Positive feedback is a process that occurs in a feedback loop in which the effects of a small disturbance on a system include an increase in the magnitude of the perturbation. ... Mathematically, positive feedback is defined as a positive loop gain around a closed loop of cause and effect.

Boundaries of Roman Empire

• The ancient Roman empire which was spread across the three continents namely – Europe, Asia and Africa.
• To the North, the boundaries of the empire were formed by two great rivers – the Rhine and the Danube.
• To the South, by the huge expanse of desert called the Sahara.
• To the East river Euphrates and to the West Atlantic Ocean.
• This vast stretch of territory was the Roman Empire. That is why Roman Empire is called an Empire across Three Continents.
• The Mediterranean Sea is called the heart of Rome’s empire.

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Meaopotamia is situated between Euphrates and Tigris

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The contributions: 

1. The Mesopotamians were the first people to introduce the use of the potter's wheel to the world.

2. They were the first to enter into written trade agreement.

3. They also introduced to the world the idea of a written Code of Law.

4. They were the first people to divide a day into 24 hours, an hour into 60 minutes and a minute into 60 seconds.

5. They were first to develop a script and established the libraries and reading rooms.

Large expansion of Roman territory was in a less advanced state. Transhumance was spread in the countryside of Numidia. These pastoral and semi-nomadic communities were often on the move, carrying their oven-shaped huts (called mapalia). As Roman estates expanded in North Africa, the pastures of those communities were hugely reduced and their movements more tightly regulated. Even in Spain the north was much less developed, and inhabited largely by a Celtic-speaking peasantry that lived in hilltop villages called castella.

In the conquered provinces, a new administrative structure was imposed. The administration was headed by governors and tribal chieftains. The central treasury got its revenue from taxes paid by Muslims as well as its share of the booty from raids. The soldiers (mostly Bedouins), lived in camp cities at the edge of the desert. This helped the soldiers to remain within reach of their natural habitat as well as the caliph’s command. The ruling class and soldiers received shares of booty and monthly payments. The non-Muslim population retained their rights to property and religious practices on payment of taxes (kharaj and jiziya). Jews and Christians were declared protected subjects of the state and given a large measure of autonomy in their communal affairs.

The ruling class of the early Islamic state comprised almost entirely the Quraysh of Mecca. The third caliph, Uthman (644-56); who too was a Quraysh, packed his administration with his own men. This intensified the conflict with other tribesmen. Opposition in Iraq and Egypt, along with opposition in Medina, led to the assassination of Uthman.

After Muhammad’s death, many tribes broke away from the Islamic state. Some even raised their own prophets to establish communities modeled on the umma. Abu Bakr, the first caliph, suppressed the revolts by a series of campaigns. Umar, the second caliph, shaped the umma’s policy of expansion of power. It was not possible to maintain the umma out of the modest income from trade and taxes. So, the caliph and his military commanders mustered their tribal strength to conquer the lands belonging to the Byzantine Empire in the west and the Sasanian Empire in the east.

On the eve of the Arab invasions, these two empires had declined in strength due to religious conflicts and revolts by the aristocracy. In three successful campaigns (637-42), the Arabs brought Syria, Iraq, Iran and Egypt under the control of Medina. The success of the Arabs was contributed by military strategy, religious fervor and the weakness of the opposition. The third caliph, Uthman, launched further campaigns and extended the control to Central Asia. Within a decade of the death of Muhammad, the Arab-Islamic state controlled the vast territory between the Nile and the Oxus.

Muslims believe that the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, was revealed to Muhammad by God, and that Muhammad was sent to restore Islam, which they believe to be the unaltered original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. Muslims believe that God is the only true reality and sole source of all creation. Everything including its creatures are just a derivative reality created out of love and mercy by God's command, "..."Be," and it is." and that the purpose of existence is to worship or to know God. Belief in the Oneness of God: Muslims believe that God is the creator of all things, and that God is all-powerful and all-knowing. God has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.

