45.
Polygnotus contemporary to Rembrandt: *
Polygnotus (none of whose work has survived) was widely valued by Aristotle, who admired his “ethos,” which indicated character as an innate disposition, governing the actions & evident in a person’s outward bearing. His painting resembles Greek sculptural reliefs: figures detached, seldom overlapping, ranged in 2 or 3 rows one above another; the farther were not smaller nor dimmer than the nearer. He was an innovator. His idealized figures approximately life-size, were freely distributed within the composition, a break with the Greek principle of arranging figures on a single base line. He replaced the horizontal base lines by irregular mounting or descending terrain lines-with no unifying perspective, and the individual figure remained the focus of interest even when several were grouped together. Stateliness was paired with subtlety of detail: delicate headdresses of women, transparent garments, mouths with parted lips uncovering the teeth. He employed sharp foreshortening and used only 4 simple basic colours: black, white, red, and ochre. Technically his art was primitive, the genius was his drawing of individual figures, with simplicity & sentiment at once noble and gentle.
46.
building of Alexandria, Baghdad and Washington: *
Alexandria-
founded around a small, ancient Egyptian town 331 BC by Alexander the Great; became an important centre of Hellenistic civilization & remained the capital of Hellenistic, Roman & Byzantine Egypt for a 1000 years until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641. Built during the of the Classic Culture’s late Summer.
Baghdad-
After their overthrow of the Umayyads caliphate, the victorious Abbasids wanted their own capital. They choose a site on the Tigris & in 762 BC the Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur commissioned its construction. Its location gave the city control of over strategic & trading routes along the Tigris, which also provided an abundance of water in a dry climate It eclipsed nearby Ctesiphon (capital of the Sassanians), an old city which itself had replaced & absorbed Seleucia (first capital of the Seleucid Empire), which had earlier replaced the city of Babylon. Built during the of the Magian Culture’s late Summer.
Washington-
founded 1790, on US Congress approval; built on the Potomac on lands donated by Maryland & Virginia; the site was selected by President Washington & the city was named him. First session of Congress held 1800. In 1814 British forces sacked the capital during the War of 1812, but the buildings were quickly restored. Built late Summer period of the Faustian Culture.
47.
First tyrannis and the Fronde: *
Cleisthenes-
tyrant of Sicyon 600-560 BC died 532 BC [Sicyon was a polis of the N Peloponnese, near Corinth on the Gulf of Corinth]. In the First Sacred War against Kirrha, he led the attack using his powerful navy to blockade that city’s port & then besieged the city with a federation army; Kirrha was destroyed in 595 BC. Cleisthenes was generously rewarded with one third of the booty. He also waged a successful war against Argos. He was moved by his hate for the Dorians to ban the recitation of Homer (as it praised the Dorian citizens of Argos). In this same vein he changed the ancient Dorian tribal names of Sicyon, giving them names derived from animals, and calling his own tribe “rulers of the people”.
Periander-
Second Tyrant of Corinth (627-585 BC). died 585 BC; his administrative skills allowed Corinth to become prosperous. Accounts of his rule are erratic, some praising him as just ruler who ensured a fair distribution of wealth in the city; however others damn him as cruel & harsh. Ranked as 1 of the 7 Sages of Greece, men of the 6th century BC renowned for centuries for their wisdom.
Polycrates-
tyrant of Samos 538-522 BC, famous as a fierce warrior & an enlightened tyrant. Took power during festival of Hera with his 2 brothers; taking full control he killed one & exiled the other. He built the strongest navy in the Greek world & established an army of 1000 archers. He fought Miletus & Lesbos & allied himself with King Amasis of Egypt, aiming to unite the Ionian islands & cities under his rule. Under him rule the Samians developed a high level of engineering & technological expertise building a 1100 yard long aqueduct tunnel (which required great geometric skills); Polycrates also sponsored construction of a large temple for Hera, the Heraion (1 of the 3 three largest temples in 6th century Greece); he also upgraded the harbour of his capital Pythagorion, building a long deep-water mole.
The Fronde were a series of French civil wars, 1648-1653; Louis XIV confronted the princes, nobility & law courts (parlements) & most of the French people, yet won in the end. It was divided into 2 campaigns: the Fronde of the parlements and the Fronde of the nobles. The first occurred in 1648 linked to the Peace of Westphalia; the soldiers that terrorized France under aristocratic leaders had been hardened by the Thirty Years War & many still operated autonomously. The king (having witnessed this insurrection) reorganized his army with a strict hierarchy whose leaders were made or unmade by him. The conflict was the final attempt of the French nobility to contest the crown; The Fronde weakened the economy but facilitated the emergence of an absolute monarchy.