The development of complex societies in the European region emerged from the Mesopotamian revolution, which culminated from a rich agricultural development and settlement (p. 35). Mesopotamia was a Greek word meaning the land between two rivers, and as such, the location of such land was characterized by fertile silt soils that sparked the need for settlement as the land was ripe for agricultural production. It must be noted that agriculture during the period culminated from the need for food security that encompassed the domestications of animals and the planting of crops that were meant for food and survival of communities. It is important to note that with the need for settlement, the early settlers of the Mesopotamian community did so out of spite from the troubled life of hunting and gathering, which pushed them into moving from location to the other in search of food and animals depending on the season. The kind of lifestyle did not call for the accumulation of wealth, although leadership was deemed fit from adults who seemed intelligent, healthy, fertile, and skillful. On the contrary, early settlers who decided to settle in Mesopotamia had to come up with some specialized system to ensure stability in the economy. It is from this need that complex societies emerged and spread to India, China, Persia, Greece and Rome. From this, clearly defined social classes emerged as a small contingent of the people amassed wealth and power in their hands. Resources were allocated to the people who forwarded the traditions of the society, and such people created complex systems of society that evolved into the different forms of evolution that developed in the region. The spread of civilization came out of the need from emulating orderly and powerful societies as well as the need for powerful societies to spread their influence to weaker societies. This era formed the foundation through which classical societies were built.
India’s establishment came from the need of Aryans to establish different small kingdoms to spread their influence in the region. These kingdoms were established and constantly conflicted with one another as one would want to have superiority over the other. However, the establishment of each kingdom was based on the foundation of religion, but still existed a political, social and economic system that was established to ensure the continuity of such a society (p. 176-180). Under certain conditions of political stability, societies in India, like the Gupta Dynasty, sustained the lives of scholars to endeavor their quests for science and mathematics, which were some of the ways through which a sophisticated, complex society was created. The northwestern communities of the Indian region were more inclined into manufacturing that supported the agricultural community of the region. They were involved in the making of pots, textiles, iron tools and other metal utensils that were important to agricultural production. Therefore, it was common for stable societies to promote trade. During the Mauryan era, trade merchants did not only rely on land routes but also considered the Indian Ocean to fulfill their trading needs in different regions. Religion was a big practice in India; it saw the development of Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. The establishment of political systems, therefore, took on the nature of religion, which became the basis for choosing political leaders as well as local leaders in societies (p. 183-186). Hinduism and Buddhism greatly addressed the need for increasing lay classes in society while the two religions fondly influenced the religious life of the Asian people. This is inclusive of both the Persian and the Chinese communities.
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The emergence of classical Greek society is predominantly credited to the emergence of early societies like the Minoan, Mycenean, which grew and fell during the classical Greek era. A falling of the political system led to the establishment of the World of Polis which were local institutions that took power when a centralized system failed or faded after which saw the emergence of the Spartan and the Athenian societies (p. 196-201). The phenomenon implies that there existed a centralized system of governance. Greece too, propagated its influence to other colonies, including settlements as far as the Black Sea. However, in their quest to spread influence, the Greeks encountered harsh resistance from the Persian authorities leading to the Persian Wars. The exercise of Greek power led to the development and establishment of different empires, including the Hellenistic empires that practiced the centralized system of governance (p. 202). Classical Greek societies were involved in agriculture, particularly in little grain and more of olive and grapes cultivation that enhanced their trade in olive oil and wine. Greek merchants were able to trade in the Mediterranean region and come back with abundant supplies of grain and other items (p. 207). As other classical societies, the Greek developed a serious patriarchal society which took the family system seriously where the male members of the family ruled the family as the household’s head (p. 209). However, the classical Greek society had swayed its religious ways from worshipping Gods to a more advanced system of philosophy that relied on knowledge and philosophy that formed the basis of governance and making of key decisions. The notion resulted in Hellenistic philosophy and religion.
Rome was originally a small city ruled by a single King whose aristocrats deposed and transformed the kingdom into a republic that saw the Roman republic survive and rule the Mediterranean for more than 500 years (p. 218). After the deposition of the Kings, aristocrats were faced with numerous conflicts, also limiting their influence to the outside world in the Mediterranean. The aristocrats centralized their governance in central Italy and from them would exert their influence on other regions in the Mediterranean. With governance highly based on knowledge and philosophy, families with power ruled for the centralized system of government. Cities benefited from the wealth generated from trade and the lands they conquered (p. 226). Their system of the family was also patriarchal, like other classical societies. To gain power in society was to have wealth, and this was only demonstrated through ways of creating wealth, which was a much more civilized way of society. Therefore, the more wealth a person accumulated the more power they accumulated in the roman society.
Looking at all the classical societies, it can, therefore, be concluded that all had political, economic and social/religious backing in the development of their societies. Greater influence of the societies was based on religious systems that determined the backbone of political systems except for the Greeks and Romans whose political systems were based on material wealth and intellectuality in the lines of science and philosophy. Religion was determined to the proximity of Christianity, which is believed to have begun in Italy, Rome. However, they were deposed to the religion an opted for philosophy and knowledge. Regions like Persia, India and China were far from the European region; therefore, Christianity or Aristocratism did not make it to their regions. The early settlement patterns were therefore affected by the proximity to required resources before evolving into societies that were more prosperous and advancing their influence. While other societies just developed others morphed into empires out of the need to propagate their influence to other regions and show their might through a large military presence that enables it to propagate its power. Societies that didn’t evolve into empires were more democratic about their influence and saw no need for using force in advancing their endeavors.
