period ~1200 BCE-600 CE defined by widespread use of iron tools and weapons
iron smelting democratized access to metal: more abundant and harder than bronze
classical civilizations: Greece, Rome, Persia, Maurya, Han China
rise of alphabets: Phoenician, Greek, Latin, Aramaic
Axial Age (~800-200 BCE): philosophy emerged independently in Greece, India, China, Persia
republican and imperial governance, roads, aqueducts, legal codes
followed the Bronze Age, transitioned into medieval period
foundation for Renaissance rediscovery of classical knowledge