Africa much earlier.

Changing environments
The ancient ancestors of modern humans
evolved in the African tropics. Over time, as
human species evolved larger brains and
developed more advanced skills and behaviour,
they became better equipped to deal with the
challenges of new environments.

A
R

Upper Swan
Devil's
Lair

Allen's Cave

dry broadleaf forest, savanna

Cuddie
Springs

7 MYA Tropical and subtropical

Lake Mungo

Klasies
River Mouth

Blombos Cave

45,000
YEARS AGO

Temperate forest,
boreal forest, tundra

Kow Swamp
Willandra Lakes

13

160,00045,000 YA

35,00028,000 YA

45,00035,000 YA

These cave paintings from Lascaux in France date to around 17,000 years ago. Most cave paintings are from a similar
period, though some were created by the earliest Homo sapiens to arrive in western Europe, around 32,000 years ago.
HUMANS SPREAD RAPIDLY

gradually began to reveal the

characteristic skeletal traits of
Homo sapiens from around
400,000 YA: smaller brow ridges,
higher and rounder skulls, and
chins. DNA analysis of living
humans suggests that the
common ancestors of all living
humans (known as Mitochondrial
Eve) lived in Africa around
200,000 YA. An Ethiopian fossil

250,000

YEARS AGO

WHEN HOMO
SAPIENS FIRST
APPEARED
skull from 160,000 YA is almost
modern in shape; this has been
identified as a subspecies of
modern humans, Homo sapiens
idaltu. Humans moved north into
Western Asia some time before
100,000 YA, but they do not seem
to have stayed there for long.
It is debated whether uniquely
human behaviours such as
language and the ability to use
symbols evolved before or after
modern human anatomy. One
theory is that such behaviours
became vital only after 74,000 YA,
when the massive eruption of
Mount Toba in Indonesia triggered
a global volcanic winter. DNA
analysis suggests that many
human groups died out at this
d
YA
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Prepared core and flake

Neanderthals and other hominins
prepared a stone core before
striking off a sharp flake to use.
In Europe this technology is
known as the Mousterian.

time and, in such harsh conditions,

complex modern language and
symbolism would have allowed
groups to exchange resources
and information with one
another, which could have made
the difference between survival
and extinction. However, others
argue that the impact of the
eruption of Mount Toba has been
exaggerated, and that achaeology
in Africa suggests complex hunting
practices and the development of
symbolism even before this.
It is not clear when modern
humans first spread into Eurasia.
Some researchers argue they left
Arabia before 74,000 YA. Others
say the major migration occurred
later, 50,000 YA, and via western
Asia, after developing a new form
of stone-tool technology that
involved producing long, thin flint
blades, which probably formed
part of composite tools.

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across Europe and Asia. In

Europe, modern humans
appeared in Turkey from 40,000 YA,
and in western Europe shortly
afterwards. In Asia, fossils of
Homo sapiens in Indonesia and
China date to at least 42,000 YA,
and the sea crossing to Australia
occurred before 45,000 YA. These
dates suggest that the earliest
modern humans in Asia may
have encountered groups of
Homo erectus, who survived in
China until at least 40,000 years
ago. In Indonesia the picture
was even more complicated.
Fossils found on the island of

Flores date to less than 38,000

years ago, and seem to represent
specialized, extremely small
forms of Homo erectus, or
perhaps even the descendants
of earlier hominins. More
evidence comes from Denisova
Cave in Russia DNA analysis
of bones found here reveals
genetic material distinct from
that of both modern humans and
Neanderthals, dated to around
40,000 YA. It seems increasingly
likely that several groups
descended from hominins who
left Africa before Homo sapiens
may have coexisted in Eurasia
at this time.

,,

IN AFRICA, HOMININ FOSSILS

THE
NEANDERTHALS
WERE NOT
APE-MEN
THEY WERE
AS HUMAN AS
US, BUT THEY
REPRESENTED
A DIFFERENT
BRAND OF
HUMANITY.

,,

Chris Stringer and Clive Gamble, from

In Search of the Neanderthals, 1993

IN EUROPE, MODERN HUMANS

HOMO SAPIENS

NEANDERTHAL

MODERN HUMANS AND NEANDERTHALS

Neanderthal skulls (right) were about the same size as
anatomically modern human skulls (left), but they had lower,
more sloping foreheads and a double arch of bone over their
eyes that created heavy brow ridges. Their lower faces jutted
out and they did not have chins. Overall, Neanderthal skeletons
reveal that they were much more muscular than modern humans,
as well as being extremely physically active and well-adapted
to cold climates.

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overlapped with Neanderthals,

who survived until at least 30,000
years ago. How and why
Neanderthals died out is one of
the most intensely debated topics
in archaeology. There is little
evidence of violent interactions
between the species, and
comparison of DNA increasingly
suggests that there may have
been some exchange of mating
partners between the groups.
Early humans may have
outcompeted their relatives for
food and raw materials in the
rapidly changing environmental
conditions. Environments at the
time were highly unstable, so
even a slight increase in
competition could have been
significant. However, populations
were small and spread out, and
co-existed for up to 10,000 years
in Europe, and more than 30,000

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Ho

06/05/11 5:05 PM

28,00021,000 YA

in Indonesia. Alternatively, the

exchange of resources and
information allowed by modern
humans language and symbol
use, and their planned and
flexible technologies made
Homo sapiens better able to
withstand climatic downturns
than Neanderthals.
Others believe that these
behaviours were not unique to
modern humans. Hominins
would have needed to use rafts
or boats to reach the island of
Flores in Indonesia by 800,000 YA .
Some late Neanderthal sites
also contain elements of
technologies normally associated
with Homo sapiens, although it is
possible that Neanderthals may
have copied, traded with, or even
stolen from modern humans.
A combination of environmental
unrest and increased competition
is currently considered to be the
most likely explanation for
Neanderthal extinction.

E U RO PE
AT L A N T I C
OCEAN

Me

dit

er

ra

ne

an

KEY
KEY

Se

Neanderthal sites
Modern human sites

Neanderthal and human ranges

Modern humans and Neanderthals
co-existed for several thousand
years. Sites appear to show evidence
for interaction between the groups.

ve
ca
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uv e
a
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00 ngs
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21,00018,000 YA

ATL ANTIC
OCEAN
PACIFIC
OCEAN
INDIAN
OCE AN

THE MAXIMUM EXTENT OF THE LAST ICE AGE

European climates after 23,000 BCE grew steadily cooler, and
during the Last Glacial Maximum (21,00018,000 YA) ice-caps
covered most of northern Europe. Further south huge areas of
grassland with few trees offered good hunting for groups of
humans able to survive the cold.
THE GRAVETTIAN CULTURE OF

Europe and Russia (28,000

21,000 YA) is known for its
elaborate sites, which often have
complex structures and burials,
as well as large amounts of shell
jewellery, and sculpted bone and
antler. Also found at Gravettian
sites are some of the earliest
known clay objects, including some
of the famous Venus figurines.
These may have been fertility or
religious charms, or part of a
system of exchange between
social networks across the region
as the Ice Age intensified.
Venus statuette
This figurine
from Willendorf
in Austria depicts
a stylized pregnant
or obese female
figure.

exaggerated
belly

r
re
00
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27 mpl -ga e
r
o
C nte n th ains
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hu es o n p
sit ssia
u
R

Maximum, when the ice caps

were at their maximum extent,
people living in more northerly
and mountainous areas retreated
to refuge areas such as in
Europe northern Spain and
southwest France, where this
period is known as the Solutrean.
Globally, many groups probably
died out, but some held on in
more sheltered regions. To survive
the harsh conditions, much time
and effort was invested in hunting.
Weapons include beautifully
worked points known as leafpoints. Although little evidence
survives beyond finely worked
bone needles, people probably
developed sophisticated clothing
to keep them warm. Perhaps
more importantly, hunters
would have worked hard to
predict and intercept the
movements of herds of large
animals, ensuring the
hunting success that was
the difference between life
and death.

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So olog ear
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AT THE HEIGHT OF THE GLACIAL

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21 acia
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18,00012,000 YA

IN EUROPE, SOPHISTICATED BONE

and antler points, needles, and

harpoons characterize the
Magdalenian technologies that
were used to hunt a wide range of
species, especially reindeer.
The Magdalenian (18,000
12,000 YA) is famous for its
beautiful art objects, engravings,
and cave paintings. There are many
theories about what these mean
and why they were produced. As
most depict animals that were
hunted, the paintings may
represent a magical means of
ensuring hunting success, or
show information about the best
ways to hunt different species.
Paintings of imaginary half-human,
half-animal creatures and the
inaccessibility of some cave art
suggests that painting may have
been a magical or ritual activity,
perhaps practised by shamans
or during initiation or religious
ceremonies. Alternatively paintings

and art objects may have helped

establish group identities and
territories, as the number of
archaeological sites in this period
suggests that populations were
growing, and competition for rich
and localized resources may have
been intensifying.
A rise in temperature led to the
retreat of the ice sheets that had
covered northern Europe, and
these areas were rapidly
recolonized, with groups
expanding as far north as Siberia
by around 14,00013,000 YA. Some
groups later moved on into Alaska
and the Americas. Further east in
China and in the Jomon culture of
Japan, some of the first pots
manufactured from clay appeared
between 18,000 and 15,000 YA.
Altamira cave paintings
This Paleolithic cave painting
of bison was discovered at the
Altamira cave site in Spain.

Y
00 of of
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15 ing tion ern d
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av
16 ginn niza rth one tic
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YA
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15

10,0003000 BCE

Megalithic (large stone) architecture was used for monumental tombs in Neolithic Europe. Developments around
3300 BCE included the construction of stone circles, such as this example at Castlerigg in northern England.
67006400BCE
75006700BCE
85007500BCE
96008500BCE
13,0009600BCE

Population density
The population in western Asia grew
rapidly from 13,000 to 6400 BCE.
AS STEEPLY RISING TEMPERATURES

between 12,700 and 10,800 BCE

melted the northern ice sheets,
global sea-levels rose, lakes
formed, and rainfall increased,
promoting the
spread of forests
and grasslands
and providing new
opportunities for
hunter-gatherer
communities.
Coastal areas
drowned by rising sea levels were
rich sources of aquatic foods, as
were lakes and rivers. Grasslands
sustained large herds of animals,
while forest margins provided
abundant plant foods and game.
Most hunter-gatherers moved
seasonally to exploit the
resources of different areas, but
particularly favoured places such
as river estuaries could support
people year round. One such
region was coastal Peru and Chile,
where the cold Humboldt current
provides especially rich fisheries.

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CE

16

Settled communities lived here

by 7000 BCE, including the
Chinchorro who created the
worlds first mummies (see
panel, opposite).
Another area with
favourable conditions was
West Asia. Here,
vegetation included wild
cereals that could be
stored, sustaining
communities throughout the
year when
supplemented
by other wild
foods such as
gazelle. A period
of cold, arid
conditions from
10,800 to 9600 BCE
led to a steep

productivity. Farming was

therefore a choice that people
made, increasing local
productivity, often at the cost of
increasing work and risk. Their
reasons for farming may have
included extending their period of
residence in a settled village,
providing extra food for feasting or
to support a growing population,
and boosting the supply of
preferred or declining foodstuffs.
Cereals were common staples of
early agriculture. Wheat and barley
were domesticated in West Asia,
spreading into North Africa,
Europe, and Central and South
Asia. Broomcorn and foxtail millet

decline in the availability of wild

cereals. This prompted some West
Asian villagers to turn to
cultivation, planting cereals.
Agriculture began in many
parts of the world at different
times, using local resources.
Domesticated plants and animals
spread by trade between
neighbouring groups and when
farming communities colonized
new areas. Agriculture was not a
discovery: hunter-gatherers had a
deep knowledge of the plants and
animals on which they depended,
and often took actions to increase

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E

Lepinski Vir "fish god"

Abundant fish supported a settled
hunter-gatherer village on the
Danube in Serbia. Its inhabitants
carved fish-human sculptures,
probably representing gods.

meat. However, in the Americas

only the Andes had animals
suitable for domestication:
guineapigs, llamas, and alpacas.
Birds, particularly chickens,

holes bored
into skull

t
als
es
rli nim
Ea ed a
E
BC
at
00 tic
90 mes sia
A
o
d st
We

BC

were domesticated in the Yellow

River valley and rice in the Yangzi
valley in China, from where they
spread through East and Southeast
Asia. In Africa, other millets and
African rice were domesticated
after 3000 BCE. In the Americas,
maize was the principal cereal.
However, although it was cultivated
by 6000 BCE, it was not until
2000 BCE that maize was
sufficiently productive to support
permanently settled villages.
Pulses and vegetables were
grown alongside cereals in many
parts of the world.
Tubers, such as manioc and
yams, and treecrops were
cultivated in moist tropical
regions, beginning at an early date
in the New Guinea highlands and
the rainforests of Central America
and northern South America.
Domestic sheep, goats, pigs,
and cattle were raised across
Eurasia and Africa, initially just for

bone and antler

lightened by
scraping

Star Carr deer cap

This skull-cap from a huntergatherer site in England may have
been used in hunting rituals.

in

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,,

THE NEOLITHIC WAS A POINT

IN A CONTINUOUS STORY OF
GREATER ECONOMIC CONTROL
OVER RESOURCES... FROM
SCAVENGING TO... FARMING.

ducks, and turkeys, were also kept

by Old and New World farmers. By
5000 BCE cattle, sheep, and goats
were raised for milk as well as
meat, while cattle were used to
pull ploughs, enabling people to
cultivate much larger areas.
Wool-bearing sheep were bred in
West Asia in the 4th millennium
BCE, and rapidly spread into
Europe and Central Asia. The use
of pack animals such as llamas
and donkeys allowed longdistance transport.
Agriculture was more productive
than foraging and could support
larger communities. Settled life
also encouraged population
growth. Many early farming
villages in West Asia grew to a
considerable size. Most
remarkable was atalhyk in
Turkey, occupied around 7400
6200 BCE, which housed as many
as 8,000 people. Its tightly packed
houses were entered from the
roof by ladders, and were

Clive Gamble, from Origins and revolutions: human identity in earliest

prehistory, 2007

decorated with paintings and

modelled animal heads.
After 7000 BCE farmers spread
from Turkey into southeast and
central Europe, while
Mediterranean hunter-gatherers
gradually turned to agriculture,
using imported West Asian crops
and animals. By 3500 BCE most of
Europe had adopted farming.
Megaliths stone chambered
tombs of which a wide variety were
built, often with earthen mounds
were constructed in western and
northern Europe from the early 5th
millennium BCE. Most housed the

ASIA

NORTH
AMERICA

EUROPE

2500 BCE
4500 BCE

,,

9000 BCE

8000 BCE

7000 BCE

7000 BCE 8000 BCE

9000 BCE
6500 BCE 6000 BCE
6500 BCE

2500 BCE

6000 BCE
7000 BCE
6000 BCE
5000 BCE

4000 BCE

AFRICA

SOUTH
AMERICA

KEY
Livestock

KEY

7000 BCE
AUSTRALASIA

Cereals

Livestock

Other

Cereals

Areas with agriculture

Other

The spread of agriculture

Areas with agriculture
Humans began to cultivate plants and manage animals independently,
in different areas at different times, across the world.

in
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bones of a number of individuals.

Native (naturally occurring pure)
copper and gold were being
shaped into small objects by cold
hammering before 8000 BCE in
West Asia. Around 7000 BCE, ores
were smelted here to extract
metal and by 6000 BCE copper and
lead were also cast. Metals were
initially made into small personal
objects that could enhance
prestige and status. Later,
however, copper began to be used
for tools, and by 4200 BCE copper
ores containing arsenic were
deliberately selected to produce a
harder metal. The addition of tin
created a stronger alloy, bronze,
which was in use in West Asia
by 3200 BCE.
The development of watercontrol techniques enabled West
Asian farmers to colonize the
southern Mesopotamian plains,
where agriculture depended
entirely on irrigation but was
highly productive. By the mid 4th
millennium BCE, this region was
densely populated, and villages
were developing into towns, with
craft specialists. There was a
growing demand for raw
materials, including metal
ores, which often came from

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CE

CHINCHORRO MUMMIES
The earliest mummies come
not from Egypt, but from
coastal northern Chile, an
arid region where natural
mummies occur from
7000 BCE. After 5000 BCE the
Chinchorro began artificial
mummification. They removed
the flesh, reassembled and
reinforced the skeleton, stuffed
the skin with plant material,
coated it in clay, and painted
it with black manganese or
red ochre. Only some
individuals, particularly
children, were mummified.
distant sources. A trading
network developed that
stretched from Egypt through
West Asia to the mountainous
borderlands of South Asia, with
towns controlling sources of
materials and strategic points
along the routes. Sumer
(southern Mesopotamia) was at
the forefront of this development,
but social, religious, economic,
Copper axe heads
Gold and copper were the
first metals to be worked.
They became widespread
in Europe around
2500 BCE.

d,
ice he
t-r loug s in
e
W in p eld
E
BC
n y fi
00 tio dd
40 ltiva d pa ins
u
e
c od beg
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Ch

and political complexity was also

emerging in Elam (southwest
Iran) and Egypt. All three regions
developed writing systems
before 3000 BCE, which they used
to record and manage economic
transactions and the ownership
of property. The earliest known
pictographic writing, around
3300 BCE, comes from Uruk in
Sumer, a huge and complex
settlement that is deservedly
known as the worlds first city.

ls t
ea es
p s in W e
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St use trat oses
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(ea stem pla
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BC
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BC
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32
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17

MYA 3 0 0 0 BCE

colourful
geometric
design

HUMAN ORIGINS

minerals define
facial features

hole for
cord

reed
framework
coated in
thick plaster

geometric,
abstract
pattern

finely detailed
engraving

Pottery shard

Schist plaque

Human figurine

4000 BCE ROMANIA

Different cultures can be identified
by their unique ways of decorating
objects this shard is typical of the
Cucuteni-Tripolye culture.

4000 BCE PORTUGAL

It is unclear what Neolithic engraved
plaques, like this one from Alentejo,
symbolized, but they seem to have
been made for burial with the dead.

67506500 BCE JORDAN

This large statue from Ain Ghazal
is one of several from sites in
the Near East that may have
represented ancestors or gods.

Engraved bone

13,0008000 BCE FRANCE

Paleolithic artists often carved as well
as painted their depictions of animals,
as with this scene of a bison being
chased, from Laugerie-Basse.

PREHISTORIC PEOPLES
EARLY HUMANS ARE DEFINED BY THE RAW MATERIALS THEY USED TO FASHION TOOLS, WEAPONS, AND ORNAMENTS

Prehistory is traditionally divided into the Stone, Bronze,

and Iron ages, but many other kinds of raw materials
such as wood, hide, and plant fibres were also used in
early technologies. Little evidence of these survives.

carefully
sharpened tip

leather or
sinew binding

As well as being functional aids to survival and subsistence, the objects

made by prehistoric peoples would also have been important in their social
lives. Different groups develop their own ways of manufacturing and
decorating objects, and distinctive designs may become badges of identity
or status symbols. The trade and exchange of objects is another vital way in
which individuals and groups establish social relationships and hierarchies.
scars where
blades chipped
from core

carved antler
setting

flint head
set into
wooden
sleeve

long, thin
blade

remains of
flaked cobble

Oldowan tool

2.61.7 MYA AFRICA

The earliest stone tools were
simple, sharp-edged flakes of
stone, made by striking a stone
cobble with a hard hammerstone.

reproduced
wooden handle

Blades and core

100,000 BCE ONWARDS WIDESPREAD

Early modern humans produced uniform,
narrow blades that would have been fitted
to wooden and antler handles or held in the
hand, as tools for many different purposes.
thick base is
easy to hold

Antler harpoon

8000 BCE UK
This harpoon head is attached to a long
handle for spearing fish a key source of food
when sea levels rose as the last Ice Age ended.

Flint hand-axe
barbed head made
from antler

200,000 BCE UK
Hand-axes, such as this one from
Swanscombe, were skilfully made
and used for a wide range of activities,
including woodworking and butchery.

Digging tools with adze heads

11,6604000 BCE EUROPE

These Mesolithic adzes were used
for digging up edible roots or cutting
wood in the forests that spread across
Europe after the last Ice Age ended.

20

18

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20

20/05/2011 14:33
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10:04

P R E H I S TO R I C P E O P L E S

Clay burial chest

4000 BCE NEAR EAST

One Chalcolithic (copper age)
burial practice involved leaving
the dead out to decay, then
collecting the bones and placing
them in clay chests like this one.

excavation
damage

Carved spear-thrower

10,500 BCE FRANCE

Spear-throwers, such as this one from
Montastruc, were often carved into animal
shapes here, a woolly mammoth made
from antler. They enabled hunters to throw
spears further and with greater force.

exaggerated
features

Lespugue Venus

Neolithic flint blade

set in reproduction
handle

24,00022,000 BCE FRANCE

This ivory figurine from Lespugue in
the Pyrenees is one of many Venus
figurines depicting women who are
pregnant or obese, or whose female
features are greatly exaggerated.

Mummified head

70003000 BCE PERU

In very dry climates, bodies can
become mummified. Some of
the earliest mummies have
been found in Peruvian deserts.

Bronze Age
sickle

Gold jewellery

gold easily worked

into decorative
animal shapes

47004200 BCE BULGARIA

At the cemetery of Varna in
Bulgaria, more than 3,000
pieces of some of the earliest
gold jewellery have been found,
mainly buried with elite males.

loom
weight
bone
shuttle
soft clay was baked
to preserve design

iron sickle blade

Agricultural tools

9500 BCE1834 CE WIDESPREAD

First wild and later domesticated
cereals were harvested using
sickles like these, until they were
superseded in most places by the
invention of the combine harvester.

Neolithic seal

75005700 BCE ANATOLIA

Seals such as this one
from the settlement of
atal Hyk were used
during the Neolithic to
stamp decorative designs
on to skin or cloth.

Cloth-making tools

6500 BCE ORIGIN UNKNOWN

From the mid-Neolithic, weaving
became common. Loom weights
held vertical threads taut; bone
shuttles were used to weave
horizontal threads in and out.

21
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19

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EARLY
CIVILIZATIONS
3000700

This period saw the emergence of complex civilizations.

Communities flourished and trade developed in the fertile
valleys of Egypt, India, western Asia, and China. Europe, and
Central and South America also flourished during this time.

30002700 BCE

Stonehenge in western Britain was a ceremonial site from around 3100 BCE . An early earth enclosure
and a circle of wooden posts was later replaced by the outer circle of stones seen here.

50

DURING THE LAST HALF OF THE

FOURTH MILLENNIUM BCE, the

au

ru

t
un

e
Se rra
a ne

Me

ain

smiths began manufacturing

bronze. The plough had been in
use since about 5000 BCE, wheeled
carts from around 3500 BCE, and
such advances made farming
more productive. The resulting
food surplus freed some people
from the farming life, allowing
specialization into professions
such as priesthood, crafts, trade,
and administration. The worlds
first tiered society developed,
headed by kings sometimes
known as lugals.
In Egypt, one of the worlds most
complex ancient civilizations
was forming along the banks of
the River Nile by 3100 BCE. The
Nile formed a narrow strip of
cultivatable land, floodplain, as the

es

op

Zagr

ota

m i a Nippur

Uruk

BC

BC
d
00 rio al y
26 s pe gion alle

0 du re s V
0
2
d
n
u
c.3 rly I s an Ind
Ea own s in
e
t
ltur
cu

os M
oun
ta

ins

Persian
Gulf

KEY
Extent of Early Dynastic
city-states
Ancient coastline

90
28 y
0 ast
0
n
1 y
c
c.3 st d pt.
sti
Fir Egy yna ins
D
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Ea riod 686 B
e
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(to

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0 B de
00 un ern 200 )
c.3 Age est (c.3 BCE
w
0
20
c.1

Ur

Eridu

Arabian Peninsula

Ancient cities of Mesopotamia

Sumer in southern Mesopotamia was the
location of the worlds first urban civilization
from c.2900 BCE as agricultural success
led to a complex society.

22

E la m

Umma
Kish
Shuruppak Lagash

Syrian
Desert

t
di

THE POPULATION
OF THE CITY OF
URUK c.2800BCE

Tigris

Euphrate
s

an

worlds first civilizations arose,

first in Western Asia, then North
Africa and South Asia. Civilization
also appeared in China in the
early second millennium BCE. By
3000 BCE, the worlds first urban
culture had begun to develop in
southern Mesopotamia, in what
is now Iraq. The lower Euphrates
River plains had been farmed
from c.6200 BCE, after the
development of irrigation
systems the Greek word
mesopotamia means land
between the rivers. By 3500 BCE,
farming communities were
growing into towns and then
cities such as Ur, Uruk, and
Eridu. Over the next 300 years,
each city came to dominate its
surrounding area, forming a
group of city-states in the land
called Sumer in southeast
Mesopotamia.
Metalworking had begun in
Mesopotamia around 6000 BCE.
Around 3200 BCE, Sumerian

THOUSAND

rivers annual flood (known as the

inundation) spread black silt along
its banks. The Egyptian farming
year began in autumn when the
inundation subsided, and farmers
cultivated wheat, barley, beans,
and lentils in the fertile soil.
By the end of the 4th
millenniumBCE, farming
communities had evolved into
two kingdoms: Upper Egypt in
the south and Lower Egypt in
the north. King Narmer united
the two kingdoms c.3100 BCE.
After Narmer came Menes,
although historians are
unsure whether Menes was
Narmers successor
or a different name for
Narmer himself. Menes
is credited with founding
the Egyptian capital at
Memphis and Egypts
first dynasty.
As in Mesopotamia,
efficient agriculture
produced prosperity and
specialism, allowing arts,
crafts, engineering, and
early medicine to develop.
Narmer Palette
This carved piece of green siltstone
records the triumph of the legendary
King Narmer of Upper Egypt over
his enemies.

re
E
ltu hina
BC
cu
00 an in C BCE)
0
h
c.3 ngs ping 000
Lo velo c.3
e
d 3200
(c.

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BC

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rly am Ur u fl um
Ea opot as Erid in S
s uch
e
s
M

The Early Dynastic Period

(c.31002686 BCE) was already
characterized by many of the
celebrated aspects of Egyptian
culture: hieroglyphic writing, a
sophisticated religion (including
belief in an afterlife), and
preserving the dead using
mummification. A complex
hierarchical society developed,
with the king at the apex
accorded semi-divine status.
Egyptian kings later known as
pharaohs ruled with the help of
a chief minister, or vizier, regional
governors (nomarchs), and a
huge staff of lesser officials
including priests, tax collectors,
and scribes.
In China, civilization originated
in the valleys of eastern rivers
such as the Huang He (Yellow
River), where the rich loess soil

s
ne ypt rn)
Me Eg the t
ng ited sou gyp
i
K n r(
)E
CE
u e
0 B r a pp ern
00 ove of U rth
3
c. les up
(no
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m d Lo
an

CE

B
00 w
25 gro ,
0 ers inoa s
0
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c.3 far nd q lpac as
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ea oes ise llam
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p an

of
wn n
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C
i
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0 B ivil Cr
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c.3 noa
Mi

made the land fertile. As early

as 8000 BCE, millet had been
cultivated in the area around
Yangshao in Henan Province.
Around c.2400 BCE, the
neighbouring Dawenkou culture
developed into the Longshan
culture of Shangdong Province.
Longshan farmers grew rice
after developing irrigation
systems. As in other early
civilizations, agricultural success
allowed the development of an
elaborate society. Chinese
craftsmen were making bronze
tools c.3000 BCE, jade vessels
c.2700 BCE, and silk weaving had
begun by 3500 BCE.
The Bronze Age was underway
in western Asia by 3000 BCE, and
possibly considerably earlier. The
Bronze Age in Europe seems to
have developed separately from
around 2500 BCE, using ore
sources from the Carpathian
Mountains in Central Europe.
This era also saw the
beginnings of the Minoan
civilization on the Greek
island of Crete around
2000 BCE, with trading links
to the nearby Cyclades
Islands and the wider
Mediterranean. In Western
Europe, the earlier tradition of
megalithic tomb building and a
growing interest in astronomical
observation gave rise to a new
megalithic tradition of erecting
stone circles, stone rows,
standing stones, and tombs
including astronomical features.
These include Newgrange in
Ireland, Stonehenge in England,
and Carnac in France.

s
re a,
E
nt
BC
ce ric
00 nial Ame
7
2
o
0 m uth ru
80 ere So Pe
c. 2 st c p in t of
Fir velo coas
de ng
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CE

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CE

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f
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c. 2 nze in C
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27002500 BCE

2.3

MILLION
THE NUMBER OF
BLOCKS USED TO
BUILD THE GREAT
PYRAMID OF GIZA

The three pyramids at Giza were built for the pharaohs Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura between 2575 and 2465BCE .
They are guarded by the statue of the Sphinx, which may bear the features of King Khafra.

Standard of Ur
This box-like object has two side
panels one depicting war, the other
(shown here) times of peace.
SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA was

a patchwork of over 40 city-states,

among which Ur, Uruk, Nippur,
and Kish were the most important.
Trade flourished using a network
of rivers and canals, and trade
links extended to Anatolia
(modern-day Turkey), Iran,
and Afghanistan, with grain,
minerals, timber, tools, and
vessels traded. The Sumerian
population was unique in being
predominantly urban. In Ur,
Uruk, and other centres, people
lived in clustered mud-brick
houses. At the heart of the city, the
ziggurat a terraced temple

mound provided the focus for

religious ceremonies, and grain
was stored in storerooms within
the temple precincts. From around
2500 BCE, some citizens of Ur were
buried in tombs along with
treasures such as the Standard
of Ur. The purpose of its intricate

Cuneiform tablet
Over time, the inventory of signs
regularly used in cuneiform script
was greatly reduced.

d
Ol iod, l
E
t
BC
er rfu yp
86 m p owe Eg CE)
6
n
o
c. 2 ngd of p ins i 181 B
Ki era beg c.2
l
an gs, unti
kin sts
(la

CE

3B f
61 y o
2 ast ith
6
68 dyn ts w ht
c. 2 hird star nak
a
T pt
gS
y
Eg Kin

side panels is still a mystery; they

may have formed the soundbox
of a lyre.
Arising from the need to keep
economic and administrative
records, the first pictographic
writing developed in Sumer
(c.3300 BCE). Pictographs (pictorial
writing representing a word or
phrase) evolved into a script called
cuneiform c.2900 BCE, in which
scribes pressed sharpened
reeds into soft clay to leave
wedge-shaped impressions.
Southern Mesopotamia
became densely populated,
putting pressure on natural

ep
St a,
r
0 aqqa ser
5
6
)
S
jo
2 t at g D BCE
7
66 uil Kin 648
c. 2 id b for 72
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BC

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24 st
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61 h dy he p aoh aur
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c. urt es t har enk
Fo lud g p d M
inc ildin , an
bu afra
Kh
CE

resources. This led to conflicts

over land and water, and alliances
between cities were forged
and broken.
The first signs of civilization in
the Americas appeared along the
coast of Peru and in the Andes
c.2800 BCE. Andean farmers grew
potatoes and the cereal quinoa,
and raised alpacas and llamas.
There were fishing communities
on the coast, while inland towns
became ceremonial centres,
built around mud-brick temple
platforms. An exceptional example
is Caral, about 200km (125 miles)
from Lima and dating from
c.2600 BCE. Another, Aspero, had
six platform mounds topped by
temples. Cotton was grown in the
region, and maize was cultivated
from around 2700 BCE.

ied
ur
E
,
BC
r b s;
0
U
nd sh
60 of ave ge me
c. 2 lers l gr to le ilga
u
a
R roy ing ng G er
in cord f Ki Sum
ac ign o k in
re Uru
of

ial
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r
in
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s b
r
CE
0 B ntre ral, l Pe
0
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CE
0 B us ley
60 h in Val
2
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Pl e Ind
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n
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Co pyr , Egy CE)
E
e
BC
re iza 04 B
9
58 of th at G c.25
s
c. 2
d
gin te
be mple
o
(c

The Indus Valley civilization

began to emerge in South Asia in
the fourth millenium BCE, as flood
control technology developed. By
2600 BCE, the Indus Plain contained
dozens of towns and cities. Of
these, Mohenjo-daro on the
River Indus, and Harappa, to the
northeast, were pre-eminent, with
populations of around 100,000 and
60,000 respectively.
In Egypt, King Sanakht acceded
to the throne in the year 2686 BCE,
marking the beginning of the Third
dynasty and the Old Kingdom era
a time of strong, centralized
rule and pyramid-building.
These magnificent monuments
were built as royal tombs. In
Early Dynastic times, kings had
been buried beneath rectangular
mud-brick platforms called
mastabas. Around 2650 BCE, the
first pyramid, the Step Pyramid of
Saqqara, was completed for King
Djoser. Designed by the architect
Imhotep, it resembled six stone
mastabas on top of one another.
Straight-sided pyramids
appeared soon after, the greatest
of which were the three pyramids
at Giza. These incredible feats of
engineering were constructed not
by slaves as was once thought, but
by a staff of full-time craftsmen
and masons supplemented by
farmers performing a type of
national service during the Nile
floods. Enormous blocks of stone
(lower stones of 610 tonnes;
higher ones of 12 tonnes) were
cut from local quarries, hauled on
site using sleds, and then heaved
up ramps, which grew ever-higher
as construction progressed.

cle
cir
er at
t
Ou cted in
E
BC
re rita
00 es e e, B
5
c. 2 ston eng
of oneh
St

e
Ag
ze ith
on e, w cts
r
B op fa d
r
CE
n
te
0 B Eu ar ola
50 s in nze in P
2
.
c gin bro ed
be iest ver
co
rl
ea dis

23

25002350 BCE

23502200 BCE

The ruined citadel of Mohenjo-daro was made up of various buildings. It was

built on a platform to guard against flooding of the River Indus.

Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, England, is one of the tallest man-made chalk mounds
in Europe. These mounds probably had a social or cultural function.

5 m
gy
c.2 gdo in E
n es
i
K inu
nt
co

026-027_2500_2000BCE.indd 26

Indu
s

la

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Banawali
Rakhighari

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us
Ind

Z
Mo agr
un os
tai
ns

Pe

rsi

an

Gu

Lothal

Sutkagen-dor
Kuntasi

Ar a bian
Sea

Indus civilization
Excavations suggest that the Indus
civilization covered an area far larger than
Mesopotamia and Egypt combined.

such as pottery, bead-making,

and metalworking.
Indus cities and towns had the
most advanced plumbing system
in the ancient world, with enclosed
wells and covered drains. Latrines
emptied waste into drains, which
ran below the streets.
These urban centres were also
connected by extensive trade
links. Merchants
supplied craft
products from
the valleys to

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A NEW POWER AROSE IN

MESOPOTAMIA c.2334BCE, King

Harappa
Kalibangan
Nausharo

one-piece
cart wheel

24

Ropar

Ir a nia n
Pl atea u

Agrarian lives
A clay model of a
bullock cart found
at Mohenjo-daro,
dating back to
c.25001900 BCE, gives
an insight into farming
life in the Indus
civilization.

E
d
BC rio
00 Pe pt

ma

Indus

continued to develop in western

Asia, Egypt, and and southern
Asia, and complex societies were
emerging in China, Europe, and
South America.
In southern Asia, the Indus
civilization (see 27002500BCE)
emerged in its mature form
around 2500BCE, stretching
1,700km (1,060 miles) from east
to west and 1,300km (800 miles)
from north to south. The regions
prosperity was based on farming,
mining, crafts, and trade. More
than 100 sites have been
excavated, including the cities
of Mohenjo-daro, Harappa,
and Dholovira.
Mohenjo-daro and Harappa
were well-planned cities laid
out on a grid system. Each city
was protected by brick walls
and dominated by a citadel
overlooking a lower town of
public buildings and residential
town houses of one or two storeys.
The residential areas
were seemingly
divided by industry,

Hi

Shortughai

KEY
Zone of urban civilization
Urban centres
Modern coastline

the surrounding regions in return

for metal ores, precious stones,
and timber. Long-distance trade
routes reached as far as
Mesopotamia and Afghanistan.
By around 2500 BCE, an Indus
script of hundreds of signs
appeared on seals and pottery.
Attempts to decipher the script
have failed; hence, many aspects
of this culture remain a mystery.
In western Asia, Mesopotamia
(see 27002500BCE) remained a
patchwork of small but powerful
city-states, each controlling the
surrounding farmlands where
barley, pulses, and date palms
were grown. To the west, citystates were developing in Syria
and the Levant. A trade network
linking Mesopotamian towns
suggests co-operation between
states, but there was frequent
warfare as well.

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Sargon (c.23342215 BCE) from

the northern region of Akkad
defeated Lugalzagesi of Umma to
become the ruler of Sumer.
Through subsequent campaigns
to the Levant, Syria, and Anatolia,
Sargon carved out the worlds first
empire the Akkadian Empire
stretching from the eastern
Mediterranean to the Gulf.
Sargons exploits were recorded
in several documents, such as the
Sumerian King List. His name
means legitimate king, which
led some scholars to believe that
he took power through force.
Sargon spoke Akkadian, a
Semitic language that replaced
Sumerian as the official
language of the empire.

,,

IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 3RD

MILLENNIUM BCE, civilizations

UNDER HIM

ALL COUNTRIES

LAY [CONTENTED]
IN THEIR
MEADOWS, AND
THE LAND

REJOICED.

,,

Lugalzagesi, king of Sumer,

defeated by Sargon c.2316 BCE

Akkadian rule was enforced

through regional governors who
collected tributes and taxes. The
empires weakness lay in its lack
of defensible borders, and it
came under regular attacks from
neighbouring hill tribes. Sargons

C
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of Sum
all

BRONZE AGE EUROPE

Bronze-working had begun
in West Asia c.3200BCE (see
10,0003000BCE). It was
developed by the ntice
culture of Bohemia and
Poland c.2500BCE, and
200 years later had
spread to Italy and the
Balkans. Bronze
provided a hard metal
for forging armour,
weapons, and tools
such as this hand axe.
The bronze industry
also increased trade,
making Europe more
interconnected than
ever before.
grandson, Naram-Sin, extended
the empire, but it lasted for only
four generations before falling
to attacks. Sargons rule
established a practice of
statewide bureaucratic controls
and standardization in many
aspects of economic life.
In Egypt, this period saw a
weakening of the power of the
Old Kingdom rulers (see
27002500BCE), in favour of
regional governors called
nomarchs, who administered
different parts of the Nile valley
and delta. To the south of the first
cataract on the Nile, the kingdom
of Nubia also grew more
powerful. Nubia was centred
around the city of Kerma at the
third cataract. By the end of
the Sixth dynasty (c.2184 BCE), the

CE

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c.2 Ak

26/05/2011 11:51

22002000 BCE

Relief sculptures in Egyptian tombs represented everyday life and religious rituals. This carving from
the Sixth dynasty shows boys with sticks, on the left, and youths wrestling, on the right.

authority of the Egyptian rulers

had steadily eroded.
In Western Europe, the Bell
Beaker culture flourished.
Named after the distinctive shape
of pottery vessels found in
graves, this culture emerged by
c.2600 BCE in France, Spain, and
the Netherlands. Over the next
three centuries, it spread to
Germany and Britain. Around
2300 BCE, bronze technology
from Mediterranean regions and
from Central Europe started
to spread northwards
along the Rhine and
Danube. The
increasingly
militaristic societies
used bronze to create
weapons, triggering
the appearance of
small chiefdoms
across Europe.
As populations grew,
competition over land
and resources
intensified. Fields were
enclosed, farming
expanded, and boundary
walls built. Imposing
structures such as chalk
mounds were constructed
in many areas.
In South America,
societies continued to
develop in two distinct
regions: the upland valleys
and high plains of the Andes,

and along the Pacific coast and

inland valleys. Andean cultures
were based on farming and
herding. Coastal settlements
such as Aspero (Peru) were
unique in their dependence on
fishing rather than on agriculture.
The coastal people grew cotton for
textiles, and gourds, which were
used as fishing floats.

Akkadian warrior king

This bronze cast of an Akkadian
ruler may depict Sargon I or his
grandson, Naram-Sin, who
extended Sargons empire.

ign
Re ixth
t
e S gyp
8 4 th
21 II of in E

y
78 py st
22 f Pe yna
d
o

026-027_2500_2000BCE.indd 27

Empire c.2150 BCE. Sumerian

states such as Kish, Ur, and
Lagash took the opportunity to
reassert their independence.
For the next 80 years, the
city-states vied for control in
Mesopotamia. In 2112 BCE, Ur
under Ur-Nammu (r.2112
2095 BCE) gained ascendancy. The
armies of Ur overran eastern
Mesopotamia and Elam, and
regained much of
Sargons empire.
Ur-Nammu founded the
Third dynasty of Ur,
which witnessed a
revival of Sumerian
power, as well as an
artistic and cultural
renaissance. Sumerian
scholars devised a method
of counting, based on units
of 60. This system is
reflected in our modern
division of hours into 60
minutes, minutes into 60
seconds, and a circle into
360 degrees.
Ur-Nammu also
commissioned the first
ziggurat in Ur an imposing
stepped platform topped
with a temple. The ziggurats
later became a characteristic
of ancient western Asian
architecture.
In c.2181 BCE, Egypts Old
Kingdom collapsed following
a series of natural disasters,
including famine. This
undermined the authority of
the king, who was believed to
secure the annual floods that

brought fertility to the Nile

valley. The rule of
Memphis, the capital city
of the Old Kingdom, was
overthrown as nomarchs and
nobles seized control of the
provinces. This ushered in a
time of unrest called the First
Intermediate Period, the first
of the three eras of uncertainty
in Egyptian history. For 140
years, kingdoms such as
Herakleopolis in central Egypt
vied for control with Thebes
in the south. In c.2040 BCE,
the Theban ruler Nebhepetre
Mentuhotep defeated his
rivals and united Egypt once
more, beginning the start of
what came to be known as the
Middle Kingdom.
In China, the Neolithic
Longshan culture (see 3200 BCE)
continued to develop along the
Yellow River in Shandong
province. According to Chinese
historical tradition, the first
dynasty, Xia (Hsia), was founded
by Yu the Great. However, no
archaeological evidence has

100
THOUSAND
THE LIKELY
POPULATION
OF UR c.2100

sty
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THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF

GUTIUM ATTACKED the Akkadian

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Longshan pottery
This elegant pottery tripod
jug has tapering legs and
swirling patterns,
characteristic of
the Longshan
culture.

been found to confirm the

existence of a centralized state
in China at this time.
By the end of the 3rd millennium,
Europes first civilization was
emerging on the Mediterranean
island of Crete, which lay at the
heart of Mediterranean trade
routes. Known as the Minoan
civilization, it grew prosperous
through trade and farming.
Cretan farmlands produced wheat,
olives, wine, and wool, which could
be easily transported by sea. The
Minoans also made bronzework,
pottery, and dyes for export. By
2000 BCE, Crete was home to
several small kingdoms.

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25

3 0 0 0 7 0 0

BCE

E A R LY C I V I L I Z AT I O N S

hieroglyphs
are picture
symbols

hieratic script reads

from right to left

Prehistory
Pictograms

papyrus, made
by pressing
together layers
of strips of reed

Pictures painted on walls

of caves up to 25,000
years ago are considered
a precursor to writing,
recording information
that could then be
Cave images by Anasazi Indians
understood by others.

illustration shows a
priest making an offering
to the god Osiris

c.3200 BCE
Egyptian hieroglyphs

Egyptian writing develops

100 years after cuneiform.
This script begins as a form
of picture writing, and
includes signs for words and
also sounds. It remains in
use until the 4th century CE.

3300 BCE
Cuneiform

The first proper written

script is developed by the
Sumerians of Mesopotamia.
Writing with a reed stylus
creates a wedge-shaped
impression on tablets of wet
clay, which then dry hard.

Egyptian hieroglyphic and hieratic script

This ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscript shows two forms of
Egyptian writing: hieratic script (left) and hieroglyphic script
(right) above the two figures. Hieroglyphic is an elaborate script
in which signs take a highly pictorial form, while hieratic is a
simplified version of hieroglyphic for ease of speed and writing.

8th century BCE

The Greek alphabet

The first alphabets, using

only consonants, develop
in the Levant by c.1150 BCE.
They include the Phoenician
alphabet, which spreads to
the Greeks through trade,
who add vowels.

c.1900 BCE
Chinese writing

Mesopotamian tablet

The first surviving Chinese

writing appears on oracle
bones, used in divination.
This ancient script is still
in use today. Chinese script
involves 50,000 characters
that stand for words.

100
The Roman alphabet

Greek wax tablet

The Romans adapt the

Greek script to write Latin.
Through the Roman Empire,
this alphabet spreads across
Europe and is used for
personal as well as official
correspondence.

c.6th century BCE

Parchment

Chinese paper scroll

Made from dried and

processed animal skins,
parchment becomes a
popular medium for writing
around the 6th century BCE,
taking over from papyrus,
a paper made from reeds.

Chinese
parchment scroll

28

26

028-029_Story_Writing.indd 28
28
028-029_Story_Writing.indd

25/05/2011
24/05/2011 17:56
10:21

T H E S TO R Y O F W R I T I N G

THE STORY OF

WRITING

FROM CAVE PAINTINGS TO THE DIGITAL AGE, WRITING IN ITS VARIOUS FORMS HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR CIVILIZATION

The development of writing was an amazing breakthrough as it allowed people

to communicate over distance and record information for posterity. Writing
evolved separately in different cultures: in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus
Valley before 2500 BCE and later in Crete, China, and Mesoamerica.
Some scholars consider that prehistoric cave
paintings featuring images and symbols constitute
a form of writing. The first proper script was
developed by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia (now
Iraq) around 3300 BCE. Soon, a number of different
ancient cultures had developed writing, usually to
keep economic records or track of time. As writing
developed, it was commonly used to reinforce the
authority of rulers. Many early texts, including
monumental ones in stone, glorify the deeds of
kings and attribute their success to divine approval.

Writing systems can be divided into three types,

according to the function of the signs used:
logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic. However,
some scripts make use of two types of signs. In
logographic scripts, each sign stands for a whole
word; Chinese writing is an example, although it
also uses syllabic signs. The drawback is that a very
large number of symbols are needed (Chinese has
50,000 characters). In syllabic scripts, signs stand
for syllables. A smaller but still large number of
signs are needed 700 in Babylonian cuneiform.
In alphabetic scripts, each sign stands for a sound.
Far fewer symbols are needed usually around 26.
The first alphabets developed in the Levant between
1450 and 1150 BCE. For years, the spread of writing
was limited by the labour involved in hand-copying
texts, but this changed with the invention of
printing. In the late 20th century, writing became
electronic with the invention of word processors.
In the 1990s, the spread of information was again
revolutionized by the arrival of the Internet.
Ancient texts in the digital world
Nowadays, ancient texts can be viewed digitally.
Here, a student examines a digitized page of the Codex
Sinaiticus, handwritten in Greek over 1,600 years ago.

7th century
Arabic script

The Arabic alphabet is

used to write down the
Quran, the holy book
of Islam. Its use spreads
with the Islamic faith to
become one of the worlds
most widely used scripts.

4th century
The codex

The codex, or manuscript

in book form, gradually
supersedes the roll of
parchment. Originally
developed by the Romans,
the use of codices spreads
with the Christian religion.

c.1450
Invention of printing

Medieval
Quran

In medieval times, the laboriousness

of copying by hand limits the
spread of writing. The invention
of printing using moveable type
makes writing far more accessible.
In 1500, an estimated 35,000 texts
are in print.

7th9th centuries
Illuminated manuscripts

In early medieval times, the

use of writing spreads through
the copying of Christian texts.
Illuminated manuscripts are
highly decorative, with ornate
capital letters and marginal
illustrations.

18671868
The typewriter

Book of Durrow

1884
The fountain pen

Roman mosaic

PICTOGRAPHIC SYMBOLS
Pictograms, or picture signs, are an ancient form
of communication. Some scholars do not consider
pictograms to be true writing, since the symbols
do not convey the sounds of words in any language.
For example, the pictures above from a house
in Roman Pompeii dating to 79 CE, and a modern
sign convey the same warning. The symbol
can be read in any language, for example as
canis, chien, Hund, or dog. Those words convey
the same idea but reproduce the sounds of different
languages Latin, French, German, and English.
Pictograms have limited use but remain
widespread, appearing for example on street
signs, maps, and clothes labels.

The first practical fountain

pen is produced by American
inventor L.E. Waterman, and
quickly replaces the quill
pen. Biros, invented by
Lszl Br, are in use
Waterman
by the 1940s.
fountain pen

American inventor Christopher

Latham Sholes helps to build
the first practical typewriter.
The patent is sold to
Remington, who puts
the first typewriters
The Remington
on sale in 1874.
Model I

Modern sign

1990present
Text messaging

In the 1990s, the first text

messages are sent via mobile
phones. Texting becomes very
popular in the 2000s. In 2009,
more than 1.5 trillion
text messages
Smartphone
are sent.

1971
Writing enters the digital age

In 1971, Ray Tomlinson sends the

first electronic message (email)
from one computer to another.
Emails become popular with the
spread of personal computers
in the 1980s.

29
028-029_Story_Writing.indd 29
29
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27

25/05/2011
24/05/2011 17:5
10:2

18501790BCE

20001850 BCE

Egyptian hieroglyphics involved the use of pictorial signs. This example

is from a coffin from the Middle Kingdom period.
THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION, named

after the legendary King Minos,

flourished on the Aegean island
of Crete in the early 2nd
millennium, reaching its peak
between 2000 and 1600 BCE. It is
thought that Cretes prosperity
was based on the export of
pottery, gold, and bronze, as well
as possibly grain, wine, and oil,
to Egypt, Cyprus, and Palestine.
The Minoans established colonies
in many parts of the Aegean,
including the islands of Kythera,
Thera, Melos, and Rhodes, and at
Miletos on the Turkish mainland.
The farmlands of Crete were
ruled from cities with central
palaces that housed workshops,

the administration, religious

facilities, and state storerooms.
Those at Knossos, Phaestos,
Mallia, and Zakros were
particularly impressive, judging by
their remains. Around 1700 BCE,
these palaces were burnt down,
and only Knossos was rebuilt, on
a more magnificent scale than
before, suggesting its dominance
over the entire island. The palace
was five storeys high, with rooms
opening onto inner courtyards.
This maze-like complex is thought
to have given rise to the labyrinth
in the legend of the Minotaur, a
bull-headed monster.
Bulls certainly featured in
Minoan ceremonies. The deities

worshipped in Minoan shrines

seem to have been female, with
a goddess of nature being the
most popular. However, details of
Minoan culture remain obscure
since the Minoan scripts, known
as Cretan hiroglyphic and Linear
A, have yet to be undeciphered.
In Egypt, King Mentuhotep had
reunited the country at the end
of the 3rd millennium (see
23502000 BCE). Yet, the second of
Egypts eras of strong, centralized
rule only began with the reign of
Amenemhet I, from about
1985 BCE, during the Middle
Kingdom. In 1965 BCE, his
successor Senwosret I conquered
the land of Nubia to the south,

40
THE NUMBER
OF DAYS IT
TOOK TO
MUMMIFY
A BODY

extending Egypts borders as far

as the second cataract of the Nile.
Nubia yielded gold, copper, and
slaves to swell the ranks of
Egypts army. Around a century
later, Senwosret III also made
Levant a vassal state of Egypt.
Middle-Kingdom Egypt was
more democratic than it was
during the Old Kingdom period.
Rulers presented themselves as
shepherds of the state rather than
absolute monarchs. The process
of mummification, once confined
to kings, was now permitted for
ordinary citizens. In order to
preserve it as a permanent home
for the spirit, the body was dried
in natron salt, its vital organs were
removed, and it was stuffed with
linen and wrapped in bandages.
Charging bull
Minoan rituals included a bull-leaping
ceremony, in which athletes grasped
the bulls horns and vaulted over
its back.This Knossos fresco dates
back to c.1500 BCE.

ty
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030-031_2000-1650BCE.indd 30

28

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Ci stru
n
CE
0 B u co w
0
9 to
lo
c.1 Erli Yel a
of ound Chin
r
a ver,
Ri

Shang bronze
This bronze plate was found at
Erlitou, and is of the Xia period. It is
inlaid with turquoise mosaic, believed
to represent a dragons scales.
IN CHINA, THE SHANG
CIVILIZATION developed along

the Yellow River by 1850 BCE.

According to legend, Chinas first
dynasty was the Xia, but current
archaeological evidence points
to Shang as the first dynasty.
At Erlitou in Henan province,
archaeologists have uncovered
a palace complex built on a

20,000
THE NUMBER
OF CLAY
TABLETS SO
FAR FOUND
AT MARI

h
f
lis
no s
tab ia,
eig quer o es tam
R
E
n ia t po il
co
o
BC
l
81 d; tam es En
17 -Ada opo er M bat
s p
3 shi
u
e
1
h
p
18 am rn M f U at S
Sh rthe m o ital
no ngdo cap
Ki th its
wi

us
nd s
E I ; it
BC nes ally
0
li
0
u
d
17 ec ad ne
0 n d gr do
90 atio ities ban
1
.
a
c
c iliz
civ
24/05/2011 14:08

17901650 BCE

,,

AS I A

Area of Shang influence

Yellow River

Xingtai

Shang capital
14001300 BCE

on

Ye llow
Sea

Anyang

Shang capital
13001027 BCE

Huixian

Erlitou

Shang capital
16001400 BCE

er
Riv

ze
R

iver

Henan
Panlongcheng

Ya

Wucheng

Long-distance trade routes linked

coastal towns with communities
in Andean valleys to the east and
beyond. This allowed for the
spread of pottery from Colombia
to Peru by 1800 BCE. Meanwhile,
in North America, crops such
as sunflowers and gourds began
to be cultivated in the east.
In Western Asia, the fall of the
Ur III Empire led to the rise of two
states Assyria in the north and
Babylon in the southeast which
were to dominate Mesopotamia
for the next 1,500 years. The first
dynasty of Babylon was established

Law Code of Hammurabi, king of Babylon

WHEN THE ASSYRIAN KING

SHAMSHI-ADAD died in 1781 BCE,

Zhengzhou

Huai

in c.1894 BCE. In the north, the city

of Ashur became an important
trading centre in the 20th century
BCE. In 1813 BCE, it was taken over
by the Amorite king ShamshiAdad, who carved out a kingdom
in northern Mesopotamia. This
kingdom was a forerunner of the
Greater Assyrian Empire of the
9th century BCE (see 900800 BCE).
Clay tablets recovered from Mari
in central Mesopotamia hold
records of trade and tributes
levied by Assyria from vassalstates. Writing from this period
included copies of the earliest
surviving work of literature,
The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Sumerian hero
Tablets and stone carvings
from the Old Babylonian
period provide a record of
the Epic of Gilgamesh,
previously passed down
in the oral tradition.

he was succeeded by his son

Ishme-Dagan. During his reign,
Assyria declined, allowing the
state of Babylon to come to the
fore. During the reign of ShamshiAdad, Babylon was probably a
vassal state of Assyria, but as
Assyria declined, King Hammurabi
of Babylon saw his chance to seize
a wider kingdom. From 1760 BCE,
Hammurabi embarked on a series
of conquests, which made
Babylon the regions foremost
state. Between 17631762 BCE,
he defeated Elam to the east and
Larsa, which controlled Sumer, to
the south. Between 17571755 BCE,
King Hammurabi conquered
much of northern Mesopotamia
and took the city of Eshnunna
after diverting its water supply.
Hammurabi introduced the
Babylonian law code in the region
under his control. Its 282 laws
covered property, family, trade,
and business practices. The Law
Code of Hammurabi is famous
for punitive laws which meted out
punishments in the same

ial
on da
m
re lori ru
e
C a F Pe
E
f L t in
BC
00 tre o buil
8
c.1 cen

measure as the crime committed

an eye for an eye. However, it
is thought that the law code was
more of a moral statement of
principle than an enforced judicial
system. As such, the code bound
the powerful and wealthy as well
as ordinary people; the strong
were exhorted to refrain from
oppressing the weak.

Set in stone
Hammurabis code was inscribed on
stone pillars called stele. This stele
shows the god of justice Shamash
(right) dictating laws to the king.
bi
CE ura es
0B
sh
75 amm tabli e in
1

r
for
92 of H n; es mpi
7
n
1 ig ylo
E nd ode ire
Re Bab nian ia a lawc emp
of bylo otam es a his
t
Ba sop lgat hou
Me omu oug
r
pr e th
us

g
an
Sh ins
CE beg
B
n
0
80 tio
c.1 iliza a
civ Chin
in

030-031_2000-1650BCE.indd 31

Sh

d
an

East China Sea

Xiang

Luoyang

platform of compressed earth.

They have also unearthed bronze
vessels. Evidence suggests that
many features that were to
characterize Chinese society later,
such as a strong bureaucracy
and the worship of ancestors,
date back to this time.
In southern Asia, the Indus
civilization, which had thrived
during the 3rd millennium (see
25002350 BCE), went into a
decline by around 1800 BCE.
Scholars believe that this was
partly caused by the changes in
the regimes of the rivers that
provided water for irrigation.
Cities seem to have been ravaged
by diseases such as cholera and
malaria. Trade with Mesopotamia
also declined. Meanwhile, new
crops such as millet and rice were
introduced. All these factors seem
to have led to a decline in urban
culture, characterized by writing
and a centralized bureaucracy, in
favour of a rural-based culture.
In South America, large-scale
cultivation was taking place along
the Pacific coast by about
1800 BCE. Substantial settlements
such as El Paraiso and Sechin
Alto in Peru were dominated by
massive temple complexes.

Bo Hai
g

Taixicun

ng
t

Shang city

Shang China
The middle course of the Yellow River
was the heartland of the Shang
civilization from c.18001100 BCE.
From here, Shang influence, such as
bronze-working, spread elsewhere.

,,

IF A MAN PUTS OUT THE EYE

OF AN EQUAL, HIS EYE SHALL
BE PUT OUT.

KEY

al
ion of g
dit
ra ding y Kin
T
E
n
b
BC ou ty
o
66 r f as g t
17 te fo dyn rdin y
r
o
a
g
o
c
d an c
st
Sh ng, a e hi
Ta ines
h
C

e
rg
La lex

p o
CE
0 B com Alt

75 al
ru
in
c.1 oni ech n Pe
em of S ed i
r
ce
ct
tru
ns
co

r
ea to
Lin s in
75 t c te
c.1 scrip Cre
A e in
us
e
CE
0 B om

in
m ;
do est
ing unr iate
K
le by ed 0)
idd orn erm .154
E M pt t Int to c
C
(
y
5 B Eg ond iod
72
ec Per
S
c.1
of
rt
26/05/2011 10:51
sta

29

300 0 7 0 0

BCE

E A R LY C I V I L I Z AT I O N S

to Central and
Northern Europe

MYCENAEAN
GREECE
Sardinia

Ionian
Sea

Gla

Orchomenos

Thebes

Tiryns

Menelaion

Knossos

TRADE COMMODITIES
gold
silver

Med

tin
copper

Crete

iter

fine metalwork

rane

fine pottery

TRADE COMMODITIES

The importance of trade

Trade was essential to supply societies with the raw
materials and manufactured KEY
goods needed for daily life
(such as metals and timber), for displaying
Mycenaean status
Greece (such as
fine weaponry), or for embellishing
religious
Hittite
Empiremonuments
and royal palaces (such as lapis lazuli). Trade also promoted
Mitanni
the spread of knowledge, technology, and ideas.

TRADE COMMODITIES

an Sea

textiles

gold

timber

silver

grain

tin

ivory

copper

ivory objects

fine metalwork

perfumed oils

fine pottery

olive oil

textiles

wine

silver

grain

faience objects

Mycenaean Greece

Elam

tin

ivory

turquoise

Hittite Empire

New Kingdom Egypt

copper

ivory objects

murex dye

Mitanni

Arzawa

fine metalwork

perfumed oils

seashells

Assyria

Trade routes c.1350 BCE

fine pottery

olive oil

horses

Kassite Babylonia

textiles

wine

weapons

Elam

timber

glass

New Kingdom Egypt

grain

faience objects

Arzawa

ivory

turquoise

Trade routes c.1350 BCE

ivory objects

murex dye

perfumed oils

seashells

olive oil

horses

wine

weapons

glass

Kassite Babylonia

timber

gold

Assyria

KEY

Miletus
LUKKA

Athens

Pylos

A F R I C A

ANCIENT EMPIRES

THE BIRTH OF ADVANCED SOCIETIES

Apasa MIRA

ARZAWA

Mycenae

Sicily

WILUSA
Troy
SEHA
RIVER MASA
LAND

to sub-Saharan Africa

glass
faience objects

In the 3rd millennium BCE, states emerged in Egypt,

turquoise Mesopotamia, and the
murex dye
Indus. Urban society was consolidated in Western
Asia in the 2nd millennium,
seashells
and powerful states vied for control of lands; in
contrast, in South Asia, towns
horses
weapons and the Americas.
disappeared. Complex societies emerged in China
The exceptional agricultural productivity of the
24 and Yellow River
Nile, Euphrates, Indus (see p.26),
29 valleys undoubtedly played a part in the
(see p.31)
precocious emergence of civilizations in these
regions. So did international trade, which was also
important in the development of the first New
World civilizations. Trade also enabled many
neighbouring societies to achieve prosperity:
through time they developed complex cultures

,,

increasingly focused on urban centres, and came

into competition for resources and markets.
High-level diplomacy was essential to the smooth
operation of international trading networks and
to success in inter-state power struggles. Royal
letters found in the Egyptian capital, Akhetaten
(Amarna), provide a fascinating picture of relations
between the 14th-century BCE rulers of the rival
great states of the eastern Mediterranean.

,,

FOR A LONG TIME WE HAVE

HAD GOOD RELATIONS BETWEEN
US KINGS
Babylonian king Burnaburiash II to Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten,
from the Amarna letters, 14th century BCE

THE WORLD PICTURE

Urbanism and complex societies became more
widespread during the 2nd millennium BCE.
While they shared many features such as
trade, high agricultural productivity, dense
populations, and their managerial needs, urban
societies took many different forms. In the
Americas, large ceremonial complexes
KEY with
residential suburbs provided the focus Chavn
for the
Olmec
communities of the wider region, strongly
connected by shared religion and trade.Shang
Advanced centres
This map shows
established and
emerging civilizations
in the later 2nd
millennium BCE.
Societies of farmers
and hunter-gatherers
occupied other
regions.

Mycenaeans
Egypt

KEY

Babylonia

Chavn

Assyria

Olmec

Hittites

Shang

Mitanni

Mycenaeans

Elam

Egypt
Babylonia
Assyria
Hittites
Mitanni
Elam

32

30

032-033_Ancient_empires.indd 32

03/06/2011 17:39

Blac

k S
ea

KASKAS

PALA
Hattusas

HITTITE
EMPIRE

UPP
ERL
AND
URUADRI
(URARTU)

ISUWA

HAPALLA

UPPER
EGYPT

DJ

Uruk

Abydos

Se

Nippur

Jerusalem
Lachish
Sharuhen

W
ES
DE TER
N
SE
RT

ME

Gaza

Sinai

Eastern
Desert

Elephantine
NUBIA

SATJU

YAM

N
IA
NUB ERT
DES

HA
R A

to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
to

Old Kingdom c.26862181 BCE

Rulers exercised centralized control
and commanded impressive resources,
as shown by the pyramids at Giza.

BABYLONIA

Babylon

Shechem

Memphis

EGYPT

Tyre

Nile Delta
LOWER

Giza
Saqqara

Capital cities

Dur-Kurigalzu
Dur-Kurigalzu

Kumida
Hazor

Sidon

a nean Sea

Re

Labwe

Byblos

Trade routes

diterr

le

Simurru

KEY

ris
Tig

es
at
hr

A
TN
A UWACarchemish
S
S
Z
TA R H U N T A
Washshukanni
KIZ
MUKISH
Harran
Nineveh
Alalah
Arbil
Arbil
Emar MITANNI
Ugarit Aleppo
ASSYRIA
E
E
Cyprus Arwad
uupp
NIYA
(Alashiya)
Ashur
Tunip
Qatna
Qadesh

Cyprus

Me

Ni

KINGDOMS OF ANCIENT EGYPT

The Nile Valley's exceptional agricultural
fertility promoted the early development
of urbanism in Egypt. Settlements clung
to the Nile Delta and riverbanks, beyond
which lay arid desert. The great mineral
resources of the flanking desert regions
and Nubia, which included gold, were
important for both domestic use, and to
support international trade.

TUMMANNA

SEALAND
SEALAND

ELAM

Susa
Susa

Ur
Ur

Anshan
Anshan

Memphis

Cyprus

Me

Pe

LOWER

n
ia

EGYPT

Itjtawy
Eastern
Desert

capital
c.19851650 BCE

ea
dS

Se

EGYPT

capital
c.20551985 BCE
and c.16501550 BCE

Waset (Thebes)
W
ES
Karnak
DE TER
N
SE
UPPER
RT

Re

le

Re

Ar ab i an
Pen i n su l a

capital
c.16501550 BCE

Ni

lf

le
Ni

DILMUN
DILMUN

Thebes

Sinai

Memphis

Gu

EGYPT

a nean Sea

Avaris
(Tell el-Daba)

Liyan
Liyan

rs

Akhetaten

diterr

NUBIA
WAWAT

N
IA
NUB ERT
S
E
D

HA
R A

KUSH

Middle Kingdom c.20401640 BCE

Decorated tombs record prosperous life
under the stable 12th dynasty, but the
state disintegrated under later rulers.

to
to Punt
Punt

Cyprus

Mycenae

ATLANTIC
OCEAN

b e r

i a

Me

Hattusas

Babylon
Memphis

Anyang
Ashur
Susa

diterr

LOWER
EGYPT

Xiang
Zhengzhou

a nean Sea

Per-Ramesse (Qantir)

PACIFIC
OCEAN

Sinai

Memphis

Eastern

Akhetaten (Amarna) Desert

S A H A R A

le

Ni

PACIFIC
OCEAN

PUNT

Se

ATLANTIC
OCEAN

Chavn de
Huntar

Re

W
ES
Waset (Thebes)
DE TER
UPPER
N
SE
RT
EGYPT

San
Lorenzo

NUBIA

INDIAN
OCEAN

HA
R A

N
IA
NUB ERT
S
E
D
KUSH

New Kingdom c.15501069 BCE

Egypt reached its greatest power and
prosperity, conquering Nubia and the
Levant, and building several temples.

33

31
032-033_Ancient_empires.indd 33

26/05/2011 18:22

16501550 BCE

15501400 BCE

Hattusas, the Hittite capital, was founded by Hattusalis I

in 1650 BCE and destroyed in 1180 BCE.

Built over 300 years, the temple complex at Karnak, Egypt, includes the worlds
largest temple, dedicated to Amun-Re, the patron deity of the pharaohs.

AFTER HAMMURABIS DEATH in

1750 BCE, the Babylonian Empire
(see 18501790 BCE) declined.
At the same time, other powers
were on the rise, such as the
Hurrians of Mitanni in Syria, and
the Hittites of Anatolia in Turkey.
By 1650 BCE, the Hittites had
built an extensive kingdom in
central Anatolia, with its capital
at Hattusas. The Hittites had
developed advanced bronze- and
iron-working skills and they
were also known to be fierce
fighters. In 1595 BCE, the Hittite
king Mursilis (r.16201590 BCE)
raided Babylon and expanded his
empire. However, he was killed
soon after, and the empire shrank
back for about a century.
In Egypt, the Middle Kingdom
(see 20001850 BCE) was waning

Man and beast

The Hittite Empire was known for its
bronze craftsmanship. Bronze
weapons and artefacts fetched a high
price. This statuette of a man and a
horse was probably a commission.

s om
te
h
tti gd it
Hi Kin ia, w l
E
d tol ita
l
BC
p
O a
0
ca
65 ish An
c.1 tabl tral s its
a
s
n
e ce as
in ttus
Ha

CE

IN c.1550 BCE, THE THEBAN KING

Ahmose I (r.15501525 BCE)

drove the Hyksos from Lower
Egypt, ushering in the third
period of settled rule in Egypt,
known as the New Kingdom
(c.15501070 BCE). During this
time, Egyptian rulers assumed

IRON-WORKING
The Hittites developed iron
smelting by c.1500 BCE. At
first iron was used only in
luxury objects, such as in the
decoration of this box from
Acemhoyek. Later, as
technology developed, iron
was used to create superior
weapons. Though the Hittites
traded iron goods, they kept
this technology secret for
about 300 years. Around
1200 BCE, iron-working
spread to Greece, and then to
Central Europe by c.750 BCE
the dawn of the Iron Age.
by 1670 BCE, partly due to erratic
floods in the Nile. As regional
governors became more
powerful, civil war broke out.
Outsiders soon took advantage
of the unrest. The Nubians
won back lands that the
Egyptians had taken earlier
(see 20001850 BCE). In 1650 BCE,
the Hyksos from the Levant
seized Lower Egypt, but
Upper Egypt remained under the
control of Egyptian kings.

o
an of
g
olc and ly, ents
v
l
kin on,
A is ent em
E
ite byl
k viol ttl
BC
t
e
t
8
i
a
e
e
H sB e
62 Gr ts n s sh
bi
E
id pir ura
BC
c.1 the erup noa ith a
95 is ra em mm
on era g Mi d w
5
l
1
c. rsi the Ha
Th ryin islan
Mu ding d by
bu the
en nde
on
fou

B
50 nt
f
n
15 va r
n
tia
ea
0 e Le we
so
5
yp ey
na on
6 th Lo nd
ite of
Eg Vall es
ce es nd
ss tion ia,
c.1 of uer eco od
y
t
a
g
s
s
b
M er la
K ea on
S ri
q
o
n
Fir ed in The
l
r
CE
CE
in
ks con ring Pe
E
0 B em a
0 B n c aby gio
ri ar
BC
Hy
te
u
60 tion ek m
57 begi in B e re
0s e bu s ne
t d edia
1
1
.
.
7
a
e
p
h
c liz Gr
c an re g t
5 ar g
y
i
Eg term
c.1 ohs Kin
Ir mpi itin
civ the
e
a
In
e un
ar f th
w
034-035_1650-1300BCE.indd 34
h
e
o
p
n

32

2000

Egyptian religion was very

complex. Every village, town, and
district had its own patron deity. In
paintings and sculptures, many
deities were shown with animal
heads, representing their most
important attributes. For example,
the falcon god Horus protected
the king, while the ibisheaded Thoth was the
patron god of scribes.
By 1600 BCE, a
new civilization
emerged

on the Greek mainland. Its people

are now known as the
Mycenaeans, after the fortresspalace of Mycenae, believed to be
the home of the mythical king
Agamemnon from Homers Iliad.
However, the Mycenaeans

THE NUMBER
OF NAMES FOR
GODS AND
GODDESSES
IN ANCIENT
EGYPT

the title pharaoh, meaning

great house. A succession of
warrior kings campaigned to
expand Egypts boundaries
once more. Tuthmosis I
(r.15041492 BCE) drove the
Nubians back in the south and
recaptured Sinai and parts of
Syria and Palestine. Under
Tuthmosis III (r.14791425 BCE),
Egypt controlled a strip along the
Mediterranean coast and north of
the Euphrates (see p.33).
The conquered states paid huge
annual tributes to Egypt, a part of
which was spent building one of
the worlds largest religious sites
at Karnak and the impressive
mortuary temple of Queen
Hatshepsut (r.14731458 BCE).

Mask
of gold
German
archaeologist
Heinrich
Schliemann found this
funerary mask at a grave
in Mycenae, and claimed it
belonged to King Agamemnon.

g
ins
kin s
an so ite eg
eb Hyk reun iod b
h
T es to
r
CE
pe
s B riv ypt m
50 e I d r Eg gdo
gy
5
s
n
1
olo
c. mo owe Ki
op echn
E
l
C
e
Ah m L New
0 B ev g t
fro ypt;
55 s d tin
c.1 ttite mel
Eg
i
H n-s
iro
d
Ol
ite s;
itt cline an
H
i
CE
de rr i in
0 B m Hu
50 do of ann ia
c.1 King nce f Mit otam
p
o
ge
er sty eso
em yna rn M
d e
rth
no

er
pp
Co
E
e
BC
h
t n
0
50 d in io
c.1 rke a reg
o
r
w ha
Sa

nd
i, a
nn es
ta ittit
i
0 B s, M H
50 an om ol
c.1 ypti ingd ontr
Eg w K for c nt
Ne ive Leva
str the
of
CE

BC

E
BC

0
50 e
c.1 of m

e
nc
ide ng
Ev orki ru
lw Pe
ta in

rn

e
BC
th
00 ou
9 m s e to
s
0
t
o
50 s fr ra
c.1 yan mig ndia
Ar ssia rn I
Ru rthe
no

0 e
20 pl
1 em es
00 ak t heb d
5
e
c.1 arn at T ruct
K ex
st
pl con
m
co

26/05/2011 19:20

14001300 BCE

Tutankhamun was buried with fabulous treasure. This detail from the
pharaohs throne shows him being anointed by his wife Ankhesenamun.

034-035_1650-1300BCE.indd 35

ED

ON

IA

Sea of
Marmara

Lemnos

THESSALY
Iolcus

Lesbos

Spor
Ionian
Islands

Ionian
Sea

Anatolia

Aegean
Sea

ades

Gla Euboea
Orchomenus
Thebes
Chios
Gu l f o f C o r
in t h
Athens
Mycenae Dendra
Aegina
Argos
Tiryns
Cyclades
Peloponnese
Menelaion
Pylos
Vapheio Melos
Phylakopi

Miletus

an

le
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pe om
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p
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c la
BC
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Black Sea
T H RAC E

Do

probably called themselves

Ahhiyawa. They had migrated
from the Balkans or Anatolia
about 500 years earlier. Their
lands were a patchwork of small
kingdoms, each later dominated
by a palace-citadel such as the
ones at Mycenae, Tiryns, and
Pylos. They spread their influence
through trade. After the collapse
of the Minoan Empire in
c.1450 BCE, the Mycenaeans took
over several sites formerly
occupied by the Minoans,
including Knossos.
After c.1400 BCE, they also took
over Minoan trade networks
and established settlements
on Rhodes, Kos, and the
Anatolian mainland.
The Mycenaeans
inherited Minoan arts
and crafts, adapting
the Linear A script
to write an early
form of Greek
known as the
Linear B script.
They were great
traders, and ventured
out to Sicily and Italy.
A ship believed to be
of Canaanite origin,
wrecked off Uluburun on
the coast of Turkey, was
found to contain tin from Iran
or Afghanistan, copper and
pottery from Cyprus, ivory and
jewellery from Egypt, and
Mycenaean swords.
The late Bronze Age was a
time of unrest in Western Asia.
From 15501400 BCE, there was
a struggle between various
powers in the region, including

Thera

Mediterranean
Sea

es

e
Rhodes

Sea of Crete
Chania

Crete

Knossos

Phaistos

Aegean civilizations
Around 1450 BCE Mycenaean
influence spread throughout the
Aegean, including to several sites that
had been part of the Minoan Empire.

the Hurrians, Hittites, Elamites,

Egyptians, and the Kassites. In
the 1570s BCE, the Kassites had
gained control of Babylon.
However, by 1450 BCE, the Hittite
New Kingdom was growing
in influence, partly due to an
alliance with Egypt. Around this
time, the Mitanni dominated Syria,
but by the 1400s, the Hittites were
fighting for control of the region.
In China, the Shang civilization
(see 18501790 BCE) flourished
around 1500 BCE, with its rulers
dominating a large area of
central China. However, the
Shang had to regularly fend off
threats to their kingdom from
nomadic tribes to the north.
Shang capitals were surrounded

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KEY
Mycenaean site
Mycenaean major palace

by defensive walls. Kings and

nobles were buried in tombs,
which held fabulous grave goods.
The Shang capital moved several
times during this period. Shang
society was believed to be well
organized and extremely
hierarchical. Writing began
around 1900 BCE. Most examples
of early writing took the form of
oracle bones, attesting to the
Shang rulers practice of
consulting their ancestors on
important decisions. Questions
concerning the future were
inscribed on the bone of an ox or
on a turtle shell, which was then
struck with a hot metal tool.
The way the bone cracked was
believed to provide the answer.

g
an m
Sh fro ang
s i
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B
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ov to X
40 l m
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ca eng a
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in
CE

IN c.1352 BCE, AMENHOTEP IV,

a religious reformer, became

Egypts pharaoh. He broke with
the traditional religion, with its
pantheon of gods, and initiated
the worship of a single god, Aten,
or sun-disk. He changed his name
to Akhenaten, meaning living
spirit of Aten, and founded a new
capital between Thebes and
Memphis. He named it Akhetaten,
meaning horizon of Aten.
Akhenatens religious reforms
were believed to have been
unpopular, especially with the
influential priestly elite. After his
death in c.1336 BCE, his son
Tutankhamun ascended the
throne at the age of nine. He
restored the old gods
and abandoned the new
capital. Tutankhamun is
believed to have died
under mysterious
circumstances at 18,
and was hastily buried
in a minor tomb. It was
thought for years that
Tutankhamun died of a
blow to the head, but
the latest evidence
suggests he died of
blood poisoning after
breaking his leg in a
chariot crash while out
hunting in the desert.

Since the 1570s BCE, Egypts

pharaohs had been buried in
rock-cut tombs in the Valley
of the Kings, on the west bank
of the Nile. Rulers hoped their
tombs would be safe from
robbers, but almost all the
tombs were robbed of their
rich goods. However, in 1922,
British archaeologist Howard
Carter discovered
Tutankhamuns tomb virtually
intact. The shrine room had four
gilded shrines, holding the
kings coffin and mummy with
a solid gold mask. The other
rooms contained jewellery,
furniture, golden statues, and
musical instruments.

Sun worship
Akhenaten instituted the
worship of the sun disk
Aten. In this relief carving
found at Akhetaten
(modern el-Amarna), he
is seen worshipping the
sun with his wife Nefertiti.

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26/05/2011 19:20

33

13001200 BCE

12001100 BCE

The facade of the temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel features four colossal seated
statues of the pharaoh, but the statue second from left has perished.

The boulders used to make these walls, now in ruins, at Mycenae on the Greek
mainland were so huge, later civilizations believed they were built by giants.

Mediterranean and Western Asia

were a mosaic of empires, which
comprised Egypt, Babylonia, Elam,
Assyria, and the Hittites in Anatolia.
Borders fluctuated as each kingdom
strove to gain ascendancy over its
neighbours through conquest or
diplomacy. In war and peace, vital
trade routes, through which tin and
copper for bronze reached the
region, remained intact.
A frequent flashpoint for conflict
was the Levant (modern Syria and
Lebanon), which Egypt had lost to
the Hittites following the reign
of Akhenaten (see 1350 BCE). In the
13th century BCE, Pharaoh Seti I and
his son Ramesses II campaigned
to win it back. Ramesses 67-year
reign (r.12791213 BCE) was

,,

YOU ARE A
GREAT WARRIOR
WITHOUT EQUAL,
VICTORIOUS IN
SIGHT OF THE
WHOLE WORLD.

,,

Inscription commemorating the

victory of Ramesses II at Qadesh

a time of stability and prosperity

for Egypt. Through a combination
of war, diplomacy, and strategic
marriage, Ramesses sought
to extend Egyptian influence to
Western Asia. In the 1270s BCE, he
fought a series of wars with the
Hittite king, Muwattalis II, of which

ts

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ra
BC
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036-037_1299-1000BCE.indd 36

34

Ancient propaganda
A detail from the temple
of Ramesses II at Abu
Simbel shows the king
firing an arrow, taking
on the Hittite army
single-handed at the
Battle of Qadesh.

BETWEEN 1250 AND ABOUT 1050

BCE, many of the powers that

the most famous was

the Battle of Qadesh
(c.1274 BCE). Although
Ramesses claimed
victory at Qadesh, the
battle is believed to
have been inconclusive,
and the Hittites held on
to the region.
In 1259 BCE, after
further campaigns in
Syria, Ramesses tried
a different tactic, and
negotiated a pioneering peace
treaty with the new Hittite king,
Hattusilis III. Ramesses also took
two Hittite princesses in marriage
(he had about seven wives in total).
Following the treaty, Ramesses
kept up a friendly correspondence
with the Hittite ruler, which was
recorded on clay tablets in
Akkadian cuneiform script.
Ramesses also embarked on
an extensive programme of
monument-building. On Egypts
southern border with Nubia he
constructed the magnificent
temple of Abu Simbel. He founded
a new capital at Per-Ramesses in
Lower Egypt, although Thebes in
Upper Egypt remained an
important centre. West of Thebes
he built a vast mortuary temple,
which doubled as a palace, court,
and centre of learning.

n
eig t
f r gyp
t o in E
r
a
St s II
E
se
BC
79 es E)
12 Ram 3 BC
1
f
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nd
s a le
ian Batt sh
t
yp e
e
Eg t th Qad
CE
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7
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fi
c.1 ites
tt
Hi

The late 2nd millennium BCE

saw the resurgence of Ashur,
in what is now called the Middle
Assyrian Empire (1350
1000 BCE). Following the death of
Shamshi-Adad in 1781 BCE (see
1850 BCE), Ashur had become
a vassal, first of Babylon, then
of Mitanni. A revival of Ashurs
fortunes began under Ashuruballit I (r.13631328 BCE), who
broke free of Mitannian rule and
carved out a kingdom in northern
Iraq. His later successors,
Shalmaneser I and TukultiNinurta I, continued to gain
territory, expanding the kingdoms
borders west to conquer eastern
Mitanni and briefly, from 1225
1216 BCE, southeast to Babylonia.
In the Aegean, the Mycenaean
palace-kingdoms of the Greek
mainland continued to thrive.

he
vn n t
ha es i
C
rg
CE
0 B me es
20 e e nd
c.1 ltur an A
cu ruvi
Pe

al
pit
ca ed
te troy
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it es
EH s d
BC
a
00 ttus
2
c.1 f Ha
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ltu
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E O Me
BC
00 es in
2
c.1 erg
em

had dominated Western Asia for

centuries went into decline, and
some disappeared altogether. The
eastern Mediterranean entered
a time of turmoil, and many
coastal cities were laid waste by
unknown invaders written
records of the period give few
clues as to their identity. First to
succumb were the Hittites, whose
capital Hattusas was sacked
and abandoned c.1200 BCE.
By c.1180 BCE, Hittite possessions
in the Levant were lost and the
empire fragmented.
These conflicts were most likely
instigated by the waves of migrants
known collectively as the Sea
Peoples. These warlike peoples
came from many different areas,
including Sicily, Sardinia, Greece,
Libya, and Anatolia. Whatever
their origins, their movements
through the eastern Mediterranean
in c.12001100 BCE led to attacks
on Cyprus, Egypt, Anatolia, and
Canaan and Syria in the Levant.
In 1178 BCE, the Egyptian pharaoh
Ramesses III drove the Sea
Peoples from Lower Egypt, but

could not prevent them from

colonizing the Levant.
Around 1200 BCE, the
Mycenaean kingdoms entered a
time of upheaval, a result of both
internal disintegration and
external threats. The defences of
many Mycenean palaces were
strengthened. Records at Pylos
show the inhabitants feared attack
from the sea. By 1100 BCE, most of
the Mycenaean palaces had been
sacked and abandoned. This
triggered the so-called Dark Age
of Greece, when writing fell out of
use, not to be reintroduced until
the Homeric age (see 800 BCE).
In the late Bronze Age, parts of
Europe came to be dominated by
the Urnfield Culture named
after the practice of cremating the
dead and burying the remains in
funerary urns, sometimes
accompanied by rich grave goods.
This culture originated in the
Danube region in 1300 BCE, and
spread to Italy and central and
eastern Europe in the following
centuries.
Between 1200 and 700 BCE iron
technology spread northwards
from Greece to Central Europe.

