Grace Donalson

December 17, 2012

Research Paper

Well you've been brought here against your will, just like I have. If you ask me, we're all in the
same boat. And it's leaking. - John Boyne, Boy in the Striped Pajamas

All civilizations deal with conflicts between the people and the government. As
disagreements spreads, conflict arises transforming their way of life.

Three civilizations thats conflicts affected them greatly were the Greek, Mayan, and
Roman civilizations. Each of these civilizations started off powerful, but as time went on part of
their lifestyle would change and cause conflict. These conflicts would eventually lead to the fall
of a civilization.

Before Greeces conflicts their government was one of the most successful the world
has ever seen. In 508 B.C. within a city-state in Greece, a man named Cleisthenes created the
first ever democratic government. This city-state was named Athens. Athens new form of
government had never been done before. Everyone had a voice and as a city they selected their
leaders, and choose which laws they should to live by.

As democracy was enforced the Greek Empire began to flourish. They expanded in both
size and population. In just 250 years their population increased by approximately 350,000
people. Although all of the Greek Empire tried to copy Athens, none of the other states had the
same level of success.

Unfortunately for Greece, conflicts were very common. Although their government was
very successful, arguments between city-states seemed to be never ending. Especially between
Athens and Sparta. These two in particular had no trust in each other and only wanted the
opposing cities defeat.

Athens and Sparta had cooperated during the Persian War, a series of conflicts fought
between Greek states and the Persian Empire from 500-449 B.C.. But relations between the
states in mainland Greece deteriorated in the decades following the Greek victories of 479 B.C.
In 431 B.C. a new disagreements arose. When negotiation to settle these disagreements
collapsed, the result was the devastating war of twenty-seven years that modern historians call
the Peloponnesian War.

During the Peloponnesian wars two major conflicts took place. The first one was the
Archidamian War. This war lasted 10 years around in Athens. During this war in 430 BC an
outbreak of a plague hit Athens. The plague ravaged the densely packed city, and in the long run,
was a significant cause of its final defeat.

The second war took place during the Sicilian Expedition. During this the Corinthians,
the Spartans, and others in the Peloponnesian League sent reinforcements to Syracuse, in the
hopes of driving off the Athenians. But instead of withdrawing, the Athenians sent another
hundred ships and another 5,000 troops to Sicily. The Syracusans and their allies then were able
to decisively defeat the Athenians on land. Syracusans was then encouraged to build a navy,
which later was able to defeat the Athenian fleet as they attempted to withdraw.

The Peloponnesian war lasted from 431 to 404 B.C.. In result of the war, Athens lost its empire
and consequently, its source of revenue, which had supported its dominant navy. Sparta and its
allies achieved temporary land dominance, which later was overthrown by Thebes and its allies.
This left a three-way standoff in dominance in mainland Greece. The postwar division and
ongoing struggles between Athens, Sparta and Thebes enabled Persia to intervene in Hellenic
political arrangements - coming back from its conclusive defeats of the 5th century to being able
to dictate the King's Peace to the weakened and internally opposed Greek cities and leagues.

This weakened situation left mainland Greece open to the expansion of Phillip II of
Macedonia, who established himself as Hegemon (a leader, not a ruler) of Greece. It was then
that he determined to eliminate the Persian dominance. After his assassination, his son Alexander
was able to impose his own hegemony on the Greek states and, using the combined resources of
Greece, proceeded with his father's planned destruction of the Persian Empire.

Greece started off with the best government weve ever seen, but even that didnt last
forever. As time went by conflicts arose and Greeces government weakened. This led to many
changes but after each of these transitions a new peace arose and harmony was once again
restored.

Mayas conflicts were very different from Greeces. The cause to their fall wasnt
between city states, but within their own community. Although the conflicts were different the
way they got there was similar. Mayas resources became scarce and empires were at blame
which eventually resulted in their fall.

Maya is one of the most astounding civilizations in history. They had what was arguably
the most advanced civilization in the Americas. They made dramatic breakthroughs in
astronomy, that helped them very accurately predict where the moon and other planets would be
in the sky centuries in the future. They also left behind many books and stone inscriptions that
recorded the stories of their gods and the history of their divine kings and queens. These
historical records were written in a language made of hieroglyphs they invented.