There was a social organization in place initiated by people of southern Mesopotamia to equip with foreign expeditions and direct the changes

Ur 1.Absence of town planning: Narrow winding streets because of which sacks of grains and firewood was carried on donkey's back instead of wheeled carts and irregular sizes of plot indicate absence of town planning. 2.Drainage: Clay and drain pipes were found in the inner coutyards of Ur houses instead of street drains in Mohenjodaro. 3.Rainwater harvesting: It is thought that the roof of Ur houses were sloped inwards and rainwater was channelled via drainpipes to sump in the inner courtyards. 4.Way to privacy: Light came in the houses of Ur through the door opening into courtyards install of window which gave families their privacy. 5.Superstitions: There are various superstitions about houses of Ur recorded in omen tablets such as -A raised thresehold would brought wealth. -A house's gate which don't open to another was lucky -If the main wooden door open outside instead of inside then the wife will be torement to husband. 6.Town sematary: There was a town sematry in Ur where graves of royalty and common people were found buried.Some people's body was also found buried under their houses only. Conclusion: Ur was a town which lacks town planning, lacked proper drainage system and people lived there with privacy and some superstitions.Addition to this there was a town sematry in Ur .

The discovery of the Sumerian city of Ur has shed light on the lives of the early Mesopotamians. The Mesopotamian cities fell short in terms of town planning as compared to the Harappan centres but followed a uniform pattern nevertheless. The city was divided into three parts - the sacred area, the walled city on a mound and the outer town. The sacred area consisted of the temple tower or the ziggurat dedicated to the patron god of the city. There were also smaller temples of other gods. This area also had the storehouse as well as the offices. People resided in the walled city and the outer town areas. Houses were constructed along the streets, and each house had a central courtyard with rooms attached around it.

The first Mesopotamian tablets, were written around 3200 BCE. These contained picture-like signs and numbers. A tablet was made of clay. A scribe would wet clay and pat it into a size which could be comfortably held in one hand. The sharp end of a reed (cut obliquely) was used as a writing tool. Wedge-shaped (cuneiform) signs were pressed on the smooth surface of the tablet; while the tablet was still moist. After that, the tablet was dried in the sun. Hundreds of tablets have recovered from Mesopotamian sites. Writing was used not only for keeping records, but also for making dictionaries, giving legal validity to land transfers, narrating the deeds of kings, and announcing the changes in the customary laws of the land.

The System of Writing: The sound; represented by a cuneiform sign was not a single consonant or vowel, but syllables. So, a Mesopotamian scribe had to learn hundreds of sounds. Writing was a skilled craft. It was an enormous intellectual achievement.

Literacy: Because of the complexities involved in writing, very few people could read and write

1.The script used by the people of Mesopotamia was cuneiform script.2.Signs in cuneiform script didn't represent single vowel or consonant but syllables. 3.Signs in mesopotamain scripts ran into hundreds and were complex to learn. 4.Writing in cuneiform script was a skilled craft moreover it was intellectual achievements-representing a system of sounds of a particular language in a visual form or sign.

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A number of seals have been excavated from Mesopotamia. These were made of stone and were cylindrical in shape. These seals were fitted with a stick and then rolled over wet clay so that a continuous picture got engraved over it. This work was done by skilled craftsmen. The name of the owner, his God, his official, ranks, etc. were also engraved on it. Seals were used by merchants to send their goods from one place to another. Goods were first packed and a seal was put at the head of the pack to ensure its authenticity. In case seals were found tampered with, it meant the back had been pilfered on the way otherwise it was safe and secure. Undoubtedly, we can say that the use of seals played a significant role in the growth of urbanization.

The emperor, the aristocracy and the army were the three main ‘players’ in the political history of the empire. The success of individual emperors depended on their control of the army, and when the armies were divided, the result usually was civil war. Except for one notorious year (69 CE), when four emperors mounted the throne in quick succession.

The emperor, the aristocracyand the army were the "three main players" in the political history of the empire. The success of individual emperors dependedon their control of the army, and when thearmies were divided, the result usually was civil war. Except for one notorious year , when four emperorsmounted the throne in quick succession, the first two centuries werefree from civil war.

The three main players of Roman Empire in political history are as follows,

1. The Emperor – He was the ruler of whole empire and was Emperor Augustus known to be the one who established the Empire over the republican government abolishment.

2. The Senate – the Aristocrats of Roman Empire were the members of the Senate.  

3. The Army – the powerful guardian of the realm were the Army who knobbed all the mutiny uprising against the empire in the bud.  

Division of labour is a mark of urban life.In such system some people gave commands which other follows.