,,

TOWARDS THE END OF THE 2ND

MILLENNIUM BCE, the eastern

THEY CAME BOLDLY

SAILING IN THEIR WARSHIPS
FROM THE MIDST OF THE
SEA, NONE BEING ABLE TO
WITHSTAND THEM

,,

An inscription by Ramesses II (r.12791213), referring to the Sea Peoples

f
n o pts
eig Egy ,
R
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18 se pha BC
c.1 mes eat 153
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20/05/11 12:46 PM

11001000 BCE

,,

,,

WHEN ALL LONGINGS THAT ARE

IN THE HEART VANISH, THEN A
MORTAL BECOMES IMMORTAL
Krishna Yajur Veda

Iron rapidly replaced bronze in

tools and weapons, signalling the
end of the Bronze Age.
In Mesoamerica, the regions
first great civilization, the Olmec,
was emerging in the lowlands of
Mexicos southern Gulf coast. The
Olmecs built ceremonial centres,
including San Lorenzo, constructed
temples and houses on earthen
mounds, and carved huge stone

heads clad in helmets. They also

established long-distance trade
routes. Meanwhile, other cultures
were emerging, such as at Cerro
Sechin, in what is now Peru.
Stone warrior
Monumental carvings from temples
at Cerro Sechin on the Peruvian
coast show warriors, torture victims,
and human sacrifices.

n
ea
na rk
ce Da s
y
d in
E M an eg
s
BC
b
00 end ece
1
1
e
d
c. rio Gr
pe e of
Ag

THE CLOSE OF THE 2ND MILLENIUM

SAW MAJOR CHANGES in the

power politics of West Asia

In 1070 BCE, the Egyptian New
Kingdom ended and Egypt
entered a time of unrest called
the Third Intermediate Period,
which lasted until 747 BCE (see
800700 BCE). Historians believe
that the power of the pharaohs
had been eroded by a priestly elite
who had gained control of many
areas. By 1000 BCE, all the
territories won by New Kingdom
pharaohs had been lost.
In Mesopotamia, there were
frequent wars between the
Babylonians, Assyrians, and
Elamites; the region was also
subjected to devastating raids by
Aramaean nomads from the west.
Meanwhile, other powers were
rising in the region. A Semiticspeaking people, who called
themselves Canaanites, had
inhabited the Levant for centuries,
living in city-states that controlled
the surrounding territory. They
were skilled seafarers and played
a major role in international trade.
By 1100 BCE, Canaanite port cities
such as Arwad, Byblos, Tyre, and
Sidon were expanding their
operations, establishing trading
posts and colonies throughout the
eastern Mediterranean. They
traded cedarwood from Lebanon,
glass- and ivory-ware, metal ores,
and most important, an expensive
purple dye made from murex
shellfish. It was this luxury
commodity that caused them to
be known by their more familiar
Greek name, the Phoenicians,
after phoinix, the Greek for purple.

sacred writings. Sanskrit, an

Indo-European language related
to Iranian and almost all European
languages, is also the ancestor
of modern languages such as
Hindi and Urdu.
Sacred writings called the
Vedas were transmitted orally
in Sanskrit for many centuries.
Although the Vedas are largely
religious writings and hymns,
the geographical information that
they contain not only describes
the gradual spread of farmers
and pastoralists from the Punjab
to the Ganges basin, but also
gives some information about
conflicts with other groups, and
local life at the time. For example,
the division of society into
varnas or castes is described in
the Vedas, first appearing in Book
X of Rigveda, although there is
nothing in the text to suggest
that the system was hereditary
at the time.

Mark of a culture
In this example of late-Jomon
pottery, the bowl and stand bear
the distinctive rope patterns that
give the Jomon period its name.

f
t o iate
ar
St med
E
BC
er gypt
69 Int
10 ird in E
d
h
o
T ri
Pe

Wu
ng as
Ki g h of
n
i
k
te
27 g da ule
10 Shan an to r
s ed M ven
im it
a
cla forfe He
E
BC

036-037_1299-1000BCE.indd 37

In China, a new dynasty replaced

the Shang in 1027 BCE, when King
Wu of the Zhou defeated the last
Shang ruler, Di-Xin. The Zhou
dynasty was to rule China for
700 years. This long era is usually
divided into two periods: the
Western and Eastern Zhou.
During the first era the Zhou capital
was Zongzhou. This was a time
of prosperity and strong central
control. Zhou territory was divided
into fiefs held by trusted noblemen,
in return for military allegiance.
But many aspects of Chinese
tradition already present in the
Shang period continued in the Zhou,
including ancestor worship and the
use of oracle bones for divination.
Meanwhile in Japan, the Jomon
culture, named after the cord
patterns (jomon) that decorate its
pottery, continued. The Jomon
people were still hunter-gatherers,
albeit prosperous and sedentary.
In northern India, small groups
of nomadic pastoralists had been
migrating into the Ganges basin
from Central
Asia since
the 1500s BCE.
By the
1100s BCE, most
had begun to
settle and cultivate
crops. They spoke
Sanskrit, which became
the language of early Indian

s
ed
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e
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k
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20/05/11 12:46 PM

35

3 0 0 0 7 0 0

BCE

E A R LY C I V I L I Z AT I O N S

knob is part of
locking device

neck is circled
by a collar

Decorated
ecorated box of Perpauty

Perpauty and
his wife

Cat figurine

c.600 BCE
This copper alloy figurine sits on a
wooden base. Cats were linked with
the goddess Bastet, who protected
the pharaoh. A hole through the
nose originally held a ring.

children bringing
offerings

Duck-shaped flask

Statue with stele

c.1700 BCE
This jar is carved in the shape of a
duck, which appears to be trussed
and plucked. It probably held cosmetic
paste, such as eye-paint, which was
likely removed and applied using a
stopper-cum-applicator, now lost.

c.1360 BCE
A carved figure representing a high-priest
of Amun holds a stele, or carved slab. These
slabs were used as grave or commemorative
markers. The inscription is a hymn to the Sun
god and lists local dignitaries.

ANCIENT EGYPT

c.1370
1370 BCE
CE
This sycamore box belonging
Perpauty
to a man called P
erpauty may
have held linen. All four sides
are painted with scenes. This
side shows Perpauty and his
wife being offered gifts by their
son and three daughters.

material is the rare

blue stone, anhydrite

A REMARKABLE CIVILIZATION REVEALED THROUGH EVERYDAY ITEMS AND TREASURES

Artefacts manufactured over some 2,000 years bear

witness to the skills of Egyptian craft workers. They also
reflect Egypts wealth and its trade network, through
which ebony, lapis lazuli, and turquoise were imported.
Many of the objects shown here were used in daily life by well-to-do
Egyptians. They reflect belief in the afterlife and the practice of burying
possessions that it was believed would be used by the dead persons
spirit in the afterlife. The ruling classes were buried with great wealth,
but almost all of their tombs were stripped of their riches either in
antiquity or more recently.

Mummiform shabti

c.1300 BCE
This large shabti figure has
been carved from wood.
The tools the figure carries
are traditional symbols of
kingship, while the scarab
represents the god Khepri.
scarab ornament
on chest

mask of cartonnage a combination

of plaster and linen
details such
as eyes are
modelled
in paler
wrappings

Shabtis

12921190 BCE
Statuettes of servant-figures called shabtis
were commonly placed in tombs. The Egyptians
believed they would come alive to serve the
dead persons spirit in the life to come.

Funerary mask

c.1500 BCE
This mask would have been placed over the head
of a mummy. The Egyptians mummified bodies
because the deceased spirit could not survive
unless there was a body for it to return to.

36

038-039_collection_Egyptian.indd 38
38
038-039_collection_Egyptian.indd

lapis lazuli
inlay

Mummified jackal or dog

c.600 BCE
Jackals and, from the 8th century BCE
onwards, also dogs were mummified in
honour of the jackal-headed god Anubis,
who presided over funerals and embalmings.

25/05/2011
20/05/2011 18:09
10:06

A N C I E N T E GY P T
Necklaces

Ear
E
ar studs and earring

c.15501069
15501069 BCE
Once the basic shapes for these
studs and earring were made,
strands of glass in a contrasting
colour were wound around
them. The
he studs required large
perforations in the wearers lobes.

c.15501069 BCE
Egyptian craftsmen had access
to many semi-precious stones
and precious metals. Necklaces
were worn in daily life and also
buried with the dead.

Wooden comb

backing for
mirror

c.300 BCE
This double-sided comb has a
row of longer and shorter teeth.
Many Egyptians had short hair
and wore wigs. Combs were
used to keep both natural hair
and wigs tidy.

gold band
purple amethyst

handle and
backing made
of ebony

ibex symbolizes grace

and mastery over the
natural world

Cosmetic spoon

c.1360 BCE
This spoon for cosmetic paste has
been carved from schist in the
shape of an ibex, with its head
bent over its back, so that its
straight horns touch the bowl.
disk representing sun

Amulet

912343 BCE
The wedjat eye symbolizes
the eye of the god Horus. This
charm was placed on mummies
to protect the dead persons
spirit in the afterlife. It also
symbolized regeneration.

Male figure amulet

c.2200 BCE
This golden charm shows a
kneeling male god clasping
two palm ribs. He is probably
the god Heh, who symbolized
eternity. The palm ribs are
notched, representing years.

Mirror handle

c.1360 BCE
This hardwood mirror setting
originally held a polished
bronze mirror disc. The handle
is carved in the shape of a
papyrus column topped with
the god Bes a popular deity.

Frog amulets

c.1360 BCE
Frogs were a symbol of life
and fertility. Women wore
frog amulets for luck. These
charms are made of blue
faience (pottery) with details
picked out in gold.

inlay held
within cells
of gold

Scarab pectoral

c.136152 BCE
This magnificent chest ornament
represents the scarab god Khepri
rolling the red sun-disk. It was found
in the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

charm may
have been part
of a necklace

Winged scarab

644322 BCE
Scarabs were common lucky charms.
The scarab beetle was a symbol for
rebirth and was worn as jewellery
in ancient Egypt.

39
038-039_collection_Egyptian.indd 39
39
038-039_collection_Egyptian.indd

37

25/05/2011
20/05/2011 18:09
10:08

1000900 BCE

900800 BCE

In the mid-10th century BCE , during the reign of King Solomon, Megiddo (in
modern Israel) was an important Israelite fortress and administrative centre.

The jaguar featured in many Mesoamerican and South American religions.

Here it is depicted in a stone carving from Chavn de Huntar.

IN THE 10TH CENTURY BCE, THE

PERIOD OF DECLINE in the major

SHALMANESER III (858824 BCE)

powers of Western Asia continued.

Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria had
weakened, enabling the rise of the
short-lived but historically
significant Kingdom of Israel.
The Israelites were Semiticspeaking pastoralists who,
according to the Bible, migrated
into the land of Canaan in the
1200s BCE. There, they came into
conflict with the local Philistines
and Canaanites. Around 1000 BCE
King David (r.1006965 BCE)
united the Israelite tribes, and
established his capital at
Jerusalem. Davids son Solomon
(r.c.965928 BCE) increased
Israelite territory and built a
magnificent palace and temple in
the capital, but on his death the
kingdom split in two. Eventually
Etched in gold
This golden plaque showing the
protective wedjat eye symbol dates
from the reign of Psusennes I of the
21st dynasty, when Egypt was divided.

s
in
0
eg nie
00 s b lo
c.1 eek d co ean
Gr foun Aeg
to the
in
BC

CE

0B s
00 rt
c.1 op fo ern
st pe
llt
Hi n we uro
i
E
ilt
u
b

38

Israel and, later, Judah became

part of the Assyrian Empire.
Meanwhile, Assyria began to
re-emerge as a major power in
Mesopotamia. King Ashur-dan II
(r.934912 BCE) boosted agriculture,
bringing prosperity. His successor
Adad-nirari II increased Assyrias
territory, regaining lands that had
been held by the Middle Assyrian
Empire in the 13th century BCE.

,
vid es
ian
Da trib
yr
g
e
n
t
i eli lem
ss
an
i
K
A
b
CE sra
sa
o- ed
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BC
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BC
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040-041_1000-700BCE.indd 40

In the 9th century BCE, King

Shalmaneser III of Assyria
greatly expanded his empire,
with campaigns against
Mesopotamian tribes, Israel
and Judah, Syria, Urartu, and
Anatolia. This black limestone
obelisk commemorates his
deeds and those of his
commander-in-chief, DayyanAssur. It details, in cuneiform,
the enforced tributes paid by
the people he conquered.

BC

0 o
00 s t
c.1 tart r in
s ive ca
ing
e
r
f K in
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ac gO hA
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en on ort
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BC
Ad p al N
65 lom l (to
9
o
l
So srae
ve
I
de

THE OLMEC CULTURE CONTINUED

TO DEVELOP IN MESOAMERICA

in the 9th century BCE. After

San Lorenzo was destroyed
in c.900 BCE, La Venta to the
northeast became the main
Olmec centre. This larger
settlement was dominated by
a 34m (111ft) high pyramid, the
forerunner of Mayan temples.
The Olmecs also devised a script
of glyphs the first in the region.
Their influence spread across
Mesoamerica, impacting on other
cultures that were starting to
emerge at this time the
Zapotecs and the Maya.
In eastern North America, the
Adena culture was developing
in the Ohio Valley. It was
characterized by ritual earthworks
and burial mounds containing
objects of fine craftsmanship.
Far to the south, the Chavn
culture had appeared in the
Peruvian Andes by c.1200 BCE and
spread to the coast. The Chavn

ian

yth

Sc
ad
00 spre eppe
7
st
0 s
90 mad the
no ross
ac
E
BC

d
ru l
m
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88 om f As
o
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be
E
BC

were skilled engineers and

architects who built canals and
levelled slopes for farming and
construction. The main
settlement, Chavn de
Huntar, was high in the
Andes, and seems to have
been a pilgrimage centre for a
cult of supernatural beings that
were part-human, part-animal.
The main god, the Staff God, is
usually depicted with fangs.
In Europe, iron was gradually
replacing bronze as the metal of
choice for tools and weapons. The
area around Hallstatt in Austria
became a centre for an early Iron
Age culture which developed from
the Urnfield culture (see 1200 BCE).
Hallstatt chieftains dominated
local salt-mining and iron working.
They lived in hilltop forts and were
buried with rich grave goods.
During the 9th century BCE, the
Phoenicians were becoming a
major power in the Mediterranean.
Their trading ships, previously
confined to the eastern sea, now

Grave goods
This Iron Age brooch
was discovered in a grave at Hallstatt
in Austria. The type of jewellery
found suggests that a woman was
buried there.

plied the western Mediterranean.

Colonies were set up in Cadiz, in
Spain, on the Balearic Islands,
and, most notably, on the North
African coast at Carthage (in
modern Tunisia). Through this
trading network, the Phoenician
alphabet became known
throughout the Mediterranean.
In Western Asia, the NeoAssyrian Empire began to
expand, and, one by one, Israel,
Judah, and the small states of
nearby Syria and Phoenicia were
brought under Assyrian control.

KEY
Assyria

EUROPE

Egypt
Phoenician
colonies

Greek
colonies

Gadir

Carthage

Greek
city-states
Emerging
Etruscan
city-states

Black Sea

Caere
Pithekoussai

Phoenician
city-states

Athens
Corinth
Miletus
Syracuse Sparta

Me

dite

rranean

AFRICA

Sea
Bast

Khorsabad
Nimrud
Al Mina
Byblos
Babylon
Jerusalem
Tanis

Mediterranean region
This map of the Mediterranean region in the 8th century BCE shows
the colonies established by the dominant civilizations of the period,
including the Phoenicians and Greeks.

III
er
es ar
n
a rq by
alm Qa d
Sh e of on le
E
l
i
s
t
BC
at alit cu
3
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a
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26/05/2011 20:48

800700 BCE

In 705 BCE, the Assyrian capital moved to Nineveh. This stone relief shows the Assyrian
king and his queen feasting in the gardens of the royal palace there.

century BCE, conquering rival

states in Western Asia and
reducing them to provinces.
Assyrian success was based
on a disciplined, technically
advanced army and an efficient
bureaucracy. Conquered peoples
had to pay costly tributes, and
revolts were ruthlessly crushed.
Particularly troublesome nations
suffered forced deportations
large numbers of people were
resettled in Assyria.
Following a period of weak rule
in the first half of the 8th century
BCE, Tiglath-Pileser III (r.744
727 BCE) recouped Assyrias losses.
His successor Sargon II (r.722
704 BCE) campaigned in Iran and

Ritual container
Zhou smiths were highly skilled
metal-workers. This bronze bowl
dates from the 8th century BCE, the
time of the Eastern Zhou dynasty.

Anatolia, conquering Babylon and,

in 714 BCE, defeating the Armenian
state of Urartu. He also defeated
the Israelites and transported the
ten lost tribes of Israel to
northern Mesopotamia.

been embroiled in a
destructive civil war, and
was now divided into
small states. In the 8th
century BCE, the Kushite
ruler of Nubia to the
south, Piye (r.747
716 BCE), conquered
both Upper and
Lower Egypt, and
united them under
Kushite rule.
In the Mediterranean,
Phoenician influence
continued to spread,
as the city of Carthage
in North Africa grew
powerful. Greece,
meanwhile, was starting
to emerge from the Dark
Age that had followed the
Mycenaeans downfall.
City-states or poleis were
forming on the Greek
mainland, centred on
hilltop citadels. To
increase their territory, the
poleis founded colonies
around the shores of the Aegean.
Although rivalry between cities
was often intense, a distinct
Greek identity and culture
was emerging. All Greeks were
identified as Hellenes. In 776 BCE
the first pan-Hellenic games were
held in honour of Zeus at Olympia.
By the mid-700s BCE the Greeks had
adapted the Phoenician alphabet
Twin discovery
This painting by Charles de La Fosse
depicts the legend of Romulus and
Remus, who were abandoned as
babies and suckled by a she-wolf,
before being rescued by shepherds.

n- d
pa el ,
st es h ece
r
i
F am Gre rs
CE
g in yea
6 B ic
77 llen pia four
He Olym ery
at d ev fter
an erea
th

l g,
ita
ap yan
u c Luo of
o
Zh t to ning od
s
CE
i
n
1 B ea gi er
77 ves g be ou p
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h
i
Z
m rk n
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Ea

f
te
to
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St atio n
ion f Ro lus
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E
c.7 k co terr
BC
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040-041_1000-700BCE.indd 41

s
er
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Ho dyss n
ow
O
B
50 nd n d
c.7 iad a ritte
w
Il
CE

rs
E
ule nto BC
e r ies i 747
t
i
h rm t by
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Ku d a ng i
E
en ri
BC
50 ia s que
c.7 Nub con
,
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Tig yria E)
s
s
BC
4 4 of A 27
c.7 III (to 7
er ns
les gi
Pi n be
g
i
re
E
BC

II e
on on
rg hr
Sa ian t
E
BC
yr
22 Ass )
c.7 es BCE
k
5
ta 70
(to

ats
efe or
I d maj ir
I
as
on ts
rg s i us
Sa ack of M
E
s
C
4 B nd ite
71 tu a ed s
ar sacr
Ur

Kushite statue
This alabaster statue dates
from the period of Kushite
rule in Egypt. Amenirdis I,
sister of Shabaka (r.c.716
702 BCE), is shown holding
a flail a traditional
symbol of Egyptian rule.

for their own language,

and not long after, Homers
epic poems the Iliad and
the Odyssey hitherto
transmitted orally were
probably written down.
In the 8th century BCE,
central Italy was a mosaic
of small states ruled by the
dominant Etruscans Italys
first indigenous civilization
and Italic tribes such as
the Latins, Umbrians, and
Sabines. Rome is thought
to have been founded by
the Latin chief Romulus
in 753 BCE. In its early
days, the city, built on
seven hills, was ruled by various
peoples, including the Etruscans,
Latins, and Sabines.

,,

In China, the Zhou capital moved

east to Luoyang in 770 BCE,
marking the start of the earlier
part of the Eastern Zhou era,
which lasted until about
480 BCE (see 500 BCE). Royal
control had weakened, as the
lords who held large fiefdoms had
grown more powerful. Now
central control disintegrated, and
rival warlords fought one another.
Despite the chaos, this era was a
time of technical and cultural
advancement. Iron tools increased
efficiency in agriculture and food
production. Populations and cities
grew, and philosophy, the arts,
and literature began to develop.
In Egypt, the unrest of the Third
Intermediate Period continued.
Since 850 BCE, the country had

ASSYRIA CONTINUED ITS POLICY

OF AGGRESSION through the 8th

SUCH A
GREAT TASK
IT WAS TO
FOUND THE
ROMAN
RACE.

,,

Virgil, from Aeneid 1:33

al
pit
ca
n
ria h
sy ve
As ine
E
N
BC to
5
70 ves
o
m

ns
ria a
sy ae
As Jud
1 B de
70 inva
CE

26/05/2011 19:06

39

THE
CLASSICAL AGE
700599

This period saw the emergence of complex civilizations.

Communities flourished and trade developed in the fertile
valleys of Egypt, India, western Asia, and China. Europe, and
Central and South America also flourished during this time.

700676 BCE

,,

675651 BCE

,,

HE EVERYWHERE
SOUGHT EXCUSES FOR
STIRRING UP WAR.
Livy, from Histories book I, xxi, on Tullus Hostilius, third King of Rome

771 BCE, and the Western Zhou

capital was transferred east to
Chengzhou. From there, the
Eastern Zhou dynasty presided
over the fragmentation of China
into as many as 148 states. From
around 700 BCE the Zhou were
ruled by puppet-emperors, while
real power lay with the ba (senior
one) among nearby states.
Under Qi Huan Gong (r.685
643 BCE) the state of Qi had
supremacy. After Huan Gongs
death the competition for power
between his five sons weakened
Qi, and Jin Wen Gong (r.685
643 BCE), the ruler of Jin, rose to
become ba. By the end of the
century, power in China alternated
between the states of Qi, Jin,
Qin, and Chu.

Nubian Pharoah
Taharqa ruled Egypt for 19 years
before an Assyrian invasion forced
him to return to Nubia in 671 BCE.
ic
ad to
m
t
No egin nen
a
b
0 B ans erm the
0
i
n
c.7 yth ish p ts o es
Sc abl en pp
e
t
es ttlem n st
se ster
we
CE

st
lie
ar s in
E
n
n
E
BC
tio ca
00 rip rus
c.7 insc Et

44

42

THE
NUMBER
OF
KINGS
OF ROME

In Italy, the city-state of Rome

was beginning to acquire an urban
heart, and the first forum was
constructed. The second king of
Rome, Numa Pompilius (r.716
674 BCE) is believed to have
established the main Roman
priesthoods and a calendar.
In the Near East, the Assyrians
continued their expansion,
confronting Egypt, whose
intermittent support for rebels
against Assyrian rule in Syria had
long been a source of tension. In
671 BCE, the Assyrian ruler
Esarhaddon invaded, capturing
the Egyptian royal capital of
Memphis. However, Assyrian
control over Egypt was weak,
and the Nubian pharaoh Taharqa
drove the invaders out.
The Etruscans expanded
southwards from modern
Tuscany and Umbria around
700 BCE. Their language remains
undeciphered, but lavish tombs
indicate a rich material culture.
During their expansion, the
Etruscans founded cities such
as Capua, but came into conflict
with Greek colonies and with
Rome. Although more powerful
at first, the Etruscans were
politically disunited, and a long
series of wars with the Romans
turned against them.

,
of alem to
re
ib
tu
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h
ul
c
s
J
a c sh in
na es o As
n
n
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Ad our lley
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BC
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CE
b
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9 B a f E 5th
68 harq h o he 2
a t
a
o
T ar ng
Ph ndi y
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of
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s
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a
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8
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be

IT TOOK A CONCERTED CAMPAIGN

BY ASHURBANIPAL (r.668627 BCE)

in 664663 BCE to defeat the

Egyptians who had rebelled
against Assyrian rule, and to
push Assyrian control as far south
as Thebes (modern Luxor). This
was not the last rebellion against
the Assyrians only ten years
later, the vassal king of Sas,
Psammetichus I (r.664610 BCE),
revolted against his Assyrian
masters, driving them out and
founding the 26th Dynasty, under
which Egypts independence was
restored. After the final collapse
of Assyrian power, in 609 BCE,
Egypt was able to establish a
foothold in Palestine under
Pharaoh Necho II (610595 BCE).
In Greece, the rise to preeminence of a number of city
states began, notably Athens,
Sparta, and Corinth. In Corinth, a
new type of ruler, the tyrant,
emerged with the overthrow of
the Bacchiadae kings in 658 BCE.

,,

,,

IN CHINA, THE CITY OF LUOYANG

HAD FALLEN TO THE SHEN in

Pyramids from the cemetery at Nuri, Sudan, which was the burial site of the
Napatan and Meroitic kings from around 650 BCE .

TAHARQA THE GODLESS

CAME OUT TO TAKE
EGYPT.
Ashurbanipal's account of the conquest of Egypt, 664 BCE

The new ruler, Cypselus (reign

c.657627 BCE) relied on force of
personality rather than divine
sanction, and established a
dynasty under whom Corinth
enjoyed a seven-decade period
of dominance, creating colonies
throughout the western
Mediterranean.
On the fringes of the Greek
world, in western Asia Minor, the
kingdom of Lydia was increasing
in power under Gyges (685
647 BCE), its first great king. He
allied with Ashurbanipal of
Assyria to see off a joint threat
to their two lands by Cimmerian
raiders in 668665 BCE, but then

ASHURBANIPAL (r.668627 BCE)

Ashurbanipal initially shared
rule over Assyria with his
brother, Shamash-shuma-ukin.
After defeating his brothers
revolt in 648 BCE he greatly
expanded the Assyrian domains.
As well as annexing Egypt, he
attacked Elam, sacking its
capital, Susa, in 647 BCE. His
latter years saw none of the
military successes of his early
reign. At his death a dispute
between his two sons further
weakened the Assyrian Empire.

e
s
liu om
sti of R
o
s H ing
liu k
Tu hird
E
t
BC es
4
67 com
be

assisted Psammetichus I of
Egypt in his revolt against the
Assyrians. He also adopted an
aggressive stance towards his
neighbours, the Ionian Greeks of
Miletus and Smyrna.
According to Japanese tradition,
the first emperor, Jimmu Tenno,
a descendant of the sun goddess
Amaterasu, ascended to the
throne in 660 BCE. The stories
of his migration from southern
Honshu eastwards to establish
his kingdom near Nara are
legendary, but may echo real
events of the Japanese Yayoi
period after 100 BCE, when tribal
chieftains began to consolidate
their territories.
The third king of Rome, Tullus
Hostilius (r.673642 BCE) was
more martially inclined than his
precedessor Numa Pompilius, and

30,000

THE NUMBER OF
CLAY TABLETS
UNCOVERED IN
ASHURBANIPALS
LIBRARY

s
ge
Gy he a
t di
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y
0
67 mes of L
co rone
th
BC

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650601 BCE

A lion frieze from the Processional Way in Babylon, which was built around 600 BCE and ran
through the heart of the city to the Ishtar Gate.

PHRYGIA
LYDIA

Carchemish

THE ASSYRIANS HAD FINALLY

CONQUERED BABYLON in 691 BCE,

URARTU
MEDES
Harran
Khorsabad
Nineveh
Ashur
ASSYRIA

Me

Cyprus
BABYLONIA
PHOENICIA
ELAM
Se rran Tyre
Damascus Babylon
a ea
n
ISRAEL
SYRIAN Uruk
Ur
Jerusalem AMMON DESERT
EGYPT JUDAH
MOAB
Memphis

di

te

The Assyrian Empire

From its core around Assur and
Nineveh, the Assyrian empire grew to
encompass Babylonia, Media, Elam,
Urartu, Syria, and Egypt.

led the war against neighbouring

Alba Longa, which ultimately led
to that citys destruction and the
deportation of its population to
Rome, in the first major Roman
expansion. The fourth king,
Ancus Marcius (641617 BCE),
expanded Roman territory towards
the coast, and founded Romes
great port of Ostia at the mouth of
the Tiber. His successor,
Tarquinius Priscus (616578 BCE)
was the fifth king of Rome and one
of the citys greatest kings. He
came from an Etruscan
background, a sign of the high
level of Etruscan influence over
the early city of Rome. Tarquinius
Priscus won a series of victories
over the Sabines, the Latins,
and the Etruscans, who all
competed with Rome for
dominance over central Italy. He is
also said to have established the
public games in Rome.

n
nia s
ylo aten is
b
E)
Ba thre but 9 BC
E
BC on
e, s 64
l
2
i
u
65 bell an r end
re syri wn (
As t do
pu

f
eo
Ag s in
E
n
i
BC
es
g
50 be tat
c.6 ts ek s
n
ra Gre
ty any
m

partially destroying the city.

Reconstruction work began under
Esarhaddon (680669 BCE), and by
652 BCE Babylon had recovered its
importance and became the
centre for a major revolt led by
Shamash-shuma-ukin against his
younger brother Ashurbanipal. It
took four years of war to
suppress the Babylonians and
their Elamite allies, and the
fighting drained Assyrias ability to
hold on to its empire. By 630 BCE,
Assyria had lost Egypt and
Palestine, and in 626 BCE the
Babylonians regained their
independence. By 616 BCE
Babylon was strong enough to
invade Assyria, aided by the
Medes (whose base was in
northwestern Iran). In 612 BCE
the Babylonians, Medes,
and Scythians sacked
the Assyrian capital of
Nineveh. The
Assyrian empire
crumbled.
A remnant of the
Assyrian army
regrouped and
established a small
kingdom around Harran,
but by 609 BCE this, too,
had fallen.
The Scythians
formed part of a
culture of nomadic
horsemen which held
a large territory on the
steppes north of the
Caucasus from around
800 BCE. In 652 BCE they
forced the Medes to submit

to them and the Scythian King

Bartatua was even sufficiently
influential to be given an Assyrian
princess as his wife. The alliance
with Assyria survived into the
reign of his son Madyes, but
around 615 BCE the Scythians
switched sides and played a key
role in Assyrias destruction.
Their Median subjects soon turned
on them and around 590 BCE the
Scythians retreated north.
In the Greek world, there was a
growing movement to establish
colonies in the Mediterranean.
Among the earliest were in Italy,
including Syracuse, founded
around 733 BCE. In North Africa,
Greek settlers founded Cyrene (in
Libya) in about 630 BCE, and
Massilia (Marseilles) around

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and around the Black Sea coast.
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dominance in the Peloponnese. A
defeat by the city-state of Argos,
in 669 BCE, was followed by
military reforms and victory
against the Messenians (660
650 BCE). By 600 BCE, Sparta had
conquered almost all the
southern Peloponnese and
established a stratified social
system.
Spartas future rival, Athens,
gradually united the area
surrounding Attica under its rule

in the 8th century BCE. The

hereditary monarchy was
replaced by nine archons,
chosen annually. Shortly after a
damaging popular uprising by
Cylon in 632 BCE, Athens received
its first law code, drafted by Draco
in 621 BCE. The Draconian law
was later known for the severity of
the punishments it prescribed.
To the south of Egypt the state
of Napata became a power of the
first order, conquering Egypt
under Piankhy (751716 BCE) and
controlling it under after the death
of Taharqa (690664 BCE).

stylized
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43

600551 BCE

550501 BCE

A medieval view of the city of Jerusalem, which was captured by the Babylonians in 597 BCE . It was taken again,
and largely destroyed, 10 years later. After both sieges many of its inhabitants were deported to Babylon.

Central Asia became a stronghold of Buddhist beliefs. These cave paintings

at Dunhuang in China illustrate a variety of Buddhist parables.

HAVING HELPED DESTROY THE

ASSYRIAN EMPIRE, Nabopolassar

(r.626605 BCE), first king of the

neo-Babylonian dynasty,
embellished the city of Babylon.
His son Nebuchadnezzar (r.605
562 BCE) defeated the Egyptians in
605 BCE, repaired Babylons main
ziggurat, and ordered the building
of the famous Hanging Gardens.
The last neo-Babylonian king,
Nabonidus (r.556539 BCE), moved
his royal court to the Arabian
oasis of Tema, but discontent
rose among the Babylonians
during his reign.
The Medes of northwest Persia
(Iran), consolidated their kingdom
under Cyaxares (r.624585 BCE)
and took part in the destruction
of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BCE.

Under the last Median king,

Astyages (r.584549 BCE), Median
armies campaigned in Azerbaijan
and controlled land as far west as
Lydia (Turkey). But by the 550s BCE,
Media was under pressure from
the Babylonians to the south and
the new power of Persia.
The kingdom of Judah had long
acted as a block to Assyrian and
Babylonian expansion to the west.
In 597 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar took
Jerusalem and deposed King
Jehoiakim. The king they installed
in his place, Zedekiah, turned
against the Babylonians, and in
587 BCE there was another siege.
Much of the city was burnt, the
Jewish Temple destroyed, and
many of its inhabitants deported
to a life of exile in Babylon.

The powerful city-state of Athens

experienced reforms under Solon
about 600 BCE, notably a law code
that protected the property rights
of the poor, forbade debt-slavery,
and moderated the more extreme
parts of the Draconian laws
(see 650-601). Around 560 BCE,
Pisistratus seized power and began
to rule as a tyrant (dictator). Driven
out once, he returned in 547 BCE
and established a stable regime.
The Greek city of Miletus saw the
beginnings of philosophical
thought from about 600 BCE.
Thales (born c.624 BCE) tried
to understand the basic nature
of the universe and thought its
fundamental element was water.

CYRUS, RULER OF THE SMALL

KINGDOM OF PERSIS (also called

Pars) in the west of Persia (Iran),

revolted against his Median
overlords in 559 BCE. By 550 BCE
he had conquered the Median
capital of Ecbatana and
overthrown their ruler, King
Astyages. Afraid of the increasing
power of Persia, the Lydians
under King Croesus opposed
Cyrus, but he struck west and
in 547 BCE, on the River Halys,
defeated the Lydian army and
annexed western Asia Minor.
In 539 BCE Cyrus captured
Babylon, acquiring most of
Mesopotamia and making the
Persian Empire the greatest in
the Middle East. Cyrus died in
530 BCE while fighting in what
is today Turkmenistan, and was
succeeded by his son Cambyses.
In 526 BCE Cambyses sent his
armies south into Egypt. The
Pharaoh Amasis had just died and
his successor Psammetichus III

Darius the Great

King Darius is shown enthroned and
bearing symbols of power in this
frieze. His son Xerxes succeeded him.

Cambyses died in 522 BCE and

after the brief rebellion of Bardiya,
who was either the younger
brother of Cambyses or someone
impersonating him, Darius, a
Persian noble, took over as king.
Widespread revolts broke out,
including in Media, but Darius put

,,

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I HAVE FOUGHT 19
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The Behistun inscription of Darius

was not well established.

Cambyses defeated the Egyptian
army at Pelusium in 525 BCE and
then captured the royal capital
at Memphis. He installed himself
as the pharaoh and then subdued
south Egypt. Persian rule in
Egypt lasted until 402 BCE.

Lawgiver and reformer

This image shows the Greek statesmen and lawgiver Solon teaching. His
reforms began to undermine the power of the aristocracy in Athens.
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them all down. He then expanded

the Persian Empire
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and on the borders of India from
519 to 515 BCE. In India, the
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TO BE FEARED BY ONE
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,,

Gautama Siddharta (Buddha), 563483 BCE

482

THE NUMBER
OF YEARS OF
THE ROMAN
REPUBLIC

kingdoms. Of these, Magadha

was the most important state.
Afterwards, Darius subdued most
of the Greek city-states of Ionia,
before he crossed into Europe in
513 BCE to conquer Thrace.
In Italy, Servius Tullius (r.578
534), the sixth king of Rome and
said to be a former slave, had
succeeded Tarquinius Priscus in
578 BCE. During his reign he
implemented important reforms,
fixing the formal boundaries of
the city by dividing the Romans
into four tribes, a system that
would be extended as Roman
territory grew, and also into
classes that were graded by
wealth. The population was
divided by what equipment they
could afford and what role they
played in the Roman army. The
wealthiest class fought as cavalry,
the higher classes as heavy
infantry, and the poor as light
auxiliary troops.The votes of the
richer classes carried much
greater weight in the popular
assembly. The last king of Rome,
Tarquinius Superbus (r.534
509 BCE) was an Etruscan.
Concerned at the growing
tyranny of his rule, a group of

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Roman aristocrats led by Lucius

Junius Brutus and Lucius
Tarquinius Collatinus (the kings
cousin) won over the army and
barred the gates of the city to
the king, who was deposed.
The coup leaders then
established a republic in which
supreme authority was held by
two magistrates called consuls.
The power of the consuls was
limited by the fact that new

consuls were elected by the

popular assembly each year.
Some time around 530 BCE,
Gautama Siddharta, a Hindu
prince of Kapilvastu (now in
Nepal), had a religious revelation
and rejected his noble upbringing
to embark on a quest for
enlightenment. Six years later
he received it and began to preach
a way of moderate asceticism to
gain release from the suffering of

material life. He is known as the

Buddha (which means the
awakened one in Sanskrit) and
his followers, who became known
as Buddhists, spread his ideas
throughout South Asia and, in the
late 3rd century CE into China and
thence to Korea, Japan, and
Southeast Asia.
Confucius (or Kong Fuzi) was
born around 551 BCE, in a period of
political instability during Chinas

Spring and Autumn period. From

the age of 15 he devoted himself
to scholarship, and the political
philosophy he developed reflects
the turbulent times. He taught
that the righteous man (or junzi)
must have regard to others and
inflict no unnecessary harm.
His philosophy, as developed
by his disciples, taught respect for
elders and became a cornerstone
of the later imperial system.

CYRUS THE GREAT

(r.559539 BCE)
Little is known about the
early life of Cyrus. He was
the ruler of the kingdom of
Pars when he led a revolt
against his Median overlord
Astyages. By defeating
Astyages, Cyrus became king
of the Medes. He then
continued to expand Persian
influence with the conquest
of Lydia. Cyrus adapted local
ideas about kingship to cast
himself as an ideal ruler in
the cities he conquered.
Cyrus died in 539 BCE.

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Persian elite
These archers from the palace of Darius at Susa were the elite of the Persian army, which
included representatives from provinces as far off as Ethiopia and Afghanistan.

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45

snake-haired
Medusa figure

Medusa antefix
DATE UNKNOWN

This terracotta antefix

an ornament placed at
the cornice of buildings
or at roof eaves is in
the form of Medusa,
the mythical creature
whose gaze turned
people to stone.
swept-forward
cheek piece
leaf-shaped blade

Corinthian helmet

600500 BCE
The Corinthian helmet, made
from a single bronze sheet, was
the most common type in Greece,
from around 750300 BCE.

Spearhead

600400 BCE
Greek hoplites (armed
infantry soldiers) carried
a large thrusting spear,
of which this is the tip.
Aphrodite,
the goddess
of love

ANCIENT GREECE
FROM THE FUNCTIONAL TO THE DECORATIVE, THE GREEKS PRODUCED ART OF GREAT BEAUTY

While the Greeks created magnificent monumental art, smaller

items such as jewellery, musical instruments, weaponry, and
vases show the Greek love of intricate forms and decorative
adornment throughout all periods of their history.

Bronze mirror
fastening
chain

490460 BCE
This mirror is richly
adorned with an image
of Aphrodite flanked
by cupids.

Greek art underwent a series of phases that were reflected in all aspects
of artistic production, but particularly on vases. In the Geometric phase
(c.850700 BCE), decoration was mainly composed of geometric forms,
replaced in the Orientalizing phase (c.700600 BCE) with floral and
animal themes, followed by the more naturalistic representations
of the Classical phase (from 600 BCE).
Bronze cymbals

Gold earrings

500400 BCE
Greek cymbals are bell- or
cup-shaped, and are often
depicted on vases being
held by fauns or satyrs,
or by women in
Bacchanalian revels.

420400 BCE
These delicate gold filigree
earrings depict boats containing
sirens, mythical creatures
whose beautiful voices lured
unwary seafarers to their doom.

Mirror lid and fibula

cup-shaped form

Aulos

silver mouthpiece

400 BCE
This wind instrument was
originally a double one (one
wooden pipe has been lost),
played through a reed.

420400 BCE
This silver fibula (brooch) and
chain may have fastened together
a cloak. The ornate mirror-back
shows Aphrodite with the
half-goat god Pan.

Gold brooch

finger hole

650600 BCE
This hawk-shaped brooch dates
from a period in which Oriental
(and particularly Egyptian)
influences were strong in Greece.

48

46

048-049_Coll_Ancient_Greece2.indd 48
48
048-049_Coll_Ancient_Greece2.indd

26/05/2011
19/05/2011 14:33
10:42

Ostrakon

c.475470 BCE
In Athens, influential politicians could be
ostracized (exiled) by public vote. The name
of the politician each voter wished to be
banished was inscribed on a piece of pottery.

Boeotian horse and rider figurine

550 BCE
The depiction of this horse and
rider has an archaic feel about it,
in contrast to the production of
Boeotian terracotta workshops
over 200 years later (see right).

retrograde
(right-to-left)
inscription

Boeotian figurine

Discus

400200 BCE
This terracotta figurine of a
woman holding a jar comes
from Boeotia, where a tradition
of such sculptures began as
early as the 8th century BCE.

600500 BCE
This fine bronze discus belonged
to an athlete called Exoidas. After
he won a victory in a sporting contest
using it, he dedicated the discus
to the gods Castor and Pollux.

Attic askos

lotus and
honeysuckle
pattern

425400 BCE
The askos was a type of vessel for
pouring liquids such as oil, shaped
in the form of a traditional wine sack.
The design is in the red-figure style
that became popular around 530 BCE.

Attic skyphos

Apulian pyxis

525500 BCE
This drinking vessel shows a
couple at their wedding standing
in a chariot. The vase is painted
in the black-figure style.

500400 BCE
A pyxis was often used for storing
small items of jewellery and
cosmetics. This south-Italian example
is decorated with geometrical shapes.

checker-board
pattern

cylindrical
neck

hero Hercules carrying

Erymanthean boar

double band
of meanders

lotus bud
pattern

top of foot and

lower base
painted black

Athenian amphora

540530 BCE
An amphora was a type of vessel used
for storing wine. This one is decorated
using the black-figure technique, which
pre-dates the red-figure method.

Attic lekythos

480470 BCE
Greek vases were often painted with
mythological scenes. This blackfigure vase shows the goddess
Athena beating a giant to his knees.

Epichysis

375340 BCE
The long-spouted epichysis was a vessel
used for pouring wine. This south-Italian
vase has its base decorated with a pattern
of white chevrons.

49
048-049_Coll_Ancient_Greece2.indd 49
49
048-049_Coll_Ancient_Greece2.indd

47

26/05/2011
19/05/2011 14:3
10:4

500491 BCE

490476 BCE

,,

,,

THIS IS GOOD NEWS IF THE

PERSIANS HIDE THE SUN, WE SHALL
DO BATTLE IN THE SHADE.
Herodotus, ancient Greek historian, quoting words attributed to Dieneces, a Spartan, on being told that the Persian
archers shot so many arrows they would conceal the Sun; from Histories

This 19th-century painting shows the Spartan king Leonidas I (centre, facing) and his men at the Battle of
Thermopylae in 480 BCE. Thermopylae became a byword for heroic defiance against overwhelming odds.
THE KINGDOM OF MAGADHA

Plebeians withdraw from Rome

The departure of the plebeians (on the left in this engraving) threatened to
split Rome irreparably, so the patricians (right) ceded some political power.
THE GREEK CITY-STATES OF IONIA

in western Anatolia had been

subjects of the Persian Empire
since Cyrus conquered Lydia, their
previous overlord, in 547 BCE (see
550501 BCE). In 499 BCE,
Aristagoras, the ruler of Miletus,
set out to mainland Greece to
recruit allies for a planned

600
PERSIA

353
IONIA

The Battle of Lade

The Ionian Greek navy fought hard at
Lade, but the pre-arranged defection
of the Samians to the Persians led to
its utter defeat.

uprising against the Persians.

Sparta rejected his pleas, but only
Athens and Eretria sent forces. A
failed attack on Sardis led the
Athenian forces to return home.
The Ionians gradually lost ground
to a Persian land offensive from
497 BCE. The fall of Miletus to the
Persians that year and the death
of Aristagoras undermined Ionian
unity and, after a great naval
defeat at the Battle of Lade in
494 BCE, the revolt fell apart.
In Italy, the young Roman
Republic was rocked by social
dissent in 494 BCE when the
plebeians (the lower social
groups) withdrew from Rome en
masse in protest at their
treatment by the patricians (the
higher social groups); they
threatened to set up an alternative
state. They were persuaded back
only by official recognition of their
own representatives (tribunes).

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48

emerged as an important state in

northern India under the rule of
Bimbisara (r.543491 BCE), friend
and protector of Gautama Buddha
(c.563c.486 BCE), who founded
Buddhism (see 550501 BCE).
Bimbisaras son Ajatashastru
(r.491461 BCE) strengthened the
royal capital at Rajagirha and built
a centre at Pataligrama on the
Ganges, which later became
Pataliputra, the Mauryan royal
capital By conquering Kosala
and Kashi, and annexing the Vrijji
confederacy, Ajatashastru turned
Magadha into the dominant
power on the Ganges Plain.
In China, the political system of
the Spring and Autumn period
evolved into the Warring States
period (481221 BCE), in which
seven main states engaged in
a constant round of diplomatic

manoeuvres to weaken each

other, periodically interrupted
by outbreaks of war.
In 490 BCE, Darius I (548486 BCE)
of Persia decided to take revenge
on the mainland Greeks for their
support of the Ionian revolt.
Darius despatched a huge naval
expedition under Artaphernes
and Datis, which sailed from
Cilicia, landing first at Naxos

before seizing Eretria, which had

aided the Ionians in 499 BCE.
Although the Athenians appealed
to Sparta for aid, the only help
they received came from Plataea,
which sent 1,000 reinforcements.
The Athenians opted to march
out to meet the Persians rather
than wait for a siege, on the
advice of their general, Miltiades
(550489 BCE). In 490 BCE at

Persian winged-lion rhyton

The Persian Empire enjoyed
vast wealth, as illustrated by
everyday items such as this
golden drinking vessel. They
directed huge resources towards
the conquest of Greece.

THE NUMBER
OF WARRING
STATES
animals were
often the
inspiration for a
rhytons shape

an to
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03/05/11 3:16 PM

475451 BCE

Marathon, the Greek hoplite

(heavy infantry) formation
advanced head-on against a far
more numerous Persian force to
win an unlikely victory.
Chastened, the Persian
expeditionary force withdrew from
Greece after Marathon, but in
481 BCE Xerxes I (519465 BCE)
despatched another huge Persian
army, which crossed over the
Hellespont (near modern-day
Istanbul) and proceeded south
towards Athens. Many northern
Greek states chose to submit,
but Athens and Sparta patched
together a league of southern
states. In 480 BCE, a heroic defence
of the pass at Thermopylae by
the Spartan king Leonidas I,
in which he and all his 10,000
soldiers died, bought time for the
Athenians to evacuate. The
Persians burnt the city, but soon
after, under the command of
Themistocles (see panel below),
the Athenian fleet inflicted a
serious defeat on Xerxess naval
force at Salamis. Further Greek

Black Sea

Pella

Byzantium

THESSALY
Larissa
Artemisium 480
Thermopylae 480
Plataea 479
Salamis 480

Peloponnese
Sparta

Abydus

A eg ean
Marathon 490
Athens
Mycale 479

GREECE

Sardis 498
Ephesus

IONIA
M editer r anean

The Greco
S ea
Persian wars
Crete
Although the
Persians possessed
vastly superior numbers, the
Greek forces were motivated
to win crucial land and sea
engagements.

Rhodes

050-051_500-451BCE.indd 51

Annexed by Persia

KEY
Annexed by Persia
Persian campaigns
against Greece
490479BCE

against Greece
490479BCE

Greek victory
Persian victory
Indecisive battles

Greek victory

victories followed in June 479 BCE,

on land at Plataea in Boeotia and
at sea at Mycale off the Ionian
coast. The Greeks then took the
offensive, and during 478477 BCE
won a string of victories in Ionia
and Cyprus, which reversed most
of the Persians gains.

After
the initial defeats of the
Persian
victory

Persians
in 480479 BCE, Athens
Indecisive
battles

sought to formalize the league of

anti-Persian allies. A treasury
was set up on the island of Delos
in around 477 BCE. The leagues
funds were to be deposited here
and regular meetings were to take
place. But this Delian League
soon became little more than an
Athenian empire, and Sparta and
its allies refused to take part.

,,

THE GREAT
STRUGGLE
HAS COME.

Herodotus, ancient Greek historian,

quoting Pausanias, the Spartan
commander, before the Battle of
Plataea in 479 BCE; from Histories

ns
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KEY
Persian campaigns
Cyprus

,,

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Ca cks cily
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48
ks pu
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Anatolia

Miletus 494

A clever politician and strategist,

Themistocles persuaded the
Athenians to use the wealth of a
silver mine discovered at
Laurium in 483/2 BCE to double
their fleet. However, after the
naval victory at Salamis, he
became the object of increasing
jealousy from political rivals. In
about 470 BCE Themistocles was
ostracized from Athens (exiled
by public vote).

I
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MY SIA
LY DIA

S ea

THEMISTOCLES (c.524460 BCE)

CE

THE ATHENIANS ENJOYED EARLY

SUCCESS under the direction of

THR ACE
M AC E D O NI A

ns n
les s
he lia
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At De nter
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BC
o
8
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Ty efe
d

Cimon (510450 BCE), wresting

Eion on the Strymon river (in
Anatolia) from the Persians in
476 BCE and then attacking
Carystos on Euboea (which had
submitted to the Persians) in
470 BCE. An attempt by the island
of Naxos to leave the Delian
League around the same time led
to an Athenian expeditionary force
that powerfully suppressed the
breakaway movement. In 469 BCE,
Athenian forces won a great
victory over the Persians at the
River Eurymedon on the south
coast of Anatolia, establishing
Athenian supremacy in the Aegean.
Pericles (c.495429 BCE), the
Athenian statesman largely
responsible for making Athens
the political and cultural focus of
Greece, tried but failed to
prosecute Cimon in 463 BCE, on a
charge of having neglected a
chance to conquer Macedonia.
From this manoeuvre, Pericles
vision and ideas of expansion for
Athens were already evident.
When the leading figure among
the democrats, Ephialtes, was
assassinated in 461 BCE, Pericles,
his protg, swiftly took his place.
Periodically, the Persians had
tried to bribe the Spartans into
diversionary attacks on Athens but
initially to little effect. In 464 BCE, a
revolt of the Messenian Helots
(unfree men) in the western
Peloponnese further distracted
the Spartans from any attempt to
stem the rising power of the
Delian League. The Messenians
received little outside assistance,

Athenian treasury at Delos

All members of the Delian League
had to deposit funds at treasuries on
Delos, but the contribution of Athens
was the most important.

and by 462 BCE their last stronghold

at Ithome had been reduced. Soon
after, open conflict broke out
between Sparta and Athens and
their respective allies. The First
Peloponnesian War was
inconclusive. It ended in 451 BCE
with a five-year truce, extended in
446 BCE to a Thirty Years Peace
between the two sides.
Meanwhile, the western part of
the Greek world was becoming
increasingly important, marked by
the rise of the Sicilian city-state of
Syracuse. Under a series of able
rulers (tyrants) that began with
Gelon (r.485478 BCE) and his
brother Hieron (r.478467 BCE),
Syracusan forces subdued the
neighbouring city of Acragas and
expanded territory around Catana.
Although Hierons younger
brother Thrasybulus was driven
out in 466 BCE, the Syracusans
retained their dominant position
in Sicily beyond the 450s BCE.

is
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2 B en es 03/05/11 3:16 PM
45 etwe ponn
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51

49

450431 BCE

430404 BCE

In the late 5th century, the Mexican city of Monte Albn began to build its public
buildings the ancestors of its later magnificent pyramids, shown here.

12

villages. Monte Albns centre

housed large-scale public
buildings including truncated
pyramids, great plazas, and
ballgame courts as well as
elaborate burial tombs. Within
150 years, the population of
Monte Albn would swell to
around 17,000, making it the
largest city in Mesoamerica.
Zapotec figure from Monte Albn
This elaborate ceramic deity is
typical of the production of Monte
Albn, which became Mexicos
premier site in the 5th century BCE.

ATHENS AND SPARTA HAD FOUGHT

EACH OTHER BEFORE (see 451 BCE).

The Athenian Empire had the

naval advantage as it included
most of the island and coastal
states around the northern and
eastern shores of the Aegean Sea.
Meanwhile, the city-state of Sparta
led an alliance of independent
states from the Peloponnese and
central Greece, as well as Corinth,
and had the strongest army.
Despite the Thirty Years Peace of
446 BCE, tensions remained high
between Athens and Sparta. The
events that led to renewed

THE NUMBER
OF TABLES OF
ROMAN LAW

k
s
uc
ne
ne
g
T s in
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on
din
La rge
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B
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43 Co orin talia
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052-053_450-381BCE.indd
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52

50

THE EMPIRE YOU POSSESS

IS BY NOW LIKE A TYRANNY
PERHAPS WRONG TO
ACQUIRE IT, BUT CERTAINLY
DANGEROUS TO LET IT GO.

,,

Thucydides, ancient Greek historian, relating a speech by Pericles to the

Athenians; from History of the Peloponnesian War, II.63

hostilities in 430 BCE began three

years earlier, when Athens had
intervened on behalf of Corcyra
in a dispute with Corinth; the
Spartans took it as a sign that
Athens had breached the peace.
An attack by Thebes, a Spartan
ally, on Plataea, which supported
Athens, was similarly taken by
the Athenians to indicate Sparta
was fixed on war. Athens, led by
Pericles, achieved early success in
the Peloponnesian War (431
404 BCE). In 426 BCE, the Athenians
invaded the Peloponnese, and
the following year landed a large

force at Pylos southwest of

Sparta. Yet neither side could land
a fatal blow and in 421 BCE they
agreed the Peace of Nicias, which
was supposed to last for 50 years.
The truce soon began to unravel.
Corinth refused to recognize its
authority, a pro-war leadership
emerged in Sparta, and a complex
set of political manoeuvres by
Alcibiades (450404 BCE), the
newly dominant politician in
Athens, led to the renewal of the
war in 419 BCE. The following year,
Spartas allies won a key victory
at Mantinea. Athens struck back

SOCRATES (469399 BCE)

Halstatt culture. Ruled over by a

warrior aristocracy that buried its
dead with swords, spears, and
funerary chariots, La Tne had
important centres in Bohemia (in
what is now the Czech Republic)
and around the Marne and
Moselle rivers (in modern France).
In Oaxaca on Mexicos Pacific
Coast, a new centre arose shortly
before 450 BCE at Monte Albn.
This proto-city, on a hill top above
the Oaxaca Valley, drew people
from the surrounding agricultural

E
BC

,,

IN THE ROMAN REPUBLIC, the two

social classes the patricians and
the plebeians (see 500491 BCE)
were still divided. The two sides
came to an agreement in 451 BCE,
appointing a group of ten men
(the decemviri) to govern Rome
outside the normal constitution.
In 449 BCE, the decemviri produced
the Laws of the Twelve Tables,
which formed the basis of all
Roman law codes.
Around 450 BCE in Central
Europe, a new Celtic culture
emerged called La Tne, which
supplanted the earlier dominant

One of the greatest Greek

philosophers, Socrates served
on the Athenian Council in
406 BCE, but his challenges to
conventional morality at a time
of political uncertainty gained
him powerful enemies. He
refused to mount a conventional
defence against charges of
corrupting the Athenian youth
and was sentenced to die by
drinking the poison hemlock.

es
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25/05/2011 16:52

403381 BCE

The Great
Peloponnesian War
The period of 431 to
404 BCE saw the
destruction of the
Athenian Empire at the
hands of a coalition of
Sparta and its allies.

Amphipolis
422

Pella

Spartolus
429

Methone
Potidaea

T HR AC E
Byzantium
Abdera
Sea of Marmara
Thasos
Thasos
Cyzicus
Acanthus
Aegospotami
Lampsacus 410
405

EP

IR

PHRYGIA

PERSIAN
EMPIRE

THESSALY

US

Corcyra

Cynossema
411

Lemnos

Leucas
Delphi

Cephallenia

Gul

Zacynthus

f of C

Delium
424

Andros

Athenian Empire
Athenian ally

Miletus

Sparta and allied states

neutral territory
Athenian victory

ne

Cnidus

se

Melos

Spartan victory

Rhodes

Cythera

Lindus

7,000

2,800

KEY

Ephesus
CARIA

Cyc lades

Sparta

I O N IA

Notium
407

eca

Pylos

Chios

Do d

Peloponnese

Arginusae
406

Phocaea

Chalcis
Eretria
Thebes
Euboea

o ri n t h
ACHAEA
Corinth
Athens
Mantinea
Argos
Epidaurus
418

Sphacteria
425

Lesbos
Mitylene

Aegean
Sea

Ambracia

ATHENIANS

Spartans

ATHENIANS

18,500

30,000

BOEOTIANS

ATHENIANS

420

Spartans

found itself embroiled in a quarrel

with Persia over whether the
Ionian Greek cities should regain
their autonomy. Through the
390s BCE, sporadic fighting and
abortive peace talks diverted
Sparta from a weakening position
in mainland Greece. The Kings
Peace, a definitive treaty with
Persia in 386 BCE, deprived the
Ionians of autonomy but allowed
the Spartans to quash any threats
to its supremacy. In 385 BCE, they
attacked Mantinea in the central
Peloponnese and in 382 BCE
occupied Thebes. Spartan power
seemed unassailable.
In Persia, the death of Darius II
(r.423404 BCE) was followed by a
brief civil war, when Cyrus the
Younger tried to overthrow his
older brother Artaxerxes II

(r.404358 BCE). Cyrus was

defeated and killed at the Battle
of Cunaxa in 401 BCE, but in its
aftermath some 10,000 Greek
mercenaries were left trapped in
northern Mesopotamia. Under
Xenophon, the Greeks marched
to the Black Sea coast and
safety near Trapezus (Trabzon
in modern-day Turkey), a feat
their commander immortalized
in his book Anabasis.
In Italy, the Romans widened
their territory and annexed the
city of Veii in 396 BCE, whose
submission represented the end
of any Etruscan threat. However,
c.390 BCE, an army of Celts, who
had been attacking the Etruscan
city of Clusium, turned south,
defeated a Roman army at the
Battle of the Allia, and then took
Rome itself. This disaster haunted
the Romans for centuries.

3,000

BATTLE OF SPHACTERIA 425 BCE

BATTLE OF DELIUM 424 BCE

SIEGE OF SYRACUSE 415413 BCE

in 416 BCE by capturing Melos the

only main Aegean island not in
its possession but fatally
over-reached itself in 415 BCE with
an expedition to Sicily, ending in
the total destruction of the
Athenian force by the Syracusans
in 413 BCE. The Spartans,
meanwhile, established a fort at
Decelea in Attica, which denied
the Athenians access to the rich
silver mines. An alliance with
Persia further strengthened
Spartas position in 412 BCE, and a
year later the democratic regime

in Athens was briefly overthrown.

Democracy was restored the
following year, and, though the
Athenians won victories at Cyzicus
in 410 BCE and Arginusae in 406 BCE,
the total destruction of their
fleet at Aegospotami off Ionia in
405 BCE left Athens defenceless.
The Spartans blockaded the city,
and, despite a determined
resistance, the Athenians were
forced to surrender. Athens was
deprived of its fleet and in 404 BCE
a pro-Spartan Council of Thirty
was installed to govern it.

In Magadha in India the

Haryanka dynasty founded by
Bimbisara was replaced c.413 BCE
after the death of Ajatashatru
(c.459 BCE) and a series of
ineffectual rulers. Shishunaga
founded a new dynasty, which
was responsible for overseeing
the final transfer of the Magadha
royal capital to Pataliputra.
The Shishunaga dynasty lasted
only 500 years.

n
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AFTER ITS VICTORY IN THE

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Etruscan tomb painting

The Etruscan language has never been deciphered, so it is through the
frescoes in their tombs that much has been learnt of their culture.
ns ng d
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25/05/2011 16:52

53

51

7 0 0 BCE 5 9 9 CE

THE CLASSICAL AGE

plain boss connected

with sliding catch
on backplate

animal interlace
picked out in circles

circular plate at base

of buckle tongue

Sutton Hoo buckle

Sutton Hoo buckle

Made of solid gold and decorated with an
interlaced animal pattern, the Anglo-Saxon
Sutton Hoo belt buckle was found in a 7thcentury ship burial in East Anglia, England.

Copper ore

26002400 BCE
Use of beaten
copper plate

Early copper smelting

methods are refined,
allowing the beating
of copper while still
hot into more
complex shapes.

New techniques are

developed for casting
and adorning bronze
vessels, such as
decorating them by
beating on the inside.

Shang
cauldron

c.150030 BCE
Purifying gold

The ancient Egyptians learn how

to separate pure gold from silver
in around 1500 BCE and begin to
use it more extensively for
decorative purposes.
Sumerian copper bull

animal interlace with

a biting head and tail

c.900 BCE100 CE
Using iron

c.15001200 BCE
Refinement of
bronze casting

Prehistory
Use of copper ore

In western Iran and

Anatolia, copper ore is
ground or beaten into
shape to make small
objects such as beads.

central interlace
pattern

birds head
in profile

Funeral mask of
Tutankhamun

Ironworking spreads
from western Anatolia,
reaching Greece around
900 BCE and West Africa
about 400 BCE, enabling
stronger tools and
weapons to be made.

c.100700
Anglo-Saxon
metalworking

Weapon heads

The Anglo-Saxons
bring a new level
of sophistication to
metalworking, often
using animal forms
as decoration.

c.640500 BCE
Metal as money

Metal coins (made of an

alloy of gold and silver)
are first used in Lydia (in
present-day Turkey) around
640 BCE. The ancient Greeks
adopt the idea and spread it
around the Mediterranean.

Greek coin

54

52

054-055_Story_Metalworking.indd 54
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19:39

TH
TH
E ES S
TO
TO
RR
Y YO O
F FMM
EE
TA
TA
LWO
LWO
RR
KK
I NI N
GG

THE
THESTORY
STORYOF
OF

METALWORKING
METALWORKING

FROM
FROMEVERYDAY
EVERYDAYOBJECTS
OBJECTSTOTOCOMPLEX
COMPLEXMACHINES,
MACHINES,METALS
METALSARE
AREVITAL
VITALFOR
FOROUR
OURCIVILIZATION
CIVILIZATION

Since
Sincetheir
theirearliest
earliestknown
knownuse
useininthe
the8th
8thmillennium
millenniumBCE
BCE
, metals
, metalshave
have
played
playeda acrucial
crucialrole
roleininthe
theproduction
productionofofa avast
vastrange
rangeofofobjects,
objects,and
andeven
even
today,
today,with
withthe
theavailability
availabilityofofsophisticated
sophisticatedpolymers
polymersand
andcomposites,
composites,
they
theystill
stillpermeate
permeateevery
everyaspect
aspectofofmodern
moderncivilization.
civilization.
Around
Around
7000
7000
BCE
BCE
, naturally
, naturally
occurring
occurring
metals,
metals,
notably
notably
copper,
copper,
began
began
toto
bebe
used
used
forfor
small
small
items
items
such
such
asas
pins
pins
inin
western
western
Iran
Iran
and
and
eastern
eastern
Anatolia.
Anatolia.
These
These
were
were
made
made
byby
simply
simply
grinding
grinding
oror
beating
beating
the
the
metal
metal
into
into
shape.
shape.
Heating
Heating
copper
copper
toto
make
make
it it
more
more
malleable
malleable
was
was
probably
probably
discovered
discovered
byby
accidentally
accidentally
dropping
dropping
the
the
metal
metal
inin
fire,
fire,
but
but
it it
was
was
the
the
introduction
introduction
ofof
smelting
smelting
inin
aa
crucible
crucible
around
around
3800
3800
BCE
BCE
that
that
led
led
toto
the
the
large-scale
large-scale
use
use
ofof
metals.
metals.
THE
THE
DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT
OFOF
ALLOYS
ALLOYS
About
About
3000
3000
BCE
BCE
, the
, the
first
first
alloy
alloy
bronze
bronze
was
was
produced.
produced.
Made
Made
byby
smelting
smelting
tintin
and
and
copper
copper
together
together
inin
a crucible,
a crucible,
bronze
bronze
is is
stronger
stronger
and
and
more
more
easily
easily
worked
worked
than
than
either
either
ofof
itsits
individual
individual
constituents,
constituents,
and
and
it it
remained
remained
the
the
principal
principal
metal
metal
forfor
tools
tools
and
and
weapons
weapons
until
until
the
the
invention
invention
ofof
ironworking
ironworking
around
around
1250
1250
BCE
BCE
. The
. The
technology
technology
toto
melt
melt
pure
pure
iron
iron
was
was
not
not
invented
invented
until
until
the
the
19th
19th
century,
century,
soso
early
early
iron
iron
objects
objects
were
were
made
made
byby
first
first
smelting
smelting
iron
iron
ore
ore
toto
anan
impure
impure
iron
iron
bloom,
bloom,
then
then
separating
separating
out
out
the
the
iron
iron
pieces
pieces
and
and
welding
welding
them
them

1,083C
1,083C

THE
THEMELTING
MELTINGPOINT
POINTOF
OF
COPPER.
COPPER.WHEN
WHENCOPPER
COPPER
ISISALLOYED
ALLOYEDWITH
WITHTIN,
TIN,
THIS
THISDROPS
DROPSTO
TO950C
950C

Viking
Viking
sword
sword

Cast
Cast
iron
iron
is is
developed.
developed.
Because
Because
it is
it is
strong
strong
and
and
can
can
bebe
used
used
to to
make
make
shapes
shapes
such
such
asas
tubes,
tubes,
it finds
it finds
anan
immediate
immediate
use
use
in in
making
making
artillery.
artillery.

8001300/1450
8001300/1450
Christian
Christian
objects
objects
in in
precious
precious
metals
metals

Medieval
Medieval
Christians
Christians
make
make
sacred
sacred
objects,
objects,
such
such
asas
crucifixes
crucifixes
and
and
reliquaries,
reliquaries,
from
from
gold
gold
and
and
other
other
precious
precious
metals,
metals,
sometimes
sometimes
encrusted
encrusted
with
with
gemstones.
gemstones.

HOW
HOW
ALLOYS
ALLOYS
ARE
ARE
MADE
MADE
AnAn
alloy
alloy
is is
a mixture
a mixture
ofof
metals
metals
oror
ofof
a metal
a metal
with
with
a non-metal
a non-metal
(such
(such
asas
iron
iron
with
with
carbon
carbon
inin
steel).
steel).
Many
Many
metals
metals
occur
occur
naturally
naturally
inin
alloyed
alloyed
form,
form,
but
but
synthetic
synthetic
alloys
alloys
were
were
not
not
produced
produced
until
until
around
around
BCE
BCE
, when
, when
copper
copper
was
was
melted
melted
with
with
tintin
toto
3000
3000
produce
produce
bronze.
bronze.
The
The
technique
technique
spread,
spread,
reaching
reaching
BCE
BCE
and
and
Egypt
Egypt
byby
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
soon
soon
after
after
3000
3000
BCE
BCE
oror
possibly
possibly
earlier.
earlier.
2000
2000

c.15th
c.15th
century
century
Weapons
Weapons
from
from
cast
cast
metal
metal

700800
700800
Sword-making
Sword-making

In In
Europe,
Europe,
sword-makers
sword-makers
develop
develop
stronger
stronger
swords
swords
byby
welding
welding
together
together
successive
successive
layers
layers
of of
iron
iron
with
with
carbon
carbon
added,
added,
oror
byby
beating
beating
outout
thin
thin
iron
iron
strips
strips
then
then
welding
welding
them
them
together.
together.

together
together
inin
a furnace.
a furnace.
This
This
method
method
ofof
production
production
continued
continued
until
until
the
the
introduction
introduction
ofof
blast
blast
furnaces
furnaces
inin
Europe
Europe
inin
the
the
15th
15th
century.
century.
The
The
Industrial
Industrial
the
18th
century
brought
new
inin
the
18th
century
brought
new
Revolution
Revolution
techniques
and
the
use
coking
coal
blast
techniques
and
the
use
ofof
coking
coal
inin
blast
furnaces,
but
was
English
inventor
Henry
furnaces,
but
it it
was
English
inventor
Henry
Bessemers
invention
the
Bessemer
converter
Bessemers
invention
ofof
the
Bessemer
converter
1856
that
permitted
the
large-scale
production
inin
1856
that
permitted
the
large-scale
production
steel,
a strong,
high-quality,
ironcarbon
alloy.
ofof
steel,
a strong,
high-quality,
ironcarbon
alloy.
Later
the
Industrial
Revolution,
further
advances
Later
inin
the
Industrial
Revolution,
further
advances
made
possible
produce
other
metals,
such
made
it it
possible
toto
produce
other
metals,
such
asas
aluminium,
magnesium,
and
titanium,
whose
light
aluminium,
magnesium,
and
titanium,
whose
light
weight
and
strength
played
a vital
role
the
weight
and
strength
played
a vital
role
inin
the
development
the
aviation
and
space
industries.
development
ofof
the
aviation
and
space
industries.

1810
1810
TinTin
can
can

The
The
Verdun
Verdun
Altar
Altar

English
English
inventor
inventor
Peter
Peter
Durand
Durand
patents
patents
thethe
tintin
can
can
forfor
preserving
preserving
food.
food.
His
His
patent
patent
was
was
forfor
a can
a can
made
made
of of
iron
iron
and
and
coated
coated
with
with
tintin
to to
inhibit
inhibit
rusting
rusting
of of
thethe
iron.
iron.

1950s
1950s
Titanium
Titanium
aircraft
aircraft

Medieval
Medieval
cannon
cannon
Lockheed
Lockheed
Blackbird
Blackbird

1856
1856
Bessemer
Bessemer
converter
converter

Englishman
Englishman
Henry
Henry
Bessemer
Bessemer
invents
invents
a a
converter
converter
that
that
enables
enables
large-scale
large-scale
production
production
of of
high-quality
high-quality
steel.
steel.
Bessemer
Bessemer
converter
converter

Because
Because
of of
itsits
high
high
strength-to-weight
strength-to-weight
ratio,
ratio,
titanium
titanium
starts
starts
to to
bebe
extensively
extensively
used
used
in in
military
military
aircraft.
aircraft.
It is
It is
now
now
also
also
widely
widely
used
used
in in
commercial
commercial
aircraft.
aircraft.

1910
1910
Aluminium
Aluminium
foilfoil

The
The
first
first
aluminium
aluminium
foilfoil
is is
produced.
produced.
It was
It was
made
made
possible
possible
byby
thethe
invention
invention
in in
1886
1886
of of
a method
a method
of of
massmassproducing
producing
thethe
metal
metal
byby
passing
passing
anan
electric
electric
current
current
through
through
molten
molten
ore.
ore.

55 5

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17/06/2011
12:56

380371 BCE

370356 BCE

The ruins of Thebes, Greeces

dominant city-state in the 360s BCE .

A carving showing the pharaoh Nectanebo I, founder of the 30th Dynasty, making offerings to gods,
including the crocodile-headed Sobek.
EGYPT HAD BROKEN AWAY FROM

Persian control after the revolt

of Amyrtaeus, who founded the
28th Dynasty in 404 BCE. However,
the Persians had not given up on
Egypt. Nectanebo I established
the 30th Egyptian Dynasty in
380 BCE. He was able to repel a
force sent by the Persians and
their Greek allies in 373 BCE.
Persia was diverted from further
attempts to bring Egypt to heel by
the Great Rebellion of the
Satraps in the 360s BCE. This
rebellion was partially aggravated
by the campaigns of Tachos, son of
Nectanebo I, in Persian-ruled
Palestine from 361360 BCE.
Nectanebo II (r.360343 BCE)
succeeded Nectanebo I, and
continued to meddle in the Persian
civil wars. In an ill-judged
intervention in 346 BCE, he sent
troops to aid an uprising in Sidon
(Lebanon). In response,
Artaxerxes III of Persia marched

11,000
SPARTANS

9,000
THEBANS AND
ALLIES

Battle of Leuctra
At Leuctra in central Greece, the
Thebans exploited the tendency of
the Spartans to shift right by
concentrating their attack on the left,
enabling them to defeat an enemy
with larger numbers than theirs.

d
an read
ing sp ople
m
s
e
i
r
Fa rgy ing p bezi
E
BC
llu eak am
a
0
Z
8 et
p
c.3 n m tu-s tern a
iro Ban Wes fric
by the of A
in gion
re

n
via
er nd
e S arou me
h
T ilt Ro
CE
u
0B s b
38 all i
W
056-057_380-337BCEV2.indd 56

56

54

150
COUPLES

ALTHOUGH THE ATHENIANS

FORMED
THE ELITE
MILITARY UNIT
THE SACRED
BAND OF
THEBES

into the Nile Delta region in

343 BCE, and Egypt was defeated
within two years. Now under
Persian rule, Egypt was never
again ruled by a native dynasty.
In Greece, the Spartan
occupation of Thebes, which had
begun in 382 BCE, was short-lived.
In 379 BCE, the Spartan polemarch
(governor) of Thebes was
assassinated, and the Thebans
drove out the Spartan garrison
with the aid of two Athenian
generals who arrived on their own
initiative to help. In retaliation,
the Spartans mounted an
expedition under King
Cleombrotus (r.380371 BCE). This
expedition failed to retake Thebes,
but it so alarmed the Athenians
that they executed one general and
exiled the other, and temporarily
abandoned the alliance with
Thebes. The Spartans invaded
the region of Boeotia in 378
377 BCE but made little headway,
although the Athenians were

bo
ne t
cta firs s
e
N he ypt
t
CE
g
0 B es f E
38 com h o ty
s
be arao yna
ph th D
30

ts
ra n
oc
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37
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alarmed enough to revive the

Theban alliance and try to
establish a Second Athenian
Confederacy in opposition to
Sparta. In 375 BCE the Thebans,
Athenians, and Spartans signed a
Common Peace, but it broke
down almost immediately. The
Thebans then took the offensive,
aided by a new elite force of citizen
soldiers, the Sacred Band, which
consisted of 150 male couples. The
Sacred Band supplemented the
mercenaries who largely fought
Greek city-states wars by this
period. Theban attempts to
conquer the region of Phocis and
retain dominance in Boeotia
rankled with Sparta, and
scuppered Athenian attempts to
broker a peace in 372 BCE. At
Leuctra in 371 BCE, the Theban
army under the general
Epaminondas fought a tactically
brilliant battle to smash the
Spartan phalanx. At Spartas
mercy just eight years before,
Thebes was now the dominant
power in Greece.
In Sicily, Syracuse continued to
flourish under the strong rule of

Temple of Thoth
Situated at Hermopolis in Upper
Egypt, the temple of Thoth dates
from the New Kingdom but was
renovated in the 4th century BCE.

Dionysius I (402367 BCE), who

fought the third in a series of wars
against the Carthaginians from 383
to 375 BCE. At first, the war went
badly for Dionysius, whose fleet
was wrecked in a storm.
Carthaginian efforts to mount an
expedition to Sicily were hampered
by plague in 379 BCE and a revolt by
subject cities in Libya, so that it
was only in 377 BCE that an army
was landed. Dionysius, who had
been campaigning against
Carthages allies in southern Italy,
returned to Sicily and crushed
Magos force 10,000 are said to
have died. Dionysius allowed the
remnants to slip away, and they
regrouped and returned the
following year under Magos son
Himilco to deliver a stinging defeat
to the Syracusans. Both sides were
war-weary and in 375 BCE made
peace, leaving Dionysius in
possession of most of eastern
Sicily and parts of southern Italy.

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brokered a general peace in

Greece in 371 BCE, the Thebans did
not participate. Thebes built up a
coalition of allies and invaded
Sparta in 370369 BCE. As a result,
Messenia was finally detached
from Spartan control, but further
Theban success was hampered by
the temporary deposition of
Epaminondas, who was tried for
allegedly sparing the city of Sparta
in exchange for a bribe. Once
Epaminondas was back in control,
the Thebans won Persian backing
for their anti-Spartan alliance in
367 BCE, and a further invasion of
the Peloponnese in 366 BCE gained
recruits for the Theban coalition.
However, Theban successes relied
too narrowly on the personality of
one man, and when Epaminondas
Ancient theatre
The Odeon was a temple built in the
town of Messene, which was founded
by Epaminondas of Thebes in 367 BCE.

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355337 BCE

,,

,,

AN ARMY OF DEER LED BY A LION

IS MORE TO BE FEARED THAN AN ARMY
OF LIONS LED BY A DEER.
Attributed to Philip II, king of Macedonia, 4th century BCE

was killed in battle in 362 BCE,

Theban power was rapidly eclipsed.
In India, the Nanda dynasty
began its expansion in the
370s BCE, and continued to expand
until it was able to take power from
the Shishunaga in 345 BCE. The
dynastys founder Mahapadma
Nanda conquered much of north
India, building up a huge army. He
operated an efficient
administrative system with
centrally appointed tax collectors
and undertook irrigation works.
However, the deposition of Dhana
Nanda in 321 BCE was followed by
the absorption of the Nanda
empire into the Mauryan empire.
The state of Chu was the most
southerly of Chinas Warring
States, centred on the Middle
Yangzi river. Throughout the 5th
century BCE it annexed a number of
states, becoming the dominant
power by 380 BCE. In 366 BCE a
resounding victory by the state of
Qin against the armies of Hann and

88

THE AGE OF
MAGAPADMA
NANDA AT
HIS DEATH

Wei, followed by another defeat of

Wei at the battle of Shimen in
364 BCE led to Chus decline and the
shift eastwards of Weis royal
centre to Daliang. A rejuvenated
Wei was strong enough to force the
rulers of four other Warring States
to attend its court in 356 BCE. Weis
supremacy was short-lived, and
defeats inflicted on it by Qi armies
at Guiling in 353 BCE and Maling in
341 BCE reduced it to a Qi vassal.

IN 359 BCE PERDICCAS III OF

Macedonia died and his successor,

Philip II (r.359336 BCE) began to
transform the position of what
had been regarded by other
Greeks as a very minor kingdom.
In 357 BCE, he made his first major
conquest, Amphipolis in Thrace.
He became involved in the Third
Sacred War (356346 BCE), which
was fought over perceived
violations by Sparta and Phocis of
the sacred oracle at Delphi, using
this to cement his position as an
important player in the power
politics of central Greece and the
Peloponnese. In the 340s, Philip
strengthened his position in
Thessaly and became involved in
petty disputes between the
city-states, as rival factions
turned either to him or to Athens
for support. In 340 BCE open war
broke out between Philip and the
Athenian-Theban alliance. Just
two years later, at Chaeronea in
Boeotia, Philip defeated the
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
Mausolus was the Persian satrap
(governor) of a region of southwestern Turkey. After his death in
353 BCE his wife built a tomb for
him, which became one of
the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World.

ian
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PHILIP OF MACEDONIA (382336 BCE)

Philip II reformed the
Macedonian army and forced
the Greek states to join a
League of Corinth under
Macedonian control. After his
return to Macedonia, he took a
new wife, Cleopatra, but was
stabbed to death at his wedding
feast, possibly on the orders of
his son, Alexander the Great,
who stood to lose his position
if Cleopatra bore another heir.
Athenians and annihilated the
Theban Sacred Band (see
380371 BCE). Macedonian power
in Greece was now unchallenged.
Romes steady expansion in
central Italy had caused alarm
among her neighbours. This led to
a bitter six-year struggle with the
town of Tibur from 360 BCE, among
other conflicts. In 340 BCE, a
general war broke out between
Rome and the Latins, who
inhabited the modern region of
Lazio around Rome. The
Romans had just emerged from
a war with the Samnites, a
people who inhabited the
central Apennines, and
the Latins took

advantage of Romes exhausted

state to launch an attack. During
the first year of the war, at a battle
near Vesuvius, the consul Publius
Decius Mus is said to have
dedicated his body to the gods of
the underworld and then
undertaken a suicidal charge
against the Latin ranks which
turned the tide of battle in the
Romans favour. By 338 BCE, the
Romans had defeated the Latin
League. The peace terms were
favourable, with many Latins
being granted Roman citizenship.
The League was then dissolved,
and many of the former Latin
cities were absorbed into the
Roman state, moving Rome
further towards complete
dominance of central Italy.
In Peru, the Nazca culture
began around 350 BCE. These
people created mysterious
geoglyphs, huge lines in the
desert creating animal and
abstract shapes, which cannot be
made out from the ground.

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57

55

336330 BCE

329323 BCE

Despite being heavily outnumbered at Issus, Alexander the Great, depicted here on his horse
Bucephalus, made brilliant use of his cavalry to win a stunning victory over King Darius III.

of Macaranda (Samarkand) and

pacify Sogdiana, although the
fortress of the Sogdian Rock
managed to hold out against the
Macedonian forces until 327 BCE.
Alexander then crossed into the
Kabul Valley and the following
year, at the river Hydaspes, he
overcame the local ruler Porus.
His plans to push further into
India were stymied by his soldiers
who, demoralized and diseaseridden, mutinied and demanded
to go home. Part of the army
returned home by sea under
Nearchus, but a detachment
under Alexander marched
through the harsh Gedrosian
desert, suffering heavy losses.
His army reached central Persia
early in 324 BCE, but Alexander,
still planning new expeditions
into Arabia, died of a fever at
Babylon in May 323 BCE, aged 33.
In central Italy, the Samnites of
the central-southern Apennines,
who had lost a war against the
Romans in 342340 BCE, fought
them once more in the Second
Samnite War (326304 BCE). The

AFTER HIS MURDER OF DARIUS,

army led by Darius III himself. In

331 BCE, the Macedonians defeated
Darius III again at Gaugamela (in
modern Iraq). The next year Darius
was stabbed to death by Bessus,
one of his generals. Alexander
now seemed to have acquired the
whole of the vast Persian Empire.

Route taken by Alexanders forces

Ca

sp

ia

nS

ea

56

r
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A
NI

Aristotle
The philosopher Aristotle was
employed by Philip of Macedonia
as Alexander the Greats tutor.

30

THE AGE OF
ALEXANDERS
FAVOURITE
HORSE,
BUCEPHALUS,
WHEN IT DIED
advance of the Romans
into Campania after
their abolition of the
Latin League
in 338 BCE
alarmed the
Samnites, and
the Roman placing
of a colony in their land in
328 BCE and tensions over the
control of Neapolis (Naples) led
to the outbreak of war in 326 BCE.
In 321 BCE, the Samnites defeated
a Roman army at the Caudine
Forks. The Romans were
humiliated by being forced to bow
down and pass under the yoke
(an arch made from their captured
spears). Four years of peace
followed before the Romans
renewed the war and, despite
dogged resistance by the
Samnites, finally emerged
victorious in 304 BCE.

Sea

58

HIA

Se

Alexandria Eschate
A
IAN
SOGD
c
a
Bl k Sea
Alexandria ad Oxum
COLCH
h Bucephala
A
THRACE Byzantium
IS
BACTRIdu Kus
Alexandria
Hin
ARMENIA
Heraclea
MACEDONIA
ARACHOSIA
Pella Troy
CAPPADOCIA
Gordium
Alexandria Areion
Alexandria
ME
Nineveh
Sardis
HELLAS
SO
Arachoton
PARTHIA
MEDIA
PO
Ephesus
PISIDIA
TA
Quetta
Sparta
Ecbatana
M
I
A
B
PERSIS
SYRIA
Crete
Nad-i-Ali
AB
Cyprus
Pasargadae
Medite
Susa
YL
rranean Sea
Tyre
Patala
Babylon
O
Alexandria
Jerusalem
Cyrene
Persepolis
Pe
Alexandria Gaza
rs
ian
Gwadar
Arabian
Gulf
Memphis
Peninsula
SA
EGYPT
HA
Arabian
R A Thebes
SCYT

BC

CONQUEST OF ALEXANDER
Macedonian Empire 336-323BCE

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33
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nd of I
a
Pe
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Al att
B

Alexander the Greats conquests

Alexander penetrated the farthest
corners of the Persian empire. To
cement his rule he founded a series
of new cities, almost all named after
himself, notably Alexandria in Egypt.

Re

(see 355337 BCE), his 20-year-old

son Alexander (often referred to
as Alexander the Great) became
commander of the major Greek
city states. The next year Alexander
invaded Thrace, but a rumour that
he had been killed caused a major
revolt centred on the Greek city of
Thebes, supported by Darius III of
Persia (r.336330 BCE). Alexander
reacted swiftly; the Thebans were
defeated and their city razed to the
ground. The other states soon
submitted. In 334 BCE, Alexander
hurried to Anatolia, where a
Macedonian army was already
established, totalling perhaps
43,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry.
Although this figure was dwarfed
by the forces of the local Persian
satraps (governors), Alexanders
cavalry smashed the lines of the
satrap Arsites at the River
Granicus in northwest Turkey. He
pushed on towards the heart of
the Persian Empire. In 333 BCE, at
Issus, northern Syria, he routed an

Ruins of Persepolis
The Persian ceremonial capital of
Persepolis was burnt to the ground
by Alexanders troops in 330 BCE.

