SSWH3: Examine the political, philosophical, & cultural interaction of classical Mediterranean

societies from 700 BCE to 400 CE/AD

B. Identify the ideas and impact of important individuals, include: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Augustus Caesar.

Socrates

Ideas: •  Argued there were no absolute standards for truth and justice

and encouraged his students to question their assumptions, values, and opinions

•  Developed a teaching method in which he would ask students a series of leading questions now called the Socratic Method

Impact: •  Challenged his students to think for themselves rather than

accept traditional understandings of the world •  Athenian authorities sentenced him to death in 399 BCE for

corrupting the youth of Athens

•  Athenian philosopher and teacher who lived from 470-399 BCE

Plato

Ideas: •  Continued and expanded many of Socrates’ teachings by

continuing to promote rational thinking •  Best exemplified by his cave allegory in his work The

Republic, 370 BCE where in a passage he compares the traditions and superstitions that most people rely upon to understand the world as as shadows of real truth •  Plato’s The Republic was the dominant philosophical work for

1,500 years Impact: •  Created the school, “the Academy” •  Wrote The Republic, which encouraged rational thinking

•  Athenian philosopher and teacher who lived from 427-347 BCE

•  Was one of Socrates’ students •  Responsible for recording many of Socrates’

teachings

Aristotle

Ideas: •  Created own school called “the Lyceum” after Plato’s death •  Work to collect and categorize all of knowledge from a wide

variety of disciplines; politics, philosophy, ethics, poetry, physics, astronomy, meteorology, zoology, psychology

Impact: •  Develop the foundation for the modern study of many of these

disciplines

•  Athenian philosopher and teacher who lived from 384 - 322 BCE

•  Was one of Plato’s students at “the Academy”

Alexander the Great

Ideas: •  Affected by Aristotle’s ideas of rational thinking •  Measured ruler and conqueror •  Religiously and cultural tolerant of conquered people’s traditions

Impact: •  Took control of Middle East, Egypt, and cross into the Indus River in

Northern India •  Alexander will leave a series of cities inhabited through a Hellenistic

culture (mixture of Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian cultures) •  Generals will divide empire however a lasting legacy of Hellenistic

culture will exist in scholarship, arts, and literature

•  Pupil of Aristotle when he was Prince of Macedonia, b. 356 BCE, d. 323 BCE

•  Philip, father and King, conquered and unified all of Greece in 338 BCE

•  336 BCE becomes King of Macedonia •  Invade the Persian Empire in 480 BCE •  326 BCE Alex. Will defeat Persian Empire •  323 BCE dies at age of 32 years old

Julius Caesar

Ideas: •  Conquered all of Gaul (Modern France) for the Romans using military genius •  J. Caesar’s success worried the other members of the triumvirate and the Senate

•  Julius Caesar’s soliders were deeply loyal to him and he was enormously popular with people of Roman heartland

•  Roman Senate ordered him to disband his armies and return to Rome instead he marched on Rome

•  44 BCE he crossed the Rubicon River, taking Rome under his authority •  Julius Caesar defeats political rivals, Pompey, and pressures the Roman

Senate to name him dictator for life Impact: •  Many Historians mark this as the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of

the Roman Empire •  Conquered Gaul for Roman Republic/ Empire

•  b. 100 BCE, d. 44 BCE •  Took advantage of political and economic instability after the

Punic Wars with Carthage to undermined the government of the Roman Republic to accumulate power for himself as dictator

•  In 60 BCE he unified with two other powerful and ambitious Romans; establishing the first Triumvirate that ruled for 10 years

Augustus Caesar

Ideas: •  27 BCE Octavian accepted the title Augustus, the

“exalted” one and become Rome’s first Emperor, ruling as Augustus Caesar until his death in 14 CE

Impact: •  Augustus Caesar’s ascension is marked by many

Historians as the beginning of the “Pax Romana” •  Pax Romana that lasts for 207 years, initiated by

Augustus Caesar, is considered the high point in Roman political, cultural, and economic dominance

•  Began life as Octavian, b. 63 BCE, d. 14 CE •  Adopted son or grand-nephew of Julius Caesar •  Seized power with two other supporters after Julius Caesar’s assassination and

death •  The Second Triumvirate ruled Rome for 10 years until it fell apart due to his

political ambition and jealousy of other members of Triumvirate •  Octavian managed to force 1 member of Triumvirate into retirement and

defeated the other in civil war (Mark Antony/ Cleopatra) leaving complete control in his hands as “Emperor”