States Empires
Common Practices
Ancient territories are known to have lived a more simple life than the current society. Most empires were founded upon traditional settings where there were no structured buildings and the communities inhabited new environments which had no inhabitants before. The state of governance was centralized on a one-party rule where the top leaders of the empires were highly respected, and no one would have questioned their judgment. In the Assyria, Han China, Persian, Greece, and ancient Egypt among other realms, armed worriers were obligated to protecting the leaders and the entire community especially women and children from harm and other external attacks. The early communities believed in God existence whereby a sacred scene was set for religious sacrifices and only the selected members of the population would perform the rituals. A good example is the Greek who believed in gods of Mount Olympus where they performed dancing, thrilling songs rituals in celebration of the god of wine (p. 171).
The people of early empires were either farmers or hunters and gatherers with the gender being the primary determiner of the role of each member of the community. The males were involved in masculine tasks such as hunting and killing huge animals while the female being obliged to gather food for the family and child care (p. 21). Males were ideally considered more superior to female which resulted in them having legal right to engage in leadership and own property (p. 73). The Greece, Han China, Persia, Rome and early farming communities adopted traditional tools such as sharp stones in their daily endeavors and established a sedentary method of farming which remarkably facilitated their achievements. As the population increased and climate condition changed the farming community begun to diversify in their way of living. The society such as the Egyptian which specialized in growing grains explored the hunting and painting activities to earn more.
Empires Differences
Despite having shared practices, the ancient empires also deferred in in their understanding and way of life. One if the distinguishing factor is the religious stand. The roman and Egyptian empires endorsed Christianity as their faith. They believed in Yahweh and the Ten Commandments (p. 167). The Chinese believe in The Buddha as a supernatural being and offered sacrifices as a form of praise. Similarly, the Persian belief was whenever an individual wish to pray “god” there had to be a sacrifice. Leadership and governance also differed among the ancient communities.Empires such as Han China had the king distributed leadership powers to other minor leaders based on merits with an aim to promote and emphasize on moderation.Han took the initiative after his state recognized the need more deliberation on any issue regarding the welfare of the locals.
Additionally, diverse states had a different notion of slavery. The Chinese, Persian and the Indians civilization enacted on slavery but in a conservative estimate. The Greeks believed on the fact that it’s awful to become a slave but found it right to own a slave with one of the Greek philosopher citing that, people are slaves by nature and it is all for their good (p. 205). The law of the Roman empire required the slave’s owner to provide all the slave’s necessities making their lives more fun than for the free individuals. Another clear distinction appears on the relationship between the religion and gender equality. In several notable occasions, women are identified to be often more active agents in their society. The Romans and Chinese empire recognize the women initiative pushing them to delegate some roles in the religious functions and the property management to women unlike in the sharp restriction on women in ancient Egypt and Greek communities (p. 209-212).