Читать книгу THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY - Steve Zolno - Страница 16

As our ancestors began their migration from the south through the north of Africa and beyond, they brought with them an ability to work together with others that allowed their primitive societies to progress. As societies developed around the world there were common patterns. There was a progression from more democratic governance in small groups to more specialization as societies grew larger and more authority was concentrated in the hands of rulers. Those who were ruled gradually had less contact with their rulers, who often gained god-like status. This usually was seen as the structure needed for survival of growing city-states and eventual countries. Rulers occasionally were overthrown, usually by those who already were in powerful positions. At this point the possibility of democratic government no longer was considered an option.

The first settlers of Egypt made the transition from the hunter-gatherer stage to agricultural civilization as early as 6000 BCE, aided by the fertile crescent of land provided by the annual flooding of the Nile. Beginning in what is known as the Predynastic Period, about 4000 BCE, archeologists have been able to determine that there was a fairly egalitarian civilization in Egypt because there is little difference in the grave goods found in burial sites. This changed as an elite group developed about five hundred years later, as evidenced by more elaborate tombs. Communities grew larger and got into conflicts, which led to unification in about 3000 BCE. Kings eventually were all-powerful, which included being considered owners of the land. Human sacrifice was introduced as rulers began to take entire households with them into the afterlife.²¹

Peasants were tied to the land where they worked and taxes were collected as a portion of the land’s produce. Labor was more akin to serfdom than slavery. Writing developed to keep records of taxes, workers, and product distribution, but only scribes who needed to keep records learned to write, perhaps 1-2% of the population. Art was encouraged and supervised by the state in the forms of ceramics, jewelry, goldsmithing, woodworking, painting and statuary.²²

The great period of pyramid building began under Sneferu in the Fourth Dynasty, about 2600 BCE, followed by his son Khufu who built the largest pyramid at Giza. Construction methods – which used 2.5 million stones each weighing tons – still are a mystery to this day.²³ The Nile provided fertility that resulted in grain, fruit, oils and animal products that were sufficient in all but the most severe periods of drought. The Egyptian king was considered a god and only he could communicate with the other gods.

There is no generally accepted archeological evidence of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, but biblical scholars peg this account at about 1450 BCE.²⁴ Around this time the Pharaoh Akhenaton replaced the pantheon of Egyptian gods with the one Sun God, Aten.²⁵ He ordered the traditional idols to be destroyed. Worship of this One God replaced the hierarchy of priests – with their many gods – who had shared in ruling over Egypt. After the death of Akhenaton the priests removed his temples and Egypt returned to its traditional political and religious divisions.

The World of Wine

Wine was an essential part of the culture of the Egyptians.

There is clear evidence of grapes having been planted and wine having been made in the Nile Valley from about the fourth millennium BCE. A colorful mural from the tomb of Nakht in Thebes from the fifteenth century BCE depicts harvesters picking ripe grapes from an arboretum.

— Wine, Page 14

Perhaps most importantly for the origins of democracy, the concept of the One God represented the idea of a single creator of everything, and thus a god accessible to everyone. It might be that the remaining practitioners of direct worship of the One God were forced from Egypt at this time or left of their own will. The account of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery is perhaps the oldest in western culture that affirms the intrinsic value of human beings – one that has affected the course of history to this day.

This idea of One God – and the unacceptability of worshiping idols – was the most essential teaching of Moses to the Israelites. But according to the Hebrew Torah (which later became part of the Bible), on their journey out of Egypt, they resumed their idol worship when Moses was out of sight.²⁶ The book of Exodus tells us that the Israelites were left wandering through Sinai for forty years before reaching their promised land of Canaan (today’s Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon) because of their failure to follow God’s commands.²⁷

The concept of the One God still is affirmed by the daily Jewish prayer, the Shema:

Hear, O Israel

The Lord God is one Lord

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

And with all your soul

And with all your might.²⁸

When they reached the Promised Land, the Israelites were told to destroy other cities completely – including Jericho²⁹ and that of the Midianites.³⁰ This is one of the earliest examples of one group being denied their own humanity and then turning around and doing the same to another. There are of course many similar examples throughout history – up to our own day – of those who claim the superiority of their own group or beliefs and deny the validity of others.