PA
LE
ST
INE

AFTER THE ASSASSINATION OF

PHILIP OF MACEDONIA in 336 BCE

Bessus declared himself the new

king of Persia (as Artaxerxes V),
but some of the Persian satraps
submitted to Alexander instead of
Bessus. During 330329 BCE,
Alexander pursued Bessus into
the easternmost regions of the
Persian Empire, beyond the Hindu
Kush and into Bactria. Finally,
in Sogdiana, north of the River
Oxus, the local nobles, led by the
Sogdian warlord Spitamenes,
betrayed Bessus and handed him
over to Alexander. Once Alexander
had continued his march north,
however, Spitamenes revolted. It
took Alexander a year of bitter
campaigning to relieve the siege

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322301 BCE
TO THE STRONGEST!

,,

,,

Alexander the Great, on his deathbed in reply to a

question about who would succeed him

Samnite-style helmet
The Romans admired the Samnites
as fighters. This gladiator helmet is
based on the Samnite style of armour.
r
de s
an ; hi
lex lon o
A
y
t
CE
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La etw d59
058-059_336-301BCE.indd
b an
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l
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a

ALEXANDER THE GREAT had not

provided for an orderly succession
after his death in 323 BCE, and his
most experienced generals were
also dead except for Antipater
who had been left as regent in
Macedonia. Alexanders wife
Roxane was pregnant, and he
had a half-brother Arrhidaeus,
who was, unfortunately,
mentally unstable. A clique of
generals who were present at
Alexanders deathbed
Ptolemy, Cassander,
Seleucus, and Lysimachus
engineered a solution by which
Roxanes newborn son Alexander
IV (323310 BCE) notionally shared
power with Arrhidaeus, who
became Philip III. In reality, this
military clique carved up the
empire between themselves and
four other generals. Perdiccas
emerged as the main power in
the centre; Antipater and
Craterus took
Europe;
Antigonos
Monopthalmos
(the one-eyed) was given
Phrygia; Ptolemy got Egypt;
and Seleucus and Cassander
were promoted to senior
military commands.
These generals, who became
known as the Diadochoi
(successors), then fought a long
series of wars for dominance in
Alexanders former empire, at
first pitting the others against
Perdiccas, who was assassinated
in 320 BCE. Antipater rose to
power next, but he died of natural
causes in 318 BCE, leaving
Antigonos to make a bid for power

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80,000
ANTIGONUS

75,000
LYSIMACHUS

Battle of Ipsus
Although slightly outnumbered,
Lysimachus deployed his archers
against his enemys flank, causing
Antigonuss infantry to flee in panic.

against the four remaining

principal players: Cassander in
Macedonia, Ptolemy in Egypt,
Lysimachus in Thrace, and
Seleucus in Babylon. War between
the parties raged inconclusively
until 311 BCE. But when it was
renewed again in 308 BCE, it
looked as if Antigonus might
overcome all the others. Then, in
301 BCE, Lysimachus crushed the
Antigonid army at Ipsus, and
annexed most of Antigonuss
former territories, so cementing a
tripartite division of Alexanders
empire between himself, Ptolemy,
and Seleucus.
In India, in around 320 BCE,
Chandragupta Maurya (r.c.320
297 BCE) overthrew the last of the
Nandas (see 370356 BCE) to
become ruler of Magadha and the
Ganges plain. An energetic ruler,
he then gradually absorbed the

outlying regions of the Nanda

Empire, pushing his control as
far as Gujarat and the Punjab.
In 305 BCE, he began a campaign
against one of Alexanders
successors, Seleucus, which
ended in a treaty in 303 BCE, by
which the Greeks ceded control
of eastern Afghanistan and
Baluchistan to Chandragupta.
Having established the Mauryan
Empire in 307 BCE, Chandragupta
decided to abdicate in favour of
his son Bindusara (r.297272 BCE).
He then retired to become a Jain
monk, ultimately starving himself
to death.
In China, Meng Zi (or Mencius)
(c.372289 BCE) arrived at the Wei
court around 320 BCE and rapidly
earned himself a reputation as
the second sage of the

ALEXANDER THE GREAT (356323 BCE)

Aged 20, Alexander inherited much of Greece from his father; by
his death just 13 years later, he had extended this to cover a vast
area from the Indus River in the east to Illyria in the west. He
was a brilliant general but prone to acts of impetuous violence.
His adoption of Persian court ritual alienated many native
Macedonians, and his not naming an heir proved catastrophic.

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Confucian tradition. His surviving

work, the Shi Ji, is written in the
form of dialogues with several
contemporary kings. Meng Zi
stresses the value of de (virtue)
for a king and, more practically,
recommends lower taxes, less
harsh punishments, and ensuring
the people have enough to eat.
He believed that if a king acted
benevolently, everyone would
want to be ruled by him, and he
would have no need of conquest.
Meng Zis benevolent view of
human nature had a widespread
appeal, and politically his views
were most influential in the
time of the Song dynasty
(9601279 CE).

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03/05/11 3:16 PM

59

57

300281 BCE

280266 BCE

265241 BCE

,,

,,

ANOTHER SUCH
VICTORY AND WE
ARE UNDONE.
Pyrrhus, king of the Greek state of Epirus, 279 BCE

The Pharos lighthouse was built under Ptolemy II in around

280 BCE . It guided ships into Alexandria harbour at night.
IN ITALY, A THIRD WAR broke

275
THE NUMBER
OF YEARS
THE
PTOLEMAIC
DYNASTY
RULED EGYPT

The equally vast Roman army at

45,000, the largest they had ever
fielded was threatened with
defeat until the Roman consul
Publius Decius Mus (d.295 BCE)
dedicated himself and the enemy
army as sacrificial victims to the
gods of the underworld and led a
suicidal charge that shattered the
Samnite line. A string of Roman
successes followed in 293 and
292 BCE, and two years later the
Samnites finally surrendered and
their lands were annexed. Roman
territory now stretched across the
Italian peninsula to the Adriatic Sea.

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060-061_300-241BCE.indd 60

60

58

Demetrius Poliorcetes (c.337

283 BCE), the son of Antigonus
(see 322301 BCE), was now
rebuilding his strength from bases
in the Aegean islands and in
Cyprus. He was able to exploit the
need of Seleucus, in Babylon, for
allies against the now over-mighty
Lysimachus. In 294 BCE, Demetrius
invaded Macedon, whose ruler
Cassander had died three years
before, leaving his two young
sons to engage in a bitter civil
war. Demetrius then attacked
Lysimachuss Asian territories,
but in 292 BCE he was brought
back to Greece by a revolt in
Aetolia. By 289 BCE, Demetrius
had suppressed the revolt, but he
had lost most of his island bases
to Ptolemys Egyptian fleet. He
retreated to Asia, and died in
283 BCE, a captive of Seleucus.
Of Alexanders successors,
Ptolemy inherited the weakest
position. A naval defeat in 306 BCE
by Demetrius Poliorcetes confined
his ambitions temporarily to Egypt.
Yet here he shrewdly chose to
exploit the existing mechanisms
of power, establishing himself as
a pharaoh in the old style and
setting up an administration that
melded the best of Greek and
Egyptian traditions. By 295 BCE,
Ptolemys naval forces had
recovered and conquered much of
the Aegean. In Egypt, Ptolemys
position was sufficiently secure
that, at his death in 283 BCE, aged
84, he passed the kingdom on to
his son Ptolemy II Philadelphos
(r.283245 BCE), the second king
of a Ptolemaic dynasty that would
rule Egypt until 30 BCE.

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IN 281 BCE, THE APPEAL by envoys

from the southern Italian city of
Tarentum for protection against
the Romans provided Pyrrhus,
the king of the Greek state of
Epirus, with a perfect excuse
for fulfilling his ambitions and
intervening there. He arrived with
an army more than 25,000 strong,
including war elephants. He beat
the Romans at the River Siris in
280 BCE, but the Roman senate
refused to make peace. Pyrrhus
vanquished another Roman army
at Asculum the next year, but his
losses were so severe that it
seemed more like a defeat. After
invading Sicily, Pyrrhus retreated
back to Epirus in 275 BCE, nursing
huge losses in troops and having
made no territorial gains.
The defeat and death of
Lysimachus in 281 BCE in battle

Pyrrhus of Epirus
Despite his many campaigns, when
Pyrrhus died he ruled little more
than the kingdom he had inherited.

500

20

00
2,0

out between the Romans and

Samnites in 298 BCE, apparently
provoked by Samnite harassment
of their neighbours, the Lucanians.
Despite two Roman victories in
297 BCE, the Samnites, this time
allied with the Gauls, could still
field a huge army against the
Romans at Sentinum in 295 BCE.

At the Battle of Mylae, in 260 BCE ,

Rome defeated the Carthaginian navy.

3,0
00

20,000
KEY
Infantry

Slingers

Cavalry

War elephants

Archers

Pyrrhus's army
The army that Pyrrhus took over to
Italy included a small number of war
elephants whose presence caused
the Roman cavalry to panic and flee.

against Seleucus, and the latters

assassination, soon led to
instability on the frontier between
the Seleucid Empire (now ruled
by his son Antiochus I) and the
Egyptian ruler Ptolemy II
Philadelphos. Finally, in 274 BCE
the First Syrian War broke out
between them. The Egyptians
emerged victorious, annexing
parts of the Syrian coast and
southern Anatolia. This position
was in part reversed by Egyptian
losses in the Second Syrian War
(260253 BCE) and then renewed
in the Third Syrian War (246241
BCE), which was fought between
the Seleucid Antiochus II and
Ptolemy III. These three
debilitating wars left the Seleucids
particularly vulnerable to the now
growing power of Parthia.

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IN INDIA, the accession of Ashoka

(c.294232 BCE) to the throne in
268 BCE had marked a watershed
for the Mauryan Empire. On his
father Bindusaras death (see
322301 BCE), Ashoka had to fight
a four-year civil war with his
brothers before he was enthroned.
Around eight years later, he
launched a campaign against
Kalinga (modern Orissa), which
was so bloody that around 100,000
people are said to have died. So
struck with remorse was Ashoka
at this slaughter, that he ever after
rejected war and promoted the
Buddhist concept of dharma,
meaning mercy or piety. He set up
a series of edicts carved in rock
throughout the empire many of
them on pillars topped with a lion
promoting his adherence to
dharma. Under his patronage the
Third Buddhist Council met at
Pataliputra around 250 BCE, and
Ashoka sought to export his ideas
abroad, exchanging diplomatic
missions with foreign rulers, such
as Antiochus II of Syria and
Ptolemy II of Egypt. At his death
in 232 BCE, the Mauryan empire
had reached its greatest extent
and seemed securely established.
In China, Zhao Zheng succeeded
his father to the throne of Qin in
246 BCE. From 228 BCE, ably advised
by chancellor Li Si, Zhao Zheng
unleashed a final war of conquest
against the remaining Warring
States (see 370356 BCE). Zhao
and Yan soon fell to his forces, the
Qin armies captured Wei and, in
223 BCE, overcame Chu. Only Qi
still held out but, in 221 BCE, Zhao
Zheng finally annexed it, leaving

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BC

13/05/11 5:46 PM

23

YEARS

THE LENGTH OF
THE FIRST PUNIC
WAR

Early Roman religion combined

the worship of the great gods,
such as Neptune (shown here),
with that of more local deities.
There were several different
types of priest: haruspices
made predictions from the
entrails of sacrificed animals;
augures determined the divine
will from signs, such as the
flight of birds; and pontifices
controlled the complex
calendar of religious festivals.
In their homes, Romans had
shrines to household gods and
the spirits of their ancestors.
him the master of all China. The
same year he proclaimed himself
the First Emperor as Qin Shi
Huangdi, and the first ruler of the
new Qin dynasty.
In Persia, the Greek Seleucid
dynasty, which had inherited the
region after Alexander the Greats
death in 323 BCE, faced a series of
nomad incursions
after 280 BCE.
Antiochus I (reign
c.292261 BCE)

expelled the nomads, but wars

with Egypt (280272 BCE and
260253 BCE) overstretched the
kingdoms resources. On the
death of Antiochus II (r.261246
BCE), civil war broke out between
the kings widow Berenice and his
former wife Laodice. This led to
the breakaway of Bactria under
Diodotus and Parthia
under Andragoras.
Taking advantage
of this instability,

the nomadic Parni, led by

Arsaces, entered Parthia in the
mid-240s BCE.
Rivalry over Sicily, where the
Carthaginians had possessed
colonies since the 8th century BCE,
was at the root of the First Punic
War (264241 BCE), a conflict
between Rome and the North
African power of Carthage. In 264
BCE, the Romans sent an army to
help the Mamertines a group
of south-Italian mercenaries
occupying the Sicilian city of
Messana in their conflict with
the city of Syracuse, which was
in turn aided by Carthage. The
Carthaginians resistance was so
stubborn that the Romans made

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,,

IF THEY WILL
NOT EAT, LET
THEM DRINK!

Publius Claudius Pulcher, Roman

consul and general, ordering the
drowning of the sacred chickens
when they refused to eat grain
before the Battle of Drepana, 249 BCE

E UR O P E
P

Alps

Tolosa

Placentia
e n Narbo
Massalia
ee
s
Ariminum
Pisae
Iberian
Emporiae Rhodae
Perusia
Tarraco
Peninsula
Ad
Dertosa
Corsica
ri
to Rome 238 Aleria
at
Saguntum
Ostia Rome
ic
le a re s
a
Se
Olbia
B
a
Capua
Sardinia
Gades
Malaca
to Rome 238
Tarentum
Mediterra
Tingis
Carales
nea
Panormus Thurii
n
Cartenna
Se
260BCE
Rusaddir
Croton
a 241BCE
Iol
Mylae
Saldae
Rhegium
Utica Agrigentum
Ecnomus
Carthage
Syracuse
256BCE
Hadrumetum
Sicily
Numantia

yr

to Rome 241

A F R I CA
Leptis Magna
Charax

KEY

Great Stupa at Sanchi

This Buddhist stupa in central India
was begun by the Mauryan ruler
Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE.

Aegades Islands. This defeat

caused Hamilcar Barca, the
Carthaginian general, to sue for
peace. The peace terms involved
the Carthaginians leaving Sicily.
The two sides spheres of
influence remained uncomfortably
overlapping, creating the seeds
of two future conflicts.

,,

little headway. However, after they

had built their first ever fleet, the
Romans fortunes changed. In
260 BCE, they won an important
victory over the Carthaginians at
Mylae. A Roman invasion of North
Africa in 256 BCE failed to capture
Carthage only through the
ineptitude of the consul, Regulus.
On land, the Romans took the
Carthaginian strongholds in Sicily
one by one until, by 249 BCE, only
Drepana, in western Sicily, held
out against them. A massive
Carthaginian naval victory there
set back the Roman cause, but
in 241 BCE, a new Roman fleet
appeared off Drepana, took it,
and the next year smashed
a Carthaginian fleet at the

ROMAN RELIGION

Carthaginian Empire in 264 BCE

Roman gains by 264 BCE
Roman gains by 238 BCE
Roman victory

The First Punic War

The two decades of fighting was
concentrated around Sicily, but
also saw Roman invasions of
North Africa and Sardinia.

ac
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BC
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61

59

240220 BCE

36

219211 BCE

THE NUMBER OF
COMMANDERIES
(REGIONS) SET UP
BY EMPEROR QIN
SHI HUANGDI
This rendition of Hannibals crossing of the Alps is attributed to Italian artist
Jacopo Ripanda. Amazingly, all 37 elephants survived the mountain passage.

n
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062_063_178147_240_201BCE.indd 62

62

60

BC

EG

l
iba
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AT L A N T I C
OCEAN

EUROPE
ALPS

Tolosa

Placentia
20
Trebia 218
e n Narbo
7
Massalia
ee
Ariminum
8
Pisae
s
Iberian
20
10
2
Rhodae
8
1
River Metaurus 207
Penins ula
Tarraco 2
Emporiae Corsica
Perusia
Lake Trasimene 217
Ad
Aleria
Dertosa
Rome
Baecula 208 Saguntum
S e riat
a ic
Ostia
Ilipa 206
209
Olbia
Cannae 216
Capua
Gades
Numantia

THE SECOND PUNIC WAR

218202 BCE

yr

Sardinia

Baleares

Tingis

Malaca

Carthaginian Empire 281BCE

Carthaginian
victory
Rusaddir

Carthaginian territory 200BCE

Roman victory

Carthago
Nova
Cartenna

Roman territory 218BCE

Hannibal (219202)

Roman gains by 200BCE

Hasdrubal (208207

Massalian territory 218BCE

Scipio Africanus (210206

and 204202)

Carthaginian victory

Tarentum

Medite
Carales
rra
ne
an
Iol
Motya

Thurii

Croton
Messina
Mylae
Rhegium
Sicily Agrigentum
Carthage
Zama 202
Syracuse
203
Hadrumetum
Saldae

204

Utica

AFRICA

Roman victory

Leptis Magna

Hannibal (219202)
Hasdrubal (208207

Charax

Scipio Africanus (210206

and 204202)

ALARMED AT CARTHAGINIAN
EXPANSION IN SPAIN, in 226 BCE

the Romans sent an embassy to

Hasdrubal son of Hamilcar and
the new Barcid commander there
and secured an agreement that
the Carthaginians would not move
north of the Ebro River. In return,
the Romans pledged not to move
south although they did forge
alliances with cities in the south,
such as Saguntum. In 221 BCE,
Hasdrubal was assassinated;
two years later, Hannibal, his
brother and successor, attacked
Saguntum, rapidly leading to the
Second Punic War (219201 BCE).
With the prospect of the
Romans sending one army to
Spain and another via Sicily to
invade North Africa, Hannibal
decided to strike first. He

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Qi

Second Punic War

There were three principal theatres
of conflict: Spain, Italy, and North
Africa. By 203 BCE, the Carthaginians
were confined to Africa.

Suppressing opposition
This watercolour-on-silk painting
shows Shi Huangdi, Chinas first
emperor, overseeing the burning of
books and the execution of scholars.

In the aftermath of the First

Punic War (see 264241 BCE), with
Sicily and Sardinia lost, Carthage
turned its attention to Spain. In
238 BCE, Hamilcar was sent there,
and he soon conquered almost the
whole of southern Spain. He died
in battle against the Oretani, a
Celtic tribe, in 229 BCE, but by then
he had won both a new empire
for Carthage and a strong power
base for his family, the Barcids.
Despite their victory in the First
Punic War, the Romans position
in northern Italy was still weak. In
THE SECOND PUNIC WAR
225 BCE
, the Celtic
218202
BCE Insubres and
Boii tribes
tried to drive
them
out.
Carthaginian
Empire
281BCE
At the Battle
of Telamon,
the200
Celts
Carthaginian
territory
BCE
were trapped
between
twoBCE
Roman
Roman
territory 218
armies and
routed.
Roman
gainsAlthough
by 200BCE the
Boii accepted
defeat
in 224218
BCE
and
Massalian
territory
BCE
the Insubres sued for peace two
years later, the Romans rebuffed
them and pushed on for total
victory. The king of the Boii was
killed in single combat against a
Roman consul, and their capital
Mediolanum (Milan) captured.
The Romans established colonies
in the Celtic territories in 218 BCE,
including at Piacenza.
A revolt led by Arsaces (see
265241 BCE) in Parthava a
former satrapy in the northeast of
the Seleucid Empire could not
be quelled by Seleucus II (r.246
225 BCE), and a separate Parthian
kingdom emerged in the region
of modern Iran. The Parthians
gradually annexed more territory
to the west, especially under
Mithridates I (r.171138 BCE). By
the early 1st century BCE, only a
small area of Syria was under
Seleucid control.

first emperor of China, divided his

empire into 36 commanderies on
the advice of his minister Li Ssu.
The dispossessed aristocrats and
nobles of Qins former enemies
were moved to the capital Xianyang
to keep them under close control.
To further encourage a sense of
unity, Li Ssu commissioned a
single script and a standardized
system of weights and measures
for China. Further conquests were
made to the north and south in
219 and 214 BCE, and thousands of
colonists were sent to the new
territories. Shi Huangdi dealt
firmly with opposition. In 213 BCE,
he ordered the burning of the
books, by which the writings of
philosophers opposed to the Qin
state were burnt, and in 212 BCE
he had many intellectuals who
opposed him brutally killed.

marched with 50,000 infantry,

9,000 cavalry, and 37 elephants
into northern Spain, across the
Pyrenees, through southern
Gaul and to the Romans
astonishment crossed the
Alps. Although he now had only
around half the force he had
started with, his presence
encouraged the north Italian
Celts to revolt and, at Trebia in
late 218 BCE, he routed a Roman
army. The following year he
smashed another large Roman
force at Lake Trasimene, killing
15,000 Romans including one of
Battle of Canae
Some 35,000 Romans survived the
battle of Cannae, but half of those
were captured by the Carthaginians,
and many were sold into slavery.

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the consuls. Faced with many

defections among the allied
cities, the Romans turned to
delaying tactics to hold Hannibal
at bay. But this was a temporary
measure, and the Romans
suffered one of their worst ever
defeats at Cannae in 216 BCE, when
Hannibals army massacred up to
100
FORCES IN THOUSANDS

IN 221 BCE, QIN SHI HUANGDI, the

50,000 casualties

80
6,000
casualties

60
40
20
0

Roman

Carthaginian

TROOPS

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03/05/11 3:16 PM

210201 BCE

After his death, the First Qin Emperor was buried in a vast mausoleum, in which
an army of 8,000 terracotta warriors, each around 2 m (6 ft 6 in) tall, was placed.
WHEN THE FIRST QIN EMPEROR
DIED IN 210 BCE, resentment

HANNIBAL (247182 BCE)

A brilliant tactician, Hannibals
string of victories against the
Romans from 218 BCE was
not matched by the strategic
judgement to convert them
into final victory. Following
the surrender of Carthage in
201 BCE, Hannibal served
as the citys suffete (chief
magistrate) until the Romans
had him exiled in 195 BCE. He
then offered his service to a
succession of Romes
enemies before poisoning
himself in Bithynia.
50,000 of them. But Hannibal
did not march immediately on
Rome, and his campaign lost
momentum. Although Hannibal
captured much of southern Italy,
including the key city of Capua in
211 BCE, by 212 BCE the Romans
had raised 25 fresh legions and
stood ready to carry the war back
to the Carthaginians.

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062_063_178147_240_201BCE.indd
63
de

against his autocratic rule erupted

in a series of peasant revolts. A
number of new kingdoms broke
away from the centre, while the
anti-Qin forces found a talented
military leader in Xiang Yu. In
208 BCE, Li Ssu was executed and
a new army, led by Liu Bang, a
man of peasant origins, emerged
to challenge the Qin. By 206 BCE,
the Qin Empire was fragmented
and Xiang Yu and Liu Bang were at
war with one another. In 202 BCE,
Xiang Yu committed suicide after
being defeated at Gaixia. With no
one left to oppose him, Liu Bang
had himself declared emperor as
Gaozu, the first ruler of the Han
dynasty (see 200171 BCE).
With Hannibal making little
headway in southern Italy, the
Romans embarked on a policy of
picking off the allies of Carthage.
Their first target was Philip V of
Macedonia, whose attacks on
Illyria in 215 BCE had provoked the
First Macedonian War (215205
BCE) with Rome. In 211 BCE, the
Romans allied with the Aetolians,
who fought the Macedonians on
land while the Romans launched
naval attacks. Philips invasion
of Aetolia in 207 BCE forced the
Aetolians to sue for peace the next
year, and though the Romans sent
fresh forces in 205 BCE, the war
ended with a recognition of the
status quo between the two sides.
In Spain, the Romans had
retaken Saguntum in 212 BCE, but
a disastrous defeat the following
year in which both consuls died
looked set to destroy the Roman
lts
vo
Re ire
p
f
0 B Em o
21 Qin eath di
in er d ang
aft i Hu
Sh
CE

position there. The Roman senate

sent the young general Publius
Cornelius Scipio (c.236183 BCE)
to Spain, where he captured the
Carthaginian capital of Carthage
Nova. In 206 BCE, he crushed a
large Carthaginian force at Illipa.
In 207 BCE, Hannibals brother
Hasdrubal was defeated and
killed at the River Metaurus in
northern Italy, denying Hannibal
crucial reinforcements. By 204 BCE,
many of Hannibals south-Italian
allies had deserted him, and when
Scipio landed with a Roman army

s
an
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Ro ren
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a
C
9 B e T aly
20 ptur th It
ca sou
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dr forc s;
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7 B t t Ital y t s
20 emp l in ed b uru d
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Ha e is ns a an
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20 nas ims f a n an
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an s a
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Ro clud itary the
E
a
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BC
on l mi inst beri
6
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20 ipio sfu aga in I
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c
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S cc ig an
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ca rtha
Ca
of
aty d
re e an t
T
a
e
th om th a
At e, R gree be
E
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c
C
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i
a
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20 Pho don yria ecto
t
e
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Il pro
Ma
ed
ar
sh

at Utica in North Africa, the

Carthaginians recalled Hannibal
to head off a threat to Carthage
itself. The Romans offered
relatively lenient peace terms, but
the Carthaginians rejected them,
and Scipio captured their towns
one by one. Aided by the Numidian
prince, Massinissa, Scipio
defeated Hannibals last army at
Zama in 202 BCE. The peace terms
the Carthaginians now had to
accept were much harsher. All of
their territory was forfeit save a
band around Carthage itself; their

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m Sci
Ro der
E
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BC
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fleet was reduced to a mere 10

ships; they were not allowed to
make war outside Africa at all,
and inside it they needed Roman
permission to do so. An annual
tribute of 10,000 talents payable
to the Romans completed the
humiliation of what had once
been Romes greatest enemy.
The Continence of Scipio
Scipio was noted for his mercy. In
this 19th-century painting, he is
seen handing back a captured
Carthaginian woman to her fianc.

o
l
ipi ba
Sc nni ma
E
a
C
B
H f Za
2
s
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at

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br g,
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Af Luo pero is
t
CE
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20 erio ese ets u nga
p hin s ha
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c

g
kin
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ri
l
Se III s d Sy
E
s el
BC
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h
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n
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a
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nd the ic
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u
s nd
03/05/11 3:17 PM
e

63

61

700

BCE 5 9 9 CE

T H E C L A S S I CA L A G E

owl, the sacred

bird of Athena

crescent symbol in
post-490 BCE coins

Athenian coin
The Athenian
silver tetradrachm
has an image of an
owl on one side and
a helmeted head on
the other. It was also
stamped with the Greek
letters for ATHE to identify
the city of its origin.

1200 BCE
Shells as money

Beginning from the

Maldives, the use
of cowrie shells
as money spreads
throughout the Pacific,
and, by the 19th century,
into Africa.

465454 BCE
Greek coins

Cowrie shells

Prehistory
Cattle as capital

Prehistoric people
use cattle as money,
with animals such as
sheep or chickens
sometimes acting
as small change.

Almost every Greek city-state

issues its own coinage, often with
the name of the state inscribed on
it. Silver replaces electrum as the
main metal used.

1000500 BCE
Tool money

Cattle

In China, common
tools are cast in
metal, punched
with holes (for
stringing several
together), and
used as money.

c.640630 BCE
First true coins

Knife
money

Lydian coins

The state of Lydia

produces the first true
coins, made of electrum
(an alloy of gold and
silver) and stamped with
an image of a lion or stag.

27 BCE14 CE
Augustan aureus

Emperor Augustus
reforms the Roman
coinage system and
issues a new version of
the standard gold coin,
the aureus, worth
Gold
aureus
25 silver denarii.

64

62

064-065_Story_of_Money.indd 64
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19:16

T H E S TO R Y O F M O N E Y

THE STORY OF

MONEY

THE ADOPTION OF MONEY ENABLED EARLY SOCIETIES TO FLOURISH AND GROW INTO COMPLEX CIVILIZATIONS

As societies became more complex, a need arose for a uniform medium of

exchange to acquire goods. Money was created to fulfil this role, and it evolved
from cattle to precious metals, and finally, to coins and notes. Today, money
is exchanged more abstractly, through credit cards or electronic transfers.
The earliest forms of money used in ritual
exchanges (for example, as a dowry) and in paying
fines included physical items such as cattle.
In the 4th millennium BCE, the growth of trade in
Egypt and Mesopotamia led to more compact and
portable forms of money. For thousands of years,
precious metals were used, often in the forms of
bars and ingots. Babylonian king Hammurabis law

code mentions loans paid in silver. In 640 BCE,

in the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor, the
development of money went a stage further with
the invention of coinage, which later spread to
the Greek world. By the Roman era, a tri-metallic
system had been adopted, with coins of gold,
silver, and bronze (of least value) circulating across
the empire. All had the head of the ruler stamped
on them, for propaganda as well as fiscal use.

100

PERCENTAGE OF SILVER

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 250 260
YEAR

The debasement of Roman coins

Due to inflation, excessive expenditure, and weak control
of minting, the purity of the Roman denarius fell from
around 90 per cent silver under Marcus Aurelius
(r.161180) to 4 per cent during Gallienuss rule (r.260268).

806821
Paper money

1519
Thalers

In China, Emperor
Xianzong issues the
earliest bank notes during
a period of copper
shortage. The Jin dynasty
issues the first true bank
notes around 1189.

Song
dynasty
note

1158
Making change

Henry II of England
creates high-quality
coinage, based on a
silver penny, with
a cross design that
will last over the next
100 years.

EXCHANGE NOTES
In 1189, paper money came into use in China during
Jin rule. Notes could express larger denominations
and, therefore, were more convenient than coins.
Gradually, government-backed banks began to issue
notes, which were, in theory, exchangeable for an
equivalent amount in bullion (a system known as
the Gold Standard). However, the economic crisis
following World War I forced countries to abandon
the Gold Standard. Subsequently, the real value of
notes and coins became nominal, relying instead on
a sense of trust that they could be exchanged for
goods. The growth of credit cards from 1950 took
this a stage further, as the purchaser passed on
nothing save the promise of payment at a later date.

Coin minted from

silver found in the
Joachimsthal mine,
Bohemia, becomes
standard in the
Spanish and Austrian
Habsburg empires.

1694
First bank note

Joachimsthal
thaler

The Bank of England

is founded to fund
Englands growing
national debt. It issues
its first bank notes,
backed by the banks
own gold reserves.

17th century
Modern cheque

The growth in paper money in Europe after

the Middle Ages was fuelled by the needs of
merchants. Traders would deposit funds in a
bank in one city and receive a promissory note,
which allowed them to withdraw the amount
in any other city where the bank had a branch.
Great Italian banking houses, such as the Medici,
were rich enough to fund the military campaigns
of European kings through their loans.

1949
Credit and debit cards

The first credit cards

appear in the US in
1949. By the 1980s,
debit cards, which
operate as electronic
cash (without deferred
payment) appear.

Credit cards

1862
First dollar bill

By the 17th century, the use

of cheques, often backed
by goldsmiths, becomes
widespread in
Europe.
Henricus penny

TRADE AND PAPER MONEY

British cheque
from 1659

The US Treasury
issues the first
dollar bills for
national circulation.
These are known
as greenbacks
for their vivid green colour.

First one dollar bill

65
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63

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200171 BCE

170147 BCE

The royal entourage of Gaozu, the first emperor of the Han, depicted in the mountains of China.
Gaozu was one of the few Chinese rulers to come from a peasant background.

This wall painting shows Judah

Maccabees revolt in Jerusalem.

when his successor, Hui Ti, was

just 15. Hui Ti fell under the sway
of his mother, the empress Lu,
who took power for herself on his
premature death in 188 BCE.
Under her rule China was
invaded by the Hsiung-nu from
the north and the kingdom of
Nan-yueh to the south, and it
was only under Gaozus grandson

13

the beginnings of political

consolidation in central Japan,
especially around the lower Nara
basin (near Osaka).
In India, the Sunga dynasty
took power in Magadha in 185 BCE,
when its founder Pusyamitra
Sunga (r.185151 BCE), a former

Mauryan general, assassinated

the last Mauryan ruler (see
265 BCE). He is said to have
persecuted Buddhists, marking
the beginning of the religions
decline in its Indian homeland. He
also fought a long series of wars
with Magadhas neighbours,

geometrical
patterns
and shapes

THE NUMBER
OF REGIONS
THAT MADE UP
HAN CHINA
Wen Ti (r.180157 BCE) that
stability was restored.
By 143 BCE, the number of
commanderies (regions)
under central Han control had
risen from 13 to a total of 40.
In Japan, the Middle Yayoi
period (c.200100 BCE) saw an
increase in population possibly
to as high as 600,000 people and
Yayoi vase
The Yayoi period in Japanese history
(c.300 BCE to 250 CE) is named for the
site near Tokyo where its pottery
was first found.
al
)
ia
ion
ate
ian
tol
es
eg ar in
R
on
str
ak
na
e
i
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B
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ac
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on
00 s a de
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including the Satavahanas, the

Kalingas, and the Indo-Greek
kingdoms of Bactria.
Bactria (in modern Afghanistan)
had broken away from Seleucid
control around 275 BCE, but a
series of Greek kings continued
to rule there, starting with
Diodotus around 250 BCE. Another
Indo-Greek dynasty emerged in
India, and became powerful
under Menander I (c.165
130 BCE), an important patron of
Buddhism. Under the Indo-Greek
kings, a new school of art
emerged around Gandhara, which
fused Buddhist iconography and
Greek naturalism. Gradually,
these easternmost Greeks came
under pressure from Scythian
and Yuezhi nomads and in 125 BCE
Bactria collapsed. The last
Indo-Greek kingdom of the
Punjab survived until 10 CE.
The Roman victory against
Philip V of Macedon (see
210 BCE) in the Second
Macedonian War (200197 BCE)
did not lead to permanent
acquisitions in Greece,
and the Romans withdrew
their army in 194 BCE.
After the death of Philip V
in 179 BCE, his son Perseus
presided over worsening
relations with Rome, and
in 171 BCE a Third Macedonian
War broke out. Initial Roman
campaigning achieved little
except the alienation of their
Greek allies, but a more
disciplined approach under
the consul Aemilius Paullus
(see 170 BCE) yielded better
results.

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THE THIRD MACEDONIAN WAR

ended In 168 BCE, when Paullus

defeated Perseus at the Battle of
Pydna. A purge of anti-Roman
elements swept through the
Greek cities, and Macedonia was
broken up into four republics to
prevent it recovering its strength.
In 150 BCE, Spartan attempts
to get the Romans to intervene
in a quarrel with the Achaean
League (a group of Greek
city-states) coincided with an
anti-Roman revolt in Macedonia.
By 148 BCE, the Macedonians had
been defeated and the Romans
turned their attention to the
Achaeans. The Roman consul
L. Mummius quickly routed the
Archaeans and took Corinth,
which he razed to the ground. The
various leagues of Greek cities
were dissolved and Greece lost
its independence, becoming the
Roman province of Achaea.
50
NUMBER OF SOLIDERS (IN 1000S)

THE FIRST HAN EMPEROR OF

CHINA, GAOZU, died in 195 BCE,

Total
40

Total
Captured

30
20

Killed

10
Killed
0

Romans

Macedonians

COMBATANTS

Battle of Pydna
The Macedonian army led by
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of Pydna. The Romans killed 20,000
Macedonians and captured 11,000.
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12/05/11 1:59 PM
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146131 BCE

The ruins of Carthage, which was burnt and ritually cursed after its capture in
146 BCE . A new Roman town was founded near the city around 48 BCE .

,,

,,

CARTHAGE
MUST BE
DESTROYED.

Cato the Elder, Roman statesman

war without Roman approval.

Unable to act, the Carthaginians
were reduced to sending
embassies to Rome to protest at
Massinissas behaviour. However,
Rome sided with its ally, and one
Carthaginian embassy in 162 BCE
even resulted in Carthage being

Carthaginean tophet
A memorial stone from the tophet
(cemetery) at Carthage, showing
Tanit, the goddess of the heavens.

made to pay an annual fine

of 500 talents. In 151 BCE, the
Carthaginian government sent a
military force to relieve a town that
had been besieged by Massinissa,
and the Romans reacted by
declaring war. This was the Third
Punic War (149146 BCE). Romes
war was encouraged by the
anti-Carthaginian senator Cato

the Elder, who made a series of

speeches to the Senate calling for
the destruction of Carthage.
The first two years of the Third
Punic war saw ineffective Roman
attacks on towns around Carthage.
In 147 BCE, a new commander was
appointed, Scipio Aemilianus,
who transformed Romes fortunes
in the war within a year.
In 167 BCE, the Seleucid ruler
Antiochus IV outlawed Jewish
religious practices in Judaea,
leading to the revolt of Judah
Maccabee and his brothers in
164 BCE. Judah Maccabee entered
Jerusalem, reconsecrated the
temple, and re-established
Judaism. The Seleucid kingdom
then continued to decline (see
also 280 BCE), with the overthrow
of its ruler Demetrius I in 150 BCE
by Alexander Balas rapidly leading
to the loss of the key satrapies
(provinces) of Media and Susiana.

THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

After the overthrow of the last king in 507 BCE,
Rome became a republic, ruled by two annually
elected consuls. Over time the consuls came
to be supported by other magistrates (praetors
and quaestors), and tribunes of the plebs who had
a special role in protecting the rights of the lower

orders. Later elections for the consulate became

bitterly contested as the office provided great
potential for enrichment and personal and family
glory. After Augustus became emperor in 27 BCE
the office of consul lost any real power, being
increasingly awarded to imperial favourites.

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,,

After the end of the Second Punic

War, in 202 BCE, the Romans had
allowed their ally King Massinissa
of Numidia to encroach on
Carthaginian territory. The peace
conditions that ended the war
forbade the Carthaginians to wage

I SHUDDER TO THINK
THAT ONE DAY SOMEONE
MAY GIVE THE SAME ORDER
FOR ROME.

,,

Scipio Aemilianus, Roman general and consul, on giving the order

to burn Carthage, from Plutarchs Apophthegmata

IN CHINA, RAIDS BY NOMADIC

HSIUNG-NU TRIBES from 177 BCE

gravely threatened the Han

dynastys northern borders. In
139 BCE the imperial envoy, Zhang
Qian, set out to Central Asia to
seek out possible allies against
the Hsiung-nu. His epic journey
helped scout the way for Chinese
expansion as far as Dunhuang, and
the foundation of a number of new
Central Asian commanderies by
104 BCE. Zhang Qian was held
captive by the Hsiung-nu for some
years during his journey before he
was able to make an escape.
Under emperor Wu (14187 BCE)
the Chinese launched several
offensives against the Hsiung-nu,
particularly in 121 BCE and 119 BCE,
after which the frontier was quiet
for almost 20 years.
In the Near East, the shrunken
and near-helpless Seleucid
realm (see 170 BCE) was riven by
civil wars and prey to interference
from the Parthians, the
Hasmonaeans, and, increasingly,
the Romans. In 142 BCE, the
Maccabees succeeded in wresting
Jerusalem from Seleucid control
and established a Hasmonaean
kingdom, with Jerusalem as its

capital, under which a Jewish

dynasty ruled until Jerusalem was
captured by the Romans in 63 BCE.
In the Iberian Peninsula, the
Romans had conquered most of
southern Spain and parts of
Portugal (where the Lusitanians
vigorously resisted them) by
174 BCE. A revolt by the Lusitanian
leader Viriathus from 147 BCE was
joined by several Celtiberian
tribes in 144 BCE. This rebellion
petered out after Viriathus was
murdered in 140 BCE. In 133 BCE,
Numantia, the main centre of the
revolt, finally fell to the Romans
after a bitter siege. Its population
was sold into slavery and Rome
was left in control of all of Iberia,
except the far north of Spain.
The Third Punic War came to
an end when Scipio Aemilianus
blocked Carthages harbour then
launched a successful attack on
the city itself in spring 146 BCE.
The last Carthaginian defenders
died in an inferno in the citys
main temple. The defeat of
Carthage brought its 118-year
struggle against Rome to an end.
The Romans burnt the whole city
and deported its population to
prevent any Carthaginian revival.

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3:16 PM
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67

65

130111 BCE

11091 BCE

,,

,,

HOWEVER MUCH YOU MAY

TRY TO DELAY, YOU ARE FATED TO
MEET THE SAME DEATH AS I DID.
Tiberius Gracchus, Roman official, speaking in a dream to his
brother Gaius; from an account by Cicero

This 17th-century silk painting from a history of Chinese emperors

shows the Emperor Wudi greeting a scholar.

Amravati relief carving

This carving depicts the life of the
Buddha. It comes from Amravati in
Andra Pradesh, southeast India, one
of the capitals of the Satavahanas.
ain
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66

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IN PALESTINE, THE HASMONEAN

KINGDOM (see 146131 BCE) had

continued its expansion until the

fall of Jerusalem to the Seleucid
Antiochus VII in 131 BCE. However,
during the reign of John Hyrcanus
(r.134104 BCE) it recovered much
of the ground that had been lost.
Alexander Jannaeus (r.10376
BCE) enlarged the kingdom until it
occupied most of modern Israel
and the West Bank. After defeats
by the Nabataean king Aretas III in
84 BCE and internal strife following
Alexanders death, the
Hasmoneans were
increasingly vulnerable
to Roman interference.

In North Africa, the Romans

faced a serious challenge when
Micipsa, the son of their former
ally Massinissa of Numidia (see
170147 BCE), died in 118 BCE. The
Romans ordered the kingdom be
divided between Micipsas nephew
Jugurtha and his sons. Jugurtha
rejected this, killing one cousin
and attacking the other, Adherbal,
who fled to Rome. After a brief
division of Numidia between
Jugurtha and Adherbal, Jugurtha
renewed his attack on his cousin
and the Romans became involved.

ROMAN MILITARY REFORMS

By the late 2nd century BCE, the Roman army was experiencing
difficulty recruiting from the traditional propertied classes. Gaius
Marius changed this by opening the army to those who fell below
the normal property qualification. The eagle became the universal
legionary standard for the first time, and the legions themselves
were reformed as a heavy infantry force. From this point onward
Roman light infantry and cavalry were organized into auxiliary
units, which were recruited from non-citizens.

,,

In southern and central India,

the Satavahanas began their
rise to power after the breakup of
the Mauryan Empire in the 2nd
century BCE (see 200171 BCE).
From his capital in the Deccan, the
third Satavahana king, Satakarni,
extended his sway considerably
around 50 BCE, although he and
later Satavahana rulers struggled
to contain the Saka and Kushan
threats from the northwest.
In Rome, social turmoil had
erupted over the distribution of
public land held by the Senate.
Tiberius Gracchus, who was
tribune of the plebs in 133 BCE,
sought to ensure that plots of this
land would be handed over to
poorer families. When the Senate
obstructed his plans, he tried to
extend his tribunate so that he
could pursue his aim. A mob
organized by senators opposed
to the plans beat him to death in
the Forum. Tiberiuss brother
Gaius became tribune in 123 BCE
and tried to carry on his brothers
work. He also reduced the
Senates role in dispensing justice,
and pushed through a law to allow
the sale of subsidized grain to the
poor. In 122 BCE, the Senate
declared Gaius an enemy of the
state, due to his plans to extend
Roman citizenship more widely in
Italy. He killed himself, and
thousands of his political
supporters were executed.

SAKA (SCYTHIAN) TRIBESMEN

invaded Punjab, northern India,

in about 125 BCE. They gradually
occupied more territory, ending
a brief period of Indo-Greek unity
(see 200171 BCE) under the reign
of Antialcidas around 110 BCE. Led
by King Maues, the Sakas took
the kingdom of Gandhara and its
capital Taxila in about 80 BCE.
After Maues died (c.60 BCE), the
Saka kingdom collapsed, but it
was revived under his son Azes I
(r.58c.30 BCE), who conquered
much of northwest India. The
Sakas held this region until the
rise of the Kushan Empire during
the 1st century CE.

YOU DO
WELL TO
CONSIDER
THE OFFICE
YOUR OWN,
FOR YOU
BOUGHT IT.

,,

Julius Caesars father chastising

the future dictator Sulla for having
corruptly bought office in 94 BCE;
from Lives by Plutarch

Following several disastrous

years of campaigning from
111 BCE, the Romans sent Quintus
Caecilius Metellus, who captured
Jugurthas strongholds one by
one. In 108 BCE, Gaius Marius
replaced Metellus. Finally,
trapped in the far west of his
territory, Jugurtha was handed to
the Romans by his father-in-law
Bocchus of Mauretania.
In Gaul, two Germanic tribes,
the Cimbri and Teutones, had
been defeating the Romans since
107 BCE, notably at Arausio in
105 BCE, where Roman losses
reached 80,000. Marius took
command of the defence against
the Germans on his return from
North Africa, and in 102 BCE
vanquished the Teutones at Aquae
Sextiae in Gaul. He next crushed
the Cimbri at the Battle of
Vercellae in 101 BCE. He was
rewarded with an unprecedented
sixth consulship in 100 BCE.
In China, Emperor Wudi
(r.14187 BCE) strengthened the
Han Empires administrative

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9071 BCE

Maiden Castle hill-fort in Britain underwent several phases of rebuilding after

it was begun around 600 BCE , reaching its final form about 500 years later.

Captured in stone
The Danzante carvings at Monte
Alban, Mexico, were once thought
to be of dancers, but they are now
believed to represent the mutilated
bodies of enemies captured in war.

system by beginning civil service

examinations. Official positions
for academics had been
established in 136 BCE,
consolidating the ruling houses
stranglehold on the intellectual
life of China. In 106 BCE, Wudi
appointed 13 regional
inspectors to monitor the
behaviour of government officials,
raised taxes, and forbade private
coin-minting. His armies pushed
deep into Central Asia. By 108 BCE,
the Han Empire had reached its
largest extent.
In Mexico, the population of
Monte Albn had reached about
17,000 by around 100 BCE. Monte
Albns control began to reach
beyond the immediate vicinity of
the Valley of Oaxaca, and many
large stone platforms and public
monuments were built in the city.
l
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l
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r
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AFTER HIS VICTORY AT VERCELLAE,

(see 11091 BCE) Marius became
Romes dominant politician, but
the brutal behaviour of his ally
Saturninus, tribune of the plebs,
provoked the Senate. Political
violence flared, and in 100 BCE
Marius had to march an army into
Rome. Saturninus was killed in the
ensuing riot. As Mariuss power
waned, discontent rose among
Italians without Roman citizenship.
In 91 BCE, this erupted into the
Social War. A protg of Marius,
Lucius Sulla (c.13878 BCE), took a
key role in suppressing the revolt,
which was largely over by 88 BCE,
albeit with some concessions
offered by Rome to the rebels.
Sulla was elected consul in 88
BCE. That same year, while waiting
to sail with his army to Greece to
counter the threat posed by the
king of Pontus, Mithridates VI
(13463 BCE), Sulla heard that the

70,000
SPARTACAN
REBELS

6,000

spartican rebels
crucified

The rebellion by Spartacus

Crassus crucified slaves along the
Appian Way, which led to Rome, as
a warning to any others who might
plan a similar insurrection.

on
iph l
es apita
t
C c
E
BC
es
90 com thia
e
b Par
of

Senate had voted to put Marius in

charge of the campaign. Enraged,
Sulla entered Rome with his troops
and siezed power. He moved
against Mithridates in 89 BCE, and
had driven him out of Greece by
84 BCE. Sulla returned to Rome,
defeated his remaining opponents
(including the aged Marius), and
was appointed dictator in 82 BCE.
Sulla took savage revenge on the
Marians, packed the Senate with
his supporters, and curtailed the
powers of the tribunes. Anti-Sullan
forces regrouped around Quintus
Sertorius, who had fled to Spain.
After Sulla died in 78 BCE, the
Senate sent Pompey to deal with
Sertorius. His military efforts were
ineffective; only the assassination
of Sertorius allowed Pompey to
return victorious to Italy in 71 BCE.
In 73 BCE, a slave revolt led by
the gladiator Spartacus, broke
out near Naples and grew into the
most serious revolt Rome had ever
faced. Eventually, the rebel slaves
were trapped in southern Italy and
defeated by the Roman General
Marcus Licinius Crassus in 71 BCE.
By the 1st century BCE, the Celtic
peoples of southern Britain had
started to expand their existing
hill-forts into oppida (towns)
that were defended by extensive
fortifications. The greatest oppida
were formidable obstacles to
attackers and some were royal
capitals, complete with palaces.
Sacred offering
This 1st-century BCE British Celtic
shield was discovered in the River
Thames, where it had probably been
thrown as an offering to a river god.

la
ia
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th
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ar
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su urg ts
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12/05/11 2:00 PM
R

69

67

7061 BCE

6051 BCE

Mound City, Ohio, USA, contains a cluster of more than

20 Hopewell earthwork burial mounds.

A reconstruction of the Roman ramparts at Alesia,

where Caesar forced Vercingetorix to surrender.

AFTER POMPEYS RETURN TO ITALY

(see 9071 BCE), he was elected

consul for the year, despite still
being below the legal minimum
age. When war broke out with
Mithridates of Pontus again, the
Romans, under general Lucullus,
forced Mithridates to retreat to
Armenia, which was ruled by his
son-in-law Tigranes. However,
Luculluss troops mutinied in
68 BCE, and Pompey was sent to
replace him. Tigranes surrendered
and Mithridates retired north of the
Black Sea. Having achieved his
aim, Pompey entered Syria, where
he deposed the last Seleucid king,
and then captured Jerusalem.
In China, the Han Dynasty
retreated from modernizing
policies under Zhaodi (r.8774 BCE)
and Xuandi (r.7449 BCE). The Huo
family, which had dominated the
government for decades was
removed from power, and its
leading members executed.
Government expenditure was
cut, and aggressive expeditions
Hopewell bird
Clay pipes, often in
the shape of birds,
are one of the most
characteristic products
of the Hopewell culture.

THE NUMBER
OF MILITARY
TRIUMPHS
AWARDED
TO POMPEY
in Central Asia were replaced by
the establishment of small,
permanent colonies.
In Mexico, the city of Cuiculco in
the south of the Valley of Mexico
was destroyed by a volcano some
time in the 1st century BCE. Its
disappearance opened the way for
Teotihuacn, to assert its control
over the whole valley and become
Mexicos dominant power for
more than 500 years.
By the end of the 1st century
BCE, the Adena peoples of Ohio,
in eastern North America, were
beginning to develop into the
Hopewell culture. These people
lived by hunting and gathering,
but they also built large,
elaborate burial mounds
for their chieftains.

ia
l
ra
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ne
Pa s aft gran
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068-069_130_71BCE.indd 68

70

68

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area of southern Gaul. He took

advantage of the migration of the
Germanic Helvetii across Gaul
towards Italy to cross over the
Alps and defeat Ariovistus, the
Helvetian king. Caesar returned to
Rome, but his deputy, Labienus,
stayed in Gaul and the following
year he pressed on to conquer the
Belgae of northwestern Gaul. By
55 BCE, Caesar had subdued most
of Gaul and had acquired a vast
new province for Rome, without
ever receiving any approval
from the Senate.
In 56 BCE, an anti-Roman revolt
broke out among the Veneti of
northern Gaul, apparently
supported by the Celtic tribes of
Britain. Caesar responded by
crossing over to Britain in 55 BCE
with two legions. A storm

GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR BECAME

CONSUL OF ROME for the first time

y
em
pe sal ea
om eru uda
P
J
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BC
es es
63 ptur nex
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an
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ar
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Ju firs and ain
E
m Sp
es
BC
v
i
1
6 ce com for
re ary tor
t ae
ili
m o-pr
pr

in 59 BCE. Having served a term as

governor of Spain, he was popular
among the equestrians (wealthy
non-senators), but resistance to
him from the Senate (and the
obstructiveness of his co-consul
Bibulus) led him to join with
Pompey and Crassus,
and the three
dominated Rome
until 53 BCE
as the First
Triumvirate.
In 58 BCE,
Caesar was
appointed
governor of
Narbonensis,
the Romanoccupied

Caesar at
the Louvre
Wearing the laurel
wreath of a victorious
general, this statue is
part of Caesars cult of
personality.

he
st
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or wit
f
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12/05/11 2:00 PM

5044 BCE

,,

,,

[CAESAR] DREAMT THAT HE WAS FLYING

ABOVE THE CLOUDS, AND NOW THAT HE WAS
CLASPING THE HAND OF JUPITER.
Suetonius, recounting Julius Caesars dream the night before his
murder in the Senate House in 44 BCE; from Lives of the Caesars

E U R OP E

Massilia
Tarraco

45BCE Carthago

48BCE

Sicily

Carthage

Thapsus

Me

46BCE

ean Sea

Cyrenaica

CAESAR ENDED THE GALLIC REVOLT

by the end of 51 BCE, but by this

point the Triumvirate had ended:
Pompeys supporters had turned
against Caesar, and Crassus had
been killed in battle in 53 BCE. The
Senate ordered Caesar to disband
his army or be declared an enemy
of the state. Instead, he crossed
the Rubicon River into Italy with
his troops in 49 BCE. This was
illegal, constituting a declaration
of war against the Senate.
As Caesar marched towards
Rome, town after town submitted
to him. Fearing Caesar, Pompey
left Rome and fled to Greece.
Caesar turned first to Spain,
where seven legions had
declared for Pompey. In August

,,

,,

THE DIE
IS CAST.
Julius Caesar to his troops on
crossing the Rubicon in 49 BCE;
from Plutarchs Parallel Lives

n
tio
uc m
str foru e
n
Co ew Rom
E
BC
a n in
50 of

rran

Antioch

Syria

Hierosolyma

Alexandria
PTOLEMAIC KINGDOM
OF EGYPT

49 BCE, he forced the Pompeians

there to surrender. In December,
Caesar set off for Greece in
pursuit of Pompey. A military
engagement at Dyrrachium in
July went against Caesar, but he
fought back before Pompeys
support could grow, and won a
resounding victory at Pharsalus.
Pompey took refuge in Egypt,
where he was murdered on the
orders of Ptolemy XIII, who
hoped (in vain) to ingratiate
himself with Caesar.
After a short time in Egypt,
Caesar returned to Rome,
where he raised money by
confiscating property from the
supporters of Pompey. In late
47 BCE, Caesar set sail for Africa,
where he defeated a new
Pompeian army at Thapsus
(in modern Tunisia). Pompeys
sons Gnaeus and Sextus escaped
to Spain to continue the
resistance from there, and
Caesar annexed the kingdom of
King Juba of Mauretania, who
had supported them. Caesar then
proceeded to Spain, where in

y
pe
om ypt ere
P
g
E
th
BC
oE d
4 8 es t kille
fle d is
an

of
la an
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a
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a
ia
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c.5 ling in
e
a
K pir
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ar
es
Ca s the y
E
C
e
B
al
s
49 ros to It
c in
n
o
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Ru

PARTHIAN
EMPIRE

Cyprus

Cyrene

AF RI CA

n
ni y
c cit
ua est a
h
i
g
ot ar ith
Te he l s, w 0
0
t
CE
a
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5
c. xic Am of
e
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e
M th
tio
in pula
po

Athenae

dite

Zela

Pharsalus
Ephesus

UR E TA NIA

46

Munda

MA

47BCE

Brundisium

CE

45B

47BCE

Rome

E
47BC

Gades

Nova

Caesars victories
Black Sea

BC

ia

an

sp
Hi

Siege

Gallia
Cisalpina

BC

f
no
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d
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068-069_130_71BCE.inddin 69
wi
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Gallia
Transalpina

Caesars movements

48

ix
or
et
ing llic ated
c
r
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E
ew is
BC
52 ds n but
a
t
e
l vol ,
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KEY

CE
49B

prevented the arrival of

reinforcements, causing him to
retreat, but he returned the next
year with five legions (around
30,000 men). The Britons did not
resist at first, but later, led by
Cassivelaunus, chief of the
Catuvellauni, they vigorously
opposed the Romans all the
way to the River Thames. When
Cassivelaunuss stronghold at
Wheathampstead fell, he sued for
peace, and Caesar returned to
Rome with hostages and the
promise of tribute.
At the end of 54 BCE, shortly after
Caesars second expedition to
Britain, another revolt in Gaul, this
time led by the Senones, wiped out
much of the Roman force there.
After putting down the revolt,
Caesars attentions were diverted
to Rome, where political violence
had resulted in the murder of his
former ally Clodius, and where
Pompey had been elected sole
consul in 52 BCE, rupturing the
Triumvirate. Emboldened by the
turmoil in Rome, the Carnutes
revolted in Gaul. They were
joined by the Averni, led by
Vercingetorix, who won several
skirmishes against Labienus.
Vercingetorix also defeated Caesar
himself at Gergovia, but was then
trapped at Alesia in September
52 BCE. The Romans constructed
an encircling rampart around the
Gauls position and managed to
beat off a Gaulish relief force. With
no hope left, Vercingetorix
surrendered and was taken back
to Rome, where he was strangled
in 46 BCE after appearing in
Caesars triumphal parade.

d
ro
He r of
le the
B
u
8
4 es r ng he
di f t
m
co en r o ns
be lee, owe onea
i
l
p
sm
Ga
Ha
CE

Roman Civil Wars

Caesar won Italy easily, but he had
to fight hard to overcome Pompey
in his Greek stronghold, and then
Pompeys sons and remaining
supporters in Africa and Spain.

March 45 BCE he defeated Gnaeus

Pompey at Munda, effectively
ending the civil war.
Caesar was now all-powerful.
He was made dictator in 48 BCE,
and in 44 BCE he was given the
office for life. Concerns over
Caesars power in particular,
fears that he planned to make
himself king led a group of about
60 conspirators to form around
senators Cassius and Marcus
Brutus. They murdered Caesar
on the Ides of March (15 March)

ts o
fea (s
de ntus la
r
a
o
es f P t Ze
Ca s o s) a
E
ce ate
BC
a
47 arn rid
Ph Mith
of

y
lon
co ed;
n
d
a un ers
m
t
Ro ge fo por ted
E
a sup fea us
BC
h
6
t
4 ar ng y de aps
i
C
h
e
of ain mp at T
m
re of Po

just before a session of the

Senate. If they had hoped to seize
power, the conspirators were
disappointed: Mark Antony, one
of Caesars leading supporters,
came to the fore in Rome, while
Caesars great-nephew and
adoptive son Octavian received
widespread support in a bid to
take up the mantle of his father.
In India, Kalinga (modern
Orissa), which had been a client
kingdom of the Mauryas (see
200171 BCE), rose to prominence
under Kharavela in the mid-1st
century BCE. Kharavela expanded
Kalinga far to the north and east,
conquering the Sunga capital of
Pataliputra in Magadha. A strong
patron of the Indian religion of
Jainism, Kharavela established
trading contacts as far afield
as southeast Asia.
Murder of Caesar
Conspirators struck Caesar down
with daggers. As he fell, Caesar saw
Marcus Brutus, a former protg,
and cried out you too, child?.

of its at
ba m at
Ju com defe dom
E
g e
BC dia
er in
4 6 mi aft is k Rom
Nu icide us; h by
su aps exed
Th ann
is

m
for e
re ; th
n
r
a
a
li
d
ion
Ju len fus ays
E
a on
d
BC e c
5
4 6 f th of C s 44
o ear ha
Y

ar to
es ta
Ca d dic
E
e
BC
t
4 6 poin
ap

ts
fea t
de s a
ar son nda
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e
s
u
Ca pey f M
E
BC
m eo
45 Po attl
B

BC

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Mu r
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44 C
of

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E
es Egy
BC
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4 4 eco of
b

12/05/11 2:00 PM

71

69

4328 BCE

2720 BCE

This 18th-century painting shows Mark Antony fleeing from the battle scene at Actium
in 31 BCE. Many of his supporters defected to Octavians side as a result.

Augustus built a new Forum at Rome,

with an imposing new temple to Mars.

saw rising tensions between Mark

Antony and Octavian, whom many
viewed as Caesars rightful heir.
The two almost came to blows
early in 43 BCE, when Octavian
marched to raise the siege of
Mutina (Modena, Italy), where Mark
Antony was besieging Decimus
Brutus, one of Caesars assassins.
Mark Antony was forced to retreat
to Gaul. When the Senate voted
to transfer Octavians legions to
Decimus Brutus, Octavian realized
he was being sidelined and formed
a three-way alliance with Mark
Antony and Marcus Lepidus, the
governor of Transalpine Gaul. This
became the Second Triumvirate.
The Triumvirate conducted a war
against Cassius and Marcus
Brutus, two more of Caesars
assassins, who had seized much
of the territory in the east.
In 42 BCE, Mark Antony
and Octavian defeated

s
ce
s
or
m with
n f i;
r
a
s
o
ic
n f te idu
bl ipp
via vira ep
pu hil ius
cta ium nd L
Re at P ass
O
E
a
r
E
C e
BC
ed
BC
d T ny
42 feat and icid
43 con nto
de utus it su
Se rk A
Br mm
Ma
co

72

70

10

THE NUMBER
OF YEARS
THE SECOND
TRIUMVIRATE
RULED ROME

them at Philippi, in northern

Greece, after which Cassius
committed suicide. Three weeks
later, they destroyed the remnants
of Marcus Brutuss army. Mark
Antony stayed in the east until
40 BCE, when he returned to Italy to
try to undermine the
growing power of
Octavian. Their two
armies refused to fight,
and a de facto division
of the Roman world was

agreed, with Mark Antony ruling

the east and Octavian governing
the west; Lepidus had to make do
with Africa. The Triumvirate was
renewed in 38 BCE for a further
five years, but it was clear that
conflict between Octavian and
Mark Antony could not long
be postponed.
However, Mark Antony was
occupied with a war against
the Parthians, who allied with
remnants of Cassiuss army and
attacked Syria in 39 BCE. In
36 BCE, Mark Antony invaded
Parthia itself ostensibly to
recover the legionary eagles
captured by the Parthians at the
Battle of Carrhae (see 53 BCE)
and advanced to the capital
Phraata, but he did not have

400
350
200
100
0

Octavian Anthony and

Cleopatra

Battle of Actium
Octavians fleet outnumbered that of
Mark Antony and Cleopatra, with
smaller more manoeuvrable ships,
and fresher, better trained crews.

sufficient resources to besiege it.

In 33 BCE, the Triumvirate
expired and Octavian had the
Senate declare Mark Antony a
public enemy. The latter had lost
popularity through his relationship
with Cleopatra, the Egyptian
queen, and Octavian quickly
rallied public opinion to himself.
A fleet was rapidly assembled,
and this destroyed Mark Antonys
naval force at Actium, off western
Greece, in September 31 BCE.
Mark Antonys land army then
defected to Octavian, and Antony
and Cleopatra fled to Greece,
where Octavian caught up with
them in the summer of 30 BCE.
The Roman warlord and the
Egyptian queen both committed
suicide, and Egypt was annexed to
the Roman empire. Octavian was
now the unchallenged master of
the whole Roman world.

Suicide of Cleopatra
This 19th-century painting depicts
the death of Cleopatra, who killed
herself to avoid being captured by
Octavian and taken to Rome.

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HAVING DEFEATED HIS ENEMIES,

500
NUMBER OF WARSHIPS

IN ROME, THE PERIOD AFTER THE

ASSASSINATION of Julius Caesar

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Octavian did not take on the title

of dictator, as Julius Caesar had.
He instead ruled informally as the
princeps the first man of the
state. Having acquired control of
Antonys legions, he now had an
army of about 500,000 men. He
disbanded more than half of these,
retaining 28 legions (about 150,000
soldiers), settling the remainder
in colonies in Italy and abroad. In
27 BCE, Octavian gave up all his
powers, ostensibly restoring the
Republic. The Senate responded
by granting him personal control
of Egypt, Gaul, Germany, Spain,
and Syria. He was also given the
title Augustus and, cementing
his position further, he was consul
each year from 27 to 23 BCE. Over
time, the Senate voted Augustus
further powers, including that of
imperium maius in 23 BCE, which
gave him supreme authority in the
provinces he had not previously
governed, and the permanent
powers of a tribune of the plebs
in 23 BCE. Although the Senate was,
in theory, the supreme authority
in Rome, in practice no-one could
match Augustuss power, and he is
seen as the first Roman emperor.
North Africa had been a centre
of strong resistance to both Julius
Caesar and Augustus, who settled
many army veterans there. In
25 BCE, Augustus gave Mauretania
(western North Africa) to Juba II
of Numidia. Juba, whose wife
was the daughter of Mark Antony
and Cleopatra, proved a reliable
Roman ally. Augustus still sent a
legion to garrison North Africa,
where it stayed for over 300 years.

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BC

2010 BCE

91 BCE

,,

,,

THOSE WHO SLEW MY FATHER

I DROVE INTO EXILE AND
DEFEATED THEM IN BATTLE.
Augustus, from the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, the testament
of Augustus, in Ankara, Turkey

La Maison Carr, in Nmes, southern France, is one of the finest surviving

Roman temples. It was built around 16 BCE by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.

Emperor Augustus
Augustus, seen here dressed as a
priest, acquired the title of pontifex
maximus (chief priest) on the death
of Lepidus in 12 BCE.

,,

In western Asia, the ruler of

Galilee, Herod I, was allowed to
retain his position by Octavian,
even though he had supported
Mark Antony. He was even given
extra territories, including parts
of Syria and Gaza. Herod had been
appointed by Mark Antony in 42 BCE,
and by 37 BCE he had conquered
the remains of the Hasmonean
kingdom (see 146131 BCE).
Herod remained a reliable ally
of Rome until his death in 4 BCE.

HE COULD JUSTLY
BOAST THAT HE HAD FOUND
IT BUILT OF BRICK AND
LEFT IT IN MARBLE.
Suetonius, on Augustuss embellishment of the
city of Rome; from Lives of the Caesars

AUGUSTUSS MILITARY AND

POLITICAL SUCCESSES had relied

largely on the abilities of Marcus

Vipsanius Agrippa, who rose from
a minor family to become consul in
37, 28, and 27 BCE. After Agrippa
had married Augustuss daughter
Julia, he received numerous
promotions, including tribune of
the plebs in 18 BCE. Augustuss own
appointed heir had died in 25 BCE,
so he adopted Agrippas children,
renaming them Gaius and Lucius
Caesar. Agrippa seemed likely to
succeed Augustus, but in 12 BCE he
died unexpectedly, throwing open
the question of succession.
By threatening to invade Parthia
in 20 BCE, Augustus had engineered
the return of legionary standards
captured by the Parthians at
Carrhae (see 53 BCE). In 16 BCE, the
Roman governor of Macedonia
began pushing towards the River
Danube, and from 12 BCE Tiberius,
Augustuss stepson, the son of his
second wife Livia, moved north
from Illyria to create the Roman
province of Pannonia (modern
Austria and Hungary). Tiberiuss
brother Drusus pushed Roman
control across the Rhine towards
the Elbe between 12 and 9 BCE,

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072-073_41_1BCE.indd 73

,,

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when he died. Around this time,

the Romans annexed the provinces
of Raetia (in modern Switzerland)
and Noricum (between the Alps
and the Danube), moving the
empires frontiers almost to a line
along the Rhine and the Danube.
Supporters of Tiberius, now the
most high-profile general, tried
to have him displace Lucius and
Gaius Caesar as Augustuss heir.
Augustus himself did little to
resolve the question of succession.

had reached the River Elbe. After

his death, Augustus appointed
Tiberius to replace him. Tiberius
won a series of victories in 8 BCE,
but then mysteriously resigned
his offices and went into exile in
Rhodes. This left Gaius and Lucius
Caesar (both underage) as heirs
apparent to the Roman Empire.
In China, the reign of Yuandi
(4933 BCE) saw the economic
retrenchment begun under Xuandi
(see 7061 BCE) continue. Some
semi-independent kingdoms that
the early Han had suppressed
began to reappear. Yuandi and his
successors Chengdi (r.337 BCE)
and Aidi (r.71 BCE) also created
numerous marquisates, many of
which were granted to the sons of
the new kings, weakening the
states central control. Chengdi
lacked a male heir, resulting in

ROMAN LITERATURE AT THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS

The end of the Republic and
the reign of Augustus saw a
golden age in Latin literature.
The orator Cicero and the
historian Sallust marked the
height of late Republican
literature. After Augustuss
rise to power, the poets Virgil
(right; 7019 BCE), author of
the Eclogues and the epic
poem The Aeneid, and Horace
(658 BCE), author of the
Odes and Carmen Saeculare,
both flourished under the
patronage of Maecenas, a
close confidant of Augustus.

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BY 9 BCE, DRUSUS HAD DEFEATED

THE MAIN GERMAN TRIBES and

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Khazneh at Petra
The Khazneh is one of Petras finest
monuments. Carved out of a sheer
cliff-face, it was probably a royal tomb
perhaps of Aretas IV (c.9 BCE40 CE).

the succession of his half-nephew

Aidi in 7 BCE. This caused dissent
among nobles whose candidates
for the throne had been overlooked.
The Nabataean kingdom of
northern Arabia grew rich on its
control of the spice trade from
southern Arabia, reaching its
height in the mid-1st century BCE
under Malichos I (c.59c.30 BCE).
It then faced a growing threat on
its northern borders from Herod I.
A disputed succession in 9/8 BCE
between Aretas IV and his chief
minister Syllaeus led the Romans
to take an interest in the area. An
expedition led by Gaius, grandson
of Augustus, may even have
briefly annexed Nabataea in
31 BCE, but the Romans pulled
back, allowing Nabataea another
century of independence.

is er
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24/05/2011 17:50

73

71

700

BCE 5 9 9 CE

THE CLASSICAL AGE

THE RISE OF THE

ROMAN EMPIRE

FROM CITY, TO REPUBLIC, TO DOMINANT EUROPEAN EMPIRE

AT L A N T I C
OCEAN

Soon after its foundation in 753 BCE, the city of Rome began fighting its
neighbours to gain new territory. Gradually the Romans became entangled
in campaigns in the Italian Peninsula and beyond. By the 1st century CE,
the Roman Empire had become the largest Europe had ever seen.
their military successes to bolster their position in Rome.
It was in this period that Pompey
ompey annexed Syria and Julius
Caesar conquered much of Gaul, between 58 and 51 BCE.
The
he collapse of the Roman R
Republic and the accession of
the first emperor, Augustus, in 27 BCE did not end the empires
expansion. The
he quest for security along the existing frontiers
resulted in the frontiers being pushed even further forward.
Rome's
ome's final large-scale acquisitions were made in the reigns
of Claudius, who oversaw the invasion of Britain in 43 CE, and
Trajan,
rajan, who conquered new provinces in Dacia (modern
Romania)
omania) and Mesopotamia between 106 and 117 CE.

,,

TO THE ROMANS I SET

SE NO
BOUNDARIES IN
BOUNDA
N TIME
ME OR SPACE.

MI 4.5
LL
ION

Virgil, Roman poet (7019 BCE), the god Jupiter, prophesying the future
greatness of Rome, from the Aeneid

,,

7:1

Roman population
Around 1 CE, the Roman
Empire contained just
under one seventh of the worlds population
45 million out of 300 million people.

KEY

45

Roman territory

RR

The early growth of Roman territories was slow, with wars

against neighbours often threatening the survival of Rome itself.
By 290 BCE the Romans dominated central Italy,
taly, and began
expanding into the Italian Peninsula. R
Rivalry with Carthage led
to the three P
Punic
unic Wars between 264 and 146 BC
BCE
E, but victories
brought the acquisition of territory in Sicily, Sardinia,
ardinia, Spain, and
then North
orth Africa itself.
In the early 2nd century BC
BCE
E the R
Romans
omans fought campaigns in
the Balkans, leading to the annexation of most of Greece in
146 BCE. T
The pace of acquisition quickened in the later years of
the Republic,
epublic, as generals competed for political power and used

Olisipo

AC

ON

LU S I TAN I A
Emerita
Augusta

Toletum

B AE TI CA
Tingis

MAU R E TAN I A
TI N G I TAN A

100 CE
By around 100 CE, the Mediterranean had
become a Roman lake, and the acquisition
of territories in northwest and Central Europe
had brought the northern Roman frontier as
far as the Rhine and the Danube.

MILLION

5,000,000 km

An empire of non-citizens
In 1 CE, only a tenth of the
Roman population were full
citizens. The rest were slaves
or had limited civic rights.

117 CE

2,750,000 km
25 BCE

72

Expanding empire
Between the accession of Augustus and
the death of Trajan, the Roman Empire
almost doubled in size, acquiring vast
new territories in northwestern Europe
and western Asia.

A GROWING EMPIRE
It took the Romans nearly 500
years to complete the conquest
of Italy, but only half that time to
enlarge their territories to include
Spain, Gaul, parts of Germany,
most of the Balkans, much of North
Africa, and large parts of western
Asia. Over the following 100 years
they acquired Morocco, Britain, and
Dacia, and made small advances
into western Asia, but the empire
began to contract after 250 CE.

240 BCE The Romans dominated most of

the Italian Peninsula. Victory in the First
Punic War (264241 BCE) brought new
territory in Sicily, but the Romans still faced
resistance to their rule in northern Italy.

ia

Se

Eburacum

Ba

Camulodunum

Colonia e r
m
Agrippina

Virunun

ALPS COTTIAE

IS

SI

Ravenna
ALPS
MARITIMAE

Massilia

ITALIA

Aleria

Apulum

x
Ro

ola

Carales

Messana

ni

Bla

Viminacium
MODESIA
SUPERIOR

Philippopolis

IA

THRACIA
Thessalonica

BIT H

Ephesus

Delphi

Corinth
Me
di
Sicilia
te
ACHAIA
Carthage
r r Syracuse
Sparta
an
Thugga
ea
Creta
n S
ea

YN

IC

Leptis Magna

Athens

GALATIA

IL

D
PA
AP

I
LC

Antioch

SYRIA

Cyprus

Damascus

JUDEA

Jerusalem

Cyrene

Alexandria
Memphis

Samosata
Zeugma

Tyrus

CYRENE
ET CRETA

Ancyra

Miletus LYCIA

Ptolemais

PONTUS

Bostra

AB

Trapezus

Sabratha

ck Sea

Byzantium

ASIA

EPIRUS

Utica

M AU RE TANI A
CA E S ARI E NSI S

BOSPORAN
KINGDOM

DACIA Durostorum

MACED
ON
IA

Sardinia

Valentia
Carthago Nova

MOSIA
INFERIOR

PANNONIA
INFERIOR

Sirmium

Rome

Corsica
s
eare
Bal

RBONE

Aquineum

N
PAS U

NA

CU
ORI

Aquileia
Mediolanum

ALPS GRAIAE
ET POENINAE

Quadi

Vindobona Carnuntum
Brigetio
M

AQUI TANI A

AE

Marcomanni

ET

ICA

LG

GERMANIA
SUPERIOR

TI

BE

Lugdunum

ENS

S a r m a t i a n s

Mogontiacum

CI

Durocortorum

SIS

dians

n
Augusta
ia
Treverorum

GERMANIA
INFERIOR

LUGDUNEN

Burgun

IA

Londinium

KILOMETRES
THE APPROXIMATE LENGTH
OF THE ROMAN FRONTIERS
AT THEIR MAXIMUM EXTENT

Petra

AR

BRITANNIA

P EN O N I A
R IOR

Lindum

10,000

tic

Caledon
be

rn

ia

North
Sea

AEGYPTUS

200 BCE The Roman defeat of Carthage

in the Second Punic War brought new
possessions in Spain and Sardinia. By
200 BCE, a toehold had also been gained
in northwestern Greece.

Re

120 BCE Most of Spain had fallen

into Roman possession, as well as
Carthaginian territory in North Africa.
Greece and parts of western Anatolia
were also acquired.

60 BCE New North African territories

were gained in 96 BCE, and in 63 BCE Syria
and parts of Palestine were annexed.
The frontiers in Anatolia were also
pushed forward.

ea

14 CE The Roman borders had expanded

to include Gaul beyond the Alps, as well
as new provinces in Raetia and Noricum
(Switzerland, south Germany, and
Austria), and Pannonia (Hungary).

73

123

2440

,,

,,

QUINCTILIUS VARUS, GIVE

ME BACK MY LEGIONS.
Emperor Augustus, on hearing of the Roman defeat in the Teutoberg Forest, 9 CE

WANG MANG WAS IN CHARGE OF

BOTH THE CHINESE ARMY and the

government under Emperor Ping

Di (r.1 BCE6 CE). He strengthened
his influence by marrying his
daughter to the young emperor.
On Ping Dis death, many of the

28

THE NUMBER
OF DIFFERENT
TYPES OF COIN
ISSUED BY
WANG MANG
nobility rejected Wang Mangs
choice of successor and rose up
in revolt. Wang Mang easily put
them down, and in 9 he took the
title of first Xin emperor. He
reissued the currency, forbade
the selling of private slaves,
reorganized the commanderies

(Chinas administrative regions),

and reimposed several state
monopolies. Serious floods on the
Yellow River in 411 led to famine
and revolts in rural areas. In 23,
the peasant rebels called the Red
Eyebrows joined forces with Han
loyalists and overwhelmed Wang
Mangs armies. When the capital
Changan fell, Gengshi became
the first emperor of the restored
Han dynasty. One of his first acts
was to make Luoyang his capital.
In Europe, Tiberius (see 202
BCE) returned to Germany in 4 to
subdue the tribes there. The
Marcomanni resisted, but a
planned attack on them in 6 was
postponed because of a revolt in
Pannonia, which took three years
to quell. A new Roman commander,
Quinctilius Varus, was sent to
Germany, but his corrupt rule
angered the German tribes. In 9,
Varus was ambushed in the
Teutoberg Forest, and his three
legions were annihilated. Augustus
then ordered a withdrawal to the
Rhine, where the Roman frontier
remained for the next 400 years.

Consolidating ruler
Rather than extending
Roman territory through foreign
conquests, Tiberius concentrated on
strengthening the existing empire.

When Emperor Augustus (see

202 BCE) died in 14, Tiberius was
his obvious heir (Lucius and Gaius
Caesar having died). Tiberius
already possessed most of
Augustuss powers and had the
loyalty of the Praetorian Guard
the elite army unit based in
Rome, which Augustus had
established. Although there were
moves in the senate to restore
the Republic, Tiberius rapidly
squashed them. His reign (to 37)
was quiet at home. Germanicus,
Tiberiuss nephew, campaigned
extensively in Germany up to 16,
but his efforts led to no permanent
reacquisition of territory beyond
the Rhine and he died of poisoning
in 19. After Drusus, Tiberiuss son,
died in 23, the emperor tired of
public life and retired to the
island of Capri, off Naples.
Sejanus, head of the Praetorian

GENGSHIS REIGN AS CHINESE

EMPEROR WAS SHORT. He

Guard, took day-to-day power, but

his rule was tyrannical and in 31
Tiberius suddenly reasserted
himself and had Sejanus executed.
Ponte di Tiberio, Rimini, Italy
Completed in the reign of Tiberius,
this bridge carried the Via Aemilia
(which ran from Riminia to Piacenza)
across the River Marecchia.

alienated the Red Eyebrows and

angered many of Chinas nobility
and bureaucrats by moving the
capital from Luoyang back to
Changan. Much of China had
already slipped from Gengshis
grasp by 25, when Changan was
sacked by the Red Eyebrows. The
emperor was deposed and
replaced by Guang Wudi (2557),
who is regarded as the first
Eastern Han emperor. The new
ruler had first to face a civil war;
by 27, he had defeated the Red
Eyebrows, but it took him until 36
to overcome the last of the
warlords who opposed him. In 37,
he abolished all except three of
the kingdoms that had sprung up
MONGOLIA

Sea
of
Japan

Gobi
Pingchang
Changan
Mawangdui

Luoyang
Gaixia

KOREA

JAPAN

East
China
Sea
Taiwan

Guanzhou
South
China
Sea

KEY
Qin China in 206BCE
Territory added by Former
Han Dynasty 206BCE9CE
Great Wall under the Han

Chinese Han Empire

When Guang Wudi began the
Eastern Han Dynasty in 25, Chinese
control extended deep into Central
Asia. Much of this territory had been
won under the Western Han Dynasty.

u
n
nd
in
ia
ha f
Hi
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10/05/11 6:52 PM

4150

This ornamental brick from Chinas Eastern Han period shows

a procession that includes horse-drawn carriages.
IN INDIA, GROUPS OF YUEZHI
NOMADS occupying land in Bactria

JESUS CHRIST (c.4 BCE33 CE)

Jesus, a carpenter from
Nazareth, began his ministry in
his early 30s . He taught in the
Jewish tradition, calling for
the reform of the Temple and
for the love of ones neighbour
to take precedence over the
strict observance of religious
law. Jesus gathered a group of
twelve disciples around him,
but was targeted by Jewish
conservatives afraid of his
growing influence. In 33, the
Roman authorities in Judaea
executed Jesus by crucifixion,
but the disciples, convinced
that Jesus had risen from the
dead, continued his teaching.
under his predecessors, and
reinstated Luoyang as the capital.
He faced renewed tension with
the Hsiung-nu on Chinas
northern frontier, but failed to take
advantage of their split into two
rival chiefdoms in 49.
The Roman Empire once again
faced an unclear succession at
the death of Tiberius in 37. He had
named two heirs, but Gemellus
was soon pushed aside because
Gaius, nicknamed Caligula (little
boots), was popular with the
senate and the army. Caligulas
behaviour as emperor became
increasingly erratic he had
Gemellus executed, and had many
of Tiberiuss supporters killed.
He also had his sisters husband
his heir apparent condemned to
death. After visiting the Rhineland

of
III n
us row
n
h ith
ba
ta ert w
Ar ov in, e
35 rsia cous Rom
Pe his rt of
by ppo
su

II
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ba s ki ia
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t
Ar d a rth
36 tore f Pa
o
s
re
076-077_1_50CE.indd 77

legions in 39, Caligula marched

them to the coast opposite Britain
to launch an invasion; when they
got there, he merely had them
collect seashells along the beach.
Independent Jewish kingdoms
in Palestine collapsed as Roman
power grew, creating a powerful
ferment of religious change.
John the Baptist preached in
the 20s, followed in around 30
by a new preacher, Jesus. After
Jesuss death in 33, his disciples
began to spread his message
more widely. By around 50,
communities of Christians,
as Jesuss followers were known,
would be established throughout
Western Asia, with particularly
large groups in Antioch and
the first appearance of
Christians in Rome.

s
die ed
ius eed
r
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c
Tib suc t
la
37 d is grea ligu
n
s
a hi w Ca
by phe
ne

s
se
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u
T poin a
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p
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od Gal He in
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He of

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g
t
o
a
n
Ki ret ed; rev e
40 Mau inat ans rul
i
n
s
of sas tan ma
as ure t Ro
Ma ains
ag

n
ica
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Am eop wn
h
p
o
t
ou ak te d and
0 S raw ra er an
c. 4 A mig Riv ibbe
co ar
ino C
Or le in
t
t
se

united under Kujula Kadphises

(3080), who founded the Kushan
Empire and conquered parts of
Gandhara. Although few details
of Kujulas reign are known, he
minted coins in imitation of both
Greek and Roman models,
demonstrating that Bactria and
northwestern India remained very
much a cultural crossroads.
In northwestern Europe, a group
of disgruntled officers of Romes
Praetorian Guard assassinated
Caligula in January 41, tired of
his cruel and irrational behaviour
(see 2440). In 43, the new
emperor, Claudius (r.4154), sent
an invasion force of four legions
led by Aulus Plautius, governor
of Pannonia, to conquer Britain.
The Romans landed unopposed
at Richborough, pushed on to
London, and then captured

Christian catacomb, Rome

At first, Roman Christians did not
have their own cemeteries. Later,
they buried their dead in underground
complexes called catacombs.

d
ce
en ria an
iol and reek ants
V
x
t
41 Ale en G abi
in twe inh
be wish
Je

ula
lig d
Ca an s
41 ated y hi s
b u
in
ss ed di
sa ed au
as cce , Cl
su ncle
u

Colchester, the capital of the

principal British resistance leader,
Caractacus. Claudius himself
made a brief appearance at the
fall of Colchester, before returning
to Rome to bask in the glory of
having acquired a new province.
In 47, the Romans paused briefly
in their conquest of Britain, having
reached a line roughly between
the River Humber in the east and
the River Severn in the west. They
began establishing legionary
fortresses in their new province,
including at Exeter and Lincoln.
Aulus Plautiuss replacement,
Ostorius Scapula invaded Wales,
where Caractacus was continuing
the resistance. In 50, he defeated
an army of Silurian and Ordovician
tribesmen, and Caractacus fled
to the imagined safety of the
Brigantes tribe in northern
England. However, the Brigantian
queen, Cartimandua, handed
Caractacus over to the Romans,
and Roman Britain remained
relatively trouble free during the
following decade.
The 40s saw a struggle in the
early Christian community
between those who wanted to
remain within the Jewish tradition
and those, led by Paul, who
favoured the inclusion of gentiles
(non-Jews) in the Christian church.
Paul began a series of missionary
journeys in 46 which led him
through Anatolia and Greece to
Rome, where he was martyred
around 62. A charismatic preacher,
Paul also wrote a powerful series
of epistles (letters) to various
fledgling Christian groups. In
appealing to a wider group than

sh
ru lt;
s c evo es
an an r com
m i
e
Ro tan a b nce
42 ure tani rovi
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aR

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e T am
th ietn ese
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o
lt
n V Chin hed
vo s i
s
Re ter nst cru
43 sis agai is
e
l
ru

EMPEROR CLAUDIUS
(10 BCE54 CE)
Caligulas uncle, Claudius,
was an unlikely candidate for
Roman emperor. However, he
turned out to be intelligent
and forceful, putting down
two revolts in 42, after which
he executed more than 300
senators. He was unfortunate
in his choice of wives: he had
his wife Messalina executed
after she had an affair, and
her successor Agrippina
(Caligulas sister) is reputed
to have poisoned him.
the Jews within the Roman
empire, Paul ensured that
Christianity spread sufficiently
to help it weather the storms of
persecution that began under the
Emperor Nero in 64. By the late
4th century, Christianity would be
the majority religion within the
Roman Empire .

h
ut
ion us so
as Aul t of
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an nd , m ate
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4 8 Hu ines
Ch
10/05/11 6:52 PM

77

75

5161

70

6272
THOUSAND

THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED

BY BOUDICCAS ARMY DURING
THE ICENI REVOLT
The ruins at Masada, the last outpost of the Jewish revolt against the Romans,
which began in 66.

