Deck 7: Innovation and Adaptation in Western Eurasia: Persia, Greece, and Rome, 550 B.C.E-600 C.E

Question 1

Provincial governors appointed by the Persian king were called:

A) Shahinshahs
B) Satraps
C) Pukhru
D) Nadirs

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The Library of Alexandria:

A) Was devoted primarily to research in the mathematical and natural sciences.
B) Was patronized by the Antigonids.
C) Was established by Aristotle, in order to facilitate his tutoring of Alexander.
D) Contained no religious literature.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The state of Parthia became a major power in the second century BCE for all the following reasons EXCEPT:

A) The Seleucids were distracted by conflicts on their western front with Ptolemaic Egypt.
B) The Parthians recognized Seleucid overlordship while also expanding their power.
C) The Wudi emperor of China threatened to attack the Seleucid territory of Bactria.
D) The Seleucids were reduced to a small rump kingdom after the Parthian conquest of Iran and Mesopotamia.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

All of the following is true of the Christian population of Rome at the beginning of Constantine's rule EXCEPT:

A) It constituted about 10 percent of the empire's total inhabitants.
B) It was growing, despite periodic persecution.
C) Its religious beliefs had been evolving for nearly three centuries.
D) It lacked a common doctrinal platform, in the form of a "creed".

Question 5

The long-range implications of Alexander's conquests included all of the below EXCEPT:

A) The spread of Greek culture into central Asia and India.
B) The migration of about a million Greeks to the areas that comprised the empire.
C) Long-lasting, stable political systems across the region.
D) The institution of successor states in Egypt and Southwest Asia.

Question 6

Immediately after repelling the Persian armies, the Greek city-states:

A) Launched an invasion of the Persian empire.
B) Were divided by rivalries and resentments between Sparta and Athens.
C) Were threatened by a strong navy built by Sparta with Persian assistance.
D) Decided to put aside their rivalries and form a permanent alliance.

Question 7

The Greek city-states were targets of Persian imperialism largely because:

A) They blocked Persian access to the Mediterranean Sea.
B) They seemed to be lacking in the maritime skill necessary to defend against a water-based invasion.
C) Athens's support of rebels in Anatolia attracted Persian attention.
D) Persians feared the military expertise of Spartan armies.

Question 8

The Roman Peace on the borders was rarely disrupted during the first two centuries following Augustus, but problems did occur:

A) Primarily on the northern border, where the kingdom of Meroë was in the ascendancy.
B) Primarily on the eastern border, where it was adjacent to Parthia.
C) Mainly along the southern border, where Arabian nomads were pressing.
D) Largely on the western border, where Viking ships were making raids on the British Isles and Iberian Peninsula.

Question 9

The administrative language of the Achaemenid Empire was:

A) Farsi
B) Aramaic
C) Hebrew
D) Elamite

Question 10

Foot soldiers in Greek armies were called:

A) Satraps
B) Helots
C) Argives
D) Hoplites

Question 11

Romans began unifying the Italian peninsula under their control:

A) In the fourth century BCE.
B) About 2000 BCE.
C) Around the early eighth century BCE.
D) Immediately after the Etruscans had migrated into the area.

Question 12

Constitutional reformers in Athens:

A) Were inspired by the writings of Socrates.
B) Included Solon and Cleisthenes.
C) Abolished slavery.
D) Instituted common ownership of agricultural lands.

Question 13

All of the following constituted bonds between Greek cities EXCEPT:

A) A common religious and literary culture.
B) A common system of coinage.
C) Participation in activities such as the Olympic Games.
D) Patronage of oracles affiliated with temples in neutral zones.

Question 14

All of the following were true of the Persians EXCEPT:

A) They originated as agrarian villagers and nomadic herders during the Bronze Age.
B) They had limited success in their efforts to move southward until they
C) The earliest homeland we can identify was in Central Asia south of the Ural Mountains.
D) By the middle of the second millennium BCE, they had reached the Aral Sea region.

Question 15

All of the following were true of Sparta EXCEPT:

A) Little boys were taken from home at age seven and entered military camps.
B) Married soldiers were expected to leave their families at home and report for duty with one hour's notice.
C) Women were expected to be fully indoctrinated in the Spartan military ethic.
D) Sparta's economic system was based on slave labor.

