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Environmental Determinism Related to Ancient Greece, Rome and Medieval Times

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Environmental Determinism Related to Ancient Greece, Rome and Medieval Times
Environmental determinism essentially means where you live has a direct correlation with how you live. Countries that need to focus on hunting and gathering cannot focus on other aspects of their society like military power, religion, technology and education. Geographic luck is another factor of environmental determinism. Geographic luck means that people have strong advantages to their lives because of where they currently live. Environmental determinism allowed countries to grow their military power and allowed them to enhance their weaponry, which was shown during the Peloponnesian War, the Punic Wars and the Viking Invasions. During the period of Ancient Greece, the Peloponnesian War showed military changes because of environmental determinism. After the Persian War, the Persian Empire was very weak ("Peloponnesian War."). The Athenians saw this as a great opportunity to attack and take control of some very important land. Some of the land that they wanted to capture was called the Fertile Crescent and was very rich with many resources such as very rich soil which is opportune for growing crops, as well as large rivers of water for drinking ("Fertile Crescent."). The Athenians were able to attack the Fertile Crescent because of environmental determinism. The land the Athenians were on allowed them to create a strong civilization early, which allowed them to grow their military power, which in turn also allowed them to defeat the Persians in the Persian War. Environmental determinism also allowed the Athenians focus on upgrading their navy to a high enough level that they could travel the long distance of attacking the weakened Persian Empire.
Environmental determinism also factored into the primary reason the Peloponnesian War started. When the city states divided up between the Delian League and the Athenians, and the Peloponnesian League and the Spartans, in the agreement it stated that each side was to not get involved with the opposite sides affairs


Bibliography: "Ancient Greece Map." Map. Plato-dialogues.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013. "Ancient Rome Map." Map. Bible-History.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013. Baker, Ryan, Mr. "Peloponnesian War." History Lecture. Hillfield Stathallan College, Hamilton. 13 Nov. 2012. Lecture. Baker, Ryan, Mr. "Punic Wars." History Lecture. Hillfield Stathallan College, Hamilton. 6 Feb. 2013. Lecture. Gill, N.S. "Fertile Crescent." About.com Ancient / Classical History. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013. "Medieval Information." Viking Invasions to Europe. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013. "Medieval Maritime Culture." Wikipedia.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013. "Viking Timeline." Viking Timeline. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.
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