Long-term settlements became possible with the advent of agriculture, which allowed previously nomadic groups to remain in one place, vastly expanding the number of people who could be fed.³¹ It could be argued that agriculture was the greatest invention of all time. Clearly it had to be developed via a series of other innovations, including the plow, which was used throughout the ancient world, and the domestication of animals and plants. It seems likely that there was an element of cooperation and freedom in this development, because – as we will discuss – great inventions rarely are developed in a tyrannical state. Inventiveness requires long-term experimentation plus confidence and trust between individuals to yield viable results. Such an environment is rare under the distrust imposed by tyranny. In China, for example, innovations such as the voyages to discover new trade routes, or even the invention of the clock, were aborted due to lack of governmental interest in improving the lives of people.³²

Hammurabi, King of Babylon in the eighteenth century BCE, formulated the first comprehensive code of law that has survived. It was written on a large stone and contains 282 laws, including “an eye for eye,” later reflected in the Hebrew Bible. This area of what is now the Mideast was called the Fertile Crescent due to the seasonal rainfall that allowed the development of agriculture. There was frequent warfare between the groups inhabiting the area. The inhabitants of what is present-day Syria and Palestine were known as Canaanites starting about 1600 BCE.³³

The World of Wine

Wine is a part of the weekly Shabbat ceremony in Jewish Homes on Friday night, which marks the beginning of the Sabbath. Wine also is included during the annual Passover Seder, as well as at other holidays. (The Passover Seder was the setting of the Last Supper by Jesus and his disciplines.) Jews are commanded by the Torah to keep Shabbat (the seventh day) as a day of prayer and rest, because that is the day that God rested from creating the universe. The Fourth Commandment states: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

The prayer used before drinking the cup of wine:

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

The Jewish community in Palestine was divided between those who assimilated the lifestyle of their hosts and those who wanted to maintain a separate existence and engaged in rebellion that was put down brutally. According to the Hebrew Bible³⁴ Jerusalem was destroyed after three rebellions against the Persians in about 600 BCE. They were allowed to return under Cyrus in 537 BCE. A Jewish rebellion against the Romans under Titus was put down in 70 CE, and after a revolt in 135 CE the Jews were expelled from the area.³⁵

The earliest known Greek civilization goes back to the Minoans on the island of Crete starting about 2000 BCE, although evidence of human habitation there begins 5000 years earlier. Their religion was centered on the Earth Goddess and sacrifice of animals and children in times of danger. They engaged in trade with other Greek city states and societies as far away as Egypt and Palestine, but yielded to the Mycenaean culture from the mainland around 1600 BCE.³⁶

Early Greek city states were ruled by kings with loyal followers. One of the great mythical heroes of the ancient Greek world was Ulysses, otherwise known as Odysseus.³⁷ He is a key figure in both the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, who was revered as the chronicler of these two epics that revolve around the Trojan War, believed to have occurred about 1200 BCE. Homer, who may have been a composite figure, wrote down these oral traditions hundreds of years after the actual events.³⁸ They were the most pervasive myths of the Greeks at the time of Plato and Aristotle in the fourth century BCE and influenced hundreds of plays (most of them lost) by the tragic playwrights of that time, including Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. They provided the everyday entertainment of the Greeks in addition to shaping their myths and history.

The Iliad tells most of the story of the expedition to Troy by about 1000 ships under the leadership of King Agamemnon of Mycenae.³⁹ The goal was to retrieve the legendary beauty Helen, who left her husband Menelaus (Agamemnon’s brother), to run off with Paris, prince of Troy. The Odyssey follows Ulysses home after this war of ten years and on further adventures. In these myths and the plays based on them there is little reference to democracy. There were clear consequences for the losers of these wars – and not much had changed by the time of Thucydides, who wrote a history of the Peloponnesian war in which Athens was ultimately defeated by Sparta in 405 BCE. The pattern in most of these wars was that the winners shared the spoils of the cities that were defeated. The men were killed or enslaved and the women and children became the property of the victors.⁴⁰

Solon was the legendary giver of the laws that led to Athenian democracy. In about 570 BCE he reformed aristocratic rule and created a system that provided shared governance among a greater number of land owners. He reversed the slide toward tyranny in which the wealthiest aristocrats took away the property and liberty of farmers and others who had become indebted to them.⁴¹

According to legend the Olympic Games began in 776 BCE, and were held every four years.⁴² The competitions included racing, boxing, wrestling and horse racing. The extensive site of Olympia still can be visited, including the housing area for athletes who spent months traveling from the cities they represented throughout the Greek world, and the stadium where the foot race took place on the second of five days of competition.

