Traditional European civilization

brief introduction

Upper ancient Greece

The natural environment of ancient Greece The history of ancient Greece is the beginning of the history of western civilization, and its creators are ancient Greeks living in the Greek peninsula, Aegean islands, the west coast of Asia Minor, the Black Sea coast, southern Italy and Sicily. The Greek Peninsula is the central stage of ancient Greek activities, which is of decisive significance to the history of ancient Greece.

One of the geographical features of the Greek Peninsula is its proximity to West Asia and North Africa, which makes Greece maintain close ties with Asia Minor, thus becoming the first region in Europe to accept agriculture and bronze culture in West Asia and the first region to enter civilization. Another geographical feature is mountainous areas and limited arable land. The whole peninsula is criss-crossed, 80% of which is mountainous, dotted with some small plains. Branches of the Balkan Mountains divide the whole island into three parts: north, middle and south. Northern Greece includes the Epirus Mountains and the Thessaly Plain. Greece and northern Greece are connected by a dangerous mountain pass and a hot spring pass. Attica and Biotia are the most famous areas in central Greece. Southern Greece is a small peninsula in the peninsula, called Peloponnesian Peninsula. There is only a narrow isthmus connected with central Greece, so it is self-contained and relatively closed.

There is not much fertile soil in the Greek peninsula, which forces the ancient Greeks to make full use of every arable valley, coastal plain and hillside to grow the main crops in the Mediterranean region, such as barley, wheat, olives, grapes and vegetables. Due to the small land and large population, it is difficult for the Greek peninsula to achieve food self-sufficiency, and people were forced to colonize the island and open up new homes very early.

However, the mountainous area of the Greek Peninsula is rich in marble and high-quality clay, which is conducive to the development of architecture, plastic arts and ceramics. There are also copper, iron, gold, silver and other minerals available to the ancients, which are very beneficial to metallurgical industry and commerce. In addition, the Greek peninsula is surrounded by water on three sides, and there are many harbors, especially on the route to West Asia, which is full of islands. When sailing in the Aegean Sea, people's eyes are generally inseparable from islands and land. These favorable navigation conditions for the ancients promoted Greece's foreign trade, which was mainly handmade products and raw materials, so the shipping industry and navy had special significance in ancient Greece.

Residents' concepts of "Greece" and "Greeks" appeared late and originated from the later ancient Romans. The Romans collectively referred to the Greek colonies in southern Italy and Sicily as "magna graecia", hence the name "Greece" used by modern people. The ancient Greeks called themselves "Greeks" and called the Greek Peninsula "Hellas". They don't consider themselves indigenous to Heiles. In their view, the earliest inhabitants of Greece were Legge, Delio, pilar and Caria.

According to archaeological data, as early as the Paleolithic, the Greek peninsula was inhabited. Neanderthal fossils were unearthed in northeast Greece in 196 1. As for Paleolithic tools, they have been found in peninsulas and Aegean islands.

In 7000 BC, Greece entered the Neolithic Age. Archaeologists have discovered Neolithic village sites all over Greece. The layout and housing structure are similar to those of the early Neolithic villages in West Asia, and the agricultural culture is also similar, which shows the great influence of West Asian culture. The Greeks and later Greeks were not of the same race, but belonged to non-Indo-European languages, because some place names in ancient Greece, such as the suffixes nt and ss of Corinth and Knossos, did not conform to the habits of Indo-European languages.

At the end of 3000 BC and the beginning of 2000 BC, Greece entered the bronze age. The Greeks belonging to the Indo-European language family first migrated to the Greek peninsula, known as achaean, and later developed the famous Mycenaean civilization centered on Mycenae in southern Greece.

About BC 12- BC 1 1 century, an Indo-European tribe called Dorian invaded the Greek peninsula, occupied most of southern Greece and Crete and other islands, and destroyed Mycenae civilization.

After the Dorian invasion, the distribution of Greek residents was basically fixed. According to dialects and kinship, it can be divided into four categories: Agaya people live in the northern part of southern Greece (Arcaya and Arcadia), Ionian people live in northern Greece and most parts of central Greece (Cesari and Biotia), Ionian people live in Aegean islands such as Attica and Ubia across the sea in central Greece, and Dorian people live in southern Greece and most parts of Crete.

