History Midterm
Terms
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- Polis
- a Greek city-state; made up of a city and its surrounding countryside that each had its on political ideas
- Glorify Athens
- built up Athens with $$ from DL to build pretty buildings out of gold, ivory, and marble
- phalanx
- a fearsome formation off foot soldiers standing side by side each holding a spear in one hand and a shield in the other that became the most powerful fighting force in the ancient world
- Livy
- used legends freely creating a national myth rather than history
- Pericles reforms
- To Strengthen Athenian Democracy; to hold and strengthen the Empire; to Glorify Athens
- Ganges
- A River near India that served as an important link from India to the sea
- Purpose of mummification
- to prevent the body from decaying by embalming and drying the corpse; only done by Royal and elite Egyptians
- Romance Languages
- French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian; because they have common Roman heritage
- monsoons
- seasonal winds in India that dominated their climate; brought so much moisture or lack of that flooding or droughts often happened
- Marathon
- a city in Greece where a very important battle during the Persian War was fought where Greece won
- Rubicon River
- the River in Italy where Caesar took his army across to get to Rome to conquer Pompey and his army
- aqueduct
- structures that brought water into cities and towns in Rome
- The Iliad
- epic written by Homer about the Trojan War
- Athenian Empire
- Delian League used to help unite the people of the Empire; used the money from them to build up navy
- cement
- the arch, dome, and aqueducts were all made of this material; together combined to make the great Coliseum
- bronze
- a material made by melting together tin and copper; after this discovery came the Bronze Age - the time when people began using bronze instead of copper and stone for tools and weapons; very sturdy
- Thucydides
- considered the greatest historian of the classical age; believed certain events recur over time that would help understand the present
- subcontinent
- the landmass that includes India, Pakistan and Bangladesh surrounded by the Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountains that separates them from the Asian continent
- caste system
- a social system where the population of a civilization was split up into different groups based on their level in society and distinguished by their varna (skin color) ; originated in the Aryan society
- senate
- the aristocratic branch of Rome's government with legislative and administrative functions in the republic
- tyrant
- powerful individuals (nobles or wealthy citizens) who seized control of the government by appealing to the common people for support; looked upon as leaders who would work for the interests of the ordinary people
- Alexander the Great
- a great leader who was able to build up the Macedonian Empire by defeating Persia, India, Egypt, and Greece
- hieroglyphics
- an ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds; like letters in an alphabet
- King Menes
- believed to be the first king to unify Upper and Lower Egypt
- slash and burn farming
- to cut trees or grasses and burned them to clear a field; the ashes that remained fertilized the soil; after a year or two of farming on this land farmers would move and in a few years when the trees and grass grew back the process would start over again
- Moksha
- a state of perfect understandings of all things in the Hindu belief; written in the Upanishads
- Torah
- the first 5 books of the Bible; the most sacred writings in Jewish tradition
- Caesar
- 1st dictator of Rome; apart of first triumvirate; started a number of reforms such as: expanded senate, created jobs for poor, started colonies where people without land could own property, and increased pay for soldiers; assassinated by Marcus Brutus after he feared he was losing his influence in the government
- Indus River
- River located near India that flooded the land and brought along silt that made the land very fertile
- Tacitus
- factual who present good historical info
- Archimedes
- a Hellenistic scientist that accurately estimated the value of pi and explained the law of the lever
- polytheism
- belief in many God (Egypt, Mesopotamia)
- Huang He
- River located near China that is now known as the Yellow River that brought loess (yellowish silt) when it overflows a bank
- Homer
- poet who wrote many epics including the Iliad and the Odyssey about the Trojan War
- Jesus
- a Jew who taught and preached about God who provided the basics for Christianity; crucified because he was believed to be a threat to the Roman government
- cultural diffusion
- process in which a new idea or product spreads from one culture to another; like when Sumerians traded ideas with neighboring cultures
- The Battle of Marathon
- battle where Greece was very outnumbered but still came out on top because of their phalanx formation; Pheidippides brings the news by running 26 miles to Athens
- Ur
- a Sumerian city that is considered to be one of the first early civilizations
- Punic Wars
- wars between Carthage and the Roman Empire, between Hannibal and Scipio when Carthage rose to power and became a direct opposition to Rome; after the Romans won these wars, it gave it dominance over the western Mediterranean
