25 Sep Eurasian Classical Empires and Early River-Valley Civilizations

 Analyze the relative merits and drawbacks to living in the Eurasian Classical Empires and Early

River-Valley Civilizations. Your essay should include the following empires: Persian, Greek (Spartan and

Athenian), Hellenistic (Alexander the Great), Rome, India, China, Mesopotamian, Egyptian. Finally, in

which classical Eurasian empire would you prefer to live? Why do you think women’s lives in the ancient

world were typically subservient to men? What were the traditional roles that all women had in these

societies? Did these roles change sometimes for women of the upper classes? How were they different for

women of the lower classes? What reasons might exist to help understand the differences from one society

to another? Use evidence (add to your insights on women’s position in cultures we had examined) from

your textbook including the documents and visual sources to support your points (evidence for changing

gender roles: shift from matrilineal societies, gender-based craft specialization, religious functions, etc.).

For example, documents in “Thinking through Sources”-Chapter 5 refer to “Patriarchy and Women’s

Voices”.