Chapter 4, Quiz Questions
1) If the Greek genius was politics, the Roman genius was
A) engineering.
B) poetry.
C) science.
D) agriculture.
E) music.
2) Compared to modern American ideas of democracy, Athenian democracy was distinctive in
A) urging that the state adopt policies to benefit ordinary citizens.
B) separating foreign residents from citizens.
C) naming experienced leaders as military generals.
D) urging that all citizens participate directly in lawmaking and policymaking.
E) electing representatives to govern the city-state.
3) Greek politics resembled Indian politics in
A) the wide interest in diverse political theory.
B) the role of slave labor in providing revenues.
C) the inclusion of women as political leaders.
D) the tendency of regional fragmentation.
E) the use of military rulers.
4) From a Confucian viewpoint, the Roman Empire might have been criticized for placing too much confidence in
A) divine status of the emperor.
B) public works functions.
C) laws rather than trained officials.
D) harsh punishments of criminals.
E) religious conviction.
5) Republican Romans and democratic Athenians would have agreed that all of the following were politically important EXCEPT
A) proper worship of the gods.
B) a strong military.
C) division of powers within the state.
D) splendid public buildings.
E) an involved citizenry.
6) Roman emperors tried to prevent popular disorder by
A) dividing the great landed estates.
B) granting the vote to lower-class citizens.
C) abolishing slavery in Rome and the provinces.
D) organizing food supplies and distribution.
E) enlarging the empire through the conquest of Gaul.
7) The Socratic Method emphasized the importance of
A) faith in authority.
B) laboratory experiment.
C) questioning.
D) harmony.
E) respect for elders.
8) The Greek and Hellenistic approach in science
A) stressed the importance of practical applications.
B) used mathematics to try and explain nature's patterns.
C) heavily influenced China's scientific approach.
D) emphasized the mysterious forces of nature.
E) was purely theoretical.
9) Greek and Roman agriculture
A) exported grain to Asia.
B) concentrated on vegetables and dairy products.
C) employed only a minority of the population.
D) tended to develop large, commercial estates.
E) ignored grape and olive cultivation.
10) Both ancient Rome and Greece depended on slavery. One result of this dependence was
A) both groups lagged in technological advances compared to the Chinese or the Indians.
B) many wars between the Romans and nomadic groups broke out when the Romans attempted to capture slaves.
C) the development of the idea of democracy, which led to the eventual fall of Rome.
D) the rise of a new social class known as the "metics" in Roman society.
E) a vast improvement in agricultural techniques leading eventually to the split of the Roman Empire.
Essay Questions:
Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean: Greece and Rome
What were the main similarities and differences between Greek and Roman political structures?
What is the significance of the Hellenistic period in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean history?
Write an “intellectual biography” essay on one of the following: Socrates, Plato, Sophocles, Aristotle, Vergil, Cicero.
Compare the main features of the social structure of the classical civilizations in the Mediterranean, China, and India.
In which society-India, China, or the Mediterranean – would you have wanted to be a merchant in the classical period? Explain your choice.
What were the main similarities and differences between the empires of Rome and Han China? Why did Rome’s empire prove less durable?
Early in the classical period, both Greece and India exhibited religions with many gods and goddesses. Why and how did India go on to form a major, durable religion around such phenomenon while Greece did not?
Compare the scientific achievements and approaches of classical India, China, and the Mediterranean.
Compare Greek, Roman, and Confucian ideals.
Chapter 5, The Classical Period: Directions, Diversities, and Declines by 500 C.E.
Summary:
The basic themes of the three great classical civilizations of China, India, and the Mediterranean involved expansion and integration. Throughout the classical world, these themes faltered between 200 and 500 C.E., signaling the end of that era. The response of major religions to political decline formed a leading direction in the next phase of world history. Meanwhile, developments outside the classical orbit gained new prominence.
Key Concepts:
Expansion and Integration:
Common themes for the classical civilization involve territorial expansion and related efforts to integrate the new territories.
China united through centralization, India united through religious values, and the Mediterranean world united through cultural achievements.
Integration required territorial and social cohesion. Each civilization valued social distinctions.
Beyond the Classical Civilizations:
Outside the centers of civilization important developments occurred. Significant civilizations operated in the Americas (the Olmecs, Maya, and Incas) and also in Africa (Kush, Axum, and Ethiopia).
Agriculture and other developments spread across northern Europe and northern Asia, where semi – civilized peoples developed extensive contacts with older civilizations.