Question 16

The Persian state that re-formed about a century after Alexander's death was:

A) Parthia
B) Bactria
C) Ptolemaic Egypt
D) Attalid Asia Minor

Question 17

All of the following made it easier for the Achaemenid Empire to expand, EXCEPT:

A) A chain of police and army posts.
B) A series of roadways connecting Persia with other parts of its empire.
C) Scribes who could communicate in a common language.
D) A requirement that all taxes be paid in officially minted coins.

Question 18

The Achaemenid Persian Empire:

A) Contained approximately 35 million inhabitants at its largest.
B) Included approximately 70 ethnic groups.
C) Imposed Zoroastrianism on all conquered territories.
D) Executed all male members of ruling families in areas it conquered in order to lessen the chance of rebellion.

Question 19

All of the following were true of Macedonia EXCEPT:

A) The people of the Greek city-states considered them to be barbarians.
B) They had not developed a strong urban culture.
C) They did not have the sophistication to develop a strong military presence.
D) They spoke a dialect of Greek.

Question 20

All of the following were true of Augustine EXCEPT:

A) Many scholars consider him the most versatile intellectually of the Church Fathers.
B) He wrote Confessions and The City of God.
C) He died in the Great Persecution of the Christians in 305 CE.
D) He was from North Africa.

Question 21

According to one common interpretation, the underlying cause of the quarrel between Alexander the Great and one of his leading commanders, Cleitus, was that:

A) The two men were vying for the attentions of the same woman.
B) Cleitus had implied that Alexander was becoming Persian in his approach to ruling rather than carrying on the Macedonian/Greek traditions.
C) Cleitus was afraid that Alexander was becoming as violent and corrupt as his father, Philip II, had been.
D) Cleitus was trying to gather support to topple Alexander and seize royal power himself.

Question 22

The war between Macedonia and Persia began because:

A) Philip declared war on Persia in revenge for an act by Persia a century years earlier.
B) Alexander the Great was a military genius and realized he could enrich Macedonia at the Persians' expense.
C) The Macedonians were in a state of famine and launched an invasion in the attempt to acquire good agricultural lands.
D) There was wide suspicion that Alexander had murdered his father, and Alexander realized that he would not be tried for the crime during a time of war.

Question 23

From the spread of bubonic plague between Africa, Asia, and Europe during the mid-sixth century of the common era, scholars have gained insight into all of the following EXCEPT:

A) The interconnectedness of various parts of Eurasia and Africa toward the middle of the 500s CE.
B) The possible impact of changes in weather.
C) Worldwide patterns of disease outbreaks.
D) The speed with which populations recover from devastating plagues very quickly, generally within 40 years.

Question 24

Although aspects of the stories told about the murder of Cleitus vary, they point to the concern that Alexander the Great ______________.

A) Had not conquered as much territory as his father Philip II had.
B) Was insufficiently fluent in the Persians' language.
C) Was beginning to show signs of senility, given his advanced age.
D) Was losing touch with his Greek identity and becoming too "Persian".

Question 25

Within a little more than a decade, Cyrus II the Great had defeated the most important powers of the period and had unified all of the Middle East except ___________, which Persia conquered a little later in 525 BCE.

A) Egypt
B) Babylon
C) Judea
D) Phoenicia

Question 26

Around 500 BCE, the Persian empire had become integrated enough that the kings could _______.

A) Eliminate tributes and taxes for most of its conquered peoples.
B) Send delegations of athletes to the Greek Olympic Games.
C) Replace indigenous rulers with their own governors from the Persian aristocracy.
D) Begin pulling back from an expansionist foreign policy.

Question 27

The Persians' "royal roads" were intended primarily for ___________.

A) Increased efficiency of transporting merchandise.
B) Providing work for Persian engineers recruited from Bactria.
C) Intimidating the Greek city-states on the empire's periphery.
D) Quick troop movements across the empire.

Question 28

In 508 BCE, ________________ brought about further constitutional reforms in Athens, increasing the powers of the citizen assembly and vesting executive power in a board of 10 elected "generals".

