A Golden Age is a period when peace and prosperity flourish throughout a civilization. Many civilizations and cultures throughout history have experienced a Golden Age; advances were made in many different fields such as philosophy, architecture, and education. Fifth century Athens and the Gupta Dynasty not only advanced in those fields during their Golden age but also in medicine, government, and mathematics (which is still influencing the modern world).
Fifth century Athens made a big influence on modern day government and laws. When Pericles ruled, 460 B.C. – 429 B.C., he took democracy to new heights. He set up a direct democracy where male citizens would debate over laws. Pericles set up the idea of having juries to determine facts and provide a decision of whether or not a person is guilty of a crime based on those facts. He also came up with the idea of “innocent until proven guilty.” On the other hand, the Gupta Dynasty did not advance much in terms of government; they had a simple central government.
The Gupta Dynasty did, however, advance very much in mathematics. They came up with the concept of zero and the decimal system. Arabic numerals were also created by the Gupta people. Athens also advanced in mathematics in a more complex way. Hellenistic thinkers came up with the Pythagoras which is used to calculate the relationship between the sides of a right triangle. Euclid wrote a book called The Elements that deals with different math equations and formulas.
Another field in which Athens highly advanced in was medicine. Hippocrates, a Greek physician, studied many causes for illnesses and searched for many different cures. He also came up with the Hippocratic Oath. This oath basically explains what a doctor is required to do and a promise to be dedicated to his or her work. The Gupta Dynasty went as far as repairing facial injuries with plastic surgery. About 1,000 years before the Europeans did The Guptas vaccinated people against small pox.
There are many more notable facts about the Athens and Guptas. Archimedes
studied physics and made many inventions such as the lever and the pulley during the Athens Golden Age. Extraordinary works such as Shakuntala came out of the Gupta Dynasty’s Golden Age. Shakuntala was written by Kalidasa, a famous writer.
The Athens and Gupta Dynasty helped shape our modern day society with their advanced thinking and practical inventions. Today, modern day society still uses Arabic numerals, the decimal system, and the concept of zero in everyday math problems and to calculate different things. Modern day society uses Euclid’s book The Elements as the base of modern day geometry. Without the invention of a lever and pulley we would have to lift 2ton metal pieces without the use of cranes. Their advances in medicine have leaded us to our own advances in creating new cures.
The Athens democratic government has influenced the United States government in modern day society. The U.S. still believes in Pericles’s idea, “innocent until proven guilty,” and still uses juries to determine whether one is guilty, or not. Their advances will continue to influence the modern day world.