Rome: the Roman Empire

Slides:

#9-Rome and the Roman Empire

Lecture:

  • October 7th at 10:30 a.m.
  • Optional background reading for lecture: World History, Chapter 6, pages 217-259.

Chang’an: the Han Empire

Slides:

#10-Changan and the Han Empire

Lecture:

  • October 9th at 10:30 am
  • Optional background reading for lecture: World History, Chapter 4, pages 124-139.

Assignments

  • Don’t forget to post your response to our weekly discussion question on the Forum on Moodle! You have until Sunday October 13th at midnight to get it done. 

Tutorials this week

Tutorial this week will focus on “Ancient Indian Empire” and “Buddhism and Urban Centres.” 

Readings (all readings are in Sources for the Frameworks of World History):

  • 4.4 “The Four Noble Truth”
  • 5.3 “The Rock and Pillar Edict” by Ashoka
  • 6.2 “The Law of Manu”
  • 7.1 “The Lotus Sutra”

Questions to think about:

  • How do each of these documents reflect the ideal society of those who created them?
  • Both “The Rock and Pillar Edicts” and “The Law of Manu” discuss the idea of dharma but from different perspectives. Ashoka in “The Rock and Pillar Edicts” is coming at this idea broadly and speaking to both Hindus and Buddhists in his empire. “The Laws of Manu” describe the dharma for a specific group in society: women. How are their ideas of dharma different in each document? Do you see similarities? What can we learn about the role of dharma in Indian society from these two texts?