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Ancient and Medieval history

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When did civilizations appear in the Near East?
4000 and 3000 BCE
When was writing invented in Mesopotamia?
3500 BCE
When did Sumer exist?
4000-2000 BCE
What were the Sumerians known for?
Inventing writing (cuneiforms)
Who conquered Sumer in around 2300-2200 BCE?
The Akkadians
Where was the capital of the Amorites (Old Babylonians) 2000-1550 BCE?
Babylon
What was King Hammurabi of Babylon known for?
A legal code: social class determined punishment for a crime
Who conquered Syria, Palestine, and much of Mesopotamia around 1100 BCE?
The Assyrians
Who conquered the Assyrian territory in 612 BCE?
The Chaldeans (New Babylonians)
Who ordered the destruction of the Temple of Solomon and the enslavement of the Jews in 587 BCE?
King Nebuchadnezzar
Who defeated the Chadleans in 538 BCE?
Cyrus, king of the southern Persians
Whose religion was Zoroastianism around 530 BCE?
The southern Persians
What did Zoroastrians believe?
A supreme being (Ahura Mazda) was in a cosmic battle with the forces of evil
What are the seven periods of Egyptian history?
Archaic Period
Old Kingdom
First Intermediate Period
Middle Kingdom
Second Intermediate Period
New Kingdom
Late Dynastic Period
What religious ideas of the Egyptians showed up later?
Monotheism
Afterlife
When were the Jews enslaved in Egypt?
1500 BCE
What two religious ideas did the Jews contribute in pre-Christian times?
monotheism
humankind's covenant with God to lead ethical lives
Who were two Hebrew kings in the period 1000-930 BC?
King David
Solomon
Where did the Minoans live 2600-1250 BCE?
Crete
When was the Greek Dark Ages?
1200-750 BCE
Who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey?
Homer
In the archaic period (800-500 BCE)what form of government did the Greek have?
city-state (polis)
What armed camp in Greece enslaved the Messenians in 650 BCE?
Sparta
What was Draco known for?
Draconian Code, harsh law (Athens 621 bce)
What did Solon do in Athens 630-560 BCE?
Reformed Draconian laws, enfranchised lower classes
When was the high point of Greek civilization (Classical Age)?
5th century BCE
What war opened the 5th century BCE in Greece?
Persian War
What were the Persian Wars?
series of conflicts between the Greek world and the Persian Empire that started about 500 BC and lasted until 448 BC
After Athens was burned by the Persians in 480, which leader rebuilt Athens?
Pericles
What public buildings did Pericles build with Delian League money in 5th century BCE in Athens?
Parthenon (Temple of Athena the Virgin)
Other Acropolis buildings
What caused the Peloponnesian War?
The rise of Athens' power in forming the Delian League
Who fought in the Pelopennesian War (431-404 BCE)?
Sparta and Athens
Which conquest unified the Greek city-states in the 4th century BCE?
Conquest of Alexander the Great
What marked the beginning of the Hellenistic Age in Greece (4th century BCE)?
The conquest of Alexander the Great
Which Greek philosophy of the 4th century BCE emphasized the individual and excellence through rhetoric, grammar, music, and math?
Sophism
Which Greek philosopher (470-399 BCE) emphasized a process of questioning with students?
Socrates
Who wrote "Republic", describing an ideal state ruled by a philosopher king? (428-348 BCE)
Plato
Who was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Artistotle?
Plato
Who was Plato's pupil who critized him for his metaphysical view of the world? (384-322 BCE)
Aristotle
What are the classical orders?
ancient styles of building design differing in proportions and details, but most apparent in columns
Which classical order of architecture is characterized by short, faceted, heavy columns with plain, round capitals (tops) and no base?
Doric order
Which classical architectural order has slender, fluted pillars with a large base and two opposed volutes (also called scrolls) in the echinus of the capital?
Ionic order
Which classical architectural order has a slender fluted column with an ornate capital decorated with acanthus leaves?
Corinthian order
Name two lyric poets of Greece 5th century
Sapho
Pindar
What is hubris, which was written about by Aeschylus (525-456 BCE)?
exaggerated pride or self-confidence often resulting in retribution
Who wrote about hubris in his tragedies in classical Greece?