A) Solon
B) Cleisthenes
C) Pericles
D) Philip II

Question 29

The Spartans' enslaved population, the helots, were:

A) The descendants of people conquered in Sparta's early history and tied to the land in perpetuity.
B) Usually able to buy themselves and their families out of slavery within three generations.
C) Exclusively non-Greeks who aroused little sympathy in other parts of the Greek world.
D) A small minority of the total population of the southern Peloponnesus.

Question 30

Among the indications of Hellenic culture found at Ai-Khanoum in Afghanistan in the 1970s were all of the following except:

A) A Greek-style theater
B) A gymnasium
C) Various Greek temples
D) A bronze map of Greece with Athens marked on it

Question 31

In the Isthmus Declaration of 196 BCE, the Romans proclaimed that the Greeks were ____________.

A) Now expected to worship Roman gods, and not Greek ones any longer.
B) No longer allowed to hold athletic contests like the Olympic Games.
C) To be "free" and governed by their own laws.
D) Not worth the effort of conquering them.

Question 32

The Spartacus revolt of 73-71 BCE ______________.

A) Resulted in the abolition of slavery in the Roman empire.
B) Held the Roman army in check for three years before it succeeded in defeating him.
C) Ended when the slaves found themselves on Mount Vesuvius while it was erupting.
D) Is documented in the memoirs of Spartacus himself.

Question 33

The victor in the civil war among the members of the "Second Triumvirate" was:

A) Marcus Junius Brutus
B) Julius Caesar
C) Marc Antony
D) Octavian/Augustus

Question 34

Rome came close to destroying Parthia when it succeeded in occupying __________ for a short time in 112-117 CE.

A) Mesopotamia
B) Britain
C) Dacia
D) Bithynia-Pontus

Question 35

The Persian emperor Shapur II made Zoroastrianism _____________ around 350 CE.

A) The only official religion in Persia
B) An outlawed religion in Persia
C) The preferred religion of Persia
D) A religion practiced in total silence

Question 36

The Plague of Justinian provides evidence of all the following except:

A) The interconnectedness of parts of Eurasia and Africa around the middle of the 500s CE.
B) The sophistication of ancient medicine to diagnose the causes of the disease and treat it properly.
C) The impact of climate change as the earth's temperature declined and disease spread more readily.
D) The impact of increased labor costs and food shortages on economies in various parts of Eurasia.

Question 37

Khosrow I seized power and had the ____________ Mazdak executed in the mid-sixth century CE.

A) Christian philosopher and mathematician
B) Constantinople-born agent of Justinian
C) Most prominent member of the small military landowners, or "dihqans"
D) Renegade Zoroastrian priest and social reformer

Question 38

A small but determined group of Jewish monotheists returned to Jerusalem to construct the Second Temple, which was completed by ______________.

A) 586 BCE
B) 886 BCE
C) 515 BCE
D) 15 CE

Question 39

The Avestan "saoshyant" was described as the ________________.

A) Destroyer of the infidels in an apocalyptic world battle.
B) Savior who will restore the world and bring immortality in his wake.
C) Purifier of the Persian race and eliminator of "impure" elements among them.
D) Progenitor of Islam.

Question 40

Euclid provided _________ with its basic definitions and proofs in his Elements.

A) Geometry
B) Chemistry
C) Astronomy
D) Algebra

Question 41

The Theogony of _________ is devoted to telling the stories of some 300 divinities descended from Chaos and Gaia.

A) Homer
B) Hesiod
C) Aristophanes
D) Virgil

Question 42

Married Athenian women were:

A) Unimpeded if they wished to go to the agora, so long as they kept their heads veiled.
B) Able to perform as actors in tragedies, such as in Euripides' Medea.
C) Able to regulate their husbands' sexual behavior by publicly shaming pornai.
D) Under the constant control of a guardian, either their husbands or their nearest male relatives.

Question 43

The philosopher ____________ extended the metaphor of male "superiority" to females to social relations uniting all mankind.

A) Augustine
B) Aristotle
C) Socrates
D) Archimedes

Question 44

The Persians migrated sometime before the 800s BCE from the Aral Sea region to the southwestern Iranian province of __________, from which the name "Persia" is derived.

