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The Hellenistic, Ancient Roman and Indus River Valley Civilizations

In World history, the early civilizations occupy an enviable place. They are the periods that provided definitive foundations for the growth of modern civilization as we know it today. A number of civilizations begun, developed and ultimately fell following a series of political and economic reasons. These early civilizations were marked by unique political, social and diplomatic characteristics which were often the bloodline for their existence. This paper considers three such civilizations—The Ancient Roman Civilization, the Hellenistic civilization and the Indus River valley civilization. It assesses how these civilizations were similar and different on the basis of their political, economic and cultural organizations. Furthermore, it looks at these civilizations in light of their diplomatic and military accomplishments, besides discussing aspects of their art that sustained life and living, all before 1500AD.

The Social and Cultural Dimension

The Hellenistic civilization was marked by a number of unique cultural and social developments. The architecture was markedly different from that in the classical age in that while the latter had indulged in building religious buildings, the Hellenistic world supported the rise of secular buildings. These included the building of theatres like the Megalopolis and Ephesus theatres which could hold upto 20,000 people (Schwaiger, 2017). Even the performance in these theatres changed. The emergence of New Comedy for example eliminated the chorus, an essential component of classical drama. The modifications of the performance stage which became high shallow stages which were removable for revivals. The sculptures of this period were high quality and became notable for their variety, with Pargamum becoming the great sculpture centre for the Hellenistic period (Schwaiger, 2017). In Literature, there emerged New Comedy which changed the themes from fantasy to real life experiences.

The Roman civilization became famous for its extension of the Greek art and culture, following its conquest of Greek cities. The sculptures for instance were mostly for the leading Romans and were marked by simplicity, dignity and above all, reality. The architecture too had rings of the Greek to it, but some unique aspects came in the form of the Colosseum, theatre of Pompey and the arched constructions of the aqueducts. The literature was written in Latin, and an important feature of this writing was that it was produced by busy politicians like Cicero, Caesar and Seneca (Storey & Storey, 2017). Those in public life also tended to be the greatest writers of this civilization. A major philosophical school of thought in this civilization was Stoicism which taught calm and dignity for individuals.

The Indus river valley civilization excelled in the production of sculptures, seals, pottery, jewellery, figures in terracotta, all commonly called Soapstone. Famous among these was the “Priest king” and “Dancing Girl”. The latter lends credence to the thought of a choreographed dance in this period. The terracotta also included animal images like cows, dogs, monkeys and bears. The writing system consisted of the Indus script, a system of symbols and plant-like markings (Singh, 2019). As many as 600 symbols have been discovered.

The Hellenistic and Roman civilizations had overarching influences and differences in terms of the cultural bearing. While the Hellenistic theatres were often fitted into a hillside, the Roman theatres were built standing free. For the Romans, the orchestra was often expanded to accommodate the wild gladiator and wild animal fights. Similarly, the Stoicism school of thought was an important Hellenistic aspect that became very popular in Roman civilization.

Political and Economic Structure

In places where Hellenization was strong, there often emerged a strong system of city states and the gathering of smaller communities in a new polis (synoecism).The Hellenistic period saw the rise of great cities that were instrumental to the political running of the civilization. Greatest among these was Alexandria-by-Egypt. It provided the template upon which political organization, the divisions in society and administration of the city people was based in the Hellenistic world. Other cities included Antioch, Pargamum and Ephesus. The country was divided into regions, with smaller divisions of districts and villages (Strechie, 2018, June). There was an existence of a military government besides a complex financial department that was responsible for the collection of taxes and rents. All the land was claimed by the king who then leased it out to smaller peasants. There was a closed monetary system, checked by gold and the exportation of linen, papyrus, grain and even glass.