Historical materials Ancient Greek historical materials are rich, which can be divided into two categories: physical objects and words. The ancient Greeks left urban and rural ruins, tombs and other material and cultural relics all over the Mediterranean coast, even in the Near East and Central Asia. Among them, the most famous sites are the Acropolis, Crete and Mycenae Palace. In addition, a large number of sculptures, paintings, coins and other handicrafts have also been handed down. They are evidence of social and economic conditions in different periods of ancient Greece, and also provide evidence for restoring the ideological and cultural development of ancient Greeks.

Written historical materials include inscriptions, papyrus documents and works of ancient writers. At present, the oldest ancient Greek inscription that can be interpreted is the clay tablet document in the Aegean civilization period, which belongs to the second half of 2000 BC. The text used is the linear text B of Indo-European language family, and the content is mostly the Royal Economic Report. An earlier piece of Crete clay was also found, called linear character A, which has not been explained yet. After the Dorian invasion, the linear letter B disappeared with the Mycenaean civilization and was replaced by the alphabet which appeared in the 8th century BC. There are many such inscriptions, which are concentrated in the classical era and Hellenistic era, covering political, economic, military, cultural and other aspects, and have precious historical value.

Papyrus documents, like inscriptions, are written historical materials excavated by archaeology. So far, 200,000 pieces have been collected, including economic, political, literary and scientific works, personal letters and children's homework.

The works handed down directly by ancient writers are also very rich. Myths and epics describe some gods and heroes, which came into being at the end of primitive times and have a certain historical core. The main masterpiece is Homer's epic. The ancient Greeks also left some poems and essays with a strong sense of reality and expressing personal feelings in ancient times.

The ancient Greeks, like the ancient China people, were rare people who had a strong sense of history and formed real historiography. They left many historical works, the first of which was Herodotus' History (about 484-425 BC), which mainly recorded the war between Greece and Persia, which ended in 478 BC, and also involved the history of the main Greek city-states and North Africa, West Asia and even India during and before the war. However, the selection and utilization of its materials are still naive, and it is necessary to carefully identify the authenticity.

Thucydides' masterpiece The History of the Peloponnesian War (about 460-396 BC) is a record of the hegemonic war of Greek city-states in the second half of the 5th century BC, which came to an abrupt end in 4 1 1 BC, and is the pinnacle of ancient Greek historiography. With an objective attitude and detailed historical data, the book depicts a magnificent picture of Greek political, military and social history in the 5th century.

After Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian Xenophon (430-354 BC) wrote books such as History of Greece and Long March. The history of Greece continues Thucydides' history about the Peloponnesian War, which ended in 362 BC. The focus is still on war and relations between countries, and the author's political stance hinders his objective description and choice of historical facts. The Long March is a historical work with the theme of memoirs, which describes the arduous trek of Greek mercenaries on Persian territory at the end of the 5th century BC.

The works of Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon recorded the history of Greek city-states from prosperity to decline step by step. A large number of works by philosophers, politicians, dramatists and rhetoricians in the same period supplemented their shortcomings, such as Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics, Aeschylus and aristophanes's Tragedy and Comedy, and speeches by Demosthenes and others.

Plutarch's Who's Who in Greece and Rome (about 46- 126), which contains biographies of 23 famous Greek figures, covers all periods of Greek city-state. The characters in the book are vividly portrayed, but some historical facts can't stand scrutiny. In addition, Polybius's General History (about 205 BC-BC 120 years), Diodoro's Historical Integration (about BC 1 century) and Arian's Alexander Expedition (about 96 BC-BC 180 years) all retain a large number of Greeks.

