The decline of classical civilizations Term Paper

The decline of classical civilizations - Term Paper Example This reflects the emphasis of people on stability and the accumulation of material wealth using sophisticated technologies and through widespread trading links. The Persians were located in a mid-point between the technologically advanced Greco-Roman world and the exotic trading world of the Chinese. The Chinese civilization not only gave start to the paper currency but also started making use of silk products, which were much required to trade goods all across the major axial age civilizations. It means that China was well placed to soak up the ideas which passed back and forth with the traders of that time. The Roman civilization was altogether focussed towards war. Their military personnel were extremely sure that they could make use of a wide network of populated lands in order to develop their main cities. In India, the caste system was deeply integrated in the culture, which emerged as a way to determine levels of the people. The law books in the Indian civilization focused mor e on a strictly hierarchical division of the people, which provided the basis for the Hindu way of life that still prevails not only in India but also in some other parts of the subcontinent up to some extent. What Caused Fall of Classical Civilization Some of the major reasons, which caused decline to the classical civilizations, include new forms of governments, expanded borders, mediocre successors, economic and social imbalance, disintegration of large empires, and division between the people based on race. Let us now discuss the factors in detail, which led to the decline of four major classical civilizations of the world. Decline of Rome The most complex of all civilizations’ declines was the decline of the Roman Civilization. â€Å"The primary reason for the fall of the Roman Empire was the differences between the communal and patriarchal forces† (Martin). Some other factors behind decline of the Roman civilization were the differences between upper and lower cl asses of the people and expansion of borders. As Roman Empire started to expand, it required more troops and weapons to cope with the situation. Giving salaries to all troops and buying more weapons was impossible without cooperation of the local people. Therefore, the government of that time imposed various taxes on the lower class of Rome in order to collect money. The government did not impose the taxes on the upper class of Rome. Upper class used to live luxurious lifestyle whereas lower class started to struggle in order to fulfill their necessities of life. Upper class not only enjoyed their lifestyle but also they did not pay any attention to their social and political responsibilities. People, other than upper class, started to view life as a meaningless and hollow thing. Complexities in their lives deviated away their attention from the arts and culture. It is a fact that when a country or a civilization states neglecting the importance of its culture and traditions, it can not move with the pace of the world for a long time and eventually faces collapse or fall down. It also happened with the Roman civilization where people started to ignore their culture, arts, social and political norms resulting in the decline of whole civilization. These reasons resulted in