Note: All chapters close with a conclusion and chronology of events. Chapter 1: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION, TO 500 B.C.E.
Making Civilization, to 1000 B.C.E.
Paleolithic and Neolithic Life, c. 400,0004000 B.C.E.
The Birth of Cities and Empire in Mesopotamia, c. 40001000 B.C.E.
Mesopotamian Legacies: Commerce, Law, and Learning, c. 22001000 B.C.E.
Early Civilizations in Egypt, the Levant, and Anatolia, c. 31001000 B.C.E.
Religion and Rule in Egypt, c. 31002190 B.C.E.
Life in the Egyptian and Hittite Kingdoms, 21901000 B.C.E.
Shifting Empires in the Ancient Near East, to 500 B.C.E.
From Neo-Assyrian, to Babylonian, to Persian Empire, c. 900500 B.C.E.
Creating Hebrew Monotheism, c. 1000539 B.C.E.
Greek Civilization, to 750 B.C.E.
Minoan and Mycenaean Civilization, c. 22001000 B.C.E.
The Greek Dark Age, c. 1000750 B.C.E.
Remaking Greek Civilization, c. 750500 B.C.E.
Citizenship and Freedom in the City-State
New Ways of Thought and Expression
Chapter 2: THE GREEK GOLDEN AGE, C. 500-400 B.C.E.
The Persian War, 499-479 B.C.E.
The Ionian Revolt and the Battle of Marathon, 499-490 B.C.E.
Xerxes Invasion of 480-479 B.C.E.
Athenian Confidence in the Golden Age, 479-431 B.C.E.
The Establishment of Athenian Empire, 479-c. 460 B.C.E.
Radical Democracy and Pericles Leadership, 461-445 B.C.E.
The Urban Landscape of Golden Age Athens
Tradition and Innovation in Athens Golden Age
Religious Tradition in a Period of Change
Women Slaves and Metics in Traditional Society
Education and Intellectual Innovation
The Development of Tragedy and Comedy
The End of the Golden Age, 431-403 B.C.E.
The Peloponnesian War, 431-403 B.C.E.
The Rule of the Thirty Tyrants, 404-403 B.C.E.
Chapter 3: FROM THE CLASSICAL TO THE HELLENISTIC WORLD, C. 400-30 B.C.E.
Disunity in Classical Greece, c. 400350 B.C.E.
The Aftermath of War and the Trial of Socrates
The Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle
The Fracturing of Greece
The Rise of Macedonia, 359323 B.C.E.
Philip II and the Background of Macedonian Power
Exploits of Alexander the Great, 336323 B.C.E.
The Hellenistic Kingdoms, 32330 B.C.E.
The Structure of Hellenistic Kingdoms
Hierarchy in Hellenistic Society
Hellenistic Culture
The Arts under Royal Support
Philosophy for a New Age
Innovation in the Sciences
A New East-West Culture
Chapter 4: THE RISE OF ROME, C. 753-44 B.C.E.
Social and Religious Traditions
Roman Values
The Patron-Client System
The Roman Family
Education for Public Life
Religion for Public and Private Interests
From Monarchy to Republic, c. 753287 B.C.E.
Rule by Kings, c. 753509 B.C.E.
The Early Roman Republic, 509287 B.C.E.
Consequences of Roman Imperialism, Fifth to Second Centuries B.C.E.
Roman Expansion in Italy
Wars with Carthage
Greeces Influence on Romes Literature, Philosophy, and Art
Imperialisms Effects on Republican Society
The Destruction of the Republic, c. 13344 B.C.E.
The Gracchus Brothers and Political Rupture
Gaius Marius and the First Client Armies
Sulla and Civil War
Pompey, Caesar, and the End of the Republic
Chapter 5: THE ROMAN EMPIRE, C. 44 B.C.E.-284 C.E.
Creating "Roman Peace"
From Republic to Principate, 4427 B.C.E.
Augustuss "Restoration," 27 B.C.E.14 C.E.
Life in Augustan Rome
Art and Literature to Please the Emperor
Maintaining "Roman Peace"
Making Monarchy Permanent, 14180 C.E.
Life under The Five Good Emperors, 96180 C.E.
