2.2. The heyday of the ancient states (end of II - end of I millennium BC)

In the heyday of the ancient states, so-called world powers or empires arise, which, unlike the states of early antiquity, are much more durable associations with central government, a unified domestic policy. At this time the despotic form of government is most developed. In world powers, the rural territory gradually becomes part of the public sector, the community sector of the economy is preserved in cities, where, along with the central government, there are self-government bodies. It was in the cities, in the handicraft industry, that slave labor began to prevail at this time; in agriculture, peasant communes are still predominantly employed, although here too slave labor is beginning to be used much more widely, especially by the state.

In economic terms, the most important difference between the second stage of antiquity and the first is the active use of iron and steel, which significantly increases labor productivity, contributes to the development of agriculture, handicrafts, the growth of marketability of production, as evidenced by the development of a system of monetary relations — money in the monetary form is widely used. During this period, the development of international trade takes place: it includes India, China, Central Asia, as well as the south of the Arabian Peninsula.

An important consequence of the development of commodity-money relations is the emergence at the end of the second stage of antiquity of private land ownership (along with state and communal), land is transformed in many states into an object of sale, large private farms begin to dominate the economies of most countries.

Mesopotamia . At the end of the tenth century. BC. Assyria regains its dominance in Northern Mesopotamia and resumes its military campaigns to the south and to the Eastern Mediterranean, where at this time, taking advantage of the weakening of the great powers, the new states are rising 1 . In Syria, it was the Damascus kingdom created by the Arameans, in Phenicia, the city of Tire. In Palestine in the second half of the tenth century. BC. the united Israeli state is divided into two parts: in the south of the country, the kingdom of Judah with its capital in Jerusalem, in the north - the kingdom of Israel.

In the period from the XII century. BC. II c. BC. in Israel and Judea, the efforts of many generations create a religious, historical and literary monument - the Bible. It includes 39 books. It concentrates myths, legends, narrations on the history of the Jewish people and other peoples of the Ancient East, religious and ethical norms, philosophical and journalistic works, poetry and prose. The idea of ​​monotheism (monotheism) laid down in the Bible for the first time on the planet became the basis for the creation of not only Judaism, but also other world religions - Christianity and Islam. The Bible had a great influence on the formation of not only the religious worldview of many countries and peoples, but also their culture and art.

In the second half of the eighth century. BC. begins the period of the greatest power of Assyria, its dominance in the Middle East region. The rise of Assyria at this time was largely associated with the administrative and military reforms of King Tiglathpalasar III (745-727 BC). He conducted a radical reorganization of military affairs in Assyria. Along with the militia, which consisted of the entire adult male population, a regular army was created, which was fully supported by the state. The policy regarding the conquered population has changed. If earlier it was robbery, withdrawal into slavery, pumping tribute, now it has become widely practiced resettlement of entire nations in ethnically alien areas. In addition, the management of the conquered territories was organized in a new way. At the head of the newly formed districts were appointed governors, who were subject to Assyrian military garrisons. The size of the new districts was smaller than before, which made it easier to manage them. Each district contributed certain taxes to the state treasury. As a result, Assyria’s strict centralized authority over the captured peoples was established. The most important factor in the economic unity of the state was trade. One of the main objectives of the military campaigns was to seize new trade routes for the further enrichment of Assyria.

Under Tiglatpalasar III and his successors, Assyria became the first truly great military empire in the history of the Ancient World, which united, however, for a short time almost all the states of the Middle East region. In the VII century. BC. it encompassed a vast territory, subjugating all of Mesopotamia, the Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, Asia Minor, Elam 2 , Persian and Median tribes.

However, when Ashurbanbat (669-631 / 29 BC), the last great Assyrian king, separate centers of power begin to compete with each other, and after his death in the last quarter of VII. BC. the empire collapses, and at the end of this century, the Assyrian state ceases to exist under the blows of the Median tribes and Babylon.

At the turn of VII-VI centuries. BC. during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC), who conquered Syria and Palestine, Babylonia became the largest state in Mesopotamia . There comes a temporary economic, political and cultural revival of the country. However, in the second half of VI. BC. Babylon was defeated by the Persians, Mesopotamia became part of their state.

Persian Power Achaemenid. At the end of VI. BC. the largest state of the Middle East becomes the Achaemenid state, which, as a result of successful wars of conquest, united the territory of Mesopotamia, the Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, the north-eastern part of India. At its head was the Persian king Cyrus II (558-530 BC) of the Achaemenid clan.

