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Early Afro-Eurasian Empires as Culturally Diverse Entities
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by A. J. Andrea
World History Center, Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts
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| | Abstract
Buy This Teaching Unit ($8.00)
This unit explores three early empires: Persia under the Achaemenid dynasty (ca. 550-331 B.C.E.); Rome in the era of the Pax Romana (27 B.C.E.-180 C.E.); and China under the Tang dynasty (618-907). The unit documents the cultural diversity of each of the empires, and leads students through analysis of how the leaders of empires coped with the diversity within their realm.
The unit consists of five lessons: 1) a discussion of the basic characteristics of empires and also to a study of maps of these three empires; 2) Persia's first empire with emphasis on analysis of three primary sources -- Herodotus' account of Cambyses' disdain for foreign customs; a Jewish document petitioning help in getting authorization to rebuild the temple of YHWH in Elephantine, a Persian military outpost in Egypt; and the so-called Passover Papyrus; 3) the Roman ecumene revolving around study of two sources -- selections from Tacitus's Agricola on the pacification of Britain and Aelius Aristides' The Roman Oration; 4) a comparative study of religious tolerance and syncretism in the Roman World and Tang China through study of two sources -- Lucius Apuleius's Metamorphoses and The Christian Monument; 5) comparison of religious intolerance and persecution in the Roman World and Tang China through study of three sources -- letters exchanged between Pliny the Younger and Emperor Trajan and the Proclamation Ordering the Destruction of the Buddhist Monasteries.
Classroom activities include analysis of maps, discussion of texts revealing state policy toward religions, debate on the benefits of imperial dominance, discussion of the phenomenon of syncretism in religion, and the students' creation of pseudo primary sources.
The lesson includes an appendix with suggested responses to discussion questions.
Main Points of the Unit
Big Questions
Best Practices
Lesson Summary
Assessment Overview
AP World History Course Description Connections
Objectives
Materials
Big Questions
- What were the relations between central areas and frontier lands of early empires?
- Why was it necessary for early empires to practice at least a modicum of tolerance toward the cultures of their subject peoples?
- What cultural influences filtered in from outside the imperial borders? Were such elements different from the cultures of subject peoples?
- How, if at all, did early empires try to balance their core cultures, cultures of their subject peoples, and cultural movements from outside?
Best Practices
Best Practices are teaching strategies that are interactive and involve high-level thinking skills (see AP World History Best Practices Guide, eds. P. Manning and D.S. Johnston). The appropriate Best Practices vary widely with teacher strengths, school environment, student population, and experience. But all student populations will benefit from experience with strategies showing that world history is much more than lectures, and more than a survey of facts and dates. This unit, within its individual lessons, includes the following examples of Best Practice teaching strategies:
- Analyze primary text documents
- Analyze maps
- Participate in role-playing debate
- Compose a pseudo-source
Lesson Summary
Lesson 1. The Shape and Nature of Three Ancient Empires
Through an analysis of maps, explore the geographic and cultural shapes of three ancient empires: Achaemenid Persia, Rome in the age of the Pax Romana, and the early Tang empire of China. Additionally, brainstorm the issue: Which attributes were common to all or most ancient empires?
Lesson 2. Intolerance and Tolerance in the Persian Empire
Study the Persian Empire's policies toward its Egyptian and Jewish subjects through analysis of three documents: Herodotus's account of Cambyses's disdain for foreign customs; a Jewish document petitioning help in getting authorization to rebuild the temple of YHWH in Elephantine, a Persian military outpost in Egypt; and the so-called Passover Papyrus.
Lesson 3. The Pax Romana
Study the two sides of the Pax Romana, the iron fist and the velvet glove, through an analysis of two Roman sources: selections from Tacitus's Agricola on the pacification of Britain and Aelius Aristides' The Roman Oration.
Lesson 4. Religious Tolerance and Syncretism
A comparative study of religious tolerance and syncretism in the Roman World and Tang China through study of two sources -- Lucius Apuleius's Metamorphoses and The Christian Monument.
Lesson5. Reaction, Intolerance, and Persecution
The other side of the issue: A comparative study of religious intolerance and persecution in the second-century C.E. Roman empire and the ninth-century Tang empire through study of three sources -- letters exchanged between Pliny the Younger and Emperor Trajan and the Proclamation Ordering the Destruction of the Buddhist Monasteries.
Assessment Overview
In each lesson of the unit, teachers may assess student contributions to analysis of documents. In Lesson 1, the teacher may assess student map skills. In Lesson 3, students conduct self-assessment and peer assessment in a debate. In Lesson 4, teachers may assess student analyses of documents in homework; and in Lesson 5, teachers may assess the quality of the faux sources created by students. Questions for analysis listed in Lesson 5 may be assigned to students as essay topics.
AP World History Course Description Connections
Themes
- Interactions in economy and politics
- Systems of social and gender structure
- Changing functions of states
Habits of Mind
- Using texts and other primary documents
- Constructing and evaluating arguments
- Seeing local and global patterns
Major Developments, Comparisons, and Snapshot
AP World History Course Description Foundations, Major Developments, 1 -- Locating world history in the environment and time; 3 -- Basic features of early civilizations; 4 -- classical civilizations.
Objectives
Content Objectives
- To understand the geographic outlines of three major empires at the height of their expansion
- To become aware of the complex, often contradictory ways in which these empires accommodated themselves to the cultural minorities within their midst
Skill Objectives
- Analyze maps
- Analyze primary text documents
- Debate conflicting interpretations
Materials
- Any good historical atlas (e. g. the Harper-Collins Atlas of World History edited by Geoffrey Barraclough, 1999)
- A. J. Andrea and J. H. Overfield, The Human Record, 4th ed. (Houghton Mifflin, 2000), Vol. I
- Handouts 1A, 2A-2C, 3A-3B, 4A, 5A
General Editors: Patrick Manning and Deborah Smith Johnston; World History Center, Northeastern University
Buy This Teaching Unit ($8.00)
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