History of Historiography After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476, under the double blow of barbarians and civil strife, European culture regressed, and Christian historiography based on God and serving religious ideology replaced the ancient Greek and Roman historiography of seeking truth. The history of Greece is gradually forgotten, and the works of ancient Greeks are dusty in the stacks of private collectors and monasteries. Although the Byzantine Empire still retains some flavor of classical culture, the fall of Constantinople in 1204 destroyed the treasures of many classical writers, causing irreparable losses, and the society's interest in ancient Greece was also lacking. /kloc-After 0/4th century, the Renaissance rose. Renaissance is the revival of buried Greek and Roman culture, and it is actually a bourgeois ideological liberation movement. As a result, many works of ancient Greek and Roman writers (including historical works) have been excavated and sorted out, which has aroused people's renewed concern about ancient Greek history. Since then, until the19th century, the accumulation of historical materials and the study of Greek history on the basis of historical materials have made continuous achievements. Understanding ancient Greece, understanding ancient Greek history and reading ancient Greek classics have become the symbol and fashion of European and American intellectuals' education. The History of Greece by grotte, a British historian, is a masterpiece of various versions of Greek history. The discovery of German archaeologist Sheriman in Troy and Mycenae is one of the most important achievements of archaeology in19th century.

In the 20th century, western historians made continuous progress in material arrangement, textual research, interpretation and archaeological excavation, and published countless general history, special history, monographs, papers, ancient original works and reference books. Evans, a British archaeologist, excavated the Crete civilization at the beginning of this century, pushing the history of ancient Greece forward by about 1000 years. In recent years, western historians have not only made great achievements in the fields of political history, military history, economic history and ideological and cultural history, but also opened up the field of social history, and many works such as family history and women's history have appeared.

The founders of studying ancient Greek history with historical materialism are Marx and Engels. In their brilliant works, German Ideology, Preface to Criticism of Political Economy, Das Kapital, Anti-Turin Theory, and Origin of Family, Private Ownership and State, they discussed the general and individual problems of ancient Greek history in many places and drew many conclusions, which are the basis for Marxist historians to explain. Of course, some concrete conclusions of Marx and Engels developed and sublated with the progress of historiography.

The first historian who tried to study the history of ancient Greece comprehensively and systematically by Marxist method was the former Soviet Union. A research team was trained in the 1920s and 1930s. The History of Ancient Greece, published by Salgues Ye Fu in 1934, is the first book on the general history of ancient Greece written from the viewpoint of Marxism. From 1960s to 1980s, historians of the former Soviet Union reflected on previous studies, revised many outdated formulations and made new achievements in economic history and social history.

Chapter VI Upper Rome

brief introduction

Ancient Italy

Italy's natural environment Italy is the birthplace of ancient Roman countries. Its geographical and natural conditions had a great influence on the formation and development of ancient Roman countries.

Italy is a big peninsula that goes deep into the Mediterranean Sea. It is called Apennine Peninsula because the Apennine Mountains run through the whole territory. The peninsula is surrounded by the sea on three sides, with Adriatic Sea in the east, Ionian Sea in the south and tyrrhenian sea in the west. The Alps in Gaoyi in the north become a natural barrier between Gaoyi and Central Europe. The climate of the Italian peninsula belongs to the Mediterranean type, with winter rain and summer drought. The annual average temperature is relatively high, but it is rarely hot or cold. Rivers crisscross the territory, and the land is quite fertile, which is conducive to the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Although Italy has a long coastline, it lacks good ports, so its navigation industry is not as developed as that of ancient Greek coastal countries.

As early as the Paleolithic, the Italian peninsula was inhabited. In the Neolithic Age, Ligurians probably came to Italy from Africa through Spain and France today. (1) In the early 2000s BC, tribes belonging to Indo-European languages crossed the Alps from the north and entered Italy one after another. This is the ancestor of the Italians. Latins are one of these tribes.

In the ancient Italian peninsula, there were many races and tribes besides Latin, among which Etruscans and Greeks were the most important.

Etruscans usually think of Lydia in Asia Minor. (2) They were a powerful force on the Italian peninsula in the 8th-6th century BC. They mainly live between the Tiber and Jaanus rivers in central Italy. In their most prosperous period, they occupied the Po River basin in the north, and also had their colonies in Latin, Campania and Corsica. In fact, Rome in the late empire was also under its control.

