The Super Summary of World History

by Alan Dale Daniel

[17] p. 21, Bauer, The History of the Ancient World, 2007, WW Norton & Co

  [18] One exception may be the Philistines who are spoken of in the Bible and whom the Israelites engaged in constant warfare.

  [19] P. 276 et seq, Bauer, The History of the Ancient World, 2007, WW Norton. Ms Bauer calls them “Sea Peoples”. The problem with a migration is the people in a mass migration normally settle down in the conquered areas. No settlement took place after the Sea Peoples came through.

  [20] The Urnfield culture cremated their dead and placed the ashes into urns. These urns (clay) were buried in cemeteries (fields); thus, the Urnfield culture. (urn in a field? Now do you get it? Come on, wake up! Swill down some coffee.) The Penguin Atlas of World History, Vol 1, p18.

  [21] p. 106-107, Bauer, The History of the Ancient World, WW Norton publisher

  [22] See: China for a more complete discussion of Buddhism.

  [23] Normally, I will use the term “god” for “the gods” or “gods” interchangeably. So when reading the word god, understand that it means gods or the gods as well, because most societies in the ancient world were polytheist Poly = many, thus many gods. Pantheist were also about. Pan = all; thus a god in everything, including the person.

  [24] In Egypt the Pharaoh was considered a god on earth, plus he was backed by a powerful priesthood.

  [25] As shown by godless Communist governments that have destroyed well over 94 million lives in their short history (The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, by Stephan Courtois, 1999).

  [26] OK, this is somewhat overstated since the raid was designed to kick Athens sideways and then leave. It was a punishment raid to teach the Greek snobs a lesson to stay out of Persian affairs; instead, it made them even more confident. We must still consider the idea that a successful raid may have encouraged the Persians to continue the conquest, one cannot know. In addition, other historians give an entirely different account of the battle (See p. 72, With Arrow, Sword and Spear . . . Bradford, 2001, Fall River Press). All these millennia later, it is tough to know exactly how it happened.

  [27] So, naturally, we try to measure it even though we were not there. The general consensus is Xerxes fielded about 250,000 to 300,000 men, a truly vast army for 480 BC.

  [28] They had united during the first invasion by Darius, but the Athenians won the victory before the Spartans, or other city states, could arrive. The Spartans were also consulting soothsayers about the timing of battle (they always did), and they did what these magicians ordered.

  [29] The trireme was the principle warship of the ancient world at this time, being made up of three decks of rowers and a metal ram to the front which would sink or heavily damage ships when it was driven into their sides. The crew was about two hundred.

  [30] Alcibiades was not there for the defeat in Sicily. Athens wanted him back to stand trial for desecrating the gods. He fled to Sparta and gave them good advice about how to defeat Athens. Then, after being caught with the wife of a Spartan King, he fled to Persia, and gave them good advice about how to defeat the Greeks. After all of this, he returned to Athens where he was again given a command (!!), and suffered an immediate defeat. He fled again to Persia, eventually being killed in Persian Phrygia after Lysander (a Spartan) asked that he be killed. Guess the Persians owed Lysander a favor. This fellow Alcibiades was the mother of all traitors. How dumb were the Athenians to take him back? Sounds like Eva Peron in Argentina(oops, we don’t cover that. You’ll have to look it up elsewhere—Wikipedia maybe).

  [31] Father of Alexander the Great

  [32] Not every opponent was smashed. The Gauls (Celts) sacked and burned Rome around 390 BC. Rome had been engaged in a brutal war with two cities near the city of Rome, Fidenae and Veii, and the arrival of the Gauls simply overwhelmed their exhausted and depleted legions. Rome often lost, but the Romans were amazingly tenacious. 10 year wars were nothing to them. And they were willing to replace losses by bearing higher taxes almost endlessly as well. Could we do that? Nah . . .

  [33] The main ship of this war was the quinquereme which had five banks of oars. This ship was larger than the trireme which had three banks of oars and had been the mainstay of the Persian Wars.