WHEN CLAUDIUS DIED IN 54,

the Roman imperial throne fell to

Nero (3768), his adopted son and
son-in-law. The young emperors
reign began well when he
promised the senate he would
avoid making any arbitrary
measures. However, the first sign
of Neros tyranny surfaced in 59,
when he had his mother
Agrippina (1559) murdered. In
62, a new praetorian prefect
(commander of the imperial
bodyguard), Tigellinus (c.1069),
took office. Tigellinus pandered to
the less desirable side of
Neros personality,
whose rule became
increasingly
despotic. Following a
fire that destroyed
much of Rome in 64,
Nero is said to have
taken terrible
retribution on Romes
small Christian
population, who proved
convenient scapegoats.
Later, during the
reconstruction of Rome,
Nero alienated senators
by seizing their land to
build himself a new
palace. He also ordered
additional taxes in
Palestine, which sparked
a Jewish revolt in 66.
In Britain, the Romans
faced a serious Iceni
revolt in 60. When the
king of the Iceni died,
he left his lands to his
queen, Boudicca.
The revolt was
triggered when

e
th
re
tu of
ap der
c
a
s
an s, le nce
m
Ro acu ista
51 ract res
Ca itish
Br

the Roman procurator (chief

financial official) ruled that
Boudicca could not inherit her
lands, and that they would be
annexed by Rome.
Boudicca raised an
army and marched on
Camulodunum
(Colchester).
Suetonius Paullinus,
the governor of

s
gin ty
be ni
ul istia
a
P hr
int C
Sa ing
52 read ce
e
sp Gre
in

Boudicca
This statue of Boudicca
stands outside the
Houses of
Parliament in
London, a city
that the Iceni
queen razed to
the ground.

76

IN THE EAST, Rome faced further

troubles with Parthia over the
border region of Armenia, where
the Parthian king had installed
his own candidate, Tiridates, as
king in 53. A Roman force invaded
Armenia in 59, took its capital
cities of Artaxata and
Tigranocerta and put in place a
pro-Roman king, Tigranes VI. His
ill-advised invasion of a Parthian
ally in 61 led to his removal, and
Tiridates was restored. A new
Roman army was then roundly
beaten by the Parthians in 62, and
only a Roman push into Armenia
the following year ended the war.
Tiridates was allowed to keep
the throne, as long as he
travelled to Rome to seek
Neros approval, which he
eventually did in 66.
Neros position as emperor
became increasingly precarious
when Calpurnius Piso led a
conspiracy in 64, which prompted
Nero to order further
executions, including those of
many senators. In early 68, a
revolt broke out, led by
Gaius Julius Vindex,
governor of Gallia
Lugdunensis.
Shortly after the
revolt of Vindex, the
legion based in Spain
proclaimed the
governor, Sulpicius
Galba, as emperor. Vindexs
revolt was put down by Verginius
Rufus, the governor of Germany,
but Nero panicked and
committed suicide, believing
Rufus would be the next to try to
claim his throne.

m
us
fro n
rn
a
lin
or Ha
jul the ire
ins the
au r of
ad the
P
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eg t of the
Ku nor mp
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E
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i
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am ive yan
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0 M th cou hris
An arr Luo
Su es
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57 pan l of
59 com
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Ja pita
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0 K ise ting
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Br
c.6 dph star
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K ia,
Ind

s
ts
pu
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ia the
au by
Cl ded ro
rth on ing
r
a
s
P
ll
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of date , fue ome
pe cc n
a
i
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es
R
a
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as r Tir eni ith
m te
n e and step
g
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lo the rm s w
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54 urd
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078_079_51_90.indd
h ron78 te
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A
is
th
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58 Ro

78

Britain, was away on campaign in

Wales, and by the time he
returned, Camulodunum had
been sacked by the Iceni. The
rebels then burnt Londinium
(London) and Verulamium (St
Albans) before they were finally
trapped and defeated by
Paullinus. It is said the Iceni lost
80,000 warriors and
Boudicca herself was
captured, though she
died, possibly poisoned,
soon after.

n
s a to
nd
se ition on
o
r
d
e
Ne xpe ero k of
e M an ile
60
re st b e N
o
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a

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ni ans in
e
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e I om Brit
Th e R
60 t th
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After Neros suicide, four men

became emperor in rapid
succession, making 69 the Year
of the Four Emperors. First,
the praetorian guard recognized
Galba (3 BCE69 CE) as emperor,
but he made himself unpopular
by refusing to give the praetorians
the donative, a customary bonus
payable on the accession of a
new emperor. In January 69, the
governor of Upper Germany,
Aulus Vitellius, revolted, and
one of Galbas former supporters,
Salvius Otho (3269), angered
when Galba recognized another
senator as his heir, had the
emperor murdered and took the
throne. In April 69, the armies of
Otho and Vitellius clashed at
Bedriacum near Cremona in
northern Italy, and the Vitellian
army won. Otho committed
suicide, but Vitellius soon faced
a further conspiracy when
T. Flavius Vespasianus

960
COMMITED
SUICIDE

7
Survivors

Roman invasion
When the Romans finally breached
the walls of Masada, all except seven
defenders committed suicide rather
than fall into Roman hands.

f
s
e o me
Fir bla nd
t
ea ero ns a red
r
N a
G
ty
64 me; risti ar
Ro e Ch are m
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a
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ia
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an ia
Rh arth the
f
e
e o d P to
ac an ed ron
Pe me urn n th
3
t
o
a
6 R re ni
n
e
s
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tw te Ar
be rida
i
T

ism
dh a
ud Chin
B
5
s
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re

lt
vo
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i
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0 J Ro
7 st
66 gain
a
25/05/2011 16:52

7390

A fresco from Pompei many of Pompeis elaborate frescoes survived for

nearly 2,000 years buried under the ash.
BY THE MID-70S, CIVILISS REVOLT

anea

n S ea

Ptolemais

Caesarea

Area of major revolt 66

Bethlehem
Gaza

Jewish victory

Jericho
Jerusalem
70 CE
Machaerus

Masada
74 CE

Jewish laws caused great

discontent. In 60, the rebuilding
of the Temple that Herod had
ordered built decades before was
finished, and 20,000 unemployed
workmen added to the rising
tension. The Roman procurator
of Judaea aggravated these
feelings with his heavy-handed
rule, and in 66 an uprising broke
out. Although the commanders of
the uprising were competent, it
lacked political leadership and
the Jewish strongholds were
gradually reduced, first by
Vespasian and then by his son
Titus (3981). In 70, Jerusalem
came under siege, and in late
August the city fell and the
Temple was destroyed. Perhaps
as many as 200,000 people died,
many sacred Jewish treasures
were taken to Rome, and
thousands of Jews were
enslaved. Resistance continued
at Masada until 74, when it fell
after a two-year siege.

o
er
r N ide
ro
pe suic
Em its
68 mm
co

f
ro s
de
an egin lt,
m , b vo
m
co ns re ee
ur
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Fo an
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i
as n
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67 e Da ssio re
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Gadara

at
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69 e Ga th A
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in

ish
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e J end
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T is
70 olt
v
re

had fizzled out and the rest of

Vespasians reign was largely
peaceful. With a reputation for
frugality, he restored the empires
finances, imposing levies on a
number of provinces, including
Egypt. By the time he died in 79,
stability had been restored to
such an extent that the succession
of his eldest son, Titus (r.7981),
was unopposed.
Two months after the accession
of Titus as Roman emperor, on 25
August 79 the city of Pompeii,
near modern Naples, was

destroyed by a volcanic eruption.

Showers of ash came raining
down from Vesuvius, and those
who did not escape in time were
overwhelmed by the pyroclastic
flow (a fast-moving mass of hot
gases, ash, and debris) from the
volcano. Perhaps a tenth of the
population of 20,000 died,
including the naturalist Pliny the
Elder, who was commanding a
naval unit nearby and perished in
a failed rescue attempt.
In Britain, the Romancontrolled area continued to
expand, with governor Petillius
Cerialis (7174) occupying the
northern English kingdom of
Brigantia. Julius Frontinus
(7477) completed the subjugation
of Wales, defeating the Silures,
but it was left to Julius Agricola
(7783/4) to send Roman armies

C ale d

on

ii

far into Scotland, until a final

defeat of the Caledonii at Mons
Graupius (possibly near
Aberdeen) made it likely the whole
of Scotland would be annexed.
But emperor Domitian (8196)
was facing trouble on the Danube
and a legion was withdrawn from
Britain around 86, leaving an
insufficient force to garrison
northern Scotland, which was
evacuated.
Domitian had managed to fend
off the threat from the
Sarmatians, Marcomanni, and
Quadi along the Danube by 84,
but war then erupted with the
Dacians (of modern Romania)
who crossed the Danube and
killed the governor of Roman
Moesia. By 86, Domitian had
defeated the Dacians, under their
new king, Decebalus. Dacia was
not occupied by Rome, leaving
Decebalus in place to cause the
Romans further trouble.

Inchtuthil
Du m n o n ii

vae
lgo
Se
n
t
a
a
v
e
o
N

Vo

North
Sea

i
din
ta

(Vespasian) (979) the

general in charge of
suppressing the Jewish
revolt set himself up as yet
another rival emperor. The whole
of the East and the Balkans
defected immediately to
Vespasian. At a second battle
near Cremona in October,
Vitelliuss forces were crushed.
By December Vespasians army
had taken Rome and Vitellius
was executed shortly afterwards.
Rome had an unchallenged
ruler once again.
Vespasian moved quickly to
re-establish the loyalty of the
army, dismissing Vitelliuss
praetorian guard and recruiting
another. He also had to face a
serious revolt along the Rhine,
where Julius Civilis, a noble of
the Batavian people, joined forces
with dissident legionaries and
almost established an
independent Gallic empire.
Judaea had been under direct
Roman rule since the death of
King Agrippa I in 44. Foreign rule
and Roman insensitivity towards

Beth
Horton

Dead
S ea

Med

Emmaus

Area of revolt in 69

LIS

iterr

SAMARIA

J U DA E A

KEY

Siege

Sea of
Galilee

GALILEE
Nazareth

DECA PO

Jewish revolts between

66 and 74
Although the Jewish
rebels of 66 initially
managed to gain control
of a large part of
Palestine, by 69 they had
lost control of all but the
area around Jerusalem.

KEY
Atrebates, absorbed 70s
Iceni, conquered 6061
Brigantes, conquered 6974

Stanwick
ntes

Brig

Eboracum

Irish Sea

Roman expansion 4347

Roman expansion 4750
Roman expansion 6974

Roman expansion 7984

ni
rita
Deva
Co
Lindum
C or
n ovii
Virconium Ca
Iceni
tu
ve
lla
Dob
un
s
unn
es
te
i
r
i
an
lu Burrium
Glevum
Si
ov
Romans in Britain
Camulodunum
rin
T
Isca Verulamium
By 74, Roman legions
Londinium
Calleva
had reached the north
Cantiaci
Durotriges
Dumnonii
of England. They then
Noviomagus
Isca Dumnoniorum
pushed north into
Hengistbury
Maiden Castle
Anglesey

Or
do
vic
es

Figure from Pompeii

The bodies of those who died in the
Pompeii eruption were coated in
volcanic ash, which then solidified,
leaving their outlines behind.

l
ro of
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co hes area
n
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H
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73 w st n oa Asia
ne ster tral
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in

a s to
Vim voy ck
ler s en atta
u
r
d an
an en
sh s s nge
Ku hise rra ns
8
7 dp to a thia
Ka me Par
Ro the
on

Gallia

Scotland until 83.

s
he
e
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ee ing
Lu to w
f M man ola
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Gr mm s th
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Ve eii a m
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74 ptur a in
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77

Ku

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Em ves
87 arri
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c.9 orth
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25/05/2011 16:52

79

77

91100

101117

,,

[AN EMPEROR] UNDER

WHOM EVERYBODY WAS
PERMITTED TO DO
EVERYTHING.

,,

Fronto, Roman orator, on Emperor Nerva, from Cassius Dios

History of Rome

Trajans Column, in Rome, gives a visual account of Trajans campaigns

against Decebalus in the Dacian Wars.
EMPEROR TRAJAN (98117) WAS
FROM A ROMAN FAMILY who had

DOMITIAN (5196) BECAME ROMAN

EMPEROR after the unexpected

death of his brother, Titus (3981).

Domitian had never commanded
armies and was unprepared for
the exercise of supreme
power. He had some success
in his early campaigns, but
he over-extended himself
against the Dacians, and in
putting down a legionary
revolt led by Saturninus,
the governor of Germania
Superior. This distraction
allowed Decebalus, King of
the Dacians (r.87106), to renew
his war against Rome, and
Domitian was forced to pay off the
Dacians with an annual subsidy.
The conspiracy of Saturninus
led Domitian to become
paranoid and he had many
senators executed for treason.
In September 96, he was
murdered in a palace conspiracy
and the Senate chose the aged
M. Cocceius Nerva (3098) to
replace him. The Senate then
voted to destroy all statues of
Domitian and to recall those he
had exiled. However, in 97 Nerva
faced a mutiny of the praetorian
guard, who demanded the
punishment of Domitians
murderers. Nerva was forced
to give in, weakening his
authority. His position was
further diminished by his lack
of an heir. To rectify this he
adopted M. Ulpius Traianus
(Trajan), the governor of Upper
Germany, a man with a strong
military backing. Nerva died
soon afterwards and Trajan
became emperor.

t
fea
de -nu
an ung
H
i
91 e Hs a
an ng
iti alo
th Chin
om igns
D
n
i
e
92 mpa nub
ca e Da
th

80

78

In Central Asia, the northern

Hsiung-nu confederation (see
146131 BCE) collapsed in 89,
allowing the Han to make large
gains in the region, led by general
Ban Chao (32102). Ban Chao
became protector-general of the
Western Regions in 92, and
re-established control over the
key oases along the Silk Route.
By the time he retired in 102
the Han controlled most of the
Tarim Basin. Chinese state
organization became very
complicated under the Han. Three
supreme officials supervised
large, complex departments. Each
of these was subdivided into nine
ministries. Governors oversaw
each region, with regions divided
into over 1,000 counties, each
supervised by a magistrate.
Eunuchs became increasingly
influential at the Han court.

es

om
ec

b
jan
ra or
T
r
98 pe
em

on
ati n
sin itia
ian
s
y
m
a
tor ts
ss
ss f Do
ae evol va
A
r
ba e
o
P r
r
96
em Rom
97 ard t Ne
n
n
gu ins
dia s i
a
In ive
ag
99 arr
080-081_91_135.indd 80

Emperor Domitian
Domitians reign began well, but
his descent into tyranny proved too
much for his opponents, who had
him assassinated.

n
ka
ha sh d
us ani rea
K
p
K
ia
00 or s s n
dr
an
c.1 per rage m i
x
s
e
em cou dhi ia
Al as tre
00 es en
en Bud l As
c.1 erg ian c
of ntra
em rist
ce
Ch

n
Su t
a
he
f t cted ico
o
ids stru Mex
m on in
ra
Py n c n
00 oo uac
c.1 nd M otih
a Te

settled in Spain he was the first

emperor to come from a Roman
province rather than Italy. Having
returned to Rome from Germany
in 100 to claim his throne, he
started a new Dacian War against
Decebalus in 101. From a base at
Viminacium (in modern Serbia),
he pushed into central Dacia, and
fought a major engagement at
Tapae, in which both sides
suffered serious losses. When
Trajans legions neared the Dacian
royal capital at Sarmizegetusa
Regia, Decebalus sued for peace,
agreeing to give up his armys
weapons and siege equipment,
and to demolish his remaining
forts. The Roman army did not
withdraw totally, establishing a
legionary base near the
Sacred city
This ruined temple is in the Dacian
capital, Sarmizegetusa Regia (in
modern-day Romania). It contained
the kingdoms most sacred shrines.

jan ia
ra ac
1 T es D
0
1 ad )
inv 102
(to

5
10

nd
co ar
Se
s an W
n
i
aja c
Tr Da

mountains and building a bridge

across the Danube at Drobeta to
allow easier access across the
river. Three years later, in 105, the
Senate declared that Decebalus
had violated the treaty, and Trajan
embarked on his Second Dacian
War. This time the legions
reached, and took, Sarmizegetusa
in 106. Decebalus fled and then
committed suicide to avoid
capture. The Romans acquired an
enormous amount of treasure in
Dacia, which allowed Trajan to
embark on a building spree,
including the construction of a
new Forum in Rome. Dacia was
annexed as Romes first province
across the Danube. It remained in
imperial hands for over 160 years.
Some time around 106 the
Roman governor of Syria annexed
the Nabataean kingdom, which
became the Roman province of
Arabia. It was not Trajans last
acquisition in the east in 113 he
set off on a campaign against
Parthia. He began by attacking
Armenia in 113114, but it was his

ted

er
ap
5P a
0
n
1
c. Chi
in

en
inv

n
ea
ata by
ab xed es
N
e
he nn com ia
6 T is a be rab
10 om and of A
gd e ce
kin Rom ovin
pr

t
om
fea gd
de kin an
g
m
s
o
in hi
ow s, he R
t
oll alu
6 F ceb d as acia
0
1 De exe f D
of ann ce o
is ovin
pr

331,000 kg
SILVER

165,500 kg
GOLD

The Dacian Fortune

The large amount of treasure Trajan
acquired in Dacia allowed him to
build impressive monuments to
commemorate his Dacian victory.

campaign against Parthia itself

that gave him greater success in
the east than any previous Roman
emperor. By late 114 the
Armenians had submitted to him,
and he pushed into Mesopotamia,
capturing the Parthian capital of
Ctesiphon. By the end of 115,
Trajan had reached the Persian

n
ed
e
il i
th oint nia
nc
ou s to es,
iny app ithy
c
l
ist lead anch a
fB
9 P er
n
dh
r
10 ung or o
ud ndia o b aya
B
Yo vern
I
0 rn o tw Hin
1
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t
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g
c. rthe n in and
no isio ana
div hay
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tes
ple ew
om f a n me
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jan
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3 T ild m
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inv
26/05/2011 16:59

118135

The remains of Hadrians Wall in northern England. The central portion of the
wall occupies a high position that vastly enhances its defensive value.

Gulf near modern Basra, Iraq,

where he is said to have remarked
that, had he been younger, he
might have pressed on to India.
The newly conquered territories
were organized as the provinces
of Mesopotamia and Assyria, but
they were already in revolt when
Trajan returned home in 117. The
Parthians rejected Trajans puppet
king Parthamaspates, and by the
time Trajan died in August 117
almost all of his gains in the east
had been lost. On his death-bed
Trajan adopted Publius Aelius
Hadrianus (Hadrian), the governor
of Syria, effectively appointing
Hadrian as his successor.
In 109, Trajan appointed the
historian Pliny the Younger
(61c.112) as his personal
representative to govern BithyniaPontus on the Black Sea coast of
Anatolia. This was a controversial
move, as Bithynia-Pontus was
theoretically a senatorial province.
The provinces of the empire had
been divided between the emperor
and the senate at the accession of
Augustus in 27 BCE, with the
emperor receiving only the
provinces that held legionary
garrisons. This division of the
provinces persisted into the time
of Trajan. Pliny stayed in BithyniaPontus for at least two years,
trying to sort out the finances of
the main cities, which had fallen
into confusion. His letters to Trajan
are an invaluable insight into the
imperial government of the time.

lt
vo st
re ain
sh a ag
i
ew ic
5 J na e
11 Cyre rul
in man
Ro

TRAJANS SUCCESSOR HADRIAN

(r.117135) rejected his

predecessors policy of expansion
and concentrated on better
defence of the imperial
frontiers. In 122, Hadrian visited
Britain, where there had been
frontier troubles. He ordered the
building of a huge barrier from
the Solway Firth in the west to
the River Tyne in the east. It took
governor Aulus Platorius Nepos
two years to complete Hadrians
Wall (part in stone, and part in
turf), which ran 76 Roman miles
(113 kilometres), and was
equipped with a series of forts
and milecastles for its garrison.
Hadrians Wall acted as the
northern frontier line of Roman
Britain for the next 40 years.
The Parthian kingdom was left
in some confusion by the
campaigns of Trajan. His puppet
king, Parthamaspates, was
expelled in 117, but the Parthian
kingdom then seems to have
been divided between Vologeses

THE NUMBER
OF VILLAGES
RAZED
DURING THE
BAR-KOCHBA
REVOLT
III (r.105147) who ruled the
eastern portion, and Osroes
(r.117129) then Mithridates
IV (r.129140) in the west.
There was no further conflict
between Parthia and Rome for
the time being.
In India, the Kushan empire
expanded enormously under
Kanishka (127140), who
conquered Magadha and
campaigned against the Chinese
in Central Asia; his inscriptions

HADRIAN (76138)
Hadrian came from a Spanish
background and was the
adopted son of his predecessor,
Trajan. He was mocked by
some for his grecophile
tendencies, and was the first
emperor to sport a beard a
Greek fashion. Hadrian was the
first emperor to travel widely
throughout the Roman empire,
giving him first-hand
knowledge of the provinces,
from Britain to North Africa.

ts
pu g
ian sin
dr pri ni
a
u
8 H n ola
11 wn a Rox
do the sia
of Moe
in

ra n,
tra dh cca
ipu e An De ka
m
n
th er
ha
ta
au i of ast he S htra
e
t
5 G rn
as
12 taka ty (in roys har
Sa nas dest f Ma
dy ia) m o
Ind gdo
kin

n
ria
ad ear
7 H n-y ire
2
p
e
1
0 sev em
12 on his
s of
k
r
r
ba tou
m

s
die

s
on
n
nd nd
ba ia a ia
aja
a
r
r
7T
ian am sy
11
dr ot As
Ha esop
7
080-081_91_135.indd11 81 M

985

ns
ria in
ad rita 6)
H
of rn B 12
ing he ted
ild nort ple
u
m
2 B in co
12 all un (
W eg
b

are found from the Oxus river in

Afghanistan to as far south as
Varanasi and Sanchi. He was a
strong patron of Buddhism and
presided over the fourth
Buddhist Council, as well as
building a great stupa
at his capital
Purushapura
(Peshawar).
Hadrians ban on
circumcision, his
plan to turn
Jerusalem into the
Roman town of Aelia
Capitolina, and his
intent to ban Jewish
religious practices in
Jerusalem caused a
furious revolt in
Jerusalem in 132, as
religious Jews rose up
against religious
reforms. Led by Shimon
Bar Kochba, the rebels
had early successes
against Rome. They set
up the beginnings of an
independent government
and minted their own coins.
In response, Hadrian
summoned Julius Severus,
the governor of Britain, to
conduct a war against the
rebels. Severus commanded
an army formed of
detachments from 12
legions. The rebels had no
large towns under their
control, and so adopted
guerrilla warfare while still
attempting to defend the smaller
forts they held. In 135, the rebels
last main stronghold at Bethar
was captured amid great

e
ng m nu
es Yo ari ghin Pan he T siun
C
t
l
H
5
s
12 nera uer the
Ge conq from Asia
re sin tral
Ba Cen
of

ish
ew by
d J led ba
n
)
o
h
ec 135 Koc
2 S to
r
13 olt ( Ba
n
v
o
Re him
S

slaughter, after which the revolt

petered out. Hadrian proceeded
with his plan to outlaw Judaism
in Palestine, and many of the
Jews who had survived the
rebellion fled abroad.

Treasured goblet
This beautiful vase was found in
Kapisa (Bagram) near Kabul, which
was the Kushan summer capital in
the 1st century.

n
ria
ad es nd
H
r
a ish
u
5
13 capt lem Jew
re rusa its
Je pels tion
ex pula
po

pt
m
tte rim
n a e Ta the
a
h
us e th d by ese
in
5 K tur lle
13 cap epe Ch
to in r
s
Ba

26/05/2011 16:59

81

79

136160

THOUSAND
THE TOTAL
POPULATION OF
TEOTIHUACN
AT ITS PEAK

THE CITY OF TEOTIHUACN

IN THE VALLEY OF MEXICO

experienced massive
growth during the 1st and
2nd centuries, with its
population reaching over
80,000 before 200. The city
was planned on a grid,
with two huge
pyramids of the
Moon and the Sun at
either end of the main
street. The Teotihuacn
II phase of the city
(0350) saw the building
of the enormous
Temple of Quetzalcoatl
and the acquisition of an
empire, with Teotihuacn
dominating vast areas of
Mexico and overseeing
client kingdoms as far south
as Guatemala.
Hadrian had adopted Antoninus
Pius (86161) as his son and
successor, a stop-gap until
Antoninuss relative, Marcus
Aurelius (12180), was old enough
to rule, but Antoninus survived
Hadrian by 23 years, and became
Roman emperor in 138. He was

63

KILOMETRES
THE LENGTH OF
THE ANTONINE
WALL IN
SCOTLAND

turquoise
mosaic pieces

Mexican mask
This sumptuous
mask from Teotihuacn
bears the smooth, flat
features that are
characteristic of work
from the city.

of ans
e
ion e Al
tiv
as
op
nv by th rn
I
ian y ad ius
r
7
e
b
d
P
a
s
d
13 cia st
8 H de inu
6 do ea
13 ccee ton
13 ppa outh s
l
n
a
s
i
u
A
s n
C m
fa
so
fro ssia
Ru

in
for
ier
eld ary
nt rth
ro no all
s h ers of
f
n
d
n e
o
iv
W
an ve
ati n tio
om mo ine
br an da om
ele 00th foun of R
3 R in is nton
4
C
y
1 ita
9
e
7
it
eA
14 the of th e c
Br o th
th
t

82

80

e
om s
ec ian
s b rth
n
ha Pa
us the
0 K of
5
s
1
l
c. ssa
va

on
ini
m sia
do al A ed
n
r
h
Ha ent lis
50 r C tab
c.1 ove e-es
r

necklace made
from coral beads

a
ity fric
ian A
ist orth
r
of
Ch n N
ak ure
50 ds i
Pe cult
1
.
a
0
c re
5
k
c.1 e No ria
sp
th Nige
in

The Pyramid of the Sun at

Teotihuacn in modern Mexico.

The ruins of Hatra, which was

a Parthian-controlled city.

famed for his moderation

and rarely left Rome.
Disturbances in Dacia (in
present-day Romania)
around 140 and an uprising
in North Africa in 145 did
not unduly disturb the
empires calm. Antoninus
extended the frontier in
both Scotland and Upper
Germany, ordering the
construction of a new
turf barrier around
160km (100 miles) to the
north of Hadrians Wall
(see 188135 BCE) in
Britain. This Antonine
Wall was 63km (35 miles)
in length. The Hadrians
Wall garrison was moved
north to a new set of forts, but
their stay was short Marcus
Aurelius, Antoninus Piuss
successor, ordered a pull-back
to Hadrians Wall around 161,
where the Roman frontier
of Britain remained until the
5th century.
As Christianity grew, so did the
problem of defining a single
doctrine. Among the alternative
doctrines that sprang up in the
2nd century was Marcionism,
which taught that the God of
Christians was distinct from the
Jewish God of the Old Testament
and that Jesus Christ did not have
a human nature. Justin Martyr
(c.103165) argued that
Christianity was the fulfilment of
Jewish prophecy and that
Christians were the new chosen
people. Justin also wrote to
Marcus Aurelius, seeking to
explain Christian doctrine.

MARCUS AURELIUS SUCCEEDED

TO THE ROMAN THRONE jointly

e
th
of ern rule
lt
vo orth an
e
m
5 R f n Ro
15 s o st
4 te in
15 igan aga
Br itain
Br

ian
th g
ar in
P llow t to
n
p ia
a
fo
om ace ttem en
5 R pe n a Arm
a
15
i
r
rth ue
Pa conq

r
we
po ns
to ctio
e
a
is h f
9 R uc na
15 eun Chi
f
o Han
in

ine
Rh nd
an eyo (in
m
b
Ro ds lley ny)
a
he ten va
0 T ex ar erm
16 tier eck n G
r
N
n
e
fro the od
m

with Lucius Verus in 161. Marcus

was the more capable of the two,
but it was Lucius who was sent,
in 162, to rescue the situation in
the east after the governor of
Cappadocia was defeated and
killed by the Persians following a
disastrous invasion of Armenia.
By 163164 Lucius had brought
Armenia back under Roman
control, and renamed its capital
Kaine Polis (New City). A new
pro-Roman king was installed
there before the legions moved
on, pushing deeper into Persian

,,

200

161170

IF IT IS NOT
RIGHT, DO NOT
DO IT: IF IT IS
NOT TRUE, DO
NOT SAY IT.

,,

Emperor Marcus Aurelius, from

Meditations, 161180

territory, taking Edessa in

Mesopotamia, and reaching the
Parthian capital of Ctesiphon in
165. The Roman general Avidius
Cassius (c.130175) burnt the
Parthian palace and then turned
back westward. A swathe of
Parthian territory down the
Euphrates River was annexed as
far east as Dura Europos (in
southeastern Syria). However,
victory celebrations were
short-lived, for the troops
brought the plague back to
Rome and by 167 it had spread

ius
ce
el
pla
ur
A
ns e on
s
a
an cius r
i
u
m
c
th at e
ar Ro h Lu ero
ar did on
p
2 P an thr sia
1 M es it
16 com or, w o-em
16 eir c ian Per
be per as c
th men tack
em rus
Ar d at
Ve
an

ine
ton is
An itain an
e
Th n Br om to
i d R ns l
61
c.1 l line an etur wal
l
s
ed r
Wa don tier rian
an fron Had
b
a

of
lt ic
vo
Re man tti
2
r
16 Ge Cha
e
th

171180

A painted stucco of the Moches most important god, Al Apaec, who is often
depicted with the fangs of a snake.

widely throughout the

Mediterranean.
Barely had the Parthian War
ended than the Marcomannic
War began. In early 167, a group
of Germanic warriors from the
Langobardi and Obii tribes
crossed the Danube to attack the
Roman province of Pannonia.
They were pushed back
fairly easily, but in spring
168 Marcus Aurelius
resolved to visit the region
to assess the situation.
Two more Germanic tribes,
the Marcomanni and
Quadi were threatening to
force their way across the
frontier unless they were
admitted to settle in the
empire, but Marcuss
presence deterred them.
However, the expedition
was cut short by the death
of Lucius Verus from
plague in early 169. Marcus
returned to Italy, but was back in
Pannonia later in the year to
launch a massive offensive
across the Danube. It was a
disaster, with the Romans
suffering around 20,000 dead and
the Marcomanni and Quadi
pouring into Italy, where they laid
siege to Aquileia. Far from
providing an easy victory for
Marcus, the war dragged on for
another 10 years.
In China, the eunuch faction at
court had become increasingly
powerful and had even engineered
the murder of the emperor Shaodi
in 125. Under Emperor Huandi
(14668) a series of natural
disasters weakened the authority

THE MOCHE CULTURE EMERGED

ON THE COAST OF NORTHERN
PERU between 100 and 200. From

Marcus Aurelius
This statue shows Marcus Aurelius
adopting a pose of victory, something
he claimed but never quite achieved
in his Marcomannic Wars.

of the central government, and the

emperor relinquished active
control of government to the
eunuchs. In 168, an attempt by
Dou Miao, regent for the 12-yearold emperor Lingdi (r.16889),
to have the eunuchs massacred
failed the plot was betrayed
and Dou Miao was forced to
commit suicide. Several hundred
of Dou Miaos supporters were
executed and, with its enemies
now dead, the eunuch faction
was able to exercise power
almost unopposed.

,
s, ria
s,
siu Sy ks
ru
as r of sac
C
Ve uss s
d
o
s
n
s
n
i
l
iu rn a ho
iu
ke
uc ure ma ia
vid ove hia sip
6 L s A r, rth
5 A g rt te
16 rcu pero Pa
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their bases in the Peruvian

valleys of Moche, Chicama, and
Vir, these people spread to
dominate almost the whole
northern coastline. A warlike
people, they sacrificed those
whom they captured to their
deities, including Al Apaec
(the decapitator). They were
skilled workers in gold and their
pottery has an extraordinarily
realistic quality.
The Roman Empire was in
crisis in 170 the
Marcomanni and Quadi had
occupied parts of northern Italy,
and an invasion by the Iazyges
and Costobocci had overun large
parts of the Balkans. The Romans
trapped the Marcomanni as they
returned across the Danube and
killed many of them. The Quadi
sued for peace later in 171, but
the Marcommani remained
recalcitrant, forcing a new
offensive in 172. The forces of
Marcus Aurelius could never
quite strike the killer blow, and
by 175 the war had
reached a
stalemate.
In May that
year, rumours
that Marcus

THE GERMANIC TRIBES

The Romans had faced Germanic tribes ever since they had
reached the Rhine at the time of Julius Caesar. German groups
across the Danube, such as the Quadi and Marcomanni, proved
troublesome in the 2nd century, but by the late 3rd century new
and more dangerous confederations of Germanic tribes arose,
such as the Franks, Alamanns, and Goths, who overran much of
the Roman Empire by the mid-5th century.
Aurelius had died while on
campaign prompted a revolt by
Avidius Cassius, the governor of
Syria. Avidius was declared
emperor in Egypt, and received
support in Arabia, as well as in his
own province of Syria. Critically,
however, he failed to
secure the support of
Martius Verus, the

Moche stirrup jar

This jar has a typical
Moche stirrup attached
to the back of it. The
realism of the paddling
figure is characteristic of
the cultures ceramics.

)
s use
e
th erd ca
of eph y be s
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governor of Cappadocia, whom he

had fought alongside during
the Parthian War.
As Martiuss army approached,
the loyalty of the usurpers troops
wavered, and in July Avidius
Cassius was murdered by a
disaffected centurion, putting an
end to his short-lived but
dangerous rebellion. There
were suggestions that Marcuss
wife Faustina encouraged
Avidius, as she feared for her
husbands health and worried
her own son Commodus was
unfit to rule.
Free from the distraction of
Avidiuss revolt, Marcus
Aurelius returned to the
Danube in 177. In the winter
of 17980, the Roman army
occupied positions deep
across the Danube, and it
looked as if Marcus might
be able to create two new
Roman provinces
Marcomannia and
Samartia. However,
Marcus was old and tired
he died in March 180.
His son Commodus brought
the war to a rapid conclusion,
allowing him to return to Rome.

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20/05/2011 15:40

83

81

700

BCE 5 9 9 CE

THE CLASSICAL AGE

Gold dolphin earrings

decorative
female head

Earrings adorned with

animal-head motifs were
especially popular in the
eastern Roman empire.
This pair bears a symbol
of the sea god Neptune.

Plumb line

This bronze weighted

plumb line was attached
to a groma, an instrument
used by the Romans to
survey straight lines.

Precious necklace

This necklace, made up

of gold and red garnets,
seems to form the shape
of a spectacular fruit tree.

garnet shaped like

a fruit or berry

Bone pin

This flat, thin blade or pin is topped

by a female head, an ornamental
touch for an otherwise humdrum
household item.

gold in the form

of a leaf

bronze
weight

ANCIENT ROME

cart carrying
worshippers

THE ROMANS SPREAD A RICH MATERIAL CULTURE THROUGHOUT THEIR VAST EMPIRE

As Roman political control steadily expanded outside Italy, in its wake came
the Roman way of life. Roman surveyors laid out new cities, local elites took
up Roman practices, and the masses attended gladiatorial spectacles. On
a domestic level, Roman fashions in clothing and accessories also spread.

Bronze dividers and foot-rule

Dividers allowed engineers to
copy scale plans or models at
twice or half their size the
gap between the lower points
is always twice that between
the upper points. The rule,
which was one Roman foot
long (29.6cm/11.7in), folded
for easy carrying.

Although many of the territories that the Romans conquered initially resisted, the populations of
central
pivot
these provinces, particularly the former ruling classes, gradually adopted many Roman customs.
Influential men became Roman citizens, towns were given new public buildings such as baths and
courthouses, Roman legionary garrisons were established in strategic places, and new trade routes
brought luxury goods from Rome. As a result, similar Roman artefacts have been found across Europe,
the Middle East, and North Africa, dating from around the 1st century BCE to the 5th century CE.

metal crest to
deflect blows

head of
Oceanus

lower
point

cursive
letter forms

Ocean baths

The most important Roman

baths were adorned with
lavish mosaics, such as
this one of Oceanus, the
ocean god, from Sabratha
in Libya.

82

084_085_Ancient_Rome.indd 84
84
084_085_Ancient_Rome.indd

Wooden tablet

This type of tablet, made from

very thin wood, was used by
the Roman military for
everyday letters and recordkeeping. This one was found
at Vindolanda in England.

foot-rule

26/05/2011
20/05/2011 14:33
13:03

ANCIENT ROME
Procession bowl

This lekane, a type of shallow

dish, is decorated with
a scene of half-man,
half-goat satyrs
in a procession in
honour of Bacchus,
the god of wine.
modernlooking grater
flask
containing oil

Ancient grater

Cheese played an important

part in the Roman diet. Graters
such as this one were invented
to allow cheese to be used as
a topping on other foodstuffs.

strigil for
scraping

Amphora

The Romans transported liquid

goods such as oil and wine
in amphoras, a type of large,
double-handled storage jar.

Bathing tools

At the baths, a Romans skin

was oiled and then scraped to
remove sweat and dirt. A ring
was used to transport the tools.

Short sword

The Roman military sword, or gladius, had a

short blade ideal for attacks at close range.
It was used by soldiers and some gladiators.

short blade
ivory grip

satyr carrying
cymbals

Military javelin

Each Roman legionary carried two of these pila (javelins).

The javelins iron head was designed to bend on impact to
prevent an opponent from removing it from shields or wounds.

long iron
shank

handle shaped for

throwing

Imperial coins

Coins bearing the head of the

current emperor (here Augustus
and Claudius) acted as powerful
propaganda tools across the
empire, showing even the masses
an image of their ruler.

Latin
text

Proof of citizenship

Non-citizens who served 25 years

in the Roman army were awarded
citizenship and given bronze
diplomas such as this one to
record the grant.

extended
neck-plate

Sling pellets

gridded visor
to protect face

Roman legionaries normally

relied on their swords, but
auxiliary light infantry used
other weapons to devastating
effect, such as these metal
sling pellets.
small size would
have offered little
protection

Gladiator helmet

Roman gladiators bore a variety of arms

and armour. This sort of helmet was
worn by a Thracian, a type of gladiator
whose equipment was modelled on
that of ancient Thracian warriors.

084_085_Ancient_Rome.indd 85

Bronze gladiator shield

Thracian gladiators a class of lightly

armed gladiator carried lightweight,
round shields such as this one for
defence, and a scimitar, with a short,
curved blade, to attack their opponents.

83

11/02/2013
20/05/2011 15:47
13:04

181192

193211

In this engraving by Giovanni Stradano, Emperor Commodus shoots an arrow

to subdue a leopard. Fighting in the arena as a gladiator was his great passion.

The Severan arch in Leptis Magna (in modern Libya) commemorates a visit
by the North African emperor to his home town.

caused by the corruption of the

eunuchs at the court of Han
Emperor Lindi (r.16889) and a
succession of natural disasters
led to the outbreak in 184 of a
major insurrection, named the
Yellow Turban revolt for the
colour of its supporters headgear.
Up to 400,000 rebels swept
westward towards the capital.
Another uprising fuelled by the
Five Pecks of Rice sect then
succeeded in taking over Sichuan
in the southwest. Although the
Yellow Turbans had been largely
crushed by early 185, the control
of the Han emperor was ever
weakening. After Lingdi died in
189, he was replaced by his
younger half-brother Xiandi
(r.189220) but he never exercised
real power. Instead, control of the
empire fell to Han general Cao
Cao, who contended for 30 years
with a series of rival warlords,
notably Liu Bei in the southwest
and Sun Quan in the south.

18

THE AGE
AT WHICH
COMMODUS
BECAME SOLE
EMPEROR

Commodus (r.18092), Marcus

Aureliuss son, was the first
Roman emperor to succeed his
father for 90 years but he proved to
be a disastrous choice. In 182,
after an assassination attempt on
him, apparently organized by his
sister Lucilla, Commodus became
increasingly despotic. Many
senators who were implicated in
the plot were executed and control
of the government fell into the
hands of Tigidius Perennis, the
praetorian prefect (the
commander of the imperial
bodyguard). There were minor
wars in Britain and in Dacia (much
of modern Romania), but in 185
Perennis was suspected of a plot
to make his own son emperor and
was executed by his troops.
Commodus increasingly devoted
himself to fighting in the arena as
a gladiator, while the imperial
chamberlain Cleander dominated
government and sold public offices
to the highest bidder. The man in
charge of the grain supply,
Papirius Dionysius, engineered a
shortage that led to Cleanders
downfall. This did not result in a
more stable government as his
replacement only lasted a short
time before being murdered.
Commodus increasingly identified
himself with Hercules (the Greek
hero) and renamed Rome after
himself colonia Commodiana.
At the end of 192, the praetorian
prefect Laetus was convinced that
Commodus was planning to have
him killed and on New Years Day
193 took the initiative and had the
emperor poisoned and, when that
did not work, strangled.

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,,

IN CHINA, INCREASING DISSENT

BE HARMONIOUS WITH
EACH OTHER, ENRICH
THE SOLDIERS, IGNORE
ALL OTHERS

,,

Septimius Severus, dying words as quoted in Book 77 of Roman historian

Dio Cassiuss Roman History, 211

IN 193, AFTER THE MURDER OF

COMMODUS, Helvius Pertinax

(12693), the prefect of the city,

was declared emperor but he was
murdered after three months. This
was followed by rival claimants to
the throne engaging in an auction
outside the praetorian camp to
decide who would be emperor.
Didius Julianus (13393) won, but
Money offered to each
soldier by Didius Julianus

25,000
SESTERCES

20,000
SESTERCES

Money offered to each soldier

by Flavius Sulpicianus

Buying loyalty
The larger bribes offered to the
troops by Didius Julianus meant that
he won the auction to be emperor.

his reign was short, as almost

immediately the frontier armies
rebelled: that on the Danube
proclaimed Septimius Severus
(c.145211) emperor, while the
Syrian legions raised their
commander Pescennius Niger
(c.13594) to the imperial throne.
Severus reached Rome first and,
after granting the title of Caesar
(junior emperor) to Clodius
Albinus, governor of Britain, he
turned east where, in spring 194,
his armies defeated Niger at the
Battle of Issus in Syria. Severus
stayed in the east and in 195
attacked the Parthian Empire. But
he was forced to return west to
deal with Albinus who had
revolted, and who was killed near
Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France)
in 197. Severus then returned to
Parthia, this time occupying the
capital Ctesiphon in 197. He
pushed the line of Roman control
towards the Tigris and created the
new province of Mesopotamia.
Trouble in Britain brought the
ageing emperor to the province in
208. A large-scale Roman
advance forced the Caledonians
and Maetae north of the provincial
frontier to come to terms in 209,

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JULIA DOMNA (170217)

The daughter of a Syrian high
priest, Julia Domna married
Septimius Severus in 187. A
prophecy had predicted that
she would wed an emperor
and so it turned out. Forceful
and intelligent, she failed to
mediate between her sons
Caracalla and Geta after
their fathers death and to
prevent Getas murder. When
Caracalla was killed she
deliberately starved herself
to death in protest, a move
that rallied support for the
remaining Severan family.
but they soon broke the peace and
a new campaign was launched in
210. Severus was by now very ill,
and his son Caracalla took over.
In February 211 Severus died in
Eboracum (modern York, England)
and handed succession jointly to
sons Caracalla and Geta. After the
Scottish war both rushed back to
Rome, but their joint rule was
short-lived: Caracalla had Geta
murdered in December 211.

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06/05/11 5:05 PM
a
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Ca to a

212230

A carving of the Buddha from Sarnath in North India, where a school of

Buddhist art flourished under the Kushans.

to shrink after the death of King

Kanishka in 140, and particularly
severe territorial losses were
suffered under Huvishka
(r.16090). Kushan rule finally
collapsed under Vasudeva
(r.190225) when Persian invaders
swept through northwestern
India. Although Kushan kings
continued to rule a much-reduced
realm for a further century, their
influence was purely local and
their heyday was at an end.
In Rome, Caracallas
government was unpopular.
Among his measures was the
Antonine Constitution of 212, by

which citizenship was granted to

almost all free males in the
empire. After a successful
campaign on the Rhine (in 213),
Caracalla ventured further afield,
arriving in Egypt in 215. For some
unknown reason, he became
enraged and ordered the
massacre of the citizens of
Alexandria. The next year he
launched an invasion of Parthia.
His praetorian prefect Opellius
Macrinus came to suspect that
Caracalla wanted him dead, so he
persuaded a disaffected soldier to
murder the emperor. After
Caracallas murder, the army
declared Macrinus emperor.
There was much residual loyalty

2,000

Arch of Caracalla
Originally the arch
was topped by a
figure of the
emperor riding in a
chariot. It stands in
Volubilis, the main
town of Roman
Mauretania Tingitana
(in modern Morocco).

THE NUMBER
OF BATHERS
THAT COULD
USE THE BATHS
OF CARACALLA

divided into two

when Vologeses
VIs brother set
himself up as a
rival king,
Artabanus V; and a further
Roman invasion in 216 ravaged
much of the province of Media.
Taking advantage of this disorder,
the ruler of the southwestern
province of Pars, Ardashir,
expanded his territory and finally
defeated Artabanus V c.224.
Ardashir I was then declared king
(r.22442) as the first ruler of the
Sasanian dynasty. Although
Black Sea

Cau

us

an

ARMENIA

S ea

ROM A N EM PIRE

cas

spi

Byzantium
(Constantinople)

Persia was temporarily weakened

by a civil war, the Sasanians
proved to be much tougher
adversaries to the Romans than
the Parthians ever had been.
In China in 220, Cao Caos son
Cao Pi forced Xiandi to abdicate.
Within two years Cao Pi, Liu Bei,
and Sun Quan would each declare
himself emperor. The Han dynasty
and Chinas unity were at an end.
Ca

towards the Severan family, and a

revolt broke out in Syria, which
aimed to put Elagabalus (20322),
grandson of Julia Domnas sister
Julia Maesa, on the throne.
Macrinus lost support and in June
218 he fled to Cappadocia where
he was killed. In 221, Elagabalus
adopted as his heir his cousin
Alexanius. When the two fell
out in 222, the army backed
Alexianus and Elagabalus
was murdered. Alexianus
became Emperor
Alexander Severus
aged 13.
In Persia, Parthian rule
had been weakened,
both by plague and by
the effects of successive
Roman invasions. In 207,
the kingdom had been

Merv

Antioch
Cyprus

Barbalissus

Mediterranean Dura Europos

Jalula
Sea
SYRIA ASURISTAN

Balkh
BACTRIA

Nishapur
KHURASAN

Ecbatana

Hin

s
Ku
du Taxila
h

IN INDIA, THE AREA CONTROLLED

BY THE KUSHAN DYNASTY began

Kabul

Pe

Nehavend
SASAN I AN
Damascus
Seleucia Ctesiphon
E MP I R E
Susa
Babylon
MESHAN KHUZISTAN
Alexandria Jerusalem
L a Al Qadisiya Dhu Qar FARSPersepolis
khm
ids
KERMAN
Arabian
MAKRAN
ia
n
Peninsula
Gul
f
BAHRAIN
Arabian Sea
MAZUN
rs

Bronze diploma
Diplomas were issued to
auxiliary soldiers in the
Roman army, granting
them citizenship.This
practice ceased after the
Antonine Constitution.

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The Sasanian Empire in Persia

After rapidly acquiring the former
Parthian Empire, the Sasanians
fought a series of wars with the
Romans over control of Mesopotamia.

by d
us
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KEY
Sasanian Empire at greatest extent
East Roman Empire in 3rd century

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06/05/11 5:05 PM

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245260

231244

25

THE NUMBER OF
ROMAN EMPERORS
THAT RULED
BETWEEN
235 AND 284
Roman emperor Gordian III
succeeded his father and grandfather.

IN CHINA, THE FINAL COLLAPSE OF

THE HAN DYNASTY IN 220 was

followed by 350 years of instability.

The Three Kingdoms period
(22080) saw China divided into the
Wei kingdom of the north; (initially
under Wei Wendi (r.22026); the
Shu Han kingdom in the west
whose first ruler was Shu Han
Xuande (r.22123); and the
southern Wu kingdom under Wu
Wudi (r.22252). Wei Wendi was a
capable ruler, but his successors
struggled to contain attacks by
northern tribesmen.
In 235, the Roman
emperor Alexander
Severus and his
mother Julia Mamaea
were murdered by
mutinous troops,
putting an end to the
Severan dynasty. The
uprisings ringleader,
Maximinus Thrax
(r.23538), an officer from
a humble background, was
proclaimed emperor, but he
spent most of his reign raising
funds to reward his troops for
their support. This time marks
the start of a period of military
anarchy in which Rome had
dozens of emperors, most of them
short-lived rulers who were
raised up by the frontier armies
and just as quickly deposed and
killed. A rebellion in 238 in North

Africa proclaimed the provinces

elderly governor as Emperor
Gordian I, but he was quickly and
brutally put down. The Senate
declared Maximinus deposed and
proposed Pupienus and Balbinus
as candidates. Popular sentiment
favoured Gordian Is grandson

s
us aid e
rio c r hin
Se ani er R
5
23 amm upp
Al the
on

86

Yellow
Sea

Jiankang

Chengdu
SH U
H AN

WU
Taiwan

South
China
Sea

KEY
Wei, 220225

Wu, 222280

Shu Han, 221263

China under the Three Kingdoms

Although the Wei kingdom faced the
greatest challenges among the three
kingdoms, it would eventually
conquer the Wu and the Shu Han.

Gordian III (r.23844), so all

three briefly shared the
throne. Balbinus and
Pupienus were
killed soon after,
leaving Gordian III to
rule alone. His
six-year reign briefly
restored some semblance of
stability to the empire, but he
was killed while leading an
invasion of Persia in 24344.
Compounding the Roman
Empires difficulties was the
appearance of barbarian
confederacies among
the Germanic peoples
of the Rhine and
Danube frontiers.
Principal among these
were the Alemanni. In
213, Caracalla campaigned
against them; by 260 they
were able to invade Italy itself.

I or ys;
a
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rd emp 22 d es is
o
8 G ed nly om n h
23 clar ts o bec or o h
I
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o
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88

W EI
Luoyang

Hainan

Art from the Three Kingdoms

High artistic achievements, such as
this fine statue, were a feature of the
late Han dynasty. Its collapse in 220
did not result in an equivalent
decline in Chinas artistic output.

I
s
an ir
m sh
Ro rda om nd
2
A
r
a
23 pel sia f ia
ex Per otam a
of sop doci
Me ppa
Ca

PERSIA ATTAINED A POSITION OF

RENEWED STRENGTH under

G OBI DESERT

Changan

es

om
ec
Ib
r
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ha ers
1S fP
24 ler o
ru

A mural of St Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage at the height of the Decian

persecution. He was martyred in 257 during a campaign under Valerian.

te
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ss
oth Ru
2 G rn
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pr ich e
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T
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i

g
r
2
a
f
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n
24 Sas
24 er o chi
4 G Pe Ar an
a
d
24 on the om
un pre
R
(fo ins
p
g
ili
be
Ph

Shapur I (r.24172). In 244, he won

a decisive battle against Gordian III
at Misiche near Ctesiphon. Shortly
after, Gordian III was killed and
replaced by his army commander
Philip (or Philip the Arab).
Philip made peace with Shapur
but had to pay a large ransom to
escape Sasanian territory. His
successors broke the terms of the
agreement, so in 256 Shapur I
invaded Syria and captured the
towns of Dura Europos and
Antioch. Valerian, who by then
was emperor (r.25360), soon
retook Antioch. But, in 260, he fell
into a trap and was imprisoned
by Shapur. The Romans were left
Relief of Shapur I
In this relief, Shapur I triumphs over
the Roman emperors Gordian III and
Valerian. After Valerians capture,
Shapur is said to have used him as a
footstool for mounting his horse.

in disarray and Shapurs armies

advanced as far as Iconium
(modern Konya, Turkey).
The western part of the Roman
Empire also faced increasing
pressure. The Romans suffered
invasions of Dacia (much of
modern Romania) by the Carpi
people from c.214. The Carpi,
together with a new group, the
Goths, took part in a raid across
the Danube in 23940. In 248,
Emperor Philip withdrew an
annual tribute he had been
paying the Carpi and the Goths,
prompting them to pour into
Moesia (modern Bulgaria). Philip
sent Quintus Decius to deal with
the invasion; he was so successful
that his troops declared him
emperor. Early in 249, Decius
marched to Rome and defeated
and killed Philip. Hearing of the
Roman civil war, the Goths
invaded again, causing Decius to
return to the Balkans in 250.
Under their warleader Cniva, the

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261275

The main colonnade at Palmyra, which grew rich on tariffs paid by merchants
who plied the desert route that passed through the Syrian city.

Germany. Postumus declared

himself emperor, but unlike
previous usurpers did not march
on Rome, instead setting up a
separate Gallic Empire; this
initially controlled Britain, Spain,
parts of western Germany, and
Gaul. He established a form of
government that mirrored that of
the official empire, complete with
its own Senate. In 269, Postumus
was murdered by his own troops
and replaced by his praetorian
prefect Victorinus. Gallienus
faced with Gothic invasions and
the revolt of Zenobia of Palmyra
in the east was never strong
enough to put an end to the Gallic
Empire. In 268 he was murdered
by the army and replaced by
Claudius II Gothicus (r.26870),
who was too busy fighting in the

SHAPUR I (d.272)
Shapurs early leadership
experience came in a role
assisting his father, Ardashir,
in mopping up support for
the Parthian Arsacid dynasty.
Shapurs defeats of Gordian
III in 244 and of Valerian in
260 established a temporary
Persian dominance in Syria
and Mesopotamia. He used
the many Roman prisoners
captured in 256 at Antioch to
build the new town of Veh
Antiok Shapur (Shapurs
town, better than Antioch).

BRITANNIA

KEY
Gallic Empire under
Postumus, 26068

Gallic Empire under

Tetricus, 27074

Colonia Agrippina
Mogontiacum
Durocortorum

S a xo n s

Lom

ni

Augusta
Treverorum

GALLIA
Lugdunum
Vienna

Burdigala

N
NO

NI
A

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s
as to ia, ce
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26 sion ced G
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u Ma
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n S
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Carthage

f
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7
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s
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for the
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Rome

Sardinia
Caesarea

M A U R E TA N I

Corsica

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Balea

Gades
Tingis

Tarraco
Corduba

Marcomann i
Iut
hun
gi

Ravenna

I T

Narbo

HISPAN IA

dians

Sepulchral relief from Palmyra

The Palmyrenes buried their dead
with exquisite and realistic personal
portrayals; the dead were interred in
tower tombs outside the city.

In China, Yuandi (r.26064)

restored Weis fortunes by
conquering the Shu Han. But
soon after he was overthrown by
one of his own generals, Sima
Yuan, who founded the Western
Jin dynasty and took the title
Wudi (r.26589). His armies
crushed and annexed the Wu
kingdom in 280, thus briefly
reuniting China.

P
Mediolanum

VI EN N EN S I S
Emerita
Augusta

b a rd

un
urg

an

Roman Empire, 260

Alem

om
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rty ria e
a
y
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wa
8 M Cy ha
ka re
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es P

Eburacum

North
Sea

nks

ts
ea him
ef
I d kes
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r
r
s
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t
us
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ap d en
De edic ors
Sh n an alli n
7
0
w
a
a
G
25 ues ian
26 leri er; om
iss rist
Va ison ed R
Ch
pr clar or
de per
em
g
din

The Gallic Empire

Postumus began the Gallic Empire
in control of Gaul, Germany, Britain,
and Spain. By its collapse in 274, the
last ruler, Tetricus, had lost Spain.

ra

Goths ravaged the province of

Moesia, laying siege to the main
town of Nicopolis (modern
Nikopol, Bulgaria). The campaign
went badly for the Romans, ending
in defeat and Deciuss death at the
Battle of Abrittus in 251.
In Japan, the Yamato kingdom
emerged on the plain of Nara (in
central Japan) around 250. Its
rulers were interred in large burial
mounds, and its armies conquered
most of central Japan. Much of
what is known comes from
Chinese sources, who name the
Queen of Yamato in 238 as Himiko.

disastrous for the western part of

the Roman Empire as well as the
east. Valerians son Gallienus
(r.26068), struggling to contain
an invasion of Italy by the
Germanic Iuthungi had no
resources to reinforce the Rhine
frontier, which was being
breached by Alemmanic and
Frankish raiders. The Governor
of Germania Inferior, Marcus
Postumus, revolted and killed
Gallienuss son Saloninus, who
had been left in charge of Gaul and

Balkans to deal with Gaul. Only

under Aurelian (r.27074) was the
Roman Empire strong enough,
and by then the Gallic Empire was
weakened, with its last ruler,
Tetricus (r.27074), facing splits in
the army. In 274, Tetricus was
captured near Chlons, and the
Gallic Empire was reabsorbed.
In the east, a serious challenge
to Roman rule emerged after 260.
The city of Palmyra (in Syria)
proved Romes only reliable ally
against the Sasanian advances of
Persia. Its ruler Septimius
Odaenathus (c.22067) received a
number of Roman titles, including
Corrector Totius Orientis (Marshal
of the entire East), and invaded
the Sasanian Empire in 262 and
266. Odaenathus died in 267; and
his wife Zenobia (r.26773) created
an empire of her own. By 269, her
armies had taken Syria and Egypt,
and in 271 she declared her son
Vaballathus emperor. Aurelian
marched east and soon rolled back
the Palmyrene gains, besieging
Palmyra in spring 272. Zenobia
was captured while trying to
escape, and Palmyra was sacked
in 273 when it tried to throw off
Roman rule again.

,,

VALERIANS CAPTURE BY THE

PERSIANS in 260 proved

YOU DEMAND MY SURRENDER

AS THOUGH YOU WERE NOT AWARE
THAT CLEOPATRA PREFERRED TO
DIE A QUEEN RATHER THAN
REMAIN ALIVE.

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27 ure atio vers Rom
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Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, to Aurelian Augustus

from Historia Augusta c.375400

y
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,,

PROBUS WAS ALMOST A

SECOND HANNIBAL BECAUSE OF
HIS KNOWLEDGE OF WARFARE

,,

Aurelius Victor, Roman historian and official, in

De Caesaribus, c.360

The Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacn (near modern Mexico City) was built some time after 200 at one end of
the citys Avenue of the Dead; the Pyramid of the Sun sits at the other end.
IN CHINA, THE FIRST EMPEROR OF
THE WESTERN JIN DYNASTY, Wudi

(r.26589), was a strong ruler who

secured trade routes to the West
and built a bridge over the Yellow
River to improve communications.
However, the wars of the Three
Kingdoms period (see 231244)
had impoverished the state and as
the tax burden rose, many
peasants fled to landowners for
protection, resulting in the rise of
private armies.
In the Roman Empire, Emperor
Aurelian who was murdered in
275 was followed by two

short-lived emperors Tacitus

and Florianus before Probus
took power in 276. Within two
years, Probus had defeated the
Goths on the Danube and pushed
back the Franks from the Rhine.
A planned campaign against
Persia was frustrated in 281 by
the revolt of two usurpers in the
West: Bonosus and Proculus.
Despite his military successes, in
282 Probus was murdered by his
own troops, who were resentful
at being forced to work on civil
engineering projects near
Sirmium (in modern Serbia).

Jin sitting bear sculpture

The first half of the Jin dynasty
under Wudi gave China a
period of comparative
peace and stability,
which allowed the
arts to flourish.

ls
es
pe
ina r
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S h

IN 284, THE ROMAN ARMY IN ASIA

MINOR PROCLAIMED DIOCLES, the

former commander of the

imperial bodyguard, Emperor
Diocletian (r.284305). In 285, he
defeated Carinus (the then
emperor of the Western Empire)
and started a radical
reorganization of the empire,
reforming the army, and
subdividing provinces. The
challenges on the frontier were
too great to be faced alone; in 285,
he appointed Maximian (250310)
to rule alongside him, first as
Caesar (junior emperor) then as
Augustus (senior emperor). Other
problems with Britains break
from the empire under Carausius
in 286, convinced Diocletian that
more changes were necessary. In
293, he and Maximian appointed
two Caesars: Constantius
Chlorus (r.293306) to assist
Diocletian in the Western Empire
and Galerius (r.293311) to be
Maximians junior in the East. This
tetrarchy (four emperor system)
enjoyed early successes in Britain
(296) and in Egypt (298). In 294,
Diocletian reformed the coinage,
reissuing new bronze and silver
coins, and in 301 he issued an
Edict on Maximum Prices to try
to curb rising inflation. Unlike his
other measures, this one failed.

30

Persian frieze
The Paikuli frieze celebrates the
victories of Narseh in Armenia and
justifies his deposition of
predecessor Vahram III.

After the death of Shapur I in

272 Persia faced a period of
political instability. In 293,
Narseh (r.293302) ascended to
the Persian throne. He resolved to
recover land in Armenia and
Mesopotamia that had been lost

SQUARE
KILOMETRES

THE AREA OF
TEOTIHUACAN CITY
AT ITS PEAK

to the Romans. He launched a

major invasion in 296, defeating
the Caesar Galerius in 297. The
next year, however, Galerius
smashed Narsehs army in
Armenia and captured the Persian
rulers family. Galerius marched
as far as Ctesiphon, which he
captured in 298. Narseh was
forced to make peace (Treaty of
Nisibis). Persia remained at peace
with the Romans for 40 years.
In the Valley of Mexico, the city of
Teotihuacn reached the peak of
its power around 300. Its main
street the Avenue of the Dead
ran between the Pyramid of the
Moon and the Ciudadela (which
may have been the palace of the
ruler) and was lined with the
residences of the lords of the city.

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301319

This early 16th-century fresco of the Battle of Milvian Bridge is in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. Before the battle,
the emperor Constantine is said to have seen a Christian monogram in a dream predicting his victory.
SINCE PERSECUTIONS IN THE 250S
AND 260S, THE CHRISTIAN
COMMUNITY had experienced

some 40 years of tranquillity in

the Roman Empire. All this
changed in 303 when Diocletian
issued an edict ordering the
destruction of churches and the
handing over and burning of
Christian books. A sterner edict
followed, calling for the arrest of
Christian clergy, and one in 304
ordered that all Christians offer
a sacrifice to the pagan gods.
Devout Christians could not
accede to these demands, and
many of them were martyred.
In 304, Diocletian fell seriously
ill, and in 305 he announced that
he and Maximian would abdicate.
Constantius Chlorus and
Galerius would take over as
Augusti, while the new Caesars
were to be Maximinus (Galeriuss
nephew) and Flavius Severus

Palace of Diocletian
Diocletian built the great palace at
Split, Croatia, for his retirement
after his abdication in 305. Here,
he tended his cabbages.

75,000
MAXENTIUS

50,000
CONSTANTINE

Battle numbers at Milvian Bridge

Maxentiuss forces outnumbered
those of Constantine, but his army
became trapped between
Constantines men and the river.

(Galeriuss army colleague). The

new tetrarchy soon unravelled.
Constantius died in Eboracum
(modern York, England) in July
306 and the troops there
proclaimed his son Constantine
the new Augustus. By October,
Maxentius (r.30612), the son of
Maximian, was crowned emperor
in Rome. Severus was killed trying
to retake Rome from Maxentius,
and Maximian restored himself to
the position of Augustus. In 308,
the Conference of Carnuntum
was called to settle the disputes,
presided over by Diocletian, who
came out of retirement.
Constantine accepted a demotion
to Caesar in the West, with
Licinius as Augustus (r.30824),
while Maximin Daia became
Galeriuss Caesar in the East
(r.31013). This new arrangement
was no more succesful than
the old one.

s
te
ian
n
ica
let ice pt
bd n to nd
f utio
oc s pr tem n
i
a
o
c
ia
at tio
1 D hi
ian im s a m
ing rse
30 ues n an infla
let ax riu the
inn pe
eg nic
ioc es M Gale ace
iss ict i trol
B
D
3
5
pl
tia ns
rc e;
ed con
30 ocle istia
30 d fo wis s re
to
Di Chr
an like ntiu
a
of
do nst
Co

In 311, Galerius died and

Maximin became Augustus in
the East. He ordered renewed
measures against Christians.
Constantine, meanwhile, invaded
Italy and in October 312 defeated
and killed Maxentius at the Battle
of Milvian Bridge. Before the
battle, Constantine is said to have
dreamt of the Chi-Rho symbol
and ordered his troops to mark it
on their shields.
Licinius and Constantine met at
Mediolanum (modern Milan) in
313, where they agreed to share
power and issued the Edict of
Milan, which granted toleration to
all forms of worship, in effect
legalizing Christianity. Licinius
then turned East and defeated
Maximin Daia, securing control

Chi-Rho symbol
The monogram of Chi-Rho, the first
two letters of Christs name in
Greek, became an important early
symbol of Christianity.

EUROPE

Colonia
Agrippina

Londinium

Caspian
Sea

Augusta
Treverorum

Black Sea

Aguontum
Poetovio
Amisus
Augustodunum
Sinope
Sirmium
Aquileia
Neocaesarea
Lugdunum
Chalcedon
Amasia
Mediolanum
Caesarea
Vienna
Constantinople
Ravenna Salonae
Nicomedia
Burdigala
Valentia
Cappadociae
Florentia
Nyssa
Philippi
Nemausus
Pisa
Edessa
Nicaea
Stobi
Biterrae
Anazarbus
Massilia
Troas
Rome
Cyzicus
Thessalonica
Tarsus
Antioch
Dura-Europos
Hierapolis
Sardes
Neapolis
Barcino
Ephesus
Nicopolis
Palmyra
Seleucia
Myra
Athens Miletus
Tripolis
Salamis
Cos
Rhegium Corinth
Carales
Damascus
Paphos
Messina
Rhodes
Berytus
Tyre
Hippo
Carthago
Corduba
Sidon
Syracusa
Regius
Nova
Jerusalem
Carthage
Hispalis
a
Bethlehem
Mediterranean Se
Tipasa
Melita
Illiberris
Petra
Sicca Veneria
Tingis
Alexandria
Cyrene
Ptolemais

AT L A N T I C
OC E A N

Leptis Magna

AFRICA

Coptus

Early spread of Christianity

Christianity spread in the 2nd and 3rd centuries until there
were strong Christian communities in Anatolia, southern
Gaul, Italy, Egypt, and the province of Africa (Tunisia).

s
in
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ak Ma e
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tiu n; hi lare s
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30 Chi f or f Six 439
i
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r
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Em
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Co ax ace em an
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6 C n in anti y the
08 res M repl ate Rom
kd nd s per
0
3
a
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090-091_276_319CE.indd
91
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W
em
K

over the Eastern provinces. The

alliance between Constantine and
Licinius broke down in 316; they
patched up a peace in 317, and for
six years the Roman Empire
relapsed into an uneasy calm.
In China, Wudis successor Huidi
(r.290306) was mentally disabled
and so a succession of regents
contended for imperial control.
Huidis brother Huaidi (r.30712)
invited the northern Xiongnu
tribesmen to help him against
the competing Chinese factions,
but they took him prisoner. The
last Western Jin emperor Mindi
(r.31316) saw the Xiongnu sack
the capital of Changan (modern
Xian); the Jin moved south, where
Yuandi (r.31723) became the
first Eastern Jin emperor in 317.

in
ut
t
tis s o of
na reak atus ho
o
st ns w
1D b
31 hism over stia s to
sc rica Chri ifice s to
d
Af ose sacr go ion
th de man ecut
a
m e Ro ers
th oid p
av

;
ge
rid tius
B
n
n
ian xe er
k
ilv Ma est ire
ac
f M ats f W mp
o
u s hina
o
E
n
e
g C
n
tle ef ol
at e d ntr ma
ion ng,
2 B tin co Ro
1 X ya
31 tan kes
31 Luo
ns ta
Co and

KEY
Areas strongly Christian by 325

:
lan s
ia
Mi m
ina Jin s
dr at
of affir ous ole
Ch
e
t
an e th
ty ern tern ) di
ic ne ligi is s
x
s
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e
i re
es 16
na h
Al tri e
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us
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of doc ivin
31 nsta m of icini n
Jin ns ; las i (r.3
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Co edo p. L ster
6
o
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1
i
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8
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31 ts fo the hris
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em
Ro
na

n
ee
tw us
st
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fir r
s
t
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pa on
ec em
m ans ne
ea icini he B
b
a
r
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t
b
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nd
ar nd L s in
tin rba he R
ua ern
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4 W e a nd
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31

24/05/2011 14:02

91

89

320330

331355

,,

IN OTHER MEN... TASTE FOR SLAUGHTER

SOMETIMES LOSES ITS FORCE... IN
CONSTANTIUS IT BECAME MORE VIOLENT.

,,

Ammianus Marcellinus (d.c.330) writing on the character of the Emperor

Constantius II in The Later Roman Empire

It was largely Eastern Church leaders who gathered at the Council of Nicaea
(depicted here) in 325; only eight Western bishops made the journey there.
CHANDRAGUPTA I ASCENDED TO
THE THRONE of a small kingdom

in the western Ganges Plain in

320. Through an advantageous
marriage to Princess Kumaradevi
of the powerful Liccachevi dynasty
and by conquest, he expanded his
realm to include most of the
central Ganges, from Magadha
(in southern Bihar) to Prayaga (in
Uttar Pradesh). His descendants,
the Guptas, ruled northern India
for almost 150 years.

Having taken up the cause of

Christianity in 313, the Roman
Emperor Constantine (r.280337)
found that Christians themselves
were far from united in doctrine
or organization. Constantine
called a church council at Nicaea
in western Asia Minor in 325 to
establish (and impose) orthodoxy
in the face of a division over
Arianism (the theology of Arius,
who held that Jesus Christ was
subordinate to God the Father). As
well as Constantine, about 300
church leaders attended, and
Ariuss views were condemned.

14

THE NUMBER OF
DISTRICTS IN
CONSTANTINOPLE

The Column of Constantine

The sole surviving monument from
the forum that Constantine built for
his new city is this column, which
sits in central Istanbul today.

After defeating Licinius (r.30824)

in 324, Constantine founded a
new capital for the Eastern
Roman Empire at the ancient city
of Byzantium, strategically sited
between Europe and Asia. He
demolished pagan temples and
built new churches, such as Hagia
Sophia, providing public buildings
to rival those of Rome. The city of
Constantinople (modern Istanbul)
was publicly dedicated on 2 April
330. It was the seat of the Eastern
Emperors for over 1,000 years.

s
re
ion ing
nd e in
, mpi
ss
as
ou
aI
ce e k
eh t
pt ta E e
s f enn
e
Ac mit
er cia
u
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n
i
b
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i
tin pu g
p
0
g
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t orm Da
a rt
n
a Gu hro
m
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s
T
a
r
32 Aks
o
n
t
u
f
e
t
h
nd e
sta n f of
ns sp tti
ac ry o des
of ana
ha f th nds
on ns i ince
Co Cri plo
5 P te an
v
0 C r o ce
1 C ig
Ez
27 son for
32 nas ypti
3
32 nde a, as
32 mpa pro
h
t
o
m e Eg
his dea
fou Indi
ca man
th
to
of
Ro

92

90

s
ts
ica
on
ea
sil d
m ne
ef ole
ba lete
um rmi ne
e d e s he
s
s

p
n
i
r
i
f
e
e
t
r
m
e
om ror; at
nt
ao
tin de oct
et co
l
ta ec
an rts
t P me
tan a to an d
ns to b mpe pita ple
z
n
e
s
o
E
i
a
a Ro
3
nv ity
on cae isti
4 C ius n e c ino
9 S in
33 co tian
5 C Ni hr
32 icin oma new tant
m s
32
32 il of ox C
L
R nds ons
su hri
k
c
d
A oC
C
un ho
t
fou
Co ort

THE NUMBER
OF TYPES OF
PURE-GOLD
COINS ISSUED
BY SAMUDRAGUPTA
IN 335, SAMUDRAGUPTA (r.33575)
SUCCEEDED HIS FATHER

Chandragupta I as ruler of the

Gupta domains in northern India.
An inscription he set up in
Prayaga survives, recounting a
series of campaigns he fought in
Uttar Pradesh and Mathura,
both of which were annexed to the
Gupta kingdom. He also made
conquests down the east coast of
India, as far as Madras, and
subdued West Bengal as well as
parts of Rajasthan and the
Punjab. Various other regions
acknowledged his suzerainty,
making him the most powerful
Indian ruler since the Mauryas.
Constantine died in 337, having
accepted Christian baptism only
on his deathbed. He had made no
definite provision for succession,
leaving his sons to divide the
empire between them:
Constantine II (r.33740) held
Spain, Gaul, and Britain;
Constans (r.33750) ruled Italy,
and Constantius II (r.33761)

governed the Eastern Empire.

Their reigns began with a
massacre at Constantinople in
which almost all of their fathers
other male relatives were killed in
order to remove any possible
rivals. Constantine II, who was the
eldest, tried to assert his seniority,
but died during an invasion of
Italy in 340. Constans then took
control of the entire Western
Empire, where he was faced with
a series of hard-fought campaigns
against Frankish invaders in
Gaul, and problems in Britain,
which led him to visit the far-flung
province (the last undisputed
Roman Emperor to do so) in 343.
Disputes between the two
surviving brothers, particularly
one over the status of Athanasius,
Bishop of Alexandria (whom
Constantius II had exiled, but
Constans wanted restored),
soured all relations between
them. In 350, a senior military
officer, Magnentius, revolted at

Gold Gupta coin

Many Gupta coins contain images
of horses, a possible reference to
the ritual horse sacrifice performed
by some Gupta rulers.

s,
at siu
m
ts
cil ana for
ch ale
r
n
,
s
u
tar
u
h
co s At dria
Ch Jeru
II s st
f
h
r
n
c
n o e,
pu in
ur mn xa ns
tio lchr
ha aga
Ch nde Ale ria
ra
7 S war ns
36 co h of to A
ec epu
3
3
a
s
e
3
c e
r
m
w
on ly S
Ty triar itud
ne e Ro
5 C Ho
h
pa att
t
33 the
his
of

Augustodunum in southern Gaul

(modern Autun, France) and
Constans was killed. Distracted
by a war against Persia,
Constantius II tolerated the
upstart initially, but in 351 he
moved against him. Since
Constantius II had no heir, he
promoted his cousin Gallus one
of the few survivors of the
massacre of 337 to the rank of
Caesar in 351 and left him in
charge in the East, while he
campaigned against Magnentius
in the West. Magnentiuss army
was defeated at Mursa (in
present-day Croatia); Italy and
North Africa were rapidly
recovered, and in 353 Magnentius
committed suicide in Gaul.
For the next seven years
Constantius II ruled the empire
alone, mainly preoccupied with
Frankish incursions into Gaul, the
revolt of the usurper Silvanus in
355, and a series of church
councils that sought to resolve
doctrinal disputes (Constantius II
favoured Arianism over the
traditional orthodoxy).
In the end, Gallus proved too
ambitious and in 354 he was
deposed and executed.
Constantius II turned instead to
Galluss brother Julian, a studious
youth with a penchant for pagan
philosophy. In 355, after Silvanuss
revolt, Julian was despatched to
Gaul as Caesar, where he proved
surprisingly effective at combating
Frankish raiders.

r
s
he
tan ot
ns is br I and
o
0C sh eI e
34 feat ntin hol re
de nsta he w mpi
t
Co es rn E
tak ste
e
W

d
re
de
ur nder
m
nic
ns ma
an aul ad
sta om
on ry c
lem of G spre
C
A
e
0 ita s
5 on
35 mil ntiu
35 asi wid n
by gne
inv uses atio
a
t
M
ca vas
de

I
s
is
d
te
;h e
ea s
pta
s
ali e
pr
gu by
ine ir
th vad ia
siu ia
es tian e
ra ded ho
h
nt emp
a
d
n
d
a
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r
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n
r
t
i
i
e
)
w n
nd
an ee
ns he
ha nd
1 W hr mp
0 H ns d I
Ch ucc upta ire i n
At xa
Co e t
es
34 of C n E
s g
35 e Hu a an
p lai
35
of ivid
op o Ale
lat c
n sia
t si
a
3
h
i
m
h
.
r
o
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p
s
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a
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B
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33 hree
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ior
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5
35 mpe Gove
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356360

The acropolis at Tikal, one of the greatest surviving series of

ruins in the Mayan world.

090-091_276_319CE.indd 91

il
nc
ou ues
c
s
h is ed
rc
hu ium cre
7 C m an
35 t Sir -Ari
a ro
p

e
ak
qu
th ern
r
ea st
ge we
Hu ates
8
t
35 vas inor
de ia M
As

I
sI
tiu ss
tan acro st
s
on ns gain d
a
8 C ig
an
35 mpa ube adi ans
i
ca Dan Qu at
rm
Sa

Northern Maya

NO R TH ER N M AYA

Yucatan
Peninsula
C ENTR A L
M AYA

Central Maya
Palenque

Southern Maya

Tikal

Mayan site

Peten

Trade route

Maya kingdoms
Classic Maya culture
originated in lowland cities,
such as Uaxactun and Tikal,
but spread to the highlands
and the Yucatn peninsula.

e an Sea

xic

SOUTHERN MAYA

IC

r
de
lea nt
y, eme rt
n
e
o ov
es s
nt
t A tic m d D die 1)
S
s
r
n
5
6
35 ona ypt a athe n c.2
m g
F or
of in E
b
(

I
sI
tiu
,
tan ning ces les
s
on ban crifi mp
C
a
e
57 ws d s n t
6 la an ga
35 ues ion g pa
t
s
n
s
i
ina osi
div d cl
n
a

some time in 200300, with

populations declining and
building activity ceasing. But the
region soon recovered, with the
emergence of a new phase in
Maya civilization, the Classic
period (300900), in which a
series of powerful kingdoms
emerged. Their great urban
centres, such as those at Tikal (in
Guatemala) and Palenque (in
Mexico), are characterized by
huge pyramidal temples and

KEY

Me
f of

CI

op f
d
ish us o ile
6 B asi ia ex
5
n
3 ha dr
At xan ore
e
Al ce m
on

expeditions against neighbouring

Gaze, then the Agame, and the
Siguene, and it seems his
armies may have occupied Mero
city (in northern Sudan). Enriched
by such conquests and the control
of trade from sub-Saharan Africa
and Arabia, Aksum would
dominate the region until the
7th century.
The pre-Classic Maya
kingdoms of Guatemala and
Mexico underwent a collapse

Gul

PA

SQUARE
KILOMETRES
THE AREA
OF THE CITY
OF TIKAL c.400

palace complexes set in a

central acropolis. The
Mayans developed a
hieroglyphic form of
writing which survives
on many of the stelae
(carved stone slabs)
they set up to
commemorate
important events; in
Tikal the first such
dated monument is
from 292. The first
named king of Tikal is
Siyaj Chan Kawiil I
(c.305), and by the reign of
Chak Tok Ichaak I (r.360
78), Tikal was by far the
largest and most powerful of
the Classic Maya cities.
The Roman Empire faced
invasions on both its western and
its eastern borders in the 340s
and 350s. In the West, the Franks

ri bb

earliest states to embrace

Christianity outside the Roman
Empire. The Syrian Christian
missionary Frumentius
converted the king,
Ezana (r.32060) to
Monophysitism (a
doctrine emphasizing
a single nature of
Christ, the divine).
A letter from
Constantius II to
Ezana in 357 has
survived, urging
Ezana to shift his
allegiance to
Arianism and to
replace Frumentius
with an Arian bishop
evidence that the
Roman emperors took
seriously the religious
loyalties of their neighbours.
Ezana conducted military
campaigns beyond his borders;
an inscription speaks of

16

began to push across the Rhine,

and in the early 350s they overran
part of the Rhine frontier,
occupying some old Roman
fortresses. Caesar Julian
engaged in a series of campaigns
against the Franks (35659) and
drove them from most of the
territory they had taken.
In the East, conflict broke
out again between the Romans
and the Persians, under Shapur
II (r.30979), who took advantage
of the political turmoil in the
Roman Empire in the 350s. In
359, Shapur II advanced further
west and took the great Roman
fortress of Amida (modern
Diyarbakir, Turkey). Other towns
were captured and their
populations deported to Persia,
threatening the Roman position
in the East.

Shapur II hunts a stag

Sasanian rulers commissioned lavish
silver items depicting themselves
hunting wild beast as a display
of their royal power.

Ca

IN ETHIOPIA, THE KINGDOM OF

AKSUM became one of the

OC

I
r I and
pu ia
ha Syr ida
S
s
m
9
35 ade es A
inv ptur
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o
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Co pro ian c
Ar
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24/05/2011 14:02

93

91

361375

376382

Here Emperor Julian is seen in religious debate. He attempted to sow discord among
Christians by decreeing the return of those who had been exiled for religious reasons.