During the 8th-6th century BC, the Greeks moved to southern Italy and Sicily and established many city-states, among which Syracuse, Tarrington and Tully were the most famous.

In addition, there is a Gaul (Celtic) in the Po River basin. They entered the Po River valley from the northern Alps at the end of the 5th century BC, threatening Rome for a long time. But it was finally destroyed by Rome.

Compared with other fields of ancient history in the world, the historical materials of Roman history are much richer.

In terms of types, it can be divided into inscriptions, official documents, coins, antiques and documents. Among them, antiquities and documents are the most important.

In Rome, there are many well-preserved antiquities, among which the Pantheon, the Colosseum Flavi, the Arc de Triomphe of Titus, the Trajan Monument and the Roman aqueduct are relatively complete. There are more excavated from the ground. The world-famous ancient city of Pompeii is a typical example. From these physical materials, we can not only see the life and production of the Romans in the past, but also find the whole process of Rome from prosperity to decline.

In addition to a large number of physical materials, the literature is rich and varied. There are both works by Latin writers and comments by Greek writers that have been preserved to this day. There are both letters between politicians and voluminous historical masterpieces. The content is extremely rich and complicated.

The earliest literature in ancient Rome was chronology. This was written by ancient Roman priests for compiling calendars. The chronology is based on the names of the Chief Executive or two consuls elected each year, and mainly records the important events that occurred in that year. The chronology of ancient Rome was produced in the middle of the 5th century BC and is famous for its short characters. It was not until the 3rd century BC that the priests compiled a detailed chronicle. Unfortunately, only a part of these materials have been indirectly circulated to this day.

In the 2nd century BC, Politius, the most outstanding historian in ancient Europe, appeared in the ancient Roman world (about 200 BC-BC 1 18). Polybius was born into a noble family in the central Greek city of Megara. After the Battle of Pidtner in BC 168, he entered Rome, and became a teacher and staff of Little Sipia with the support of Scipio family. During his stay in Rome, he wrote a 40-volume general history, which comprehensively described the history of Greece, Rome and eastern Mediterranean countries from 264 BC to 146 BC, but only the first five volumes were preserved, and only 35 volumes remained.

Another historian of the age of * * * is Sarustius (about 86-34 BC). His major works include The Catiline Conspiracy, The Battle of Juguda, The History Written in Later Years, etc. History is a five-volume book, which mainly describes the historical events from 78 BC to 67 BC, but only some fragments have been handed down.

Among the works of Roman historiography in the period of * * *, it is particularly worth mentioning that Julia Caesar (10 1-44 BC) left two works-The Battle of Gaul and the Civil War. The Battle of Gaul has eight volumes. The first seven volumes were written by Caesar, and the eighth volume was written by the historian Hiltis. This book tells the story of Caesar's management of Gaul, including a series of wars he waged against Gauls and Germans, and his two invasions of British Island in 55 and 54 BC. It also describes the landscape, products, ethnic distribution, customs and people's feelings of Gaul. The Civil War is divided into three volumes, which describes the story of his victory over Pompeii and his henchmen. In these two works, although there are some excuses and exaggerations, they are the history written by people at that time and have high historical value.

Li Wei (59 BC-AD 17) was the most famous scholar and historian in Octavian's era. He was born in Padua, northern Italy, and was closely related to Octavian. He used to be the teacher of Octavian's grandson Claudius. He devoted all his life to writing a history of Rome since its founding (referred to as "Roman history" for short) on the scale of general history. This book describes the history of Rome from 754 BC to 9 AD. The whole book 142 volumes, only 35 volumes have been preserved. Li Wei's works focus on recalling the hardships and glories of Rome since its founding and inspiring the patriotic enthusiasm of the Romans. The book is full of moral preaching, retro ideas, patriotic ideas and praise for * * * and the system. In his works, Li Wei quoted the historical materials of Polybius and many chroniclers, which is of great significance to the study of early Roman history.