The ancient Maya civilization was an empire the size of Texas. Its cities and fields occupied
what is now southern Mexico and northern Central America, including the countries of
Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. The height of the Maya empire, known as the
Classic period, stretched from approximately 250 A.D. to at least 900. During this time, at least 5
million and perhaps as many as 25 million people lived there. The empires population density,
or people per square mile, was greater than that of medieval Europe. Then, for unknown reasons,
the Ancient Mayan civilization collapsed.

Theyre many ideas for the fall of the Mayan civilizations. This list includes warfare,
over population and environmental damage, climate change, political vulnerabilities, but drought
in the Mayan civilizations caused many more conflicts to arise.

Living in a desert the Maya mainly depended on collected water, as the region has a
paucity of rivers and lakes. Such water was stored in natural caves, or centos, as well as in
manmade reservoirs known as chultunob. During the rise of the Mayan civilization population
increased sigifignatly which was unfortunate for them in the long run. Supporting a population of
millions with such a limited source of water would be challenging in any circumstance, but in a
condition of lengthy drought it becomes unthinkable.

"It has long been suspected that weather events can cause a lot of political unrest and subject
societies to disease and invasion, Martha Macri, UC Davis

As the consequences of drought accumulated and the healing rains failed to appear. People
started to die off because of dehydration and starvation from lack of crops. Seeing the problem
before them the Maya priests would have resorted to more numerous and spectacular sacrifices
to appease the gods. Together this killed tons of people. In the end when the great cities of the
classic Maya were near starvation, and it was clear that the priests' power had lost its efficacy.
The Mayans took matters into their own hands.

Maya started off as one of the most advanced civilization in the Americas, but when
resources became scarce many conflicts arose. These lead to changes in the government and
disagreements between the people. Over a period of time all of these factors took place in the fall
of the Mayan civilization.

Romes fall was very different from Greece and Mayas. Lots of things to part to their
fall, but was mainly the fault of their empires. However even though they were different the way
they fell was again similar to the others. As conflicts arose between the people and their empires
the country began to fall, similar to both Greece and Maya.

Rome use to be one of the greatest, powerfullest empires in ancient history. But that all
changed when one ruler took the throne. On October 13, 54 A.D Claudius, the current Roman
emperor died and the throne was passed down to his 14 year old nephew, Nero.

At first Nero seemed quite decent. Nero disliked having to sign death sentences against
criminals, so instead he gave them clemency. Then he banned capital punishment. While
attending gladiator contests, he turned his head rather than watch the blow to the head that
assured that a fallen man was dead. For a while he also banned contests that involved bloodshed,
and in their place he organized poetry competitions, but this peace period didnt last long.

The first five years of Neros reign are thought to be a special period when Nero, under
the guidance of Burrus and Seneca, ruled well. In his first five years of rule, while under the
influence of Seneca, he gave slaves the right to file complaints against their masters. He
pardoned people who had written unflattering descriptions of him. He left the charge of treason
unused. He gave assistance to cities that had suffered from disasters. And, he won the hearts of
many of his subjects by lowering taxes.

In the year 64, while Nero was at his villa at Antium thirty-five miles away, a great fire
broke out in Rome. Fanned by winds, the fire raged for five days. Then it flared up again and
burned for four more days. It burned wooden tenement houses, and the homes of the wealthy,
including Nero's palace.

Some rumors speculated that Nero himself had set the fire, others said that he had ordered
it. Nero rebuilt Rome in a new style more to his liking, some believed he used the fire as an
excuse for new construction. But perhaps the most interesting rumor that emerged from the great
fire was that Nero had played his fiddle while Rome burned. In the face of such charges, Nero
searched for a scapegoat for the fire. He chose the Christians and persecuted them ruthlessly,
torturing and executing them in hideous ways. Despite this public spectacle, Nero still found
himself blamed for the fire.

Countering the rumor that Nero had set the fire in order to clear space for his new palace,
an official investigation concluded that the fire had been started by Jewish fanatics. Nero learned
the difference between Christians as Jews and other Jews, and he put blame for the fire on the
Christians. As punishment, Nero sent some Christians to their death in the Arena. But, according
to the historian Tacitus, many Romans remained suspicious of Nero and they pitied the
Christians, believing that instead of being sacrificed for the welfare of the state, the Christians
were being sacrificed as Nero's scapegoats.

