Late Antiquity, here defined as the period between the accession of Diocletian in 284 CE and the end of the Roman rule in the Mediterranean, is one of the most exciting periods of ancient history. Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 6th century AD centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome known as the Greco-Roman world.

Ancient Rome was made up of a structure called a social hierarchy, or division of people into differently-ranked groups depending on their jobs and family. The emperor was at the top of this structure, followed by the wealthy landowners, the common people, and the slaves (who were the lowest class). There are three main groups of the Roman republic. They are patricians, plebeians, and slaves. The patricians are the highest and wealthiest of the social classes.

Workers in the Roman Empire were the slaves, they were controlled and forced to work in the fields, mines, construction sites, household etc.. There were also Bond slaves in the society, they were kept in chains and branded so that they could not escape. Rome treated its conquered lands with justice. Conquered people had to acknowledge Roman leadership, pay taxes, and supply soldiers. Rome let them keep their own customs, money, and local government. A few conquered people even got full citizenship.

Ancient Rome was an agrarian and slave based economy whose main concern was feeding the vast number of citizens and legionaries who populated the Mediterranean region. Agriculture and trade dominated Roman economic fortunes, only supplemented by small scale industrial production. As such, Rome's economy remained focused on farming and trade. Agricultural free trade changed the Italian landscape, and by the 1st century BC, vast grape and olive estates had supplanted the yeoman farmers, who were unable to match the imported grain price.

Freeborn women in ancient Rome were citizens (cives), but could not vote or hold political office. Because of their limited public role, women are named less frequently than men by Roman historians. ... The one major public role reserved solely for women was in the sphere of religion: the priestly office of the Vestals. The exact role and status of women in the Roman world, and indeed in most ancient societies, has often been obscured by the biases of both ancient male writers and 19-20th century CE male scholars, a situation only relatively recently redressed by modern scholarship which has sought to more objectively assess women's status, rights, duties, representation in the arts, and daily lives; and all this from almost exclusively male source material dealing with a male-dominated Roman world.

The ancient Romans were great architects and builders. As they expanded their empire, they constructed many beautiful buildings and roads. ... They invented the technology for concrete, aqueducts, arches and roads. Ancient Rome was the capital of the Roman empire. At its peak, some of the advantages were: Homes were not subject to wars or invasion and provinces were free to prosper, produce and thrive, which most Roman provinces did. Very good roads and the Mediterranean Sea connected the Roman Empire, enhancing trade, commerce, learning, communication and governance.

By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists’ motivations for seeking independence. By declaring themselves an independent nation, the American colonists were able to confirm an official alliance with the Government of France and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain.

Mesopotamian Writing:

• The first Mesopotamian tablets, written around 3200 BCE, contained picture-like signs and numbers.
• Writing began when society needed to keep records of transactions – because in city life transactions occurred at different times, and involved many people and a variety of goods
• Mesopotamians wrote on tablets of clay.

• This city was founded by Mesapnanda about 2670 BCE. It was a well-known commercial centre and a port was destroyed by Elemites around 2200 BCE.
• Ur was re-established under Ur-Nammu in 2100 BCE.
• It was first excavated by British excavator J.E. Taylor in 1854-55.
• This city was designed without planning as the excavation depicted.
• Excavation was carried out on a large scale during 1920’s and 1930’s, under the supervision of Sir Leonard Woollsey.

August 1856, workmen who were quarrying for limestone in the Neander valley a gorge near the German city of Dusseldorf, found a skull and some skeletal fragments.

Adrian is a painter from the south-western French city of Renne. After serving the lords for a long period, Adrian finally found a new job in the cathedral being constructed at Angers. He started his journey early morning for Angers. He seemed to be really happy, as he hoped that this work would help him end his life of exploitation by the lords.

Adrian was spellbound to see the enormous structure of the cathedral being built and the huge number of labourers working. Mr. Elodie, the head craftsman, explained the job to Adrian. He basically had to paint the church windows. In the evening, after a day’s hard work, Adrian received a gold coin as his wage.

Adrian is also a member of a guild. Every day, after his work is over, Adrian attends the guild’s meetings. Here, problems faced by the people of his profession are discussed. Adrian also gets the exposure of the job scenario in the town.

• The first steam locomotive, Stephenson’s Rocket, appeared in 1814.
• Richard Trevithick devised an engine – the ‘Puffing Devil’ in 1801 and a locomotive – ‘The Blutcher’ in 1814.
• The First railway line ran between Stockton and Darlington..
• The ‘little railway mania’ prevailed from 1833 to 1837 and the bigger ‘mania’ from 1844 to 1847.

Q u e s t i o n : Write the names of some new machineries and technologies.
A n s w e r:
Flying shuttle loom, spinning jenny, water frame, steam engine, etc.

‘Sharia’ is a body of Islamic sacred laws derived from the ‘Quran’, and the ‘Hadith’.

A n s w e r:

Hominoids were the subgroup of primates.
They came into existence about 24 mya.
Characteris t i c s

They had smaller brain.
They were unable to walk erect.

Among the strongest of the Sumerian city states were Ur and Uruk. Ur was situates near the Persian gulf and profited from maritime trade with civilizations to the east. Uruk had more than 50,00 inhabitants

A city in the Roman Empire was better equipped to deal with food shortage. The city life was good; in terms of public facilities. Public baths were numerous in cities. People were also spoilt for choice because of facilities of entertainment. Hence, I would have preferred to live in a town rather than in the countryside of the Roman Empire.

The city of Babylon had played an outstanding role in the ancient history of Mesopotamia. It was Akkad ruler, Sargon, who ruled from 2370 to 2315 BCE. Being situated on the north-west bank of river Tigris it made tremendous progress under Humurabiera. Babylon witnessed the emergence of glorious era of its history under Keldian ruler Nabopolassor. At that time, it covered an area of more than 850 hectares. Some magnificent features of Babylon were as follows:

• A triple wall was constructed all-around the city to safeguard it from any foreign threat.
• A massivq Ziggurat was the main center of attraction in Babylon.
• It was also a famous commercial center.
• The city had also made a tremendous progress in the field of language, literature, science, medicine, etc.