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An
Overview of the Ancient World Empires
The following chart is an overview of many of the
ancient
civilizations and
cultures that experienced a
golden
age. Golden ages are characterized by political
dominance, prosperity, stability, and achievements in areas
such as technology, the arts, architecture, science, and the
written word. The richness of the past and the
accomplishments of ancient people has a direct correlation to
the diversity of today.
Connections Between Civilizations
Cultural
diffusion took place between many of the great
civilizations. An example of this lies with the Greek
 historical figure of
Alexander the Great. This
Greek general conquered many lands outside of Greece,
including much of Persia and Egypt. After conquering a
land, Alexander introduced many
Hellenistic cultural
traits, while adopting some of the practices of that
particular area.
Another example of cultural diffusion
is the existence of the Silk Road. At the apexes
of their power and wealth, the Roman Empire and the Han
Dynasty had contact only through trade. Cheaply produced
Chinese goods rose in price until only the Roman elite could
afford them.
Also, in a number of instances, one
civilization simply took over where another ended. To
see an example of this, notice the West African kingdoms and
associated dates, all had contact with the Islamic world
through trade. Absolutely no contact at all, either
because of time or distance, does not mean there are inherent
similarities in the ancient civilizations. Much of the
early writing comes in the form of pictograms. Many of
the huge structures are religious or political in nature, often both because many rulers were considered god-like.
The history of the world would have become stagnant if not for
the dynamic achievements of these cultures. Imagine the
world today if these diverse peoples had never existed.
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