Nomadic societies played a vital role, particularly in central Asia, in linking and occasionally disrupting classical civilizations. Important popular migrations across Eurasia led to the rise of new cultures.
Decline in China and India:
A combination of internal weakness and nomadic invasions led to important changes, first in China, and then in India.
The central Asian nomadic Huns attacked all three classical civilizations.
About 100 C.E., the Han dynasty began a serious decline. Weakened central government, social unrest led by overtaxed peasants, and epidemics were the most prominent sources of decline, combining to make the government unable to stop invading nomads.
However, by 600, China revived, first with the brief Sui dynasty and later (and more gloriously with the Tang.
The decline in India was not a drastic as in China. By 600, Huns destroyed the Gupta Empire. For several centuries, no native Indian led a large state there. Hinduism gained ground as Buddhism, unappealing to the warrior caste, declined.
After 600, Islam entered India and Arab traders took control of Indian Ocean trade routes. What survived was Hinduism (Islam never gained adherence from a majority of the population) and the caste system.
Decline and Fall in Rome:
Decline in Rome was particularly complex. Although its causes have been much debated, certain issues may have contributed; population declined, leadership faltered, the economy flagged, tax collection became more difficult, a series of plagues swept the empire, and a sense of despondency pervaded much of the citizenry.
When Germanic tribes invaded in the 400’s there was little power or will to resist.
Developments also varied between the eastern and western portions of the Empire, as the Mediterranean world fell apart. The eastern, or Byzantine Empire, continued for another 1,000 years after the western empire collapsed.
The New Religious Map:
The period of classical decline saw the rapid expansion of Buddhism and Christianity. This religious change had wider cultural, social, and political implications.
Later, Islam appeared, and spread, following the previous spread of Hinduism across south and southeast Asia.
The World Around 500 C.E.:
Developments around 500 C.E. produced three major themes for world history in subsequent periods.
First, there was a collapse of classical civilizations. Societies across Eurasia faced the task of reviving or reworking their key institutions and values after decline and invasion.
Second, new religions arose and older ones spread. These would form the basis of future civilizations.
Finally, new developments across the globe, whether through indigenous developments or contacts with older centers led to the rise of the new civilization.
Key Term
Chapter 5, Quiz Questions
1) The first kingdoms in eastern Africa below the Sahara showed the influence of
A) Egypt and Hellenism.
B) Rome and Phoenicia.
C) Indian merchants and missionaries.
D) the flight of Jews from Israel.
E) Persia.
2) The end of the Gupta Empire differed from the decline of Rome in that it did not involve
A) a change in political institutions.
B) outside invasions such as the Huns and others.
C) the introduction of a new religion for the majority.
D) the weakening of central government.
E) big cultural changes.
3) Which of the following best survived the Hun invasions in India?
A) Hindu beliefs
B) Political unity
C) Nationalist beliefs
D) Buddhist beliefs
E) Aryan traditions
4) Events in late Han China and the late Roman Empire show that the decline of a civilization, whether temporary or permanent,
A) is not simply the result of attack by outside invaders.
B) follows inevitably from centralized, unrepresentative government.
C) results from undue dependence on slavery.
D) results from social rebellion in which the poor attack the rich and destroy their institutions.
E) results from a lack of religious conviction.
5) One important early symptom of Rome's decline was
A) the drop in population due to a series of plagues.
B) the use of slave labor.
C) the replacement of republic by empire.
D) the weakness of the eastern portion of the empire compared to the west.
E) acceptance of Christianity.
6) The eastern portion of the Roman Empire experienced less decline than the west for all of the following reasons EXCEPT
A) the east had older traditions of civilization.
B) the east resisted the spread of Christianity.
C) the east faced less pressure from barbarian invasions.
D) the east had more active trade.
E) the east was more wealthy.
7) After 200 C. E., an increasing number of people in Asia, Europe, and North Africa began to adapt faiths characterized by
A) polytheism.
B) monotheism.
C) animism.
D) secularism.
E) ancestor worship.
8) Despite major differences, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism all show interest in
A) strong priesthood.
B) clearly organized church structures.
C) absolute hostility to the worship of religious images and spirits of nature.
D) life after death.
E) polytheism.
9) Everywhere it spread, Buddhism stressed
A) worship of Buddha as a god.
B) a strong church organization.
C) meditation and ethical behavior.
D) the impossibility of attaining nirvana except by multiple reincarnations.