Division of labor is essential to economic progress because it allows people to specialize in particular tasks. This specialization makes workers more efficient, which reduces the total cost of producing goods or providing a service.

Division of labour means that the main process of production is split up into many simple parts and each part is taken by different workers .Who are specialised in the production of that specific part.

Division of labour is immensely important in our economic system because it allows for work to be done much more quickly and efficiently than it would be with out the division of labour

Saint Augustine (354-430) was bishop of the North African city of Hippo from 396 and a towering figure in the intellectual history of the Church.
Bishops were the most important religious figures in a Christian community, and often very powerful.

The Mediterranean ports are in the middle of a vast network of trade lanes. And at the southeastern end of the Mediterranean Sea lies the 120-mile long Suez Canal. In 2018, the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, handled over 18,500 vessels accounting for over 963 million tons.

An aerial photograph is a record of the surface features at an instance of exposure. It can, therefore, be used as a historical record.

If you look at the map, you will see that the continents of Europe and Africa are separated by a sea that stretches all the way from Spain in the west to Syria in the east.

This sea is called the Mediterranean, and it was the heart of Rome's empire. Rome dominated the Mediterranean and all the regions around that sea in both directions, north as well as south.

To the north, the boundaries of the empire were formed by two great rivers, the Rhine and the Danube; to the south, by the huge expanse of desert called the Sahara. This vast stretch of the territory was the Roman Empire.

 

Women could not exercise much personal sovereignty in ancient Mesopotamia. The social structure defined women in relation to their families. Society viewed a woman as her father's daughter or her husband's wife -- and not as an autonomous individual. Royal women or those from rich and powerful families enjoyed a greater degree of personal autonomy, in some cases. Mesopotamian women would not inherit their husband's estate if there were eligible male heirs. Women did not often work outside of the house, but some held jobs selling wares they had created or worked as tavern keepers. The 18th century introduction of the Code of Hammurabi gave women the ability to divorce and own property under certain circumstances, even though the code also treated women as property.

Marriage for Women in Mesopotamia society
In ancient Mesopotamian, women were considered ready for a family-arranged marriage soon after they reached puberty. Mesopotamian women did not marry individuals; rather, they married into their husbands' families. The groom's father exercised considerable power in Mesopotamian marriages. For example, he could give the bride to one of the groom's brothers in the event of the groom's death or dissatisfaction with the marriage. The groom's family paid a dowry in most marriages, and Mesopotamian society viewed this as a payment for the groom's right to the bride. Husbands had the power to manage marital assets.

Sources: There is a rich collection of sources to study Roman history, like – texts, documents and material remains. 

1. Archaeological : a) Amphitheater, b) Amphorae, c) Colosseum, d) Statues, e) Aqueducts

2. (Literary) Written : (A) Texts –  Histories written by Contemporary Historians (B) Documents

3. Aerial Photographs

Documentary sources include mainly inscriptions and papyri. Inscriptions were usually cuton stone, so a large number survive, in both Greek and Latin.

The ‘papyrus’ was a reed-like plant that grew along the banks of the Nile in Egypt and was processed to produce a writing material that was very widely used in everyday life.

Thousands of contracts, accounts, letters and official documents survive ‘on papyrus’ and have been published by scholars who are called ‘papyrologists.

Movement of Goods into Cities

There were very few mineral resources in Mesopotamia. The wood of Iraqi date-palm was not good enough for carts, cart wheels or boats. There was no metal for tools, vessels or ornaments. So, it can be inferred that people of Mesopotamia traded their abundant textiles and agricultural produce for wood, copper, tin, silver, gold, shell and various stones from Turkey and Iran, or across Gulf.

Efficient transport is also important for urban development. Carrying goods on pack of animals or bullock carts would be too much time consuming. It will not make the city economy viable. Transportation over water is the cheapest mode of transport. Unlike animals, a ship does not need to be fed. It used to be propelled by current of the river and/or wind.

 

Mesopotamia important to Europeans because:

• Mesopotamia has good fertile land and it is considered to be ancestors' land.

• It is very important to Europeans because many inventions and developments started from here only.

• Mesopotamia is important to Europeans because it has Tigris and Euphrates rivers that's why Mesopotamia land is a fertile crescent and the soil is also nutrient-rich.

• This is one of the important reason Mesopotamia is so valuable to Europeans.