The church of Hagia Eirene in

Istanbul was built by Constantine I.

comparative stability to the south

of the country. Although many of
the emperors were short-lived,
the bureaucracy in the southern
capital of Nanjing functioned
efficiently and the period saw
a cultural flowering. Artists such
as Gu Kaizhi (c.345406) painted
masterpieces such as the
Admonitions of the Instructress to
the Palace Ladies, as well as
producing works on the theory of
painting. Northern China, on the
other hand, was highly unstable,
divided between the Sixteen
Kingdoms, most of them ruled by
nomadic groups. The Eastern Jin
emperors alternated between a
defensive stance towards the
Sixteen Kingdoms and aggressive
campaigns, notably under Mudi
(r.34561) who retook Sichuan and
Luoyang. All these gains were
lost, however, under Emperor Aidi
(r.36265). In 383, the Eastern Jin

THE NUMBER
OF KINGDOMS
IN CHINA
FROM 304
TO 439
(under Xiaouwudi) would be
forced to repel a major invasion
in the north of the country.
In the Roman Empire, Julian
was proclaimed Augustus by his
troops in 360, so he was a direct
challenge to Constantius. The
threat from the Persians, who
were advancing through Asia
Minor, was too great for

JULIAN THE APOSTATE (33163)

The nephew of Constantine I,
Julian was educated as a
Christian but c.351 became a
pagan under the influence of
Maximus of Ephesus. When
Julian unexpectedly became
emperor in 363, he tried to
restore paganism in the
empire, including banning
Christians from teaching
literature. He became known
by Christian writers as the
Apostate for his perceived
betrayal of Christianity.

s
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2 J ign ga
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94

92

Constantius to meet
immediately. He
died in November
361 as he was
finally marching
west to deal with the
revolt. Now sole
emperor, Julian
immediately set about
restoring the role of
paganism in the Roman
Empire, trying to
establish a kind of pagan
orthodoxy and an official
pagan hierarchy of priests
to counter Christianitys
strengths. He reopened
pagan
temples,
and
restored the
right to sacrifice.
In 363, Julian set
out on a campaign
against Persia,
planning to punish
its leader, Shapur II,
for his attacks on the
empire in 35960. He
reached Ctesiphon,
but was then forced
to retreat up the
Tigris River. Being
short of supplies, the
Roman army
suffered constant
harassment from
the Persians and, in
one such skirmish,
Julian was killed.
The pagan reaction
was over.
On Julians death the
army chose Jovian
(r.36364) as emperor,

ing
ad ny a
y
nv colo Kore
i
ar uts
n
se a
ilit us p occo
ne hes ther
m
i
a
or
p
s
an os
Ja bli sou
m od n M
Ro The olt i
70 esta a in
3
3
c. ce an
37 cer rev
for Mim
offi wn a
at
do

g
kin s
ian pie
an ccu enia
s
to
a
o
gin e
9 S r II Arm
be urop
36 apu
s
n
E
Sh
Hu rn
70 ste
c.3 e Ea
ad
inv

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ou f
fT eo
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i
t
ar hes na in
3 M lis mo ies e
37 stab rst unit rop
e e fi m
Eu
th com tern
s
e
W

but he ceded key border

provinces to Persia, which
lost him popularity, and
he died (probably
murdered) within
months. An officer of the
imperial bodyguard,
Valentinian (r.36475), was
then raised to the throne, and
he selected his brother Valens
(r.36478) to be his co-ruler.
Valentinian spent much of his
reign along the Rhine dealing
with Frankish and Alemannic
invaders. He died in 375 after
suffering some type of fit,
brought on by his anger at
barbarian Quadi
envoys thought to
have insulted him.
The Western
Roman
Empire
was then
subdivided between
Valentinians two sons
Gratian (r.37583) and
Valentinian II (r.37592).
In the Eastern Empire,
Valens was forced to
spend most of the early
370s in Syria to contain
the Persian threat, but
growing trouble with
barbarians along the
Danube later forced him
to turn to the Balkans.
Sarmatian dagger
This dagger belonged to
the Sarmatians, a tribe
of Iranian origin who
specialized in horseback
fighting, and were defeated
by Valentinian I.

6 n,
f
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ule one Sich zho
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,
(
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be

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a
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37 une got aria s
ne rb voy
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e
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Qu

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p
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a
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ra pi an
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Ch pta no
Gu

,,

16

IN CHINA, THE EASTERN JIN

DYNASTY (317420) brought

THE
BARBARIANS,
[ARE] LIKE BEASTS
BROKEN
LOOSE OVER
THE VAST
EXTENT
OF COUNTRY.

,,

Ammianus Marcellinus, on the

Gothic invasion of the Balkans c.390

IN 376, LARGE GROUPS OF GOTHS

ARRIVED AT THE DANUBE
FRONTIER, pressing to be admitted

to the Roman Empire. The Huns, a

new nomadic group from Central
Asia, were at their rear, and the
Goths feared being squeezed
between them and the imperial
frontier. Emperor Valens did not
wait for reinforcements before
marching out to meet the Gothic
army. On 9 August 378, near
Adrianople, the Romans met the
Goths, under Fritigern. Misled by
the temporary absence of the
Gothic cavalry, Valens attacked but
his army was surrounded by the
returning barbarian horsemen.
Valens was killed and the Eastern
army destroyed, leaving the
Balkans open to the Goths.
Gratian reacted by turning to
Theodosius, a Spanish military
officer, who he appointed as his
imperial colleague. For the next
three years Theodosius patiently
negotiated, bought off some
groups, and struck militarily
where he could. In 382, the two
s
of
len
n, n,
Va in
Jia r Ji ol
n
e
l
u
o
e
r
iti sett
6 F rm nt ia
et
37 e Fo s co l As
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a
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o
Em
ex o Ce
6G wt
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int
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th

at
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383391

392400

,,

,,

THE THICKER
THE HAY, THE EASIER
IT IS MOWED.
Alaric the Goth, speaking of his enemies c.400

St Jerome (c.347420) completed the Vulgate, the first definitive

translation of the Bible into Latin, c.405.

ndians
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MAUR ET
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Black Sea

THRACIA

SIA

P O NTUS
Byzantium
(Constantinople)
A SI A NA

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GALLIA

Ala
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Fr

Syrian
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AT L A N T I C
OC E A N

North
Sea

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I
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BRITANNIA

094-095_361_400CE.indd 95

freed Theodosius to react when

Maximus invaded Italy in 387. In
August 388, he marched swiftly
into northern Italy, capturing
Maximus near Aquileia, and
having him executed.
As well as campaigning against
the Goths and Maximus,
Theodosius was preoccupied with
the imposition of Orthodox
Christianity. He moved against
the Arians, deposing the Bishop of
Constantinople in 380 and calling
a council in 381 in the capital,
which reaffirmed the anti-Arian
decisions of the Council of Nicaea
(see 325). He connived in the
destruction of many pagan
temples, including the great
temple of Serapis in Alexandria,
and in 391 he forbade all pagan
sacrifices throughout the empire.

f
il o
nc le
ou inop m
C
is
d
nt
on ta an
ec ons Ari
1 S C ns
8
3
em
nd
co

St Ambrose
A Roman nobleman by birth,
Ambrose was Bishop of Milan from
374 to 397. He exercised a powerful
influence over Theodosius I.

was found hanged. His military

commander Arbogast suspected
by some of Valentinians murder
promptly made Flavius
Eugenius, a middle-ranking
official, emperor. Theodosius
refused to recognize Eugenius,
and in 393 he invaded Italy. To
gain support in the Senate
where paganism was still strong
the Christian Eugenius revoked
all of Theodosiuss anti-pagan
laws. But, in August 394, he was
defeated by the Theodosian army
at the River Frigidus near
Aquileia. Theodosius did not enjoy
his rule as sole emperor long,
dying in January 395. The empire
was then divided between his two
sons: the older, Arcadius, taking
the eastern part and his younger
brother, Honorius, taking the

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9 T te y W an
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37

peak of its influence in the late 4th

century. In 378, a foreign lord
called Siyaj Kak arrived in the city,
possibly from Teotihuacn. His
arrival, which may represent a
military conquest, led to the death
of Tikals ruler Chak Tok Ichaak
and the destruction of most of
Tikals public monuments. Siyaj
Kak installed a new dynasty on the
throne of Tikal, possibly drawn
from the ruling house of
Teotihuacn, with Yax Nuun Ayiin
(Curl Snout; r.379404) as the
first ruler. Monuments depict him
in northern Mexican, rather than
Mayan, dress. Under his rule,
Tikals direct influence extended
some 50 km (30 miles) away.
In the Western Roman Empire,
Gratian had spent much of his
time since the Battle of
Adrianople (378) in northern Italy,
where he continued to act
against pagans in Rome,
ordering the removal of the Altar
of Victory from the Senate House
in 382. In 383, he led an army
north to face an invasion of Gaul
by the Alemanni, but was then
faced with a revolt in Britain,
where the legions declared their
commander Magnus Maximus
emperor. Many of Gratians
commanders defected and in
August 383 he was captured and
executed by Maximus, who had
crossed over to Gaul. Theodosius,
fearful of trouble with Persia or a
Gothic revolt in the Balkans if he
moved west, recognized
Maximus as his colleague. A
peace with Persia in 386, however,

western one. Although there was

no clear intention to do so, this
split marked a permanent
division; after 395 no one emperor
ruled the whole empire again.
The Goths had taken part on
Theodosiuss side at the Battle of
the River Frigidus and felt they
had not been sufficiently rewarded
for their losses. In 395, they rose
up, led by Alaric (r.395410).
Despite an attempt by Stilicho
(c.365408), the half-Vandal
commander of the Western
Roman army, to suppress them,
the Goths escaped and marauded
throughout Greece in 396. Stilicho
moved against Alaric again in 397,
but once more failed to defeat
him. A brief halt to the Gothic
rampage came after Alarics
appointment by the Eastern
Roman government to magister
militum (a senior general).

IN 392, VALENTINIAN II, WHO HAD

CONTINUED TO RULE OVER ITALY,

a
Alem
ks
an

Iron pillar of Delhi

This iron pillar at Qutb complex on
the outskirts of Delhi is said to have
been erected on the orders of
Chandragupta II.

IN CENTRAL AMERICA, THE MAYAN

CITY OF TIKAL had reached the

Iazyges

sides agreed a truce, whereby the

Goths were allowed to settle in
the empire in return for providing
troops for the Roman army.
The Gupta Empire continued to
expand under Chandragupta II
(r.375415) in northern India. He
fought against the Sakas,
annexing much of northwestern
India. He also made an astute
marriage alliance that extended
his realm to the southwest.

Divided in two
The split of the Roman Empire into Eastern and
Western divisions in 395 was permanent. By 476,
its Western part would be overrun by barbarians.

KEY
Eastern Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire

an
s
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12/05/11 2:02 PM
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95

93

THE CLASSICAL AGE

CLASSICAL TRADE

Ce

Ba

Rome

Tingis

er

Byzantium

THRACE

GREECE

ed

ite

Crete

rra

nean

Sea

Leptis
Magna Cyrene

Garam

Be

rb

KILOMETRES
THE LENGTH OF THE
TRADE ROUTE FROM
CHANGAN TO ROME

DACI A

Ostia

ins
NIA
E TA u n t a
UR
o
A
M
M
s
la
At
Sijilmassa

13,000

Aquileia

Carthage
Caesarea

Gades

GERMANY

GA UL

I BER I A

lti

E U R O P E

M A
R O lps N

Massilia

ti

lts

Ba

Augusta
Treverorum

O C
E A
N

A T L
A N
T I C

that lay on them were able to exact heavy tolls

from merchants, which they used to build
spectacular public monuments.
Further west, in the Mediterranean, expensive
goods such as fine wine were carried by sea;
in general land transportation was expensive,
and bulky, low-value products tended to be
produced and consumed locally.

North
Sea

Pe

BRITAIN

The growth of Roman power in the Mediterranean, the unification of China

under the Qin and Han, and the establishment of the Parthian Empire in Iran
created three large political blocs, which provided stable conditions under
which very long-distance trade routes could flourish.
The expansion of Han power westward in the 2nd
century BCE brought the Chinese into contact with
new powers they called An-hsi (Persia) and
Li-chien (Rome). A Chinese embassy reached the
court of Mithridates II of Parthia around 115 BCE. In
the wake of diplomats came merchants, carrying
the Chinese silk for which both Parthia and Rome
had an insatiable appetite. The main Silk Route
ran from China through Central Asia, down into
Persia and then across Roman-controlled Syria
towards the ports of the Mediterranean.
A thriving trade also spanned the Indian Ocean,
transporting spices from the East Indies and
southern India to ports in Africa and southern
Arabia; from here a land route led up through
Petra, in present-day Jordan, to Syria. Control of
these trade routes was very lucrative, and towns

Se

FLOURISHING TRADE BETWEEN CONTINENTS A WORLD APART

les

BCE 5 9 9 CE

op

700

ante

EGYPT

Murzuk

Ahaggar

Alexandria

Tamanrasset
Tibesti

ROMAN TRADE
The expansion of the Roman Empire to cover much of Europe,
western Asia, and North Africa created largely peaceful conditions
in which both internal and external trade could flourish.

A
h

C h a d i
a n s

Amomum
Balsam of Judea

Nutmeg
Pepper
100

150

200

250

250

PRICE IN DENARII

300

350

400

450

INC

500

GL
W AS
A R SE

AL
IM

TON

Roman imports
The Romans imported huge quantities
of raw materials, including luxury
goods such as gold and ivory and
cheaper goods such as food.

GOL

OLI

VE O

IL

SILVER

EN

SE

C OT

ES

RY

Nard (Indian)

50

SP IC

I VO

The price of spice

According to the Roman author Pliny, the finest
grade of spices such as cinnamon could fetch
300 denarii a Roman pound (340g/12oz), which
was nearly enough to purchase a male slave.

Myrrh (Ethiopian)

SIL

Ginger

IN

Frankincense (first quality)

FOO

E
AV

Daphnitis
(high-grade cinnamon)
Malabathrum
(finest cinnamon leaf)

AN

SL

Cassia (Chinese cinnamon)

Cardamom
Cinnamon (uncultivated)

Roman exports
The Romans paid for their imports
with precious metal and coins, and
exported products such as wine
and glassware.

96

94

096-097_Silk_route.indd 96

07/06/2011 12:54

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ii ee

Nicobar
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Arabian

A r a b s

Sea

Zenobia

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OL
PA CH
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Colchi
Taprobane

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a
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SATAVAHANAS

Arabian
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d
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Bay of
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ntains

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PA H LAVA S

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MAGADHA
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P e r s i a

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Taxila

Cattigara

Tibetans

sh

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Kunming

of Tibet

ip

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Charax

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Nanhai
(Guangzhou)

nn

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Damascus
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Jerusalem
Gaza

BACTRIA

PA R T H I A

Ecbatana

Ctesiphon

E M P IR E

nn

Hecatompylos

Pa
mirs

SOGDIANA
Bactra

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M
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Caucasus

AS
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Cyprus

K
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Ca

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Black

FE RG HAN
FERG
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Kashgar

To c h a r i
an
s
s

Fuzhou
Quanzhou

HA N

Chengdu

Aral
Sea

t i a n s
m a
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BOSPORAN
BOSPORAN
KINGDOM
Panticapaeum
(Kerch)

n
IN
Aksu S a k a
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Ta
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Dunhuang

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Hangzhou

Luoyang
Changan

Turfan

Kuldja

Kaifeng

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Kitai

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n g
i
i o
b

Ye
llo

NN

AA

KOR

eeaa
SS

U
U rr aa

nn
ppaa ))
JJaa eeaa
SS

Lake
Baikal

Se
(E a o
as f
t

Java
Sea

va

RR
ee

dd
SS

KUSH
Meroe

Sana
Y E M E N

ee

Dongola

Adulis
Aksum

Sennar

Aden

AKSUM
Avalites

Ade
of
G ulf

Maji

O C E A N

Socotra
Emporion

World trade
Trade routes c.1 CE criss-crossed the whole
of the classical world. The means of
transport used depended on location
Bactrian camels were used in Central Asia,
while horses, bullocks, and yaks were used
elsewhere. Maritime trade was also
extensive there was an active trading
network around the Indian Ocean.

Aromata

Ho r n of
Afr
A
fr ica

Ethiopian
Highlands

Juba

I N D I A N
Cana

Sarapion

Kushites

HAN TRADE
The establishment of Chinese control in Central Asia
from the late 3rd century BCE opened up a series of
routes through Persia to the Mediterranean, which
became collectively known as the Silk Route. However, it
also involved the Han emperors in continuous and costly
defence of their new territories.

30,000
QUANTITY

25,000
KEY
Roman Empire
and client states

15,000
10,000

RS

ES

SP

IC

ES

TransSaharan
(rudimentary route)

silver

amber

tin

Indian Ocean

tortoiseshell

precious
stones

Silk Route

ivory

China

animals

East Africa

horses

Amber

grain

Incense

spices

Other
(rudimentary route)

wine

50

40

silk
clothing
incense
slaves

30

20

10

YEAR (BCE)

olive oil

KEY
Silk floss
(catties)

Silk fabric
(pieces)

Buying safety
To guarantee security on their frontiers
and along trade routes, the Han were
forced to pay large bribes in silk to
barbarian groups such as the Hsiung-nu.

STONES

0
Goods traded
gold

PRECIOUS

Roman

HO

5000

Han Empire
Trade routes

SILK

20,000

Han imports
The Han valued spices as much as
the Romans did, but they also sent
trade expeditions to Ferghana in
Central Asia in search of what
they called heavenly horses.

LACQUERWARE

Han exports
Knowledge of silk in China
goes back to at least 2600 BCE,
but under the Han it became
a staple export item, alongside
lacquerware.

timber

97

95
096-097_Silk_route.indd 97

25/05/2011 16:20

401423

424433

,,

SO THE VANDALS, HAVING

WRESTED LIBYA FROM THE
ROMANS IN THIS WAY, MADE
IT THEIR OWN...

,,

Procopius, Byzantine scholar, from

History of the Wars, III iv 1, c.500550

Around 200 stone heads decorated Tiwanakus Semi-subterranean temple. They may represent
the group that founded the city their flat head-dresses denote high status.
ALTHOUGH THE WESTERN ROMAN
EMPIRE SEEMED RELATIVELY
SECURE IN 400, within a decade it

Pepper
Gold

10,000

20,000
POUNDS

commander Stilicho persuaded

the Senate to agree to pay Alaric
a huge bribe in exchange for
leaving the city, but there seems
to have been a coup dtat and
Stilicho was overthrown and
killed. In 409, Alaric had Attalus,
the prefect of Rome, declared
emperor in an attempt to seize
the initiative, but all negotiations
failed. So, on 24 August 410 the
Visigoths entered Rome and
subjected it to a three-day sack.
The event shook the entire Roman
world, but Alaric was unable to
secure domination over Italy, as
he died later the same year.
In South America, the city of
Tiwanaku, 25 km (15 miles) south

Ransom demands
Alaric initially asked
for a huge ransom in
return for leaving
Rome in 410. Even
Silver
when he moderated
his demands, the
30,000
40,000 Senate refused, and
so the city was sacked.

Visigoths ride on Rome

Alarics sack of Rome in 410 was
particularly shocking, as it was the
first time the city had fallen since the
Gauls took it in 390 BCE.

of Lake Titicaca (on the border

between modern Peru and
Bolivia), reached its greatest
size in the 5th century, covering
an area some 8 sq km (3 sq miles)
in extent. Its central area
contained a lavish series of
ceremonial buildings and
temples. These included the
Semi-subterranean Temple,
decorated with stone heads of
humans and supernatural beings,
and structures such as the
massive and beautifully decorated
Gateway of the Sun. These were
erected by a major preColumbian culture that
dominated the Altiplano (flat
high plateau) of Peru and Bolivia,
and whose influence extended
into northern Bolivia.

,
als
de
e
s
s
nd
th inva
a
th Rom
s
o
V
II
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g
ru g
Go
of ves o
eI f
isi laric ly
sh aly
Pe in
in
s sack
n
V
u
s
i
c
e
o
t
t
p
i
e
t
a
in n, us
1 r A It
u in
I
m a
r
n
s
d
a
0
o
d
e
o
f
S
r
a
a
e
e
l
r
h
n
4 de rn
i
d
o
v
d ep
u
A
a
st ar
to
Su
ic
ue ing Iber
on is in 410 ure
6 H an de
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til ou
un rthe
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40 ans, ate pire
ec ft
8 C s h pa
2 S hs
pt
no
l etr Em
ch le o s
. 41 blis este
ca
40 tend to S
40 igot
o
A
c
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ta
M
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Vis
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es rthw
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098-099_401_450.indd 98
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98

96

n
II
eI
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as ee
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, E agr ns
m re
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of cities before moving southwest

into Aquitania and then crossing
the Pyrenees into Spain, where
they occupied large swathes of
Roman territory. In 41618, the
Roman army commander
Constantius persuaded the
Visigoths under Wallia (r.41518)
to invade Spain. There he
smashed the Alans and the Siling
Vandals, but allowed some of
them to settle in southern Spain
and left the Asing Vandals and
Sueves in possession of
northwestern Spain. Wallia was
rewarded with official possession
of much of southwestern Spain.

On the other side of the

Mediterranean in 429, Boniface,
the Roman Governor of North
Africa, revolted against his
long-term adversary Atius, and
called on the Siling Vandals for
help. The Vandal king, Gaiseric
(r.42877), crossed over the
Straits of Gibraltar with it was
said 80,000 of his people and, far
from helping Boniface, swiftly
occupied most of North Africa. In
435, he made a treaty with the
Romans, recognizing his
occupation of Mauretania
(modern Algeria and Morocco).
Gaiseric broke this and in 439 his
warriors captured Carthage, the
Roman capital there, and set up
an independent Vandal kingdom.

North
Sea

EUROPE
KINGDOM OF THE
BURGUNDIANS

EMPIRE OF
THE HUNS

Bay of
Biscay
Black Sea
Rome

Constantinople

Toletum
Carthage

ROMAN
EMPIRE

ea
an S
spi
Ca

had suffered a series of disasters.

Gothic raids in 401 and again in
405 ravaged northern Italy. Then
on the last day of 406, hordes of
Vandals, joined by two other
barbarian groups, the Alans and
Sueves, crossed the frozen Rhine
near Mainz, sacked Treveri
(modern Trier, Germany) and
Remi (modern Reims, France),
and forced their way southwest
until they reached the Pyrenees.
Meanwhile, the armies of
Britain had raised up a series
of usurpers as emperor from 406.
The last of these, Constantine III
(r.40711), took most of the
remaining Roman troops in Britain
and crossed to Gaul in spring 407,
aiming to seize the throne from the
then head of the Western Roman
Empire, Honorius. Although he
was defeated and captured at Arles
in 412, native leaders in Britain had
already expelled the last Roman
officials there in 410 probably in
revenge for their abandonment by
Constantines legion. Britain was
now independent from Rome.
In 408, Alaric (r.c.395410),
leader of the Visigoths, invaded
Italy once more. The Roman

THE BARBARIANS WHO HAD

INITIALLY CROSSED THE RHINE IN
401 had gone on to sack a number

Mediterranean Sea

SASANIAN
EMPIRE

AFRICA
The barbarian
invasions
Barbarian groups
took more and more
Roman territory in the
first half of the 5th
century, leaving the
Western emperors
virtually powerless.

KEY
Roman Empire

Franks

Huns

Jutes, Angles, Saxons

Goths

Irish

Alans

Picts

Vandals, Alans, Sueves

III
ly
an
Ita
f
ini t
es
t
d
n
s
a e
it o
he
ale e We
inv forc rt t
tra rica
V
S
s
;
h
s Af
po
iu h
ted in t
os
t nis up
cr orth
fea or
4 A un o s
de per
als to N
42 th H ing t ohn
d
n
oh em
an in
wi end er J
5 J es
9 V tar
int urp
42 com
42 bral
s
i
e
u
b
G

of
ch es
ar
tri ach ing
a
e
P
s, , pr ish ine
riu ple ngu div d
sto tino disti and mne al
e
n
e
c
8 N ta ne an nd eti
42 ons ctri um s co her
C do s h t i as
i

;
w st
ne hri ture
C na

Burgundians

Sasanian Empire

nd t
le
gg e a y a
tru nifac mac
S
31 Bo pre s
9 en su nd
42 twe for urt e eath
e
b tius co s d
A man iface
Ro Bon
in

us
an to
m
er sion sm
G
ne
i
op mis ian
sti d
es
ish on lag
ele elan s
C
B
e
n
om s
i
iu
e
9
Ir
P
ec Hun
op to llad
42 rita out
b
P
n
B t
a
a
31 sio r P
til the
its roo
At of
c. 4 mis nde
vis
17/06/2011 16:16
33 ing
u
s
4
d
k
n
se

434450

A colourful Buddhist mural from the Yungang caves, which were begun
under the Northern Wei c.450.

Gongis abdication. His successor,

Song Wudi (r.42022), a former
fisherman, had risen to become a
general and founded the Liu Song
dynasty. He strengthened the
southern kingdoms northern
borders against the barbarian
tribes, but under his son Wendi
(r.42453), the northerners
captured Luoyang in 424, before,
some 25 years later besieging the
Liu Song capital of Nanking.
Although Song Wudi had
strengthened the central
bureaucracy, the growing power
and wealth of the Buddhist and
Daoist monasteries weakened
the economic basis of the state.
Wendis successors were weak
and by 479 the Liu Song
were overthrown by the
short-lived Qi dynasty
(479502).
Meanwhile, in
northern China
the Sixteen
Kingdoms had
been united
under the Toba Wei (a group of
Turkic nomads), who founded
the Northern Wei dynasty
(386534). The Northern Wei
ruled over northern China,
until its split into two in the
early 6th century following a
revolt against the imposition of
Chinese dress and language on
the Wei nomads.
In Europe, the Western Roman
Empire continued to lose ground,
as barbarians occupied more and
more of its territory. In the 420s the
Visigoths under Theoderic
at ius
fe
de dos
ns heo
u
4H fT e
43 my o rac
ar n Th
II i

(r.41851) occupied sections of the

Mediterranean shore of Gaul,
before they were pushed back
southwest in 430. About this time a
new group of barbarians, the
Huns, began to menace the
empire. This nomadic group from
Central Asia, whose pressure from
the rear on the Goths had been
indirectly responsible for the crisis
of 378 in the Balkans, had since
moved further west. In 424, the
Roman general Atius recruited a
force of Huns to help him bolster
the cause of John, a usurper
raised up at Rome after the death
of Honorius in 423. Atius
continued to use the Huns into the
late 420s to secure his power base
and his appointment as patrician
(the most senior post in the late
Roman Empire) in 429. In 435,
he was able to call on
them to aid an attack
on the Burgundians
who had raided
across the lower
Rhine; these
were soundly

f
n o an
tio de, le g
a
o
i
c
bli n C nc tin
Pu sia reco nflic pire
8
o
o
43 eod t to of c Em
Th emp ion man
att nfus Ro
co s in
law

,,

THE EASTERN JIN DYNASTY IN

CHINA HAD ENDED IN 420, with

THE WORLD IS PASSING

AWAY LOSING ITS
GRIP, THE WORLD IS
SHORT OF BREATH.

,,

St Augustine of Hippo, theologian and philosopher, from Sermons 81, 8

defeated and thereafter confined to

a region to the northwest of Italy.
These were all just temporary
successes, however, as the area
controlled by the Western Roman
emperors was diminishing
steadily. The loss of almost all
North Africa to the Vandals in
42939 (and of Sicily in 440),
of northern Gaul to the Franks
by 450, of southwest Gaul to the
Visigoths after 418, and of all
save a few isolated outposts in
Spain by the 430s meant the
remaining strongholds in Italy
and southeastern Gaul could not
provide enough tax revenue to
support armies to reconquer the
lost provinces. The long reign of
Valentinian III (r.42555) in the
Western Roman Empire
did not provide any
stability as he
ascended to the
throne as a child
and never
asserted
himself until
Northern Wei horse
The art of the Northern Wei
often evoked their nomadic
origins, as in this beautiful
terracotta horse.

the very end, when he had Atius,

the Western Empires last effective
general, murdered.
The barbarians who settled on
the former Roman territories
began gradually to establish
kingdoms of their own, notably
the Franks in northern Gaul and
the Visigoths in southwest Gaul
and Spain. In Britain, the situation
was rather different, since the
province had rebelled against
Rome rather than being subject to
barbarian conquest. In a bygone
era, the Roman army might have
been expected to reassert its
control there, but, with the empire
increasingly dependent on
barbarian troops fighting under
their own commanders, there was
virtually no army left to retake it.
The Britons were left to their
own devices. It seems that some
Roman institutions survived for a
while; in 429 Bishop Germanus
of Auxerre visited the island and
found men bearing Roman titles.
But barbarian raiders attracted
by the weakness of the British
defences and the lack of a central
political authority to counter them
came in increasing numbers.
Around 446, the leading men of
Britain addressed a desperate

h
t
itis
his
d
Br
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e
to and
ns lan
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Bu on nda
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fig
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9 V leti
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098-099_401_450CE.indd
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43 m99
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V
co

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of s
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str
(b.
ini
m
ad

FLAVIUS ATIUS
(c.395454)
Born of nobility in Moesia
(modern Bulgaria), Atius
spent time from 408 in the
royal court of the Huns. He
used these contacts to gain
influence and rose to further
prominence in the late 420s.
The deaths of patricians Felix
(in 430) and Boniface (in 433)
left him with unrivalled
dominance. He shored up the
empires position, and in 451
he scored a notable victory
against Attila the Hun. In 454
he was murdered by
Valentinian III himself.
letter to Atius, appealing for
aid. No reply was sent to these
groans of the Britons, and
within a few years the Angle,
Saxon, and Jutish raiders began
to occupy parts of the former
Roman province.
of
aw
50 nce n
r
dr
c. 4 ue uac s fa
a eru
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I ot
P
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Te etch tem
50 fro gly rt
. 4 ple etro dese
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o
as
pe eat p s in
gr ture
pic

d
an
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up lan e
c
;
r
m
oc e
ies
ks eth om
II d him
an in N he S
s
r
F
t
iu eds ror
e
to
os
50
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up
e
c. 4
h
s
0 T ian tern
06/05/11
5:06 PM
5
4 arc as
M as E

99

97

451465

466500

In this undated painting Attila the Hun is shown with his army he is said to have
been turned aside from sacking Rome only by the pleas of Pope Leo I.

The baptism of Clovis the first: Cloviss baptism made him an easier diplomatic
partner for the eastern Roman Empire than his Arian neighbours.

Br
it o
A ns
Sa ng lo
xo n
s

508

Atlas Mountains

Caucasu s

Ber
bers

KINGDOM
OF THE
VANDALS

KINGDOM OF THE GEPIDS

B lack S ea

53

540

535

EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE

540

533

Med

iterra

nean Sea

SASANIAN
EMPIRE

Lakhmids
Ghassanids

AFRICA

Se

als
nd ia
Va din
2
r
4 6 Sa
e
tak

IG

KINGDOM OF
THE OSTROGOTHS

Re

t
da
of
ate imer
th un
e
f
a
e
e H
ic
an
s d ; R ori e
3D e
ing
ish
m
itu tia aj
45 la th
ev s
l k me
Av cen ts M f Ro
a
ti
6
t
Su iaru e
d Ro
a in r o
5
l
A
n
6
4
P po ro
a s
45 ech by th s
5 V ck
ap pe
45 c sa
g R ed
oth
em
kin feat Visig
ri
e
is
e
a
d
G

VIS

Alemanni Lo
mbards

PS

54

98

rn
us ste
vit s we eror
A
p
e
5
45 com em
be man
Ro

E
KINGDOM OF TH

AL

533

100

f
no
tio e
ra pir
g
e Em
nt
isi ish
4 D nn
45 e Hu
th

Bas
que
s

Slav s

96

c.4

537

100_101_451_500CE.indd 100

ic l
oth Ba
og e
str on th
O
3
s
45 ack
t
at

es
os
ep n,
d
ia
er
m jor
ici Ma us r
1 R ills Libi ero
6
4 d k ts mp
an poin s e
ap veru
Se

KINGDOM OF
THE SUEVES

KINGDOM OF THE
BURGUNDIANS

534

e
ns
ad
Hu ut
inv ing
as l b
ns tack ona
til Gau by a
u
t
t
1 A e ed hic
2 H , a Ver
45 nvad feat Got ion 45 Italy nd
a
i de n- lit
n
a
r
a
a
e du
e
ar Rom co
rth Pa
no

n
ka

KINGDOM OF
THE FRANKS

ed
of
nd
m
ou m
do rth
f
g
e ro
n
Ki No e
nic s f
r
Ve ee ks
51 in th we
52 efug ttac
c. 4 sum is at s po
4
a
r
Ak rica of it
by thic
Af ight
Go
e
h

Undaunted, Attila invaded Italy in

452, but turned back short of
Rome. Attila died after his
wedding feast in 453, and his sons
began a civil war that led to the
Hunnish empire falling apart.
Following the death of the
Roman general Atius in 454,
real power in the western
Roman Empire was exercised by
a series of barbarian kingmakers,
such as Ricimer, the leader of the
Roman army in Italy. In 457,
Ricimer placed Majorian on the
imperial throne. When Majorian
became too independent-minded,
Ricimer replaced him with
Libius Severus (r.46165), who
he later had poisoned. Deprived
of effective leadership, the
Roman Empire lost more of its
Gallic territories to the Visigoths
and Franks.

55

Pope Leo I
The illustration on this manuscript
shows Pope Leo I, an Italian
aristocrat, persuading Attila the Hun
not to attack Rome.

Clay bear figurine

Clay haniwa figurines have been
a feature of rich Japanese burials
since the earliest times. The large
burial mounds of Yamato rulers
contain huge quantities of them.

507

expansion of the Yamato state.

Complex irrigation systems began
to appear, and rulers built ever
larger burial mounds, such as the
486m (1,600ft) long Nintoku
mound. Ojin founded a new line of
kings, who exercised firmer
control over Japans main islands
from a royal centre in the
Kawachi-Izumi area. Yamato

overseas contacts became more

extensive, with ten diplomatic
missions visiting China between
421 and 478, and increasing
Yamato interference in civil wars
between the Korean states of
Paekche, Silla, and Koguryo.
The Sasanian Persian Empire
came under pressure from
eastern nomadic groups in the
later 5th century. The Hephthalite
Huns moved into Bactria early in
the century, and were a particular
threat to the Sasanians, but a
famine during the reign of Peroz
(45784) caused them to move
west again. In 469 Peroz suffered
a terrible defeat at the hands of
the Hephthalites. He was
captured, and only released after
leaving his son as a hostage. In
484, Peroz sought revenge in a
new campaign against the
Hephthalites, but was defeated
and killed.
Having demanded, and been
refused, the hand in marriage of
Honoria, the sister of Roman
Emperor Valentinian III in 450, the
Hunnish king Attila (see 401450)
marched into Gaul. He was
defeated near Chlons by an army
of Romans under Atius and
Goths under Theodoric.

encouraged by the western

Roman emperor Avitus, had
invaded the Iberian Peninsula.
The Visigothic king Theoderic
II (r.45366) defeated the
Suevic ruler Rechiarius, who
was threatening the Roman
province of Tarraconensis,
and the remaining Sueves
retreated. Theoderic took
most of Spain for himself, but
left the Romans parts of the
east coast. This policy was
reversed by his successor
Euric (r.46684), who overran the
remaining Roman territories in
the late 470s. By the time of Alaric
II (r.484507) the Visigothic
kingdom encompassed almost all
of Spain, as well as Aquitaine and
Provence in southern Gaul.
The situation in Spain was

HS

,,

Callinicus, disciple of Hypatius, from Life of Saint Hypatius, c.450

IN JAPAN, THE 5TH CENTURY SAW

THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT and

repeated elsewhere in the Roman

Empire, and the area of imperial
control shrank to little more than
Italy. Anthemius (r.467472) tried
to recover some ground, but an
expeditionary force against
Vandal-controlled North Africa in
468 ended in disaster. In Gaul,
Euric conquered almost all
remaining Roman territory in the
south by 475. In 472, Anthemius
was overthrown by Gundobad, a
Burgundian. Gundobad placed
Olybrius (r.472) and Glycerius
(r.47374) on the throne in quick
sucession, but, despairing of the
empires frailty, he then left for
Burgundy. The last embers of the
empire were contested in 47576,
between Julius Nepos and
Romulus Augustulus, the son of
Orestes, commander of the
Roman army. Feeling that the

IN 456, THE VISIGOTHS,

OT

,,

[HUNS] TOOK CAPTIVE

THE CHURCHES AND
SLEW THE MONKS
AND MAIDENS.

Barbarian kingdoms in Europe C.500

By 500, most of the former western Roman
Empire was divided between several principal
barbarian successor states: the Vandals in
North Africa, the Visigoths in Spain and
southern Gaul, and the Ostrogoths in Italy.

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Byzantine reconquests
Frankish expansion
Ostrogothic expanision
Sasanian expansion

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interests of the Germanic

barbarians in the army were being
ignored, Orestess deputy,
Odoacer, revolted and deposed
Romulus in September 476. He
did not appoint a new emperor,
claiming that he ruled Italy on
behalf of the eastern emperor
Zeno (r.47491). This marked the
end of the Roman Empire in the
west after 500 years.
However, in the east the Roman
Empire survived. The long reign of
Theodosius II (40850) had
strengthened its position, and
after 400 the eastern empire had
not had to face such direct threats
from Huns, Goths, Vandals,
Alamanns, Burgundians,
and Franks as the west.
Marcian (r.45057) had
consolidated the
eastern empires
finances, leaving a
surplus of 100,000
pounds of gold at
his death. Leo I
(r.45774) fended
off residual
Gothic threats to
the Balkans, and
even made an
attempt to
recover North
Africa in 468.
Zeno (47491)
faced the challenge
of the new
Germanic rulers of

Italy, led by Odoacer. He resolved

this by commissioning the king of
the Ostrogoths, Theodoric, to
topple Odoacer in 489. By 500, the
eastern Roman Empire under
Anastasius (r.492518) was in
little danger of the implosion that
had erased its western
counterpart just 25 years earlier.
The western Roman Empire
was replaced by a series of
Germanic successor
states.

Saxon brooch
Anglo-Saxon art in the
5th century valued abstract
geometric patterns, as seen
on this brooch.

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Odoacer ruled as king of Italy, but

the legitimacy of his rule was
always questionable. In 489, an
invasion by Theodorics
Ostrogoths led to a four-year
stand-off, with Odoacer
blockading himself inside the old
imperial capital of Ravenna. After
the murder of Odoacer in 493,
Theodoric established a regime
in which the continuation of
Roman administrative
practices won

the loyalty of the old Roman

aristocracy. In 497, the eastern
emperor Anastasius I recognized
Theodorics right to govern Italy,
providing him with a secure base
to consolidate his rule and extend
it into Gaul.
In northwestern Gaul the Franks
had emerged as a threat
in the late 4th century, and by the
460s they were carving out a
kingdom under Childeric. His
successor Clovis (r.481511)
transformed that kingdom,
defeating Syagrius, ruler of a
Roman enclave around Soissons,
and expanding along the Rhine at
the expense of the Alamans in
the 490s. In 507, he defeated
the Visigoths at the Battle
of Vouill and drove them
out of most of
southwestern Gaul. In
the late 490s or early
500s, Clovis
converted to
Catholic
Christianity,
setting him apart
from other
barbarian rulers
who were mostly
Arians (members
of an alternative
Christian church).
In Britain, the
expulsion of Roman
officials had been
followed by a period in
which petty kingdoms
vied for power. These
kingdoms were vulnerable
to coastal raiders, and, late in
the 5th century, groups of
Germanic barbarians (Angles,

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THEODORIC THE GREAT

(454526)
Son of Thiudmir, a king of the
Ostrogoths, Theodoric spent
11 years as a Roman hostage,
to guarantee the good
behaviour of his father. He
returned home to become
king of the Ostrogoths in 471,
and for the next 17 years
alternately allied with and
attacked Roman territories in
the Balkans. In 493,
Theodoric became the first
Ostrogothic king of Italy. His
rule was generally proRoman, and he was buried in
this Roman-style mausoleum.
Saxons, and Jutes) settled in
Britain. The arrival of the Saxons
has been dated to 449, when they
were invited by the British king
Vortigern. Seven years later, they
revolted and set up a kingdom in
Kent. Aelle founded a kingdom in
Sussex around 477 and Cerdic, in
Wessex (around modern
Hampshire), by 495. A British
victory at Mons Badonicus around
500 stemmed the Saxon tide, but
the respite was short-lived.

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101

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501526

527540

These 6th-century ivory panels show Emperor Anastasius. He amassed a vast financial
surplus, which his successors spent on expanding the Eastern Roman Empire.

This 6th-century mosaic, from the curch of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, depicts
Emperor Justinian with his retinue of officials, guards, and clergy.

IN THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE

(generally called the Byzantine

Empire from about this date),
Anastasius (r.491518) faced
difficulties in the Balkans, as new
groups, including the Bulgars,
pressed southwards across the
Danube between 493 and 502.
More serious were problems on
the eastern frontier, where the
Persians insisted on Byzantine
financial subsidies to pay for the
defence of strategic passes in the
Caucasus against barbarian
incursions. In 502, the Persian
ruler Kavadh began a war over
the issue; the slow Byzantine
reaction allowed him to capture
Amida as well as several towns in
Armenia. Byzantine forces retook
Amida in 505, and Kavadh
preoccupied with a Hepthalite
invasion in the east agreed a
truce, which lasted until 527.
Anastasius was almost 60 when
he became emperor in 491, and
his place on the throne was only
secured by his marriage in 492 to
Ariadne, widow of his predecessor
Zeno. Almost immediately Zenos
brother Longinus revolted, and it
took six years for Anastasius to
subdue Longinuss home area of
Isauria (in western Asia Minor).
Anastasius gained popularity by
abolishing the chrysargyron tax
for traders and craftsmen.
Prosperity continued and over his
reign his treasury amassed a
surplus of 320,000 pounds of gold.
He also implemented monetary
reforms in 498 and 512 aimed at
stabilizing the currency, which had
suffered successive debasements
in the 5th century. In religious

red
enamel

Frankish fibula brooch

Fibula brooches were practical as
well as decorative, being used to
fasten clothes.This brooch is
decorated with the heads of birds.

terms Anastasiuss reign was less

tranquil, as he was a follower of
Monophysite Christianity, which
held that Christ had only a single
divine nature and did not combine
human and divine in his person.
At first, Anastasius supported
Zenos Henotikon an act of
union issued in 482 that tried to
broker a compromise between
supporters of the orthodox creed
(established at the Council of
Chalcedon in 452) and the
Monophysites. However, later his
attitude became more proMonophysite, which led to serious
rioting in 512, and the revolt of an

army officer, Vitalian, in Thrace in

513. Anastasius left no clear heir,
and on his death Justin (r.51827),
head of the palace guard, seized
the throne. Justin was of humble
origins and relied heavily on his
nephew Justinian. He restored
Chalcedonian Christianity and
developed good relations with the
Ostrogoths of Italy and the
Vandals of North Africa. Abroad,
his reign was generally peaceful,
apart from a minor campaign
against Persia in early 527.
In Gaul, Clovis, king of the
Franks, had defeated Syagrius,
ruler of a Roman enclave near
Soissons, in 486, followed by the
Alamanns and the Thuringians in
491. The Visigothic kingdom in
southwestern Gaul was his next
target, and it collapsed after a
major Frankish victory at Vouill
in 507. Cloviss marriage to Clotilde,
daughter of the Burgundian king
Chilperic, led him to convert to
Catholic Christianity in the 490s,
and he maintained cordial
relations with the Byzantine
emperor Anastasius, who gave
him the title of consul c.508. Near
the end of his reign, Clovis added
several previously independent
Frankish domains to his kingdom,
notably that of the Ripuarian
Franks. On his death in 511,
Cloviss kingdom was divided
among his four sons Theuderic,
Childebert, Chlodomir, and
Chlothar. This tradition of
subdivision would weaken the
Merovingian dynasty, as the
descendants of Clovis were known.
The Merovingians ruled Francia
(France) until the 8th century.

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THE REIGN OF THE BYZANTINE

EMPEROR JUSTINIAN (r.52765)

began with important reforms. In

528, he commissioned a new law
code to replace the confusion he
had inherited. The new code, the
Codex Justinianus, came into
force in 529 (revised in 534). An
enthusiastic builder, Justinian
ordered the building of the great

THEODORA (C.500548)
Theodora, who Justinian
married in 525, had once been
a prostitute and the mistress
of Hecebolus, the governor of
Libya Pentapolis. After the
death of his adoptive mother,
Empress Lucipina (who had
opposed their relationship),
Justinian had the law changed
in 524 to allow him to marry
Theodora. Theodora became
a forceful empress, stiffening
Justinians resolve during the
Nika revolt and acting as the
protector of Monophysite
Christians she was one
herself during times of
persecution.

church of Hagia Sophia in 534.

The greatest challenge to his rule
came in 532, when rioting among
the Blue and Green chariot-racing
factions got out of hand and
turned into the Nika Revolt. The
uprising almost caused Justinian
to flee Constantinople, and its
suppression killed 30,000 rebels.
With his throne secure, Justinian
looked abroad. In 533 he sent an
army under Belisarius to
Vandal-controlled North Africa,
where Gelimer had deposed King
Hilderic, a Byzantine ally. On 13
September, Belisarius defeated
Gelimers army at Ad Decimum,
just outside Carthage, and Vandal
resistance collapsed. Carthage
was occupied and Gelimer was
sent as a captive to Constantinople.
The rapid conquest of the Vandal
kingdom encouraged Justinian to
intervene in Italy. An excuse was
provided by the murder in April
535 of his friend Amalasuintha,
the Ostrogothic queen. Belisarius
launched a strike against Italy in
535, landing on Sicily with 7,000
troops. Sicily was secured by the
end of 535, and Belisarius moved
into southern Italy early in 536. He
took Naples after a three-week
siege, causing the Ostrogothic
king, Vitigis, to retreat northwards.
On 9 December 536, in a symbolic
restoration of the empires lost
provinces, the Byzantine army
occupied Rome. Rome was soon
besieged by Goths. Belisarius
finally took the Ostrogothic capital
of Ravenna in 540. Suspicions that
he planned to become emperor
led to his recall, encouraging more
Ostrogothic resistance.

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26/05/2011 11:25

541550

,,

THE PLAGUE FELL UPON THE

WHOLE WORLD... NOT A SINGLE
MAN IN THE WHOLE ROMAN
EMPIRE COULD ESCAPE

,,

Procopius, Byzantine scholar, from Secret History, c.550

Burdigala

Barcino 53740
0

Black Sea
Naissus
Adrianople
Constaninople
Thessalonica

53

Carthage

53
5
53740

7-4

Sardinia

554

Rome

53

Carthago
Nova
Tingi

Slavs

Arelate
Ravenna

Tolosa
Tolosa

THE LATTER PART OF JUSTINIANS

REIGN lacked the achievements of

Argentorate
Geneva

Persians

Franks

Athenae

Sicily

Med
533

iterra

Antioch

nean Sea

Cyrene

AFRICA

Justinians reconquests
Vandal Italy fell to Justinians armies in 533, but it
was devastated by the 20-year war needed to take
it. An attempted Byzantine reconquest of Spain
foundered, capturing only a few coastal areas.

Persia entered a new period of

greatness under Khusrau I
(r.53179), who came to the throne
at a time when the Mazdakites
a populist religious movement
had caused serious social
tensions. Khusrau reformed the
tax system and established a new
army, encouraging poorer nobles
and their followers to serve by

Cyprus

Alexandria

KEY
Byzantine Empire, 527
Justinians reconquests
Byzantine campaigns
Battle

paying salaries. Khusrau captured

Antioch in 540, forcing Justinian to
pay 5,000 pounds of gold to regain
it. He attacked again, in 544, but a
siege of Edessa failed and so he
made a truce. A further Byzantine
Persian war (54651) resulted in a
50-year peace.

,,

TO ME, AND TO MANY

OTHERS, THESE TWO
SEEMED NOT TO BE
HUMAN BEINGS, BUT
VERITABLE DEMONS
VAMPIRES.

,,

Procopius, Byzantine scholar, on Justinian and Empress Theodora,

from Secret History, c.550

s
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Co

its first half. A serious outbreak of

plague probably bubonic plague
began in Egypt in 540 and caused
widespread mortalities, robbing
the empire of desperately needed
manpower. Tax revenues fell,
further weakening the
administration, and
prices rose, leading to
the passing of laws in
544 to reduce inflation.
Further outbreaks of
plague occurred in the
6th and 7th centuries,
sapping the vitality of
the Byzantine Empire.
In Italy, the Ostrogoths
made rapid advances
after the departure of
Belisarius. Their new
king, Totila, secured the
area north of the River
Po, and in 542 took
control of much of
central Italy. Belisarius
was recalled to retrieve
the sitiation in 544, but
Justinian starved him of
resources and Rome
fell in 546. Although the
Byzantines retook Rome
in 547, it fell once more
to Totila in 550. Justinian
sent two huge armies under
Artabanes and Narses to finish
off the Goths. Artabanes entered
Ravenna in June 552, and in July
Narses defeated Totila at the
Battle of Busta Gallorum in the
Apennines. Totila later died of his
wounds. There was still some
Ostrogoth resistance, but the
war in Italy was effectively over.

ue
lag
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ing erte ptic
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Nu atia ity b iona
3
s
n
54 Nob stia mis
ri
Ch

Ostrogothic brooch
This gold and enamel
brooch demonstrates
the high level of
workmanship in the
Ostrogothic kingdom
of Italy. Its eagle
imagery may indicate
Roman influence.

o
gd

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Vie am
4
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of tabl
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103

101

551567

568588

,,

WHEN JUSTIN HAD HEARD THESE EVENTS... HE HAD

NO HEALTHY OR SANE THOUGHTS HE FELL INTO A
MENTAL DISORDER AND MADNESS AND AFTERWARDS
HAD NO UNDERSTANDING OF EVENTS.

,,

Evagrius Scholasticus, scholar and aide to Gregory of Antioch, on Justin IIs

reaction on the fall of Dara to the Persians, from Ecclesiastical History c.595

The 13th-century Iona Abbey (pictured) was built on the site of the original
monastery founded by St Columba when he arrived on Iona in 563.
MEROVINGIAN FRANCIA (FRANCE)
HAD BEEN DIVIDED into separate

kingdoms on the death of Clovis in

511 (see 501526). Despite this,
Frankish power continued to grow.
By 558, Chlothar I (51161), who
ruled the area of Francia around
Soissons, had absorbed the
Rheims kingdom and the region
around Paris after their rulers
died. This left Chlothar as the sole
Merovingian ruler of Francia for
three years, until his death in 561.
Francia was once again divided,
with Charibert I receiving Paris,
Guntram getting Orlans, Sigibert
Rheims, and Chilperic Soissons. It
was not until 613 that the
Frankish kingdom was reunited
under Chlothar II (r.61329).
Ajanta cave art
The Ajanta caves, a Buddhist holy
site in Maharashtra, India,
experienced a second major phase
of use during the 6th century.

Ireland had been converted to

Christianity by Patrick (d.461) in
the mid-5th century and a strong
monastic tradition took hold
there. From the 6th century, Irish
monks began conducting
missions abroad. In 563, Columba
(c.52097) set up the abbey of
Iona on an island off Scotlands
western coast. Iona became a
centre of Irish-influenced
monasticism, which extended into
northern England, Scotland, and
Francia with the foundation of the
monastic centre at Luxeuil in 590.
The Gupta Empire fell apart
after the reign of Vishnugupta
(r.54050); and northern India split
into a number of regional
kingdoms. A minor branch of the
Guptas ruled Magadha, but they
were swept aside by the Maukharis
of Kanauj. The region fell to the
Vardhana king Harsha, who
established an empire in the
early 7th century.

ed
es ei
es
ign
os
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We este g the nas
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55 ina oun Zhou
56 twe or J I of P
By con
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55 eir r
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104

102

y
ar
ion ins
iss beg nd
h m a tla
ris mb co
II
3 I lu g S
tin
56 Co izin
us mes
J
l
o
e
5 c
ne
g
56 be anti or
an
r
z
ev
By mpe
e

JAPANS SOGA FAMILY CAME TO

PROMINENCE IN 540, when Soga

no Iname was made chief

minister. Emperor Bidatsus
death in 585 led to a succession
dispute, from which Inames
grandson Yomei emerged
successful. The next emperor,
Sushun (r.58693), had
a Soga mother, reinforcing the
familys dominance. When Sushun
was assassinated in 593, he was
succeeded by Bidatsus widow
Suiko (r.593628), who was another
Soga. Suikos reign saw the start of
the Asuka Enlightenment, and
was a time of great confidence in
foreign affairs, state support for
Buddhism, and flourishing arts.
In 572, the Byzantine emperor
Justin II (r.56578) went to war
with Persia after he refused to pay
a tribute due under the terms of
Justinians 50-year peace deal (see
527540). In 573, Persia struck
back, invading Syria and taking the

THE NUMBER OF YEARS

THE ENDLESS PEACE
OF 532 BETWEEN THE
BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND
PERSIA LASTED

fortress of Dara. On hearing this,

Justin went insane. His wife took
power, and had to agree a
humiliating peace with Persia.
In 567, the Lombards, who had
settled in the former Roman
province of Pannonia (Hungary),
destroyed the Gepids and then,
under Alboin (reign c.56072),
moved southwest into Italy, where
the Byzantine authorities were too
weak to resist them. In 56869 they
occupied the plain of the Po River
and set up dukes in major cities.
By 572, when Pavia fell to them,
they had founded duchies as far
south as Benevento. Attempted

e
an om
ov be
az
e
i Y ingd rica
th
s m anu
h
d
k
D u
el en
r
D
Af
xp em
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Y
f
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Se e B en
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8 L fro
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70 th in C
56 uth vade
Pe ites
c.5 nds em
0
u
so d in
57 kum
fo Kan
an
As
of

Byzantine counterattacks in 575

were a disaster. Under Agilulf
(r.590616) the Lombard kingdom
consolidated; the Byzantines were
limited to small territories around
Rome, Naples, and Ravenna.
Under Khan Bayan (r.c.56282),
the Avars nomadic horsemen
from the northern Caucasus
exploited the vacuum left by the
departure of the Lombards to
carve out a vast territory centred
around modern Austria. Their
conquest of a number of Byzantine
towns prompted Emperor Maurice
(r.582602) into a successful
campaign to dislodge them.

e
y
h
th e
kis n b
a, ar
an ive
hin hou Yang
Fr m r
C
3
Z
y
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57 gdo ar
7 I rn n b ds
57 rthe row foun y
kin il w
No erth ho ast
civ
n
ov n, w i dy
Jia e Su
h
t

e
ttl
II
h
et
ian
lis
Ba ng
tin
ph
ub of
in leti of
us nd is I
ro ecca
tab he
N
J
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P
p
m
t
es on t ain
I
9 do rts
r
s
s
a
e
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m
6
o
d
s
n
s
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h
r
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r
5 ng ve y
t
o , co m lan
e
n
pe san eriu
va tat n p
of ad i
ax
of ng
ki con ianit
Em in ib
0 A a s aria
7 S am st
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rth m
58
g
ria rist
Bi am
57 yrrh que ern
74 oes by T
.
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u
5
c
0
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k
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7
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c. 5 M
pla
th
re

II
ine rius um
i
nt
za Tibe irm ) to
y
a
2 B or s S rbi
58 per der Se pays
em rren dern nd
su mo ars a te
(in e Av ribu
th em t
th

n
tio
uc ive
str ens he
n
t
o ef
5 C d s in ina
58 new all f Ch
w o
of
rth
no

589599

,,

Painted c.581618, this fresco is from Chinas Dunhuang caves, in a strategic

Silk Road oasis. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art.

China, rebelled and took the

throne for himself as the emperor
Wendi (r.581604). In 589, he
invaded southern China. His
forces rapidly overcame those of
the last Chen emperor, Hou Zhu.
Wendi was now the countrys sole
ruler and the first emperor of the
Sui dynasty; after three centuries
of division, China was finally
united. Wendi disarmed private
armies and established
agricultural colonies along
Chinas frontiers to strengthen
central control in remote areas. He
implemented a major land
reform that increased the
number of households liable to
the land tax from 4 million in 589,
to almost 9 million in 606. Wendi
also extended the countrys canal
system to form a Grand Canal

,,

IN 581, YIANG JIAN, A GENERAL OF

THE ZHOU RULERS of northern

NOT ANGLES,
BUT ANGELS.
Pope Gregory I, on seeing Anglo-Saxon slaves
at a market in Rome

that allowed vessels to travel

2,000km (1,240 miles) from
Hangzhuo in the southeast to the
northeastern provinces around
Beijing, via Luoyang in eastern
central China. Austere, strict, and
occasionally violent, Wendi seemed
to have set the Sui dynasty on firm
foundations; in the end, it lasted
only 14 years after his death,
when it was replaced by the Tang.
In 582, Emperor Maurice
succeeded Tiberius II (r.57882)
as the Byzantine emperor. He had
been commander of the palace

POPE GREGORY I (590604)

From 572 to 574 Gregory I was
prefect of Rome, and only
became a monk on his fathers
death. A man of great ability
and energy, he was involved in
resistance to the Lombards
in Italy in the early part of his
papacy, but he maintained good
relations with the Merovingians
in Francia and the Visigothic
rulers of Spain. Relations with
the Byzantine emperor Maurice
broke down over the use of the
title ecumenical patriarch by
the Bishop of Constantinople,
which Gregory viewed as a
challenge to his authority.

g
kin es
hic unc
t
o e
m
go
isi ann f th licis
o ho o
9 V ed
58 car sion Cat oled
Re nver y to of T
co untr ncil
co Cou
at

rn
ste in
we sed ol
e
h
a
tr
9 T s b on ad
58 Turk ia, c Ro
r
k
ga Sil
un the
Dz
104-105_551_559CE.indd 105

ed ry
os lita
ep mi e
II d y a m; h
s r b ra
oe
sr ule ah ple
ho an r er B tino
C
n
9
si nd
58 Per g u nsta
as risin o Co
up es t
fle

e
th a
es
ur Chin
t
ap g
n c itin
Jia eun
g
r
an l,
9 Y ita
58 cap
n
a
Y

e
los is
l
es
tin ropo ans
n
a
i
yz arty ers 92)
B
P n5
M
9
58 ty of the en i
to tak
ci
(re

guard and then of the war against

the Persians from 578. Tiberiuss
overspending and ineffective
campaigns against the Persians,
Lombards, and Avars had emptied
the imperial treasury, leaving
Maurice facing an immediate
financial crisis. His subsequent
economizing led to mutinies by
the eastern army in 588 and by
that of the Balkans in 593. Maurice
made his father Paul head of the
Senate and his brother-in-law
Philippicus head of the palace
guard; such nepotism further
increased his unpopularity.
In 584, Maurice renewed the
war with Persia, appointing
Philippicus to oversee it. The new
commander attacked Arzanene,
but his campaign was disrupted
by the defection of the Ghassanid
Arabs former allies alienated by
the arrest of their king, al-Mundhir.
The mutiny of the eastern troops
in 588 caused Byzantine efforts to
stall further, and in 589 they lost
the city of Martyropolis (in
present-day Turkey) to the
Persians. The Byzantines were
saved by the outbreak of a civil
war in Persia; the involvement of a
Byzantine army in the restoration
of one Persian claimant,
Chosroes II, led to the recovery
of Martyropolis and Dara in 592.

m i
a
for Su Chin
re by
nd ted di in
a
n en
9L e
58 plem or W
im per
em

to
gin e
be to th s
s
av in an
Sl ve alk
90 mo B

In the Balkans, the Slavs a

non-Germanic people referred to
as Sclaveni in contemporary
sources seem to have arrived
north of the Danube in the early to
mid-6th century. When the Avars
moved into the region in c.559 the
Slavs were pushed further south.
By the end of the 6th century,
Slavic groups had settled as far
south as northern Greece, the
Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic,
and Macedonia, as well as in
those areas of Bulgaria, Bohemia,
Moravia, Serbia, and Croatia
where the great Slav
kingdoms of the Middle
Ages would later arise.
In 596, Pope
Gregory I sent a
mission to Britain
to revive
Christianity,
following the
invasions by pagan
Anglo-Saxons in the
5th and early
6th centuries. The
missionaries set out
under Augustine, a
former prior of a
monastery in Rome,
and arrived in Kent
the following year.
Their reception was
reasonably warm as
Bertha, the wife of
the Kentish king
Aethelberht, was
already Christian.
After Aethelberht was baptized
a Christian, Augustine was able to
establish a church in Canterbury.
King Saebert of Essex and King
Sigebert of East Anglia both

he e
(t op
y I es p
r
go m
re eco
0G )b
59 eat
Gr

es
tin II
an s
yz sroe one
B
r
o
1
59 e Ch an th
i
r
to ers
s
re e P
th
to

e
ric
au e
M
n
i
r nt inst s
ro
pe yza aga lkan
m
B
a
k
2 E es ac e B
59 nch ratt n th
u
i
e
t
a
l un vs
co e Sla
th

t
ou
ks he
ea en t nd
r
b
ar twe a a st
l w be og hi
ivi ina ist S udd lans
C
h
h
2
-B c
59 in C udd anti obe
B
n
ono
o
pr
M

dependent on Kent also

converted, but the infant English
Church would suffer a series of
setbacks before the last AngloSaxon kingdoms became Christian
in the late 7th century.

Sui dynasty figurine

This figure depicting a trader on a
camel emphasizes Chinas continuing
concern with commerce along the
Silk Road through Central Asia.

f
yo y
tin arm
u
s
e
3 M tin an
59 zan Balk
y
B the
in

e
tin
us to
ug ion
A
s
t is
nd
7 S m gla
59 ins t En ity
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n
be nver istia
co Chr
to

aty
ian
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nd the
e t in
5I
re ced em
59 use tem
g
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a
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tin ds y t
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8 B Lo
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59 the orth
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06/05/11 5:06 PM
th
i
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105

103

TRADE AND
INVENTION
6001449

In the Medieval period, trade and travel unified the Old World
in a single network, with new ideas and inventions emerging
even as the political landscape was transformed. Meanwhile,
in the New World, great civilizations reached their peak.

600610

611620

621630

631640

A coin depicting the Eastern Roman

emperor Heraclius.

A Tang dynasty Mendicant friar, with

an unusual travelling companion.

This 1721 engraving by Austrian architect Johann Fischer von Erlach

shows Al-Haram Mosque and Kaaba in Mecca.

The ruins of the 7th century Byzantine

fortresses at Sbeitla, Tunisia.

began when the emperor

Maurice (r.582602)
dispatched his armies to
the northern Balkans to
regain imperial control of
the Danube frontier from
the Avars (see 56888). In
602, the army rebelled under
officer Phocas and Maurice was
killed. Phocas became emperor
but Chosroes II of Sasanian
Persia took advantage of the
eastern empires weakness, while
the Avars invaded from the north.
In 610 the son of the military
governor of Roman Africa,
Heraclius, executed Phocas and
declared himself emperor.
In 606, in northern India, Harsha
(c.590647) acceded to the
thrones of Thanesar and Kannauj,
establishing the last native
Indian empire of ancient times.

,,

THE EMPEROR
HARSHA, NOBLE
IN BIRTH AND OF
WELL-CHOSEN
NAME, THE
SURPASSER OF
ALL THE
VICTORIES WON
BY ALL THE KINGS
OF ANCIENT
TIMES...

,,

Banabhatta, Indian poet, from The

Deeds of Harsha, c.640

;
s
led
gin
om kil
be
n R rice him
a
r
u
sh
s
te
ar of ia
as Ma ed
6 H est nd
2 E or cce
60 nqu rn I
60 per s su
co rthe
em oca
no
Ph
an

s
di
liu n
ng
ac
Ya tion
er ster r
r
o ruc al;
H
o
r
a
0
E
n
er
1
pe t
m ons Ca 610 6 mes mp
o an E
2 E rs c rand ted
c
0
6 de G ple
be om
or of om
R
c

108-109_600-650CE.indd 108

108

106

MUHAMMAD FIRST RECEIVED A

DIVINE REVELATION IN 610 and

Tang dynasty horse sculpture

Horses were symbols of military
prowess, especially warhorses from
the western fringes of the empire.

began to preach in Mecca from

613; but the start of the
Islamic era is traditionally
marked by the Hegira or
hijra, the flight to
Medina. Hostility from
the Meccan authorities
forced Muhammad to flee to
Medina with his family and
followers in 622. In Medina,
Muhammad established a
political and religious power
base. He fought a series of
attacks by Meccan forces, with
their ultimate surrender in 630
when he took possession of the
Kaaba, the holiest shrine in the

Arabian Peninsula. Muhammads

rule was then unchallenged.
Heraclius began to claw back
territory ceded to the Persians,
starting at the Battle of Issus in
622 and later, in 627, at the Battle
of Nineveh. In 628 the Sasanian
and Byzantine Empires made
peace, exhausted by decades of
war and unaware of the storm
brewing to the south.
In China the emperors son,
Taizong, consolidated Tang
power by suppressing rebellions
across the empire. In 626,
Taizong forced his father to step
down and inaugurated a golden
age of trade, prosperity, and
cultural exchange.

rts
sta
r
ro
ad cca
pe ed;
m e
Em rder
am n M
i
h
u
u gi
u
8 S m sty
3 M in
61 ngdi yna d
61 each
d he
a
r
Y
g
p
n
is
Ta tabl
es

I
rI
ha h
lot nkis
C
a
3
om
61 s Fr ngd
e ki
t
i
un
re

ns
sia t
er gyp
P
E
9
61 uer
nq
co

community united by Islam,

which transcended traditional
rivalries was ready for expansion.
Although Muhammad had left no
guidance as to his successor
(caliph), four men tied to the
prophet by marriage emerged as

THOSE WHO
ARE PATIENT IN
ADVERSITY AND
FORGIVE WRONGS
ARE THE DOERS
OF EXCELLENCE.

,,

Prophet Muhammad

SASANIAN CONQUESTS RESTORED

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE at the

expense of the Byzantines with

the falls of Jerusalem in
614 and Egypt in 619. By 618,
Constantinople was besieged by
the Avars, and their Slavic
subjects. In 620, Heraclius bought
off the Avars in order to focus on
repelling the Persians.
In 613 Clothar II (584-629)
reunited the Frankish kingdom,
bringing an end to civil war. His
Edict of Paris, issued in 614,
introduced reforms to the
Merovingian church and state.
In 61617, rebellions against the
despotic rule of Yangdi (r.604-17)
caused the collapse of the Sui
dynasty in China. A year later
military governor Li Yuan founded
the Tang dynasty, which ruled
until 906.

BY THE TIME OF MUHAMMADS

DEATH IN 632, the young Muslim

,,

UPHEAVAL IN THE
EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE

MUHAMMAD (570632)
Born in Mecca, Muhammad ibn Abdallah worked as a merchant
and shepherd before growing discontented and retiring to a life of
contemplation. In 610, he received the first of a series of divine
revelations these became the Quran. He preached a
monotheistic faith based on complete submission to God (Islam).
Before his death he unified Arabian tribes within his new religion.

t
rs
, fi or
us s f
ss orie ans
I
f
i
t
a
e o vic Pers
hin
ttl of
nC g
Ba ing over
r
2
n
e
r
th Ta
62 a st lius
or by
in rac
4 N ed
62 bdu
He
su

r
ro
pe is
Em by h ng
g
an wn izo
6 T hro Ta
62 vert on,
s
o
62

es d
ro
s
os d an
he
h
e
C s
ac nd
re er a
ing epo
s
k
u ow
n
d
cli
nia us
ra is p ing
sa rio
He of h arch to
Sa victo son
0
n
8
63 nith y m tly i
62 the y his
ze e b han
II in b
m
p
fa um lem
sla
tri rusa
Je

II
ar s
oth k
Cl fran
s
ed he
ce all t
uc
t s g of
r
be in
go as k
Da

on
t
ia
nd es
sI ew
e
h
h
t
c
o
t
ea
g r ey
an urn
nx ic jo
a
u p
0X se
63 hi

the Rashidun, or rightly guided,

caliphs. The first caliph, Abu Bakr
(r. 63234), suppressed an Arabian
rebellion, re-established Islamic
dominion over Arabia, and began
the conquest of Syria. His
successor Umar (r.63444)
became caliph in 634 and oversaw
the conquest of Syria and the
defeat of the Byzantines at
Ajnadayn. By 637, Umar controlled
Jerusalem and Damascus, and, in
the same year, Arab forces
conquered Persia (modern Iran
and Iraq), occupying the Sasanian
capital at Ctesiphon. Umar
established several important
practices: the creation of garrison
towns in conquered territory to
separate the invading Arabic forces
from the locals; the recruitment of
soldiers through slavery and tribal

et ate
ph ph
ro cali
p
n
f
e
ria ach
th t o
sto s re
of star
e
h
t
;
5 N ian
ea ad
63 rist
2D m
Ch ina
63 ham
Ch
Mu

of
th ;
ea akr
D
B es
4
63 Abu com ph
i
ph r be cal
i
l
ca ma ond
U ec
s

20/05/11 12:46 PM

641650

,,

,,

THEY BEQUEATHED THE

GLEAMING GOLD, TREASURE
OF MEN, TO EARTH
From the Old English epic poem, Beowulf

One of 20 burial mounds of this type at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England, which conceal the
graves and funerary treasures of the royal line of East Anglia.

MONGOLIA

N
MA

UR

IA

KO
RE
A

i
Gob
Turfan
n
Ordos
Sh a
Tashkent
n
Tie
Desert
Anxi
Samarkand
Dunhuang
Kashgar Takla Makan
Desert
Bactra
Jinchang
Changan
Perwali Khotan
Taxila
Peshawar
Plateau of
CHINA
H i Tibet
Thar
ma
layas
Desert
Mathura
Sarnath
Pataliputra
Bodh Gaya
BURMA
INDIA
Barygaza Nasik
Ratnagiri
Arabian
Bay of Bengal
Sea
Nagarjunakonda
INDOCHINA

CH

East China
Sea

Hangzhou

Taiwan

27
METRES

THE LENGTH
OF THE SUTTON
HOO SHIP

Philippine
Islands
S outh
China
Sea

region. In 642, for instance, the

Christian king Oswald of
Northumbria, hitherto one of the
most powerful kingdoms, was
slain by the pagan king Penda of
Mercia. The great Anglo-Saxon
ship burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk
filled with marvellously worked
artefacts, weapons and treasures

is believed to have once

contained the body of an Anglo
Saxon king. One of the last
burials of this type in England, the
artefacts comprise a fusion of
Christian and non-Christian
elements, suggesting transition
as Christianity gained in
popularity and strength.

dragons head
crest

Kanchipuram

KEY
Xuanzangs route

INDIAN
OCEAN

The travels of Xuanzang

The young monk left the Tang
capital, Changan, in around 630.
He crossed Central Asia and
reached India in 645.

affiliation those recruited for

fighting were made dependents of
tribal members; and a taxation
system that favoured Muslims and
encouraged conversion but
allowed Christians and Jews to
follow their religions.
Buddhism became increasingly
influential in Tang China; the
Buddhist monk Xuanzang
journeyed far and wide in search
of wisdom. His travels became
legendary and foresaw the
increasing mobility of people and
ideas along the Silk Road, made
possible by the power of the Tang
and later the caliphate. Also
travelling the Silk Road, Nestorian
Christians reached China from
Persia in 635.

Su

Borneo
m

at

ra

ISLAMIC EXPANSION CONTINUED

as the Arabs defeated the Persian

counterattack at the Battle of
Nihavand in 642, dealing the final
blow to the Sasanian Empire;
the last emperor, Yazdgird III, died
in 651, and with him died
Zoroastrianism, the religion of
the empire. Conversion of the
population to Islam proceeded
slowly but steadily over the
following centuries. The Arabs
met with similar success in Egypt
where the Byzantines offered only
token resistance. The fall of
Alexandria came in 642, the
same year that the Muslims
founded the military settlement of
Fustat, which later became Cairo.
The following year the marauding
Islamic armies conquered
Tripolitania in North Africa as
their advance continued,

a, ns th
iyy sia nor
dis Per far
n
a
t
Q
to
s
ut
of fea ia a
1 S rial
tle s de ers
4
t
a e
P
c.6 o bu
7 B orc er
63 ab f nqu
Ho
Ar d co ul
s
n
o
a M
as

t,
er g
ob
ag tron gs
D
of he s kin
ath of t an
De ast ingi
9
l ov
63
r
Me

108-109_600-650CE.indd 109

unchecked even by the

assassination in 644 of Umar by
a Persian slave. His successor,
Uthman, promulgated the first
written version of the Quran,
which had previously been
transmitted orally.
After launching successful
expeditions against the Tibetans
and Mongolians, but failing to
conquer Korea, the Tang
emperor Taizong (r.62649) died
in 649, and his weak-willed son
began to cede increasing
influence to the Empress Wu
(624705). In Japan, the Fujiwara
clan enacted the Taika reforms in
646, bringing all land into imperial
ownership and centralizing power
following the Chinese model.
In England, Christian converts
battled pagan kings for control
over territory and the religious
and cultural direction of the
Sutton Hoo helmet
This reconstruction is made from
iron with highly-decorated panels of
tinned bronze.

n hed
nia us
ld
sa s cr
a
wa
d
S
n
Os
of rsia avan
f
d
o ia
e ih
n
r
th
2 E e; P f N
ea mb
64 pir le o
2 D rthu
t
m
t
4
E Ba
6 No
at
of

of
ath us
De acli
1
64 Her

o
ar
st
Um an
rn els
ph thm be
etu trav
i
r
l
a U
o
ng ia
4 C d; n t wn
za As
64 nate ura n do
an an
u
i
p
Q
e
X
s
tt
s
s
5
er
sa te wri
64 aft
as ulga
ina
m
h
o
C
pr

a
aik n
6T si
64 form
re pan
Ja

n
dia is
f In ha; h
o
th rs p
ea Ha ks u
a
7 D or
64 per bre
em pire
m
e

se

ri
g
an nd
f T ng a
o
th zo
ea Tai u
9 D or s W
64 per res
em Emp
of

20/05/11 12:46 PM

109

107

651670

671690

The weathered landscape of central Anatolia, a Byzantine territory that suffered

repeated raids from Arab forces in the 7th century.

A modern-day depiction of the Battle of Karbala; al-Husayns death is

commemorated in the annual Shiite ritual of the ashura.

THE SPLIT BETWEEN SUNNI AND

SHIITE MUSLIMS was the outcome

ion
rs
ve
d
ng n
ize y
Ki xo s
rd d b
a, Sa die
da ue
nd lo- cia
an iss n
e
t
g er
4 P An
1 S an ma
65 Qur Uth
65 the m M
of liph
of ngdo
ca
Ki

of
ath ls
De igna n
1
a
s
st:
65 III sani nd
Ma ys
ird f Sa re a m
of stro et
g
e
i
s
e
p ni
ttl de fle
zd d o
Ya en Em stria
Ba vy ne
55 ic na anti
oa
6
r
110-111_651-700.indd
110
ab Byz
Zo
Ar

110

108

KHAZAR
EMPIRE

E U R OPE

re
Magh

Khurasan

a n S ea

Constantinople

SASANIAN
EMPIRE
Kerman
Khuzis
Meso
tan F a r s
pota
mia
Oman
Syria
Armenia

Nejd

He

Arabian
Peninsula

jaz

Atlas Mountains

abi

ea
ck S
Bla

E
IR
MP
EE
TI N
Jerusalem
B YZ A N
r ra ne a n S e a
Me di te
EGYPT

Zabulistan
sp
ian
S

Ar

H
KIS S
AN M
FR NGDO
I
K

AT L A N T I C

OCE

AN

British
Isles

Ca

Transoxiana

ea

of fierce disagreement over how

succession to the caliphate ought
to be decided; either by selection
(as in the case of the first three
caliphs) or by hereditary descent.
Caliph Uthman (r. 64456) had
promoted members of his own
clan, the Umayyads. He was
assassinated in 656 by Egyptian
soldiers, nursing grievances over
their lower status. Ali Ibn Abi
Talib became the fourth caliph.
As Muhammads cousin and
son-in-law next in line by
descent Ali enjoyed unique
status in the Islamic world, but he
faced many challenges. At the
Battle of the Camel in 656 Ali
overcame a revolt by the prophets
widow Aisha and her allies,
opposing his inclusive policies. In
657, the Umayyad emir of Syria,
Muawiya, asserted his claim on
the caliphate; Ali was also
challenged by the Kharijis, a
sect who objected to the
application of the
hereditary
principle. In 661,
Ali was murdered
by a Khariji, opening
the way for Muawiya
to declare himself
caliph, instituting the
Arab Umayyad dynasty.
Alis supporters formed
a party of their own,
which evolved into a
distinctive branch
of Islam, the Shiites,
in opposition to the Sunni.
Emperor Constans II
attempted to re-establish

THE MAYA CITY-STATE OF TIKAL

BEGAN ITS RESURGENCE after a

ASIA

Aral
Sea

Yemen

AF R ICA

Expansion under the caliphate

The rapid Arab expansion continued throughout
the latter half of the 7th century. Islamic armies
pushed into Central Asia and North Africa,
bringing them within striking distance of Spain.

Byzantine claims to Italy by

relocating his court to Rome in
663, but raids deep into Anatolia
(modern-day Turkey) by Arab
forces led to a collapse in
his authority; in 668, he
was assassinated and
Constantine IV took
the throne. Arab
incursions into

KEY
Muslim lands by 656
Byzantine Empire c.610
Sasanian Empire c.610
Frankish Kingdoms c.610

Anatolia continued and by 670 they

had reached the Byzantine capital,
Constantinople (modern-day
Istanbul), launching the first
siege on the city, which would
last until 677.
The Unified Silla kingdom in
Korea brought to an end the long
Three Kingdoms period, with the
help of Tang China. In 660
the Tang destroyed the
kingdom of Paekche,
while in 668 Silla and
Tang forces combined
to overcome Koguryo,
thus bringing all of the Korean
Peninsula under Silla control.
Stoneware bird
This grey stoneware incense burner
dates from the Silla kingdom, which
was on the verge of becoming the
dominant power during Koreas late
Three Kingdoms period.

ler
es
ru
n
sh
tio com sion
es f
gli
a
e
m
s
n
o eo
En
si li b cce
c
y

s
e
t
r
s
a
om
by er
l b ta ld to
ss n; A e su
gd
ca y-s bui rva
hit n ov
6 A ma th
kin a
Pa a cit nd bse
f W ma
65 Uth but
a
7
a
o
l
e
o
y
o
il or
d
65 Ma ue cal
of liph uted
no t R ity
8S K
of lenq omi
Sy dop tian
ca disp
66 ifies
64 gy a hris
n
Pa tron
is
6
u
r
C
as
cle ltic
Ce

it;
ine
pl
nt I;
e s fth
za s I
iit es fi m
By tan des
r
f
h
f
e
a
S
s
l
u
eo
n o on ce
nq n
ni com f Is
ieg ople )
tio or C V ac
co ista
un a be ph o
S
a
I
s
S
n
t
n
n
7
b
1
si per ine
iy cali
irs nti 67
ra gha
as
t
66 aw
0 F sta (to
ss em tan
4 A Af
67 Con
s
Mu
66 h of
8A
n
6
6
Co
uc
m

century-long period of political

and cultural domination by
neighbouring city-states known
as the Tikal hiatus, which had
been marked by an absence of
inscriptions in the citys
petroglyphic record. An inscription
dated to 672 records a military
campaign against the rival
city-state of Dos Pilas, and in the
following decades Tikal restored
its position among the Maya of the
Late Classic period (600900).
The citys rulers engaged in a
construction programme to match
their political ambitions, building
many impressive structures
including massive pyramids, ball

courts, causeways, observatories,

and palaces.
The Arab forces besieging the
city of Constantinople (see 670)
were unable to breach its massive
walls and were eventually beaten
off with the use of a new
Byzantine secret weapon
Greek fire (see 71120). Its
deployment may also have helped
destroy the Arab fleet at the Battle
of Syllaeum in 677, forcing the
caliphate to agree a 30-year
truce. The truce bought breathing
space for the embattled Byzantine
Empire, struggling to hold back
the Bulgars, who established the
First Bulgarian Empire in 681 on
conquered Byzantine territory
north of the Balkan mountains.

ARAB CONQUESTS
Having consolidated their conquests of Persia and Byzantine
North Africa, Arab armies pressed on eastwards and westwards.
In Central Asia, Arab forces crossed the Oxus river in 667 and
continued to advance to within range of the Silk Road kingdom of
Bukhara. In Africa, they crushed the Berber kingdoms, reaching
Tangiers in 683.

ya

Ma
of
ce l
n
e ika
rg
su f T
Re te o
2
a
67 y-st
cit

of he
t
se
le
t u by ing nop
s
ir re ur ti
3 F ek fi es d stan
7
6 re tin on
G zan of C
By ege
si

:
um
ae roys
l
l
t
y
a
f S des ing e
r
c
eo t
ttl flee secu pea
a
e
r
B in
s, ea
7
t
b
67 zan Ara 0-y
3
By

p
elo r
ev ate ic
n ns d t is l rab em
a
i
A
t
a
Ind tici wha du sys
in ue
80 ma nd
c.6 athe en a the H -val
m se t as ace
l
ba own al p
kn cim
e
d

es
ed h
e c lis
pir stab pire
m e m
eE o
E
tin wh an
an ars, ari
z
y lg
g
l
B
u Bu
1
68 to B irst
F
ds
n
a
l

24/05/2011 14:25

691700

Jerusalems Dome of the Rock a shrine sacred to all three Abrahamic faiths
has an octagonal floorplan and a massive gold dome.

At the Battle of Karbala in 680

the Shiite leader al-Husayn ibn
Ali, grandson of Muhammad, was
surrounded by Umayyad troops,
deprived of water for several
days, and eventually killed. His
death was proclaimed a
martyrdom by the Shiites, who
commemorate it to this day.
In China in 690, the Empress
Wu finally took the throne in her
own name the only woman in
Chinese history to do so after
decades of controlling it through
her husband and sons. She even
created her own dynasty, Zhou,
which she headed until 705.

3,000

THE NUMBER OF MAJOR STONE

BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTED IN
TIKALS LATE CLASSIC PERIOD
ABD AL-MALIK HAD BECOME
CALIPH IN 685, instituting

important changes to the way the

caliphate was ruled, centralizing
government, insisting that all
state business was conducted in
Arabic, setting up the barid (a
postal/intelligence gathering
service), and issuing, around 697,
new coinage: the dinar and
dirham. He also commissioned a
great shrine to be built on the

,,
Temple at Tikal
Flanking Tikals Great Plaza, the 38m
(122ft) high Temple II was built
during the construction boom of the
Late Classic resurgence.

ch
ea
sr

b
ra
3 A rs
68 ngie
Ta

u
sW ,
es ne
pr thro ou
m
h )
0 E ese g Z 05
69 hin shin to 7
C bli y (
s
t
e ta
s
tak es yna
D
110-111_651-700.indd 111

I HAVE NOT
SEEN THE
EQUAL; NEITHER
HAVE I HEARD
TELL OF
ANYTHING
THAT COULD
RIVAL IN GRACE
THIS DOME OF
THE ROCK

,,

Mukaddasi, Arab geographer,

c.10th century

Temple Mount in Jerusalem,

the Dome of the Rock (or
Qubbat as-Sakhrah),
completed in 692.
The harsh ten-year rule of
the Byzantine emperor
Justinian II had aroused
widespread opposition and in
695 he was deposed and had
his nose cut off by Leontius,
who became emperor in his
stead. However, in 698, the
loss of Carthage, the last
Byzantine stronghold in North
Africa, to the Arabs led to
another revolt and Leontius
suffered the same fate as his
predecessor.
The turn of the century was a
time of change and unrest in the
Americas. In North America, the
spear was superceded by
widespread adoption of the bow
and arrow. In the Valley of Mexico
around 700, the great city-state of
Teotihuacn, which once housed
over 100,000 people, collapsed
bringing six centuries of growth
and dominance to an end. Social,
economic, and environmental
factors were probably to blame.

or
s:
d
oli per
se
top em nia;
s
po
e
a
de s
eb ntin rme cting
I
I
S
a
a
A e
f yz
h
n
ke ef
eo
nia nd
ttl at B ta s d
sti s a
Ba efe and acre
Ju ntiu f
1
d
I
5
I
s
f
69 abs ian as e
69 Leo ut o
Ar stin an m eng
by se c
o
Ju stini n rev
n
Ju vs i
Sla

he
ft d
e o te
m ple
o
2 D com
69 ck
Ro

w
Pa f
ar e o
gu stat red
a
J y- tu
y
ing cit ap d b l
5 K ya ul c ce ika
69 f Ma km crifi of T
o ala sa s
C and rce
fo

Ancient
Teotihuacn
mask
This mask was
probably tied to
a figurine representing
a god. The mask would
have been decorated with
inlays and ear ornaments.

of
ate
l d rst
a
n fi
lo
itio ry ao
ad da , P
Tr gen ice
7
n
o
e
69 mil f Ve fest
se ge o Ana
do cio
Lu

y
tro
es of
d d loss ius
n
a
t
;
er nis on ed
qu Tu Le os
on und ses dep
c
u
a
be
bs fo
ra ge, ge c to
a
8 A ha
69 art arth
C
C

re e
ua och
0H rM
0
e
c.7 nqu u
co Per
in

y
cit
of he
se in t co
p
n
i
a
n
ica w
oll ac Mex
er
0 C tihu y of
m t bo w
0
A
p
o
c.7 Teo alle
rth do rr
V
No s a nd a
of
00 dian a
7
.
In
c

24/05/2011 14:25

111

109

701710

711720

721730

A detail from the illuminated

manuscript of the Lindisfarne Gospels.

Greek fire being deployed, as illustrated in the Madrid Skylitzes manuscript from the
12th century, which chronicles the history of the Byzantine Empire.