Another famous historian who was a little later than Li Yu was Tacitus (about 55- 120). His main works are: Chronicle, History, Biography of Agulli Cora and Germania. The Biography of Agulli Cora is a biography written by Tacitus to his father-in-law Agulli Cora. Agulli Cora was a general who was conquered by Rome. His life story is closely related to Britain, so Tacitus used a lot of pen and ink to describe Britain in this book. This is an indispensable document for studying the early history of Britain. Germanic annals mainly describes the political, economic and social life of Germanic tribes in the later period of clan commune. It is the earliest document that comprehensively records the ancient Germans and has high historical value. Chronicle, volume *** 18, records the 54-year Roman history from the death of Augustus (A.D. 14) to Nero's death (A.D. 68). History *** 12 mainly describes the history from Garba (AD 68) to the reign of Titus Flavius Domitianus (AD 8 1-96). Tacitus' two works almost describe the history of Rome from beginning to end 1 century, which are the most precious historical materials for us to study the early history of the Roman Empire.

Almost at the same time as Tacitus, two great biographical historians, Plutarch and Suetonius, appeared in Greece and Rome respectively. Plutarch (about 46- 126) was born in Cronia, central Greece. It is said that he is the teacher of Trajan and Hadrian. His masterpiece is Biography of the Greco-Roman Celebrities (also known as Biography), with 50 existing articles, most of which are co-biographies by two people (Greek and Roman celebrities with similar deeds are co-biographies for comparative narration). In his biographies, Plutarch quoted a lot of original materials and put forward his own evaluation of the characters. Because Plutarch recorded many historical facts and preserved many lost historical materials, his works still have important historical significance.

Suetonius (AD 75- 160) was born in a military bureaucratic family and served as the attendant secretary of Emperor Hadrian. Due to the convenience of his position, he was able to read the documents in the royal family and the national archives and be familiar with the stories of past dynasties. Suetonius is rich in writings, but only one biography of Twelve Caesar has been handed down. This book is a collection of biographies. Every emperor from Caesar to Titus Flavius Domitianus has a biography. Suetonius's works are rich in materials and novel in angle, which can make some amendments and supplements to Tacitus's works.

Appiah (about 95- 165) was an outstanding historian in the early empire. He is Greek. He used to be the emperor's treasury inspector and the governor of Egypt. His History of Rome consists of 24 volumes, of which 1 1 is well preserved, namely the Spanish War, Illyrian War, Hannibal War, Syrian War and Mitridati War, and there are five volumes of civil war history. The book is divided into volumes according to regions, provinces, nationalities and events, and records all the major wars in Rome in detail. The five-volume Civil War History is the most important and valuable part in existence, which contains almost all the basic historical materials of the Roman Civil War.

After Appiah, another historian was Dior Gaius Gaius Cassius Longinus Longinus (A.D. 155-235), who was also a Greek. He served as consul and governor of Africa and wrote 80 volumes of Roman history. "History of Rome" has been written from Aeneas to his own time (AD 229). Volumes 36-60 have been handed down completely, and only fragments of other volumes are kept. This work is of great historical value to the imperial history from the end of * * *, 1 year to the 2nd century.

The last great historian in Rome was Ami Annous masri Yunus (330-400 AD). He was born into a noble family in the Syrian city of Antioch, and he was descended from the Greeks. He joined the army in Rome in his early years and studied history in Rome after retiring. He wrote a history of Rome in Latin, which began with the death of Emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus in 96 AD and ended with the Battle of Adriatic Fort in 378 AD. It can be said to be a sequel to Tacitus' history. The original volume of this book is 365,438+0. Unfortunately, the first volume 65,438+03 has been lost, and now only the last volume 65,438+08 is left, including the historical events in the twenty-six years from 352 to 378. His works not only retain a lot of information about the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD, but also retain the earliest records of Xiongnu by western historians.

In addition to the above historical documents, there are many works worthy of our attention. Such as Cicero's speech collection and address book; Autobiography of Augustus; The history of the emperor after Kyle aurelio, written by Herodian; Roman antiquities in Dionysius; Varro's Latin and so on. They all provide extremely important materials for us to study Roman history, and they are indispensable first-hand materials for us to study Roman history.

