Ancient Worlds

Title: Ancient Worlds – An Epic History of East and West

Author: Michael Scott

Publisher: Hutchinson London, 2016 (First)

ISBN: 9781786330567

Pages: 411

Modern man can travel a distance roughly 400 times more than that travelled by a person in the ancient world. This nullification of distance in terms of modes of travel and the ease of communication were brought about by great progress in science and technology witnessed in the last 300 years. The world is now tightly interconnected. Cataclysmic weather events that are supposedly plausible in one part of the globe by the mere flutter of a butterfly in another part of the world is of course a gross exaggeration, but it can’t be denied that man-made events in one region can affect the outcome in another. Used as we are to the instant nature of real-time communication, it might be hard for us to think about an era in which there were no long-distance telephony, mobile phones or the Internet. Yet, even in these primitive circumstances, human spirit and endeavour crossed deserts, scaled mountains and forded rivers to establish trade and cultural contacts with his fellow beings in other societies. The ouster of a rebel, or the invasion by a nomad tribe, or the civil war in a kingdom often gave rise to a chain reaction by migration, war or missionary work so as to alter the course of history in another kingdom. There are many books available which deals with the connected nature of the modern world, but very few that focuses on inter-civilization interactions in the ancient. This book is an excellent one on that thesis, covering the history of the world from early-sixth century BCE to late-fourth century CE. It examines three new developments that came about – birth of democracy, consolidation of empires and development of universal religions. Michael Scott is a quite young professor of classics and ancient history at the University of Warwick and has authored many books on the classical period. He is best known to the public as the presenter of ancient history programs on the BBC.

The first part of the book focuses on man’s relationship to man, as negotiated through politics. Development of democracy in Athens was such a groundbreaking event that the Athenian principles continue to be employed as a mark of enlightened rule in the modern world. Cleisthenes set the basic principles in 508 BCE against tyrannical monarchs in Athens. What he christened the new system was eunomia (good order) against dysnomia (bad order) of the old ways. Though it was also called isonomia (equal order), the name demokratia stuck after the Persian invasions in 480s BCE. Scott takes great care to differentiate between the Greek system and Rome’s republic established in 509 BCE by the expulsion of King Turquinius Superbus. The new system of voting came to be known as res publica romana (the public thing of the Roman people). It was an absolute democracy in Athens where the people were organized as individuals and arbitrary tribes. Romans gravitated towards other interest groups such as patricians, plebeians, aristocrats in an unelected Senate and military leaders. The Roman republic provided for emergency powers to be concentrated in one person designated as a dictator. When the city’s survival was in jeopardy, this single head was deemed to be essential to pursue particular ends, after which he would step down. This difference made the Roman system beset with sectarian interests, but made possible an elaborate circle of mutual checks and balances that kept all levels of society believe that they had more to gain from the system than from wreaking it. It is an eye-opener to the modern world that the more autocratic Roman system had a greater lifespan than the total democracy of Athens.

Scott then moves on to examine the relationships forged between ancient communities through warfare. This was also the age in which mega states emerged across the known world in the form of Rome and the Han Empire in China. The book presents an absorbing story of the fight between Rome and Carthage for supremacy in the Mediterranean. The actions and consultations between Hannibal and the Roman general Scipio Africanus is absorbing. Interesting episodes from Polybius and Livy are given here. However, the author’s coverage of India and China looks more like an attempt to ensure a token representation to these two in a work of this nature than a genuine effort to identify the common thread that links these two cultures with their Roman, Greek and Seleucid counterparts. The accuracy of facts related to India is especially doubtful. Ashoka is said to be so transformed by his conversion to Buddhism that he is said to have donated away all his wealth which spelt doom for his empire. Recent research on that great Indian king portrays him as a much more pragmatic monarch than the naïve king Scott makes him out to be. Ashoka didn’t shun violence altogether, as can be expected from a king of those times. He didn’t turn vegetarian overnight, but merely reduced the number of birds and beasts killed for food in the royal kitchen. The narrative on Han dynasty is likewise sketchy and is just an outline. However the author neatly summarizes the geo-political upset at the western borders of the Han which propelled the Xiongnu tribe further west. This made a domino effect. The Xiongnu uprooted the Yueshi who in turn drove the Sakas before them. This exodus helped open trade routes between the East and West that later came to be called the Silk Road. The first event ever to be recorded in the histories of both East and the West is the invasion and occupation of Bactria around 140 CE by the nomadic Yueshi tribe. Strabo and Justin recorded this incident in Roman chronicles and Sima Qian in China wrote about this upon hearing about it from the Han ambassador Zhang Qian deputed to Bactria.

Development of major religions as a response to the political climate in fourth century CE constitutes the third issue the book analyses. This was a crucial period for the religions – Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism – in their theological development, growth, acceptance and integration within human societies. Development of faiths, while somewhat destabilizing for society, offered an opportunity to harness that religious belief towards the security and expansion of imperial power. Constantine is the most notable sovereign of this era. Whereas the Romans persecuted Christians generally, Constantine’s strife-torn rise to power and his need for controlling a vast empire constituting much diversity in geography and society, compelled him to assume a gentler approach to it. Pagan worship supported the idea of multiple rulers like multiple gods, while Christianity provided strong support for Constantine’s vision of a single unified community under a single ruler, like its single god. Even though he is often counted as the thirteenth apostle, Constantine adopted a very pragmatic policy towards different faiths. The agreement he signed with Licinius, the ruler of the eastern empire, in 313 CE permitted toleration of all religions. He continued worship of the Sun-god and banned all business on Sundays so that the day could be dedicated to Sun-worship. It may also be recalled that he accepted baptism only in his deathbed. Meanwhile Hinduism re-emerged from its Vedic past in the Gupta period and Buddhism thrived in China in the interregnum after the fall of Han dynasty. Thus ends the third part that studies the relationship of man and gods as played out through adoption, adaption and innovation in religious belief.

The book is very informative as it stresses on the theme of connectedness of the ancient world through the lens of three crucial moments and three themes. Karl Jespers coined the term Axial Age which runs from the eighth to third centuries BCE in which a profound change in thought came amount in all the major regions of high culture in the world. Though there was no communication between them, civilizations in the Axial Age developed ideas and institutions that continue to be widely prevalent. Scott develops on this idea and extrapolates his argument till the fourth century CE. The chance-like nature of human civilizations seen through the narrative is unmistakable. The author warns that the inevitable survival of any aspect of our society should not be taken for granted, but instead we must fight actively for what we wish to remain part of our world. Greece, Rome, India and China are the major centres of culture visited in the book, but Armenia also find a conspicuous place by elaboration of the growth of Christianity there. While India is included, its peculiar innovation of republics of North India in the pre-Mauryan period doesn’t find mention. The book is the most readable when it describes events in Rome.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star