Imperial Conquest and Trade

During the early years when the African and Asian Continent were still joined and was referred as Afro-Eurasia, it is observed that there was constant conflicts and turmoil allover the already existing empires. These established empires did not escape the wrath of the turmoil which was being propelled by both political and social violence. Whichever the case, I really think that this occurrence came in two fold: in favor of the growth that was so much needed and in some cases as a big threat to the developments that were still underway. According to the literature provided in class, it’s evident that during this axial age the society developed more in terms of politics and philosophy. It was also during this era that old empires were destroyed while new ones came into existence. Great thinkers emerged with different ideologies that served in assisting rulers of the time with the know-how of leading people. The benefit of the imperial conquest included the emergence of the new empires which had equipped themselves with new ideas relating to political structures, social relations and the cultural outlooks. This new generation of empires used previous ideologies that had already been created by those old generation empires and improved on them to come up with not only unique structures but also strong and reliable ones. For instance, despite the fact that Zhou dynasty came down and never to be rebuild again there were positive aspects that came with it in that there was great deal of improvement in agriculture, engineering and thought.

It was also during these particular times that the so called “Hundred Masters” developed new channels for which political prowess was established and maintained. These ideologies were later replicated by neighboring states and were considered to be working even better than the old traditional ways of running the same States.  Some of the philosophers that emerged during this time were Confucius who argued that an individual’s intelligence and ethics that human beings had during work were considered to be more important than the social status of any man. Daoism argued that individual members of the society were expected to detach themselves from any ritual, government and any efforts made to restore order in the society instead he directed that these members of the society were to stand aloof and do nothing. He believed that the world had its way of keeping up with nature and therefore there was no need for human beings to impede with it in any way. The legalism philosophy on the other hand portrayed human beings as terrible people who needed to be guided using a firm system of laws that could indeed be used in putting people in place.

In the Mediterranean region an extensive period of violence and instability brought with it advancements in technology and culture. These advancements are continued to be of use even today as modern experts rely on the traditional models in coming up with new political and social structures.

It was during this time that both Athens and Sparta engaged in constant wars which were competitive in nature. These two states also engaged each other in trade which acted as a total boost for technology today. They both possessed vast knowledge in shipbuilding and sailing which they in turn used in covering up the geographical distances that existed between them. It’s also believed that these two empires came up with the idea of a free and fair market system which used money as its medium of exchange. The Mediterranean region grew in terms of technology and intellectual prowess so that a common culture that was completely supported by the already emerging urbanization and the right to own private property was developed and maintained. The only disadvantage that came with this free and fair trade was the selling and buying of human beings who were considered as mere objects which could be bought and sold to whoever had enough money to do so.  These slaves were expected to serve either the empire or the persons who paid for them.

 All in all, the trade and the Imperial wars brought with them advancements which were later used to improve technology and leadership as a form of art. The imposition of ideologies like that of Confucius embraced hard work and intellectual capacity of individuals which were used in judging a person rather than the traditional model that categorized members of the society by the success of their parents or their respective social status in the society.