The Emergence of Christianity
The Teachings of Jesus
Growth of a New Religion
Competing Beliefs
The Crisis of the Third Century
Defending the Frontiers
The Severan Emperors and Catastrophe
Chapter 6: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, c. 284 C.E.-c. 600
Reorganizing the Empire
Imperial Reform and Fragmentation
Financial Reform and Social Consequences
Religious Reform: From Persecution to Conversion
Christianizing the Empire
The Spread of Christianity
Competing Visions of Religious Truth
The Beginning of Christian Monasticism
Non-Roman Kingdoms in the West
Migrations into the Empire
Mixing Traditions
The Byzantine Empire in the East
Byzantine Society
The Reign of Justinian, 527565
Preserving Classical Literature
Chapter 7: THE HEIRS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 600-750
Byzantium: A Christian Empire under Siege
Wars on the Frontiers, c. 570750
From an Urban to a Rural Way of Life
Religion, Politics, and Iconoclasm
Islam: A New Religion and a New Empire
The Rise and Development of Islam, c. 610632
Muhammads Successors, 632750
Peace and Prosperity in Islamic Lands
The Western Kingdoms
Frankish Kingdoms with Roman Roots
Economic Activity in a Peasant Society
The Powerful in Merovingian Society
Christianity and Classical Culture in the British Isles
Unity in Spain, Division in Italy
Chapter 8: UNITY AND DIVERSITY IN THREE SOCIETIES, 750-1050
Byzantium: Renewed Strength and Influence
Imperial Might
The Macedonian Renaissance, c. 870c. 1025
New States under the Influence of Byzantium
From Unity to Fragmentation in the Islamic World
The Abbasid Caliphate, 750c. 950
Regional Diversity
The Islamic Renaissance, c. 790c. 1050
The Creation and Division of a New Western Empire
The Rise of the Carolingians
Charlemagne and His Kingdom, 768814
The Carolingian Renaissance
Charlemagnes Successors, 814911
Land and Power
Vikings, Muslims, and Magyars Invade
The Emergence of Local Rule in the Post-Carolingian Age
Public Power and Private Relationships
War and Peace
Political Communities in Italy, England, and France
Emperors and Kings in Central and Eastern Europe
Chapter 9: RENEWAL AND REFORM, 10501200
The Commercial Revolution
Centers of Commerce and Commercial Life
Business Arrangements
Self-Government for the Towns
Church Reform and Its Aftermath
Beginnings of the Reform Movement
Gregorian Reform and the Investiture Conflict, 10731085
The Sweep of Reform
Early Crusades and Crusader States
The Jews as Strangers
The Revival of Monarchies
Byzantium in Its Prime
Norman and Angevin England
Praising the King of France
Remaking the Empire
The Courtly Culture of Europe
New Forms of Scholarship and Religious Experience
Schools, Scholars, and the New Learning
Benedictine Monks and Artistic Splendor
New Monastic Orders of Poverty
Religious Fervor and Dissent
Chapter 10: AN AGE OF CONFIDENCE, 1200-1340
War, Conquest, and Settlement
The Northern Crusades
The Capture of Constantinople
The Spanish Reconquista Advances
Putting Down the Heretics in Their Midst
The Mongol Takeover
Politics of Control
France: From Acorn to Oak
England: Crisis and Consolidation
Papal Monarchy
Power Shift in the Italian Communes
New-Style Associations amid the Monarchies
The Birth of Representative Institutions
Religious and Cultural Life in an Age of Expansion
Lay Religious Fervor
Scholastics and Scholasticism
New Syntheses in Writing and Music
The Order of High Gothic
Chapter 11: CRISIS AND RENNAISANCE, 1340-1500
A Multitude of Crises
Economic Contraction and The Black Death
The Hundred Years War, 13371453
Ottoman Conquest and New Political Configurations in Eastern Europe
Hard Times
The Crisis of the Papacy
Stamping Out Dissenters, Heretics, Jews, and Muslims
End of the Reconquista and Expulsion of the Jews in Spain, 1492
New Forms of Thought and Expression: The Renaissance
Renaissance Humanism
New Perspectives in Art and Music
Republics and Principalities in Italy
The Intersection of Private and Public Lives
On the Threshold of World History
The Divided Mediterranean
Portuguese Confrontations
The Voyages of Columbus
A New Era in Slavery
Europeans in a New World
Chapter 12: STRUGGLES OVER BELIEFS, 15001648
The Protestant Reformation
Popular Piety and Christian Humanism
Martin Luther and the German Nation
Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin
Reshaping Society through Religion
Catholic Renewal and Missionary Zeal
State Power and Religious Conflict, 15001618
Wars among Habsburgs, Valois, and Ottomans
French Wars of Religion
Challenges to Habsburg Power and the Rise of the Dutch Republic
England Goes Protestant
The Thirty Years War and the Balance of Power, 16181648
Origins and Course of the War
The Effects of Constant Fighting
The Peace of Westphalia, 1648
Growth of State Authority
From Growth to Recession
Causes and Consequences of Economic Crisis
The Economic Balance of Power
A Clash of Worldviews
The Arts in an Age of Religious Conflict
The Natural Laws of Politics
Origins of the Scientific Revolution
Magic and Witchcraft
Chapter 13: STATE BUILDING AND THE SEARCH FOR ORDER, 16481690
Louis XIV: Model of Absolutism
The Fronde, 16481653
Court Culture as an Element of Absolutism
Enforcing Religious Orthodoxy
Extending State Authority at Home and Abroad
Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe
Brandenburg-Prussia and Sweden: Militaristic Absolutism
An Uneasy Balance: Austrian Habsburgs and Ottoman Turks
Russia: Foundations of Bureaucratic Absolutism
Poland-Lithuania Overwhelmed
Constitutionalism in England
England Turned Upside Down, 16421660
The "Glorious Revolution" of 1688
Other Outposts of Constitutionalism
The Dutch Republic
Freedom and Slavery in the New World
The Search for Order in Elite and Popular Culture
Social Contract Theory: Hobbes and Locke
Newton and the Consolidation of the Scientific Revolution
Freedom and Order in the Arts
Women and Manners
Reforming Popular Culture
Chapter 14: THE ATLANTIC SYSTEM AND ITS CONSEQUENCES, 1690-1740
The Atlantic System and the World Economy
Slavery and the Atlantic System
World Trade and Settlement
The Birth of Consumer Society
New Social and Cultural Patterns
Agricultural Revolution
Social Life in the Cities
The Growing Public for Culture
Religious Revivals
Consolidation of the European State System
The Limits of French Absolutism
British Rise and Dutch Decline
Russias Emergence as a European Power
The Balance of Power in the East
The Power of Diplomacy and the Importance of Numbers
Public Hygiene and Health Care
The Birth of the Enlightenment
Popularization of Science and Challenges to Religion
Travel Literature and the Challenge to Custom and Tradition
Raising the Woman Question