The Classical Era, which spanned from 600 BCE to 600 CE, was characterized by the rise of great Asian and European empires such as the empires of Han, Qin, Gupta, Mauryan, and Rome, by the development of some of the most influential world belief systems such as Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism in ancient China; Buddhism in India; Zoroastrianism in ancient Persia; and Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and by the development and expansion of large trade networks like the Silk Road created under the Han Dynasty.
