The Golden Ages Greece Rome And China

The Golden Ages: Greece, Rome, And China Essay, Research Paper

The Golden Ages : Greece, Rome, and China

The Golden Ages of Greece, Rome, and China were periods when certain cultures reached many achievements in certain fields. These fields could include drama, poetry, sculpture, philosophy, architecture, math or science. Their achievements in education, technology, and government have greatly influenced modern society. The artistic and literal legacies of these periods continue to instruct and inspire people today (Beck 120).

In Ancient Greece, the great heights that were reached in education, technology, and government led them to their Golden Age. Included in the vast education of Greece were philosophy and literature. Socrates was one of the most famous philosophers of that time. He was a very powerful thinker and developed a question and answer method of teaching known as the “Socratic Method” (Watson 63). Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and neglecting the city’s gods. For this he was put on trial and the jury sentenced him to death. He chose to die slowly by drinking the poison hemlock. Another noted philosopher was Plato. He had studied with Socrates. Plato opened a school known as “The Academy”, which lasted for about 900 years (Watson 63). One of Plato’s students was the famous Aristotle, who followed in Plato’s footsteps and opened a school of his own, called “The Lyceum” (Watson 63). In the field of literature, Homer was known for composing his epic adventures. These were the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey”(Clapham 53). His epics were narrative poems that celebrated heroic deeds (Clapham 53). Greece’s technological advances consist of architecture and sculpture. One of the most important pieces of architecture was the Parthenon. The Parthenon was built to honor the goddess of war, Athena. It is located on the acropolis, and shows classical Greek ideals of balance and proportion in art (Watson 63). Its 46 support columns and decorative relief panels add character and add to its beauty (Watson 63). The Theater at Delphi is built into the natural setting of its surroundings. It held public theater performances during the fifth century B.C. along with hundreds of other theaters built in central Greece (Watson 63). In the art of sculpting, sculptors aimed to create figures that were strong, graceful, and perfectly formed and their faces showed only serenity (Beck 121). Their values of order, balance, and proportion became the standard of what is called classical art (Beck 121). One example of classical art is the statue of the goddess Athena, by Phidias, which stood 38 feet tall (Watson 63). Greece’s strong government was made up of a direct democracy. In a direct democracy, citizens rule directly without any representatives (Clapham 59). There were three branches of government : legislative, executive, and judicial (Falls 161). The legislative passed laws, the executive carried out the laws, and the judicial held trials (Falls 161). Only males, ages 18 or older were allowed to be citizens (Clapham 59). Administrators were not appointed by election or nomination, but by lot (Clapham 59). Male citizens met several times a month in a general assembly where each citizen had a vote (Clapham 59). Any man could propose a motion and if it received a majority of votes, it normally became a law (Clapham 59). Only another assembly or the Athenian courts could overrule it (Clapham 60). Its members changed every year by rotation and no one could serve more then two years (Clapham 60).

As in Greece, Ancient Rome reached great heights in the fields of education, technology, and government that led them to their Golden Age. Astronomy, along with mathematics and physics made up the bulk of Rome’s much noted educational contributions. Aristarchus was an educated astronomer who disproved the belief that the sun was smaller then Greece (Watson 67). He proposed that the planets revolved around the sun (Watson 67). Another highly regarded astronomer was Eratosthenes. He used geometry to calculate the circumference of the earth at 24,4662 miles (Beck 133). His estimate was within one percent of our calculation at 24,860 miles (Beck 133). Not only was he an astronomer, but also a poet, historian, and a mathematician. In the fields of mathematics and physics, Euclid and Archimedes made many accomplishments. Euclid was a highly regarded mathematician who opened a geometry school in Alexandria. He is best known for his textbook, “The Elements” (Watson 68) . It contains 465 geometry propositions and proofs (Watson 68). It was used by Muslim and European universities into the 1900’s (Watson 69). Archimedes was a scientist who studied at Alexandria (Clapham 68). He accurately estimated the value of pi, which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter (Watson 73). Rome’s technological advances included many inventions and types of architecture. Archimedes explained the law of the lever and invented the compound pulley to lift heavy objects (Clapham 82). He also invented Archimedes screw, a device that raises water from the ground, and a catapult or missile throwing machine (Clapham 82). Other scientists invented the force pump, pneumatic machines, and a steam engine from Archimedes’ ideas (Watson 89). Ancient Rome used many different types of architecture in building. Arches, domes and concrete were used to help make many buildings during this