Delphi, high in the hills northwest of Athens, was the religious center of ancient Greece. Those in search of answers to life’s problems – personal or political – made the pilgrimage and awaited the wisdom of the Oracle, sometimes for months, which often was delivered in vague terms that made interpretation uncertain.

The Athenians practiced a form of participatory democracy that was very different from the style of representative government found in modern democracies. Those who were allowed to participate – about 10% of the population – voted on major state decisions such as whether to go to war and also were required to participate in juries by lottery.⁴³ It was an Athenian jury that voted in 399 BCE to execute Socrates.

In 431 BCE, when a war began between Athens and Sparta, each engaged a large group of city states to fight on their side. Athens was led by Pericles, who evoked the spirit of democracy as perhaps has not been done as effectively until Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Pericles’ Funeral Oration – as related by Thucydides – gave an account of Athenian democracy at the battle site where the bodies of many still awaited removal:

Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition.⁴⁴

This “equal justice to all” actually applied only to the ten percent of persons who were citizens.

The Athenians and Spartans both voted on whether to enter the war against each other.⁴⁵ Athens was the largest and most influential democracy of its time, but engaged in increasing subjugation of other city states who were members of its “alliance” – even some that wished to remain independent.

The Peloponnesian war increased in intensity over the course of twenty-seven years, and according to Thucydides, both the Athenians and Spartans provided severe punishments for “allies” who sought to break free.⁴⁶ With the defeat of Athens ended the first great experiment with democracy we know of – an idea that, according to many scholars, was not revived in practice for nearly two thousand years. But Athens was a direct democracy rather than the representative model that we have today. The vast majority of the population was made up of slaves, women and children who were ineligible to vote or participate in government. And as we shall see, there have been elements of democracy in many states since that time, although most have not been called by that name.

Socrates – as portrayed by his pupil Plato – championed the idea of questioning all that we think we know about others, the world, and ourselves. He taught that as we rid ourselves of preconceptions we arrive at a greater sense of truth.⁴⁷ Plato’s pupil Aristotle pioneered what today we might call the “scientific method,” or “empiricism,” which advocated using actual observation to establish our concepts of the world rather than relying solely on beliefs or logic.

About a century after the Peloponnesian war, Alexander (“the Great”) of Macedonia (north of Athens) rose to power. He forged the first Western empire that spanned from North Africa to India. He marched with 10,000 or more men across thousands of miles, recruiting more along his path who were fascinated by his legend. He overthrew the Persian Empire and was welcomed by the Egyptians in 332 BCE because of the oppression of the Persians. In Egypt he established his new city, Alexandria, which replaced Athens as the most important cultural center of the ancient world. Alexandria had the greatest library and museum of its time, and had many of the great thinkers of the era among its residents, including Galen, the renowned physician, and the mathematician Euclid who laid the foundations for geometry.⁴⁸ Alexander’s sudden death in 323 BCE at the age of 33, perhaps from influenza, caused a battle for succession among his generals, with Egypt being taken over by Alexander’s friend and general, Ptolemy I.⁴⁹ One legacy of Alexander was that so large a geographical area could be united under one rule – soon to be imitated by Rome.

At around the time that the Greeks were moving from prehistory to written history, a well-documented civilization already was aging in China, which was on its third dynasty. Traditional Chinese history tells us that there was a gradual transition from a tribal society based on clans, from about 5000 BCE, to a state-level society, with the establishment of the Xia Dynasty in 2000 BCE, although modern archeological evidence doesn’t always match this narrative. This yielded to the Shang Dynasty starting in about 1600 BCE, which practiced writing, had walled cities and horse-drawn carriages. Although this system has been compared with feudalism, it was centrally governed, and eventually yielded to the Zhou Dynasty, starting in about 1000 BCE, which lasted through the time of classical Greece, to 256 BCE. Rulers sought to shift allegiance from the more democratic clan to the less democratic state, and provided severe punishments for those who resisted the new order. Their dynastic system included burying hundreds of “companions” with the elite in their tombs.⁵⁰

The World of Wine

The Greeks were well-known for their consumption of wine at lengthy philosophical seminars, as portrayed by Plato, and at their feasts at which Bacchus, the god of good living, was invoked.