An iconic image of Christ held by

Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople.

caliphate control from Provence

to the borders of China.
The Arabs did experience some
setbacks, however. In 717, yet
another incursion into Byzantine
lands triggered a change at the
head of the empire, bringing Leo
III, founder of the Isaurian
Dynasty, to the throne. Although
unable to prevent the Arabs from
reaching the walls of the capital
and launching the second siege
of Constantinople (71718), Leos
energetic command of the
defence, and the deployment of
the secret weapon Greek fire,
halted Arab advances in the
Eastern Mediterranean. Byzantine
fleets, wielding Greek firespouting siphons, gained control
of the seas, and Leo was able to
begin restoring the empire.
In 713, the Tang emperor
Xuanzong came to the throne. His
43-year reign would see Tang
China reach its apogee,
economically and culturally, with
the establishment of many
schools, patronage of the arts,
and a great literary flowering.

ANGLO-SAXON ART FUSED

GERMANIC AND CELTIC
ELEMENTS, and, through

travellers and Christian pilgrims,

it also reflected Roman and
Byzantine influences. A product
of this unique synthesis was the
Lindisfarne Gospels, an
illuminated manuscript produced
c.701 at the priory of Lindisfarne,
on Holy Island, off the northeast
coast of England.
In 705, with the help of Bulgar
allies, the deposed emperor
Justinian II returned from exile
(see 690700), regained the
Byzantine throne, and exacted
brutal revenge on those who had
mutilated him.
By 705, Zoroastrian refugees
fleeing the Islamic conquest of
Persia established communities
in India and became known as the
Parsees. Persian Zoroastrian
emigration continued during the
following centuries.

Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory

The Benedictine Priory, built in the
12th century, replaced an earlier
church founded by St Aidan in 635.

s
ic
n
of pel
m dia
sia la In
on os
er ng Is d in
ati ne G
P
e
(
ei he
s
Cr far
ee s fle blis
01 dis
rs
a
c.7 e Lin
Pa trian est
5
)
th
70 roas ion
s
o
Z pan
ex

u
sW s
es ie
pr d, d
m e
5 E pos
70 de

I
nI
nia xile
i
t
e
us
es
5 J rom acr s
70 ns f ass nent
r m o
u
t
p
re and op

112-113_701CE-750CE.indd 112

112

110

His favourite concubine

This Tang dynasty scroll shows Xuanzong watching his
concubine Yang Guifei mount a horse. The emperors love
for her inspired much drama and poetry.
IN 710, THE VISIGOTHIC KINGDOM
OF SPAIN had descended into civil

war, presenting a tempting

prospect to the Islamic armies
now established in North Africa,
just a short distance away across
the Straits of Gibraltar. In 711, a
Muslim army under general Tariq
ibn Ziyad, landed at Gibraltar.
Tariq was a Berber (native of
northwestern Africa), or, in the
parlance of the times, a Moor, and
it was a mixed army of Arabs and
Moors that achieved the conquest
of Spain, known to the Islamic
world as al-Andalus. According to
tradition, Tariq defeated the
Visigothic king, Roderick, at the
Battle of Guadalete, and by the
end of the year most of the Iberian
peninsula was under Islamic
control. Only the northwest,
known as Asturias, managed to

resist the invaders, with defeat

at the Battle of Covadonga in 718
checking the Arab advance. The
year 718 is one of the dates
traditionally given for the start of
the process of Christian
reconquest of Spain. Nonetheless,
by the end of the decade further
expeditions across the Pyrenees,
and successful campaigns in
Central Asia, had extended

GREEK FIRE
The Arab expansion indirectly proved the saviour of the Byzantine
Empire, when Kallinikos, a Syrian Greek forced into exile by the
Arab invasion, brought to Constantinople the recipe for a secret
weapon that came to be known as Greek fire. Now believed to
have been a concoction of naphtha, sulphur, quicklime, and nitre
a sort of medieval napalm this highly flammable mixture was
sprayed at enemies from a siphon device that could be fitted to
the prow of a Byzantine war galley.

of
st r
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q
s
n )u
m
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ar Ziy
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71 der s Sp
71 d (i me
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71 led
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71 com sh k
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71

e
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7
71 Con ek in E
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72 liph es t
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e
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Pr

CASA GRANDE FLOURISHED

AROUND THE 720s. The success of

this settlement of the Hohokam,

an ancient people of the Sonoran
desert in modern-day Arizona, lay
in a watering system that allowed
a range of crops to be grown,
despite the arid environment. The
Hohokam lived here for more than
a millennium; they were known as
canal builders because of their
sophisticated irrigation
technology. Casa Grande was at
the centre of a trade network
that stretched from the Pacific
coast to Tucson and to the Gulf of
Mexico. The earliest structures
at Casa Grande were probably pit
houses; the great house that
gives the site its name came
much later.
In 725, the Khazars, a Turkic
people of Central Asian origin,
established their capital at
Atil, on the Volga delta at the
northwestern corner of the
Caspian Sea. From here they
controlled trade routes to all
corners of Asia and built an
empire that would control a huge
swathe of Eastern Europe and
Western Asia for centuries
to come.
In Byzantium in 726, the
emperor Leo III (see 71120)
instituted a policy of iconoclasm
(smashing images deemed
sacrilegious) in response to the
idea that God was punishing
Christian Byzantines by their loss
of land to the Arabs and Slavs.
The controversy encouraged the
Roman papacy to assert their
independence from Byzantine
imperial authority.
,
ne
e
tio nk
s
uk e
Ra mo
ab by d attl
m
h
r
s
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1A d eB
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72 ecke t th e
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ch do a lous
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u
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t
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72 ork as lar f dat
of
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Be BC s
/
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in
m
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Ho en e in
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r
5
2 lem d
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w
6I m
c.7 sett Gran nde
u
72 he e pose ic po
t
sa a fo
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za oli of
16/05/11 4:26 PM
By es p
us

731740

741750

In 1837, artist Steuben depicted the Battle of ToursPoitiers as a clash over the fate of
Christian Europe. In reality Islamic raiders were beaten back in a minor skirmish.

The Great Mosque at Samarra, Iraq, built by the Abbasid Caliphate. Once the
largest mosque in the world, the minaret stands at 52m (171ft) tall.

PEOPLE PER
SQUARE
KILOMETRE
THE
POPULATION
DENSITY
OF TIKAL
SINCE CONQUERING SPAIN,
ISLAMIC FORCES had made

regular raids across the

Pyrenees, striking deep into
modern-day France before
retreating to al-Andalus. In 721,
an incursion into Aquitaine a
dukedom nominally in vassalage
to the Frankish kingdom had
been checked by Duke Eudo at
the Battle of Toulouse. But in
731, Eudo was unable to halt a
fresh invasion of Islamic forces
under Abd al-Rahman I, emir of
al-Andalus. After defeat at the
Battle of Arles, Eudo was forced
to appeal to Charles Martel, the
Frankish mayor of the palace, for
help. Martel raised an army and
met the Islamic forces on the
banks of the Loire, between
Tours and Poitiers, in 732. He
was victorious at the Battle of
ToursPoitiers, and subsequent
Christian historians would depict
this as one of the defining
clashes of the age the moment
at which Islamic expansion was

sic
as
Cl n
e
o
t
i
a at
t
s L liz
30 ivi igh
c.7 ya c s he
a
e
h
M ac
re

s
ce
for of
ic uke es
m
l
d
Ar
sla o,
1 I ud at
73 at E ine,
be uita
Aq

overtaxed the surrounding

ecology and exceeded their ability
to cope with drought. Collapse
was just around the corner.

culmination of growing tension in

the Islamic world. Under the
Umayyads (see 65170) the Arab
elite stubbornly maintained their
special tax and political status,
failing to deal with the growing
grievances of the mawali (nonArab Muslims). In 747, revolt broke
out in Persian Khorasan,
stronghold of the Abbasid clan,
who traced their descent back
to Muhammad through his
uncle, al-Abbas. In 749, Abu
al-Abbas al-Saffah was
proclaimed caliph at Kufa in
Iraq, and the following year at
the Battle of the Zab he
defeated Marwan II, the last
Umayyad caliph. Marwan fled
to Egypt but his head was sent
back to Damascus, whereupon
al-Saffah instigated a general
massacre of the Umayyad
clan to remove potential
opposition.
In 741 Charles Martel
(see 73140) died and was
succeeded by his sons
Pepin the Short and

Carloman. In 748, Pepin had a

son, Charles, who would go on to
unite most of Western Europe
under one banner (see 76190).
Tiwanaku, a pre-Columbian city
on the altiplano (high plains) of
Bolivia, reached its height in
around 750. Tiwanaku was the
centre of a civilization that
flourished from the third to tenth
centuries (see 95160). The city
itself was probably a ceremonial
and trading centre; its cultural
and economic influence spread far
through South America, and
it would profoundly affect the
development of later civilizations
in the Andean region. Tiwanaku
thrived in the harsh environment
of the Bolivian altiplan thanks to
its sophisticated raised-field
agriculture system and extensive
use of terracing and irrigation,
which enabled it to achieve yields
in excess of even modern
petrochemical farming
(see below), and supported the
development of a sophisticated
culture. The Tiwanaku people
built pyramids, temples, and
colossal statues.

25

Tiwanaku yields
Raised fields combined
with irrigation canals
enabled Tiwanaku to
achieve yields
of up to 21 tonnes per
hectare, according
to experimental
reconstructions.

Statue of Chaak, Mayan god

Mayans would have sought
help from god of rain and
thunder, Chaak, for their
crops. Their civilization sat in
a region of poor soil and
fragile ecology,
so rain was vital.

s
re
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il
ap es
v
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sta 680
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73 turi rtug
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C nf
7
t
se
in
73 igno
Av

THE FOUNDATION OF THE ABBASID

CALIPHATE IN 750 was the

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112-113_701CE-750CE.indd
113 bic
w ard
b
a
m
Ar
Lo

YIELD (TONS/HECTARE)

790

checked and Europe preserved

for Christianity. Arabic sources
record it as a minor skirmish,
and in reality its main
significance was that it
demonstrated the need for the
Frankish kingdoms to
present a unified defence.
The Maya city-states
of the Late Classic
period reached
the peak of their
power and
sophistication
in the mid-8th
century in
Central America.
The population of
Tikal, for instance,
swelled to at least
60,000, in a city
spread out over
76 sq km (47 sq
miles). Mayan rulers
built stone
temples, palaces,
ballcourts, and
observatories, and
controlled a trade
network stretching
from California to
South America. Yet
the height of the
city-states glory
sowed the seeds of
downfall, as the populations

20
15
10
5
0

Traditional

Modern
Tiwanaku
Petrochemical Intensive

FARMING YIELDS COMPARED

re
,
ab
ler
ue pi
tel
eZ
ru
ar hort
th ral
lag e em
le his
II,
f
p
M
I
o
e
s n
S
n
s
o
e o gen
ble ti
es s o
rle he
Le ror
ttl
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m
e
ha n t
of
Ba d by f
Te Byz
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0
th Emp
f C Pepi
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74 ict
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74 ccee rlom
74 Fran rs d
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As
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5 F r E ral
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16/05/11 4:26 PM

113

111

751760

761770

771780

The interior of the Mosque of Cordoba, Spain, shows architecture from the
earliest phase of construction during the reign of Abd al-Rahman I.

The two-tier crop rotation system introduced in the 760s divided fields
between cultivated and fallow land, then alternated, promoting soil fertility.

Roland bids farewell to Charlemagne,

in this medieval illustration on vellum.

UNDER THE NEW ABBASID

CALIPHS (see 74150) the Islamic

empire continued to grow. Initial

success came in 751 against the
Chinese in the Silk Route kingdom
of Tashkent. The Islamic armies
were victorious at the Battle of
Talas River near Samarkand,

which led to the loss of most of

Tang Chinas Central Asian
possessions and introduced the
Islamic world to papermaking.
Outlying regions of the caliphate
asserted their autonomy. In Spain
in 756, one of the last surviving
Umayyads, Abd al-Rahman I,
declared an independent
Emirate of Cordoba.
In Europe, the
Carolingian Pepin III
(c.71468)
deposed the last
Merovingian
king, Childeric III.
With the popes
support Pepin was
crowned and was
soon able to return
the papal favour.
When the Lombards
conquered Ravenna,
the last Byzantine
territory in Italy, the
Lombard king, Aistulf
then set his eyes on
Rome. Pope Stephen II
appealed to Pepin for
help, and in 755 and 756
Pepin invaded Italy,
seizing Ravenna. It was
later claimed by the
papacy in a document entitled
the Donation of Pepin, that
Pepin had conceded all former
conquered territories in northern
Italy to the pope, but this was
almost certainly not the case.
Pepin III
Also known as Pepin the Short,
Pepin III was the first Carolingian
King of the Franks. This carving from
his tomb dates to the 13th century.

f
to g
re
ec akin e
S
1 m th
75 per to rld
pa sses c wo
pa ami
Isl

r
su d
an con
l-M se ph
A
es li
4
75 com id ca
be bas
b
A

n
lA
ra
ne ated
e
n
G
a, ssi
s
sid
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n C is a ellio
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7
n
b
0
I
75 sha s re d
76 opt als
Lu d hi sse
ad mer
u
an ppre
n
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te
rt
ira f
m to
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e S firs g
b
h
t es in
o
in
rd rks f un hate
els
o ip
ep om n k
xp oc
Co ma
es
1 P bec ingia
n e ued h
56 ain k-up cal
i
5
m
7
p
7
l
e ng kis
co cia
Sp rea mic
ro
be Mer
b sla
9 P La an es
in
Ca
fa
I
75 om s Fr rene
Of g of
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f
7
s
75 Kin
or xte to
Mo nd e rule
a

114

112

Charlemagnes
European Conquests
Charlemagne inherited
land from his father then
embarked on war after
war, continuing the work
of his father and
grandfather.

THE DEATH OF PEPIN III IN 758,

had seen the Frankish kingdom

customarily divided between his
sons Carloman and Charles (see
panel, below).
Meanwhile, the great monastic
retreat on the Scottish isle of Iona
was developing a reputation for
piety and scholarship. It is
possible that one of the treasures
of Celtic Christianity the Book of
Kells was produced by monks
in the monastery at Iona. Lavishly
decorated and illuminated, this
priceless artefact survived the
Viking raids (see 791800), and for
safekeeping it was later
transferred to a monastery at
Kells in Ireland.
The founding of Baghdad in
762 signalled the arrival of the
first truly Islamic imperial city.
Sited near Ctesiphon (the old

Hamburg
Aachen
Paris
AT L A N T I C
OCEAN

E URO PE
KEY Avignon
Frankish Empire
on Charlemagnes
Rome
accession
Charlemagnes
M ed iter r a n ea n
conquests
S ea

Regions recognising
Charlemagne as
overlord

Sasanian capital), the new city

was carefully laid out on a
circular plan and was connected
to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
by canals. Baghdad became a
trading hub that attracted
merchants from northern Europe,
India, and China.

CHARLEMAGNE (748814 )
Athletic and physically impressive, Charlemagne spoke Latin and
understood Greek, but never learned to read. His intent was to
extend Frankish hegemony, foster a close relationship with the
papacy, and reform the Church to ensure divine support for the
Frankish Kingdom. This depiction from a 15th century tapestry is
testament his enduring legacy.

op m
Cr ste
0s n sy in
6
7
o
c. tati ced
ro rodu
int rope
Eu

al
pit
ca dad
e
h
t
g
a
ph Ba
ali to
2 C oves
6
7 m

Bologna

Barcelona

e
i
pir at
am
em ital
n
Im
a cap
t
n
ee
ibe ng
tw tes
3 T Ta
be hii
76 cks an
lit ili S
p
g
a
s an
5 S ma
Ch
76 d Is
an

,
III
pin an
Pe lom m
f
o ar do
g
C
th
ea nd kin
8 D les a his
6
7 ar are
Ch sh

KEY
Frankish Empire on
Charlemagnes accession
Charlemagnes
conquests
Regions recognizing
Charlemagne as overlord

THE DEATH OF CARLOMAN IN 771

meant that Charlemagne became

sole ruler of the Franks. The
following year he launched a
series of bloody campaigns with
the aim of bringing the peoples
east of the Rhine back under
Frankish rule they had been
subject to the authority of the
preceding Merovingian Dynasty.
At this time the various Saxon
tribes were still pagans, and
Charlemagne was determined to
convert them to Christianity and
thus bring them under the
hegemony of the Frankish state.
From 77374 he conquered the
kingdom of the Lombards,
bringing northern Italy into his
empire and establishing his rule
over Venetia, Dalmatia, and
Corsica, thus extending his reach
down both sides of the Adriatic
coast and into the Mediterranean.
In the late 770s, he attempted to
project his power into Spain by
taking advantage of infighting
among the Muslim rulers. Invited
to intervene in local politics by
disgruntled emirs, Charlemagne

le h
so eat
ne r d
ag afte
lem s
ne
ar nk
ag
Ch Fra n
1
f
lem
r
77 g o loma
ha
kin Car
4 C ers
of
77 nqu rdy
co mba
Lo

ne
ag t
m es
rle nqu cia
a
h co an
2 C ns Fr
77 egi ast
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of
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5
77 ; al- cali
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s
n
m
Ma eco
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r
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tin ne
Fa ion sa
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8
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77 pedi agos
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78 gen
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88 BB vvaa
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7777 nncceess
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1 N Chi Tabl
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78

114-115_751-800.indd 115

791800

Offas Dyke, which roughly follows the line of the WelshEnglish border, was
constructed during the reign of Offa of Mercia; stretches are still visible today.

The giant Buddha at Leshan in China was begun

in 713 and finished 90 years later.

CHARLEMAGNES CONQUEST OF
WEST SAXONY in 782 comprised

a bloody development with the

mass execution of 4,500 Saxon
prisoners at Werden. This event
was appropriated by Nazi

historians in the 1930s as a sort of

pre-Christian Germanic
martyrdom, while others have
called into question its details and
even occurrence. Meanwhile,
concerned about ignorance and
illiteracy among clergy,
Charlemagne launched a
Carolingian cultural renaissance.
In 786, Haroun al-Rashid
(r.786809) acceded to the
caliphate in Baghdad. Under his
rule the Barmakid family gained
great power as his viziers
(high-ranking advisors) and
favourites, while the intellectual
and cultural flowering of the
Islamic world gathered pace.
Growing enthusiasm among
the rich and powerful for books
encouraged scholars to begin
translating ancient Greek and
Roman texts into Arabic.
In 785, Offa of Mercia
(r.75796), effective
overlord of Britain,
started constructing
the monumental
earthwork known as
Offas Dyke, on the
border between
Wales and Mercia.
Originally 27m
(89ft) wide and 8m
(26ft) high, the
purpose of the dyke
is unknown, and it
probably fell into disuse
soon after its completion.

Imperial gift
An exquisite water jug sent to
Charlemagne by Haroun
al-Rashid, probably c.800.

ian ins
ng eg
oli ce b
r
a
n
1 C sa
78 nais
Re

f
no
tio s
uc egin
r
t
s
b
on ke
5 C Dy
78 fas
Of

ne
ag t
m es
hid ;
rle s W ony
a
as
Ch quer Sax
-R aliph f
l
2
a
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78 con
n
s
ou es nc
ar com nda akid
H
6 be sce rm
78
a Ba

e
ea
iit
ica
Sh
fN
an is
o
c
r
oc
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or r Id
un cla
Co ono y
8 M unde
8
7
c
7
s
i
78 ds ver
c. volt
en ntro
re
co

in
ck
tta in
ies e
g a rita
tin pos ts
n
u
i
e
B
y m le d pu I
Vik in
st
rm op and e V
Fir
0 A ntin ne, ntin arge
9
9
7 sta Ire sta ch
78
n in
n
Co
Co

VIKING RAIDS on the shores of

the British Isles started in 789

and gathered pace in the
790s with the looting of
the rich monasteries of
Lindisfarne and Iona. The
Vikings (possibly from the
Old Norse language)
originated in Scandanavia.
In Tang China, the influence
of Buddhism continued to
grow, signalled by monuments
such as the Leshan Buddha, a
giant statue of the seated Buddha
carved into a bluff next to the
confluence of several major rivers.
In Constantinople (modern-day
Istanbul), the emperor invited his
mother Irene to become
co-ruler in 792; four years later
she had him blinded and declared
herself empress. This move
spurred the scholar Alcuin of York
to suggest that the imperial seat
was effectively vacant, and on
25 December 800, Charlemagne
was crowned Emperor of the
Romans by his ally, Pope Leo III.
In the same year he received an
embassy from Haroun al-Rashid,
emblematic of how the focus of
power in Europe had shifted.
In 800, the Abbasid caliphs in
Baghdad were forced to recognize

Functional and stylish brooch

Skilfully crafted out of gold, this
Viking brooch was not only beautiful
but also practical, used to fasten
cloaks or other clothing.

more or less complete loss

of authority in Africa west of
Egypt. They conceded to the emir
of the province of Ifriqiya
(modern-day Tunisia and part of
Algeria) the right to make his post
hereditary. The emir, Ibrahim ibn
Aghlab, thus founded the
Aghlabid Dynasty. This paid
tribute to Baghdad and nominally
recognized Abbasid authority, but
ruled much of North Africa as an
independent state.

,,

sent his armies across the

Pyrenees but they failed to take
the city of Saragossa (modernday Zaragoza in Spain) and were
forced to retreat.
This botched expedition
inadvertently launched one of
the great romances of
medieval times, the
legend of Roland. In
778, Roland, one of
Charlemagnes generals,
was killed during an attack
on the rearguard of the
Carolingian armies as they
retreated through the
Pyrenean valley of
Roncesvalles. The attack
was actually carried out by
Basques, but Rolands Breton
followers took up the tale and as
it spread through France in the
following centuries it morphed
into a legend with many
fictitious elements: Roland
became the nephew of an
elderly, white-bearded
Charlemagne; his attackers
the perfidious Saracens;
and Roland was Count of
the Marches of Brittany.
By the 11th century, the
Song of Roland
appeared as an early
chanson de geste; a heroic
epic of the age of chivalry.
In Constantinople, the
death of Emperor Leo IV
brought to the throne his
infant son, Constantine VI.
During his minority the empire
was under the regency of the
Empress Irene, his mother.

781790

[CHARLEMAGNE] WAS
LARGE AND STRONG AND OF
LOFTY STATURE, THOUGH NOT
DISPROPORTIONATELY TALL.

,,

Einhard, Charlemagnes friend and Frankish historian, c.830

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Jayavarman II
This statue of Jayavarman II from
the 12th-century Bayon temple at
Angkor Thom, was constructed by
his namesake, Jayavarman VII.

around 770, was powerful enough

to establish an independent
Khmer Empire and have himself
proclaimed chakravartin, or
universal ruler. In Sanskrit this
translates as god-king the
authority of Khmer kings rested
on their direct link to the gods,
which was reflected in the
monuments they would construct
at the temple city of Angkor in
centuries to come (see 88090).
Around 801, Bulan, the Khan of
the Khazar Empire (see 861-70),
hosted a debate between the
three Abrahamic faiths, and
chose Judaism.

es
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116

114

821830

Louis the Pious in a copy of Raban

Maurs Book of the Cross.

This 14th-century manuscript depicts scholars seated in the House of Wisdom;

the Abbasid caliphs recruited scholars of all religions, from Europe to China.

CONFLICT BETWEEN THE

BYZANTINES AND BULGARS

THE HOUSE OF WISDOM, or Bait

al-Hikma, was an institute devoted
to the translation of classical
scholarship and the pursuit of
learning in Abbasid Baghdad. It
was the epicentre of the Islamic
intellectual renaissance, the heart
of the Translation Movement, and
the home of great scholars such
as Al-Kharwizmi (c.780850);
algebra takes its name from his
great treatise on mathematics of
c.830, the Kitab al-Jabir, or The
Compendious Book on Calculation
by Completion and Balancing.
The House of Wisdom was
consolidated c.822 by al-Mamun.
After the death of his father
Haroun al-Rashid (see 791800),
and after a brief struggle, he had
succeeded to the Caliphate in 813
and continued the tradition of
intellectual patronage, building
observatories and gathering the
best scholars from around the

THE NUMBER
OF STATUES AT
BOROBUDUR
TEMPLE

THE TIBETAN EMPIRE EXPANDED

in the early part of the 9th century,

and extended its control to the
Bay of Bengal. Its influence in
Central Asia was indicative of
Tang Chinas weakness in the
region. Meanwhile, in northern
India the Gurjara-Prathihara
dynasty, which had united the
region and held back the advance
of Islam, continued to grow in
strength with the conquest of
Kanauj in modern-day India by
Nagabhata II, around 801.
The Temple of Borobudur, a
Buddhist monument in central
Java, Southeast Asia, was
completed in the early 9th
century. The colossal structure,
which is the largest Buddhist
monument in the world, contains
over 2 million stone blocks and
is covered in almost 2,000 sqm
(21,500 sqft) of carvings. The
monument is a three-dimensional
mandala, or cosmic wheel;
walking its path, which is a
journey of over 3km (2 miles),
re-enacts the journey towards
nirvana (englightenment). Its
construction was an epic
achievement, and a testament to
the power of the Srivijayan
Empire (c.7601402), which had
grown rich from the extensive
maritime trade of the region.
For much of this era Srivijayan
influence extended over the
Southeast Asian mainland,
including the Mekong basin
kingdom formerly known to the
Chinese as Funan. But, in 802,
Jayavarman II, a vassal ruler
whose family had been quietly
extending their territory since

811820

(see 67190) continued through the

early part of the 9th century.
Despite Byzantine emperor
Nicephorus I (r. 80211) twice
sacking the Bulgar capital Pliskas,
in 809 and 811, the Bulgar khan,
Krum, fought back, meeting his
foe in battle later in 811.
Nicephorus was killed and Krum
had his foes skull lined with silver
for use as a drinking cup. Two
years later, Krum attempted to
besiege the Byzantine capital
Constantinople, but was unable
to breach the walls and so
retreated, devastating Thrace
for good measure.
Charlemagne (see 760800)
died in 814 and his last remaining
son, Louis the Pious (r. 81440),
acceded to the throne. He had
been crowned co-emperor by his
father the year before.

ISLAMIC SCIENCE
Thanks to the House of
Wisdom and other similar
centres of scholarship across
the Caliphate, Islamic scholars
went far beyond the learning
of the ancient Greeks and
Romans. Islamic scientists
made great advances in
fields such as alchemy
(proto-chemistry), medicine,
toxicology, metallurgy,
mathematics, and astronomy.
This illustration from The Book
of Knowledge of Ingenious
Mechanical Devices shows an
innovative handwashing device.

y
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400

THOUSAND
THE NUMBER
OF BOOKS IN
THE HOUSE
OF WISDOM

world. Mimicking the practises

of the Abbasids Persian
predecessors the Sasanians
the Translation Movement
collected manuscripts from other
cultures and older traditions, and
translated them into Arabic,
thus preserving much ancient
scholarship that would otherwise
have been lost. Ptolemys seminal
work on cosmology, the Almagest,
for instance, was translated from
Greek into Arabic around 827,
and it was only through this
translation that European
scholars would later be able to
access this ancient text.
Civil strife in the Carolingian
Empire (80088) resulted from
tension between Louis the Pious
and his sons over their
inheritances. After the death in
819 of his first wife mother of his
sons Lothair, Pepin, and Louis
the German Louis the Pious had
married the ambitious Judith of
Bavaria who prevailed on Louis to
grant to her son, Charles the
Bald (82377), lands that had
previously been promised to
Lothair. In retaliation Lothair,

ic y
am cil
Isl Si
st into
r
i
7 F ion
82 urs
inc

f
m
to
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s f se
gb Kin n
ive nd u cy
E
t
i
s
u
a
g
ing feat and
fu e a pir
ll
m ret r
5 K de
sli r C se fo
82 sex f at E
u
e
a
s ul
7 M qu b
We rnw
82 con it as
o
ain
Be
p
S

nt
a
ina
al d
om rt
tw
d
x gbe bre
e
s
es d; E d as
8 W lan ge
82 Eng led
w
in kno rlord
ac ove
or

f
eo
pir into
em ds ina
i
ha pan Ch
9 T ex rn
82 hao uthe
nc so
Na

Louis co-emperor since 824,

rallied his brothers in revolt
against their father. In early 830,
Louis was deposed, and although
Lothairs misrule saw his father
restored by the autumn, the older
mans authority was compromised
and the scene set for worse
conflict to come.
Wessex, the Anglo-Saxon
kingdom in south and west
England, became the dominant
English power as a result of the
victory of King Egbert over King
Beornwulf of Mercia at the Battle
of Ellandun, Wiltshire, in 825.
Egbert was subsequently able to
conquer the southeastern
counties of England, and by
around 828 Wessex was the most
powerful state in the land, with
Egbert recognized as bretwalda,
or overlord, of England until his
death in 839.
The emergence of Great
Moravia began around 830, with
the establishment of the
Principality of Moimir, to the
west of the White Carpathians,
under the rule of Moimir I.
Moimir was one of two Slavic
polities to establish themselves
in the power vacuum left by the
collapse of the Avars in 805; the
other to the east of the White
Carpathians, in what is now
Slovakia was Nitra, under the
rule of Prince Pribina. In 833,
Moimir would conquer Nitra,
setting his principality on the
path to becoming the Great
Moravian Empire.

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Mo
116-117_801_850.indd
117

831840

841850

The area around Segesta in Sicily, with its Greek ruins, was occupied early on
in the Aghlabid invasion of the island.

The ancient city of Pagan, in Burma, became the capital of a powerful

Buddhist state occupying roughly the same area as the current region.

THE ISLAMIC CONQUEST OF SICILY

had begun in 827 with the arrival

of an invasion force from Aghlabid
in North Africa, sent by the Emir
Ziyadat Allah I (r. 81738) to take
advantage of internal divisions
among the Byzantine rulers of
the island. Hindered by outbreaks
of plague, the Islamic forces made
little headway until 831 when
Palermo fell after a year-long
siege. The city then became the
capital of Islamic Sicily, although
total conquest of the island did
not happen until 902.
The Field of Lies, in
Alsace in 833, was a
meeting brokered by

the Pope to mediate between the

Frankish rulers, which resulted
in the desertion of Louis the Pious
and Charles the Bald by their
followers, and their subsequent
imprisonment. This was one
episode in a series of conflicts
that saw the collapse of central
authority and increasing Frankish
vulnerability to raids from the
Norsemen to the north and west,
Bulgars and Magyars to the east,
and Saracen pirates to the south.
Saracen warriors
Saracens was a European term for
Muslims, especially those occupying
Sicily and raiding Europe.

THE TREATY OF VERDUN in

843 marked the definitive

division of Charlemagnes
empire. After the death of
Louis the Pious in 840, his
three surviving sons
(see 82130)
embroiled
themselves in further
conflict over land. In
842, Charles the Bald
and Louis the
German teamed up
and swore oaths to
impose a settlement on Lothair
that saw the Frankish Empire
divided into regions. These
broadly equated to France in
the west, Germany in the east,
and a middle kingdom that
would later become known as
Lotharii regnum, or Lotharingia
(modern Lorraine).
The rise of the Cholas, a Tamil
dynasty of southern India, can
be dated to 846, when the Chola
king Vijayalaya, captured the
city of Tanjore from the
Pandya kingdom.
The Capitulary of Meersen was
a proclamation by the West
Frankish king Charles the
Bald in 847, ordering every
free man to choose himself a
lord. Charles intended the
decree to facilitate the levy
of armies, but it was also
indicative of the increasing
inability of the Frankish
rulers to protect their subjects.
In place of central authority,
the peasants relied on local
lords; they gave up freedoms
and bound themselves to a
feudal aristocracy in return

ur
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for protection from Vikings and

other raiders.
In around 848, the Burmese
city-state of Pagan was founded
in the Irrawaddy Valley. Indian
influence is readily perceivable in
the architecture of this part of
Southeast Asia due to cultural,
religious, and mercantile ties.
The legendary discovery of
coffee is dated to around 850
when it is said that an Ethiopian
goatherd named Kaldi noticed
that, after eating some red
berries, his goats became
extremely lively. He brought a
sample to a local Islamic holy
man, who, disapproving of
intoxicants, threw them on the fire
where they roasted and released
a delicious aroma.

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Coffee plant
The coffee bush is native to the
mountains of Ethiopia and Yemen,
where it was first recorded in use in
the mid-15th century.

84

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06/05/11 5:07 PM

117

115

851860

861870

871880

Monument in the courtyard of the

Maya city of Palenque.

The frontispiece of The Diamond Sutra, the earliest known printed work,
shows Buddha explaining the sutra (sermon) to an elderly disciple.

The landscape of Iceland offered scant

welcome, yet Vikings settled here by 874.
ALFRED THE GREAT OF ENGLAND,

THE DECLINE OF THE CLASSIC

MAYA civilization continued as the

wave of abandonments that began

with Palenque at the end of the
9th century spread south and east
into the Classic Maya heartland.
The last recorded inscriptions at
Mayan cities Quirigu and Copn
date to 810 and 822; at Caracol
to 859; and at Tikal to 889. A
combination of drought, famine,
disease, and social upheaval
were probably responsible, as
overpopulated cities and their
overstretched resources reached
a tipping point.
The first recorded use of a
crossbow was in France in 851.
Although slower to reload than
a longbow, the crossbow, or
arbalest, required little training
or strength to operate.
The Fujiwara regency,
assumed by Yoshifusa (c.80472)
on the accession of his grandson,
the child-emperor Seiwa in 858,
marked the Fujiwara clans
domination of Japanese power.

NUMBER OF ARROWS PER

MINUTE

12
9
6
3
0

Crossbow

Longbow

Crossbow vs longbow
Although the longbow could be
fired much faster, the crossbow
had a greater range and was easy
to operate.
d
ue
tin ic
on lass n
C
C io
s
of
50 e of zat
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ue ing e
c.8 clin ivili
ow Fran
ag son urop
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i
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ss o
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in m i s
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fro real
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f
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wa uji n
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ar
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85 Ja ent
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118

116

KHAZAR EMPIRE
The Caspian Sea is still known in the region as the Khazar Sea for
the empire that ruled the area between it and the Black Sea from
the 8th to 10th centuries. A contributing cause to the empires
decline may have been a rise of 7m (23 ft) in the sea level.
CYRILLIC SCRIPT WAS INVENTED

by the Byzantine missionary later

known as St Cyril in around 863.
Originally named Constantine,
Cyril and his brother Methodius
were sent to convert the Slavs in
Moravia by Byzantine emperor,
Michael III in around 862. Cyril
devised a new Glagolitic script
to translate the Bible into Slavic;
this later became Cyrillic script.
In 867, Basil, a favourite of
Michael III, deposed his master and
took the throne as Basil I. His reign
marked the start of one of the most
glorious periods of Byzantine
history. Intent on restoring the
empire internally and externally,
Basil rebuilt the army and navy and
revised the legal system.
The Diamond Sutra of 868 is the
worlds oldest surviving printed
book. An illustrated Buddhist text,
it was found in a cave in
Dunhuang, a Silk Road town in
northwest China.

Around the mid-9th century, the

Khazars adopted Judaisim (see
80110). According to tradition,
they chose an Abrahamic faith
to put them on equal footing with
Christianity in the Byzantine
Empire and Islam in the Caliphate.

Early Cyrillic script

This wax tablet contains psalms of
David, written in the early 11th
century. It is believed to be the oldest
document written in Cyrillic.

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6
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an educated man who had spent

time in Rome with the Pope,
acceded to the throne of the
Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex
in 871. During the reign of his
elder brother Aethelred I
(r.86571), Danish Vikings had
invaded Wessex, but Alfred had
helped defeat them at the Battle
of Ashdown in 870. On assuming
the kingship, Alfred averted
crisis by defeating the Danes at
Wilton in southwest England,
but another attack in 875
caught him unawares and he
was forced to retreat to the
Somerset marshes.
According to the popular
legend, Alfred was here given
shelter by a peasant woman
who, unaware of his identity,
left him to watch some
cakes that were cooking on
the fire. Preoccupied with the
problems of his kingdom, Alfred
let the cakes burn. Nonetheless
he was able to summon his
armies and defeated the Danish
king Guthrum at the Battle of
Edington in 878, forcing him to
conclude the Peace of Wedmore,
under the terms of which
Guthrum converted to
Christianity and agreed to a
division of the country (see 88190).
The settlement of Iceland
demonstrated how the Vikings
were advancing on other fronts.
Irish monks had probably already
reached the North Atlantic island,
and Viking navigators had other
clues to its existence, such as
the passage of migrating birds.
Vikings had already visited the

d
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King Alfred
A statue of King Alfred was erected
at his capital, Winchester, in 1901.
His sword doubles as a crucifix,
emblematic of his militant faith.

island and even over-wintered

there, but the first permanent
settlement, according to the
medieval Icelandic Landmabk
(Book of Settlement), was by
the Norwegian chieftain
Ingolfur Arnarson in around
874. According to legend, he
selected the spot for his
homestead by throwing his

lly
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,,

WE DISCERN
ACROSS THE
CENTURIES A
COMMANDING
AND VERSATILE
INTELLIGENCE,
WIELDING WITH
EQUAL FORCE
THE SWORD OF
WAR AND OF
JUSTICE.

,,

Winston Churchill, British

Politician, on King Alfred, 195658

throne pillars overboard and

following their drift.
The Twelfth Imam, al-Mahdi
believed by some Shiites to
be the ultimate saviour of
humankind miraculously
disappeared in 874. According to
some Shiites, when the Eleventh
Imam, Hasan al-Askari, died in
874, his successor, a seven-yearold boy, went into literal and
spiritual hiding, and ever since
has been said to be occulted,
or hidden until the day of his
messianic return.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
a unique written record of events
from wars and politics to the
weather, was kept from around 880
until the mid-12th century. It was
indicative of the scholarship that
King Alfred fostered, inviting
scholars to England and translating
major classical works himself.
nt
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88

881890

891900

The faade of a building known as the Nunnery annex, at Chichen Itza,

the leading Maya city-state of the Late or Terminal Classic Period.

Symeon of Bulgaria, depicted in the centre, had been educated as a monk in

Constantinople before returning to take control of the Bulgars in 893.

SWEDISH VIKINGS, known as the

THE GROWING POWER OF THE

BULGAR KHANATE (see 81120)

Varangians or Rus, used rivers

such as the Volga and Dnieper to
push ever further inland from the
Baltic, establishing dominion over
the eastern Slavs of the region.
Having founded the settlement
of Novgorod in 862 and launched
audacious raids on Constantinople
by navigating rivers all the way to
the Black Sea, they now colonized
ever further south. In 882, the Rus
prince Oleg (r. 882912) defeated
his rivals Askold and Dir, seized
their settlement at Kiev, and
transferred his capital there from
Novgorod. The city would become
the capital of Kievan Rus, a loose
federation of territories, until 1169.
The Danelaw the part of
England in which Viking law was
upheld was formalized by the
Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum in
886, following renewed attacks by
Guthrum. Alfred would keep the
south, including London, while the
area to the north of a line between
the Thames and Lea rivers went
to the Danish, who would live
under their own laws.
In 887, Charles the Fat
(c.83988), the last Carolingian
king to rule both the primary
Frankish territories, West and
East Francia (modern-day France
and Germany), was deposed.
Charles, already king of the East
Franks since 879, had been
elected king of the West Franks in
884. However, he was a victim of
the declining power and authority
of the Carolingian monarchs (see
84150). Unable or unwilling to
meet the Vikings in battle
specifically during their Siege of

SlavonicViking Jewellery
Viking invaders conquered
territories along Russias waterways,
establishing a hybrid culture that
mixed Slavonic and Viking styles.

Paris in 88586 he was proven

incapable of protecting his people.
Odo, Count of Paris (c.86098),
who had led a heroic defence
against the Vikings in 885, was
elected king of West Francia in
887. From now on, East and
West Francia would develop as
separate regions.
The catastrophic decline of the
Classic Maya city-states of the
southern lowlands continued
throughout the 9th century, and
Tikal was abandoned by around
889. Maya city-states of the north
(the area of Mexicos Yucatn
Peninsula) now took precedence
in what is known as the Late or
Terminal Classic Period.
Foremost among these
civilizations was Chichen Itza,
which commanded the advantage
of cenotes, or water holes; of
vital importance in this droughtvulnerable region.

es
ak
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worried the Byzantine emperor

Leo VI, who in 895 prompted the
Magyars to attack the Bulgars.
However, this merely provoked the
new khan, Symeon (r.893927),
to mobilize the Pechenegs a
tribe that had recently arrived on
the Dnieper to invade Magyar
lands. The Magyars were forced to
migrate west, settling in presentday Hungary, from where they
launched extensive raids on
Frankish territories for years to
come. In the summer of 896,
Symeon defeated a Byzantine
army at Bulgarophygon, in

modern-day Turkey, forcing the

Byzantine emperor to pay tribute.
Symeon would rule for another
30 years, vying for the Byzantine
throne, only to be thwarted by
the impenetrable walls of its
capital, Constantinople, on
numerous occasions.
The Toltecs (c.8001000) were
probably refugees from the
collapsed Teotihuacan culture
(see 690700), who settled in the
Valley of Mexico, founding a
capital at Tula c.900, and forging
a militaristic empire that inspired
their descendants, the Aztecs.

Toltec coyote
Toltec art, such as this depiction
of a coyote-god, influenced other
pre-Columbian American
civilizations, including the Aztecs.

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117

901910

911920

This stone relief is from the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
Breakdown of central authority in the period led to economic contraction.
TANG CHINA HAD BEEN IN
MILITARY DECLINE since defeat by

the Arabs at the Battle of Talas

River in 751760, and the Huang
Zhao rebellion of the 880s
signalled the end of the dynasty.
Zhuwen (c.852912) was a
warlord who had originally been
part of the Huang Zhao uprising
and then instrumental in the rebel
defeat. Richly rewarded for his
role, he steadily built up his power
base until in 904 he was ready to
seize control, executing the Tang
emperor Zhaozong and most of
his sons, and installing the
emperors 13-year-son on the
throne as a puppet ruler. In 907,
he took the throne for himself,
founding the Later Liang
Dynasty, but although he
controlled the northern heartland
of China the Yellow River Valley
region of Huang He he was
unable to prevent the south

Fatimid era text

Named for Muhammads daughter,
Fatima, the Fatimids proved patrons
of learning through their sponsorship
of Cairos al-Azhar school.

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ra din e
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c.9 stle in E
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120

118

fragmenting into ten independent

kingdoms. The Later Liang
Dynasty was short-lived (907
923), with a succession of groups
seizing control of the Huang He
region and founding dynasties of
their own, but proving unable to
hold on to power. This period of
anarchy, known as the Five
Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms,
lasted until the establishment of
the Northern Song Dynasty (see
951960), and was a time of great
hardship. Authority broke down,
the economy collapsed, and
barter replaced money in many
areas. There was extensive flood
and famine as flood defences and
irrigation works fell into disrepair.
To the west and north of the Five
Dynasties region, Shatuo Turks
and Khitan Mongols consolidated
kingdoms of their own. The
Khitans of southern Manchuria
established their empire in 905
under the leadership of Yel
Abaoji (872926). He went on to
declare himself emperor in 916,
founding the Liao Dynasty,
which lasted until 1125, including
a brief period as one of the
Five Dynasties controlling
northern China.
In 909, Said ibn-Husayn, an
Ismaili Shiite, overthrew the
Sunni Aghlabid Dynasty in
Kairouan (modern-day Tunisia),
declared himself al-Mahdi (the
Shiite messiah), and founded
the Fatimid Dynasty, named
for the daughter of the prophet
Muhammad, from whom he
claimed descent.
The Abbey of Cluny in Burgundy,
founded in 910 by William the

,
ina

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Ma

ABD AL-RAHMAN III BECAME THE

NEW UMAYYAD RULER of the

ABBEY OF CLUNY
William the Pious, who donated
the land for the abbey in 910,
placed no obligations on its
Benedictine monks, so that it
was free from secular
oversight and answerable only
to the Pope. Cluny became the
centre of a monastic empire of
great power, governing around
10,000 monks. In 1098, Pope
Urban II, a former Abbot of
Cluny, declared it the light of
the world.
Pious, Duke of Aquitaine, became
the centre of a monastic empire
in Europe (see panel, above).
Displaced westwards by the
Pechenegs (see 891900), the
Magyars launched a series of
devastating raids throughout the
decade. In 901, they ravaged
The Five Dynasties
A succession of
regimes was unable to
consolidate power,
leaving warlords to the
north and south to set
up independent
kingdoms. The
fractured geopolitical
situation is reflected in
this map, which shows
a tangle of borders
and states.

Carinthia, in 906 and 907 they

wreaked havoc in Moravia, and
in 908 they attacked Bavaria,
Saxony, and Thuringia. With the
Frankish emperor unwilling or
unable to help, the East Franks
elected regional dukes to
defend against the incursions.

GANZHOU

Khitans

Cordoba emirate on the death of

his grandfather, Abdallah, in 912.
His territories had been reduced
by rebellions and he quickly set
about regaining much of his lost
kingdom. During his reign and
that of his successors, Cordoba
reached the peak of its power
(see 921930).
According to traditional
sources, Prince Igor, ruler of
Kievan Rus from 914945, was
the son of the legendary Rurik,
who founded Novgorod in 862.
Under his protection, Kievan Rus
(see 881890) became a
Igor I of Kiev
Igor, who ruled from 914 until his
death in 945, gestures to his court
in this19th-century illustration.

YAN

SHAZHOU

Uighurs

Tibetans

Yellow
Sea

LATER
TANG

JINGNAN

FORMER
SHU
CHU

WU

Man

WU YUE

MIN

SOUTHERN HAN
ANNAM

KEY
Chinese states
States occupied by
nonChinese
peoples

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931950

,,

921930

IN THIS YEAR, KING

AETHELSTAN, LORD OF WARRIORS,
RING-GIVER TO MEN WON ETERNAL
GLORY, IN BATTLE WITH SWORD
EDGES, AROUND BRUNABURH

,,

Unknown author, from the Old English poem,

The Battle of Brunaburh, 937

formidable power in the region,

earning the respect of the
Byzantines by force of arms
during the Rus-Byzantine war of
941, and winning lucrative trade
concessions from them.
In 911, in recognition of
helplessness in the face of
constant and devastating Viking
raids (see 881890), the West
Frankish king, Charles III,
granted a large area of land
guarding the mouth of the River
Seine, which consisted of a large
part of what later became
Normandy, to the Norse chieftain,
Rollo, also known as Hrolf, on the
condition that he became a
Christian. Charles grip on the
crown was tenuous; the authority
of the Carolingian monarchs had
declined precipitously, with local
counts ruling what were

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effectively independent fiefs that

owed only nominal authority to
the king (see 841850). A powerful
faction of West Frankish
magnates had elected Count Odo
of Paris to the kingship in 887, so
Charles spent much of his reign
engaged in civil war with Odo and
his descendants.
One of the tribal dukes who
came to power with the
impotence of the Carolingians in
the face of the Magyar threat,
Henry I, was elected king of the
East Franks in 919, founding the
Saxon Dynasty. The last
Carolingian monarch of the East
Frankish kingdom, Louis the
Child, died in 911, after which
Conrad, duke of Franconia, was
elected as king. On his death he
nominated his strongest rival,
Henry, as successor.

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Fr the
of

Lgberg, or Law Rock, in Iceland is

the centre of the oldest parliament.
NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THOUSANDS

This decorative panel at the Caliphs Palace in Madinat az-Zahra, Spain, was
erected by Al-Rahman III in imitation of the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad.

IN 932, THE UMMAYAD CALIPH ABD

AL-RAHMAN III (see 911920)

100
80
60
40
20
0

8th

9th

10th

CENTURY

Cordobas population growth

This estimate shows how Cordoba
grew rapidly from a small town to
become one of the worlds
biggest medieval cities.
THE WANING AUTHORITY OF THE
ABBASIDS IN BAGHDAD prompted

Abd al-Rahman III to declare

himself the true caliph in 929,
thus amending his kingdom, from
emirate to caliphate. During the
10th century, his capital, Cordoba,
became the largest and most
developed city in Western Europe.
In 930, Icelanders started
meeting to decide on justice and
legislation at an outdoor
assembly on the plains of
Thingvellir. All free men who
had not been outlawed could
attend the Althing, making it
the oldest representative
assembly in the world.
During what archaeologists call
the Pueblo II phase, the Pueblo
peoples of Chaco Canyon, North
America, were thriving. They built
immense structures called
great houses, some with up to
700 rooms.

,
st
an
fir
g, ties,
hm
n
a
a
s
i
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captured Toledo, bringing all of

Muslim Spain back under one
banner. Al-Rahman also waged a
successful war against the
Christian kingdoms of Leon and
Navarre on his northern borders,
forcing them to acknowledge his
overlordship. In general, Jews and
Christians enjoyed tolerance
under the caliphate, though they
remained second-class citizens,
making issues such as tax status
a driving force behind conversion.
The Silla kingdom (see
651670) was conquered by the
Koryo kingdom in 935,
completing the reunification of
Korea under the Koryo leader
Wang Kon, who now became King
Taejo (r.918943). Wang Kon had
acceded to power in the Three
Kingdoms state of Koguryo in 918,
renaming it and leading it in
successful military ventures
against the Kingdom of Paekche,
who were conquered in 934, and
the Silla. During his reign, Taejo
consolidated power by
incorporating Silla nobility into his
new ruling bureaucracy.
In one of the bloodiest battles
ever fought on British soil, the
Anglo-Saxon king Athelstan
(c.893939) crushed an alliance of
forces in 937, cementing his
control of Britain and his kingship
of a the now unified Anglo-Saxon
realm of England. Alarmed by the
prospect of Anglo-Saxon
expansionism, the king of Alba (in
modern-day Scotland) had joined
forces with the Vikings and other
northern British realms to

counter the threat. The results

were immortalized in an Old
English poem recorded in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (see
871880), which reported that five
kings and seven earls died on the
battlefield, alongside
unnumberd crowds of soldiers.
Victory confined the Welsh and
Scottish to their borders, halted
Viking expansionism, and helped
create England as a nation.
In 946, the Persian Shiite
Buwayhids took Baghdad and
forced the caliph to recognize
Ahmad ibn-Buwayh as supreme
commander. Although Abbasid
caliphs remained in place until
1258, they were mere
figureheads; real power now
passed to Buwayhid sultans
who ruled from their capital
in Shiraz, Persia.
Henry I (see 911920) was one
of the tribal dukes who came to
power in the face of Magyar
threat to the Carolingians. Known
as Henry the Fowler, he enlarged
the kingdom and inflicted the
first great defeat that the
Magyars (see 901910) had
experienced since beginning
their raids into Europe, at the
Battle of Riade in 933. Henry
was powerful enough
to ensure that on his death the
succession would be hereditary,
and the election of 936 was a
formality, acknowledging his son,
Otto, as the new king. Ottos
coronation ceremony in 962
consciously emulated that of
Charlemagne (see 761770), and
he was crowned at Aachen, the
old imperial capital.

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20/05/2011 14:50

121

119

Gold arm ring

Thors hammer
pendant

Thors hammer
a symbol of power
and virility was a
common theme for
jewellery. Thor was the
Norse god of thunder.

gold beading
and wire
work

Decorated with patterns made

by stamping, beading, and
minute engraving, this arm ring
from Rbylille in Denmark has
crosses and tree motifs.

sword indicates that

rider is a warrior

Silver figure of horseman

Statue of Frey
The Vikings worshipped Frey,
the Norse god of fertility. This
statue from Sweden shows Frey
holding his beard a symbol
of growth and virility.

This stylized metal figure from

Sweden probably represents a
warrior on horseback. The Vikings
were fine horsemen, but they
preferred to travel by ship.

THE VIKINGS

ends of ring are in

shape of cat heads

THE ARTISTRY AND SKILL OF VIKING ARTISANS BELIES THEIR REPUTATION AS SAVAGES

Between the 8th and 11th centuries, the Viking world

spanned Europe, from the Pontic Steppes in the south and
east to the shores of North America in the west and north.
This realm was tied together by a culture of arts and crafts.
The unifying motifs of Viking art and crafts were elaborate ornamentation,
interlacing patterns, and stylized animals. The material culture of the
Vikings was mostly utilitarian yet finely crafted. Common, ceremonial,
and military objects were ornamented heavily. Techniques such as etching,
engraving, and inlaying and the use of metal beading helped to create
patterns of interweaving tendrils, gripping beasts, and stylized limbs.

buckle plate for

securing baldric

baldric (sling-like
shoulder strap)

Wooden shield

Shields were made from spruce, fir,

pine, or linden wood with iron
handles behind an iron boss.
They were painted with
bright colours and often
had intricate designs.

Silver brooch/pin

This gold-coated silver

brooch or cloak pin from
Sweden is highlighted with
niello, a black metallic
compound.

colours signified
intent or
allegiance
iron blade

stout wooden
haft with runic
inscription

120

122-123_collection_Vikings.indd 122

Axe

Axes were commonly used

by poor Vikings, as they were
cheaper than swords. This
Danish axe has a metal blade
and a wooden haft.

double-edged
blade

Sword

Swords were rare and extremely

valuable for the Vikings. This
sword could be easily drawn
out from its sheath and wielded
with one hand.

26/05/2011 18:23
17:07

THE VIKINGS
Gilded weather vane

ornate
etching

Weather vanes were originally mounted

on the prows of ships and later on the
tops of churches. This gilded weather
vane was found in Sweden.

lion figure
indicates wind
direction

Buckle plate

This metal plate was fixed to a

Vikings leather belt so that it could
be buckled. It has two sections, one
for each end of the belt.
carved teeth

Hair comb

A typical Viking grooming kit included

a comb, tweezers, and scoops for
cleaning ears. This wooden comb has
a handle secured with iron rivets.

silver and gold

inlay work

Brooch

This box brooch (top view), from

Martens on the Swedish island
of Gotland, is decorated with four
squatting human figures in gold.

stylized great
beast with
sinuous limbs

Early Danish coins

iron crest

Originally, the Vikings used

looted coins, hack silver
(chunks), and barter in place
of their own money. King
Harald Bluetooth started
mass minting of coins in 975.

Trading weights

Found in Sweden, these

brass-coated iron weights
were used to measure
quantities of goods and
the value of hack silver.

dragon head
used to terrify
enemies

symbol
indicates weight

carved from
an animal horn

carved scale
patterns

Drinking horn

Vikings believed they would

use drinking horns like this
in Valhalla, the heaven for
warriors, if they died in
battle. This drinking vessel
was used in feasting.

beech panel with

tin and iron studs

Helmet

Made from iron plates

welded together over a
leather cap, this Norwegian
helmet has an attached face
guard, complete with nose protector.

Sledge
face
guard

This oak-and-beech sledge is

from a ship burial at Oseberg
in Norway. It has finely carved
runners and animal heads on
each corner post of the box.

Ships prow ornament

Elements of Viking culture were

derived from and prefigured in
earlier cultures. For example,
this wooden prow ornament is
from Saxon times.

123
122-123_collection_Vikings.indd 123
123
122-123_collection_Vikings.indd

121

26/05/2011 17:08
18:23
26/05/2011

951 960

961 970

971 980

,,

A RECKLESS
MAN BY
NATURE [WHO]
ATTEMPTED
UNUSUAL DEEDS
Leo the Deacon on John
Tzimisces, late 10th century

122

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124

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Bronze Mirror
This intricately decorated mirror
from the Song dynasty illustrates
the artistic sophistication of China
in this period.

33%
rowing

Iceland

e
re

declined precipitously in the

second half of the 10th century.
Sophisticated agricultural and
irrigation techniques (see 74150)
had allowed Tiwanaku to
support a population of up
to 60,000 people, with up to
1.4 million in the wider region,
according to some estimates. A
prolonged drought is believed to
have been responsible for its
decline and archaeological
evidence suggests that the main
city was abandoned as citizens

retreated to smaller, rural

settlements, and returned to a
pre-urban lifestyle.
The establishment of the Song
dynasty in China brought an end
to the anarchy and warfare of the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
era (see 90110). Known as the
Northern Song in its early stages
because the capital was at
Kaifeng in northern China, the
dynasty was founded by Zhao
Kuangyin (r.960-76), who was a
general under the Late Zhou, the
last of the Five Dynasties. He dealt
with the threat from external
states such as the Khitan Liao
(see 90110), the Tangut kingdom
of Xia Xia, a confederation of
Tibetan tribes, and conquered
several of the Ten Kingdoms to
the south. Zhao used the civil
service examination system to
assert control over the military,
and centralize power.
Emperor Otto I, the Great
(91273), defeated the
Magyars at the Battle of
Lechfeld in 955. Since
being displaced by
ByzantineBulgar conflict
(see 891900), the Magyars had
raided Frankish territories,
reaching as far west as Aquitaine
in 951. The son of Henry I (see
91120), Otto vigorously asserted
royal authority from his coronation
in 936, gaining control of all the
East Frankish duchies. His
powerful army ended the Magyar
menace and also defeated the
Wends tribes on the eastern
border engaged in a long struggle
to resist Frankish colonization
and Christianization.

G
to

THE PRE-INCA, ANDEAN

CIVILIZATION OF TIWANAKU

This detail from the imperial crown of Otto I shows the biblical figure,
King Solomon, holding a scroll.

AT L

This detail from the Gateway of the Sun, a great stone doorway at
Tiwanaku, is carved with a figure known as the Staff God.

,,

GREECE
Athens

Tunis

AF RI C A

ed

iterr

THE POPES IMPERIAL CORONATION

OF OTTO I as emperor in 962,

revived the Carolingian Roman

Empire in the West. In 961, Otto
made an expedition to Italy in
response to a plea for protection
from Pope John XII, and in Pavia
he had assumed the Italian crown.
The following year he went to
Rome to receive the imperial
crown and assert his authority
over the fractious papacy.
His son was crowned co-emperor
as Otto II in 967.
In 965, King of Denmark,
Harald Bluetooth, converted to
Christianity, and the religion
spread rapidly through the Nordic
region. Denmark had been forced
to accept missionaries as
the consequence of defeat by the
East Frankish king, Henry I, in

Constantinople
Asia Minor

ASIA

anean Sea

Viking sea routes

By the late 10th century, Viking seafarers had
penetrated to every corner of Europe and beyond,
reaching as far as Greenland in the north.

r
ro
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O
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Af

Se

Black Sea

KEY
Viking expansionist
exploration 810th
centuries

933. Further afield, Vikings

continued to prosper as they
penetrated into all parts of
Europe.
The death of Byzantine emperor
Constantine VII in 963 brought
his infant son Basil II (9581025)
to the throne. In practice,
authority was assumed by the
general Nicephorus Phocas. As
Nicephorus II (r.963969), he
continued the restoration of the
empire that had begun with the
reconquest of Crete in 961,
regaining Cyprus and Cilicia
in 965, subduing the Bulgars
in 96669, and invading
northern Syria in 969. That
same year he was assassinated
by his nephew, John Tzimisces.

f
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h o anit
ot
to sti
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ids t
l
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tim yp
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ra erts
9
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B
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c.9 st w
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fir wn
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tin II
an
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Ru
of tant horu or
d
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an
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ath ons icep per II
ev
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K
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s
ds
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ro
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ge s hi pe
ar a
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96 pero era es phor
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ed
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n
t
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es
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(b. hoc
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P
ha
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96
5K
im
Tz
96

Longboat crew in battle

By keeping part of the crew at the
oars Viking raiding parties
maintained an aggressive posture
without sacrificing mobility.
DURING HIS SHORT REIGN, JOHN
TZIMISCES, nephew of Nicephorus

II (see 96170), won a string of

victories. Having fought off a
revolt by general Bardas Phocas
in 971, Tzimisces crushed a
campaign by the Kievan Rus
leader, Sviatoslav, and conquered
Bulgaria as far as the Danube.
In 972, he campaigned in the East,
taking Edessa, Damascus, and
Beirut, reaching the gates
of Jerusalem in 976. He died
suddenly that year.
In 980, the Vikings
started raiding England
again, though they suffered
a reverse in Ireland, where
Malachy II forced Viking
Dublin to pay tribute.

2)
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13/05/11 11:33 AM
be rdo
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981 990

991 1000

Venices modern splendour is the result of control of the lucrative trade routes between
Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the East in the 10th century.
IN 981, THE ISLAMIC FORCES OF
CORDOBA defeated the Christian

kingdom of Leon in Spain, under

the leadership of Al-Mansur.
Al-Mansur was the honorific
title taken by Muhammad ibn Abi
Amir, the powerful and energetic
vizier who was the true power
behind the Umayyad throne (see
91120). He campaigned
successfully against Leon,
Navarre, and Catalonia, making
their kings subordinate to the
caliphate, and extended Umayyad
control to Africa via campaigns in
Mauretania (modern-day
Morocco and part of Algeria).
In 986, the Viking explorer, Eric
the Red, led a party of Icelandic
colonists to the shores
of the bleak landmass
he misleadingly named

rectangular
wool-cloth
sail

Al-Mansur
This 17th century oil painting depicts
Al Mansur, or Almanzor to his
Christian subordinates. Al Mansur
means the Victorious.

Balam, Chichen Itza was

conquered by Toltecs led by
Kukulcan, the Mayan name for
the Toltec god Quetzlcoatl or the
feathered serpent possibly the
exiled Toltec king, Topiltzin.
Despite the record in the
chronicle, however, archaeological
findings suggest that the city
collapsed around this time.
By the end of the 10th century,
the mercantile powers of Venice
and Genoa were beginning to
dominate the Adriatic and
Tyhrrenian seas respectively.
Venice, in particular, enjoyed
lucrative trade links with the
Byzantine Empire.

Greenland in the hope of

attracting settlers. He succeeded
in recruiting 24 boatloads of men,
women, and children willing to
entrust their lives to Viking
longboats, and brave the perilous
crossing. Only 14 ships arrived,
but they quickly established a
thriving colony that may have
eventually numbered around
5,000 people.
Otto II, the emperor and king of
East Francia, died of malaria in

Viking longboat
Considered by some to be the greatest
technical achievement of the early
medieval era, the Viking longboat
combined river, close-to-shore, and
ocean-going capacity.

r
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98 bjug
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of
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98 rthe
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No
De (b.95
3
98 to II
Ot

983 after an expedition to

southern Italy. Although his infant
son, Otto III (r.9831001),
managed to hold on to the crown
thanks to the strong regency of
his mother, Theophano, the East
Franks were also faced with an
uprising among the Wends, the
forcibly converted Slavic tribes on
the eastern border. The Wends
restored their pagan religion and
resisted Frankish colonization for
nearly two centuries.
In 987, Toltec forces conquered
the Yucatn Maya and made
Chichen Itza the capital of a
ToltecMaya state. According to
the early Mayan chronicle Chilam

st
nd t Ea
We ains on
t
i
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re
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3 G lion xp
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Re anc
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Gr

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124-125_951_1000.indd 125 9
98
98 und
fo

TOLTECS
The Toltecs, who ruled a state centred on Tula in modern-day
Mexico, were notable for their aggressive militarism, which
changed society in Central America, paving the way for militaristic
states such as the Aztec. The term Toltec came to mean
city-dweller or civilized person, but its literal meaning is reed
person signifying an inhabitant of Tollan (Place of the Reeds,
the city now known as Tula). Toltec art and architecture,
characterized by monumental masonry and giant statues, was
greatly influential in the region.

n
lca aya
ku M
Ku atn n
c
e
c
he
olt Yu hic
7 T ers C
98 nqu akes pital
co d m s ca
an a hi
Itz

r
su
an n
-M Leo
l
8 A ns
98 erru
ov

r
ro l
pe
m rebe s
e
a
e
s
tin feat hoc s
P
n
an
yz II de das gia t by
B
f
il ar
8
an n
98 Bas al B Var s) se ir o s
r
im u
f
g
ne lp o ikin lad n R
e
g he
V e V eva
ian inc Ki
th
wi uss Pr
(R

g
din nd
tra a a
n
o
a
n
li
e
Ita s G h
90 ate ris
c.9 y-st flou
cit nice
Ve

10,000

KILOGRAMS
THE WEIGHT
IN SILVER OF
THE DANEGELD
IN 991

IN 991, A FORCE OF ANGLO-SAXON

WARRIORS made a stand against

a much larger army of Vikings at

the Battle of Maldon in East
Anglia, England. They were
slaughtered. The English king,
Aethelred II, the Unready
(r.9781016), was forced to pay a
tribute known as the Danegeld,
to buy off further incursions.
Byzantine emperor Basil II
launched the first of a long series
of campaigns against his
greatest enemy, the Bulgarian
tsar Samuel, in 996. Basil had
won major victories in Syria the
year before, but it took him
nearly 20 years to finally defeat
the Bulgarians.
From around 1000, the
inhabitants of Easter Island, or
Rapa Nui an island in the Pacific
Ocean began to carve
monumental statues known as
moai. Thought to represent
ancestors and to channel mana
spiritual energy the cult of
moai consumed the Easter
Islanders to the point where they
may have fatally compromised
their environment setting them
on the path to ecological disaster.

, d to
on
ld rce e
Ma hs fo t tim
v
f
o
rs
c
sla
tle ar r fi
ole rst
at mon d fo
B
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h
00 ed an
99 glis neg
10 wn f Pol
ro o
En y Da
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kin

III
tto or
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9
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9 em
nd
es
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ne
r I to b d
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as art cte
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13/05/11 11:33 AM
10 Dai tnam
Vie

125

123

1001 1010

1011 1020

1021 1030

These ruins at Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, reveal one of more than
a dozen Great Houses constructed by the Anasazi.

One of the greatest but cruellest Byzantine emperors, Basil II became

emperor in 976. Aged 20, he ruled for nearly 50 years.

The Brihadishvara temple was built by

the Cholas in their capital Tanjore.

MURASAKI SHIKIBU (LADY

MURASAKI) wrote the novel Genji

IN 1025, THE CHOLA KING

RAJENDRA CHOLADEVRA launched

AROUND 1000, THE ANCIENT

PUEBLO CIVILIZATION centred on

Chaco Canyon in southwest North

America reached its climax. The
Anasazi used sophisticated
dryland agriculture and hydrology
to thrive in the arid environment,
and controlled trade routes that
extended as far as the Pacific
coast of present-day California
and the Valley of Mexico. They
achieved impressive feats of
architecture, most notably the
construction of Great Houses
such as Pueblo Bonito, one of 13
such buildings in Chaco Canyon.
Pueblo Bonito was six stories high
and comprised more than 600
rooms. It probably functioned
as a ceremonial centre, storage
depot, and elite residence.
Well-maintained roads some
with stone kerbs connected
Chaco Canyon to thousands of
smaller Anasazi settlements
across the region. The canyon
itself may have been home to as

many as 10,000 people, and this

set the Anasazi on a collision
course with the fragile ecology of
the region (see 116165).
Mahmud of Ghazni (c.9711030)
was a Muslim intent on
spreading the faith into India. In
1001, at Peshawar, he defeated
Jaipal, raja of Punjab, who then
committed suicide.
Probably the first European to
set foot on North America, Leif
Ericson landed in a place he
called Vinland in around 1002.
Shortly after this discovery,
Greenlanders under Thorfinn
Karlsefni tried to establish a
colony, spending three winters
there. The remains of
settlements at L Anse aux
Meadows, in northern
Newfoundland, attest to Viking
presence in North America.

LEIF ERICSON (9701020 )

Leif was the son of Eric the Red, founder
of the Greenland colony (see 981990).
Stories differ on the exact details of his
discovery of North America. According
to one account, he was returning from
a visit to Norway in 1002, where
he had been converted to
Christianity, and was blown off
course, landing at the place he
called Vinland because of the
grapes growing there. Another
account suggests that he aimed
for a land sighted to the west by
an Icelandic trader.

i
az
f
f
ins
t o nas
e o eg
i
igh n A
ag cs b
e
t
zn
;
i
o
a
III
ha
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re am
fG
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tto
0 G cer
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.
o
0
fO
c ac
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0 se
o
u
1
.
c ine
Ch
hm nja
ath ms
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Ma Pu
De lai n
01 uers
02 y II c crow
0
0
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1 nr n
co
He rma
Ge

3,000
survivors

124

Lady Murasaki
A scene from a 16th century hanging
scroll depicts author Lady Murasaki.
Of noble birth, she chronicled the
affairs of the Heian court.

of shock. By the end of the

decade the Bulgarians finally
submitted to Byzantine
annexation.

1,000
survivors

4,000

6,000

KILLED

KILLED

GAELIC

VIKING

The bloody Battle of Clontarf

Fought between the largest armies yet assembled in Ireland,
the Battle of Clontarf was a bloody affair. Up to 4,000 Gaels
and up to 6,000 Norse and their allies were killed.

f
n o re
of
tio njo
ing
ple in Ta
m e
nd of gdom
o
u
l
C p
Fo ty
in
09 m
10 as e k
10 a te
10 Dyn mes iet
v
y
Siv
a
L tn co
Vie Daiof

n
he
ep st
St e fir ry
r
of
es
1
ro
a
0
th
m
ud rs
pe he
10 es ung
co nd
on
hm que n
em ts t el
be rela
a
om of H
ics nd
e
et
u
n
a
r
c
ea
M o
sta
a
in efe mu
or of I
po s
or
be ing
if E inl
nt
a
09 i c ni
k
n B ing
eK
za l II d ar S
ian lete e
Le rs V
10 azn fgha
a
y
g
s
i
2
r
p
K
a
i
h
B s
r
e
v
0
ts
Gh in A
Pe om (T s)
ra
10 scov 03 B High 003 Ba ian
10 si c ma ng
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r
ur
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di
10
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ita
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lga
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B
126-127_1001_1050.indd 126
Fir Sha ook
10
B
10

126

Monogatari (The Tale of Genji)

in instalments between 1011 and
1021. It is regarded as the first
Japanese novel, and possibly the
first psychological novel in world
literature.
In 1014, Brian Boru, High King
of Ireland and self-styled
Emperor of the Gael, defeated a
coalition of Dublin Vikings and
Celtic Leinstermen at Clontarf, in
Ireland. Although the Norse
kingdom was crushed and Viking
incursions into Ireland halted,
Brian Boru was killed in the battle
and his dream of a united Irish
kingdom fell apart thereafter.
In 1014, at the culmination
of an 18-year war (see 9911000),
the Byzantine emperor Basil II
defeated the armies of the
Bulgarian tsar at Belasita.
Earning the name Bulgaroktonos
(Bulgar Slayer), he put out the
eyes of 15,000 captured warriors
before sending them home.
Basils arch-enemy, Samuel the
Bulgarian, was said to have died

of y II
ve nr
ra He
B
to
e
th ge erg)
a b
w
sla hom rse
e
l
e
Bo ays f M
p
o
13
10 land ace
o
P e Pe
(th

an audacious naval expedition

against the maritime empire of
Srivijaya in Sumatra, also sacking
the Pegu kingdom in Burma.
Rajendra had inherited a strong
kingdom from his father, Rajaraja I,
who had conquered Sri Lanka
and instituted a programme of
Hindu temple building centred
on the Chola capital of Tanjore.
Under Rajendra, the Cholas
expanded their kingdom
to include Bengal, and
shattered the power of
Srivijaya, securing control
of the lucrative IndianChinese trade routes.
Cnut (also known as
Canute) was the son of
Sven Forkbeard, king of
Denmark and Norway,
who had invaded England
and driven the AngloSaxon king, Aethelred II,
into exile in Normandy in
1013. After staging his
own successful invasion in
1015, Cnut was accepted
as overlord of all England
in 1016, and went on
to expand his empire.
By 1030, it included
Norway, Denmark, and
the Faroe, Shetland, and
Orkney islands.
Chola sculpture of Shiva
The Cholas were staunch
Hindus and enthusiastic
temple builders. Shiva, one
of the major Hindu deities,
is depicted here as a young
and handsome man.

d
s
lan
he ng
lis ll E
b
sta r a an tive
t e ove
m ac
nu hip
or rs ly
C
s
6 N re Ita
16 rd
01 entu ern
10 erlo
1
v
th
ov
ad sou
in

s ,
s
f
itu ic ou pe
t V idem nerv uro
no
S
E
1 ep he
sio sy;
s
2
es ere
r
10 nce ng t eep
p
ce
up il h ic
cti
Da ecti , sw
2 S gom thol pra s
2
aff stem
10 e Bo Ca gins etic
sy
th man be her
h
Ro urc ing
Ch burn
of

ed

I
ry
en
H
14 or
10 per
Em

n
ow
cr

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of
ks
ola
lan
rd
ea
Ch ka
ng
br nd
ea and
ra Lan r
s
rf Irela of E
d
kb ngl
d
a
r
n
i
t
fo
ats
r
o
E
lin y
aje s S ced ts
ing
lon in
efe e
n F rs
II b arm
u ries av d com of
8 R uer
f C inion mes
ve que
l
i
d
1
o
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n
s
e
o
be ke s
sl
10 onq ntro lic p
13 con
Ba ria
ttl om bec
u
i
ro to
c
u
10 ark
14 lga
t
Ba g d
cy tho 9 Ja her nd D an R
10 Bu
m
ba Ca
14 Vikin Cnu
1 rot ra iev
i
n
0
l
0
1
e an
1 sb
G K
4
De
C
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hi
10
18 Rom
10

Bo

s
na
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vic writ
A
22 ng
10 eal i
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o
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ve
ra d,
eB n
th Pola ear
w f
y
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ole kin llow
B
d
fo
17/06/2013 10:03
24 ne
10 row s the
c ie
d

A wise and capable king, Cnut

managed conciliation between his
Danish and Anglo-Saxon subjects.
He collected Danegeld (Danish
tax) to pay for a standing navy and
army an important innovation.

a pire
es
jay
nit
ivi e em III u le
r
i
S
t
m
i
o
s
k
t
h Ca
of
ac ari
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Sa and
ath
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De of 1)
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ud 97
25 tab
10 hm i (b.
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ath
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25 asi 58)
e
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lle
pir
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t
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ar Sri
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0C s
ho fro
03 pand enm No
C
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D
9
126-127_1001_1050.indd
127 ex
2
10

1031 1040

1041 1050

The Seljuks are shown here battling the Byzantines,

having already conquered Persia.

Between 1041 and 1048, Bi Sheng invented the first moveable type printing
system, using clay letters held in wax within an iron frame.

IN 1037, THE SELJUKS, UNDER

CHAGRI BEG AND HIS BROTHER
TUGHRIL BEG, invaded Khurasan

BANTU IS A FAMILY OF LANGUAGES

in Persia. In 1040, they crushed

the Ghaznavids at the Battle of
Dandanqan, winning control of
eastern Persia, the first step on
the road to creating a new
Islamic empire. The Seljuks were
Oghuz Turks, originally nomads
from Central Asia who had
converted to Islam and moved to
Transoxiana where they served
as mercenaries in the region,
before turning their attentions
to Khurasan.
In 1031, 40 lesser
dynasties were founded on
the shattered remnants of the
Cordoba caliphate, in Spain.
Known as the Muluk
al-Tawaif (Party Kings),
these short-lived dynasties
took control of different
provinces of Cordoba after the
strife that brought down the
Umayyads following the
execution of Abd al-Rahman
Sanchol, son of al-Mansur, in
1009. He was the last capable
leader of the caliphate but his
attempt to move out from
behind the throne and
take the crown led to
his downfall.
Subsequently, the
Berber faction nominated
their own candidate for
caliph and Cordoba
descended into civil war
for 22 years. In 1031, the
death of Hisham III, the last
Umayyad caliph, who had
already lost control of
several provinces, led to the

King and Emperor

Ferdinand I was the first ruler of
Castile to call himself king. He
added the title of emperor after
his conquest of Leon.

final break up of the caliphate,

with the Abbadids seizing Seville,
the Jahwarids taking Cordoba
and the Hudids seizing
Saragossa. With the Islamic
state in disarray the Christian
kingdoms to the north were
encouraged to expand southwards.
Sancho III of Navarre, who had
conquered Castile and was
overlord of Christian Spain, died
in 1035, and his kingdoms were
divided between his two sons.
Ferdinand inherited Castile, and
in 1037 he killed his brother-inlaw, the king of Leon and made
himself emperor there in 1039. He
went on to conquer Navarre and
impose serfdom on parts of
Muslim Spain and Portugal.

e
th
g
of
on
lt Son
es
Le
up ate
vo
om
rs
k ph
re hern
c
l
a
e
n
e
a
i
e
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r
ta ort
Br cal
nq
db
ed
ut )
ibe e N
co
an
th
31 ba
Cn 85
III
8 T t th
10 rdo
Ca
din tile
of c.9 nand
r
3
n
ry ror
s
e
h
0
n
s
i
e
t
1 ain
Co
en pe
3 F f Ca
ea (bor Ferd
ou ed
H
g
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m
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R
a
t
t
10 ng o
39 d e
3 5 ea
37 uc
37
10 cte
10 e Gr
10 nstr
10
Ki
ele
th
co

y
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r
e
of
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ad )
v
k
m ed
t
a
n
o
ia
n
i
n
i
o
d
co ers
ca Sc
ks Pers
ng blish
n
s
r
i
e
P
n
u
i
k
u
(
K ta
ion
th s
d
T
u
D
i
(
h
j
n
5
v
t
l
k
s
ns a
a
3
ing cbe
Se zna
lju ras
pa Afric
iam ome y
10 on e
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l
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i
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4 Gh
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0 B s in
f
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cl

that originated in the Bantu

homeland (now southern Nigeria
and northwestern Cameroon).
Bantu-speaking people spread
from here to the east and south
and Bantu became the dominant
language family in sub-Saharan
Africa, although whether this
indicates conquest, colonization,
or simply cultural influence is less
clear. The Bantu expansion
started in the Late Stone Age,
accelerating as the Bantu
speakers acquired iron technology
and cattle-husbandry skills. By
the mid-11th century, Bantu tribes
had become sophisticated
pastoralists, able to sustain high
population densities and complex
social and economic networks.
This in turn led to the emergence
of chiefdoms, and Bantu
speakers dominated Central and
southern Africa.
In 1044, Anawrata seized power
in the Pagan kingdom in Burma.
His military prowess and skilful

use of Hinayana Buddhism as a

cultural and political driver made
Pagan the centre of Burmese
politics, culture, and religion. He
developed Burmese as a written
language, instituted a programme
of building, and forged trade and
cultural links to India and China.
In China, sometime between
1041 and 1048, the commoner Bi
(or Pi) Sheng invented the first
moveable type system. Block
printing had been in use in China
for centuries, and since the Later
Tang dynasty (92336) had been
used for most book production,
but Bi Sheng introduced the
innovation of using tiny clay
blocks one for each character.
The characters were moulded on
the ends of thin rods of wet clay,
which were fired to harden them.
Unlike wood, this clay type did not
distort when wet and could be
used over and over again.

KEY
Bantu homeland
2000 BCE
Spread of Bantu

Bantu expansion
From their homeland in the
border region of southern
Nigeria and northwestern
Cameroon, Bantu speaking
people spread east and
south, through the tropical
forest, eventually spreading
to all parts of central and
southern Africa.

AFR ICA

Lake
Victoria
Lake
Tanganyika
AT L A N T I C
OCEAN

c.1000

c.1000

Lake
Nyasa

Kalahari
Desert
c.1000

r d,
IX III
ro
ict y
om
pe de
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gd
m blin ora nd
n
e
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i
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10 nfes ing ter d
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c.
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leg

127

125

105160

106170

Labanga Mosque in Ghana is possibly the oldest mosque in sub-Saharan

Africa. Ghana was Islamicized by the Almoravids in the 11th century.

In this detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, completed in 1080, William the Conqueror
exhorts his troops to prepare themselves for battle.

IN MOROCCO, IN 1054, A FIREBRAND

CLERIC NAMED IBN YASIN inspired

the unification of Saharan tribal

groups.The confederation
known as the Almoravids, from
the Arabic al-Murabitun
(people of the frontier garrisons)
built an empire that would
eventually encompass much of
northwestern Africa and Muslim
Spain (see 108190). In 1056, the
Almoravids began the Islamic

conquest of West Africa, where a

number of powerful states had
arisen, including that of Ghana.
Yoruba was the name given by
outsiders to a group of city-states
in Nigeria that shared a common
language and culture. The oldest
and most prestigious Yoruba
kingdom was Ife, where a
sophisticated urban culture was
well established by the mid-11th
century. Ife was the spiritual and
mythical centre of the Yoruba,
but its poor location meant that
it never exerted wide-ranging
military or political control
over the other Yoruba
states. Ife is most
famous for its artistic
achievements, most
notably terracotta
and bronze heads.
In 1059, Pope
Nicholas II
recognized Robert
Guiscard the
Norman as Duke of
Apulia and
Calabria, and
Count of Sicily
territories under
Byzantine and Arab
control legitimizing
his attempts to
conquer them.

Ife bronze head

This head probably dates
from the 14th century, but
it represents an artistic
tradition stretching back to
the 11th century that was at
least as sophisticated as
any in contemporary Europe.
ca
n
n
fri
t
ee nd
ely
ar est A
t
f
s
etw e) a
o y;
lyw ales
b
W
L
g
n
f
of
i
p
W
st o
in
th
ism nt s
d a ll
nd na st
ea king
ch yza che
yd of a
ou d dy que
D
S
f
B
r
,
F
f
(
i
g
n
u
57 th d
54 n
hu
54 av co
Gr kin
10 cbe tlan
10 ster rn C
10 mor mic
55 es
Ma Sco 5)
Ea ste
10 com
Al Isla
e
of 100
W
be
of
(b.

e
lav
tak g
os n
ar e i
ks in
ur end sty
f J strif us
T
o
R
,
a
k
ath ivil an elju dad dyn
h
De o c Kiev
d
5 S Bag ayhi
55 ds t
5
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128-129_1051-1100.indd 128

128

126

f
no
sio dom
n
a
pa g
Ex kin urm
57 an in B
10 Pag

of es
ty ak
ea m
Tr ope card lar
9
5
P
is tu
10 lfi: t Gu n ti rn
Me ber rma uthe
o
o
R e N f so icily
th ler o d S
ru ly an
Ita

IN 1066, AT THE BATTLE OF

HASTINGS, William Duke of

Normandy (c.102887) defeated

Harold Godwinson (c.102266),
the last Anglo-Saxon king of
England. England had fallen into
the Norman orbit earlier, with
Edward the Confessor spending
his youth in exile at the Norman
court while Cnut (see 102130)
ruled England. William claimed
that Edward had promised him
the English crown, but when
Edward died, in 1066, Harold was
elected king. He marched north
to defeat a Norse invasion, before
dashing south to Hastings to face
William, where he was killed and
his army shattered. William the
Conqueror quickly took southeast
England, then the southwest, and
suppressed a great uprising in the
north in 1069.
Under their leader Tughril Beg,
the Seljuks had occupied Baghdad
and ended the Buwayhid dynasty
(see 93150), retaining the Abbasid
caliph as a figurehead but giving
him the title of sultan. Tughril Beg
died in 1063; his successor Alp
Arslan extended Seljuk dominion
into Anatolia, Armenia, and Syria.