Aeschylus
Who wrote Oedipus Rex? (492-406 BCE)
Sophocles
Who is considered the most modern of the Classical Greek tragedians because he was psychologically minded? 484-406 BCE
Euripides
Who was a pioneer in Greek comedy who used political themes, and wrote Lysistrata? 450-388
Aristophanes
Who was known as the Father of History in Classical Greece?
Herodotus
What is the traditional founding date for Rome?
753 BCE
Who inhabited Northern and Central Italy before 800 BCE?
Etruscans
Who were the Patricians in Rome? (500 BCE)
Wealthy landowners who held power
What powerful trading outpost in modern-day Tunis did the Romans defeat in the three Punic Wars? (264-146 BCE)
Carthage
What did the Populares party want in Rome? 150-130 BCE
land reform and lower grain prices
Who led a slave rebellion in 73 BCE in Rome?
Spartacus
Who was the dictator of Rome in 47 BCE and was later assasinated by Brutus and Cassius?
Caesar
What name was Octavian given when he was given a vote of confidence by the Senate in 27 BCE?
Augustus
What were two of the reforms of Augustus between 27 BCE and 14 CE (the Augustan Age)?
New tax collection
new coinage
fire and police protection
land for settlers in the province
When was the Pax Romana?
27 BCE and 180 CE
Who made up the triumverate after Ceasar was assasinated in 44 BCE?
Octavian Caesar, Marc Antony, Ledipus
Augustus faced four major challenges during the Pax Romana. What were two of them?
Secure Northern borders against attack
Reduce size of large, unmanageable army
Help urban and farm populations
Promote confidence among the senatorial class
Who wrote the Aenid, an account of Rome's rise (1st century BCE)?
Vergil (70-19 BCE)
Who were two Roman authors of the Augustan Age?
Vergil (Aenid)
Horace (Odes)
Ovid (Ars Amatoria)
Livy (narrative history of Rome)
When was Rome's Silver Age?
14 to 180 CE
Who were two of the authors of Rome's Silver Age?
Seneca (5 BCE to 65 CE)
Juvenal (50-127)
Plutarch
Tacitus
Who were the two chief exponents of Stoicism in the Silver Age of Rome?
Marcus Aurelius (emperor)
Epictetus (slave)
What were some of the tenets of Stoicism (Silver Age of Rome)
Live in harmony with nature
You can only control internal things
Rejection of desire
What were the three orders of law distinguished in Rome during the Silver Age?
Civil law (Roman citizens)
Laws of the people (merged Roman law with laws of other people of the Empire)
Natural law (governed by reason)
Which astronomer, mathematician and geographer from Egypt set the sun and planets of the solar system orbiting around the Earth (Silver Age of Rome)?
Ptolemy
What is the Ptolemaic explanation of the motion of the planets?
The theory that the planets and sun orbited the earth (Ptolemy, Silver Age of Rome)
What was Natural History, written by Pliny the Elder during the Silver Age of Rome?
The first encyclopedia, containing facts and fantasy
What were two major achitectural feats of the Silver Age in Rome?
Colosseum
Pantheon
What were some of the causes of the tumult in Rome after the Pax Romana (third century)?
Civil War
Rome's frontiers attacked
Leadership turnover
Who attacked the Mesopotamian territory of the Roman Empire in 224 CE?
Sassanians, a Persian dynasty
Who captured Rome's Balkan provinces by 250 CE?
Germanic Goths
Who attacked the Roman Empire from central Asia in the 4th century?
Attila the Hun
Who looted Rome in 410 CE?
Visigoths under Alaric
Who moved the Roman capital to Constantinople 306-337 CE?
Constantine
What is the current name of the city that was known as Constantinople?
Istanbul, Turkey
What was the name of the eastern section of the Roman Empire, with its capital at Constantinople, which remained in existence after the fall of Rome in the 5th century?
Byzantine Empire
What were the three aspects of the culture of the Byzantine Empire?
A combination of:
Roman statehood
Hellenistic culture
Christian religion
When was the Byzantine Period?
395 to 1453.
What was the language of the Byzantine Empire?
Greek
Who overran the southern provinces of the Byzantine Empire (including Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, and the Exarchate of Africa) in the 7th century?