From Plato’s Symposium:

Socrates took his seat . . . and had his meal. . . . When dinner was over, they poured a libation to the god, sang a hymn, and — in short — followed the whole ritual. Then they turned their attention to drinking. At that point, Pausanias addressed the group: “Well gentlemen, how can we arrange to drink less tonight? To be honest, I still have a terrible hangover from yesterday, and I could really use a break. I dare say most of you could, too, since you were also part of the celebration. So let’s try not to overdo it.”

The Museum of Wine in Art at Château Mouton-Rothschild near Bordeaux, France, houses a magnificent Greek wine vessel from about 500 BCE that features mythical figures in black on gold, including Pan, god of music, playing his pipe.

Although China was more egalitarian in its tribal stages, throughout the long history of Chinese dynasties there is no record of efforts to provide decision-making power to anyone other than those at the top. Their system was fused to ancestor worship – honoring the past and those who ruled with the authority of ancient tradition. However, challengers occasionally did overcome those in authority and establish their own dynasties, mainly through war, but tribal groups generally were absorbed into the dominant dynasty. For most of its history, Chinese law was mainly a list of punishments for prescribed infractions.⁵¹

Toward the end of the Zhou dynasty, there was a move toward greater democratization during the Warring States period (481-221 BCE), in which Chinese historians tell us that over one million people were killed. With the elimination of many of the elite, military and civic promotions needed to be based more on merit than lineage.⁵²

Confucius, who died in 479 BCE, was a scholar who had only a handful of followers at his death. But his reputation based on the sayings attributed to him grew over the centuries and affected the Chinese view of duty and order: “I transmit but do not innovate. I am truthful in what I say and devoted to antiquity.” His teachings emphasized the importance of sons obeying fathers and wives obeying husbands.⁵³ Central to his ideas is that peace of mind comes from accepting traditions and one’s situation in life.

The absolutism of Chinese emperors left no room for the development of democratic incentives. In an effort to suppress the idea of education for the masses – particularly traditional Confucian teachings – Qin Xi-huang in 213 BCE ordered the burning of all books and the execution of 460 scholars who refused to give them up. Despite continual rebellion under the next dynasty – the Han – the nobles who rebelled never were successful in overcoming absolute central power or in sharing government decisions as eventually happened in Western democracies.

The controlling Chinese aristocrats slowly became wealthier over the next four hundred years. Money lending increased these disparities by creating debt for the poor. Eventually the nobility avoided paying taxes or participating in the state to the extent that it collapsed. We will see the same patterns among the elite in Europe. It wasn’t until the eleventh century that centralized power included an administrative system that allowed promotion within the government based on ability rather than patrimony.⁵⁴

The claim to legitimacy of Chinese rulers throughout history was based on the “Mandate of Heaven,” similar to the Divine Right of Kings that was eventually overthrown in Europe.⁵⁵ The treachery between kin was probably more extreme than Shakespeare could have imagined, and would have provided grist for many great plays if only the Elizabethans had known of the excesses of these ancient dynasies.⁵⁶

In the Western hemisphere, Peru’s first inhabitants arrived as early as 10,000 BCE, and sophisticated societies arose there around 3,000 BCE. The Peruvians raised and wore cotton long before Europeans even knew of it.⁵⁷ In Mexico, the Olmec civilization flourished nearly as far back as that of the Chinese, as evidenced by the calendars they created. Starting in about 1800 BCE they were able to live in cities due to their independent discovery of farming; they developed writing and mathematics, and practiced human sacrifice. The Mayan civilization began about 1000 BCE and expanded to cover much of what is now Mexico and Guatemala, nearly covering the Yucatan Peninsula with cities.⁵⁸

The World of Wine

Wine production in China is believed to go back 5,000 years. From about 1,700 to 900 BCE the guang was used for ceremonial purposes. The guang was a bronze or iron pouring container with a rounded base. Its top and pouring spout were in the shape of an animal. It was used to pour rice wine at banquets and was enclosed in the graves of individuals of high status. Christie’s Auction Catalogue, September 16, 2010

The Mayan civilization disappeared in about 900 CE, probably as a result of overuse of the environment, drought and perpetual conflict with neighbors.⁵⁹ As one drives through the Yucatan today it is apparent that only a fraction of the settlements that once covered that peninsula is excavated, and that there are countless more cities buried under vine forests yet to be uncovered.

