The classical societies of these four vast areas have differed from one another in many ways – the material used for construction being one of the ways. Packed earth and wood served as the principal construction material in classical China, while wood was commonly used in India for its construction. Architects in classical Persia and the Mediterranean designed buildings out of primarily brick and stone. Different material used for the construction of buildings served dominantly in the four classical societies.
The classical societies also differed from each other by their dependences of food crops and their moral values. Classical China and India depended on the cultivation of rice, millet, and wheat, while wheat was the stable food crop in Persia and the Mediterranean. The societies also generated a wide variety of ideas about family and society organization, the nature of the gods or goddesses, the proper relationships among human beings and the gods. Who knew these societies would differ much more when it comes to their moral values and beliefs as well as their raising of crops?
Despite these differences they all had, these societies commonly faced several problems. They all confronted the conflict of administering vast areas without the technology needed for transportation and communication. Due to the rulers having built centralized states much larger than their predecessors, classical rulers built roads and supported networks for trade and communication among nations. Military challenges also appeared as the societies formed rebellions and caused civil wars. Threats came from nomadic groups who sought to share the wealth from economies of classical societies. The classical societies had trouble trying to administer their controlled areas and facing off the nomadic people’s attacks.
All of the classical societies however generated sophisticated cultural and religious traditions. Their traditions often offered guidance on moral, religious, political, and social issues. These traditions also commonly served as foundations for many educational systems. They have shaped the values of people who made law and started to implement policy. Large populations were attracted from these traditions and created institutional structures, enabling them to survive for a long period of time and extend their influence over time.
Although the classical societies of China, India, Persia, and the Mediterranean were different in the raising of and dependence upon different food crops, the material used for the construction of buildings, and their beliefs and moral values, they all had many similarities in facing military challenges, administering vast areas with a lack of the technology needed for transportation and communication, and generating sophisticated cultural and religious traditions. Many of the legacies made in these classical societies have influenced many ways of people’s livelihoods. These legacies are also crucial for the understanding of the world’s historical development, and some of these still continue to follow in the modern world today.