A) Pers
B) Part
C) Fars
D) Parasang

Question 45

The head of one vassal family, ________ of the Achaemenids, assumed the crown of the Persians in 550 BCE and embarked on an ambitious imperial program.

A) Cyrus II
B) Cambyses
C) Darius I
D) Xerxes I

Question 46

Persian ___________ were horsemen with protective armor consisting of iron scales sewn on leather shirts.

A) Immortals
B) Cataphracts
C) Hoplites
D) Satraps

Question 47

Hoplites fought shoulder to shoulder in closed ranks called ___________.

A) Legions
B) Lydians
C) Helots
D) Phalanxes

Question 48

Officially, the Achaemenid ruler called himself "shahinshah", meaning ________.

A) Beloved of Ahuramazda
B) The Royal Road
C) King of Kings
D) The Chosen One

Question 49

Greeks could consult with priests and priestesses to determine the will of the gods in broad-based institutions called _________.

A) Oracles
B) Olympic Games
C) Poleis
D) Cleisthenes

Question 50

A united Greek force (or at least 31 individual city-states) defeated the Persians in a series of battles, including a sea-battle at _____________ in 480 BCE.

A) Thermopylae
B) Marathon
C) Plataea
D) Salamis

Question 51

Altogether, about 1 million Greeks emigrated during the 200s BCE to the Middle East, assimilating to the local populations of 20 million and imprinting their ___________ (Greek-influenced) culture on urban life.

A) Hellenic
B) Hellenistic
C) Panhellenic
D) Helicon

Question 52

Around 500 BCE, the Romans created a republic, derived from the Latin for _________, or a state without a king.

A) Representative democracy
B) Public matter
C) People power
D) Reputation

Question 53

In the second century BCE, ruling-class members of Roman society established vast plantation estates on which enslaved war captives grew cash crops such as __________.

A) Tomatoes and nuts
B) Corn and beans
C) Wheat and olives
D) Olive oil and wine

Question 54

The Roman Peace (__________) clearly rested more on the projection of military might than on a civilian administration, as in Han China.

A) Mariana romana
B) Limes romanus
C) Solitudo romana
D) Pax romana

Question 55

At the beginning of the reign of Emperor Constantine I (r. 306-337 CE), Christianity's adherents numbered about ____ percent of the Roman population.

A) Ten
B) Fifty
C) Twenty
D) Seventy-five

Question 56

A result of the Council of _______, convened by Constantine in 325 CE, was a Creed concerning "correct belief" about the divinity of Jesus.

A) Chalcedon
B) Constantinople
C) Nicaea
D) Alexandria

Question 57

The Plague of Justinian first broke out in the Roman Empire around _______.

A) 168 CE
B) 541 CE
C) 430 BCE
D) 251 CE

Question 58

Remarkably, the discovery of ____________, a realm of reality beyond the limits of material experience, occurred more or less simultaneously in Mesopotamia, Iran, and Anatolia around the 600s BCE.

A) Shamanism
B) Dreamtime
C) Asceticism
D) Transcendence

Question 59

The themes of a Savior (or Messiah) and of an apocalypse, Greek for "__________", are trademarks of Zoroastrian monotheism and would later become central to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

A) Revelation
B) Rapture
C) Suffering
D) End times

Question 60

In the second half of the 200s BCE, Jewish prayer houses called ___________ emerged in cities and towns for the study of the scriptures and of the new Jewish law.

A) Diaspora
B) Ashrams
C) Synagogues
D) Symposia

Question 61

In his work The City of God, ____________ defends Christianity against the accusation by many Romans that its adoption as the state religion in the fourth century CE had contributed to the decline of the empire.

A) Origen
B) Augustine
C) Paul
D) Jerome

Question 62

Hypatia (c. 360-415 CE) was the daughter of Theon, the head librarian at ______________, as well as the first known female scientist in world history.

A) Rome
B) Constantinople
C) Athens
D) Alexandria

Question 63

The ___________ in Rome, a temple dedicated to all the Roman gods, consists of a dome placed on top of a drum and lit by a round open skylight at its apex.

A) Mausoleum of Hadrian
B) Pantheon
C) Colosseum
D) Ara Pacis