CLASSICS 1M03 Lecture 1: Classics 1M03 - Class Notes (Jan 10, Bronze Age)
31 Jan 2018
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Greeks first civilization in the west called this area mesopotamia. Civilization: usually understood to be a complex society characterized by the practice of agriculture and settlement in cities. Stable, settled occupation & predictable food supply leads to economic surplus: Increases, economic surplus = creation of political economy ; specialization. Socio-economic inequality becomes constant aspect of human experience (division between producers vs. consumers, rich vs. poor, etc) Ne model: monarch as divine figurehead oversees extraction (taxation) of surplus and reallocation to economic specialists, soldiers, builders. Mo(cid:374)u(cid:373)e(cid:374)tal te(cid:373)ples ser(cid:448)e as a fo(cid:272)al poi(cid:374)t, a(cid:374)d a pala(cid:272)e that housed the (cid:272)ity(cid:859)s ki(cid:374)g & staff. Highly bureaucratized economy of collection and redistribution. In middle east there were many throughout bronze age. On one hand, typical mediterranean region (cool, wet winters, dry, hot summers) Shortage of natural resources are arable land (75% of mainland greece is mountainous, make different climates in the greece, few useful mineral reserves)