In conformity with the notion that power corrupts, Nero was not inclined to bear
frustrations with the same patience that was required of common people. He let his emotions get
the best of him and flew into rages, killing his pregnant wife, Sabina Poppaea. In places outside
of Rome, Nero remained popular, but not in Rome. There, many thought he was unfit to be
emperor, and in Rome a conspiracy was hatched against him that included numerous Romans
with prestige. Nero learned of the conspiracy, led by Piso. Executions followed and some people
were ordered to commit suicide, including Nero's old advisor, Seneca.

Nero might have thought that he could successfully counter opposition with his
retaliations, but in fact, like Caligula his power depended upon what others thought of him and
he was losing the support of too many people. Most significantly -- in a society where people
could not vote someone out of office -- he was losing the support of those who commanded
armies. The fact that he was failing to pay his soldiers properly didnt help. Military commanders
outside Rome were aware of Nero's unpopularity in Rome. Soon after his return from his tour of
Greece, Nero ordered the execution of Rome's commander in Spain, Servius Galba. With
nothing to lose, Galba openly declared himself a subject of the Senate and the Roman people
rather than of Nero. Troops in Gaul had also withdrawn their support from Nero, and in a trip
there Nero failed to win back their loyalty. Nero found himself abandoned except for a few
servants, and perhaps realizing that this meant death for him.

Sensing Nero's lack of power, the Senate roused itself and declared Nero a public enemy
and ordered his execution. The Praetorians had been lavishly bribed to support Galba. Soldiers
closed in on Nero at his villa four miles south of Rome. Nero blamed everybody for his demise
but himself. With the help of a servant he killed himself.

The Roman Empire use to be unstoppable. But as time went on, and rulers changed the
empire started to fall. Conflicts became very common and empires cracked under pressure.
When the people started to notice this they took matters into their own hands to overthrow the
Empires and created a better civilization.

Each of these civilizations were powerful at one point and fallen the next. A conflict
would arise and would increase severely as time went on. Each of these conflicts were different
yet had the same effect in the end. The fall and regrowth of a civilization.

Each of these civilizations started off powerful. But, as time went on a conflict would
arise transforming their way of life back to a period of harmony. Greece, Maya, and Rome are
just three examples of this cycle. All civilizations deal with a conflict between the people and the
government, which ends up changing their lifestyle forever.

Websites I used for Claim 1
"How Long Did the Spartan Persian War Last?" WikiAnswers. Answers, September 21, 2007.
Web. December 3, 2012.
<http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_long_did_the_Spartan_Persian_war_last>.

Martin, Thomas R. "The Peloponnesian War." The Peloponnesian War. An Overview of
Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander, n.d. Web. December 3, 2012.
<http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/notes/peloponnesianwar.html>.

"Peloponnesian War." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, November 14, 2012. Web. December
3, 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War>.

Hanson, Victor D. "Peloponnesian War." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 1996. Web.
December 3, 2012. <http://www.history.com/topics/peloponnesian-war>.

"Peloponnesian War." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, 1998. Web. December 3, 2012.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/17709/wars/peloponn.htm>.

"What Was the Impact of the Peloponnesian War?" WikiAnswers. Answers, November 7, 2007.
Web. December 3, 2012.
<http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_impact_of_the_Peloponnesian_war>.

Websites I used for Claim 2
"The Rise and Fall of the Maya Empire." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web.
December 4, 2012. <http://www.history.com/topics/maya>.

"Ancient Mayan Government." Ancient Mayan Government. IncaMayanAztec.com, n.d. Web.
December 5, 2012. <http://www.incamayanaztec.com/ancient-mayan-government.html>.

Callahan, Kevin L. "Mesoamerican Governments." Mesoamerican Governments. N.p., 1997.
Web. December 5, 2012. <http://www.angelfire.com/ca/humanorigins/government.html>.

Websites I used for Claim #3
Bartlett, Bruce. "How Excessive Government Killed Ancient Rome." How Excessive
Government Killed Ancient Rome. The Cato Journal, October 1994. Web. December 5, 2012.
<http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cjv14n2-7.html>.

"Emperor Nero." Emperor Nero. Illustrated History of the Roman Empire, n.d. Web. December
5, 2012. <http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/nero-index.html>.

"Nero." PBS. The Roman Empire In The First Century, 2006. Web. December 5, 2012.
<http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/nero.html>.

"Ancient Rome :: Roman History and Government." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, 1999.
Web. December 6, 2012. <http://library.thinkquest.org/26602/government.htm>.