In 1927, archeologists discovered a spear point between two bison ribs near Folsom, New Mexico pointing to the possibility that Pleistocene man had lived in the Americas over 12,000 years ago. A number of human tools – such as axes and spear heads – also were found not long afterwards in nearby Clovis that clearly established the existence of an early settlement of at least the same age.⁶⁰

Rome began its slow ascent – well before the civilization of the Greeks had peaked – as a village of huts in the eighth century BCE, and eventually ruled an empire that united most of what is now Europe. Many areas that succumbed to Rome’s rule previously had been dominated by local tribal states, while those areas that Rome failed to conquer remained tribal. In northern Britain the Picts fended off Roman domination via fierce warfare.

According to legend, the Etruscans who ruled Rome were ousted by a popular rebellion in 509 BCE.⁶¹ The Roman Senate – still before written records – elected two Praetors, who had to agree on any decrees, as joint heads of state for terms of one year. The Senate had 300 members appointed for life, and they themselves voted on their replacements, which created a growing aristocracy and caused the majority of Roman people to withdraw from civic life. The army was composed primarily of the common people (the plebs), which led to the election of Tribunes to represent them, but the Tribunes also became powerful which again created an imbalance of power.⁶²

Rome began the practice of allowing defeated towns to become a part of Roman life and customs – often as citizens or allies – so that its influence began to quickly expand. Citizenship was a privilege that could be earned by individuals from all walks of life, freed slaves included.⁶³ Rome also severely persecuted those who opposed it – including Jews and Christians.

Via a network of excellent roads and settlements populated by their citizens, Rome effectively established a partnership with those in its area of influence by rewarding those who supported it with increased security and a vast trading network. This provided a greater range of goods than would be otherwise possible and was an effective means of creating a loyal following among those willing to cooperate with Roman rule.⁶⁴ The first known securities market was organized in Rome due to the great wealth that was brought in by its vast trading network. It had the prerequisites for an equity market, including transferable capital, available credit, and people willing to take risk.⁶⁵

For most of the next century there was a contest for power between the aristocrats and groups representing the bulk of the population. Caesar was immensely popular after he conquered Gaul (now France). He then led his troops to war against the Senate and Pompey, who was then Consul of Rome, which he won in 48 BCE, establishing himself as dictator for life, but soon was assassinated.

After Caesar’s assassination in 45 BCE Rome no longer was a republic, and became an empire under Caesar’s nephew Augustus in 31 BCE. Its territory – expanded to a total of 6.5 million square miles – included lands from North Africa at its southern limits to the Middle East, and north to Britain. This empire was relatively stable until the fourth century when it was beset by economic crisis and attacks from Germanic tribes and the Persian Empire.⁶⁶

Rome included an opportunity for citizenship for many who were willing to become players in the greatest and most civilized society yet known. Though not a democracy in the sense we use the word today, Rome had many democratic elements that included a greater number of citizens than any civilization to that time. This marks a major advance in democracy’s progess.

The difference in lifestyle and political outlook between the West and East had been noted as early as Hippocrates (c460-c370 BCE), who stated that the Westerners were aggressive and liberty-loving while those from the East were more wise and peace-loving.⁶⁷

Early Christians spread throughout the ancient world, amidst much persecution, after the conversion of Paul in about 33 CE.⁶⁸ Paul, who previously persecuted Christians, describes his conversion in the Christian Bible:

For you have heard of my previous life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God violently and tried to destroy it; and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But He who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.⁶⁹

The World of Wine

Wines were produced by the Etruscans in Central Italy from at least the eighth century BCE. The Romans produced and exported wine to large areas of what is now Europe. Bacchanalian revelry in the early Roman republic resulted in such debauchery that it was outlawed, but not to great effect since the revelers often were the law makers. By the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Italian wine was exported by merchants at considerable profit.