To manage such a huge state, which included many countries with different levels of socio-economic development, a special structure of the state apparatus and the organization of internal life were needed, which was created as a result of the end of the 6th century. BC. administrative and financial reforms of King Darius I (522-486 BC).

The entire state was divided into 20 administrative administrative districts, called satrapies. At the head of each district was a satrap who performed civilian functions. The army of each district was under the authority of a military leader who was directly subordinate to the tsar. There were also remote provinces, in whose daily life the Persian administration rarely interfered, exercising control with the help of local rulers. Darius introduced a new system of state taxes: all satrapies were obliged to pay silver set for each of them to file, which was determined based on the assessment of cultivated land. To govern the country, a large central office was created headed by the tsar’s office, the city of Susa (the former capital of Elam) became the administrative center of the state.

In the VI. BC. even before the Persian conquest in the Lydian kingdom, the first coins in the world began to be minted, and Darius I introduced a common currency for the entire power - Darik. However, outside of Asia Minor, Persian coins played a minor role in trade, mostly non-nickel silver ingots were used.

During the period of the existence of the Achaemenid state, international trade was very widely developed, since within the same state there were countries with different natural and climatic conditions, among which regular contacts were established, sea and caravan routes were established.

In the first half of V century. BC. The Achaemenids are trying to expand their expansion to the west - the Greek-Persian Wars. However, small Greek city-states were able to resist a huge power and drove the Persians from the Balkan Peninsula.

In 334 BC Alexander of Macedon (356-323 BC), who achieved domination over Greece, begins a campaign against Persia and in 329 BC captures all her possessions. Achaemenid state ceases to exist, joining the state of Alexander the Great.

Parthia After the death of Alexander in 323 BC. his vast empire is divided into many Hellenistic states: Egypt under the Ptolemies, the Seleucid state, the Pergamon kingdom, the Pontic kingdom, etc. Later (at the end of 1 thousand BC) almost all Hellenistic states were included in the two powers - Rome and Parthia, Parthia (originally the region to the south-east of the Caspian Sea) fell away from the state of Seleucid 1 in the middle of the 3rd century. BC, it was soon captured by nomads of the parny, who made the local settled population dependent: the peasants united into communities were attached to the land, the treatment of which was regarded as a state duty.

In the II. BC. Parthia includes in its composition a significant part of Central Asia, Iran, Mesopotamia and turns into a world power, the heiress of the Achaemenid state - its political power, and to some extent, and culture.

India. On the territory of India at the beginning of 1 thousand BC. no is a new civilization. Indo-Aryan tribes settle here in the valley of the Ganges. They begin to engage in rice cultivation; they develop patriarchal slavery, cities, and the first states, among which Kosala and Magadha take on the greatest significance.

By the middle of 1 thousand BC. Magadha is being advanced , its capital in the middle of the 5th century. BC. Pataliputra becomes a city (modern Patna) - one of the largest centers of ancient India. In the middle of the VI. BC. in Magadha, the Nandas dynasty came to power , a large empire was created, uniting all the states of the Ganges valley and, possibly, part of South India. By this time, the varna system, which is one of the most characteristic features of the ancient Indian society, was already firmly established in India. Four varnas (closed groups of people) represented the main classes of society: the two highest varnas were brahmans (priesthood), the kshatriyas (military aristocracy), the two lower ones were vaisyas (first full-fledged members of the community engaged mainly in agriculture, later also merchants, some craftsmen) , sudras (mostly incomplete, dependent artisans, farmers).

At the end of VI. BC. the Nand dynasty was overthrown, representatives of the Mauryan clan, who created the so-called Mauryan empire, come to power . This state reached its peak in the middle of the 3rd century. BC. under king Ashoka (268-231 BC).

As part of his empire was the entire peninsula of Hindustan, with the exception of the extreme south. The territory of the country was divided into governorates, which were regularly inspected by the king and his entourage. Mauryas have established foreign trade and political relations with the Mediterranean countries. Under Tsar Ashok, the state begins to establish control over the spiritual life of his subjects, the king actively promotes the spread of Buddhism, which, in his opinion, can become the ideological basis for uniting the heterogeneous areas within the empire. The heirs of Ashoka failed to preserve a powerful state, and in the beginning of the II. BC. Mauryev empire is divided into a number of relatively small states.

China. In China, the largest state of the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC it was West Zhou. At the head of the state stood Van - the emperor, who was considered the son of Heaven, a mediator between gods and people. However, the power of Van was limited to his council, which included major officials who headed the complex bureaucratic apparatus of the state. The land was nominally considered state-owned, and there also existed the royal foundation itself. The distribution of land holdings of the nobility was fairly widely practiced, which led to the creation of fairly large agricultural farms.

