World Civ. Review
Terms
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- Epic
- a narrative poem that celebraates heroic deeds
- Czar
- A Russian ruler, or emporer; from the Russian word "ceasor"
- Hajj
- The pilgramige to Mecca that all Muslims are required to fulfill; one of the 5 pillars of Islam
- Muslim
- follower of Islam, "one who has submitted"
- Classical art
- Its standards come from the values of harmony, order, balance, an proportion used by Greek sculptors
- Dai Viet
- A Southeast Asian kingdom that broke away from China in 939, they preserved their own cultural identity
- Hannibal
- A brilliant stategist, he led his army and 60 elephants across the Alps to avenge Carthage's first defeat by Rome
- Patrician
- In the early Roman Republic, the group of wealthy landowners who inherited most of the power
- Hellenistic
- a term for the blend of Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian culture that emerged from Alexander's conquests
- Jesus
- carpenter and preacher born in Bethlehem whose teaching led to a new religion
- Constantine
- the Roman emporer who credited a battle victory to the help of Christ; he ended the persecution of Christians
- Kublai Khan
- the great Khan who ruled Mongolia and China, founded the Yuan dynasty (1279) and united China
- Khanate of the Golden Horde
- the Mongol empire, that, after the fall of Kiev, ruled all of southern Russia for 200 years
- Direct democracy
- Goverment in which citizens participate directly making without representatives
- Phalanx
- A battle formation in which foot soldiers stood side by side, holding overlapping spears and shields
- Julius Ceasar
- A Roman military leader who became a popular absolute ruler and instituted reforms
- Angkor Wat
- an extensive city-and-temple complex built by Khmer and dedicated to the Hindu god Vishu
- Umayyads
- the family that came into power in 661, moved the Muslim capital to Damascus, and adopted a life of luxary
- Abbasids
- The group that took control of the Muslim empire in 750 and moved the capital to the new city of Baghdad
- Greco-Roman culture
- A culture that mixed elements of Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman culture; often called classical civilization
- Pax Mongolica
- The period (mid- 1200s to 1300s) that was charecterized with stability throughout all of Eurasia
- Constantinople
- Originally called Byzantium, the city in the east became the new capital of the Roman Empire in A.D 330
- Justinian Code
- A uniform code created by a panel of 400 legal experts; it served the Byzantinne empire for 900 years
- Fatimid
- the independant caliphate begun in North Africa by Shi'a Muslims who claimed descent from Muhammad's daughter
- Bushido
- "The way of the warrior," a code that requiered reckless courage, fairness, reverence, and generosity
- Helots
- peasants who were forced to stay on the land they worked, such as the Messenians under Sparta
- Shinto
- Japan's earliest religion, which is based for respect for nature and worship of ancestors
- Mosque
- an Islamic house of worship
- Inflation
- A drastic drop in the value of money accompanied by a rise in prices
- Punic Wars
- A series of wars between Rome and Carthage between 264 and 146 B.C
- Sufi
- Members of the sect rejected the luxurious Umayyad lifestyle and pursued a life of poverty and spirtiuality
- al-Andalus
- The Muslim state in southern Spain set up by Berbers from North Africa
- Acropolis
- A fortified hilltop in the Greek city-states where citizens could gather to discuss city government
- Tang Taizong
- The "Great Ancestor" (626-649) who extended China's borders and reformed government and the law code
- Marco Polo
- the Venetian trader who took the Silk Road to China and served the Gread Khan for 17 years (about 1275-1292)
- Persian Wars
- The wars between Greece and the Persian Empire that lasted from 490 to 479 B.C
- Islam
- the religion founded by Muhammad
- Polis
- the main political unit in ancient Greece; a city-state made up of a city and its surrounding countryside
- Muhammad
- the "last of the prophets," he helped unify the Arabian penninsula under Islam
- Caliph
- An Arab title that means succesor or deputy; one elected to lead Muslims after Muhammad's death
- Samuri
- "one who serves;" a member of Japan's warrior class who was a loyal bodyguard of a warlord
- Mese
- The "middle way" or main street that ran through Constantinople; it was lined with merchant's stalls
- senate
- The aristocratic branch of Rome's government, which has both legeslative and admisistrative powers
- Vladmir
- The ruler of Keiv who made his subjects join him in converting to Byzantine Christianity
- Sunna
- Muhammad's example;the best model for proper living
- Triumvirate
- A group of 3 leaders; for 10 years, Julius Ceasor was part of one
- Malik Shah
- The Seljuk sultan who built a great empire and took pride in supporting Persian artists and achitects
- Shogun
- A "supreme general of the emperer's army;" a Japanese title that conveyed the powers of a military dictator
- Plebeian
- Common farmers, artisans, and merchants, who were the majority of the population in the early Roman Republic
- Virgil