2:1

Battle of Hastings
Anglo-Saxon casualties
outnumbered Norman
losses by two-to-one, thanks in part
to their forced march from the north,
and the advanced Norman tactics.
es
id
av lish ch
e
or
ad
m stab ake
l
nv
iet
s i ria
2 A m e arr
-v
k
6
r
y
M
o
co pa
u
S
10 gd l at
T
i
m
k and
Da ha
kin pita
lju
68 s C
Se ana
ca
10 feat nam
65 soxi
0
e
1 an
d Viet
Tr
in

:
f
rth
eo
No land
ttl an
a
e
m
B r
h
g
d
d
f t En
66 No lan
lle
g o rn
10 gs; Eng
pe ka
yin rthe
ex Lan
n of
i
r
t
s
r
s
i
t
Ha no
ola Sr
Ha ues
Ch m
he age
nq
9 T rav
70 fro
co
6
0
1
10 ans
rm
No

107180

INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY
Which was greater: secular
or religious authority? This
was the question at the
heart of the Investiture
Controversy. This 12thcentury manuscript
illumination shows Henry IV
requesting mediation from
Matilda of Tuscany and Hugh
of Cluny. Matilda was one of
the most powerful women of
the Middle Ages. It was her
stronghold of Canossa where
Henry made his penitence.
SINCE CHARLEMAGNES
CORONATION BY THE POPE (see

791800), the Western emperors

had considered it their divine right
to appoint or invest bishops.
Emperors had derived great
income and power through their
dispensation of religious offices,
and Emperor Henry III (101756)
had gone further still, in 1046,
insisting that it was the
emperors right to appoint the
pope. Pope Gregory VII
represented the opposite view; he
held that only popes had the right
to invest clerics. In 1075, at the
Lent synod, Gregory issued a
decree forbidding lay investiture.
The emperor, Henry IV (1050
1106), who was fighting to reduce
the power of German prelates,
defied the decree. In 1076,
Gregory excommunicated him,
absolving his subjects of their
oaths of loyalty and triggering a
rebellion by Saxon nobles

against the king. In 1077, Henry

IV crossed the Alps in the dead of
winter and appeared at Canossa,
dressed as a penitent, to submit
to the pope (see panel, above).
He was absolved but controversy
quickly flared up again, with a
rival, Rudolf of Swabia, being
elected to the German (formerly
East Frankish) throne. In 1080,
Henry had a rival pope elected,
while Gregory allied himself with
Roger Guiscard, Count of Sicily,
against the imperial camp.
In 1071, the Seljuks crushed
the Byzantine army at Manzikert,
capturing and ransoming
Emperor Romanus IV and going
on to conquer Anatolia (presentday Turkey). This began its
transformation into a Muslim
Turkish region. In 1077, the
Seljuks established the Sultanate
of Rum there, while other
conquests brought them Syria and
Jerusalem.

t,
er
te
zik
ple
an t of n
m e
o
M
s
s c tin
of mo soo
,
an zan
tle ol
at ntr yria
rm f By
o
B
S
o
o
N t
1 s c nd
y
l
7
1
s
m
7
ta
e
10 ljuk ia a ale
10 nqu rn I
Se atol erus
co uthe
An e J
o
s
tak

f
no
re
llio ke
tu
be Wa an
sti en
e
ve twe pe
R the rm d
n
I
1
e
o
ids
o an
f
7
b
d
av t
dp
t o sy
10 war st N ngl
or nver o
e ain n E
tar ver r an
m
r
l
o
S
o
o
A
c
et
He ag le i
75 tr er
76 bly pir m
ru
10 Con emp
10 orci Em Isla
f na
a
Gh

e
ia
nc
sh tol
ite
bli na
en IV at
P
sta in A
7
e
y
r
7
s um
10 Hen sa
uk
ux
elj of R
ye
of nos
Ba y
7 S ate
7
0
Ca
8 tr
10 ltan
10 pes eted
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Ta mpl
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19/05/11 3:05 PM

108190

10911100

,,

LET SUCH AS ARE GOING TO FIGHT FOR

CHRISTIANITY PUT THE FORM OF THE CROSS UPON
THEIR GARMENTS THAT THEY MAY OUTWARDLY
DEMONSTRATE THEIR DEVOTION TO THEIR
INWARD FAITH.

,,

Pope Urban II, 1095

Hassan-i Sabbah leads initiations at Alamut, in an illustration

from Marco Polos 13th-century Travels.
IN 1090, A GROUP OF ISMAILI
SHIITES BECAME INVOLVED IN A
DISPUTE over the Fatimid

13

succession in Cairo (see 90110).

Under the leadership of the
charismatic Hassan-i Sabbah, this
group recognized the claims of an
infant called Nizar, and were
therefore known as Nizari
Ismailis. Forced to flee Cairo,
Hassan led the Nizaris to his
homeland in Persia where they
captured a fortress known as
Alamut in the mountainous region
of Kazvin and made it the base of a
de facto Nizari kingdom. Thus was
born the group later known as the
Assassins a name derived from
the word hashashins, a label
applied by their enemies who
claimed they used intoxicants such
as hashish to brainwash devotees
into blind obedience.
Alarmed by the advances of
Alfonso VI of Castile, the
Abbadids (see 1031) summoned
the Almoravids from North Africa
to defend against the Christian

THOUSAND

THE NUMBER
OF PLACES
LISTED IN THE
DOMESDAY
BOOK
threat. Defeating Alfonso at Zallaka
in 1086, they annexed most of
Islamic Spain.
In 1085, William the Conqueror
(see 1061) commissioned a survey
of his new kingdom known as the
Domesday Book probably to
regulate military service and
assess taxation opportunities.

The Domesday Book

Nicknamed Domesday in reflection of the trepidation that the great
undertaking inspired in the native English, Williams survey actually
comprised two manuscripts; the Great and Little Domesday.
in
ka d
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a
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up

IN 1092, CHINESE POLYMATH

SU SUNG DESIGNED AND
CONSTRUCTED A COSMIC ENGINE.

This mechanical astronomical

clock was 9m (30ft) high, and was
water-driven with an armillary
sphere, which showed the position
of celestial objects.
In 1094, a Castilian who had
served both Christian and Islamic
Masters, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar,
known by the Moors as El Cid
(the lord), captured Valencia in
eastern Spain and established
himself as ruler.
At the Council of Clermont in
1095, Pope Urban, a French
Cluniac (see 910), preached to an
assembly of mainly Frankish
clerics and nobles about Muslim
defilement of the Holy Land,
urging his audience to take up
arms in a holy war. Urban had
been entreated by the Byzantines
for help against the Seljuks, and
saw a way to channel the energies
of European nobility away from
constant in-fighting and towards a
Christian expansion that would
benefit the papacy. Fired by
religious zeal and spurred by the
promise of remission of sins,
together with the prospect of
winning booty, land, and control of
the lucrative trade with the Orient,
many nobles of France (formerly
West Francia) and Lorraine
joined, or took the cross.
Other nations were either in
conflict with the papacy or
indifferent, so the First
Crusade was a largely
French affair. Taking advantage of
disarray in the Muslim world, three
groups of Crusaders under Godfrey

Battle of the Crusades

This manuscript illustration shows Crusader knights joining battle with
Saracens the generic term used by Europeans to refer to their Muslim
foes. Around 30,000 knights took part in the First Crusade.

and Baldwin of Bouillon, Count

Raymond of Toulouse, and the
Norman Bohemond of Otranto,
took the Seljuk Rum capital of
Nicaea in 1097, conquered Edessa
in the same year, captured Antioch
in 1098, and marched on
Jerusalem in 1099. Godfrey was
elected king of Jerusalem but took
the title Defender of the Holy
Sepulchre; his brother, Baldwin

became king the following year.

Under the overlordship of the King
of Jerusalem, the Crusaders
established four principal states:
the kingdom of Jerusalem, which
thrived on trade mediated by the
Italian trading powers; the county
of Tripoli, set up by Raymond; the
county of Edessa, established by
Baldwin; and the principality of
Antioch, set up by Bohemund.

75,000
SARACENS

15,000

CRUSADERS

The Siege of Antioch

Islamic forces at the Siege
of Antioch outnumbered
the Crusaders considerably.
In fact Antioch fell only
when a traitor opened a
gate to a party of knights
led by Bohemond of Otranto.

t
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127

110105

110610

111115

An illustration from Edward Fitzgeralds translation of the Rubaiyat; of the 600

verses, only around 120 are thought to have been written by Khayyam himself.

Monumental ruins in the city of Great Zimbabwe, capital of the Mwene Mutapa
Empire. After it seized control of the gold trade, the empire grew rich.

The 12th-century Cathedral of

St Nicholas at Novgorod, Russia.

NOTED FOR ITS FINE ARTS AND

CRAFTS and construction of

THE 12TH CENTURY SAW AN

EXPLOSION OF CATHEDRAL
BUILDING all over Europe, as

SOMETIME AROUND THE START

OF THE 12TH CENTURY, OMAR
KHAYYAM (10481131), an

astronomer and mathematician in

the service of the Seljuk sultans,
composed a series of four-line
poems, or robaiyat, which
became famous thanks to the
translation made by Edward
Fitzgerald in 1859. Khayyams
career reflected the Seljuk era.
At Samarkand, in the early
1070s, he was able
to pursue his
mathematical
studies thanks to
patronage from
a local jurist,
and under
the strong
Seljuk sultan
Malik Shah
(r.107292),
Khayyam was
invited to Isfahan
in 1073 to set up an
observatory and lead
a team of top scholars.
In this period he made many
mathematical and astronomical
breakthroughs, including
an unprecedented accurate
measurement of the length of
the year to 12 decimal places.
Although he is now most famous
for the Rubaiyat, it is not certain
that Khayyam wrote most or any
of the verses involved, and he was
little regarded as a poet in his own
time. Much of the current
reputation of the work derives
from the very free translation
by Edward Fitzgerald.
The success of the First
Crusade (see 10911100) owed

f
eo a
ge tap n
po Mu ow
A
e
e
0
kn
10 en so abw
c.1 e Mw e, al imb
th pir at Z
Em Gre
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ar
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00 pos at
1
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m Ru
ya the
y
a

Kh

130

128

much to the disarray of the Islamic

regimes it had dispossessed. The
Fatimid Caliphate in Cairo was
rich but decadent; the Abbasids
in Baghdad were little more than
figureheads; the Seljuk Turks had
failed to forge a unified empire,
and instead warlords and tribal
groups had set up a patchwork of
competing states such as Rum,
Danishmend, and Damascus.
Throughout the early 12th century,
the Crusaders battled
constantly against these
foes. In 1101, Raymond
IV of Toulouse
(c.10421105) led
a new Crusader
Baldwin of Bourcq
This coin features
Baldwin of Bourcq,
cousin of Baldwin I
who he succeeded as
count of Edessa, then as
king of Jerusalem (see 1118).

army from Constantinople

against the Sultanate of Rum,
taking Ankara in June, only to be
destroyed by Danishmend Turks
in August. Baldwin I of
Jerusalem (c.10581118) steadily
improved his access to the
Mediterranean by taking a series
of coastal cities from the
Fatimids, defeating them at
Jaffa in 1102, Acre in 1104, and
Ramleh in 1105, although
Raymond died in an attempt to
take Tripoli in 1105.

ate
of an
IV Sult by
d
d
ing
on des ate
,k s
m
e
ay inva def s
n I feat
i
R
k
w de
ld
01 se t is ur
11 ulou bu nd T
Ba m, ffa
02 sale t Ja
To Rum me
1
u
c.1 Jer ds a
of nish
of timi
Da
Fa

nI

wi t
ald ds a
5 B timi mleh
0
1
a Ra
c.1 ts F
fea
de

on
cti a
tru and a
s
n
n
Co e A urm
B
05 th
11 of le in
p
m
Te

monumental temple mounds,

the post-Moche culture, known
as the Sicn or Lambayeque
on the northern coast of Peru,
reached its height in the early
11th century. But a prolonged
drought, followed by
catastrophic flooding, led
to cultural and political
collapse. In the early 12th
century, the state recovered
from the convulsions of the
11th century and rebuilt
around a new capital at
Tcume. New temples were
built and the capital flourished
until its conquest by the
Chim (see 1375), by which
time there were 26 mounds
and accompanying enclosures.
In central southern Africa,
in what is now Zimbabwe, the
Mwene Mutapa Empire, also
known as Great Zimbabwe after
its monumental capital, emerged
as the most significant regional
power. A kingdom of the Shona
peoples that emerged around 900,
Mwene Mutapa was initially based
on cattle herding, but from around
1100 it took control of the lucrative
trade routes linking the gold,
iron, and ivory production centres
of the interior to the Arab
trading kingdoms on the east
coast, which offered luxury
goods from Asia.

population growth,
increased wealth, and
architectural advances
combined with religious
zeal, civic pride, and
the personal ambition
of potentates. The
development of the
Romanesque and
Gothic styles was given
expression in the great
cathedrals, but each
region developed its
own, distinctive idiom.
In Novgorod, for
instance, the Cathedral
of St Nicholas (started
in 1113) was given
domed cupolas.
The Investiture Controversy
between the papacy and the
Western emperors rumbled on
(see 107180). Henry IVs failure
to reconcile with the papacy had
helped bring about his downfall;
concerned that the ongoing
dispute was undermining royal
authority, his own family had
conspired against him, and he
was imprisoned. His successor,
Henry V (10861125) launched a
powerful expedition to Italy to
force an imperial coronation.
Under duress (he was a
prisoner of Henry at the
time), Pope Paschal II
offered major concessions on
the investiture issue in the
Treaty of Sutri, but he
repudiated them the following
year and the issue remained
unsettled (see 1122).

inlaid
turquoise

Ceremonial knife
This gold knife is from the Middle
Sicn culture in Peru. The early
1100s mark the threshold between
the Middle and Late Sicn cultures.

es

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111620

112125

Stained glass window of a Templar

Knight in Warwickshire, England.

Guelph and Ghibelline forces join battle in Italy. These factions, based on the German
Welf and Hohenstaufen dynasties, would come to dominate Italian politics.

,,

IN 1121, MOHAMMAD IB-TUMART,

A BERBER LEADER from the Atlas

IN THIS
RELIGIOUS
ORDER HAS
FLOURISHED
AND IS
REVITALIZED
THE ORDER OF
KNIGHTHOOD.

,,

From The Primitive Rule of the

Knights Templar

In Jerusalem, in 1119, a group of

knights, led by the French Hugues
de Payens (c.10701136), formed
an order to protect pilgrims
travelling along the dangerous
road from Jaffa, on the coast,
to the holy city. The new king of
Jerusalem, Baldwin II (cousin
of Baldwin I and his successor as
count of Edessa), assigned them
quarters in part of the Temple
Mount compound, next to the site
where the Temple of Solomon
had once stood. Accordingly, they
called themselves the Poor Fellow
Soldiers of Christ and of the
Temple of Solomon also known
as the Knights Templar.
Bologna University was the
first in the western world. It was
founded in 1119 (or possibly
earlier, depending on the source).
Institutions such as Bologna
University were the incubators
for the philosophical school of
thought known as Scholasticism
(see panel, right).

f
n o es
wi
ald ecom ng
B
i
18 q b , k
11 urc in II m
e
Bo ldw sal
Ba Jeru
of

SCHOLASTICISM
The school of thought known as Scholasticism
because it was taught by the scholastics, or
school masters developed as the dominant
philosophy of learning in medieval Europe, hand
in hand with the emergence of the universities.
Scholasticism was an approach to learning
that used a method of formal discussion and
debating. It became the intellectual basis for
medieval religious and philosophical dogma.
at Ascalon (Ashkelon), Venetian
ships destroyed the Fatimid fleet.
This marked the start of the
dominance of Italian maritime
power in the Mediterranean.
Emperor Henry V died in 1125,
with no male heir, and an election
was held to choose his successor.
The closest heir was Conrad of
Swabia (112290), of the house
of Hohenstaufen (allied to the
Salian dynasty and their
anti-papal policies),
but the powerful
archbishops of Mainz
and Cologne angled
for the election of a
candidate more friendly
to the Church. Lothair
of Saxony (10751137),
of the house of Welf, was
chosen and became
Aristotle in translation
A page from a translation
of Aristotles Nicomachean
Ethics, written on vellum
a writing material made
from calf skin, which is
more durable than
papyrus or paper.

gin
be vid
n
ds ora
ra ws
a
te la
oh lm
La out f
m of A
t
l
e
s
A t
o
Fir pop ing
21 es
ll
11 nqu ries
23 il;
11 unc y (se
co rito
Co on
ter
sim

ine
I
nt
ius yza s
ex s, B tute m
l
A u sti is
n n
18
al
11 mne or, i eud
Co per of f ire
p
m
e orm em
a f the
in

s
ht
f
nig ded
no
K
n
u em
tio ity
19
da ers
11 ar fo sal
n
u
iv
pl Jeru
Fo Un
m
19 a
Te in
11 logn
Bo

130-131_1101-1125.indd 131

Mountains, was hailed as the

al-Mahdi (the Muslim messiah
see 874) and led his forces,
known as the Almohads, in a
campaign of conquest against
Almoravid territories in Africa.
A synod at the German town of
Worms, in 1122, presided by a
papal legate drew up a concordat
(agreement) ending the Investiture
Controversy though not the
imperialpapal rivalry. A
compromise was agreed along the
lines already adopted between
Henry I of England and Anselm
(see 1107), under which the
emperor would be involved
in investiture but not control it.
Essentially it was a victory for
the papacy.
In 1123, Frankish forces from
Jerusalem defeated a Fatimid
army at Ibelin, while off the coast

Wo

of
at
rd ture
o
nc ti sy
Co ves ver
22 In ro
11 nds ont
C
se
rm

I
nI
wi y
ld ed b s
a
B ur rk
23 pt Tu
11 ca nd
e
hm
nis
a
D

ids elin
im
at at Ib
F
n
23 ed
11 feat calo
de d As
an

Emperor Lothair II (III in some

sources). Immediately he was
plunged into a bitter civil war
with the Hohenstaufens, and the
two opposing sides became
entrenched as pro-papal and
pro-imperial factions known as
the Guelphs and Ghibellines
respectively. They would plague
relations between and within the
city-states of northern Italy into
the 14th century long after they
had ceased to dominate German
power politics as they became
associated with class struggles
and reactionary versus
reforming parties.
The work of Aristotle
(384322 BCE) had survived in
Byzantium and among the Arabs,
but Western Europeans only had
access to a translation by the

25

of
ing s
nd mew
u
Fo olo on
d
23 th
11 Bar Lon
t
S ir in
Fa

I
nI
wi n
ld the
a
,
B ed
24
11 nsom yre
ra ns T
wi

e
els
ak d
ep n
st
rk s an te
V r asio
h
I
u
v
k
is n
ba
d T elju ira
ou n i
ab 0s)
m
en
-S 105
4 L rma
m m S nt e
i
2
h
o
an (b.
11 Ge
nis fr de
as ies
Da ppo pen
sh
4H d
gli
23 Ale nde
2
n
1
1
i
1
E
1
nd
fou

philosopher Boethius of one

treatise on logic. This began to
change in the early 12th century, as
the conquest of Islamic areas such
as Toledo and Sicily gave Christian
scholars access to Arabic works.
Increasing exposure to the works
of Aristotle led medieval scholars
to consider him the master of
those who know and the chief
authority on matters of reason.
In 1125, the French king Louis VI
(10811137) successfully
rallied French nobles to repel
an EnglishGerman invasion.
This proved to be a milestone in the
French monarchys attempts to
assert its authority, and thus
in the emergence of France as
a nation-state.

PER CENT
THE APPROXIMATE
PROPORTION OF
ARISTOTLES WORK
SURVIVING TODAY
V ill
ry
en at w
ct
f H wh he
o
fli
f
t
ath art o as con
e
D st wn ine
o
ll
25 s
11 gger e kn ibe
h
tri com G
h
e
b elp
Gu

g
kin s
ted new ic
c
ele re av
ir ans; o Sl tory
t
i
ha
ot Rom n in terr
L
o
25 the nsi
1
a
1 of
p
ex

o
py
cu Lia
oc n
in hita pses
J
25 ; K lla
11 ijing y co
Be nast
dy

III
id ,
av 3)
f D .107 as
o
it
(b
ath ia ed ate
De org ish t st
25 f Ge tabl den
1
c.1 o o es pen
e
wh ind
19/05/11 3:06 PM

131

129

112630

113135

113640

114145

A mosaic shows Roger II being

symbolically crowned by Christ.

St Albans Chronicle, shows Matilda

of England holding a charter.

An illustration from a 15th-century copy of the History of the Kings of Britain,

by Geoffrey of Monmouth, shows Brutus the Trojan setting sail for Britain.

A scene from the Siege of Damascus,

a battle of the Second Crusade.

IN 1126, THE JIN the Jurchen

dynasty established by Aguda (see
1115) in Manchuria turned on
their erstwhile Chinese allies,
overrunning northern China and
seizing the Northern Song capital
at Kaifeng. The Jin took control
of northern China and moved the
capital to Beijing. This marked
the end of the Northern Song.
However, a Song prince, Gaozong,
escaped to the south and
established the Southern Song
dynasty in Hangzhou in 1127.
The death of Pope Honorius,
in 1130, resulted in the election
of two rival popes, Innocent II
and Anacletus II. During this
papal schism, Roger II, count
of Sicily, recognized Anacletus
as pope his reward was the
throne of Sicily.

THE DEATH OF HENRY I, IN 1135,

PITCHED ENGLAND INTO DYNASTIC
STRIFE. His only male heir died in

IN 1137, LOTHAIR DIED SUDDENLY

Song dynasty porcelain ware

The Qingbai (blue-white) glaze on
this ewer is characteristic of Song
dynasty porcelain from southeastern
China, where the dynasty survived
the Jin invasion.
n
en er
of ir
ch rth n
ur t No rru
ing tha
J
e
in
d k Lo
26 efea d ov na
e
1
t
o
i
l-D
1
t
d an
h
lec ival
de s
e
Jin ng, rn C
a
r
ad as
Im nd ty
So rthe
nr
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132

130

1120 while crossing the English

Channel, and although Henry had
made his nobles swear allegiance
to his daughter, the Empress
Matilda (110267), she had spent
little time in England and her
second husband, Geoffrey of
Anjou, was unpopular with the
English nobles. Among those who
had sworn fealty to Matilda was
Henrys nephew and ward
Stephen of Blois (r.113554). On
his uncles death he immediately
went to London, secured the
support of most of the nobles and
the Church, and had himself
proclaimed king. However,
Matilda refused to renounce her
claim, and their contest would
lead to a period of warfare and
breakdown of central
authority known as the
Anarchy (see 113640).
In 1133, Lothair II
(10701137) went to Italy to
intervene in the papal schism,
installing Innocent II. In return,
the Pope confirmed the Matildine
inheritance (the vast estates of
Matilda of Tuscany, which she had
willed first to the papacy and then
to the emperor, sparking a dispute
that would become tied up with
the Guelph versus Ghibelline
contest (see 112125) and
crowned Lothair as emperor. In
1135, Lothair pacified his rivals,
Conrad of Hohenstaufen and his
brother Frederick of Swabia,
apparently securing the German
crown for his son-in-law Henry
the Proud, of the House of Welf.

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while returning from a

successful campaign in Italy
against Roger of Sicily. Lothairs
plans to concentrate German
territories in the hands of the
Welf clan, and create a stable
inheritance for his son-in-law,
evaporated when the election of
1138 chose the Waiblinger Conrad
of Hohenstaufen (113595). The
Waiblingers were descended from
the dukes of Franconia; the name
was later corrupted by the Italians
into Ghibelline. Conrad set about
reversing the grants of Lothair,
taking Saxony away from the
Welfs, which promptly sparked
renewed civil war.
In 1139, Matilda entered
England to reclaim her crown
from the usurper Stephen of
Blois. Stephen had failed to
Legendary castle
Tintagel, Cornwall, where the ruins
of a 13th-century castle still stand,
is featured in the Arthurian legends
created by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

strengthen his position since

taking the crown, alienating
many of his nobles, on one hand,
and powerful clerics, on the
other. He particularly blundered
by arresting his chief minister
Roger, Bishop of Salisbury. At a
stroke, he lost many of his ablest
administrators, and was
henceforth unable to rein in the
depredations of barons and
other landowners, who became
laws unto themselves. The
country deteriorated into a state
of anarchy famously lamented by
the author of the Peterborough
Chronicle, who wrote that under
Stephens reign the English
suffered nineteen long
winters when Christ and all his
saints slept.
Sometime around 1140, the
Welsh cleric Geoffrey of
Monmouth (c.110055) wrote the
History of the Kings of Britain, an
important example of early
Anglo-Norman literature that
introduced the legend of King
Arthur to a European audience.

IN 1141, JOHN OF SEVILLE

TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC

the Epitome of the Whole of

Astrology, while in 1142 Adelard
of Bath translated an Arabic
version of Euclids Elements of
Geometry, one of the founding
texts of mathematics. This
transmission of learning,
ancient and contemporary, via
Arabic into Latin, was a key
contributor to the emergence of
an intellectual renaissance in
Europe, and beyond that to the
scientific achievements of the
Early Modern period (15001800).
In an attempt to end
the civil war that was
convulsing Germany, an
1142 meeting, or diet,
at Frankfurt confirmed
the Welf Henry the Lion
(112995) as Duke of
Saxony (which he had
already taken by force).
Henry engaged in
a vigorous renewal of
German expansion
to the east, where his

Pot helm helmet

This type of helmet
was typical of those
worn by Crusader
knights. Made of
steel, the pot helm
helmet completely
covered the head
save for two small
eyeslits.

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114650

Angkor Wat, in Cambodia, was built during the reign of Suryavarman II. It covers
nearly 200 hectares (500 acres) and the central tower is 42m (138ft) high.

,,

Pope Eugenius III, from Papal bull calling for the Second Crusade, 1145

campaigns against the heathen

Slavs were given the status
of Crusades.
In 1144, the atabeg (governor) of
Mosul, Imad el-Din Zengi
(10851146), founder of the
Zengid dynasty, took advantage
of feuding between the Crusader
principalities to seize the
Crusader county of Edessa. Fulk,
king of Jerusalem, had died in
1143 and his successor Baldwin
III (113063) was only a child,
under the regency of his mother
Melisende. She did not have the
authority to settle a dispute
between Antioch and Edessa,
and Imad el-Din besieged Edessa
until it fell to him. The loss of
Edessa caused alarm and
outrage in Europe, and provided
the trigger for the Second
Crusade (see 114650).
In 1145, Eugenius III issued
a call-to-arms in the form
of a Papal bull.

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IN 1146, THE INFLUENTIAL

CISTERCIAN MONK, BERNARD OF
CLAIRVAUX (10901153), egged on

by Pope Eugenius III, preached a

new Crusade to liberate Edessa
from the clutches of the Zengids;
Conrad III of Germany (1093
1152) and Louis VII of France
(112080) took the cross. But
the expedition was a disastrous
affair, except for incidental
success in Portugal achieved by a
contingent of English and Flemish
Crusaders who helped AfonsoHenriques, Count of Portugal,
take Lisbon from the Moors in
1147. Conrad and Louis took
different routes to the Holy Land,
their armies meeting equally
disastrous fates as they struggled
through Anatolia. In 1148, forced
to hitch a lift on a Byzantine ship,
having lost his army at the Battle
of Dorylaeum, Conrad met up
with Louis. Rather than pitch their
25,000
20,000
CRUSADERS

,,

THOSE WHO ARE OF GOD... STRIVE

TO OPPOSE THE MULTITUDE OF THE
INFIDELS, WHO REJOICE IN A
VICTORY GAINED OVER US, AND
DEFEND THE ORIENTAL CHURCH
FREED FROM THEIR TYRANNY BY SO
GREAT AN OUTPOURING OF THE
BLOOD OF YOUR FATHERS...

15,000
10,000
5,000
0
French

German

French and German Crusaders

The German force outnumbered the
French contingent during the Second
Crusade. Neither army achieved any
success: defeat in Anatolia preceded
failure at Damascus.

Koutoubia Mosque in Morocco

The Koutoubia (booksellers)
Mosque, built by the Almohads,
reflects the mercantile success of
Almohad Marrakech, where book,
cloth, and other souqs flourished.

depleted forces against the

powerful Zengids, they decided
instead to launch an attack on
Damascus, the only Muslim state
that was friendly to the Crusader
kingdoms. Hampered by lack
of supplies and threatened by
the Zengid leader Nur al-Din,
successor to Imad el-Din, the
Siege of Damascus also failed.
The Second Crusade broke up
having failed to achieve anything
beyond a damaging fallout. Louis
was cuckolded by one of his
generals, eventually leading to a
divorce from his wife, Eleanor of

e
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Aquitaine (c.112204), and the loss

of her territories (see 115155).
The Byzantines were forced to
step in where the Crusade had
failed, occupying western Edessa,
but Roger of Sicily took
advantage of Byzantine distraction
to invade and plunder Greece in
1147. The disasters of the Second
Crusade marked the beginning of
the decline of the Frankish
Crusader kingdoms.
In 1147, the Almohads under
Abd al-Mumin (10941163)
completed the conquest of
Almoravid Morocco, taking
Marrakech, before invading
Moorish Spain (although it took
them until 1172 to subjugate all
the Islamic kingdoms).
Suryavarman II (c.111350)
was the most warlike Khmer king,
although most of his foreign
adventures were unsuccessful. He
launched attacks against the Dai
Vet of northern Vietnam and made
repeated attempts to subjugate the
Champa. More significant
was his building programme, the
zenith of which was the temple
of Angkor Wat. This vast complex
includes five towers symbolizing
holy mountains, and masses of
elaborate carvings.

200

HECTARES
THE AREA OF
ANGKOR WAT

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25/05/2011 16:55

133

131

6 0 0 14 49

TRADE AND INVENTION

Starshaped tile

1267 IRAN
Though distinctively Islamic in its
use of lustre (a ceramic technology
mimicking gilding) and arabesques
(stylized foliage), this tile shows
Mongol influence with
the inclusion of
dog-like animals.

foliage in
gold leaf

Persian ceramic and gold leaf ewer

12001399 IRAN
It was prohibited to make drinking vessels from
gold and silver, as these were considered indulgent,
so Islamic craftsmen became expert in alternatives
such as ceramic, which was then richly decorated.

Bronze vase

18 TH CENTURY CHINA
Although this bronze vase from China
displays a text from the Quran in
Arabic, it nonetheless shows clear
Chinese influence.

THE ISLAMIC WORLD

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND RELIGIOUS INSPIRATION COMBINE TO CREATE A UNIQUE HERITAGE OF ARTS AND CRAFTS

Islamic arts and crafts were shaped by religious

restrictions, cultural heritage acquired through conquest,
and the elaboration of unique features, notably the use of
ornamentation and colour, and inclusion of Arabic script.
inlaid with
ornate
foliage

Through its rapid conquest of a huge empire, the Islamic caliphate was
exposed to a diverse mix of cultural styles and heritages; Islamic art
reflects these while maintaining a high degree of homogeneity due to
religious uniformity. Restrictions imposed by Islam, such as prohibitions
on representative art and on the use of gold and silver, generated creative
responses, especially stylized abstract designs, elaborate ornamentation,
strong use of colour, and the use of Arabic script and Quranic quotations.
Jade necklace

18751925 ORIGIN UNKNOWN

This jade necklace is made from
five pieces, all different in shape
and engraved with verses from
the Quran. Such artefacts
could serve as amulets with
quasi-magical powers.

Surgical scissors and scalpel

10 TH CENTURY ORIGIN UNKNOWN

Islamic physicians made huge
advances in medicine and surgery,
including devising a range of
surgical instruments such as the
mibda (scalpel) and miqass (scissors).

script border to
prevent clipping

Pendant

18 TH CENTURY INDIA
From the Indian Mughal Empire, this gold
pendant shows how Muslim rulers sometimes
disregarded prohibitions on representative
art and the use of precious metals.

Coins

inscription
reads Allah,
Muhammad,
Fatima, and
Ali, Hasan,
and Husayn

720910 SYRIA/EGYPT
Coins from the Ummayad and Abbadis
caliphates, minted in Damascus and
Cairo, bear Arabic text in place of
pictures of heads of state.

Khanjar

19 TH CENTURY INDIA
Although from India, this curved,
double-edged dagger is actually
a traditional Omani blade. It is
decorated with ornate foliage,
a typical Islamic motif.

Ornate gilded Shiite alam

17 TH CENTURY IRAN
This alam, or standard, made
of brass and gold, symbolically
recalls the Shiite standard planted
at the Battle of Kerbala in 680.

134

132

134-135-Islamic_collection.indd 134
134
134-135-Islamic_collection.indd

26/05/2011
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17:20

T H E I S L A M I C WO R L D

head is hinged
to body

twisted cord
design in ochre,
black, and white

Bowl

10001199 IRAN/IRAQ
The bold colours of this simple bowl are
typically Islamic, as is the interlacing cord
design. The lace of highlighted detail lends
a meditative quality to the design.

Feline incense burner

1112 TH CENTURIES IRAN/AFGHANISTAN

Burners like this, in the shape of a big cat,
were used in the courts of Medieval Islamic
kings lions and cheetahs symbolized power.
The head tilts to allow insertion of charcoal.

rim markings
indicate city
or location

Candlestick

15TH CENTURY MAMLUK EGYPT

To circumvent the prohibition on precious
metals, Islamic metalworkers became
adept at combining baser metals like
brass with silver and gold inlay.

Calligraphy scissors

170099 IRAN
These scissors were used
for shaping pens and brushes.
The blades are inlaid with gold,
a variety of damascening
known as koftgari.

Qibla compass
DATE AND ORIGIN UNKNOWN

This ornamental compass was

used to indicate the direction,
qibla, of Mecca, so that
worshippers could orient
themselves properly for prayer.

Pen case

Islamic lamp

17001899 ORIGIN UNKNOWN

This hexagonal case for
carrying pens bares
geometric shapes,
a typical feature of
Islamic design.

DATE AND ORIGIN UNKNOWN

This hourglass-shaped lamp

bares a design of Arabic script
on the side, which is picked out
in vibrant blue, a ceramic dye
perfected by Islamic craftsmen.

Illuminated Divan
bold colours
and gold leaf

no empty space
left unfilled

Arabic script
inscribed with
careful calligraphy

illuminations
flout normal
prohibitions

180099 INDIA
A Divan, or Diwan, is a collection or anthology of poems,
inspired by ancient Persian poetry models. This illuminated
Divan of the Persian poet Hafez from 19th-century India has
typical Kashmiri painted lacquer covers.

135
134-135-Islamic_collection.indd
134-135-Islamic_collection.indd
135 135

133

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03/06/2011
17:21

115155

115660

116165

Monks Mound, the largest mound at Cahokia, is over 30m (100ft) high.
It has been estimated that it took 15 million baskets of earth to make it.

The University of Bologna was

originally a school for jurists.

The Hassan Tower in Rabat, Morocco, is all that was built of

what was intended to be an Almohad super-mosque.

THE CITY OF CAHOKIA SPRANG

UP AT THE CLIMAX of the

Mississippian (or Cahokian)

culture of the American Bottom
(an area of the Mississippi River
Valley). Around the mid-12th
century they constructed more
than 100 mounds, including one
with a base that is larger than that
of the Great Pyramid at Giza,
along with a huge landscaped
plaza that may be the biggest
earthen city square in the world.
The most remarkable feature of
Cahokia is the speed with which it
came into existence. Until around
1050, Mississippians lived in
small villages and had never built
on anything approaching this
scale. By the 1150s the city may
have covered 493 hectares (4,000
acres) and been home to 30,000
people. Its cultural and economic
influence spread across the
Midwest, from the present
Canadian border to the Gulf Coast.
Perhaps because urban living
was so exceptional for the

Mississippians, Cahokia would

decline rapidly, within around
a century, with a return to
low-density farming communities.
In 1152, Conrad III (b.1093), king
of the Romans, died and his
nephew Frederick of Swabia,
known as Barbarossa (see panel,
below) was elected as successor.
Of combined Welf and Waiblinger
parentage (see 113135), he
brought relative peace to
Germany. His coronation as
emperor in Rome was delayed
because the city was in the grip
of a revolutionary commune led
by radical reformer Arnold of
Brescia (10901155). Frederick
allied with the papacy against
Arnold and Norman Sicily, making
his first expedition to Italy in 1154.
The following year, in the face of
Roman hostility, he was crowned
by the new pope, Adrian IV
(110059), but had to retreat to
Germany, abandoning Adrian,
who was forced to ally himself
with the Normans.

FREDERICK BARBAROSSA (112290)

Energetic and ambitious,
Frederick I was determined to
make Germany the dominant
state in Europe, and to reassert
authority over all the imperial
lands in Italy. Aware of the
historic context of his office, he
desired to restore the imperial
crown to Roman-era glory,
and began to style his realm
the Holy Roman Empire. In
Germany, he pacified rebels
and expanded royal lands.

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WITH ORIGINS DATING BACK TO

PERHAPS 1088, BOLOGNA CLAIMS

to be the oldest university in the

Western world (see 111620) in
the sense of an institution
specifically designated as a
universitas, as opposed to a
studium generale, as centres for
teaching had previously been
known. In 1158, the emperor
Frederick I (112290), on
the advice of scholars
who may have been
Bologna alumni, granted
the university a charter, firmly
establishing the institution as
an independent centre of
scholarship. Early universities
tended to specialize in one
field of study, and Bologna was
dedicated to law.
In 1159, Alexander III (c.110081)
was chosen as pope, although
his election was opposed by the
emperor, Frederick I.
Frederick had once again
invaded Italy, this time intent
on assuming his full imperial
inheritance. With the aid of the
League of Pavia (Bresci, Parma,
and others), he had subdued
Milan and its associated cities, but
at the Diet of Roncaglia, in 1158,
he had gone too far. Harking back
to the Roman era, Frederick
insisted that ancient law gave him
the right to appoint an imperial
podest (local governor) to rule
each city. Milan was pushed into
revolt, and other cities joined
them in forming a Lombard
League under the auspices of the
papacy. Alexander III would earn
the title the Great for leading
this anti-imperial rebellion.

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The Bodhisattva Guanyin

This 12th-century Chinese statue
depicts the Buddhist deity Guanyin,
who protects those in danger
perhaps accounting for his popularity.
IN 1161, THE SOUTHERN SONG
REPULSED AN INCURSION by the

northern Jin (see 112630),

securing their kingdom from
invasion. A peace treaty of 1165
recognized an uneasy truce
between the two powers.
The Almohad caliph Abd
al-Mumin died in 1163, having
destroyed the Almoravids and
extended Almohad rule from
Morocco to Tunisia (the province
of Ifriqiya). He made his office

i;
ish se
Za pul
f
e
o r
a
tle g
at Son hin
1 B ern n, C
6
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om b
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be

hereditary, and his son Yusuf

abn Yaqub (113584) succeeded
him. He would spend most of his
reign battling internal opposition,
although he was also noted for
military success in Muslim Spain
and for his patronage of the arts.
In 1164, the Zengid emir Nur
al-Din (111874) defeated the
Crusader princes at Artah.
Throughout the 1160s, Nur al-Din
contested with the Crusader
kingdoms, particularly as they
vied for control of the ailing
Fatimid kingdom in Egypt,
led by the vizier Shawar.
Amalric, who had become
king of Jerusalem in 1162,
was the first to occupy
Egypt, but Zengid success at
Artah forced him to march
north, leaving the way clear for
Nur al-Dins general Shirkuh
and his nephew Saladin to
invade Egypt (see 1167).
Around the mid-12th
century, the dense urban culture
of the ancient Pueblo peoples at
Chaco Canyon in North America
collapsed, probably because their
marginal system of agriculture
had overtaxed the fragile dryland
ecology, leaving them vulnerable
to drought. Dating of timbers from
the Chaco Canyon pueblos show
that the youngest timbers date
from around the 1160s in other
words, there was no construction
after this. Other Pueblo, or
Anasazi, sites show evidence
from this period of fortification,
destruction, and even cannibalism,
but there is also evidence of
orderly abandonment, presumably
by people moving to new sites.

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07/06/2011 11:47
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116670

117175

,,

WILL NO ONE
RID ME OF THIS
TURBULENT
PRIEST?

,,

Attributed to Henry II, 1170

The murder of Thomas Becket is depicted in stained glass at Canterbury Cathedral.

Canonized in 1173 , Becket became one of the most popular English saints.
IN 1170, THOMAS BECKET,
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY,

was murdered in Canterbury

Cathedral, England, by four
knights of the court of Henry II
(r.115489). Although he swore
that he had not ordered the crime,
and was absolved of responsibility
by Pope Alexander in 1172,
Henrys famous outburst (see
above) had prompted the action of
the knights. The context for this
outrage was an ongoing dispute
over the extent of ecclesiastical

versus royal jurisdiction. During

the anarchy of Stephens reign
(see 113640), clerical courts had
encroached on areas previously
under royal jurisdiction. Following
Stephens death, Henry
Plantagenet came to the throne.
He controlled England alongside
the territories of Anjou,
Normandy, and Aquitaine known
as the Angevin Empire and set
about instituting a badly needed
reorganization of his new
kingdom. Taxation reforms,

tablet in clay
with moulded
design

Muhammad of Ghur, travelling by elephant, leads

his army in the Islamic conquest of India.

for instance, replaced the

Danegeld with new levies, but
it was the judicial reform that
brought him into conflict with his
friend and chancellor Thomas
Becket. Becket had already
been forced into exile after being
found guilty of violating the
Constitutions of Clarendon
(see 1164). On his return he vexed
Henry by excommunicating
royally favoured bishops.
At its height, in the late 12th
century, the commercial empire
of Srivijaya, based in Sumatra,
controlled much of the Malay
Archipelago. Its authority
extended to colonies around the
East Indies and as far as Sri
Lanka and Taiwan. Srivijayan
power was based almost
exclusively on its maritime
prowess. By securing the seas
in the region against piracy they
enabled and directed trade
between China, India, and the
Islamic world, but imposition of
heavy duties and taxes stoked
resentment and, eventually, revolt.
Frederick Is fourth expedition
to Italy, beginning in 1166,
prompted the renewal of the
Lombard League (see 115660)
and the construction of the mighty
fortress town Alessandria,
named for the pope. With this
citadel guarding the mountain
passes, Italy became virtually
independent of imperial authority.
Votive tablet
This votive tablet from the trading
empire of Srivijaya is engraved
with Buddhist figures. The ruling
Sailendras were ardent Buddhists.

ce d
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Sa
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To rthe ing A
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THE GHURIDS WERE A DYNASTY

FOUNDED IN 1151 by Ala-ud-Din

Husayn, who conquered much

of Ghaznavid Afghanistan and
founded a new state based at
Ghur in western Afghanistan. In
1173, Ghiyas-ud-Din became
emir, making his brother
Muizz-du-Din, better known as
Muhammad of Ghur, co-emir.
Together the brothers brought
most of Afghanistan under their
control, and in 1175 Muhammad
launched the Islamic invasion of
northern India.
The Spanish rabbi Benjamin of
Tudela (113073) was the first
recorded European to have
approached the borders of China,
in an epic journey he made from
1159 to 1173. His account, The
Travels of Benjamin of Tudela,
recounts many exotic legends,
including Noahs Ark resting
on Mount Ararat.
In the medieval period, the city
of Pisa, in Tuscany, became the
centre of a thriving city-state. Its
cathedral was constructed in the
11th century, but in 1173 work
began on a separate bell tower.
Even during construction the
foundations sank and the tower
began to slant. Eventually it
came to lean 4.5m (15ft) from
the perpendicular.
During the 1170s, a new
religious movement emerged
in Lyons. Also known as the Poor
Men of Lyons and the Vaudois,
the Waldenses were led by Peter
Waldes (c.11401218), a rich
merchant who gave away his
property and began to preach a
radical creed of gospel simplicity

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Pisas famous leaning tower is
54.5m (179ft) tall and 17.5m (57ft) in
diameter at the base.

that rejected many of the teachings

of Catholicism. Despite initial
blessing by Pope Alexander III,
the Waldensians refusal to abide
by his injunction against preaching
led to their denunciation as
heretics in 1179 and a long history
of persecution (see 120610).
In 1174, the Zengid emir Nur
al-Din died. His nephew Saladin,
who had already assumed control
of Egypt, quickly marched north to
secure Syria, and was duly
recognized as sultan of Egypt and
Syria by the caliph in Baghdad,
founding the Ayyubid dynasty.

lI
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135

117680

118185

,,

SALADINS HOPE HAD AN

EASY PASSAGE, HIS PATHS WERE
FRAGRANT, HIS GIFTS POURED
OUT, HIS POWER WAS MANIFEST,
HIS AUTHORITY SUPREME.

,,

Imad al Din, Secretary to Saladin, from Lightning of Syria, c.1200

This depiction of the Battle of Yashima during the Gempei wars illustrates a
heavily armed Minamoto discovering the terrified mother of Emperor Taira.
EMPEROR FREDERICK
BARBARROSAS FIFTH EXPEDITION
TO ITALY in 1176 (see also

115155) ended in disaster for the

imperial forces when his army
was crushed at the Battle of
Legnano. The battle marked one
of the earliest occasions in the
medieval era when cavalry were
defeated by infantry. This had
class implications as knights on
horses generally belonged to the
feudal aristocracy, while footmen
with pikes represented freemen
of the rising bourgeoisie. In 1177,
Frederick was forced to concede
the Peace of Venice with the
pope; a prelude to the more

comprehensive Peace of
Constance in 1183 (see 118185).
Now reconciled with the
emperor, Pope Alexander III was
able to call an ecumenical council
at the Lateran Palace in Rome,
in 1179. The council decreed that
papal elections would be solely
in the hands of the cardinals, and
that a two-thirds majority was
needed to elect a pope. It was
hoped that this would draw a
line under years of contention
between papal candidates
elected by the anti-imperial party
and anti-popes persons
selected by the emperor to
oppose the legitimately elected
or sitting pope.
In 1176, the army
of Byzantine
emperor Manuel
Commenus was
destroyed by the
Turks of the
Sultanate of Rum
(see 110005)
at the Battle of
Myriocephalum.
The Byzantines were
never again able to
send land forces to
help the Crusaders.
The Gempei Wars
(118085) in Japan

Pope Alexander III

This 14th-century
fresco shows
Pope Alexander III
presenting a sword
to the Venetian Doge
for use against the
emperor, Frederick
Barbarossa.
y
db m
ate alu
e
f
e ph
yd e
m ioc
ar Myr
e
in of
nt
za ttle
By Ba
6
t
7
a
11 rks
Tu

138-139_1176-1200.indd 138

138

136

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gn
Le k
f
c
o
i
tle er he
at red d t
6 B en F a an ue
7
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of
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do
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g
77 ck An
11 a sa of
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am
Ch

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e
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Pe een ross pop
7
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a th
7
11 betw arb
B

COAL AND IRON IN

MEDIEVAL EUROPE
Growing populations, new
agricultural implements, and
constant military activity
increased the demand for
iron in the Middle Ages.
Charcoal was still the main
source of power for iron
forges, but deforestation
caused wood shortages.
As a consequence, demand
for coal increased in and
scavenging for sea coal was
increasingly supplemented
by mining. The first record
of a coal mine comes from
Escomb near Durham, in
northern England in 1183.
marked the end of Taira
domination of Japan (see
641650), and the start of the
Minamoto shogunate. Civil
wars in 1156 and 1159 had left
control of Japan in the hands of
Taira no Kiyomori (c.111881),
who quickly assumed a similar
level of power to the Fujiwara
clan (see 851860). Not only did
he act as prime minister, but he
also married his daughters to the
imperial family, enabling him to
place his infant grandson on the
throne as emperor in 1180. But
his excessive lust for power and
perceived corruption alienated his
provincial supporters, and in the
same year there was an uprising
by the Minamoto clan against
Taira rule, which grew into the
five-year-long Gempei Wars.

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BY THE 1180S, THE CRUSADER

KINGDOMS OF OUTREMER (beyond

the sea, as they were known in

Europe) were in an increasingly
precarious position. Europe was
deaf to entreaties for Crusader
reinforcements, and the Christian
Byzantines were preoccupied with
other matters, such as war with
Norman Sicily. Meanwhile, their
Muslim opponents were gathering
under the leadership of Saladin, or
Salah al-Din, (c.113793) the sultan
of Egypt and Syria. By 1183, he had
suppressed Christian rebels at
Edessa and Aleppo, and with both
sides reeling from the effects of a
drought, had brokered a peace
treaty with the leper king of
Jerusalem, Baldwin IV
(c.116185). The uneasy peace was
shattered, however, by the actions
of Reynald of Chtillon, an
adventurer from the Second
Crusade, who persistently raided
unarmed caravans of Islamic
pilgrims, and sponsored a pirate
fleet that pillaged the Red Sea.

Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria

Saladin escapes from battle on
a camel in this 18th-century
engraving. He was renowned as
a generous and principled leader.

f
en a
e o we ss
ac bet aro ue
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b
P
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Sa aga
83 y
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Saladin mobilized his army,

intent on punishing Reynald, but
his progress was checked by
Frankish fortresses and another
prolonged famine. In 1185,
Baldwin died and his sickly infant
nephew inherited the crown as
Baldwin V (117786).
In 1183, the peace between
Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and
his Italian foes was ratified as the
Peace of Constance, but although
imperial authority over Italy was
recognized, the Lombard cities
were granted effective autonomy.
The Battle of Dannoura of 1185
marked the climax of the Gempei
Wars. Warrior Minamoto
Yoshitsune, younger brother of
Yoritomo, the founder of the
shogunate, destroyed the Taira in
the naval battle.

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118690

11911200

The Horns of Hattin, an extinct volcano crowned with two rocky outcrops,
was the site of the Battle of Hattin in 1187.

King Richard I of England, also known as Richard the Lionheart, is shown

leading Crusaders into battle.

ON 4TH JULY 1187, THE CRUSADER

ARMY WAS DEFEATED by the

forces of Saladin. The Crusader

forces were led by the new king of
Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan, who
had seized power on the death
of the infant Baldwin V in 1186.
Baldwins regents had negotiated
another truce with Saladin, but

3:2

Battle of Hattin
Saladins troops
outnumbered the
Crusaders by 30,000 to 20,000, yet
his success was owed to his tactics
and the Christians desperate thirst.

once again, Reynald of Chtillon

had broken it, raiding a caravan of
pilgrims and provoking Saladin
into a final campaign to sweep the
Holy Land clear of the Christian
principalities. Goaded by Reynald,
King Guy led a combined force
of Crusader knights, Templars,
Hospitallers, and English
mercenaries (see 111620) across
a waterless plateau in the blazing
heat to take up a position on
the Horns of Hattin, an extinct
volcano. Between them and Lake
Tiberias the main source of
fresh water for the thirst-crazed
knights lay the well-rested and
provisioned army of Saladin.
Using raiding tactics, Saladin
drove the Crusaders into
desperate confusion, surrounding
and capturing them all. More than

ize
gn
co nce
e
s r de
ine pen
nt
za inde
y
B n
87 ria
11 lga
Bu

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at f
f H ns o l
o
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e
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ttl Ho sra
Ba t at tin, I
7
h
t
8
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Ha
11 fou 137
136-137_1151-1175.indd

horns made of
gilded wood

200 Templars and Hospitallers

were executed, while Saladin
personally beheaded Reynald.
King Guy was later released,
but, with his army annihilated,
it was easy for Saladin to cow
many of the remaining
Crusader strongholds into
surrender. He took Acre in July
and Jerusalem in October. Tyre,
Antioch, Tripoli, and a few castles
were all that remained of the
Crusader kingdoms.
The Crusader kingdom of
Outremer had been pleading for
European assistance for years
and the fall of Jerusalem in
1187 finally prompted Pope
Gregory VIII to preach a new
Crusade. The dispatch of
Anglo-French forces was
delayed by disputes between
Henry II of England and Philip
II of France, and then by the
death of Henry and the
accession of Richard I in
1189. Richard I and Philip II
finally set out in late 1190.
Frederick Barbarossa had
already set out overland in
1189, but was drowned en
route the following year.
metal plated
gloves or tekko
skirts split for ease
of movement

Samurai armour
This beautifully presented
Japanese armour dates from
the 19th century, though the
first samurai warriors fought
with similar armour in the
12th century.

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THE THIRD CRUSADE was

hampered by infighting among
the European factions of the
Crusaders of Outremer,
and although Richard the
Lionheart won most of his
battles, he was unable to
achieve his sworn aim of
liberating Jerusalem. The
Crusade had already got off to a
bad start (see 118690), and there
were further delays en route
when, in 1191, Richard stopped to
conquer Byzantine Cyprus. He
sold the island to the Templars,
who would later pass it on to the
diminished Crusader kingdoms,
where it became one of the main
supports for continuing Christian
presence in the Holy Land.
On finally arriving in Palestine,
Richard joined Philip II of France
in the siege of Acre, which
was actually a double siege
King Guy had laid siege to
the city on his release from
captivity (see 118690), but
Saladin had then encircled
his forces. Acre was taken
by the Crusaders in July
and much of the population
was massacred. Philip II
returned to France, but
Richard I had sworn to
liberate Jerusalem, and
marched along the coast,
retaking towns and defeating
Saladin at Arsuf in September.
Although he would go on to
clear Muslim forces from
the rest of the coastal strip,
and camp within sight of
Jerusalem, Richard
realized he did not have
the forces needed to take

of ds
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at Ghu
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;
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11 raro Hind cy
Ta ush era
cr nfed
co

CRUSADER ARMOUR

27kg
1.5kg
0.4kg

THE WEIGHT
OF ARMOUR
THE WEIGHT
OF A SWORD
THE WEIGHT
OF A MACE

and hold the holy city. With

continued infighting among the
Crusader barons, the murder
of Conrad of Montferrat by
Assassins (see 108190)
soon after being made king,
reinforcements arriving for
Saladin, and bad news from
England where his brother John
was scheming to seize the crown
Richard was forced to conclude
a peace treaty with Saladin in
1192. Outremer would henceforth
be confined to a 145km (90 mile)
coastal strip, from Tyre to Jaffa,
along with Antioch and Tripoli.
In 1192, Minamoto Yoritomo
(see 118185) awarded himself
the title Seii tai-shogun
(barbarian-subduing great
general). Since the end of the
Gempei Wars, Yoritomo had
dispatched all challengers,
including his brother Yoshitsune.
As undisputed military dictator,
his bakufu, or administration, at
Kamakura now supplanted the
imperial court. Japan would be
ruled by shoguns military
dictators - for centuries to come.
In 1192, the Ghurids of Persia
defeated a Hindu rebellion at the
Battle of Taraori near Thanesar in
India. The following year, Delhi was
taken and Muhammad of Ghur
founded the Sultanate of Delhi.

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24/05/2011 14:55

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137

120105

120610

A Persian painting shows Temujin, later known as Genghis Khan, battling the
Tartars. The Tartar tribes fought constantly with the Mongols.

Peterhouse college, Cambridge was

founded 75 years after the university.

1199, intent on restoring papal

supervision to the crusading
movement, and hoping to reunite
the Greek and Latin churches to
fulfil his vision of a single
Christian dominion under the
papacy. In 1201, envoys met
Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice, to
arrange passage to Egypt for the
Fourth Crusade. Under the
Peace of Venice (see 117680),
the Venetians agreed to transport
33,500 men and 4,500 horses for a
payment of 85,000 marks. In
addition, they would supply 50 war
galleys in return for half of the
Crusaders conquests.
When the Crusaders gathered in
Venice in 1202, it transpired there
were too few of them, and they
could not pay the agreed bill.
Instead, they agreed to help
Venice by taking Zara in Dalmatia
a rich source of wood for
Venetian galleys. Pope Innocent
protested, but worse was to come.
In 1204, the Crusaders arrived in

Constantinople, where relations

with the Byzantines quickly
soured; the city was taken for the
first time in its history, and was
brutally sacked. A new Latin
Empire of the East was
proclaimed under a new emperor,
Baldwin of Flanders, while Venice
was awarded nearly half the city,
numerous Mediterranean islands,
and other territories. Although the
Byzantine emperors relocated to
Byzantine Nicaea, the Fourth
Crusade marked the end of the
Byzantine Empire as a true power,
which discredited the Crusading
movement and helped the Turks.
In the late 12th century, the
Mongolian and Turkic nomads of
the steppes were fearsome but
disunited. Temujin (c.11621227),
who later became known as
Genghis Khan, was a minor
leader who became a nokhor
(companion) to Toghril, Khan of
the Kereits, the dominant tribe in
Central Mongolia. Through ability
and charisma, he rose to become
a great general, crushing the

Novgorod
Kiev

Bolgar KHANATE OF THE

GOLDEN HORDE

CHAGATAI
KHANATE

Jayavarman VII
This bronze statue of King
Jayavarman VII, in Mahayana
Buddhist style, portrays a serene
and contemplative king.

neighbouring Tartar tribes in

1202, but inciting resentment
among other Kereits so that in
1203 he clashed with Toghril
himself. He emerged from this
confrontation as the dominant
leader among the Mongol tribes.
Jayavarman VII (c.11251220)
had returned from exile to claim
the Khmer crown in 1181. He

ASIA

Karakorum
EMPIRE OF THE
KEY
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Constantinople
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Campaigns of Genghis
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BURMA
Guangzhou
Silk road
Mecca
INDIA Pagan
AFRICA
Hanoi
Arabian
South
Sea
Map of Genghis Khans empire
China
Sea
Temujin would go on to unite the Mongol

EUROPE

Gran

Tashkent
Bukhara

tribes and conquer a huge empire. His

successors would extend it still further.

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avenged the destruction of the

capital by deposing the Champa
king in 1191, suppressed a revolt
in the west, restored Angkor, and
finally gained ascendancy over the
Champa kingdom. Jayavarman
made Mahayana Buddhism the
state religion and taxed the
resources of the kingdom to build
great temples, as well as hospitals,
shrines, roads, and bridges. One
of his temples, Preah Khan, was
served by 98,000 retainers.
In around 1200, the Chim state,
centred on their capital at Chan
Chan in the Moche valley in Peru,
began to expand. Their power
rested on their mastery of
intensive agriculture techniques
and elaborate irrigation. At Chan
Chan, Chim leaders built
citadels, or palaces, high-walled
buildings with audience chambers
and storage depots. It is believed
that each new Chim ruler was
obliged to build and fund his own
citadel, which drove the expansion
of the empire.
In 1202, the mathematician
Leonardo of Pisa, better known as
Fibonacci (c.11771250),
produced the most influential
book in European mathematics to
date, the Liber Abaci, or Book of
Calculation. Based on Arabic
mathematics, it introduced
Europe to Hindu numerals (09)
and to the word zephirum, a
Latinized version of an Arabic
word that, in the Venetian
dialect, became
zero in algebra,
addition, and
the Fibonacci
Sequence.

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BY 1206, TEMUJIN HAD UNITED

ALL THE TRIBES OF MONGOLIA into

the Khamag Mongol Ulus the All

Mongol State, reorganizing tribal
society into an army grouped on a
decimal system. At the Mongolian
capital of Karakorum, he took the
title Chinggis Khan or ruler of the
world. The name is now most
commenly spelled, Genghis.
In 1208, Pope Innocent III
proclaimed a crusade against
heretics in the south of France
the Albigensians (Cathars based
around Albi) and Waldenses (see
117175). Their teachings
challenged the worldliness of the
established church, while their
anticlericalism attracted nobles
keen to appropriate church lands;
the Cathars, for instance, were
under the protection of Raymond
of Toulouse, who ruled much of
southern France. The popes
declaration gave license for the
French king, Philip II (11651223),
to allow his northern lords to
wreak havoc in areas outside of

,,

POPE INNOCENT III HAD

PROCLAIMED A NEW CRUSADE in

KILL THEM
ALL, GOD
WILL KNOW
HIS OWN.

,,

Abbot Arnaud Amaury, on the

Albigensian Crusade

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26/05/2011 14:15
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121620

121115

122125

,,

,,

I AM THE
PUNISHMENT
OF GOD...

Genghis Khan, Mongolian warlord

This 19th-century oil painting depicts the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa,
said to have been the decisive battle of the Reconquista.
PETER II OF ARAGON (11781213)
AND ALFONSO VIII OF CASTILE
(11551214) defeated the

PERSECUTION OF
THE CATHARS
Although only 200 Cathars
lived in the town of Beziers in
Languedoc, Crusaders
massacred the entire
population in 1209. Asked
how the attackers should
distinguish between
Catholics and heretics,
crusade leader Abbot
Amaury is reputed to have
given his famous order to
kill them all. In its pursuit
of Cathars, the papacy would
eventually create the
Inquisition (see 123135).
his control, preparing the way for
an expansion of royal power.
In 1209, Cambridge University
was founded by scholars who had
relocated from Oxford. By 1226,
they had aquired some formal
organization.

,
of sity
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nd Univ
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140-141_1201-1225.indd 141

Almohads (see 114650) at the

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in
1212. Alfonso had earlier been
crushingly defeated by the
Almohads in 1195 but had fought
off invasions by the other Christian
Spanish kingdoms and rebuilt his
army. After this decisive victory, the
Almohads were soon expelled from
Spain, leaving only local Muslim
dynasties that could not stand up to
the Christian advance. Accordingly,
this battle is traditionally said to be
a decisive point in the Christian
reconquest or reconquista of
Moorish Spain (see 124145).
Having lost most of his lands in
France, King John of England
(11661216) joined in alliance with
Emperor Otto IV (11781215) and
others, but they were crushed at
the Battle of Bouvines in Flanders
in 1214 by Philip II of France and
the rival German emperor,
Frederick II. This ended AngloNorman hopes of regaining French
territories. King Johns barons
were forced to concentrate on
England, where they had cause for
discontent. Thanks to a dispute
with the pope, the king had been
briefly excommunicated. More
importantly, he was taxing the
barons heavily and invalidating the

an i,
Kh hita
his a-K
g
r
n
Ge Ka and
11 ers ia ina
12 nqu l As Ch
co ntra s Jin
Ce ade
inv

law when it suited him. The barons

revolted and after a brief civil war,
John was forced to sign the Articles
of the Barons, known in history as
the Great Charter or Magna Carta.
Although this mainly concerned the
rights of barons, in stating that the
king was not above the law, it was
an important milestone for human
rights. King John immediately
disowned the charter and war
3 clauses
still in use

4 surviving
copies

A detail from the south gate of the

great Khmer city of Angkor Thom.

METRES

THE HEIGHT OF
THE WALLS OF
ANGKOR THOM
JAYAVARMAN VII DIED IN AROUND
1220, having seen his greatest

63

40

CLAUSES

ORIGINAL COPIES

The Magna Carta

Of the 63 clauses contained in the
original Magna Carta, only three
survive as laws today. Numerous
copies were made, to be distributed
around England; four survive.

broke out once more, this time with

added French involvement.
Retreating from a French invasion
force in 1216, the king lost his
baggage train and royal treasure
while crossing the Wash in
Lincolnshire, England, and died
soon after. His infant son, Henry III
(120772) came to the throne.

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creation take shape. At Angkor, in

modern-day Cambodia he had
created a new city, Angkor Thom,
centred on the great state temple
of Bayon. The temple comprises
towers decorated with huge,
sculpted faces; the identities of
these are disputed, although they
may include Jayavarman himself.
Having conquered most of
Central Asia and northern China,
Genghis Khans empire (see
120105) now bordered the
Khwarazm Empire of Persia.

Mongolian dagger
The Mongolians had a deservedly
fearsome reputation. After archers
had decimated the enemy, fighters
with hand weapons would close in.

of
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DOMINGO DE GUZMAN, A CASTILIAN

CLERIC DIED IN 1221. In 1203, he

had gone to Rome to ask

permission to do missionary work
with the Tartars (see 120110), but
was sent to France to preach to
the Cathars of Languedoc
instead. By adopting absolute
poverty, he was able to challenge
the Cathars and make some
headway, although ultimately his
failure to correct the heretics led
to the Albigensian Crusade (see
120610). However, like Francis of
Assisi (see 122630), he had
created a new kind of monastic
order the Dominicans adapted
to the new urban culture. The
Dominicans and Franciscans
were mendicant friars, mainly
recruited from the middle classes,
living off charity rather than
farming, and devoted to preaching
and charity in towns and cities.
A largely ineffective affair, the
Fifth Crusade was the fruit of
Pope Innocents determination to
reboot the Crusading movement.
Targeting Egypt, the Crusaders
took that but then lost Damietta,
and failed to account for the Nile
floods, which foiled their advance
on Cairo. They high-handedly
rejected a treaty offered by the
sultan that would have given them
Jerusalem, and left Egypt in 1221
having accomplished nothing.

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141

139

122630

123135

123640

This 13th-century painting by Giotto di Bonodore

shows St Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds.

This 14th-century image shows Pope

Gregory IX receiving a list of heretics.

Steppe landscape; little changed

since the days of the Mongol Empire.

IN 1231, POPE GREGORY IX

ON HIS DEATH, GENGHIS KHAN had

informally divided his empire
between four of his sons. Given
authority over the west, Batu
Khan (c.120755) established the
Kipchak Khanate, also known as
the Golden Horde Khanate. In
the winter of 1237, when the
frozen rivers allowed his cavalry
to cross, Batu invaded Russia.
Over the next four years, his
armies conquered the Russian
principalities and blazed a trail of
destruction deep into Central
Europe. Under the overlordship of
Ogodei (see 123135), the
expanding reach of the Mongol
Empire had important
implications for pan-Eurasian
trade. The Pax Mongolica or
Mongol Peace achieved in the
lands under Mongolian control
made the perilous passage
across Central Asia and the silk
road increasingly viable, enabling
the first direct contact between
Europeans and the Chinese
since Roman times in
around 1240.
By 1236, the Teutonic Knights
a military order formed in 1198
by German merchants serving at
the Hospital of St Mary of the
Teutons in Jerusalem had
completed the subjugation of the
Pomeranians, a pagan tribe in
Prussia. Under their grand
master, Hermann von Salza
(c.11791239), the knights
established numerous
strongholds, and in 1237, they
merged with the Livonian
Brothers of the Sword and
advanced into Livonia (presentday Estonia and Latvia).

1,000,000

THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE

KILLED DURING THE
ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE

THE RENEWAL OF THE

ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE (see

120610) in 1226 was in spite of

the Pope declaring an official
end to the Crusade at the Fourth
Lateran Council of 1215. In reality,
the battle for the south of France
descended into vicious guerrilla
warfare. Renewal of the Crusade

was followed eventually by the

submission of Raymond VII, Count
of Toulouse the Cathars
protector. Under the Treaty of
Meaux (also known as the Peace
of Paris) of 1229, the town of
Toulouse was ceded to the
Capetian dynasty the ruling
house of France from 987 to 1328.

Crusader coin
A rare Crusader coin from the
Kingdom of Jerusalem illustrates
the effects of intermingling policy:
the inscription is written in Arabic.

Meanwhile, Emperor Frederick II

of Germany realized that peace
with the Muslims was better than
unwinnable military adventures.
In 1229, he concluded a treaty
with the sultan of Egypt that
restored Jerusalem and some
surrounding land to the Christians.
The Sixth Crusade thus passed
without bloodshed, although
Frederick was roundly condemned
for this achievment.
A former soldier, Francis of
Assisi had founded the
Franciscan order in 1209 (see
122125). In 1224, he received the
stigmata (the wounds of Christ),
and he was canonized just two
years after his death in 1226.

Cathar stronghold
The Cathar castle of Peyrepertuse in
the Pyrenees was located in a
strategic defensive position on the
FrenchSpanish border.

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established the Papal Inquisition,

a campaign by the church against
heresy. Prior to 1231, the
investigation of heresy had been
the responsibility of bishops but it
now became the preserve of
specialist inquisitors, mostly
drawn from the Dominican and
Franciscan orders (see 122125).
In 1233, the Dominicans were
charged with bringing the
Inquisition to Languedoc in
France, where the Cathar heresy
clung on despite the military
defeat of the Count of Toulouse
(see 122630).
Mongolian expansion
continued, though Genghis Khan
(see 120105) had died in 1227
while suppressing a rebellion in
Xia Xia in China. He was
succeeded by his second son,
Ogodei (c.11861241), who was
still more ambitious. Ogodei sent
armies to the east and west,
leading the final assault on the
Chinese Jin Empire (see 1126
30), which was conquered by
1234. The Southern Song had
aided the Mongol advance, but
when they tried to seize Kaifeng in
northern China in 1235, the
Mongols turned on them.
In 1235, Sundiata, king of the
Keita, a Mande people from
sub-Saharan Mali, defeated the
Susu king Sumnaguru at the
Battle of Kirina. The Susu had
destroyed the old Ghana Empire
(c.8301235), and Sundiata now
built a new Mande empire on the
ruins of Ghana.

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124650

This miniature from the Annalistic Code of the 16th century depicts the Battle of the Ice,
fought on the frozen waters of Lake Peipus, Novgorod.

In this 16th-century painting, Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Lon, accepts
the surrender of the city of Seville from the Moors in 1248.

IN 1241, THE GERMAN TRADING

TOWNS OF LUBECK AND HAMBURG

IN 1247, FERDINAND III OF CASTILE

AND LEON (c.11991252) laid siege

formed an alliance to protect the

Baltic trade routes. This was the
first act in the formation of the
Hanseatic League (from the
medieval Latin hansa, meaning
a group or association). Lbeck
quickly became the centre of
expanding German trade in the
Baltic region, which extended
along the Russian rivers as far
as Novgorod, and linked to the
European trading centres of
England and Flanders.
In 1242, the efforts of the
Teutonic Knights (see 123640)

RECONQUISTA
The notion of the Reconquista
the Christian reconquest of
Islamic Spain as a single,
continuous project, is a myth,
first created by clerical
propagandists in the 14th
century. In practice, the
advance of the Christian
kingdoms was by degrees,
driven by the need for land,
and facilitated by Muslim
dissention and advances in
military technology.

ge e
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142-143_1226-1250.indd 143

Medieval trade
A manuscript
illumination of the port
of Hamburg, a founder
member of the
Hanseatic League,
which had its roots in
an alliance of 1241
with Lbeck.

to extend their
Livonian territories
eastward and launch
the conversion of the
Russians from the
Greek to the Roman
church were checked
by defeat at the
Battle of Lake
Peipus. Led by
Alexander Nevski,
prince of Novgorod,
the Russians
checked the knights progress and
Lake Peipus thereafter served as
the eastern limit of Livonia.
In a series of stunning victories
in Eastern and Central Europe,
the Mongol armies destroyed all
opposition. Early in 1241, an army
of horsemen crossed the frozen
River Vistula into Poland, sacking
Kracow and defeating an alliance
of Poles, Silesians, and Teutonic
Knights at Leignitz in April. Just
three days later, another force
under Batu (see 123640)
overwhelmed the Hungarian army
in their camp at Mohi. By
December, Batu was destroying
Pest, the largest city in Hungary.
The Mongols had reached the
gates of Vienna when, in 1242, the
news reached them that Ogodei,
the Great Khan, had died. As was

traditional, Batu withdrew his

forces back to Karakorum, the
Mongol capital, for the election
of a new leader. Elsewhere,
Mongol forces had penetrated
the Indian subcontinent, sacking
Lahore in 1241.
In 1244, Jerusalem, which
had been under partial Christian
control since Frederick IIs treaty
with the sultan of Egypt (see
122630), was lost to medieval
Christians for the final time. The
Egyptian sultan, Ayyub, was
engaged in a contest with the
Syrian branch of the Ayyubids
(see 117175) at Damascus,
which had allied itself with the
Christian Crusader kingdoms.
In 1244, Ayyubs forces overran
Jerusalem and expelled the
Christians.

to the Moorish city of Seville. It fell

to him in 1248, and with it the last
Moorish kingdom in Spain with
the exception of Granada. Here,
Mohammad ibn-Yusuf ibn Nasr
had established the Nasrid
dynasty in 1230. By 1238, the
Nasrids had begun to reconstruct
an old fortress, the Alhambra,
which would become one of the
wonders of world architecture by
the mid-14th century (see
135055). In 1246, the emir of
Granada agreed to become
Ferdinands vassal, but the last
relic of Moorish al-Andalus would
resist Christian pressure until
1492 (see 149092).
Louis IX of France (121470)
was much respected throughout
Europe and had a reputation
for justice. Under his reign, royal
control was extended to the
Mediterranean, and the previously
autonomous realms of Languedoc
and Provence would become part
of French Capetian territories. In
1244, Louis took the cross,
embarking on a crusade in 1248.
Theobald of Navarre had launched

THE CRUSADES

109699
114549
118992
120204
121321
122829
124854

FIRST CRUSADE
SECOND CRUSADE
THIRD CRUSADE
FOURTH CRUSADE
FIFTH CRUSADE
SIXTH CRUSADE
SEVENTH CRUSADE

es
IX
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a crusade in 1239, but it was so

unsuccessful that it is not usually
recognized as an ordinate
crusade; Louis crusade of 1248
is accounted the Seventh, the
last Crusade of this magnitude
ever undertaken. Louis landed in
Egypt and took Damietta without
opposition, but in 1250 his army
was destroyed by the Egyptians
at Fariskur and he was taken
captive. His mother, Blanche of
Castile, raised a large ransom to
buy his freedom.
The Mamluks (or Mamelukes)
of Egypt were slave soldiers
captured from Turkic and
Circassian tribes (of the Pontic
Caspian steppes), who formed
the main component of the
Ayyubid army. Eventually they
became strong enough to take
power for themselves,
murdering Turan Shah, the last
Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, in 1250.
At first the Mamluk commander
Izz-ad-Din Aybak used the
sultans widow as a puppet ruler,
but he soon married her and
founded the Mamluk dynasty,
the first slave dynasty to hold
power in its own name.

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25/05/2011 16:56

143

141

6 0 0 14 49

TRADE AND INVENTION

sharp
obsidian blade

eagle head
sculpted
in gold

Lip ornament

Human mask

Warrior effigy pot

MIXTEC

AZTEC

MOCHE

This eagle-shaped lip plug, or labret,

would have been worn by a member of
the Aztec elite. The Mixtec, a conquered
tribe, made most Aztec gold jewellery.

Found at the Great Temple of the

Aztecs in their capital Tenochtitlan
(now Mexico City), this greenstone
mask was a votive offering.

This pot from the Moche culture of the

north coast of Peru shows a warrior in
a head-dress grasping a club. Constant
warfare was a way of life.

THE AZTECS,
INCAS, AND MAYA

heavy wooden
handle

THE EXTRAORDINARY ARTISTIC TRADITIONS OF PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA THAT SPANNED MILLENNIA

The Incas, Aztecs, and Maya were advanced civilizations

with sophisticated arts and crafts and highly developed
graphic systems. The artefacts they created dazzled the
medieval European invaders and still fascinate today.

Obsidian knife
AZTEC

Long-bladed, razor-sharp
obsidian knives such as
this one were used by
warriors and in the gory
human sacrifices practised
by the Aztecs.

The art and culture of the pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica and

the Andes represent the height of ancient traditions stretching back to the
4th millennium BCE. The conquistadors had a devastating effect on these
cultures, but the artefacts that survive are a testament to their rich heritage.
Much of Incan culture came from client states, such as the Moche, while the
Aztecs and Mayans derived theirs from older cultures, such as the Olmecs.

Maquahuitl
AZTEC

Lacking iron or steel, pre-Columbian

Americans used obsidian (volcanic
glass) to form cutting edges. The
maquahuitl a wooden club fringed
with obsidian blades was a
common Aztec weapon.

Sun stone

skin of flayed
victim

AZTEC

This sun stone, or calendar stone, is the

largest Aztec sculpture ever found.
It represents the Aztecs mythical
history of the universe. The Sun,
believed to have been formed
in the most recent era of
creation, is at the centre.
decorated with
pictoglyphs
band showing
days of month

disc is 4m (13ft)
across

142

144-145_178147_Aztec_Inca_Maya.indd 144
144
144-145_178147_Aztec_Inca_Maya.indd

Xipe Totec, god of the springtime

TEOTIHUACAN

The name of this grisly god translates as

our flayed lord; he is depicted wearing
the skin of a sacrificial victim, denoting
the spring renewal of the Earths skin.

Priceless heart
AZTEC

The heart was considered the most

precious organ that could be offered
to the gods, and this replica was carved
in jade, which the Aztecs regarded as
their most valuable substance.

03/07/2012
27/06/2012 11:38
15:36

T H E A Z T E C S , I N CA S , A N D M AYA
Necklace

Tomb figurine

INCA

INCA

Turquoise was highly valued by the

Incas (Aztecs and Mayans preferred
jade and other greenstones), and this
rare necklace is made from beads
of gold, turquoise, and red shell.

This cast gold figurine

representing an Inca god
made up part of the grave
goods interred in the tomb
of a high-status individual.

size and position of

knots records numbers

ornate
head-dress

hunter disguised
as deer

heavy
earplugs

Panpipes
INCA

Known in Europe
as the syrinx, the
panpipes were
among the most
common Inca musical
instruments. This unusual
set is made of quills from
the feathers of a condor.

elaborate
carvings

Decorative plate
MAYA

This plate from the Yucatan Maya shows hunting

scenes in the centre, a hunter drapes a deer he
has caught across his head and shoulders, while
around the edges other hunters wear deer masks.

Counting device

Greenstone yoke

INCA

AZTEC

Codex TroCortesianus
MAYA

One of only four surviving Mayan codices,

this one records instructions for divination
(predicting the future) and priestly rituals.
Sheets of bark paper were coated in gesso
(chalky paste) to form a writing surface.

Jaina figurine
MAYA

This pottery figure from the island of Jaina

shows a powerful man dressed in all his
finery, with a heavy bead necklace, massive
head-dress, and ear plugs.

Yokes were worn as protective belts in the

sacred ball game ulama, played by most
Mesoamerican cultures. This ornate yoke
was probably a ceremonial replica.
bars and dots
represent numbers

This quipu, or counting device, was a

versatile accounting tool that helped
the Incas keep track of the tribute and
population of their empire data was
recorded in lengths of string and knots.
codex was read
from top to bottom,
then left to right

145
144-145_178147_Aztec_Inca_Maya.indd
144-145_178147_Aztec_Inca_Maya.indd
145 145

143

03/07/2012
11:3
27/06/2012
15:36

125155

125660

Although not as sophisticated as Mayan hieroglyphs, Aztec pictographs such

as the one shown could express simple concepts.

This illustration of Mongols battling the Seljuks is from a chronicle by Rashid

al-Din, a Muslim minister in the service of the Il-Khanate.

today as the Aztecs were

established in the Valley of
Mexico. Aztec legend suggests
that they migrated from the
ancestral homeland of Aztlan in
the early 12th century. Settling at
Chapultepec, near Lake Texcoco,
Mexico, in around 1250, they were
soon expelled by the Tepanecs,
one of the tribal confederations
competing for dominance in the
wake of the Toltec collapse in the
early 12th century.
Although the Mongols had
conquered most of the Russian
principalities (see 123640), and
the Golden Horde Khanate had
claimed authority over Russia,
surprisingly little changed for
the Russians. In return for
tribute and military service,
the Russian princes were left
in power and the Russian
Church was not interfered
with. Alexander Nevski
(c.122063), the prince of
Novgorod who had led the
Russians to victory against the
Teutonic Knights in 1242,
became the dominant Russian
noble, appointed Grand Duke of
Vladimir after his brother was
driven out by the Mongols.
Under the support of the new
Great Khan, Mongke (r.125159),
his brothers Kublai and Hulagu
renewed the Mongol expansion.

In 1253, Hulagu led a huge army

into Western Asia to conquer the
Great Seljuk sultanate (see
103140), while Kublai launched
campaigns against the Southern
Song and the Kingdom of
Nanchao in China.

Prince of Novgorod
This statue depicts Russian leader,
Alexander Nevski, whose name
derives from the Russian victory at
the Battle of the River Neva.
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144

HULAGU KHAN (SEE 12511255)

CONTINUED HIS CAMPAIGN
AGAINST THE SELJUKS and other

Islamic powers. In 1256, he

crushed the Order of the
Assassins (see 108190), taking
their stronghold at Alamut in
Persia. In 1258, he sacked
Baghdad and executed the
Abbasid Caliph the figurehead
of Islam in just one of countless
atrocities committed by Mongol
invaders who massacred
hundreds of thousands of
Muslims during their campaigns.
In 1259, Hulagu penetrated deep
into Syria, but as with Batus
campaign in Europe 18 years
earlier (see 124145), his
progress was halted by news of
the death of the Great Khan,
and he withdrew his armies
while he returned to the
Mongolian capital to help
select a new leader.
Taking advantage of Hulagus
withdrawal, the Mamluk
general al-Zahir Baybars
marched north and struck at
the Mongol garrisons in
Syria. At the Battle of
Ayn Jalut in Palestine,
General Baybars
defeated the
Mongols and
expelled them from
Palestine and Syria.
On his return to Egypt
he murdered the
sultan and took his
place. Distracted by
dynastic struggles, and
later by a protracted
inter-khanate war,
Hulagu was not able to

KUBLAI KHAN (121594)

The grandson of Genghis Khan,
Kublai spent eight years
campaigning in southern China
before succeeding his brother
Mongke as Great Khan in 1260.
His own kingdom, the Great
Khanate, encompassed
Mongolia and China, where he
founded the Yuan dynasty,
moved the capital to Shangdu,
and did much to foster trade
and international links.
regain his Syrian conquests and
the westward expansion of the
Mongol Empire was halted.
Hulagus conquests, which
encompassed Iran, Iraq, most of
Anatolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and
Georgia, became the Il-Khanate,
or Ilkhanate. Meanwhile, the
Mamluks gave refuge to a fugitive
Abbasid prince, setting him up in
Cairo as the new caliph.
Recognized as guardians of the
Islamic faith, the Mamluks were

formally made sultans of Egypt,

Syria, and the Levant.
Alfonso X of Castile (r.12521284)
won the nickname the Wise
thanks to his learning, patronage of
the arts and Castilian literature,
sponsorship of natural philosophy,
and judicial reforms. He oversaw
the final expulsion of the
Almohads (see 112125) from
Spain in 1257.

,,

BY THE MID-13TH CENTURY, THE

MEXICA TRIBE better known

HAD I BEEN PRESENT

AT THE CREATION, I
WOULD HAVE GIVEN
SOME USEFUL HINTS FOR
THE BETTER ORDERING
OF THE UNIVERSE.

,,

Alfonso X, the Wise, on the Ptolemaic system

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126165

126671

127275

This example of Mamluk architecture from the height of the sultanate adorns
the entrance to the mausoleum of Qalawun in Cairo, Egypt.

Geneta Mariam church in Ethiopia,

built during the Solomonid era.

Former stronghold of the Knights Hospitaller, Krak des Chevaliers or fortress

of the knights in Syria was taken by the Mamluks and fortified further.

ITALIAN NOBLEMAN AND LATER

DOMINICAN MONK, THOMAS
AQUINAS (122574) became one of

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M e d i t e r r an e

COST
OF
PAPER

an

Se

THE SOLOMONID DYNASTY IN

ETHOPIA was founded in 1270 by

Yekuno Amlak, displacing the

previous Zagwe dynasty, and
claiming to have restored the
legitimate line of the ancient
Christian kings of Aksum. Amlak
claimed descent from the biblical
Solomon, via the possibly
Ethiopian Queen of Sheba.
The town of Fabriano in Italy lies
close to the Adriatic port of Ancona,
which was notable in the 13th
century for trade with the Muslim
world. This is probably how paper
manufacture became established
there in the 1270s. Use of animal
gelatin in place of more degradable
vegetable gel made Fabriano
paper more durable, and the town
became the principal paper
manufacturing site in Europe.
In 1270, Louis IX of France made
another attempt at crusading, but
on the request of Charles of Anjou,
the Eighth Crusade was diverted to
Tunis where disease killed Louis
and his army.

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0 D ce d ade
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C
V
7
in
M s
12 ran rus
Ch
71 ve
C
F
12 lea for
of

GOBI

Baghdad
ML
UK
S
Mecca

MALI

Aden

Shangdu
Khanbaliq

Tabriz

Antioch
MA

S a ha r a

Cost of paper versus parchment

After paper-making technology was
introduced to Italy, the cost of
vegetable-based paper fell to 1/6 of
the cost of animal-based parchment.

Karakorum

ASIA
Constantinople

Rome

ea

se y
oe at
ion
en Tre m
in
G
at rat
e
61 ntin aeu
f L esto ire
o
2
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Venice

dS

Thomas Aquinas
This 15th-century altarpiece
depicts Thomas Aquinas,
whose philosophy still
underpins Catholic dogma.

EUROPE

COST OF
PARCHMENT

EM P I R E
O F TH E
G R EAT K H A N

C H AGATA I
K H A NATE

K H A NATE O F TH E
GOL DE N H O R DE

Re

the most important philosophers

in the history of Western thought.
Renowned for his work in uniting
faith and reason, Aquinass
period of greatest productivity
occurred between 1258 and 1273,
when he penned his two bestknown works, the Summa contra
Gentiles and the Summa
Theologiae.
In 1261, Michael VIII Paleologus
(r.125961), the Byzantine
emperor of Nicaea, concluded the
Treaty of Nymphaeum with the
Genoese, agreeing to cede them
all the trading privileges once
enjoyed by the Venetians (see
981990). He had already secured
an alliance with the Bulgarians,
and was now poised to achieve his
dream of re-taking Constantinople
from the Latin Empire
(Constantinople and environs,
captured from the Byzantines
during the fourth crusade),
and reconstituting the
Byzantine Greek Empire. In
July 1261, a Byzantine army
took advantage of the
absence of the Venetian fleet
to cross the Bosporus strait
and take Constantinople. The
Latin emperor, Baldwin II
fled, and the Paleologus
Empire was established.

