Chapters 3-6

Whoa! That was a lot of reading!! I found myself getting a bit confused with the way the author would jump back and forth between the differences and similarities of the different civilizations. I kept having to go back and re-read things to get a better understanding of the content. 

Highlights:

• Populations started to grow
• Women were still not equal to men
• The Persian empire was very impressive
• The Greeks and Persians went to war with each other...Greeks won
• Alexander the great came along 
• Greek culture started to spread
• Rome became an empire
• China- went from a state to an empire
• Great wall of china was erected
• Legalism: clearly spelled out set of rules and laws
• Confucianism: key to social harmony was patriarchal, gender roles were clearly defined
• Daoism: harmony with nature, simple living. Yin and Yang
• Hinduism: Vedas, rebirth/reincarnation based on Karma
• Buddhism: enlightenment is the goal. Neither gender or caste was a barrier to becoming enlightened
• India and their caste system- Brahmins, kshatriya, vaisya, sudras, and untouchables.
• Slavery varied from civilization to civilization 
• China: only about 1% of population, mainly convicted criminals
• India: criminals and prisoners, could inherit and own property
• Roman: large part of Roman population, prisoners captured during war, could also be children
• Interesting how human population was distributed around the world
• Also interested how so many things played a role in this, animals, geography...
• Mayan civilization is very interesting but also very gruesome
• 
  

I enjoyed the last part of the chapter where the author focuses on the women in each civilization and their differences and similarities in their roles in their society.