{"id":113,"date":"2017-08-22T14:45:56","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T14:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/?page_id=113"},"modified":"2017-09-20T15:36:02","modified_gmt":"2017-09-20T15:36:02","slug":"ethics-law-and-religion","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/ethics-law-and-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethics, Law, and Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"twelve columns\" style=\"margin-top: 10%;\">\n<div class=\"advance\"><a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/ancient-cultures\">\u2b05 Previous Lesson<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/world-history\">Workshop Index<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/the-medieval-era\">Next Lesson \u27a1<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- CONTENT BEGINS HERE --><\/p>\n<h1 id=\"title\">Ethics, Law, and Religion<\/h1>\n<h4>Objective<\/h4>\n<p>In the coming pages, we\u2019ll look at some of the legal and intellectual contributions of these early civilizations. We\u2019ll then turn our attention to some of the great empires of the Middle East and the <abbr title=\"A term referring to the era in the Americas before widespread European colonization.\">pre-Columbian<\/abbr> Americas.<\/p>\n<h4>Previously Covered<\/h4>\n<p>In the preceding lesson, we quickly reviewed some of the major civilizations centered in the Middle East. We also examined some of China\u2019s dynasties, specifically the Shang Dynasty and its advancements in metalworking and writing.<\/p>\n<section>Few ancient cultures followed a black-letter code of law. Ancient Egyptians relied on ma\u2019at and the ancient Chinese on the T\u2019ien ming, or Mandate of Heaven. The Babylonian king Hammurabi produced the Code of Hammurabi, the earliest known example of written law, around 1700 BC. Carved into a stele, the laws covered a wide range of subjects and offenses: theft, women&#8217;s rights, injury, and murder. The image below is from the top of the stele, which was discovered in the early twentieth century.<center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/Hammurabi.jpg\" alt=\"The Code of Hammurabi\" \/><\/center><\/p>\n<p class=\"figcaption\">The Code of Hammurabi<\/p>\n<p>As civilizations developed, moral and ethical traditions evolved closely with religion. Early Judaism produced an <abbr title=\"The teachings passed down to Moses from God. These teachings were eventually written down (fifth century) and became the Talmud, the authoritative document on Jewish law and custom.\">oral Torah<\/abbr> that began to make standards of ethics clear to the people who followed the teachings. These early standards laid much of the groundwork for the moral and ethical traditions of Western civilization. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Family<\/strong>: Monogamous relationships, a reverence for parents, and the nuclear family as a stabilizing force in society.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Altruism<\/strong>: The importance of honesty and truthfulness is stressed. The concept of revenge is called unethical. The Golden Rule is formulated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Economic Ethics<\/strong>: The Talmud denounces gains obtained by betting or gambling as well as breaching promises within commerce.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These early ethical concepts found their way into the Christian tradition, eventually forming some of the ethical groundwork for Western civilization.<\/p>\n<p>Ancient Greco-Roman ethics also left a lasting legacy. In the interest of fairness, the Athenian Greeks first practiced democracy and ostracized tyrants. Spartan Greeks employed a lawmaking body known as the senate to prevent absolute power from falling into the hands of one man. Both ancient Greece and Rome cultivated the idea of national citizenship as a privilege.<\/p>\n<p>Other innovations of ancient Greece and Rome persevere today. The open athletic competitions first held in Olympia continued through the ages. Ancient Roman municipal planning serves as a prototype for modern planned communities. Roman archivists such as <abbr title=\"A Roman author in the first century AD; most known for his encyclopedia Naturalis Historia. He died when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79.\">Pliny the Elder<\/abbr> compiled the first encyclopedias, and mathematical and philosophical advances made by <abbr title=\"Greek mathematician and philosopher of the sixth century BC; taught and led a group dedicated to the study of music and mathematics in Croton in what would become southern Italy.\">Pythagoras<\/abbr>, Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle are still alive and well in our classrooms.<\/p>\n<p>Greece and Rome were not home to the only philosophical juggernauts of the ancient age. Jesus, <abbr title=\"The founder of the Buddhist religion. An Indian spiritual teacher of the sixth century, his given name was a Siddharta. The word \u201cbuddha\u201d means \u201cawakened one.\u201d\">Buddha<\/abbr>, <abbr title=\"A sixth century Chinese sage who emphasized morality, justice, and sincerity. His body of teachings is commonly known as Confucianism.\">Confucius<\/abbr>, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and other major philosophic and religious thinkers of ancient times continue to influence modern politics, ethics, and social practices. Even some of the laws of ancient times carried down to this modern era; the commandments presented by Moses and the Periclean amendments to Athenian rules of citizenship both serve as models for laws of today.<\/p>\n<h4>Era of Empires<\/h4>\n<p>Most periods of history feature cultures attempting to stretch their influence over a wide swath of their region, and in some cases, the planet. <a class=\"inline cboxElement\" href=\"#empires\">Shifting allegiances and powerful personalities<\/a> of the ancient age of empires have given history its fair share of famous and infamous characters.