The Ancient Period in Europe
The ancient world is the time of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. We know a lot about these cultures because they left behind written evidence and buildings made of stone. During the early history epoch lived peoples such as the Celts who we know less about. However, we know that the Celts were experts at metalwork and that the Romans learnt a lot from them. The Romans also learnt a lot from the Greeks, for example they learnt from their building culture. The European ancient world was shaped by Imperial Rome and Roman culture. When the Empire collapsed this culture was lost. Circa 400 A.D., Christianity became predominant. Knowledge of pagan culture held little value to most people. The transition from the ancient world to the middle ages has no set point. Classical building culture survived relatively long.
The antiquity period is the time of the Greeks, Romans, Celts and the Germanic peoples. What ist mostly meant are the civilisations in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. These cultures left behind written evidence and stone buildings. It was an era of science, poetry, architecture and technical progress. The antiquity period decisively shaped Europe:
- Towns: villas, markets, theaters, ports and water pipes allowed for a better quality of life.
- Streets: a big network of streets linked towns and villages. News and merchants’ goods could be transported quickly. People, and above all, soldiers could travel far.
- Technical inventions: the building of streets and bridges, houses with underfloor heating, baths with warm water are all proof of how developed engineering was.
- Law: there were laws that applied to (almost) everyone and which defined what one was allowed to do and what was forbidden.
- Democracy: the citizens decided matters by voting. Every citizen had rights and responsibilities.
Caesar was a famous roman emperor and commander. The title „Emperor“ dates back to him. Around the year 54 B.C., Caesar conquered Gaul. He chronicled this in the book „De Bello Gallico“ (About the Gaullish War). The comic “Asterix and Obelix” recalls the battles between the Gauls and the Romans.
Ancient Greece
2000 to 200 B.C.
The centre of Ancient Greece was the Aegan Sea with many small islands. In the north, the Hellespont - today known as Dardanelle - bridges the link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It is the frontier between Europe and Asia. This is the area where Schliemann found the well-known town of Troy. The archaeological findings show that this area was settled in for thousands of years because of its strategic benefits. With the end of Troy, described by Homer, the Bronze Age ended and the Iron Age began.
In the east, the Persian Empire was the neighbour region (for more information see www.ancientgreece.com).A first settlement was found on Crete, the origin of the people living there was from the east. They were not a part of Ancient Greek culture. The most famous places of Ancient Greece are Athens and Sparta. Around 500 B.C. Athens introduced new political rules. "Instead of having a king, the men of Athens made decisions by voting". "Democracy means government by the people. Democracy is an important European invention that has spread around the world." Some other inventions from Ancient Greece are:
- Mythology: stories about gods and heroes, about wars, adventures and beautiful women;
- Architecture and arts: elegant temples, marble statues, beautiful pottery and theatres;
- Sports: The Olympic games
- Writers: Homer who wrote Iliad and the Odyssey
- Philosophy: teachers like Socrates and Plato, who taught the people to think different - more logically;
- Mathematics: Euclid or Pythagoras, who worked out the patterns and rules regarding maths;
- Scientists: Aristotle (who studied plants and animals) and Eratosthenes (who proved that the Earth is a sphere and worked out how big it is)
source: Let's explore Europe
The Roman Empire
500 B.C. to 500 A.D.
B.C. stands for "before Christ"
A.D. stands for "Anno Domini" (Medieval Latin for "in the year of the Lord", means after Christ was born
"The Roman Empire was one of the greatest civilizations in history. Rome controlled over two million square miles stretching from the Rhine River to Egypt and from Britain to Asia Minor" (www.softschools.com). Here are some of the inventions the Romans gave us:
- Cities: a new kind of settlement with different offerings like markets, temples, bath houses, theatres and administration;
- Roads: a system of broad and narrow roads connecting all parts of the empire for different purposes like military roads, commercial roads and country roads;
- Architecture: huge villas with heating, courtyards and mosaic tiled floors and even houses for tenants;
- Construction designs: strong bridges and aqueducts (for carrying water long distances) and round-topped arches which made the buildings more solid;
- Construction materials: new materials like cement and concrete;
- Defending techniques: legionaries and new weapons such as catapults;
- Writers: Cicero or Virgil;
- Legal Systems: The Roman system of law which many European countries still use today.