There is almost no region untouched by vineyards in Italy. The quality control system that was introduced in 1963 helped to standardize a market that was often confusing for consumers and sometimes fraudulent. The most famous and sought-after Italian wines are those in Tuscany, which produces Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino from sangiovese grapes, and the Piedmont region which produces long-lived Barolo and Barbaresco from nebbiolo grapes. A more recent addition is the Super Tuscans, made from Bordeaux grapes such as cabernet sauvignon. Wine, Pages 334-35

In 313 CE, the Emperor Constantine, a new convert to Christianity, gave freedom of worship to Christians. He renamed Byzantium as Constantinople – at a meeting point of Europe and Asia – in 330 CE. Christianity became the official religion of the empire in 380 under Theodosius. After his death it was divided into its western and eastern divisions which stand today as the Roman and Eastern Churches.⁷⁰

Soon Rome, like much of Europe, was invaded numerous times by marauding tribes. The Middle Ages – with its well-known decline – began at this time. But Roman law, administered by judges who aimed at some degree of fairness and equal treatment, generally remained in place, rather than rule only by the local nobles or kings.⁷¹ In many ways, Christendom filled in to provide moral guidance throughout Europe as the influence of Rome waned.⁷²

The writings of Saint Augustine (354-430) did much to cement the reputation of Christianity in the West. His Confessions, which tell of his conversion, convinced many that the Kingdom of God was more worthy of devotion than attention to earthly matters.⁷³

Boethius (484-520), a member of the Roman aristocracy, continued to copy the works of Aristotle and other Greeks, ensuring their survival. The distillation of known information, which led to a spread – and thus democratization – of knowledge, was collected and distributed by the encyclopedists of the day.⁷⁴

The Roman calendar was still in use in the West until the sixth century, when the monk Dionysius the Little determined that, in a Christian world, the calendar should be dated from the birth of Jesus. He established the seven-day week to reflect the time it took to create the world. Church bells began to mark the hour of the day, allowing villagers to organize their activities in sync with Church worship and each other.⁷⁵

Pope Gregory (c. 540-604), who also was a general, defended much of what was left of the Roman Empire in an attempt to introduce religious and humanitarian ideas. He sent representatives throughout Europe to convert pagans wherever possible. In addition to his many reforms he originated Gregorian Chant.⁷⁶

For much of the first millennium there were no clear countries with borders in what eventually was called Europe, but a collection of settlements that were periodically invaded and changed governance, depending on the success of the latest invaders.⁷⁷ Christendom continued to be split between the Eastern and Western Churches.⁷⁸

The central administration of the Romans yielded to fiefdoms throughout what eventually became Western Europe, and for most people there was little communication with the world beyond their immediate vicinity. Most of the goods needed by the lords and serfs of the estates were produced locally. The Roman roads, which had been solid and straight to allow the movement of troops, deteriorated into dirt paths that discouraged communication and commerce.⁷⁹ Eventually landlords needed to introduce small reforms in their contracts with their serfs because of a shrinking labor market.

Feudalism provided a degree of protection from the waves of barbarian marauders and an opportunity for a relatively stable life. It was based on a contract between the lord and tenant – protection in exchange for services such as working the land. A breach of contract by feudal lords led to occasional revolts among peasants.⁸⁰

Within the family, the Church forbade marriage between close relatives and committed married couples to continue their vows for a lifetime. The Church also encouraged the contribution of property to itself of those who died without heirs, which added to its immense wealth. One-third of the farmland in France was in Church hands at the end of the seventh century.⁸¹

England, like the rest of Europe after the fall of Rome, was at first divided into self-governing tribes. Households were grouped into villages with the king at the head of such tribes as Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Celts. They were governed by tribal laws, with compensation due to the injured based on the nature of the injury.

Germany also had similar tribal law in place which included retaliation not just against the perpetrator but against the criminal’s family. The introduction of Christianity provided greater equality and morality via models of saints who taught compassion and equality rather than retribution, although clearly that model often was not followed. The conversion of the pagans in Eastern Europe was not complete until 1417.⁸²

The third major monotheistic religion, Islam, was founded by the Prophet Muhammad after his revelation and vision of the One God in the year 610 near Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. At first he was persecuted and ridiculed by believers in the traditional gods who were members of the local nomadic tribes. But by 628 he was able to march with 10,000 followers on Mecca in a primarily peaceful takeover of that city during which idols were smashed by him and his followers. By his death in 632, most of the Arabian Peninsula had been converted to Islam, some via war and some by peaceful means.⁸³ A series of civil wars followed Muhammad’s death to determine the leadership of the new religion which divided his followers into the eventual Shiites (followers of Muhammad’s cousin Ali) and Sunnis (followers of the caliph Mu’awiya, who administered the first, or Caliphate dynasty from 661-750). The enmity between these divisions has lasted to this day.