The Roman civilization was transformed from a single city state to a large empire. There were elected consuls, magistrates, the senate and popular assemblies that determined whether Rome could go to war or not. The emperor eventually assumed command of most functions. This civilization followed the Greek example in establishing the 12 tables of laws that controlled both private and public life. These laws made it a guarantee that all citizens would be accorded a fair trial in civil and criminal cases. The prescribed punishment for less serious crimes was flogging, while executions were allowed for more serious ones. A chief principle of this civilization was that all citizens were equal before the law. There was an existence of long-distance maritime trade and like the Hellenistic time, export crops were grown including grain that fed the empire. A banking system developed to fund this trade, chiefly used to finance grain fleets, mining operations and other major businesses.

The Indus River Valley civilization economy chiefly depended on trade. It was not as diversified as the Hellenistic or Roman civilizations. The trade was focused on importation of minerals mainly from Afghanistan and Iran, jade from China and copper from other regions in India. Existing evidence suggests that an extensive maritime network between the Harappan and Mesopotamian civilizations existed, with Harappan jewellery discovered in regions that consisted of the Mesopotamian Empire (Singh, 2019). A number of theories exist about the civilization’s governance. First is the suggestion that a single state that involved all communities of the civilization existed following the artefacts and planned settlements next to raw material sources. The second theory suggests that there may have been no single ruler at all, but that a number of them existed to represent the urban centres like Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. A final theory suggests that the civilization had no rulers at all unlike the Roman or Hellenistic civilizations, but that everyone enjoyed equal status. In this regard at least, it may have been similar to the edict of equality in the Roman civilization.

Diplomatic and Military Dimension

The Hellenistic civilization was marked by great military and diplomatic overtures. Existing in the time of Philip and Alexander the Great, some of the most consequential military conquests in the history of the world existed in this period. The troops were organized into battalions of well trained and equipped soldiers, employing creative military strategy to conquer their rivals at the time. Alexander the Great in particular was an expert in siege craft (Strechie, 2018, June). He made use of timbered galleries, catapults and stone throwers scaling ladders, saps and mines to improve his military strategy. There were large battleships but with smaller number of boats in the fleets. The rulers of the Hellenistic period were great conquerors who made use of military conquest. The fall of this civilization is attributed to the conquest of the Greek heartlands by the Romans after the Achaean War. At its peak, this civilization covered 60 million people.

Perhaps the greatest in the warfare art remain those in the Roman civilization. For the most part, the art of warfare in this civilization was one based on legions. It was a body of a specific number of soldiers (4000-6000) depending on the period (Storey & Storey, 2017). These infantrymen were divided into centuries (units of a 100 men). It is this highly efficient organization that gave the units extreme flexibility even in their sheer numbers that gave them a big advantage over their opposition. For this reason then, and combined with the discipline and efficiency of these units, this group remained formidable for centuries. At the height of its power and influence, the Roman civilization stretched from Britain right in the Northwest to Egypt in the Southeast.

The Indus River Valley may have not been so expansive as either the Hellenistic or Roman civilizations. Its malleable political organization meant that t did not keep any noticeable standing army for conquest or defence. In this way then, the fall of this civilization is attributed to one of either climate change or the attack by people of Aryan descent, or a combination of both (Singh, 2019). The seasonal change of the monsoons ensured that the atmospheric circulation and rain patterns changed effectively breaking down their economy. The Indo-Aryan migration theory posits that the Indus River valley civilization and Harappan culture were assimilated following the migration of the Aryan people into North-western India.

In conclusion, the onset, growth and subsequent fall of the civilizations described above depended on the political, military and economic circumstances of the times. Marked by major military conquests of their time, the Hellenistic and Roman civilizations grew and fell on the backdrop of brute force and developing democracy. The divisions that existed in society back then provided systems through which governance was made easy. The Indus River Valley civilization on the other hand, having interacted with the Mesopotamian civilization, developed novel symbols for communication and art in the copper age that helped sustain it for many years. All these civilizations ultimately gave way to a raft of contributions that have persisted to the modern day.

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