  [34] These figures are difficult to compute. A legion was six thousand men, so four legions would be twenty-four thousand troops; however, the Romans also had auxiliary troops to assist the legions, and they may have numbered another twenty-four thousand plus supply units. At any rate, a lot of people died.

  [35] One ship was purported to be 400 feet long. Such large construction requires great expertise in ship building.

  [36] Originally, the head of each clan making up the Roman Republic would comprise the Senate. As time went on, the power of the person was as important as the clan he or she came from.

  [37] Another widely used unit, a century, consisted of 100 men led by a centurion. Note that every centurion Jesus encountered in the Bible was an upright man of great personal character. Maybe that is the fundamental reason Rome lasted so long.

  [38] p. 200, With Arrow, Sword, and Spear . . . , Bradford, 2001, Fall River Press.

  [39] In the city of Rome, the poor constituted a huge percentage of the population. Politicians had given patronage to these poor for years in return for their votes; thus, from the start, the wealthy had gained and maintained power through buying votes from the poor. The net result was Rome was ruled by a few wealthy families who could pay the patronage. Hannibal added to the problems, because as he ravaged the countryside the rich bought up the land of the destitute farmers sending them into the city to join the poor while the rich grew ever richer. After the defeat of Hannibal, the rich used slaves to work the farmland on their massive estates thus increasing their wealth further and driving up the number of poor in Rome itself. Caesar had made a name for himself redistributing land to the poor, so he was one up in the bidding war as crossed the Rubicon.

  [40] Caesar lived from 100 BC to 44 BC. His life was ended by murder in the Roman Forum.

  [41] Modernly, someone who has crossed the Rubicon has committed himself to an unalterable course of action.

  [42] Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt, last of the Ptolemies, played a role in this part of the drama. She was impregnated by Caesar, had his child by caesarean section (note the name), and returned to Rome with him. None of this endeared him to members of the Senate. After Caesar’s death she returned to Egypt, became the lover of another famous Roman general, Mark Anthony, had twins by him, and committed suicide after her armies were defeated by Octavian in 31 BC. Who could make this stuff up?

  [43] Caesar began to mean prince or king, and the words Kaiser (German) and Czar(Russian) came from the word Caesar.

  [44] This the only major religion started by a penniless dead man, with no children, and zero followers remaining out of only twelve to begin with, one of which had sold him out to the authorities.

  [45] Nero liked to burn Christians lashed to poles along the streets at night as street lights. Imagine the smell. If no one complained the city must have smelled pretty bad beforehand.

  [46] It was under the Emperor Trajan in AD 117 that the empire reached its greatest geographic extent. After Hadrian took over he began to reconsolidate the empire and went over to the defense.

  [47] The fall of the Western Roman Empire took decades, so the date of 455 is somewhat arbitrary, but by this date the governmental protections (army) and bureaucracy (administration) were gone forever.

  [48] Some philosophers say the world outside our brain cavity is nothing but chaos, and we mentally impose order on a disordered world.

  [49] Genesis 4: 1-16

  [50] Freud would say human beings were irrational, and this may prove it. See Sigmund Freud under 1900: The Dividing Line to the Modern World in this tome.

  [51] Not so in Meso-America. The Mayan, Aztecs, and Incas—just to name three—did not establish their great cities on major rivers. As time went on in the ancient world many cities would be established away
from great rivers (Hattus, the Hittite capitol, and Nineveh, the Assyrian capitol for example).

  [52] Here is an example: assume a civilization grew up before 15,000 BC in the area of present day Moscow. Then the latest ice-age hit and the massive mile thick glaciers scraped the area clean. How could such a civilization be found? The moraines in front of the glaciers might contain some evidence, but it would be shattered & pulverized evidence, to say the least.

  [53] Science has not explained how life can come from dead matter, or how human consciousness developed, or where races of people came from. to name a few items. Plus, science does not answer why, it answers how.

  [54] God’s truth is “revealed” to man; that is, the gods tell man what is good or evil as man cannot discover the god’s truth on their own. Note how virtue differs: in Norse society killing the enemy is a large virtue, in Christian society one is encouraged to love ones enemies.