<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\">\n<div id=\"empires\" class=\"background:white; padding:10px;\">\n<p>The Roman empire was on the rise, and the Ptolemaic pharaohs of Egypt were on a sharp decline when Cleopatra (69\u201330 BC) came to power. Around 50 BC, Cleopatra was exiled to Syria by her brother\/husband Ptolemy XIII. She went to war with her Ptolemy at the same time that Julius Caesar declared that he, not Ptolemy XIII, was the leader of Egypt. Riots drove Ptolemy XIII to Pelusium, and Caesar took the throne.<\/p>\n<p>Cleopatra, clever as she was, seduced Caesar and was restored to the throne after the Alexandrian War in which Ptolemy XIII accidentally drowned in the Nile when trying to flee. Cleopatra bore Caesar a child, Ptolemy XV, or Caesarion (\u201cLittle Caesar\u201d), and returned with him to Rome. Julius Caesar was killed by his senators on March 15, 44 BC. Cleopatra returned forthwith to Egypt where she ruled until her suicide in captivity at the age of 39.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h4>Julius Caesar<\/h4>\n<p>The military and political leader who presided over the Roman world\u2019s transformation from republic to empire, Julius Caesar is one of the most famous historical figures. His days of rule and conquest ended in 44 BC when he was assassinated by a group of conspirators including Marcus Brutus.<\/p>\n<h4>Caesar Augustus<\/h4>\n<p>Also known as Octavian, he was Rome\u2019s first emperor. His autocratic rule ended the Roman civil wars. He was the nephew and adopted heir of Julius Caesar. His iron-fisted rule lasted until his death in AD 14.<\/p>\n<h4>Cleopatra<\/h4>\n<p>The last Greek ruler of Egypt, Cleopatra, was forced from her throne by her brother in 40 BC. She raised a mercenary army to oust her brother, joining her forces to those of Julius Caesar, who conquered Egypt and restored Cleopatra&#8217;s power. She was romantically linked to Caesar (their son was Ptolemy XV) and, later, to Roman political leader Mark Antony. With Octavian\u2019s armies swarming toward Egypt, she committed suicide in 30 BC.<\/p>\n<h4>Alexander the Great<\/h4>\n<p>Alexander was the Macedonian king who conquered the Persian Empire and vast stretches of other lands in the third century BC. One of the most powerful military leaders of the ancient world and a ruler of an unprecedented number of lands and peoples, Alexander died of disease in 323 BC.<\/p>\n<h4>The Twain Shall Meet: The Silk Road and Trade<\/h4>\n<p>Actually a sprawling collection of different routes, the <abbr title=\"An informal system of trade and travel routes from Asian to Europe over land and water.\">Silk Road<\/abbr> was a connecting force between the great civilizations of the West and East. The Chinese attempts to reach trading partners in the West and the Roman conquest of Egypt in the first century BC helped bring the two parts of the globe together. Nominally, silk was the traded commodity in question, but that trade also brought an exchange of ideas, cultural practices, and peoples.<\/p>\n<h3>The Aztecs, the Maya, and the Incas<\/h3>\n<p>Across the Atlantic, the Mesoamerican empires of the Aztecs, the Maya, and the Incas rivaled those of ancient Europe and Asia. In the early 1300s, the Aztecs established their capital of Tenochtitlan, built on the site of modern-day Mexico City. The Aztecs had a distinct class system, schools, and a complex religion.<\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/aztecempire.jpg\" alt=\"Aztec Empire\" \/><\/center><\/p>\n<p class=\"figcaption\">Aztec Empire<\/p>\n<p>The Maya of southern Mexico and northern Central America developed numerous city-states around AD 200. Archaeological ruins reveal their massive temples and stelae (large stone slabs carved with images of important people and events). The Incan Empire stretched along the west coast of South America; the Incas developed a civil service system and also maintained a basic federalist system of government. Both the Incas and the Aztecs eventually met their doom when they came into contact with the Spanish <abbr title=\"Spanish explorers and soldiers who conquered American lands and empires in the name of Spain.\">conquistadors<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n<h3>Review<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The Code of Hammurabi (1700 BC) is the earliest known example of written law.<\/li>\n<li>Early Judaism promoted ideas that still influence our modern-day sense of justice, morality, and ethics.<\/li>\n<li>The ancient Greek and Roman civilizations passed down the basic concepts of democracy and national citizenship. These cultures also left a lasting legacy in the arts and sciences.<\/li>\n<li>After winning the Roman civil war, Julius Caesar made himself dictator for life and set the stage for the Roman Empire.<\/li>\n<li>Octavian, Julius Caesar\u2019s heir, was the first Roman emperor and expanded the empire significantly. He was known as Augustus Caesar.<\/li>\n<li>The Maya, the Inca, and the Aztec each created advanced civilizations in what are now Mexico and South America.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- CONTENT ENDS HERE --><\/p>\n<div class=\"advance\"><a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/ancient-cultures\">Previous Lesson<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/world-history\">Workshop Index<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/the-medieval-era\">Next Lesson \u27a1<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a class=\"backtotop\" href=\"#title\">Back to Top<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2b05 Previous Lesson\u00a0Workshop Index\u00a0Next Lesson \u27a1 Ethics, Law, and Religion Objective In the coming pages, we\u2019ll look at some of the legal and intellectual contributions of these early civilizations. We\u2019ll then turn our attention to some of the great empires of the Middle East and the pre-Columbian Americas. Previously Covered In the preceding lesson, we [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-113","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1195,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/113\/revisions\/1195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/elementary-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}