source: Let's explore Europe
Ancient Mythologies: Facts and Fiction of European culture and literature
The Illiad and Odyssey
In Homer's first book "The Illiad", Paris felt in love with Helena. However Helena was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. She was so very beautiful that Paris stole her and brought her to his kingdom, Troy. This forced Menelaus to react. He gathered his army and many friends to bring his wife back home. In his group was Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and Odysseus, the master of Ithaca and Achilles the leader of the Myrmidons and several more. They crossed the Aegean Sea and laid siege to Troy for ten years. Many heroes lost their lives, but neither party was the winner. Homer's second book, the "Odyssey", reported of the long adventurous journey of Odysseus and his men on their way back home. In this book, the story of the Trojan Horse is told. Odysseus' idea was to build a huge horse for the Trojans as a gift. The horse was so huge that many Greek fighters could hide inside. The Trojans believed that the Greeks had surrendered and had returned to their homeland. They took the horse as a gift and celebrated with a big festival. However because of their cleverness, the Greek fighters were able to surprise the Trojans in their own city and destroyed Troy.
Facts and Fiction
For centuries the myth of the Iliad and the Odyssey or the Trojan War and the city of Troy were suspected to be little more than myth. However, in the late nineteenth century, the German adventurer Heinrich Schliemann took the stories to be true and followed a lead. He started an expedition to Turkey and found the great city of Troy.
"Homer is writing a memory of the end of the world," said Diane Thompson, author of The Trojan War: Literature and Legend from the Bronze Age to the Present. "Nostalgia fuels his writing, and it has fuelled it ever since." For her, the Illiad is a brilliant story of love and war.
With the myth of The Illiad, the history of European literature had begun. It is the most important myth in European history. For centuries, nearly all important „ruler groups“ traced their ancestry back to Troy. Their aim was to legitimize and to emphasize their own importance within a long and important tradition.
The Roman poet Virgil (100 B.C.) rewrote Homer's story and proclaimed that the Trojans had founded the Roman Empire. Isidor of Seville also used this argument in 600 A.D. Later the Carolingians argued that Troy was the starting point for the foundation of Rome and Franconia. Another version says that some of the Trojans settled in Asia and then went to Europe. In Asia, some of this group became the (later) Turkish people under the king Torquotus. However: This common European heritage was no longer accepted by the time the Turkish people tried to conquer Europe - Muslim Turks were excluded from Christian Europe and from its history and culture.
Source:
Kintzinger, Martin (2005): Die Erben Karls des Großen. Frankreich und Deutschland im Mittelalter, Ostfildern (ISBN: 978-3799501507)
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/05/0514_040514_troy.html
The myth of Europe
Europe was a beautiful princess from Asia. Her father was Agenor, the Phoenician King of Tyre, and her mother was Queen Telephassa. One day she playing on the beach when a white bull came to her and offered her a ride. Europe climbed on his back because he was so pretty and gentle. The bull was Zeus who was in love with her. He decided to take her with him from Phoenicia across the sea to his birthplace, Crete.
Facts and Fiction
The myth of Europe is very old. The oldest source is the Iliad of Homer (ca. 800 B.C.). There are variations regarding the different parts of the myth and the details of how the bull approached Europe. For example, it was the Roman poet Ovid (43 B.C. - 18 A.D.) who added the story of the rape of Europe to the prehistoric myth. One version says that Europe had a dream in which two women were arguing. The name of one woman was Asia and her argument was that Europe belongs to Asia since she was born there.
In the prehistoric world, a goddess was worshiped as creator of the world. In Christianity, she lives on as Mary, the Mother of God. Many churches are dedicated to the Mother of God. For example, Charlemagne also dedicated the Aachen Cathedral to Mary.
One of the most important facts is that the oldest civilization of Europe was found on Crete. Archaeological findings show that the origin of the very first settlers were in Asia Minor and that they had no relationship to the classical Greek world.
Asia, Crete, Greek, Roman, Gods, Christianity - in the myth of Europe many cultural roots of Europe are connected.
Source:
http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/myth-of-europe/
http://www.hdfg.de/pdf/Europa-Handbuch-08_Kuhn.pdf/