  [55] Israel, Syria; India, Pakistan; Iran, Iraq . . . etc.

  [56] From this point forward, dates will be rendered with the year only, unless we specifically are referring to BC dates; thus, a date with no AD or BC is assumed to be AD.

  [57] Note that in spite of the Mongol invasion and conquest of China, its culture, language, and administration remained nearly the same right into modern times.

  [58] “Witch hunters” as they styled themselves. One stated that his book on how to detect witches was covered with the skin of a witch. The killing began about 1250 and lasted until 1712 (the last witch trial in England). In 1487, the height of the witch hunts, a book was published describing witches’ habits and how to detect them named Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches). Thousands died from these inquisitions across Europe, and men were often killed as well as women, but women seemed to have borne the brunt of the mania.

  [59] Through Islam, oddly enough. Islam never took these ancient ideas into their philosophy. In the West they caused a revolution, in the Islamic world, nothing.

  [60] Ancient Egypt stayed as it was for four thousand years for a reason; new ideas were avoided to maintain the status quo.

  [61] Devout Muslims say the original language of the Koran is pure, and even translations to another language corrupt the book. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades, Spencer, 2005, Regnery Publishing, Inc

  [62] Note this was 5 years before Columbus sailed for India in 1492. All of Europe knew the Portuguese had turned the south coast of Africa, and everyone figured the way to India around Africa was now a Portuguese monopoly.

  [63] This was one of the most important naval engagements in history. Vasco de Gama was brilliant in the handling of his fleet, and the victory ended Muslim dominance of the Indian Ocean till this day (2010).

  [64] The Discoverers: a History of Man’s Search to Know His World and Himself by Boorstin, Daniel J. 2001, is one of the best books on this subject.

  [65] They were called Indians because Columbus thought he had reached India, or the Indies. The inappropriate name stuck.

  [66] Cortez conquered the Aztecs in 1521, and Pizarro conquered the Incas in 1532.

  [67] Atlantis is the most commonly referred to point of origin for cultures that are thousands of miles apart but manage to think and build much the same. Plato aside, there is no physical or other proof for the existence of Atlantis as a continent or a culture. Too bad, because it would be a lot of fun if such a place had existed.

  [68] Although in Egypt they advanced to a smooth-sided pyramid.

  [69] Understand that this blood sacrifice entailed cutting the heart out of a living human victim and holding it up to the sun while the organ was still beating. Now that’s a blood sacrifice!

  [70] The Catholic Church demanded the natives not be enslaved, so the Spanish just called it by a different name and did the same thing.

  [71] Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond, 2005.

  [72] The Black Death is reported in China about 1341; and by 1347, it had reached Europe. This was the last of several plagues to sweep over Europe.

  [73] The Shang dynasty was founded in 1600 BC, and the Chou was founded about 1050 BC. All dates in this section must be considered approximate; thus, when it says the dynasty lasted 200 years please be aware that means it lasted approximately 200 years.

  [74] P. 41, The Penguin Atlas of World History, Vol 1, Kinder & Hilgemann, 1978, Penguin Books.

  [75] Christians may argue this is “self-salvation.” In Christian theology, Jesus Christ alone can save a person’s soul, and one must confess Jesus is the Son of God and that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for their sins. A Buddhist (or Hindu) would see this as somewhat foolish, in large part because it avoids the question of conforming one’s mind to the necessary attitude to reach the oneness of the universe. Hindus think there are many paths to truth so they accept Jesus as one way to the truth; however, Christians argue there is only one way, Jesus. In both Buddhism and Hinduism there are many complexities that go far beyond the ability of this text to explain them.

  [76] These “nomads” from the center of the Asian land mass were a problem for everyone. They attacked, under various names, China, Europe, the Middle East, and India. Their ability to use cavalry to defeat the civilized world on all sides of them is amazing. As historians, we have a problem understanding their background because they left very little written information about themselves. No writing, no history. The Huns were the great problem for the Han and constant wars were fought between the two “civilizations”. The Great Wall was constructed to keep the Huns out more than anyone else.

