ancient Greece
In Ancient Greece, citizens gathered to watch these dramatic performances, which were meant to unify the community.
What are tragedies?
This civilization, founded in the 8th century B.C. and collapsing in 476 A.D., serves as the historical model being examined.
What is Rome?
By the 1st century B.C., Rome held this global position, making its internal political shift especially significant.
What is the dominant superpower of its world?
This ancient Greek physician is known as the “Father of Medicine.”
Who is Hippocrates?
This philosophical school taught that suffering is caused not by external events, but by our internal reactions to them.
What is Stoicism?
Greek citizens were expected to gather for public performances in this type of civic space.
What is a theater?
This year marks the traditional fall of the Western Roman Empire.
What is 476 A.D.?
Despite Rome’s strength, this was gradually lost as power became concentrated in Julius Caesar.
What is political liberty (or freedom)?
Created about 2,500 years ago, this ethical pledge continues to influence healthcare decisions today.
What is the Hippocratic Oath?
This Sophist philosopher is associated with the claim, “Man is the measure of all things.”
Who is Protagoras?
The idea that a society is strengthened when citizens share common narratives refers to this concept of social unity.
What is social cohesion?
These four major factors shaped Rome’s rise and fall: its leaders, laws, military, and this shared system of values and virtues.
What is moral culture?
This title reflected the concentration of authority in Caesar shortly before his assassination.
What is dictator (or dictator for life)?
This core medical principle, often summarized as “first, do no harm,” is associated with Hippocratic ethics.
What is nonmaleficence?
The belief that nothing exists, or that if it does it cannot be known or communicated, reflects this extreme philosophical position.
What is relativism (or skepticism/nihilism)?
In America, figures like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. serve as examples of these unifying historical narratives.
What are national founding stories (or shared national heroes)?
As a Founding Father designing a new government, you would study Rome’s version of this representative system before the Empire.
What is a republic?
These lawmakers, including some of Caesar’s allies, assassinated him claiming they were saving the Republic.
Who were Roman senators?
Despite its influence, modern versions of the Hippocratic Oath continue to be revised and debated over this aspect.
What are its definitions and ethical standards (or interpretations)?
For the Stoics, this personal quality—mastery over one’s emotions—was considered the highest virtue.
What is self-control (or emotional control)?
Events such as rock concerts, sporting events, political rallies, and religious services can all function as this type of community-building experience.
What are shared cultural experiences?
Rome’s system of checks on power, including two consuls and a Senate, would inspire American ideas about this principle.
What is separation of powers (or checks and balances)?
This broader political system, which the assassins claimed to defend, was Rome’s government before the Empire.
What is the Roman Republic?
This broader field studies questions such as whether the Hippocratic Oath should be the foundation of all medical ethical decisions.
What is medical ethics (or bioethics)?
This art, practiced by Sophists, focuses on persuasive speaking and is often compared to modern advertising.
What is rhetoric?