Muslim Arabs
Who was sent by Venice to capture and loot Constantinople in 1204?
Crusaders
In 1453, to whom did Constantinople fall?
Ottoman Turks
What is one of the lasting effects of the Byzantine Empire?
spread of Eastern Orthodoxy religion
When was Mohammed born?
570 CE
What are the five pillars of faith for Muslims to observe (outlined in the Sharia)?
1. one God, Mohammed is his prophet
2. Pray 5 times a day
3. Perform charitable acts
4. Fast from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan
5. Make a hajj to Mecca
In what manuscript are Mohammed's teachings found?
Koran
Who established the Islamic Empire between 634 and 642??
Omar
Who defeated the Byzantines and gained Jerusalem in 637?
Sword of Islam
In what city were the Sunnite Omayyad caliphs based in (661-750)?
Damascus
Which regions did the Omayyad caliphs conquer 661-750?
Spain, areas of France, India and parts of China
Who ruled the Islamic Empire from 750-1258?
Abbasid caliphs
Where was the apital of the Abbasid caliphs 750-1258?
Baghdad
Who invaded the Abbasids and seized Baghdad in 1258?
Genghis Khan
Who arrived in Japan during the Kofun Era (300-710), beginning feudalism?
Nomadic warriors from throughout Asia
What sort of aristocracy developed during the Heian Era in Japan 794-1185?
Hereditary military aristocracy
During which period did Buddhism appear in Japan?
Kofun Era 300-710
What was the Japanese word for landed estates in the Heian Era (794-1185)?
Shoen
What was a bushidan?
Small groups of warriors who defended shoen during the Heian Era in Japan
What were the two dominant clans at the end of the Heian Era in Japan?
Taira
Minamoto
When was the Taira-Minamoto War and who won?
1180-1185, Minamoto won
Who established the shogunate in Japan in 1185?
Minamoto no Yorimoto
What was a jitro, and when did they exist?
Vassals who were appointed land stewards 1200s, Japan
What was a shugo, and what did they do in 1333?
Shugo were provincial governors who acted as liaisons between Kamakura government and local jitro. Overthrew Kamakura shogunate
What was a daimyo and when did they exist?
A local feudal lord who ruled over one of many autonomous domains, formed alliances, 1550s
Name the three bafku of Japan (shogunates)
Kamakura Shogunate
Ashikaga Shogunate
Tokugawa Shogunate
When were all special privileges of the samurai class abolished in Japan?
1868 (Meji Restoration)
Where did the Harappan civilization live and when?
Indus Riber basin, India, before 1500 BCE
Who ruled India during the Vedic age (1500 BCE)?
Indo-Aryans from northwest
What were the characteristics of the Harappan religion (3000-1500 BCE)of the Indus River Valley?
God Siva
reincarnation
mental concentration (later yoga)
What were the characteristics of the religion of the Indo-Aryan people who took over the Indus River Valley around 1500 BCE (basis for hinduism)?
pantheon of gods
bramhas (priests) performed sacrifices
caste system
Which empire did the Indian kingdoms fall under in the 3rd century BCE?
Mauryan Empire
When was the Mauryan Empire in India and what was it known for?
322-185 BC, religious tolerance (Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism)
Where did Chinese civilization originate?
Yellow River Valley
What were the three early dynasties of China?
Xia
Shange (1500 BCE)
Zhou (1122-211 BCE)
What were some of the teachings of Confuscius? (after 211 BCE)
Good order of society depends on ethical ruler
Where did the Nok live?
In modern Nigeria, Africa
Where did the Ghana people live?
About 500 miles from what we now call Ghana
With whom did the Ghana trade?
Berber merchants
When did Muslim influence grow in Ghana?
1054 to 1076
Which kingdom conquered the Ghana people and when?
1200s, Mali kingdom
What was the thriving city of the Mali kingdom in the 1200s?
Timbuktu
The Songhai lived near what river?
the Niger River
Who was Sunni Ali?
Powerful magician king of Songhai empire
Where did the Mayan live?
Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala, Honduras
What advancements did the Mayans make?
Elaborate calendar
concept of zero
astronomy
art
engineering
What are some preserved Mayan sites?
Chichén Itzá
Uxmal
Palenque
Name some of the advanced cultures in Mexico during the Mayan period
Toltec
Olmec
Zapotec
Where did the Aztec flourish?