- the poet who wrote the most famous Latin epic, the Aenid, in praise of Rome and Roman virtues
- Omar Khayyam
- Author, under the patronage of Malik Shah, of a famous set of poems called the Rubiyat
- Alexander the Great
- A pupil of Aristotle, he conquered lands from Greece to the Indus Valley from 336 to 306 B.C
- Legion
- Large military unit in the Roman army that was made up of about 5,000 foot soilders, supported by calvary
- Seljuks
- A migrating Turkish group that converted to Islam and captured Baghdad, eventually occupying most of Anatolia
- Cyrillic
- The Slavic alphabet that created by saits Cyrill and Methodius in the ninth century
- Archipeligo
- An island group, such as the approximetly 4,000 islands that make up Japan
- Hippodrome
- a stadium in Constantinople that could hold 60,000 to watch chariot races and performance acts
- Alexander Nevsky
- The prince and military hero of Novgorod; he advised fellow Russian princes to cooperate with the Mongols
- Icon
- a religious image used by Eastern Christians to aid their devotions
- Shi'a
- the "party" of Ali; a Muslim denomination that resisted Umayyad rule and believed the caliph should be a descendant of Muhammad
- House of Wisdom
- the center of learning in Baghdad where scholars perserved and expanded scholarly works from throughout Asia
- Allah
- The name of God in Arabic
- Pax Romana
- The period of peace and prosperity that began in 27 B.C and lasted for 207 years
- Oligarchy
- A government ruled by a few wealthy and powerful people
- excomunication
- the declaration that casts a person out of the Christian church
- Monarchy
- A form of government in which a king rules, usually ingeriting the throne from a relative
- Peloponnesian War
- The war between Sparta and Athens (431-404 B.C) that ended Athenian empire, wealth, and power
- Homer
- a blind storyteller who composed the Illiad and other epics between 750 and 700 B.C
- Pastoralists
- Nomadic people who herd domesticated animals; they usually follow a seasonal pattern of movement
- Trojan War
- The legendary 10-year way fought by the Mycenaenans against Troy during the 1200s B.C
- Philosopher
- A Greek "lover of wisdom," or a thinker who is determined to seek the truth
- Shari'a
- the system of law that regulates the family life, moral conduct, and buisness community life for Muslims
- Hijrah
- The 200-mile migration from Mecca to the town of Yathrib (later called Medina) by Muhammad and his followers
- Vizier
- A prime minister who served the Seljuk sultans
- Ivan iii
- the Russian prince of Moscow who openly challenged Mongols and liberated the Mongols in a bloodless standoff
- Myth
- A story about gods, such as the stories created by the Greeks as a way to understand nature and human passions
- Empress Theodora
- The most powerful woman in Byzantine history, she passed laws and advisd her husband, Justinian
- Aristocracy
- A governemt controlled by a small group of noble, land-owning families
- Genghis Khan
- the name taken by the Mongol ruler, Temujin; a terrorizing strategist who conquered much of Asia
- Aristotle
- The Greek philosopher who summarized most knowledge up to his time and developed a type of logical argument
- Calligraphy
- the art of beautiful handwriting, practiced by many Muslim artists
- Socrates
- He developed a question-and-answer approach to teaching and believed in absolute standards for truth and justice
- Porcelain
- Bone-hard, white ceramic made of special clay and a mineral found only in China
- Patriarch
- term for leading bishop of Eastern Christianity
- Moveable type
- The blocks of individual charecters set in a frame and used to make a page for printing
- Sunnis
- they call themselves followers of Muhammad's example and did not outwardly resist Umayyad rule
- Hagia Sophia
- The church of "Holy Wisdom" built by Justinian in Constantinople; considered the crowning glory of his reign
- Koran
- the holy book of Islam that contains the revelations Muhammad recieved from Gabriel
- Wu Zhoa
- The strong Tang ruler who expanded into Korea; the only woman ever to assume the title of "empress" in China
- Koryu dynasty
- Celedon pottery and blocks for printing Buddist scripture developed under this Asian dynasty
- Khmer empire
- the powerful kingdom on the Southeast Asian mainland that peaked around 1200; prosperous for rice farming
- republic
- A form of government in which power rests on the citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders
- Mercenary
- A foreign soilder who will fight for money: in Rome, such a soilder felt little loyalty to the empire
- Gentry
- Upper-class scholar officials in the Tang and Song dynasties whose status came from education and civil service
- Klan
- a kinship group in which the members are descended from a common ancestor
- Slavs
- People of the forest north of the Black Sea who were influenced by Greek Byzantine missionaries and traders
- Aqueduct
- A structure desighned by the Romans to bring water to cities and towns; it used arches to span rivers
- Augustus
- Unchallenged ruler, known as the "exhalted one" who stabilized Rome's fronteir and civil service
- Yaroslav the Wise
- He ruled Kiev (1019-1054), forged trading alliances with western Europe, and created a legal code