From the middle of the 9th century BC In the Western Zhou, an internal crisis begins: the power of the local nobility increases, the central power of the Wans weakens. At the beginning of the VIII century. BC. With the increasing onslaught of the northwestern nomadic tribes, the territory of the state is shrinking, the capital is transferred east, the Western Zhou gets the new name Eastern Zhou and becomes one of the many independent kingdoms.

From VIII to V centuries. BC. There are five major political centers in China. Along with the Eastern Zhou, these were the kingdoms of Qin, Chu, Wu, and Yuz. The dominant position in them belonged to the hereditary aristocracy, who held the highest positions in the government.

In the middle of I millennium BC China is undergoing important changes in all areas of life. At this time (half a millennium later than in most other countries), iron smelting is mastered, which creates conditions for the development of handicrafts and agriculture. In connection with the active creation of irrigation systems in the Yellow River Basin and the upper Yangtze, the cultivated land expands and their more intensive use begins. In some kingdoms, the sale and purchase of land is officially permitted, large private farms are created (both in agriculture and in craft), oriented towards the market. The development of commodity-money relations is also promoted by the spread of the monetary form of money. In the middle of I millennium BC debt slavery is spreading in China, private individuals are beginning to use slave labor more actively, although the state remains the main consumer of slave labor.

In the political sphere in China in the middle of I millennium BC there are also significant changes. C VI. BC. the rulers begin an active offensive on the hereditary privileges of the aristocracy, which is fighting for the seizure of power in their kingdoms. To undermine the influence of the nobility, the rulers are trying to rely on personally devoted service people, introducing a new system of official remuneration: instead of distributing land, a salary paid by grain (the most important equivalent of value) is introduced. In the V century. BC. there is an enlargement of states: instead of about two hundred, among which were the five strongest, less than thirty remain, and seven of the most powerful (Qin, Yan, Chu, Wei, Zhao, Han, Qi) stand out , in which centralized political and administrative system. For example, in the kingdom of Qin, reforms are carried out, which approved unified legislation and legal proceedings, pledged and bought up land, legalized the size of plots, canceled all previous hereditary titles, introduced new ranks of nobility for personal merit, etc. After these reforms, the kingdom of Qin becomes a powerful power, turning into military-bureaucratic despotism such as the states of the Middle East region.

Qing van in 221 BC united most of China, the Qin Empire existed for a very short time (until the end of the 3rd century BC), but laid the foundations of a single centralized China. At this time, the Tsin principles of government are spread throughout the country, a military-bureaucratic empire is being created, and conquest campaigns are being organized in southern China and northern Vietnam. In the north of the country, the Great Wall of China is being actively built to protect the Huns from nomadic tribes.

At the very end of the III. BC. in China, a new centralized state emerges - the Han empire , the founder of which was a native of the commoners Liu Ban (202-195 BC). During it, the laws of the Qin state were abolished, taxes were somewhat reduced, but the administrative-bureaucratic system, most economic the institutions of the Qin empire remained in force, although Liu Bang was forced to hand over part of the state’s land to some nobles. The central government succeeds in finally subjugating the aristocracy only at the turn of the II-I centuries. BC. By the end of I millennium BC slave trade is actively developing on the territory of China, slavery becomes the basis of handicraft production, both private and state. To a lesser extent, slave labor is used in agriculture, where the bulk of commodity producers continue to be peasant communes, who are obliged to pay taxes and carry out labor and military service.

In the II. BC. The Han Empire seizes the territory of Korea, as well as the ancient Vietnamese states of Aupak and Namweg , which arose in the second half of I millennium BC. At that time, China maintained trade and diplomatic relations with many states, especially those on the Great Silk Road , which connected the Han Empire with the countries of Central Asia and the Middle East. The aggressive foreign policy of China has led to a significant increase in taxes, the deterioration of the population.

In the 1st c. BC. a wave of uprisings swept across the state, at the beginning of the first century. AD The Han dynasty was overthrown, power was seized by Van Man (9-23 AD), one of the highest dignitaries who promised to return to the customs of their ancestors. Under him, an attempt was made to turn the whole earth into a royal one, to forbid private individuals to buy and sell land and slaves, which caused widespread discontent.The government tried to actively intervene in the economic life of the country, in particular, laws were issued on the issue of coins, prices in the market, etc. unrest. The largest was the red-browed uprising, during which Van Man was killed, the state was on the verge of collapse.