The study of Roman history in the history of historiography began as early as the Renaissance, when humanists were particularly interested in the history of ancient Roman state and legal rights in order to find the prototype of future bourgeois rule. In the 17 and 18 centuries, due to the establishment of European totalitarianism, scholars paid special attention to the study of the political history of the Roman Empire. Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is the product of this era. Gibbon's books are voluminous and rich in content. The book is divided into 7 1 chapters: the first three chapters are the beginning, which briefly summarizes the historical events from Augustus to the 1980s. The fourth chapter begins with 180, and the records are detailed. Then tell the story in chronological order, until the demise of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453 and the end of the religious reform in16th century. The publication of this book immediately caused a sensation in the British literary world. The name "edward gibbon" has almost become synonymous with "historiography".

Almost at the same time, a new trend of thought began to form in western history, questioning and criticizing ancient traditions. Italian Vico and Frenchman Fu Biao are the main representatives of this trend of thought. Vico proved in his "Basis of New Science" (also translated as "New Science") that the Romans also had a "religious" and "heroic" era at the beginning of their historical life, so the history of Rome before the 3rd century BC was only a history of myths and legends. Fu Biao, a Frenchman, wrote an article entitled "On the Incredibility of Roman History in the 5th Century" in 1738, trying to prove that the history of ancient Rome was just a product fabricated by rhetoricians. This tendency of historical criticism promotes the emergence of scientific critical methods in historical science.

Niebuhr, a famous politician in the Prussian Reform era, was the first to successfully use this new critical method. When he taught Roman history at the University of Berlin, he began by criticizing the works of his predecessors. He believes that historians in the past, including famous great historians, often copied from one place to another instead of delving into the original materials, so they made many mistakes. Therefore, when compiling the History of Rome, he resolutely did not use second-hand materials and relied entirely on original historical materials. 18 1 1 year, niebuhr's History of Rome was published. This book is good at criticizing ancient books and has novel views. It is considered as one of the masterpieces in modern history.

From 1854 to 1856, Dior Munson's three-volume History of Rome came out and was quickly translated into various European languages. In the book, Monson describes the history of Rome and China in great detail. Monson said that his purpose in writing this book was "to let a wider audience get some more real knowledge about ancient Rome". He has done a good job in this respect, but his achievements are far more than that. In fact, he opened up a new path and provided a new method for the study of Roman history. He started with a large number of cultural relics, so he can often make novel and original ideas that his predecessors have never done before. Monson's History of Rome embodies the achievements of the specialization of western historiography in the19th century, which almost influenced an era in the study of Roman history.

/kloc-Since the late 20th century, people have paid more and more attention to the economic phenomena and social relations in Roman history, and many works have appeared to study the economic history of Rome. Among them, the famous ones are: Frank's Economic History of Rome and Economic Research of Ancient Rome; Rostovtsev's Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire. But these works seem to have a tendency to modernize ancient history.

After entering the 20th century, collective creation has become an important feature of modern historical development. The Ancient History of Cambridge with volume 12 and the General History of the Soviet Union with volume 10 are the crystallization of collective creation in this period. The Ancient History of Cambridge consists of six volumes, including Roman history, and almost all Roman history experts in the world participated in the writing of this book. Therefore, it has high academic value. A General History of the World gives a comprehensive and in-depth exposition of the rise, development and demise of Rome from the perspective of world history, which has had a great influence on the study of world history and Roman history in China.

After World War II, especially in the last two decades, great progress has been made in the study of Roman history. These developments are mainly manifested in the following aspects: First, people pay more and more attention to the important achievements of archaeology and closely link them with the study of history, thus correcting some mistakes in classical literature and making the study of Roman history more scientific. Second, the research scope is getting bigger and bigger, and the content is getting richer and richer. Almost all provinces have been studied except Italy, the center of the empire. Third, the research field of vision is getting wider and wider. In addition to political and economic history, there are also social history, cultural history and religious history, which broadens the research field of Roman history. During this period, Finley (M.I. Finley), Blunt (P.A. Blunt), Sem (R.Sem), Mo Migliaro (A. Momigliaro), Raster (H.Raster) and Watt (K.D. Watt) had the greatest influence on the study of Roman history.