Paleologus would campaign

tirelessly to restore lost
Byzantine lands.
The Second Barons War in
England between 1264 and 1267
was brought about by a
combination of newly kindled
national consciousness and
resentment at foreign
interference. Henry III of England
(r.121672) had introduced many
foreign officers into government
and taxed the English heavily to
fund overseas adventures and
papal extortion. Rebels led by
Simon de Montfort, Earl of
Leicester, captured the king at
Lewes in 1265 and summoned the
first European parliament that
included elected representatives.
Meanwhile, the Mamluks began
a push to rid the Holy Land of the
Crusader kingdoms once and
for all.

Balkh

H T I B E T C H I NA
IL-KHANATE i m a
layas
Hormuz
I NDI A
Arabian
Sea

AFRICA

Pagan

Calicut

Hangzhou
Quanzhou
Guangzhou
South
China
Sea

Angkor

INDIAN OCEAN

Travels of Marco Polo

To reach China, Marco Polo travelled through
Anatolia, Iran, and Afghanistan. On his return,
he sailed to Hormuz in Persia via Sumatra.
IN 1271,THE VENETIAN MERCHANT
AND EXPLORER, MARCO POLO

(c. 12541324), travelled to China.

Arriving at Kublai Khans court in
1275, the Great Khan employed
Marco Polo in various capacities.
In 1292, he escorted a Mongol
princess to Persia, returning to
Italy three years later and writing
a travel memoir while a prisoner
of the Genoese. Polos memoir,
The Travels known by Italians as
Il Milione, because of the belief
that it contains a million lies
is a fascinating portrait of the
Mongolian Empire at its height.
The Pax Mongolica (see 123640)
allowed freedom of movement
through lands under the authority
of Il-khanate, and it was said that
a virgin with a pot of gold on her
head could pass unmolested from
Constantinople (modern-day
Istanbul) to Beijing.
In 1272, Edward Plantagenet
(r.12721307), heir apparent to the
English throne, returned from the

s
rn e
d
ar retu om ace
dw net bec d pe
E
72 ge to ne ks
12 anta land g sig mlu
Pl Eng avin Ma
to g h with
kin aty
tre

KEY
Route of Marco
Polo 12711295
Silk road

Holy Land, having forced the

Mamluks to conclude a 10-year
truce in his attempts to destroy
Acre, one of the last remaining
Crusader footholds in Outremer.
The Mamluks had already taken
the apparently impregnable Krak
des Chevaliers from the Knights
Hospitaller in 1271.

22

PER CENT
THE WORLD
LAND AREA
COVERED BY
THE MONGOL
EMPIRE AT ITS
HEIGHT
n
es
m oma
co
be oly R
I
olf g H
ud bur
4 R abs
7
12 st H or
fir per
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s
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pt
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fir s
tar alac n
a
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i
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13/05/11 11:34 AM
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12 end an
mp
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t
to
at

147

145

127685

128690

Statues adorn the Meenakshi Temple at Madurai, in India. Originally constructed by Kulasekhara Pandya,
the temple was destroyed by Muslim invaders and later rebuilt.

Guglielmo Berardi da Narbona was

killed at the Battle of Campaldino.

IN SOUTHERN INDIA, KING

KULASEKHARA I (r.12681308)

expanded the empire of the

Pandyas to its greatest extent.
The Pandyas were an ancient
Tamil people of the far south, who
contended for supremacy over the
centuries with neighbouring
kingdoms such as the Cholas and
the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Under Sundara (r.125168) the
Pandya empire had expanded
dramatically and reduced some
neighbouring states to vassalage.
His son Kulasekhara went on to
conquer Kerala, Kongu, and
Ceylon, and in 1279 he defeated
the last Chola king, Rajendra III,
and annexed his territories. The
Divine wind
An engraving shows the destruction
of the Mongol fleet by the kamikaze
(divine wind) in 1281.

of of
ty f I
ea dol es
r
u
T
l
k
76 ; R a ita
12 nna ny m cap nds
Vie rma the rg la
Ge nna sbu
Vie Hap
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nt
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Vis owe n
o
p
a
t
Ot to Mil
78 es in
12 com
148-149_1276-1300.indd 148

148

146

greatness of the Pandya court was

attested to by Venetian merchant,
Marco Polo, who would pass
through in 1293, but the empire
was short-lived, breaking up in
the early 14th century due to family
quarrels and Muslim invasions.
By the late 13th century, the
Maori had settled in New Zealand
with the exception of Antarctica,
the last land mass to be colonized
by humans. Dating the Maori
colonization is contentious.
According to estimates based on
Maori traditions, the first
Polynesians visited the islands in
the early 10th century, and waves
of colonization climaxed with the
arrival of the Great Fleet of
ocean-going canoes in 1350.
Archaeological findings tell a
slightly different story. However, it
seems likely that Polynesians,
probably from Tahiti, arrived in

New Zealand around 1280,

dividing the territory between
hapu (clans). Hapu that traced a
common ancestry formed iwi
(tribes), some of which could trace
their lineage back to a single waka
houra (ocean-going canoe).
Having conquered Korea and
most of China, Kublai Khan
(121594) set his sights on
Japan, sending embassies
demanding submission as early
as 1268. Under the bold
leadership of the Hojo regency,
the Japanese refused to be
cowed. After a failed invasion
attempt in 1274, Kublai sent
150,000 men in two huge
fleets in 1281, but the
Japanese held off the invading
armada until a great typhoon,
known in Japan as the
kamikaze (divine wind),
devastated the Mongol fleet.

MAORI CARVING
Maori culture is noted for its
tradition of arts and crafts;
chief among these is Te Toi
Whakairo (carving). Master
craftsmen were believed to
channel the voices
of the spirits and
ancestors, and
intricately carved
posts and lintels
adorning
structures
around the
marae (sacred
space) and waka
(canoes) were
believed to
accumulate and
pass on mana
(spiritual power).

s
ce
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yin
sp vin
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f t ue
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Ve nge to
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Os fta m und
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79 ete n
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s
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en s r oss 28
4 V tion p in 1
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sp ent
inv

ted
ple ia,
om russ gin
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av st o hts uan
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8
n
12 co nic K on
t
e
th euto saul
T as
an

IN THE 1280S, A TRIBE OF

TURKOMAN NOMADIC HORSEMEN

and raiders based in northwestern

Anatolia, known as the Ottomans,
elected Osman (12581354) as
their chieftain. At this time, the
political map of Anatolia was
fractured: the Mongol onslaught
had broken up Seljuk Rum and
replaced it with many small
principalities, while also driving
waves of Muslim refugees into the
region. Meanwhile, the Byzantine
Empire had been successively
reduced and broken up by Seljuk
and Latin encroachment. Osman
was able to lead his tribe in a
territorial expansion, rapidly
conquering Byzantine territory.
Florence, like many other Italian
cities, had developed into a largely
autonomous republic or
commune. It was typically easier
for the German emperors the
notional feudal overlords to grant
cities powers of self-government
than try to control them directly.
Since the mid-13th century,
Florence had see-sawed violently
between Guelph and Ghibelline
regimes (see 122125). This
GuelphGhibelline conflict had
gripped the Italian city-states,
providing a vehicle for the
expression of local class tensions
as well as national and
international politics. When one
faction gained the upper hand in a
city, the other was typically
expelled. In the 1280s, the
Guelphs had the upper hand, and
Guelph partisans exiled from
Arezzo encouraged them to take
up arms against the rival city. The
Florentines defeated Arezzo at the
y
m
an
ar
ap
ns t; he de J
a
he ish
h ie va
K
ft
i
i V in
n o f Jew
bla y Da s to
o
i
u
o
K b
at
n
pil on
86 ed pla
m cti re)
12 feat ons
Co olle atu
e
d
6
r
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28 (a lite
ab
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Zo bba
Ka

y
m
ar re
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a
h
se
E
oe
i K an urm
en etian
bla Pag ay B
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Th t Ve f Ac
87 roy nt
87 fea t of
12 est rese
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fl
12/05/11 2:02 PM

Ornate Mughal screen

This screen from the main gateway
of the Qutb complex in Delhi was
built by the Khalji sultan Ala-ud-din,
murderer and successor of Firuz.
of
ion e
as hor
v
l in La
go at
e
on lted
M
ak
a
h
st
9
87
28 luk
12 njab
1
m
Pu
Ma ipoli
Tr

f
eo
ttl ce
Ba ren ny
s
9
lo a
8
nd
12 o; F Tusc
fou asty
in in
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d
n
u
te
l
pa nt
Fir i dy ana i
m ina
90 halj Sult Delh
2
Ca om
1
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d
of
148-149_1276-1300.indd
149 the f th
is
o

12961300

The Eleanor Cross at Geddington, Northamptonshire, England, features an

ogee arch, marking a milestone for the English Gothic style.

William Wallace was outlawed for killing one of Edwards sheriffs in 1296.
He was one of the first men to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.

IN 1291, AFTER A DESPERATE

SIX-WEEK SIEGE, the Mamluks

THE EXTINCTION OF THE CANMORE

DYNASTY, followed by dissent

underway. Capable of carrying

more cargo and a larger crew, the
construction of the first of the great
galleys in 1294 heralded a distinct
advantage for the Venetians.

165
THE NUMBER
OF GALLEYS
IN THE 1295
FLEET OF
GENOA

d
s
)
es
lan as
luk of s
15
m end om
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r
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s
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l
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d
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c
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12 e A er k e
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dw Jo d i
ha kes ion
las
an
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ng o
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r
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9
i
9
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a
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t ra
12 min f Sc pos
12 han te r anat
bl
ne
in
Ku
Ve o Mu
no g o h op
Ilk e sta Ilkh
4
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t
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s
9
9
ki otti
th the
12
12 ves
c
o
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of
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rd
wa or
Ed lean nd
1
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la
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rco a wi et
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se
92
os
12 ls to han
cr
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1:4

Battle of
Stirling Bridge
Under William Wallace,
an estimated 2,500 Scots defeated a
much larger force of English soldiers
(numbering up to 10,000) at the
Battle of Stirling Bridge.

The GenoeseVenetian naval

conflict continued, with battles in
the Black Sea and the Greek
islands. At the Battle of Curzola,
in 1298, the Genoese fleet inflicted
a disastrous defeat on the
Venetians, destroying all but a few
of their ships and killing up to
7,000 men.

North
Sea

Murano glass
This Murano glass vessel dates to
around 1330. As well as increasing
fire safety, concentrating the glass
industry on an island helped to
regulate it and guard its secrets.

among the Scottish nobles, had

allowed Edward I to exercise
increasing dominance over the
Scots, and in 1292 he awarded the
crown to John Baliol. However, in
1295, Baliol made an alliance with
Englands enemy, France. The
following year Edward launched a
campaign to subdue the Scots,
defeating them at Dunbar, and
taking the Stone of Destiny the
Scottish coronation stone back
to London. In 1297, the Scottish
nationalist William Wallace
(c.12721305) led a revolt against
English dominance, overcoming a
larger English army at Stirling
Bridge, but he was defeated at
Falkirk in 1298 and forced into
years of guerrilla warfare and
overseas fundraising.

Se

took Acre, the last major Crusader

stronghold in Palestine, and a
few months later they took Beirut,
the last remnant of the Crusader
kingdom known as Outremer
(see 118185). After nearly 200
years, Christian presence in the
Holy Land was extinguished, and
the Mamluks plundered the
region to deter future Crusades.
To limit the risk of disastrous
fires, Venice moved its glassmaking industry to the island of
Murano in 1291. Venetian glass
makers were the only ones in
Europe to master the art of
producing clear glass. Their
expertise in working with glass
had earlier born fruit in the
invention of spectacles (see 1284).
Edward I of England (r.1272
1307) had married Eleanor of
Castile in 1254. Though
unpopular with the English, she
and Edward enjoyed a happy
marriage, and he was devastated
when she died in 1290. The
following year he ordered the
erection of 12 so-called Eleanor
crosses to mark the passage of
her funeral cortege to London.
The contest for mastery of the
Mediterranean between Genoa
and Venice continued, with a
Genoese fleet defeating the
Venetians off Laiazzo in 1294. The
following year, Genoa put together
a huge fleet, with the aim of
landing a killer blow. However,
despite a formal challenge being
made, it was not engaged.
Developments in Venetian
shipbuilding, however, were

lti

Battle of Campaldino, heralding

the start of a period of Florentine
dominance in Tuscany. Among
those battling on the Florentine
side was the poet Dante Alighieri
(see 131117).
The line of Slave Kings of Delhi
came to an end in 1290 with the
seizure of power by Firuz of the
Khalji Turks a tribe living in
Afghanistan thus founding the
Khalji dynasty. Firuz is best
remembered for releasing into
Bengal 1,000 Thugs or Thuggees,
cult followers of the goddess Kali
devoted to murder and robbery
in her name.

129195

ATL A NTIC
OC EA N

Ba

ENGLAND
London
Southampton
Bruges

EUROPE

Frankfurt

Paris
Bay of
Biscay

Danzig

Tana

FRANCE
Venice

HUNGARY

Moncastro

Kaffa

CASTILE Marseille Genoa

Lisbon
Black Sea
Varna
Bastia
Valencia
Dubrovnik
Rome
Trebizond
Murcia
Cadiz
Naples
Constantinople
Mlaga
Trapani
Honein
Phocaea
Palermo
Bougie
Bne

Tunis

AFRICA

Syracuse

Me

dite

Rhodes
Cyprus

Crete

rrane

Genoese trade routes

The Genoese opened a lucrative trade route to the
North Sea, and competed with Venice to dominate
trade with the Byzantines and the East.

Famagusta
Beirut

an Sea

KEY
Trade routes

ai l
ted
g M ita m
t
fea
;
k
de
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fea
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03/06/2011 17:14
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149

147

130110

131117

,,

LET EVIL SWIFTLY BEFALL

THOSE WHO HAVE WRONGLY
CONDEMNED US GOD
WILL AVENGE US.

,,

Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Knights

Templar, cursing King Philip and Pope Clement V, 1314

Domenico di Michelinos painting The Comedy Illuminating Florence, depicts

Dante, the city of Florence, and scenes from the Divine Comedy.
ALTHOUGH THE GHIBELLINES HAD
BEEN EXPELLED FROM FLORENCE

(see 128690), factionalism still

plagued the city, with a drawn-out
power struggle between the old
aristocratic nobility, the new
mercantile nobles, and the
powerful guilds. The Guelph
faction split into Black (extreme)
and White (moderate) parties.
In 1301, the Whites expelled the
Blacks, only for them to return
when Charles, count of Valois,
entered the city. The following
year the Black Guelphs sentenced
the Whites to death or exile
among them the poet Dante
Alighieri (see panel, right).
In 1301, Pope Boniface VIII
(c.12351303) supposedly issued a
bull asserting papal supremacy
over France. In fact, the bull was a
forgery, put out by the French king
Philip IV the Fair (r.12851314) to
stir up animosity against the pope.
Philip responded by calling one
of the first Estates General

n
ur
e l
m
ro ret
hit e
W exp hs f en lois
1
h
s
p
t
a
0 h
l
13 elp Gue ho of V
Gu ack ce, w rles
l
a
n
e
B r
Ch
Flo der
un

including representatives of the

towns and clergy and received
their backing. Boniface
excommunicated Philip and
Philip called for the Pope to face
criminal charges. In 1303, agents
acting for Philip forced their way
into the papal apartments in
Anagni and arrested the Pope,
who died soon after. Facing
tumultuous conditions in Italy, in
1303 the cardinals elected the
archbishop of Bordeaux as Pope
Clement V. Although hoping to
establish himself in Italy when
the violence subsided, Clement
remained in southern France,
finally settling in Avignon in 1309,
then owned by the king of Naples.
This temporary arrangement for
the papacy would last until 1378.
Palais des Papes
Situated on a rocky outcrop, the
papal palace in Avignon is one of the
largest and most important medieval
Gothic buildings in Europe.

lan any
ta
Ca omp ies
4
C
0
ar of
13 and cen nce
Gr mer dva urks
of lts a an T
ha tom
Ot

e
th
r
IV est pla
ilip arr Tem
h
s ts
P
r
07 de h
f
13 ir or Knig
g o to
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150-151_1301-1340.indd
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150

148

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ti
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The torture of Jacques de Molay, Grand

Master of the Knights Templar.
FROM THEIR HUMBLE BEGINNINGS,
WHEN THEY HAD BEEN SO POOR

that two knights sometimes had

to share a horse, the Knights
Templar had risen to
dizzying heights. With the
backing of Cistercian
abbot Bernard of
Clairvaux (10901153),
and subsequently the
Pope, they had won
exemption from secular
jurisdiction and taxation,
and thrived as donations
of land and money poured
in. By the 13th century
they had become de facto
bankers to much of
Europe, able to direct a
large fleet and maintain the
primary Crusader army in
Outremer. Templar knights rose
to prominence all over Europe,
especially in England, where the
Master of the Temple was the
first baron of the realm. In the
early 13th century, then Master
William Marshal ruled the
country as regent for the young
king Henry III (120772). However,
after the fall of Outremer, the
Templars were struggling to stay
afloat, and presented an easy
target for their enemy, Philip IV of
France. Philip coveted the Templar
lands and cooked up charges of
heresy in which to indict them. On
13 October 1307, Philips officials
simultaneously arrested every
Templar in France. They were
accused of a variety of crimes,
including sexual and occult
outrages and worshipping an idol.
The use of torture obtained lurid
confessions, and over the next few

ion
nd ns
ss
ra the
re plar
G
p
A
p
n s
su em e
ala ze
al ts T nn
at sei
Fin nigh f Vie
1 C any
2
1
o
1
K
13 mp
13 the ncil
Co
of Cou
at

I
VI
ry n
en oma a
H
R of
ng
Ki oly dst ver
12 d H mi l o s
13 wne the ntro state
o
o
cr or in rt c city
e
r
pe ass alian
Em e to It
ttl
ba

Red Sea

and the richness of their

accessories. At Hereford
Cathedral a huge Mappa Mundi
(map of the world) was created
in around 1300 (its creation is
variously dated to 1285 and 1314)
and used as an altarpiece; it is the
largest mappa mundi in existence.
Such maps encapsulated the
medieval world view on the eve
of the Age of Discovery.
At the Battle of Bannockburn
in 1314, Robert the Bruce, king
of Scotland (r.130629), finally
expelled the English from Scotland.

Hereford Mappa Mundi

The world is shown as a disc, with
Jerusalem at the centre. Trade and
pilgrimage routes are illustrated,
together with places of interest.

years around 60 Templars were

executed. Elsewhere in Europe,
some arrests were made, but
there was much less appetite for
condemning the order. At the
Council of Vienne (131112),
Philip forced Pope Clement to
dissolve the Templars, and in 1314
the last Grand Master, Jacques de
Molay, was burned at the stake.
Hereford, in England, was an
important centre for the wool
trade one of the main sources
of wealth in medieval England.
Foreign buyers flocked to the
country to buy wool for export to
the textile industries of Flanders
and Italy, and the wool trade was
described as the jewel in the
realm. The wealth of places such
as Hereford was expressed in the
magnificence of their cathedrals

DANTE ALIGHIERI
(12651321)
Dante is the greatest Italian
poet to have lived and one of
the most important writers
in European literature. He is
best known for his epic poem
the Divine Comedy, and for
his tragic love for Beatrice,
who married another and
died young. Exiled from his
native Florence for political
reasons, Dante spent much
of his life travelling from one
city to another. He died in
Ravenna in 1321.

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26/05/2011 19:09
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131825

132639

The earliest European illustration of a cannon, from a book by Walter de

Milemete, presented to the future Edward III of England in 1326.

The gilded bronze doors on the Baptistry in Florence, sculpted and cast by Andrea
Pisano, took six years to make after he won the commission in 1329.

GUNPOWDER WAS SLOWLY BUT

STEADILY CHANGING THE FACE OF
WARFARE. Arabs and Moors had

FLORENCE IN THE 1320S AND

1330S WAS HOME TO ARTISTS

25

probably gained knowledge of

gunpowder from the Chinese,
using cannons in Spain as early as
1284. The Mamluks are believed
to have used handguns at Ain
Jalut, while the Mongols acquired
the technology on conquering
China. Europeans probably picked
it up from Spain and contact with
the Mongols. The first record of
cannons forged from iron comes
from Metz in 1324; later that year
an English fortress in Gascony
was bombarded for a month.
The Mali Empire of West Africa
reached its height under Mansa
Musa (r.131237), extending from
the Atlantic to Nigeria, and from
the Sahara to the rainforest. His
great wealth was based on Malis
gold, and when he travelled on
pilgrimage to Mecca in 132425,
he dispensed so much gold on his
Moscow

Tangier
Marrakesh

Fez

Cairo
MAMLUKS

Timbuktu
MALI

Niani

Bulgar
New Sarai

Kiev

Constantinople
Antioch

Granada

S ahar a

Jenne

AFRICA

passage through Cairo that he

destabilized the economy. On
his return, he employed an
Andalusian architect to build a
new palace at Timbuktu, which
became a centre for Islamic
scholarship. Mali was later
visited by the Moroccan scholar
Ibn Battuta (c.130469), who first
set out on his travels in 1325.
KHANATE OF THE
GOLDEN HORDE

ASIA

EMPIRE OF THE
GREAT KHAN

Astrakhan
Tabriz

CHAGATAI
KHANATE

Samarkand

IL-KHANATE Balkh H
C HINA
Baghdad Multan i m a l a
Hangzhou
yas
Delhi
Hormuz
Quanzhou
Guangzhou
Mecca
Arabian
INDIA
Sea
Aden
South
Calicut

Acre
Jerusalem

Mogadishu
Malindi
Zanzibar
Kilwa

THE FIRST
KING AFTER THE
CONQUEST WHO
WAS NOT A MAN
OF BUSINESS.

China
Sea

INDIAN OCEAN

The travels of Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battutas first journey was the Hajj (pilgrimage)
to Mecca. He made seven further journeys, visiting
almost every corner of the Muslim world.

KEY

ri 5)
m
f
hie 26
ha
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lig (b.1
lu na
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f O at g
gh inga gols
o
te nna
u
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n
l
n
s
n T Te Mon
Da ave
iam re rti
lta es
ill f he ppo ual
21 R
Su nex s the
13 s in
4 W d o r su pirit
3
n
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e
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e
di
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ac igno nne s
De d re
Av e ba scan
an
i
h
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t an
Fr

Route of
Ibn Battuta
13251345

,,

William Stubbs, English historian,

describing Edward II, 1875

Silk road

n
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e
t
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25 hti
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150-151_1301-1340.indd 151

,,

EUROPE

THE PERCENTAGE
OF TIMBUKTUS
POPULATION AT
SANKORE
UNIVERSITY

including Giotto di Bondone

(c.12671337) and Andrea Pisano
(c.12901349) both seen as
forerunners of the Italian
Renaissance (see pp.20809).
Giotto painted naturalistic frescoes
on the walls of the Basilica of
Santa Croce in around 1325, and
in 1334 was put in charge of the
construction of the Duomo
(cathedral). Greatly influenced by
Giotto, Pisano won a commission
to craft a set of bronze doors for
the Baptistry of Florence,
finishing them in 1336.
The Tughluk dynasty of the
Delhi sultanate had expanded
the reach of the Muslim state,
reducing neighbouring Hindu
kingdoms to vassal status, and
repelling a series of Mongol
incursions. In 1325, Muhammad
Tughluk (c.130051) murdered his
father and took the throne, quickly
establishing a reputation for
cruelty. In 1327, he transferred the
capital from Delhi to Daulatabad
for defensive reasons, forcing the
entire population to relocate. In
1336, a revolt led by Harihara I
and his brother Bukka of the

d
an r
a
II r
ed
rd oge pos g ye
a
dw by R n de owin
E
l
e
l
26 ed th fo
13 ptur er, the
ca rtim red
Mo rde
u
m

Sangama dynasty in the south,

led to the establishment of the
last great Hindu empire in India,
centred on the city of Vijayanagar.
Edward II of England invested
power in favourites, especially
Piers Gaveston (murdered by
resentful barons in 1312) and the
Despenser family. He also
alienated his wife, Isabella of
France, who was sent to France
in 1325 to arrange the marriage of
their son. While there, she
became the lover of Roger
Mortimer, and when
they returned, in
1326, they led a
revolt against
the king. The
Despensers were
hanged, Edward
was forced to
abdicate in favour
of his teenage son,
and Roger and
Isabella ruled as
regents. Eight
months later,
Edward II was
horribly murdered.
The regents ceded
Gascony to France
and acknowledged
Robert the Bruce
as king of an
independent
Scotland. In 1330,
Edward III (r.1327
77) had Mortimer
hanged and began
his own rule. Rising
tension with France
was exacerbated by
Edwards embargo on
wool exports to

nd
ta r
fea tsa
e
d
n
bs ria
er lga
0 S Bu
3
13 l the
kil

Flanders, which triggered a

revolt there against French
domination. In 1337, Philip VI
of France declared Edwards
French territories forfeit, while
Edward claimed the French
crown, triggering the start of
the Hundred Years War.
Vijayanagar sculpture
Lord Hanuman, the Hindu monkey
god, is shown carved on a rock
surface in Vijayanagar, the heart
of the last great Hindu empire.

a
r
ini ault
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by ass
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A
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eb ijaya dia
at
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32 es
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Ga tart ar
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Ph
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37
31 Or
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151

149

134044

135055

134549

,,

,,

WHATEVER THE WORLD

FINDS PLEASING, IS BUT
A BRIEF DREAM.
Petrarch, Florentine scholar and poet, from Canzoniere number 1 (c.1352)

The Strait of Gibraltar, where Marinid

forces destroyed the Castilian fleet.

An illustration from Froissarts Chronicle, of 1346, depicts the Battle of Crecy,

at which the English used mobile artillery for the first time.

THE BATTLE OF RIO SALADO IS

CONSIDERED, BY SOME, to be the

HAVING GAINED MASTERY OF THE

ENGLISH CHANNEL at the naval

defining battle of the Reconquista,

ending forever the threat of
Islamic incursion into the Iberian
Peninsula from Africa. The Marinid
dynasty of Morocco, which had
overthrown the Almohads in the
mid-13th century, gathered a vast
force and destroyed the Castilian
fleet in the Strait of Gibraltar.
The Marinids then marched inland
to the River Salado where they
were defeated by the Christian
kings Alfonso XI of Castile
(r.131250) and Afonso IV of
Portugal (r.132557).

800,000
THE AMOUNT
IN FLORINS
OWED BY
EDWARD III

To finance his expensive war in

France, Edward III of England
(r.132777) had taken out huge
loans from Florentine bankers,
especially the Peruzzi family.
When the money ran out, Edward
renounced his loan in 1342.
With the king of Naples also
defaulting on loans, the Peruzzi
were bankrupted, throwing
Florence into economic chaos.
Walter de Brienne, the mercenary
duke of Athens, was called in
to take power in Florence but,
eventually, a mercantile
oligarchy took over.
f

o
tle
at
0 B lado
4
13 o Sa
Ri

n
iro
or
de
s f ium
e
sa
c
g
ru
na Bel
C
r
m
u
n
o
t f d in
ea fr
eg rna
las se
4 A Smy
0 B ng u
4
4
13 es rks
13 elti
tak e Tu
sm
th

III
rd o
wa ts t s
d
E eb er
d nk
42
13 nces i ba
u
o ruzz
n
re Pe

152

150

ols
ng es
Mo Pol ns
4
y
4
ia
13 ted b gar
n
fea u
de nd H
a

battle of Sluys in 1340, Edward III

was free to invade France. He
landed in Normandy in 1346 and
took Caen, but retreated in the
face of a huge French army. At
bay, on the borders of the forest
of Crecy, Edward took up a
defensive position and inflicted a
crushing defeat on the forces of
Philip VI. This was largely thanks
to the indiscipline and arrogance
of the French knights and the
effectiveness of the Welsh and
English longbowmen. At the cost
of a handful of casualties, the
English killed tens of thousands,
including the kings of Bohemia
and Majorca, the duke of Lorraine,
the count of Flanders, the count of
Blois, eight other counts, and
three archbishops. The English
use of combined aristocratic and
yeoman forces had produced a
powerful new form of army. They
would go on to besiege Calais,

TOTAL
POPULATION

45%
KILLED

Plague deaths
It is estimated that up to 45 per cent
of the total population of Europe was
killed by the various waves of the
Black Death plague.

THE PAPACY WAS REFORMING ITS

BUREAUCRACY and improving its

THE BLACK DEATH

The effects of the Black Death
are best recorded in Europe,
where it had profound
consequences. It depopulated
the land, depressed the
economy, checked intellectual
and artistic progress, changed
the social order, contributed
to the end of feudalism, and
triggered a wave of antiSemitic pogroms on Jews,
who were blamed for the
pestilence, forcing many to
migrate to Eastern Europe.
which fell in 1347, after a
protracted siege.
Also in 1347, the Black Death
arrived in Europe. It is thought to
have been carried initially by
Genoans returning from the
Crimea, where they had been
exposed to it by infected Mongols.
Transmitted by fleas that were
carried by rats, the plague was
spread by ship to the principal
ports, and then to every corner of
Europe and Western Asia. A large
proportion of the population died.

V rbs
e
n I Se
th
ha the
s
st to dom
u f
y
ain ads ing
ec
n D or o
g
r
k
a
a
C
r
h
n i le iri
of
ep pe
llio elh hm
St em
tle
e
t
s
D
b
6
4
ed
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13 wn
46
4 6 ate o
o
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cr
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s
s
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Ca
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be ren
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t
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a
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uc d F
sh
Tr an
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gli
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En
Bl , Co , Cy d ra As
7
13 ngli
7
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rn
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E
13
13 Gen rseil s, a este
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ic
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no
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Kn hua s at
t
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th
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l
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an d En
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finances under the Avignon popes.

In 1348, Clement VI (12911352)
bought Avignon from Joanne of
Naples and work continued on its
papal palace. Scholars and
artists were attracted to the
papal city, briefly among them the
Florentine Francesco Petrarch
(130474), who had been crowned
poet laureate in Rome in 1341. In
1351, Petrarch started to arrange
his poems in sonnet form. He was
also a scholar, whose translation
and popularization of Classical
literature contributed to the
emergence of humanism, a new
school of philosophy that would
help to trigger the Renaissance.
In 1354, the Nasrid king of
Granada, Yusuf I, was murdered
by his son Mohammed V (1338
91) who took the throne. Under
Mohammed, the Alhambra the
fortress-palace of Granada was
further developed, becoming a
treasure of Islamic architecture.
The Ottomans were invited to
Gallipoli, on the Dardanelles
(the straits separating Asia from
Europe), by John Cantacuzenus
(c.12921383), claimant to the
Byzantine throne, to help in his
attempt to gain power. Led by
Orhan, the Turkish dynasty soon
seized the peninsula, securing
themselves a foothold in Europe.

Architectural jewel
The Court of the Lions is at the heart
of the Alhambra palace, built by
Mohammed V as the winter
residence of the royal family.
n
ee
tw
be
s
rt lan
e
sta Mi
es
ar and
iam
W
S
d ed
51 ce
on
13 oren
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ap f
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a
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51 es
13 com tecs
e
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th

e
to
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th
ts s
ple on
ns n,
tar et
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om mer
h s sonn
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c
r
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ra is
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et p h
ca s D
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136672

This mural features Timur Leng, who rose from humble beginnings to found
the Timurid dynasty after outmatching the conquests of Genghis Khan.

Constructed of brick and timber, the Bell Tower of Xian, was built during the
early Ming dynasty, in the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming emperor.

BOHEMIA HAD EMERGED AS A

POWERFUL STATE under the

Premyslid dynasty in the 13th

century. Under the Luxembourg
dynasty, it became the central
force in German imperial
geopolitics, while its ruler
Charles I (Charles IV as Holy
Roman Emperor) sought to
modernize the imperial
institution and advance the
fortunes of Bohemia. In 1348, he
had enlarged the kingdom by
granting it territories such
as Moravia and Silesia, and
refounded Prague to become one
of the foremost cities in Europe,
with a major university. In 1356,
Charles IV issued the Golden
Bull, which regularized the
election of the emperor to a
majority vote of seven electoral
princes, most of which were
hereditary; the papacy would have
no role. This, in turn, allowed the
electoral principalities to develop
sovereign states, and set the
constitutional basis of the Holy
Roman Empire until its final

dissolution in 1806. The Bull

established Bohemia as first
among the electors and
guaranteed its independence.
Timur Leng (13361405) also
known as Tamerlane rose from
modest beginnings to become
leader of a Turkic-Mongol
Chagatai tribe in Transoxiana,
Central Asia, in around 1362.
Despite having a limp, and the
fact that he was not of Chinggid
descent (directly descended from
Genghis Khan only Chinggids
could become khans), he was
destined to become one of the
greatest conquerors in history.
Edward of Woodstock, eldest son
of Edward III, also known as the
Black Prince (133076), had won
his spurs at the Battle of Crcy
aged just 16. He went on to become
one of the most effective English
commanders. When hostilities
renewed between England and
France in 1355, he invaded
France, winning a great victory
near Poitiers in 1356, in which he
captured King John of France.

Golden Bull
Edicts issued with
golden seals were
called Golden
Bulls. That of
Emperor Charles
IV sought to
prevent future
imperial elections
descending into
conflict.

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ac
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Bu s IV
at s; th es K
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Jo

EDWARD, THE BLACK PRINCE, HAD

BEEN MADE PRINCE OF GASCONY
AND AQUITAINE in 1362, moving to

Bordeaux and becoming a major

player in continental affairs. In
1367, he intervened in a dynastic
dispute in Castile, where French
ally Henry of Trastamara (1334
79) had deposed English ally
Pedro I, thereby placing control
of the Castilian navy in the
French camp. Edward defeated
Henry at Njera but was forced to
withdraw owing to illness.
Subsequently, Henry regained the
Castilian throne. In 1372 after
Charles V of France (r.136480)
had fomented a Gascon
rebellion, restarting the Hundred
Years War the Castilian navy
proved instrumental in defeating an
English fleet at La Rochelle.
China was reunited by conquest
from the south, as a native
rebellion drove out the Mongol
Yuan dynasty. In 1368, rebels
under Zhu Yuanzhang
(132898) a former peasant
turned Buddhist monk then
general struck north from
their base in Nanjing,
displacing the Yuan from
Beijing. Taking the imperial
name Hongwu, Yuanzhang
established the Ming
dynasty, setting up a strong,
centralized, government, in
which the position of
emperor was strengthened,
but so was access to the
bureaucracy. In 1372, he
passed an edict attempting
to ban maritime trade and
thus limit contact with
foreigners.

of the
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ttl

THE SPAN, IN
YEARS, OF THE
MING DYNASTY

Under Murad I (r.136289), the

Ottoman Turks extended their
control deep into the Balkans.
In 1371, Murad defeated an
alliance of Serbs, Byzantines, and
Bulgars, and held control over
much of Thrace, Macedonia,
Bulgaria, and Serbia. He also
created the Janissaries, a
slave-warrior corps that became
the mainstay of Ottoman armies.
70,000
60,000

7,000 dead

50,000
40,000
30,000

100 dead

20,000
10,000
0

English

d
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French

Battle of Njera
Outnumbered by almost three to
one, the EnglishGascon army
defeated the FrenchCastilian forces
with the loss of only around 100 men.

ra

je

N
of

276

NUMBER OF TROOPS

To many people, Petrarch is known

as the father of humanism.

135665

re
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ba nd r 25/05/2011 14:23
a

153

151

6 0 0 14 49

TRADE AND INVENTION

THE STORY OF

PRINTING

A REVOLUTION IN HUMAN COMMUNICATION CHANGES THE WORLD FOREVER

By making it possible to communicate and disseminate information at a

speed and scale previously unthinkable, printing wrought changes that
are still unfolding today, from triggering religious mania, to scientific
and political revolutions even changing language itself.
Printing is the impression of marks on a medium
most commonly ink on paper. The earliest writing,
cuneiform, was a form of printing composed of
indentations made by a stylus in clay. Printing, in the
modern sense of the word, first arose in 8th-century
China with the development of block printing.
Blocks of wood carved into bas-relief were used as
stamps to reproduce multiple copies of a single text,
complete with images, such as the Diamond Sutra,
the earliest dateable printed book (see 86170).
MECHANICAL PRINTING
Block printing was laborious and slow, as each block
was specific to one page. Moveable type was a major
advance (see panel, opposite), first achieved in

bar to lower platen

eastern Asia but perfected by German printer

Johannes Gutenberg (see 145455). His printing
press was so advanced that, except for refinements
such as new typefaces and mechanization of the
presses and paper handling, the basic process
remained unchanged until the 19th century.
In the 1880s, the development of linotype allowed
a typesetter to compose lines of type using a
keyboard, rather than by hand. Stereotyping made
it possible to duplicate complete pages for multiple
printing. In the 20th century, filmsetting enabled
rapid photographic creation of printing plates. By
the end of the century, computers allowed every
aspect of printing, from typesetting and graphics
to inking and drying, to be done on one machine.

paper is pressed
against form to
produce imprint

form, or frame, for

setting Gutenbergs
special type

wooden coffin,
which slides
under platen

,,

HE WHO FIRST SHORTENED THE LABOUR OF COPYISTS

BY DEVICE OF MOVEABLE TYPES WAS CREATING A
WHOLE NEW DEMOCRATIC WORLD; HE HAD INVENTED
THE ART OF PRINTING.

,,

Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist and historian, 17591881

868
Block printed book

c.22912254 BCE
Sumerian cuneiform

Stamping cuneiform
inscriptions, rather
than drawing them by
hand, is introduced.
Stamps are pressed
into soft clay bricks,
which are then fired.

8th century
Block printing

Sumerian cuneiform

Printing using carved

wooden blocks and ink
is known as xylography; the
earliest surviving xylographic
fragment is a Buddhist
dharani scroll from Korea.

The earliest dated

book (entire
manuscript) is
the Diamond Sutra,
a Buddhist text
found in a cave in
Dunhuang, China.

Japanese
dharani
scroll

c.12751313
Moveable type

Invented in China in the

11th century, moveable
type is refined by
Wang Shen, who uses
over 60,000 wooden
types in his treatise.

1377
Moveable metal type

The Diamond Sutra

The first metal

moveable type is
cast in bronze in
Korea and is used
to produce the
Jikji Simche Yojeol,
a Buddhist scripture.

c.145556
The printing press

Gutenberg prints the

first book in Europe the
Gutenberg or 42-line Bible
(because of the number of
lines on each page).
Gutenbergs printing press

Early Korean book

1790s1820s
Metal presses

The all-metal
Columbian printing
press is the first to
replace the screw with
levers and weights.
Columbian metal press

154

152

154-155_Story_Printing.indd 154
154
154-155_Story_Printing.indd

25/05/2011
24/05/2011 17:57
16:09

T H E S TO R Y O F P R I N T I N G

screw, or spindle,
adapted from
wine press

MOVEABLE TYPE

square sleeve,
or socket

The key technology in the printing revolution was

moveable type, in which each character in a script
had a corresponding single, small block, or type,
allowing lines of type to be assembled, and then
reordered for different texts. The first book, printed
by moveable type cast in bronze, was published in
Korea in the late 14th century. Gutenberg improved
upon this technology by developing a technique that
enabled rapid, precision casting of metal type.

heavy
platen, or
printing
plate

ink impression
on paper

raised
moveable type

leather
ink balls
stuffed with
horsehair

Letterpress printing with moveable type

sturdy construction
for industrial-scale
production

Gutenbergs press
Gutenberg created a screw
press for pressing inked
type, set on a wooden frame,
against a sheet of paper. This
was a dramatic improvement
on the traditional method
of taking impressions by
means of rubbing.

Late 20th
centurypresent
Desktop printing

Laser printer

1886
Linotype

A linotype machine allows a

typesetter to make up entire lines
of type, using a typewriter-like
keyboard, rather than handcompositing letter-by-letter.
Linotype typesetter

1903
Offset printing

In offset printing, the inked image

is transferred (or offset) from the
printing plate to the paper via a
rubber sheet, achieving smooth,
precise transfer and reducing
wear on the plate.

Early
photocopier

The laser printer

offers technology
that would once
have filled an
entire workshop.

1949
Photocopying

Developed by American Chester

Carlson at the Xerox Corporation
in the US, the photocopier
uses electrostatic distribution of
powder ink or toner, rather than
wet ink, to create an exact copy.

155
154-155_Story_Printing.indd 155
155
154-155_Story_Printing.indd

153

20/06/2011
24/05/2011 14:27
17:54

137380

138185

A 16th-century painting captures the triumphant return of the

Doge to Venice after victory over the Genoese.

An illustration from Froissarts Chronicle depicts the Peasants Revolt, the first great popular
rebellion in English history, led by Wat Tyler, who was executed by the mayor of London.

THE WAR OF CHIOGGIA, BETWEEN

VENICE AND GENOA, was triggered

THE BLACK DEATH AND

SUBSEQUENT LABOUR SHORTAGES

by the continuing contest for

control of the trade routes
through the Dardanelles, along
which flowed the lucrative trade
of the Byzantine Empire and the
Silk Road beyond it. In 1376,
the Byzantine emperor John V
Palaeologus (r.134176) granted
to Venice the Aegean island of
Tenedos, key to the Dardanelles.
Meanwhile, his son and rival
Andronicus IV (134885) granted
it to Genoa. In the ensuing war,
the Genoans defeated the
Venetians at Pola and, in 1379,
seized Chioggia in Italy and
blockaded Venice. Under Vittorio
Pisano, the Venetians counterblockaded the Genoese fleet,
starving it into submission.
Genoese maritime power was
broken and Venice now controlled
the Levantine trade.

,,

NOTHING
GREAT IS EVER
ACHIEVED
WITHOUT MUCH
ENDURING.

,,

St Catherine of Siena, (134780)

In 1376, Dominican mystic and

miracle worker Catherine of Siena
travelled to Avignon to convince
Gregory XI (c.133678) to return
the papacy to Rome. A few
months later, Gregory went to
Rome to attempt to restore order
in the Papal States, and died soon

Executioner of Cesena
The anti-pope Clement VII was
known as the executioner of
Cesena for his brutal suppression
of a rebellion in the Papal States
while acting as a papal legate.

after. The Roman mob pressured

the conclave of cardinals to choose
an Italian pope, and Urban VI
(c.131889) was duly elected.
French cardinals, meanwhile,
elected Robert of Geneva
(134294) as anti-pope Clement
VII. The French king, Charles V,
threw his weight behind Clement,
while Richard II of England allied
with the Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV in supporting the
Roman candidate. Thus began the
Western, or Great Schism, which
saw rival popes installed in Rome
and Avignon until 1417.

ies
s
od nar
wo rce
k
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s
aw m
luk ia
n H ny se
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M
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146-147_1251-1275.indd 146

156

154

contributed to rising social

tension in England. Around 1362,
for instance, the poor country
priest William Langland had
written Piers Plowman, a poem in
English sympathizing with the
plight of the poor peasant.
Churchman and scholar John
Wycliffe (or Wiclif) had caused a
stir with writings that prefigured
Protestantism, and a popular
Biblical egalitarian sect, known as
the Lollards, partially inspired
by Wycliffe, was winning
widespread support. In
1377, the so-called Bad
Parliament, dominated
by the kings son John
of Gaunt, earl of
Lancaster and
soon-to-be regent to
his infant nephew
Richard II (1367
1400), introduced a
poll tax; subsequent
parliaments
extended it, causing
widespread
grievance. In 1381,
attempts to
reintroduce serfdom
triggered the
Peasants Revolt,
which saw peasants
rising against landlords,
burning manors, and
destroying records. Up
to 100,000 men, under
Jack Straw and Wat Tyler,

marched on London and

siezed the Tower, burning the
palace of John of Gaunt and killing
Archbishop Sudbury, who was
blamed for the poll taxes. Richard
II cleverly appeased the rebels;
Tyler was executed and the revolt
was brutally suppressed.
Japanese Noh drama developed
in the 14th century, mainly under
the aegis of Kanami Kiyotsugo
(133384) and his son Zeami
Motokiyo (13631443), who wrote

Noh mask
In Noh drama, which involves
music, singing, speech, and mime,
masks are used by the principal
character, and by female and
elderly characters.

mask usually made

of wood or clay

er
)
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a
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ay haila ai
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t
s
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78 nt80 ri III e Go ikov
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(pr bjug
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13 pes Av
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Le erru
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s
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81 in
13 volt
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hundreds of Noh plays and

developed the highly stylized and
symbolic performances.
Castilian influence in Portugal
in the 1380s threatened the
independence of the kingdom and
sparked resentment among the
Portuguese. An uprising
triggered by a nun resulted in
Joo (13581453), illegitimate son
of Pedro I, seizing control of the
country. In 1384, John I of Castile
(135890) invaded Portugal, but
Joo was elected king by the
Portuguese parliament and, with
English help, defeated
Castile at the Battle of
Aljubarrota, in 1385. In
doing so, he freed
Portugal from Castilian
influence and, after
marrying the daughter
of John of Gaunt,
founded the AngloPortuguese Avis
dynasty.
In 1384, Philip the
Bold of Burgundy
inherited the county
of Flanders, adding to
his extensive
territories. France,
ruled by the young
and mentally ill
Charles VI, was now
dominated by rivalry
between the houses of
Burgundy and Orlans.

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go
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yo hap oh
i
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13/05/11 11:34 AM

138690

13911400

Travelling pilgrims are shown in an illustration from the Canterbury Tales. This unfinished poem by Geoffrey Chaucer,
17,000 lines long, vividly illustrates the medieval world view on social, religious, and moral matters.

A miniature from the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul, shows the Battle of

Nicopolis, at which the Ottomans destroyed a crusading army.

JAGIELLO OF LITHUANIA (C.1362

1434), THE LAST PAGAN RULER in

THE START OF THE MING DYNASTY

IN CHINA TRIGGERED CHANGE IN
KOREA, which was considered a

CHRISTIANIZATION OF EUROPE

Europe, was crowned king of

Poland and converted to
Christianity in 1386. Marriage to
Jadwiga of Poland united the two
kingdoms, and brought Lithuania
into the Catholic Church, although
pagan traditions lingered on.
Timur Leng (see 135665)
completed his conquest of Persia
in 1386 and raided deep into the
Caucasus, sacking Tbilisi in
Georgia and capturing the Georgian
king. However, when the army of
the Golden Horde attacked his
Central Asian territories, in 1387,
he was forced to turn back and
meet them. It took another nine
years for him to destroy the threat.
Geoffrey Chaucer (c.13401400)
was a soldier, scholar, writer,
diplomat, government official, and

erra

Antioch

er

ab

ia
n
n

su

Mecca

The Timurid Empire

Established by Timur Leng, the
Timurid Empire eventually reached
a greater extent even than that of
Genghis Khan, but it would not long
survive Timurs death.

of st
,
lo
pe
iel e la ro nd ity
ag , th Eu ola tian
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86 nia r i of P ris
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156_157_1373-1400.indd
157

CHAGATAI
KHANATE
Samarkand
Balkh
Kabul
Multan
Kandahar

I L -KHANAT E
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Shiraz
Hormuz

ulf

Arabian
Sea

ni

ea
dS

Medina

sia

PER S IA
Isfahan

Pe

Re

EGYPT
Aswan

Ar

MAMLUK
SULTANATE

Nishapur
Herat

Alamut

Aleppo

Mosul Qum
Damascus
Acre
Baghdad
Jerusalem

nean S ea

Alexandria
Cairo

Siras

S ea

dit

Konya
Tarsus

Derbent

ian

Me

Aral
Sea Ottar
Urgench
Bukhara

sp

Smyria

New Sarai
Astrakhan
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Constantinople

Member of Parliament. He was

instrumental in the development
of Middle English a combination
of Old English and French
influences. His greatest work, the

KHANATE OF THE
GOLDEN HORDE

Yelets

Kaffa
Black Sea
Ankara

In Europe, the medieval period

saw the vigorous advance
of Christianity until it
encompassed the entire region
(with just a few exceptions).
The spectacular success in
converting Europe posed
extreme challenges to the
Church, as it struggled to
reconcile temporal and
spiritual power. Internal
forces would continue to
revolutionize the religion.

la

KEY
Campaigns of Timur
Extent of Timurs empire

er
rit
h w cer
s
i
u he
gl
En Cha ite t s
r le
87 ey
13 offr to w y Ta
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87 Len en
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Delhi

Canterbury Tales, partially

modelled on Italian author Giovanni
Boccaccios Decameron, tells the
story of pilgrims on the road to the
shrine of Thomas Becket (see
1170); it was begun in 1387.
At the Battle of Kosovo, in 1389,
the Ottomans defeated the Serbs
and Bosnians, smashing the
Serbian empire and absorbing
most of its territories. The Ottoman
leader, Murad, was killed in the
battle but his son Bayezid the
Thunderbolt (13601403) took over.
News of Murads death prompted
the Ottoman vassals in Europe and
Anatolia to revolt, but Bayezid
swiftly reduced most of them,
bringing their territories under
direct Ottoman rule. The Ottomans
now controlled most of Anatolia and
the Balkans south of the Danube.
Bayezid introduced the devshirme
the levy of Christian children who
were converted to Islam and used in
the administration and Janissary
corps.

an
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er dd s
nd ti, a uest
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8 M zo V ther ly
8
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13 lea to o n Ita
Ga dua her
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9 W f Bo per al pe
8
13 g o Em ner
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client state by the Ming. The

Koryo empire had supported the
new Chinese dynasty, but this did
not prevent the Ming from
threatening to invade. In 1388, Yi
Songgye (13351408), a leading
general who favoured the
Chinese, seized power in Korea.
In 1392, as King Taejo, he
founded the Yi dynasty, also
known as the Choson (or Joseon),
a name taken from an ancient
Korean kingdom. Taejo
restructured his government on
the Chinese model, and instituted
wide-ranging land reforms to
redistribute estates from the
hands of the oligarchy, replacing
them with a new class of
technocrats known as the
yangban. Neo-Confucianism
was adopted as the state religion,
and a new capital was founded at
Hanseong (Seoul). The Yi dynasty
lasted until 1910.
In Japan, the union of
the northern and
southern imperial
courts in 1392 brought
to an end the Yoshino
period (also known
as the Period of
Northern and Southern

Courts). During this period, the

line of the emperor Godaigo
driven out of the capital, Kyoto, by
the Ashikaga shogun Takauji, in
1336 had maintained a rival
court in the mountainous
Yoshino region south of Nara.
Japan was wracked by civil war
until the shogun Ashikaga
Yoshimitsu (13581408)
negotiated a reunification
and brought Ashikaga power
to its apogee.
The Nicopolis Crusade of 1396
intended to roll back the
Ottoman advance in the Balkans
saw a Franco-Hungarian
expedition led by Sigismund of
Hungary humiliatingly crushed
at the Bulgarian town of
Nicopolis on the Danube. A huge
army, featuring volunteers from
most of the Christian states,
proved ill-disciplined. The failure
of this adventure proved that
Christian Europe had to look to
its defence.

Gyeongbokgung Palace
This colossal palace, built
by King Taejo (Yi Songgye)
in 1395, is also known as
the Palace of Shining
Happiness and the
Palace Greatly Blessed
by Heaven.
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19/05/11 3:07 PM
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157

155

140103

140407

140810

,,

WE HAVE SET
EYES ON...
REGIONS... FAR
AWAY...

,,

Zheng He, Chinese explorer

The wall of skulls at the Templo Mayor archaeological site in Mexico City is made from skulls carved in stone,
covered with stucco; the Aztecs practised human sacrifice at the vast temples in the centre of Tenochtitlan.
FOUNDED BY THE AZTECS IN 1325,
the city of Tenochtitlan existing
on the apparently unpromising
site of a marshy island in a
partially brackish lake reached
its height at the beginning of the
15th century. Tenochtitlan means
Place of the Fruit of the Cactus
a reference to the vision that
supposedly informed the choice of
location. In this vision, the tossed
heart of a conquered enemy
landed on the island where an
eagle wrestled with a snake on a
cactus growing out of a rock as
depicted on the present-day
Mexican flag. The Aztecs drained
the island, reclaiming
surrounding land, and joined the
land together with causeways.
Tenayuca

Pantlaco

VALLEY OF
MEXICO

Atepehuacn

Tacuba

Altepetlac

Popotlan

Tlatelolco

Dyke of Netzahualcoyotl

Tepeyacac

Coltonco
Azcapotzalco

Meanwhile, they expanded their

political territory through
marriages, alliances, and
conquest. After a flood,
Tenochtitlan was laid out on a
grid pattern, with quarters
arranged around a central
sacred district, regarded as
the centre of the world. A huge
population of up to 200,000
was supported by intensive
agriculture and extensive
networks of trade and tribute.
The African Songhay kingdom
was centred on the trading
metropolis of Gao, in the Niger
Bend area of West Africa. Gao
had long been a prosperous city
thanks to interregional and
trans-Saharan trade with the
Islamic world, especially
in salt, gold, slaves, and
ivory. In the mid-13th
century, because of the
allure of its riches, it
became an eastern
Atzacualco
province of the Mali
Empire (see 123135).
However, in the early

Lake
Texcoco

Chapultepec

TENOCHTITLAN
Tlacateco

Mixiucan

Acachinanco
Zacatlalmanco

Xola-Xalac
Tepetlatzinco

Map of Tenochtitlan
Causeways connected
Tenochtitlan to other
settlements on the lake
and the mainland. The
city and its emperor
dominated the Valley
of Mexico.
KEY
street

Coyoacn

Mexicatzincgo
Lake
Xochimilco
Huitzilopochco

t
igh
He of
0s city
0
4
c
an
c.1 Azte htitl
of noc
Te

0s
40 of
c.1 ion n
s
n
ica
pa fr ire
Ex st A mp
e
E
W ay
h
ng
So

158-159_1401-1420.indd 158

158

156

aqueduct
causeway
dyke

36
ad
(13 s
ur cre aghd
im ssa B
T
f
01 ma o
14 05) tion
14 pula
po

t
ec
hit ti
rc iber n
a
ian Gh esig ce
d
tal zo
2 I ren d to oren try
0
14 Lo ione f Fl ptis
o
s
s
Ba
is
m door
m
co

Wladyslaw II Jagiello of Poland prepares

for the Battle of Tannenberg.
HAVING CONQUERED AS FAR AS
RUSSIA in the East, Timur Leng

Songhay gold coin

This coin from the Songhay Empire
is from the Songhay city of Gao; rich
and powerful, the city provided the
basis for building the empire.

15th century, Mali declined and

Gao won its independence,
beginning the growth of a
Songhay Empire that would
eclipse the other two largest
empires of the late Iron Age in
West Africa Ghana and Mali.
In 1398, Timur Leng (see
135665) had invaded northern
India and destroyed the Delhi
sultanate with astonishing speed
and terrifying cruelty. Marching
260km (160 miles) in two days, he
captured and massacred 100,000
fugitives outside Delhi before
sacking the city, supposedly
building a huge pyramid from the
skulls of his victims. In 1401,
Timur massacred the population
of Baghdad and launched an
invasion of Syria. He then moved
against the Ottomans (see
128690), occupying Anatolia and
restoring the old Turkoman
principalities.

of
le r
att imu
B
T
02 a;
n
14 kar es ulta
An ptur an s
ca tom
Ot

ler
ru es
lay lish ca
a
b
M a
ac
03 st al
14 ra e of M
a
v
e
es at
rm tan
Pa Sul

(see 138690) set his sights on the

greatest empire China. In 1405,
he embarked on a campaign, but
died en route to China and was
buried at his capital, Samarkand.
Despite his possibly exaggerated
reputation for cruelty, Timur was
a devout Muslim and a patron of
the arts and architecture. His
enormous empire did not long
survive him, quickly breaking
down into a Timurid state ruled by
his son Shah Rukh (13771447),
which soon fragmented further.
In 1404, John the Fearless
(13711419) became duke of
Burgundy, leading opposition to
the regency of Louis, duke of
Orleans (13721407), brother of
the mad king, Charles VI of France
(13681422). In 1407, John
ordered the assassination of
Louis, triggering civil war
between the Burgundians and the
Armagnacs (named for the count
of Armagnac, the father-in-law of
Charles, the new duke of Orleans).
The Burgundians, who favoured
peace with the English, were
popular in Paris and the north,
while the Armagnacs, who were
anti-English and pro-war, had the
support of Queen Isabeau of
Bavaria, the great nobles, and the
south of the country.
In 1404, Zheng He, (13711435)
a Muslim captured from Yunnan
in China as a boy, castrated, and
pressed into military service was
named grand, or high-ranking,
eunuch at the imperial court. The
following year he led the first of
seven epic voyages of discovery.

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fra ur
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Tim

of
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05 ore
07 rm nd
14 expl
14 its A rgu
u
p
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an ins
Fr aga

THE RELENTLESS ADVANCE OF

THE ORDER OF TEUTONIC KNIGHTS

(see 123640) had brought

Prussia and much of the Baltic
coast under their control, cutting
Poland off from the sea. The union
of Poland and Lithuania under
King Wladyslaw II Jagiello
(c.13621434) posed a new threat
to the Order, and the Great
Northern War ensued. At the
Battle of Tannenberg in 1410
one of the greatest cavalry
confrontations of the age a huge
PolishLithuanian army of up to
16,500, including Bohemian
mercenaries, Russians, and even
Tatars (Turkic Mongols), defeated

di rdi
a
llo
te o B
na ett
o
B s
D
id
i
av
09 o d hi
14 ccol etes ce, D
i
l
e
i
p
N m rp
co ste
a
m

of
cil e
un thre s
o
t
C n
an
09 s i
14 sult laim
c
re l
sa papa
Pi
07/06/2011 10:47

The Holy Trinity

This detail from Andrei
Rublevs greatest icon,
painted around 1410,
shows the three angels
who visited Abraham.
Each angel represents
a different aspect of
the Trinity.

h es
lis orc
Po ian f nic e of
0
1
to tl
n
14 hua Teu Bat
Lit feat s at rg
t
e
h
d ig nbu
Kn nne
Ta

of
th f
ea g o
D
y
n
10 ki da
hn
14 ejdi, ent- eria
Jo ici
pe ed ce
aj res Nig
o
n
M
p
Ka o, p
ti- es ren k
n
An ak lo ban
Ka
10 III m in F pal
4
X nk pa
148-149_1276-1300.indd 1491
Ba the

141620

This later depiction of the Battle of Agincourt shows cavalry engaged in

conflict; around 10,000 French troops were killed or captured.

This illustration from the Chronicle of Ulrich von Richental shows the papal
electors taking their leave from Emperor Sigismund at the Council of Constance.

IN 1413, HENRY IV OF ENGLAND

DIED and his son, Henry V

(13861422), came to the throne.

In 1415, Henry concluded an
alliance with Burgundy and
reasserted the English claim to
the French crown as a pretext for
renewing the Hundred Years War
(see panel, right). In October,
Henry inflicted a terrible defeat on
a far superior French force at
Agincourt, taking the Duke of
Orleans prisoner, and going on to
conquer Normandy.

,,

the forces of the Teutonic Knights

who were around 11,000 strong.
The Order was crushed, but
Jagiello was unable to keep the
powerful Polish nobles in order
and thus could not press home
his advantage. The Peace of
Thorn, concluded the following
year, failed to secure Polish
access to the Baltic and enabled
the Teutonic Knights to regain
some of their advantage.
Andrei Rublev (c.13701430)
was a Russian monk and painter,
based at the St Sergius monastery
of the Holy Trinity in Moscow. He
worked during a period of
monastic revival in Russia, when
the Eastern Orthodox
Church offered
comfort in the face of
internecine war and
the hated Mongol
Yoke the tribute
and service exacted
by the Golden Horde.
Though inspired by
the great icon painter
Theophanes the
Greek, Rublev was
celebrated for
pioneering a new,
more serene and
symmetrical style.

141115

convene a general council the

Council of Constance to resolve
the split in the Catholic Church
known as the Great Schism (see
137380). In 1415, the Council
deposed the existing claimants,
and condemned the Bohemian
priest, religious reformer, and
philosopher Jan Huss, who was
executed the same year.

THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE

ENDED THE GREAT SCHISM in 1417

by trying and deposing the last

anti-pope, Benedict XIII, and
electing Martin V (c.13481431)
as the sole true pope.
The burning at the stake of
Bohemian religious reformer Jan
Huss (see 141115), and the death
of Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia

...THE LIVING
FELL ON TOP OF
THE DEAD, AND
OTHERS FALLING
ON TOP OF THE
LIVING WERE
KILLED AS WELL. .

,,

From Gesta Henrici Quinti, c.1416

During Chinese explorer Zheng

Hes fourth and greatest
expedition in 1413, he visited
Calicut in India, and reached
Hormuz on the Persian Gulf,
sending ships to explore down the
African coast as far as Malindi in
Kenya. The fleet included 63 ships
of up to 80m (260ft) long.
In 1414, anti-pope John XXIII
one of three men claiming to be
pope was expelled from Rome by
King Ladislas of Naples. John
sought refuge with the emperor,
Sigismund, who forced him to

f
ict
e o nfl
ac s co nic e
P
d to sh
V
yI
11 en eu oli
nr
14 orn en T d P ces
He nd )
Th twe s an for
3
6
1
la
be ight nian
14 Eng .136
Kn hua
of s (b
t
e
i
i
L
d

of
tle a
at erbi
B
S
13
14 lu in
ur
am

THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR

The series of conflicts from 1337 to 1453, later known as the
Hundred Years War, was triggered by a combination of factors:
tensions over the status of the duchy of Guienne, which belonged
to the kings of England but owed sovereignty to the French crown;
English claims to that crown, based on descent from the
Capetians; anxieties of influence on both sides; and the need of
English kings to use foreign adventures to shore up support at
home. There should have been little contest between France, the
most powerful nation in Europe, and smaller, poorer England, but
the English used new tactics and weapons, especially the longbow,
to devastating effect. The war drained resources on both sides, but
also forged a new degree of national identity for both countries.

of
ion nd
of
d
ss ngla
an tion
of ht
e
c
rth edi
tle g
Ac of E
u
p
at t fou ch
3
o ex
1 yV
B
F
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n
r
1 nr
15 u re
13 st
14 inco en F h
14 eate He
He
g
s
r
g
e
i
l
A tw g
g en
be d En
Zh
an

n
ha )
r K 21
hiz 14 yid
K
4
y
14 (r.1 Sa elhi
s
14
he n D
lis ty i
b
ta as
es dyn

l
ga
rtu in
Po uta ca
5
e ri
1
14 rs C Af
ue
nq
o
c

an ed s
of
m am exe
cil s
ble II n ann
o
un end
V y;
N
o
s
C
e
u vo y
16
17 nc sm
14 ade f Sa Ital
14 nsta Schi
Am ke o ont,
o at
C
e
du edm
Gr
Pi

(13611419), sparked a Hussite

uprising in Bohemia. This
combined a religious tussle
between the papacy and
anti-papists, with a nationalist
struggle between Czechs
(Bohemians and Moravians) and
Germans. The Hussites made up
of moderate (Utraquist) and
extreme (Taborite) factions, united
to face a crusading alliance led by
Wenceslaus brother, the emperor
Sigismund. The Hussites defeated
the alliance outside Prague.
In 1411, peace was concluded
between Portugal and Castile
(see 138185). Portugal now
began to look outwards, winning
a foothold on the north coast of
Africa at Ceuta in 1415. Explorer
Henry the Navigator (13941460)
distinguished himself in the
expedition; his visit to Africa
sparked an interest in exploration,
and he may have set up the first
school of navigation in Europe at
Sagres, in Portugal (see 1434).

45

THE NUMBER
OF SESSIONS
HELD AT THE
42-MONTHLONG COUNCIL
OF CONSTANCE
r xes
ro
pe ) fi
m 424
e
1
ce
ing 60 on, ervi
7 M (13 can vil s
1
e
14 ngl cian s ci
Yo nfu tute m
e
Co insti syst
re am
ex

e
th
ry 0)
en 146 ol
H

o l
19 94 ch
14 (13 p s tuga
r s u or
o
at et n P
i
vig ly s
Na sib tion
s iga
o
p av
n
of

;
rs
Wa an
ite er J tis
s
n
d
Hu un at a ade
s
20 tes fe
14 ussi a de e cru
H izk sit
Z us
H
03/06/2011 17:14

159

157

142122

142325

142630

Fillipo Maria Visconti of Milan sits in state; having assassinated his brother to
become duke of Milan, he restored Visconti hegemony over northern Italy.

The Doges Palace, seat of the doge of Venice, is a masterpiece of 14th-century

Gothic architecture, overlain with 15th, 16th, and 17th century additions.

Joan of Arc here leads troops into

battle, wielding a crossbow.

SULTAN MEHMED I
(13821421) had

IN THE 1420S, THE CULTURAL

MOVEMENT known later as the

successfully
restored the
Ottoman state
after the Timurid
invasion (see
140103),
although his navy
had come off
worse in a conflict
with the Venetians
at the Battle of
Galipoli in 1416, forcing
the Ottomans to recognize
Venetian claims in Albania. In
1421, Mehmed died and his son,
Murad II (140451) became
sultan. Domestically, he restored
the devshirme practice of training
Christian slaves for key roles in
government; externally, he
pursued a policy of renewed
expansion, beginning with the
first Ottoman siege of
Constantinople. The siege was
unsuccessful and Mehmed was
distracted by an uprising led by
the Sufi theologian and preacher,
Sheikh Bedreddin it was
suppressed, and the sheikh
was executed.
The Visconti family had ruled
Milan since Archbishop Otto
Visconti rose to power in 1277;
their domain had spread to
encompass much of northern
Italy, reaching its height under
Gian Galeazzo (13511402), sole
ruler from 1385. He had made
marriage alliances with the chief
monarchs of Europe; was made
hereditary duke in 1395; mastered
Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Pisa,
Siena, Assisi, and Perugia

Sultan Murad II
Murad defended and
extended the Ottoman
Empire, and was also
a patron of poetry
and learning,
making his court
a cultural centre.

between 1386 and

1400; and
threatened Florence
until his death in
1402. Strife between
his sons Gian Maria and
Filippo Maria saw this empire
disintegrate, but when Filippo had
Gian assassinated in 1412, he set
about restoring it, regaining
Genoa in 1421. The Visconti
patronized the arts and
scholarship, helping to drive the
Renaissance .(see pp. 20809).
The French had suffered great
losses at Agincourt (see 1411
15), and in 1420, at the prompting
of the pro-English Burgundians,
Charles VI of France had accepted
the Treaty of Troyes and
acknowledged Henry V of England
as his heir and immediate regent.
The agreement ceded all the
conquered lands up to the Loire
to the English and declared the
dauphin, Charles, to be
illegitimate. The English now
controlled northern France.
In 1422, both Henry and Charles
died, and under the terms of the
Treaty, the infant Henry VI was
acclaimed king of both England
and France. The dauphin, based at
Bourges, refused to accept this,
and the Hundred Years War (see
141115) continued.

II
de
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6th ack
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th an
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t
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t
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i
(
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h e gov i-Hu
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158

st
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C

Italian or High Renaissance

gathered pace, particularly in the
field of painting and the visual
arts. In 1424, the sculptor
Lorenzo Ghiberti (13781455)
completed the gilded bronze
doors for the Florence Baptistry
that he had been commissioned to
make in 1403; the following year
he was commissioned for a
further set. Working at the same
time as Ghiberti were a host of
other artists, including
Brunelleschi, Jacopo della
Quercia, Masaccio, Donatello,
Gentile da Fabriano, Jan van Eyck,
and many more.
The Tribute Money
Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone
Masaccio died aged just 27, but
created some of the most influential
artworks of the Renaissance.

of
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Although Florence was the

heart of the Renaissance in the
15th century, the other great
Italian power centres of Milan,
Rome, and Venice also fostered
artistic and architectural
achievement. In Venice, the
Doges Palace, which had been
evolving since its origins in the
9th century, embodied many of
the architectural highpoints
of the previous six centuries. The
current building began to take
shape around 1340; work on the
side overlooking the Piazzetta did
not begin until 1424, under doge
Francesco Foscari (13731457).
In 1424, Timurs descendant,
Ulugh Beg (13941449)
astronomer and future Mongol
leader built a great observatory
in Samarkand. It was equipped
with a 40m (130ft) sextant, and
Ulugh and his team of scholars
catalogued over a thousand stars.

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24 rt ren
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24 ett
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P

Bodkin point
This type of
arrowhead is an
uncomplicated,
squared, metal
spike, extensively
used during the
wars of the
Middle Ages.

THE DAUGHTER OF A FARMER,

JOAN OF ARC (141231) was 16

when in 1429 voices in her head

commanded her to bear aid to the
French dauphin (see 142122).
The English under John, duke of
Bedford (13891435), had made
further gains against the forces of
the dauphin and were besieging
Orleans, while the dauphin had
still not managed to secure his
coronation. Joan succeeded in

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143133

1434

,,

WE READ THAT WE OUGHT TO

FORGIVE OUR ENEMIES; BUT WE
DO NOT READ THAT WE OUGHT
TO FORGIVE OUR FRIENDS.

,,

Cosimo de Medici

The Arnolfini Marriage by Jan van

Eyck is noted for its detailed interior.

obtaining an interview with him at

Chinon, won him over, and was
provided with troops and the title
chef de guerre (war leader). She
successfully relieved Orleans,
going on to defeat the English
twice more, and stood next to the
dauphin at his coronation as
Charles VII at Reims in 1429. Joan
failed to take Paris, however, and
the following year, she was
captured by the Burgundians,
who ransomed her to their
English allies (see 143133).
In 1428, Le Loi, leader of
Vietnamese resistance to the
Chinese occupation, expelled the
Chinese and founded the Le
dynasty of Dai Viet. On admitting
Chinese authority, his dynasty was
recognized by the Ming.

hin e
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FROM 1431 TO 1433, ZHENG HE

(see 140407) made a seventh and

final expedition, returning to the
Persian Gulf. Despite this last
trip, Chinas period of exploration
had come to an end with the death
of Emperor Yongle in 1424, after
which the Ming dynasty returned
to its isolationist policy.

SHIP LENGTHS

22m
134m

COLUMBUSS
SHIP
ZHENG HES
SHIP

Surrendering the lead in

exploration to Portugal and the
Europeans would have profound
consequences for the Chinese,
and world history.
Not all the great Renaissance
painters were Italian; Jan van
Eyck (c.13901441) was Flemish.
Celebrated for his mastery of
realism and his perfection of oil
painting, van Eyck produced some
of his greatest masterpieces in
the 1430s. In 1432, he and his
brother Hubert completed their
largest surviving work, the
altarpiece of St Bavos Cathedral
in Ghent, Belgium. Later that year,
in London, van Eyck painted
the Portrait of an Unknown Man
and the Man with the Red Turban;
possibly a self-portrait.
In 1431, Joan of Arc was turned
over by the English to the French
ecclesiastical authorities for trial.
She was found guilty of heresy,
and was burned at the stake
in Rouen.

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Painting of the first Medici ruler

of Florence, Cosimo.
SINCE THE 1380S, FLORENCE HAD
BEEN DOMINATED by the Albizzi

family, who extended the citys

control of Tuscany. The attempts
of Visconti Milan (see 142122) to
gain control over all of Tuscany
forced Florence into a ruinously
expensive war, although alliance
with Venice saw Milan defeated.
A leader of the peace party was
wool merchant and banker
Giovanni de Medici, possibly the
richest man in Europe. After his
death in 1429 and a disastrous
war with Lucca in Tuscany, the
Albizzi succeeded in having
Giovannis son, Cosimo de Medici
banished from Florence in 1433,
but new elections saw him
recalled the following year,
marking the start of Medici
domination of the city. Cosimo
combined business acumen with
political shrewdness, winning
popular support for his policies.
All attempts by anti-Hussite
forces under the emperor
Sigismund to dislodge the
Hussites and regain control of the
Czech territories had failed
(see 141620). The superior
organization and tactics of the
Hussites, first under Jan Zizka
and after his death in 1424 under
Andrew Prokops, made them
militarily powerful. In 1430, they
invaded Germany and raided as
far as Franconia. Negotiations
with the ecumenical Council of
Basel in 1413 led to the Compact
of Prague, or Compactacta, under
which moderate Hussites (the
Utraquists) agreed to go back to
the Catholic Church. The extreme
anti-papist Taborites rejected the

Compact, and civil war broke out

between the factions, which
represented different classes as
well as religious ideals. In 1434, at
the Battle of Lipany the upperclass Utraquists vanquished the
Taborites, killing Prokops.
The rising power of the
Sukhothai kingdom of Thailand
had increasingly threatened the
Khmer Empire (see 120105)
through the 14th century. Repeated
Thai raids, particularly an
incursion in 1431, may have helped

The Windrose
The Windrose mosaic at Sagres in
Portugal possibly a sundial was
commissioned by Portuguese
navigator, Prince Henry.

trigger the 1434 abandonment of

Angkor (see 114650) and the
transfer of the Khmer capital to
Phnom Penh, further south,
although it is also possible that
the new location offered better
connections for foreign trade.
Sponsored by Prince Henry the
Navigator (see 141620),
Portuguese explorers pushing out

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into the Atlantic had discovered

the islands of Madeira and the
Azores. Henry personally
oversaw the colonization of these
Atlantic outposts, successfully
establishing them as centres of
agricultural production and
forward bases for Portuguese
exploration. Henrys next target
was to round Cape Bojador on the
coast of West Africa, the furthest
limit of Portuguese exploration;
contemporary European sailors
lore viewed the seas beyond as a

dangerous and terrifying

otherworld. Cape Bojador was
finally rounded by Gil Eannes in
1434. The experiences of his
sailors on these voyages of
discovery convinced Henry that
the traditional barca ships in use
were unsuitable, and he worked
with shipwrights to design a new
type of vessel, the caravel. This
was smaller, lighter, and swifter,
with a shallow draft for nearshore operations and more space
for stores to allow the ships to
stay at sea for longer.

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143537

143840

144144

This manuscript illustration shows

Charles VII entering Paris in triumph.

Founded by King Henry VI of England, construction of Eton college was

halted when the king was deposed during the War of the Roses.

Fresco by Domenico di Bartolo, (c.1410-1461), of the Sienese school,

from Sienas hospital of Santa Maria della Scala.

IN 1438, PACHACUTEC (C.1438

1472) BECAME THE NINTH INCA
KING, or Sapa Inca. His reign

MACHU PICCHU (meaning Old

,,

THOUGH ALLIED WITH THE

ENGLISH OCCUPATION OF FRANCE,

the Burgundians (see 140407)

were increasingly concerned at
English gains. With the Treaty of
Arras, the Burgundians and the
French king, Charles VII, made
peace but the English, unwilling to
accept the terms, withdrew from
negotiations. The following year,
the French alliance took Paris
from English control.
The 1430s saw increasing
tension between the papacy and
the conciliar movement, which
held that the Church ought to be
governed by a Church council,
rather than an individual pope.
Pope Eugenius IV summoned a
General Council at Basel in
1431, but it was dominated by
anti-papal sentiment and, in
1437, he tried to transfer the
Council to Ferrara, where it would
be more amenable to his influence.
Most of the delegates refused to
leave Basel, resulting in two
concurrent councils.
;
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160

Latacunga

Amazon
Basin

Ingapirca

Piura

Huancabamba

Chan Chan

Chiquitoy

Hunuco

Joan of Arc, Christian visionary

Quito

de

,,

heralded the beginning of a great

expansion of the Inca realm,
which had been confined to the
immediate area around Cuzco
since its foundation (see 1201
1205). It began with invasion by
the rival Chancas, who besieged
Cuzco, and were completely
defeated. Inca expansion was
facilitated by the sophisticated
nature of most of the kingdoms
and tribes they conquered;
tight-knit, centralized
administration focused on the
emperor; a genius for
organization and record-keeping
(despite having no writing); and an
imperial road-building
programme rivalled only by the
Roman Empire.
In 1440, the young king of
England founded a new
college at Eton. The Kings
College of Our Lady of
Eton near Windsor, now
known as Eton College,
was intended to be part of
a large foundation
including a massive
church, an almshouse,
and 70 scholars who were

An

THE
KINGDOM OF
FRANCE
WILL BE THUS
RULED BY KING
CHARLES VII
HE WILL ENTER
PARIS IN GOOD
COMPANY.

Jauja

Pachacamac

Vilcas
Nazca

PA C I F I C
OCEAN

Machu Picchu
Cuzco
Lake
Titicaca
Juli
Pomata

KEY
Expansion by 1400
Expansion in the reign of Pachacutec

Inca expansion
The Inca Empire had expanded
greatly between 1400 and the end of
Pachacutecs reign. It would triple in
size by the 16th century.

Peak in Quechua, the language of

the Incas) is a mountaintop citadel
about 70km (43 miles) northwest of
Cuzco. Construction probably
began in the 1440s, under the
auspices of Pachacutec. The
maximum population of Machu
Picchu was possibly only around
1,000, and it is thought that it
served as a ceremonial centre,
as well as being an impregnable
stronghold for the Inca elite in
case of attack.
Resistance to Ottoman
occupation of the Balkans
increased, and in 1443, a
crusading army defeated the
Ottomans at Nis, in Bulgaria. The
Ottoman sultan, Murad II (see
142122), was forced out of
retirement to take over from his
son, Mehmed II, to whom he had

attempted to entrust his crown. At

Adrianople, Murad made a
10-year truce with Albanian
military leader Hunyadi
Skandebeg and other resistors of
Ottoman advance. However, with
the pope preaching crusade, the
resistors were absolved of their
oaths of peace and they launched
a new attack. Led by Hunyadi and
Wladyslaw III of Poland and
Hungary (14241444), the
crusading army the last major
Machu Picchu
High above the Urubamba
Valley in the Peruvian
Andes, on an
inaccessible ridge,
lies Machu Picchu,
sacred citadel of
the Inca
kings.

to receive free education before

going on to Kings College,
Cambridge.
With the Ottomans (see
128690) occupying
territories on all sides of the
tiny remnants of the
Byzantine Empire, and
threatening Constantinople itself,
the embattled Byzantine emperor
John VIII Palaeologus (see
144849) arrived in Europe to
plead for help from the Council
of Ferrara in 1438.
Gold llama statuette
The Inca were so rich in gold that
emperor Atahualpa was able to offer
a ransom of 750 tonnes of it when
captured by conquistadors in 1532.

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144547

144849

The rocky north coast between Paul and Ribeira Grande

in Santa Antao in the Cape Verde islands.

Illustration from a Muromachi period manuscript, the arts flourished in

Japan under Ashikaga patronage.

HENRY THE NAVIGATORS

EXPENSIVE PROJECT to open up

2:1

Battle of Varna
The Hungarian-led
crusader army, with a
strength of 30,000, suffered heavy
losses at the hands of the Ottoman
troops, who numbered 60,000.

attempt to expel the Ottomans

from the Balkans and relieve
Constantinople was decisively
crushed by Murad at the Battle of
Varna. Wladyslaw disappeared in
the battle and was presumed
dead, despite rumours of his
miraculous survival.

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the coast of Africa (see 1434) was

met with scepticism at home in
Portugal, until in 1441, one of his
ships returned with gold dust and
slaves, prompting an acceleration
of activity. Between 1444 and
1446, around 35 of Henrys vessels
sailed for the West African coast.
In 1445, sailing in one of Henrys
new caravels, explorer Dinis Dias
sighted the mouth of the Senegal
River, which offered a trade route
deep into the African interior, and
rounded Cape Verde, the
westernmost point of Africa. Dias
returned the following year as
part of a fleet of caravels
intending to plant the Portuguese
flag and explore what Henry
believed might be the western
branch of the Nile, while another
of Henrys captains, Nuo Tristo,
sighted the Gambia River.
The marriage of Margaret of
Anjou (c.143082) to Henry VI of
England in 1445 was negotiated by
William de la Pole, chief advisor to
the king and power behind the
throne, whose aim was to stop the
war in France (see 143537). At
first, the match and the bride were
popular in England, but in 1448, the
territory of Maine in northern
France was lost to Charles VII and
the queen was blamed for her
influence over the weak king.
Margaret would survive this,
however, and become an important
player in the Wars of the Roses
(see 145455).
The death of Filippo Maria
Visconti in 1447 signalled the end
of the Visconti ducal line of Milan

e
ag
rri to
er
Ma jou
5
n
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4
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Et ts s sult
5 L reat
4
a
s
4
G
e
f
ll
c.1 of
de d ki
an

(see 142122). There were

multiple claimants to the ducal
throne, and eager to avoid
domination by a foreigner, the
Milanese powers immediately
constituted the Aurea Repubblica
Ambrosiana of Milan, or the
Ambrosian Republic, but they
faced insurmountable obstacles.
Riven by internal dissension and
unwilling to lose control of the
other cities controlled by Milan,
they were soon forced to turn
military control over to a
condotierre, or mercenary soldierleader - the powerful Muzio
Attendolo, nicknamed Sforza
meaning exert or force.
In the mid-15th century, the
Shona kingdom of Mwene Mutapa,
also known as Great Zimbabwe
(see 110610), was nearing the end
of its glory days. By this time, the
riches of the gold fields had funded
construction of the Great
Enclosure, an elliptical space
enclosed by a giant wall 244m
(800ft) around, and up to 11m (36ft)
high in places, built from almost a
million granite blocks.
Population
of Great
Zimbabwe

50,000
POPULATION
OF LONDON

20,000

Golden age of Great Zimbabwe

In the mid-15th century, the
population of Great Zimbabwe was
just under half the size of the
population of London.

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IN 1449, ASHIKAGA YOSHIMASA

(143590) BECAME SHOGUN, or

military dictator, of Japan.

Although his reign marked a
cultural highpoint of the Ashikaga,
or Muromachi period (13361573)
it was also a period of increasing
civil strife. Repeated famines
triggered constant uprisings,
while the Ashikaga practice of
issuing tokuseirei or acts of
grace to cancel debts, damaged
the economy. Despite this,
Yoshimasa presided over a
cultural flowering at his
Higashiyama estate.
The new pope, Nicholas V,
elected in 1447, was intent on
bringing an end to the schism
caused by his predecessors clash
with the Council of Basel (see
143537), and on restoring peace
to Italy and achieving harmonious
relations with other rulers. At the
Concordat of Vienna in 1448, he
made concessions to Emperor
Frederick III and the other
German princes, who in return
abandoned the Council of Basel
and recognized some papal
powers. The following year, the
Council of Basel finally disbanded
and the anti-pope, Felix V,
abdicated in return for a
cardinalship. This marked the
final victory of the papacy over
the conciliar movement.
Following the death of Byzantine
emperor John VIII, his brother
Constantine XI Palaeologus (see
panel, right) acceded to the throne
in Constantinople he would be
the last Byzantine emperor. The
Ottomans had defeated another of
Jan Hunyadis crusades to clear

PALAEOLOGUS
(140453)
Constantine XI Palaeologus
succeeded to the remnants of
a once-great empire, left
without the resources to
defend itself. He was the last
emperor of Byzantium, a state
that had lasted throughout the
medieval period, providing a
unique bridge between east
and west, ancient and
modern. He died on the walls
of Constantinople, having
done everything in his power
to secure its defence.
them from the Balkans at the
second Battle of Kosovo in 1448,
regaining control of Albania. It
was clear that there would be no
European rescue for the
embattled Byzantines. The
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DISCOVER HOW

WORLD WAR I
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The publisher would like to thank the
following for their kind permission to
reproduce their photographs:
(Key: a-above; b-below/bottom;
c-centre; f-far; l-left; r-right; t-top)

Franois Gunet 75t; Yvan Travert 135tr;

World History Archive / IAM 26cr, 152cb;
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76l; The Art Archive 28bl, 32tl, 33br, 34c,
39cr, 46tl, 62bc, 63c, 70b, 90t, 110c, 112tc,
114tc, 136cl, 140tc, 141cl, 154cl, 158cl; The
Art Gallery Collection 16cra, 48tl, 66tr,
78cl, 100cl, 112cl, 112c, 127cr, 141c, 157c;
ASP Religion 129tl; Authors Image 140bl;
Greg Balfour Evans 112tl; Peter Barritt
135tl; Anders Blomqvist 33tr; Vlad Breazu
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130cr; York Archaeological Trust for
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Cover images: Front and back: LOOK Die
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Wallis and Wallis (Vase), Greenwich,
London: (Astrolabe);
All other images Dorling Kindersley
For further information contact
books@imagine-publishing.co.uk

ec
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YEAR BY YEAR

1449

Ro
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or
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H
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Az
te
&
In
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HISTORY

at
Le
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An
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8,000,000 BCE

BOOK OF

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