- Assassination of Caesar
- done my Marcus Brutus in the Senate because he was afraid of losing influence in the government; after his death, civil war broke out again and destroyed everything that was left of the Roman Republic
- nirvana
- the Buddhist belief of release from selfishness and pain by following the Eightfold Path; achieved after enlightenment
- classical Greek art
- wanted to portray ideal beauty (what people should look like); valued harmony, order, balance and proportion
- Frescoes
- a painting made on damp plaster used to brighten the walls of homes
- Paleolithic nomadic life
- "Old Stone Age"; men and women were highly mobile people who moved from place to place foraging for new sources of food;
- Plato
- philosopher who wrote the Republic that said he believed there should be philosopher-kings who would be in charge
- Scipio
- the Roman general opposite Hannibal who devised a plan to take Carthage and finally defeated Hannibal
- Roman historians
- Tacitus and Livy
- Cataracts (Nile River)
- the point in the Nile where boulders turn the river into churning rapids - stopping river travel
- cuneiform
- a system of writing created by the Sumerians that consisted of pictographs and used a stylus and clay tablets to write
- Hannibal
- a Carthaginian general who fought with Rome during the Punic Wars who was defeated by the Romans in the last two Punic Wars
- Hellenistic
- the blending of the Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian cultures that used Koine as its spoken language all throughout Alexander's empire
- Persian War against Greece
- Greeks had settled in Ionia but in 546 BC Persia's Darius the Great conquered the area sending the Greeks into a revolt but Persia defeated them and vowed to destroy Athens but after many battles Greece wins
- monotheism
- belief in only one God (Christianity)
- artifact
- human-made objects, such as tools and jewelry, that provide clues to their lives in the past
- republic
- a form of government in which power rests with citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders
- Neolithic revolution
- the major change in human life caused by the beginnings of farming - that is, by people's shift from food gathering to food producing; believed to have started when a group of women possibly scattered seeds one season and came back and found new crops the next season
- Phoenicians
- a seafaring people of Southwest Asia who around 1100 BC began to trade and established colonies throughout the Mediterranean region (Byblos, Tyre, Sidon); good seafarers and shipbuilders
- Spartacus
- a slave who ends up becoming a leader in the Roman Republic
- Cleisthenes reforms
- broke up the power of nobles by organizing citizens into 10 groups based on where they lived; increased the power of the assembly by allowing all citizens to submit laws for debate; created the Council 500
- Dorians
- moved into the war-torn countryside of Greece after the Trojan War; far less advanced people who took Greece into a period of collapsed economy and trade
- Greek Historians
- Herodotus and Thucydides
- theocracy
- a type of government in which rule is based on religious authority (like in Egypt)
- mosaic
- pictures or designs made by setting small pieces of stone, glass, or tile onto a surface; mostly found in rich Romans houses called villas
- Purpose of papyrus
- grew in the marshy delta of the Nile so it was very abundant; very lightweight and easy to use for writing
- arch
- a rounded structure used as a very sturdy structure
- Constantinople
- the new capital of the Roman Empire in modern day Turkey set up by Constantine; was one of the centers for Christianity that survived many invasions because of its walls
- Tiber River
- near the center of the Italian peninsula where Rome is built
- Stronger Democracy
- increased # of public officials with salaries
- the Delian League
- alliance made during the Persian War to help unify Greece`
- hunter- gather way of life
- those who's food supply depended on hunting animals and collecting plants for food; invented special tools to help increase their ability to get food; hunters had spears and gatherers had digging sticks; men mostly were hunters; women mostly gatherers
- aristocracy
- a government ruled by a small group of noble, land owning families
- Etruscans
- moved into Northern Italy; skilled metalworkers and engineers; strongly influences the development of Roman civilization (writing, alphabet, architecture)
- Tigris River
- River located near Mesopotamia along with the Euphrates that flooded at least once a year that left silt that made the land very fertile; served as a great sea trade dock
- oligarchy
- a government ruled by a few powerful people (especially military people)
- Egyptian Religion
- polytheistic (belief in many Gods) especially in Osiris and Re the sun god; believed in a life after death and that they would be judged on their deeds they do on Earth and that would determine whether they live on
- Peloponnesian War
- between Sparta and Athens; Athens = navy, Sparta = army; started in 431 BC because Sparta was hostile against Athens' wealth and power but stopped 2 years later after a plague struck Athens and resumed a few years later; after many years of fighting, Sparta wins after Athens surrenders, losing its empire, power and wealth