E) the worthlessness of all competing religions.
10) Compared to Hinduism, Christians are more likely to
A) see humans as superior to the rest of nature.
B) believe that women are morally superior to men.
C) approve of sexual pleasure.
D) tolerate other beliefs.
E) be polytheistic.
11) Compared to Hinduism and Buddhism, all of the following constitute distinctive features of late-Roman
Christianity EXCEPT
A) intolerance for competing beliefs.
B) belief in a divine trinity.
C) non-believers cannot join the church.
D) a strong hierarchy of church officials.
E) a strong evangelizing impulse.
12) By 600, looking at the entire world, a good definition of "barbarian" would be
A) someone who fights better than a peasant-soldier.
B) someone who is not Christian.
C) someone who is not part of a civilization.
D) someone who is illiterate.
E) someone who is a knight.
Essay Questions:
The Classical Period: Directions, Diversities, and Declines by 500 C.E.
Explore the differences in the eastern and western portions of the Roman Empire. How did these differences arise? In what ways can it be argued that the Roman Empire survived in the eastern Mediterranean even after it collapsed in the west?
What were the main factors in Rome’s decline? Which do you judge most important? Why?
Why did the results of Han china’s decline differ from those of the Roman Empire’s decline?
Compare the major beliefs and religious organization of Christianity and Buddhism.
Compare the major beliefs and religious organization of Christianity and Hinduism.
Taking into account both Egypt and Kush, what were the main features of civilization in Africa prior to the first century C.E.
.
Chapter 6, The First Global Civilization: The Rise and Spread of Islam
Summary:
In the 7
th century C.E., the Arab followers of Muhammad surged from the Arabian Peninsula to create the first global civilization. They quickly conquered an empire incorporating elements of the classical civilizations of Greece, Egypt, and Persia. Islamic merchants, mystics, and warriors continued its expansion in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The process provided links fro exchange among civilized centers and forged a truly global civilization. Although united in belief of Muhammad’s message, the Islamic world was divided by cultural and political rivalries. The disputes did not undermine the strength of Muslim civilization until the 14
th century.
Key Concepts:
Desert and Town: The Pre – Islamic Arabian World:
Islam appeared first on the Arabian Peninsula, an area occupied by pastoral nomads and on the periphery of the civilized zones.
Much of the peninsula is desert, which supported both goat and camel nomadism among peoples called Bedouin. Sedentary agricultural communities were limited to the far south of the peninsula, and trading towns like Mecca developed along the coasts.
The Bedouin tribal culture of clan loyalty and rivalry provided a critical backdrop for the emergence of Islam. Women enjoyed somewhat greater freedom, art was largely nonexistent, and religion was a blend of animism and polytheism.
The Life of Muhammad and the Genesis of Islam:
In the 7th century C.E., a new religion arose in the Arabian Peninsula. Built on the revelations received by the prophet Muhammad, a trader from Mecca, the new faith won over many camel – herding tribes of the peninsula within decades.
Islam united Arabs and provided an important ethical system. Though initially an Arab religion, Islam’s beliefs and practices (including the five pillars) eventually made it one of the great world religions.
The Arab Empire of the Umayyads:
Although some Bedouin tribes renounced their allegiance to Islam following Muhammad’s death in 632, the Prophet’s followers were able to conduct military campaigns restoring the unity of the Islamic community.
Abu Bakr assumed leadership of the umma (community of the faithful). Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law, was passed over, which would later cause an important rift in the Muslim community.
Once the rebellious tribesmen were brought back into the umma, Muslim armies began to launch attacks on neighboring civilizations outside of Arabia.
Within a short period of time, Arab armies exploited weaknesses in their enemies’ forces and captured Mesopotamia, northern Africa, and Persia. A new dynasty, the Umayyads, ruled this Arabic empire.
The question of succession soon led to the Sunni-Shi’a split.
Umayyad extravagance ultimately led to the empire’s overthrow.
From Arab to Islamic Empire: The Early Abassid Era:
The Abbasid rulers move the Empire’s capital to Baghdad, and lived a life of luxury that alienated many followers.
The Abbasids fully integrated the mawali, or non-Arab Muslims, into the Islamic community.
Merchants and landlords grew in wealth and status. Cities grew, the dhow improved sailing, and slave labor became increasingly important.
Arab learning flowered, as scholars sought to preserve the great works of Greek and Roman civilization.
Key Terms: