#classical era

The Bronze Age (from the late 3000s BC to the 1100s BC) and the early Iron Age (from around the 1000s to 600s BC) lasted some 2500 years: about as long as the entire rest of history from Ancient Greece until now. While the Bronze and Iron Ages were not characterized by these metals in all areas (for example, the Americas), they remain useful time periods conceptually: even in many areas without bronze, the Bronze Age was when early states and in some cases writing emerged. The “classical age” of around the 500s BC to the AD 500s is different in many ways from what came before, and I’ve set a break point here for that reason.

The Bronze Age lasted nearly two thousand years: almost as long as the time from the rise of the Roman Empire until now. States from the early Bronze Age, like Akkad, were remembered in the late Bronze and early Iron Ages similarly to how Greece and Rome were remembered in the 19th and 20th centuries AD. When Han Dynasty historians in the 100s BC wrote histories of ‘ancient China’, they meant the Xia, Shang, and Zhou. These were the states and empires that were ancient to the ancients. Classing everything before around AD 500 as "ancient history” can obscure just how long a period that was. 

The main states of the Bronze Age and early Iron Ages are summarized in the table below. It’s not intended to be comprehensive, or exact in its dates, just to help keep track of some of the main players we’ve discussed, especially in regions where the major states differed between eras. 

So, how was the “classical age” of ancient history different from the Bronze and Iron Ages?

First, as mentioned in previous posts, the 500s to 300s BC brought the transformative change in religion and philosophy called the Axial Age, centred in China, India, and Greece. (Judaism and Christianity were part of the same transformation, but the former was earlier and the latter later than the core Axial period.) This time period was also characterized by new forms of thought about many other subjects, with the origins of academic disciplines like political theory, history, and the natural sciences. People questioned things that had previously been taken for granted; opposing schools of thought debated with each other; writers developed overarching theories and methods. 

A second change, which played a major role in stimulating the Axial Age, was the expansion of literacy and writing. In Western Asia, Mediterranean Europe, and China, the volume of written material went from mainly (though not solely) government documents in the bronze and early iron ages to a huge expanse of texts in the classical age: histories, biographies, philosophy, drama, poetry, science, and much else. In India, writing reappeared for the first time since the fall of Harappa and grew rapidly in volume. The first writing in Mesoamerica originated in 600s BC, right before the start of this period. Written documents in and about Southeast Asia date from early centuries AD. This is when our historical knowledge of many areas (especially in Eurasia) goes from “archaeology supplemented by texts” to “texts supplemented by archaeology".

A third change was economic. While inter-regional trade existed even in the early Bronze Age (for example, from Harappa to Mesopotamia), both domestic and international commerce really kicked up a notch in the 'classical' era, especially with the pivotal invention of coinage in the 600s BC. The Persian Empire, originating in the 500s BC, facilitated trade across a vast area, from the borders of India to the borders of Europe. By Roman times there was significant maritime and overland trade between the Roman Empire, India, and Han China. In the early centuries AD international commerce played a role in the rise of new states in eastern Africa and Southeast Asia.

Fourth, there was a massive political change: this was an age of empires, ushered in by Iron Age Assyria. It was the age of Persia, Alexander of Macedon, Rome, the Qin and Han empires, the Mauryan and Gupta empires, in Mesoamerica the empire of Teotihuacán and in South America the Moche. The power of states, both intensively in terms of control over their populations and extensively in terms of geographical scale, reached new heights. 

There were also some political shifts specific to particular regions. During the Bronze Age, Mesopotamia and Egypt had been the political centres of gravity in Western Asia, while Europe and Iran were on the periphery. The classical age, in contrast, was marked by conflicts between successive powers based in Persia and those based in Greece or Rome, often competing for control of the territories in between. In Mesoamerica, the period from the 1200s to 600s BC was dominated by the Olmecs of Mexico’s Gulf Coast; from the classical period onward, the gulf coast was eclipsed by new powers in the central Basin of Mexico (Teotihuacán), the Zapotec area of Oaxaca (Monte Albán), and the Mayan regions to the south.

So, that’s a brief overview of where we’ve been and where we’re going!

POLLY WALKER AS ATIA OF THE JULII

Johann Christian Bach

Artist: Thomas Gainsborough (English, 1727 (baptized) - 1788)

Date: c. 1766

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom

Sitter

To Everyone: Have you seen KPop demon hunters

[Green Hill Zone, Coastal region-]

Sonic: ... Well. Why not ask the little guy himself? We're just... hanging out for a bit, while he calms down from apparently getting dumped into our world. Again. Well, again for me, pretty sure it's his first time; don't think little me's ever shown up this young, before.

*Classic Sonic shoves the rest of his chili dog in his mouth and begins rapid-fire signing. His older counterpart watches his hands intently, before translating.*

Sonic: Yeah, I dunno if they can see us clear enough for that, so, lemme tell 'em, alright?

*Classic nods and smiles as he picks up another chili dog. Sonic makes sure to push another close to the hungry hoglet.*

Sonic: Little me says pretty much the same as I remember. Worldwide chili dog shortage, ending in a ban on all chili dog and chili-dog-esque products, obviously! And no, not yet, it's on the watch list for our whole group, though.

*Classic laughs at that tries to sign again, messily holding the half-chili dog in his mouth. Sensing impending catastrophe, Sonic props the end not in the hoglet's mouth with his gloved hand, snorting at the sheepish grin he gets for his trouble.*

Sonic: Don't talk with your hands full, kiddo. Eat first, you're starving- trust me, I remember.