What’s the Significance?
Big Picture Questions
What is the difference between class and caste?
Why was slavery so much more prominent in Greco-Roman civilization than in India or China?
What philosophical, religious, or cultural ideas served to legitimate the class and gender inequalities of second-wave civilizations?
What changes in the patterns of social life in second-wave civilizations can you identify? What accounts for these changes?
Looking Back: Cultural and social patterns of civilizations seem to endure longer than the political framework of states and empires. What evidence from Chapters 3, 4, and 5 might support this statement? How might you account for this phenomenon? Is there evidence that could support a contrary position?
Next Steps: For Further Study
Jeannine Auboyer, Daily Life in Ancient India (2002). A social history of ancient India, with a focus on caste, ritual, religion, and art.
Sue Blundell, Women in Ancient Greece (1999). A well-written academic study, with occasional humorous stories and anecdotes.
Keith Bradley, Slavery and Society at Rome (1994). A scholarly but very readable account of slavery in the Roman Empire.
Michael Lowe, Everyday Life in Early Imperial China (1968). A vivid description of social life during the Han dynasty.
Merry Weisner-Hanks, Gender in History (2001). A thoughtful overview by a leading scholar in both women’s history and world history.
“Women in World History,” http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/index.html. Documents, reviews, and lesson plans for learning and teaching about women’s history in a global context.