Traveling Disease

TRAVELING DISEASE








In the earlier centuries, goods were not the only things that traveled from place to place. Horrible diseases that would wipe out massive amounts of people also traveled quickly to strike citizens. We are so lucky in the current age to have the medical technology that we use on a daily basis. Yet, reading about how scary and fast illness took over cities back then really stuck out to me. In 430-429 B.C.E. a sea born trade between Egypt and Greece brought a unidentified disease that killed almost 25 percent of Greece's army and completely weakened the city-state. Diseases like smallpox and measles were big perpetrators in leading to the political collapse of the Roman Empire and the Han dynasty. Two very big empires not only were devastated by the deaths, but the fact that it helped take the empires down is crazy to think about. In 1346 and 1348 the plague also known as the "Black Death" wiped out half the population of Europe. The famous italian writer Boccaccio wrote, "A dead man was then of no more account than a dead goat" (324). The thought of lives being taken so easily by these diseases makes we realize how fortunate we are today. However, though tragedy struck many a family, some people did benefit from these deaths. "Tenant farmers and urban workers, now in short supply, could demand higher wages or better terms" (324). Many empires did become immune to these diseases or at least found ways to resist these illnesses. The death toll however is not something we ever should forget. These infectious diseases traveled and people died painfully. It is history like this that really shows us how advanced we are in the technology and science department and there is still more to be discovered.

The Maya

Though many civilizations made immense progress and created some of the amazing materials we have today, it was really the Maya Civilization that produced the things we use almost everyday. For example, "Intellectuals, probably priests, developed a mathematical system that included the concept of zero and place notation and was capable of complex calculations" (274). On top of their advancements in math, they "created the most elaborate writing system in the Americas, which used both pictographs and phonetic or syllabic elements" (274). This was one of the first times that actual events, data, and religious or mythological texts were recorded. Instead of agricultural achievements that we saw in earlier civilizations, in the Maya Civilization we see more intellectual insights at the forefront. "Early scholars viewed Maya civilization as a peaceful society led by gentle stargazing priest-kings devoted to temple building and intellectual pursuits" (274).  Though the Maya Civilization rose and fell, elements of the culture are still left with us today.

Varnas

Before I read this chapter, I knew a little about the Caste System of India. I knew that it was pretty strict and specific, but reading about the Caste as Varnas intrigued me. Around 500 B.C.E, "the idea that society was forever divided into four ranked classes, or varnas, was deeply embedded in Indian thinking" (225). The system works as such; People are separated into one of four classes. The highest class is Brahmin, which was filled with priests and teachers. People who were considered "the most important" it seems, were the people that were mostly associated with God. So the spiritual aspect of life was very important to the people of India. The next class was the Kshatriya, which was filled with warriors and rulers. These men were in charge of protecting and governing the society around them. I am sure that there were a limited amount of people that could protect the people, so they were ranked higher then others. The third group was filled with farmers, merchants and artisans, called the Vaisya class. "These three classes came to be regarded as pure Aryans and were called the "twice-born", for they experienced not only a physical birth but also formal initiation into their respected varnas and status as people of Aryan descent" (225). The lowest members were the Sudra class and finally that class that I have learned the most about are the Untouchables. It really amazes me how undervalued these people were. They were treating basically like dirt and were not associated with any other class. The fact that the Caste System is still very present today makes me realize how different cultures and countries use religion.