South Central region of present-day Mexico
When did the Aztec Empire exist?
1200s to 1500s
What was the most famous city of the Aztecs?
Tenochtitlan
When and where was the Chimu Empire?
1100 AD to the late 1400's AD, Andes
What were the flat-topped mounds made by ancient Andean civilization called?
huacas
What were the main achievements of the Incas?
roads
advanced political system
counting system
When did the Incan culture exist?
1450 to 1530
What were the two major groups of mound builders in North America?
Woodland
Mississippian
What are large building projects, such as mounds, indicative of?
Powerful ruling class
What were the mounds of the Woodland peoples used for and when?
Burial, 500 BCE to 1000 CE
What were the mounds of the Mississippian people used for and when were they made?
500 CE, substructure for wooden temples
Who occupied most of Europe during antiquity?
Germanic tribes
What groups came from the Germanic tribes of the North of Europe?
Vikings, Norsemen
What tribes came from the eastern Germanic tribes in Europe?
Vandals, Burgundians, Goths
Which tribes came from the western Germanic tribes in Europe?
Saxons, Lombards
What was the dominant tribe in Eastern Europe and Russia?
Slavs
What happened to the Germanic tribes when the nomadic tribes from Asia invaded? (4th and 5th century)
Pushed Germanic tribes into conflict with Roman empire
What was the most important Medievlal Germanic state?
Frankish Kingdome
Who was the head of the Frankish Kingdom (481-511 CE)?
Clovis
Who founded the Merovingian Dynasty after converting to Christianity?
Clovis I
Who founded the Carolingian Dynasty (768-814)?
Charlemagne
What was the Holy Roman Empire?
Political conglomeration of lands in western and central Europe in the Middle Ages and later (840-1800)
When was Charlemagne's reign?
771 to 814
Which three groups attacked Europe in the 9th and 10th centuries?
Vikings from North
Muslims from South
Magyas from East
Who led the Normans in the Battle of Hastings in 1066?
William the Conqueror
Why was the Norman Conquest (begun by Battle of Hastings in 1066) such a watershed event for England?
It tied England more closely with Continental Europe and away from Scandinavian influence, created one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe, created the most sophisticated governmental system in Europe, changed the English language and culture, and set the stage for a long future of English-French conflict.
Who were (are) the Magyar?
Hungarians
Who became the first true "Holy Roman Emperor" in 962 CE?
Otto I
What were some of the effects of Rome's collapse?
Decline of cities
Reversion to barter system
Fall in agricultural productivity
What is manorialism and when did it develop?
1000 CE
King grants large estates to nobles, self-sufficient, encompass several villages
What is feudalism and when did it develop?
1000 CE
Decentralized political system of personal ties and obligations that tied vassals to their lords.
When did literacy nearly disapper in Western Christendom?
early Middle ages
When did the High Middle Ages, a time of improved technologies, occur in Europe?
1050-1300
What is enfranchisement and when did it occur?
Freeing of serfs, High Middle Ages
What was the Investiture Controversy?
1077 CE
between the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the Pope concerning who would control appointments of church officials (Investiture). Led to nearly 50 years of civil war in Germany and the disintegration of the German empire
What was the Magna Carta and when was it signed?
Established the principle of a limited English monarchy 1215, King John I England and barons (forced king to sign)
When did the Capetian dynasty control France?
987CE to 1328
What were the four dynasties of France?
Carolingian 843-987
Capetian 987-1328
Valois 1328-1589
Bourbon 1589-1792
When did the Muslims conquer Spain from the Visigoths?
710
What caused Russia to lose contact with the West for almost a century starting in 1245?
Conquest of the Mongols (Tatars)
What was the goal of the Crusades (1096 to 1300)?
liberate Holy Land from infidels
How many crusades were there between 1096 and 1300?
7
What was Scholasticism?
Effort to reconcile faith and reason and instruct Christians on how to make sense of the pagan tradition.
Who wrote Sic et Non and was a proponent of Scholasticism?
Peter Abelard (1079-1144)
Who wrote that there were two orders of truth: lower (reason) and higher (mysteries of God)?
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Who were two writers of the fabliaux?
Bocaccio
Chaucer

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