Chapter 5: Eurasian Social Hierarchies Documents

The documents at the end of chapter 5 discussed the oppression of women from the political and social atmospheres in the Classical era. Two documents has stood out the most to me, "History of Rome" and "How Sad It Is to Be a Woman."

In the "History of Rome" by Livy, he describes the situation during Hannibal's conquest on the Italian Peninsula in the Second Punic War. As resources were needed for the war effort, women were restricted from using luxury goods by Roman law. However, twenty years after the war, women demanded the repeal of the law. The law restricted women from wearing colorful dresses, using horse carriages in the city or a town within a mile unless for a religious festival, and owning more than an ounce of gold. Women were furious and started to protest for the repeal of the law, along with some of their husbands. The document is interesting because it discusses the perspective from Marcus Porcius Cato, a supporter of the Roman law. His main argument focuses on the "superior" man who should be dominant over women. He even goes further by explaining the concept that giving women an inch of breathing room to repeal the law would jeopardize men in the social and political life. After reading this article, I see elements of our modern social and political elements because women protested for their rights and were granted to them in a republic form of government. It is surprising that women were successful, especially in a word well before the 1920s movement for women's rights.

The document "How Sad It Is to Be a Woman" was written by Fu Xuan, a male poet in China who grew into wealth through his masterful literary talents. Before he was wealthy and successful, Xuan was impoverished and sympathized for women in a very harsh world. He describes the sadness for a girl when it is born because the family receives no honor. Xuan also uses the example of women bowing their heads like they are slaves or servants. However, he differentiates the servants and being a woman when saying "She must humble herself even to the servants." This quotation illustrates women being almost outcasts in the Chinese social life and could arguably described as "dirt". After reading this passage, the author did a wonderful job at exemplifying women in Chinese society and even in the Classical era as a whole. Women were poorly mistreated and deserved a better life than what Xuan had described in his passage. It is interesting to note that Xuan, a man, had gained prominence for his poems by describing the unacceptable social oppression of women in a male dominant culture.

Chapter 4

After reading chapter four, Zoroastrianism and Greek rationalism had left me with a major question that needed answering. How did society in the Classical Era become so advanced in its time of logical thinking, whereas today, our society has not much of any social advancement.

The Zoroastrian religion was very interesting to read in Strayer's book because it was wide spread throughout Persia, but did not have a major effect outside of the realm. The religion is very similar to Judaism, with the aspect of a savior (Messiah), a one true god (Ahura Mazda), and an emphasis on the apocalyptic event or judgement day where those who side with Ahura Mazda will be granted eternal life in paradise (heaven). Those who do not side with Ahura Mazda and side with evil will be condemned to live in everlasting punishment. After the Greeks conquered the Persian Empire, Zoroastrianism struggled through looting of churches, killing of priests, and sacred writing being burned. However, the biggest threat to Zoroastrianism was the spread of Islam and as a result, Zoroastrianism had the same outcome as Buddhism, where the religion exists outside of its origin. Judaism adopted many of the ideas of Zoroastrianism because there were many Jews living in the Persian Empire and at its height of power, the Persian Empire expanded from Anatolia to parts of modern day India. Even though strayer does not take a position on it, I believe that the Jews adopted some of the Zoroastrian beliefs because they went through a lot of suffering under the Greeks and Romans.

In Greece, philosophy was the cultural tradition in the democracy of Athens. Philosophers which included Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle had a significant impact on logos or reason. Their main topics focused on the philosophical questions of politics, society, and logic. Socrates is known as the father of philosophy and his work only survived through his students' notes. Plato was mentored by Socrates and wrote arguably the best known book, The Republic, which discusses Socrates' dialogue on the definition of what is justice. The most famous allegory, or metaphor in Plato's Republic is the Allegory of the Cave. The Allegory of the Cave focuses on a man escaping his bonds to the imitations of truth and climbs out of the cave. Upon reaching the sun or light, he is blinded. But as he gets used to the truth, he ascends back down to the cave to spread his reason or wisdom to the others, even if it leads to his death. This is the meaning of the "philosopher king," one who risks his life to teach those about the rule of the rational part of the soul (logic) over the appetitive (desires) and spiritive (emotions). The Greek culture lasted throughout the years due in part to the Roman Empire and the survival of writings from the philosophers.