The Qur’an exhorts Muhammad’s followers to use war in an attempt to spread his vision, but it also includes passages that deny superiority to any race and encourages believers to avoid violence and to treat women respectfully.⁸⁴ Early Islam had no actual codes of law but was administered by judges under the guidance of the Qur’an.⁸⁵

The followers of Muhammad spread his religion – mainly by force – at a rapid pace through much of the Middle East, North Africa, the Orient, and Spain within the next 100 years. Muslim armies moving northward from Iberia (modern Spain) into Gaul only were stopped from conquering Europe by Charles Martel at Poitiers in 732.⁸⁶ But once established, the huge areas under Muslim rule were tolerant of Christians and Jews who they considered “people of the book,” although Muslim teaching is that Islam has superseded those religions.⁸⁷

The World of Wine

Germany is the world’s northernmost quality wine producing region.

Wines in Germany were made in Roman times with extensive plantings near the Mosel and Rhine rivers. Monasteries developed wines for sacramental purposes starting about three hundred years later. Over time, economic fluctuations and phylloxera, a louse that destroys vineyard stock, greatly reduced the wine-making capacity of the area.

Germany is known mainly for its long-lived white wines, usually made from Reisling, which come in various levels of sweetness. Kabinett is the driest, with Spatlese and Auslese (select harvest) coming next. A greater level of sweetness is found in Beerenauslese (second harvest), from hand picked grapes that stay on the vine until almost consumed by rot, and Trockenbeerenauslese (dried berries), which is rare and expensive. The famous Eiswein is made from grapes that stay on the vine until frozen. Wine, Page 446-47

Between the fourth and seventh centuries the scrolls used by scribes to pass on human knowledge and history were gradually replaced by the codex, a small book or manuscript which was much easier to read and copy. The codex was copied onto animal skins and still very expensive, but it resulted in knowledge being more available to those who could read (still a small minority).⁸⁸

The ruler who united most of the lands that eventually became Europe was Charlemagne (c742-814), who engaged in continual and brutal wars to Christianize Europe. The pagan Saxons were given a choice to convert or die, with up to 4,000 being killed in one day.⁸⁹ He established a unified currency and code of laws in addition to having his counselors reform writing to make it more accessible. Charlemagne’s efforts to establish rule by law throughout his realm – rather than by the whim of local lords – was a step in the direction of democratization. The serfs also won their emancipation under Charlemagne.⁹⁰ He had himself crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 799 by Pope Leo III and spread education and literacy among young knights.

In 910 the great abbey of Cluny was established in southern Burgundy, which attempted to overcome many of the previous abuses that made monks and peasants vulnerable to the whims of wealthy patrons. Cluny’s influence – an attempt to return to the Christian principles of godliness and justice – spread throughout Europe and dominated Western culture for over 200 years. It led to a resurgence of religious practice – including care for the poor and the encouragement of religious art. The monasteries under the Clunaic influence also served as the inns of Europe for the travelers of their time.⁹¹

In 987, Hugh Capet took over the Carolingian Dynasty of Charlemagne, which became centered in Paris, and lasted over three centuries. As of the year 1000, Europe still was composed of a number of small kingdoms with no real nations as we know them.⁹² However, during the next three hundred years many areas were converted to Christianity, including what is now Bulgaria, Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, parts of Scandinavia, and Western Russia. Yet this area remained largely feudal and ineffectively governed, especially after incursions by the Mongols.⁹³

After the Muslims conquered North Africa in the eighth century, they developed trade routes using camels traveling a thousand miles south. The two most profitable commodities were gold and slaves. Seasonal rains in the highlands of Sudan – south of Egypt – had allowed the development of agriculture to flourish since the third century BCE. The Ghana, or local king, and his subjects practiced paganism and idol worship.⁹⁴ Many natives of the area eventually converted to Islam.

