Aspasia
A foreign woman resident in Athens (ca. 470-400 B.C.E.) and partner of the statesman Pericles who was famed for her learning and wit.
Ban Zhao
A Chinese woman writer and court official (45-116 C.E.) whose work provides valuable insight on the position of women in classical China.
Brahmins
The Indian social class of priests.
Caste
The system of social organization in India that has evolved over millennia; it is based on an original division of the populace into four inherited classes (varna), with the addition of thousands of social distinctions based on occupation (jatis), which became the main cell of social life in India.
Dharma
In Indian belief, performance of the duties appropriate to an individual's caste; good performance will lead to rebirth in a higher caste.
Helots
The dependent, semi-enslaved class of ancient Sparta whose social discontent prompted the militarization of Spartan society.
Jatis
In the Indian caste system, the thousands of social distinctions based on occupation .
Karma
In Indian belief, the force generated by one's behavior in a previous life that decides the level at which an individual will be reborn.
Ksatriya
The Indian social class of warriors and rulers.
Pericles
A prominent and influential statesman of ancient Athens (ca. 495-429 B.C.E.), he presided over Athens's Golden Age.
"Ritual purity"
In Indian social practice, the idea that members of higher castes must adhere to strict regulations limiting or forbidding their contact with objects and members of lower castes to preserve their own caste standing and their relationship with the gods.
Scholar-gentry class
A term used to describe members of China's landowning families, reflecting their wealth from the land and the privilege that they derived as government officials.
Spartacus
A Roman gladiator who led the most serious slave revolt in Roman history from 73 to 71 B.C.E.).
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