- bas relief
- a type of structure the Romans used; images project from a flat background; used to tell stories and to represent crowds
- Harrappa and Mohenjo-Daro
- the largest cities in the Indus valley that had the world's first indoor plumbing
- Euclid
- compiled a geometry text and was a highly regarded mathematician; wrote Elements that contained 465 proofs
- 1st Pope
- Peter; thought of to be the "rock" on which the Church would be built
- Alexandria
- built up by Alexander the Great in Egypt; become the center of commerce and Hellenistic civilization
- Cleopatra
- Queen of Egypt who fell in love with Mark Antony and committed suicide with him after Octavian fought them both over power
- Socrates
- philosopher who believed in absolute standards that existed for truth and justice; put on trial for "corrupting the youth of Athens" and sentences to drink poison
- direct democracy
- a form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives
- Diaspora
- dispersal of the Jews after Jesus' death after they revolted against the Roman Empire on higher taxes and laws
- Pompey
- Caesar's political rival who was apart of the first triumvirate and was defeated by Caesar's armies after he urged him to return to Rome from Gaul
- Fertile Crescent
- land between the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea with very fertile and rich land
- Messiah
- a savior promised by God to help the Jews; believed to be Jesus
- slaves
- lower people in society who worked for people higher than them in society
- dictator
- in times of crisis, the republic could appoint this leader who had absolute power to make laws and command the army but only lasted 6 months
- Greece
- land use - covered by mountains ¾ of Ancient Greece that divided the civilization into many different regions that influences political life; made land transportation difficult (had to travel by sea); the areas of land around the mountains were very fertile since only a little bit of land was fertile made it hard to support a large population
- Gaul
- modern day France; conquered by Caesar that made him very successful
- Hellenistic Culture
- the blended cultures of Egyptian, Greek, Persian, and Indian all throughout Alexander's Empire
- Latins
- built original settlement at Rome; considered First Romans
- ziggurat
- a pyramid shaped monument that was like a temple of worship
- Cro-Magnons
- early human form that emerged in 40,000 B.C that were identical to modern day humans; migrated from N. Africa to Europe/Asia; great hunters with mad skills
- Trojan War
- war between the Myceneans and Troy, an independent trading city in Anatolia; started because a Trojan prince captured Helen, wife of Greek king
- Aeneid
- written by Virgil; an epic of the legendary Aeneas
- Constantine
- Roman emperor who stopped the persecution of Christians after seeing a cross during a battle; declared Christianity to be 1 of the religions of Roman Empire; built up Constantinople - the new capital of Roman Empire
- The Gift of the Nile
- Egypt was "the gift of the Nile" since the river flooded and produced silt a rich deposit of fertile black mud making the land suitable for farming
- The Battle of Salamis
- a fight at sea where Greece ships were so small they could fit into tiny channels in the water whereas Persia
- The Republic
- written by Plato that suggested there should be philosopher-kings
- Greco - Roman Culture
- "classical civilization"; the mixed culture of Greek, Hellenistic (Egyptian, Persian, Indian) and Roman cultures that adapted these styles and made it their own
- Carthage
- located on a peninsula on the N. African coast that rose to power and put it in direct opposition with Rome; led by Hannibal in the last two Punic Wars
- Herodotus
- Greek who created an accurate reporting of events
- Hammurabi's code
- a code of laws that helped unify the diverse groups in the Babylonian Empire; made from existing rules, judgments, and laws
- domestication of animals
- taming of animals for human use; used as a constant source of food (like pigs and cows) and gradually tame them
- Reason for the Pyramids
- became the resting place after death where kings could reign forever and have all of their belongings stored with them for the afterlife
- Solon
- came to power in 594 B.C.; outlawed debt slavery; organized citizens into 4 social classes according to wealth; introduced the legal concept that any citizen could bring charged against wrongdoers
- Minoans
- influenced the Myceneans in Greece by their form of trade, writing, language, and art as well as literature and politics; lived on Crete
- dome
- a round structure still used today that was adapted from Romans
- dharma
- A set of duties or obligations each caste has
- Xerxes
- Darius the Great's son who fought Greece during the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis and was defeated soundly by the Greeks
- Classic Greek art and sculpture
- believed in portraying ideal beauty rather than realistic beauty like the Romans
- Aristotle
- philosopher who came up with the basis of the Scientific Method; taught Alexander the Great
- Nero
- - Roman emperor who is believed to be the cruelest; persecuted Christians