The World of Wine

Charlemagne was the owner of many vineyards and a connoisseur of fine wine. One of his favorite vineyards was Corton in Burgundy, which produced a great red wine, or Grand Cru, made of pinot noir. According to legend, Charlemagne’s wife was upset that her husband’s beard bore a perennial red wine stain. So Charlemagne had an area of the vineyard torn out and replanted with white grapes. To this day, Corton Charlemagne, made from Chardonnay, is considered one of the great white wines of the world.

The religion of India is largely based on the Vedas that were composed beginning in the second millennium BCE. As with many scriptures, they were passed on orally until they were written down around 1000 CE. The idea upon which they are based – the unity between all creatures and things – ultimately is a democratic principle. No one can be considered superior to others, as all are part of the essential energy flow of the universe. It was the responsibility of each king to uphold this principle as the basis of justice in his rulings with his subjects. Thus a spiritual view dominated the politics of India as well as the everyday lives of its people. A downside was that occupations were static within families for generations because individual advancement was not seen as being as important as unity with the cosmic whole.⁹⁵

There also was a warrior class in early India made up of aristocrats and professional soldiers. The Bhagavad-Gita, one of the most holy Sanskrit texts, was written in the fifth century BCE. It portrays a conversation between the warrior Arjuna and his charioteer – the god Krishna – as they are about to go into battle. The main teaching of this text is to have one’s actions guided by the principle of unity with God – or Dharma – as opposed to individual gain or even the victory of one’s tribe or nation. It is fair to say that it differs considerably from any Western battle text. It preaches equality based on unity with the Divine. Yoga – in this context – means practice that leads to the experience of that divine unity.

The man who sees me in everything

and everything within me

will not be lost to me, nor

will I ever be lost to him.

He who is rooted in oneness

realizes that I am

in every being; wherever

he goes, he remains in me.

When he sees all beings as equal

in suffering or in joy

because they are like himself,

that man has grown perfect in yoga.

Ashoka, one of the most famous leaders of early India who lived in the third century BCE, began to extend his rule via harsh warfare and slaughter. He became a pacifist after converting to Buddhism, and his empire crumbled under his descendants. The Gupta dynasty (320-480) was able to unite much of Northern India, and forced numerous tribes under the domination of one umbrella. But defeated rulers were allowed to stay in place which created a weak state vulnerable to attack. By 515, India was overwhelmed by invasions by the Huns and regressed into a collection of weak and smaller states.

Villages in ancient India operated independently and were not dependent on a larger state. The Brahmins (religious leaders) promoted a religion that emphasized the ephemeral quality of life and therefore did not promote literacy, and this view still limits mobility for the poorest classes. The king only was considered a legitimate ruler if he followed the laws outlined in the scriptures, as interpreted by the Brahmins, and revolts would take place when kings became too autocratic.⁹⁶

Of course these practices prevented India from establishing a strong, central state. The Indian bureaucracies were totally based on birth privilege and not on merit – there was no way for lower castes to advance themselves. There also was no attempt to standardize laws and practices – such as weights and measures – throughout the country until British rule in the nineteenth century.⁹⁷

Beginning in the tenth century, India experienced a series of invasions that imposed the values of other cultures, such as the Muslims and eventually the British, who while bringing colonialism, introduced the concept of democracy. The Muslim influence lingers today in Northern India and Pakistan, but the Muslim conquerors did not impose the type of central administration that is seen in China and the West. The British occupation, however, imposed a unity of administration, language and custom that lingers to the present. India remains unstable in many ways, with the allegiances among its citizens being largely to their own region rather than the state, which has impeded the building of modern transportation and communication systems.⁹⁸

At the end of the seventh century the first Heavenly Sovereign, Jito, ruled in Japan. A Buddhist theocracy developed with the Sovereign as head of state.⁹⁹

The World of Wine

Wine drinking in Japan goes back at least 2,000 years.

A funeral ceremony is described by a Chinese envoy to Japan in the first century:

At death they use a coffin with no outer sealing box. Earth is built up like a mound. They observe more than ten days of obsequies, during which time they do not eat meat. The chief mourner wails, and others sing, dance, and drink sake. After interment the family assembles to go into water for purification.

Sake still is used in Japan in many types of ceremonies – weddings, wakes, New Year celebrations, and to mark an occasion like a business arrangement or new home.

A Concise History of Japan, Page 20