  [77] This date is highly variable.

  [78] It can be argued that China’s entry into the Korean War and the Vietnam War was for the purpose of keeping foreigners out of its sphere of influence.

  [79] Please see the previous chapters on India and the Aryans.

  [80] “upper” here means southern. Egypt considered the mouth of the Nile at the Mediterranean Sea the “lower” Nile.

  [81] The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon, Penguin Classics, ISBN 0140433945, p.563; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(6th_century)

  [82] None-the-less, this success was marred by civil war, in which split the Muslim world into two sects: Sunni, the majority of Muslims, perhaps 80 percent belong to this sect, believing the Muslim leader does not have to be a descendent of Muhammad, and the Shiites who believe Muhammad’s son in law Ali should have been the leader of the Muslims. This division in the Islamic world continues today, and the consequences have been chaotic and bloody. Each sect believes the other is reprobate and in need of extermination. This led to conflicts of the most violent character which continue into 2010.

  [83] Acre fell in 1291, and this was the last of the major Levant Crusader strongholds; however, the island of Rhodes held on until 1522 and the island of Malta until 1798.

  [84] This was the discovery of America because it was publicized. The Vikings and others may have arrived first, but they did nothing with the knowledge. Columbus came back and let everyone know how great he was; unfortunately, he failed to understand where he had been. Nonetheless, everyone in Europe knew that new lands had been found; thus, it was Columbus who discovered America because one who discovers something and keeps it secret has discovered nothing—except for himself.

  [85] OK, OK . . . . So they were not ALL English colonist, but I just can’t type English, German, Irish, Dutch, French, Russian, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Belgian, Italian, Sicilian, Swiss, Portuguese, Scottish, Welsh, and Lord knows how many others every time I type “colonist” . . . so . . . English colonist it is. They were the majority after all.

  [86] Self-made meaning they had earned their money themselves and did not inherit it. Many in England enjoyed wealth by inheritance, and they also enjoyed power and position by inheritance. In the New World, they didn’t like people showing up acting as if they deserved something because of their birth. The New World expected people to ea
rn their money and position, and not inherit it from an ancient ancestor. Many men in Parliament were there because of an inheritance of one kind or another.

  [87] This name, the Intolerable Acts, came from the American propagandist. The Adams cousins were especially good at this kind of thing.

  [88] December 16, 1773. A group of men dressed like Indians boarded an English ship loaded with tea and threw the cargo overboard. This was a protest against English taxes on tea. Americans then began drinking coffee as a replacement for tea (tax avoidance) and never stopped. When you drink coffee, you are drinking to tax avoidance and revolution.

  [89] p. 720, The New Penguin History of the World, Roberts, J., 2007, Penguin books.

  [90] The “shot heard round the world.” Note that the British troops, who wore bright red coats, were called the Red Coats the world over.

  [91] A musket is a long gun with no grooves in the barrel to spin the projectile. A rifle has grooves in the barrel to spin the projectile (a ball of lead in this case), and it makes the projectile more accurate over a longer distance. A musket had a hard time hitting something the size of a man at one hundred yards; a rifle could do that easily, and in experienced hands could hit such a target at two hundred yards or more.

  [92] It was actually Breeds Hill, but who cares at this point.

  [93] 1776, David McCullough, 2006, Simon and Schuster

  [94] In fact, the world was still in the so-called Little Ice Age.

  [95] p. 148 et seq Great Rivals in History, When Politics Gets Personal, Cummins, J, 2008, Metro Books. The chapter is entitled “Benedict Arnold and Horatio Gates, A Clash for Control.” And the title says it all.

  [96] It would seem that after two hundred plus years calling someone a “Benedict Arnold” wouldn’t be such a mighty insult, but it is. Arnold now has the recognition he craved, but recognition of the wrong kind.

  [97] The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777, and were used throughout the Revolutionary War. They were used after the war (1782) until the adoption of the Constitution in 1789.