Deck 7: Postimperial Worlds: Problems of Empires in Eurasia and Africa, ca. 200 C.E. to ca. 700 C.E.

Question 1

The monsoonal winds that blow in the western Indian Ocean

A) blow irregularly throughout the year, making travel haphazard.
B) regularly blow from the northeast during the winter, but reverse direction during the rest of the year.
C) regularly blow toward the east, making trade with East Asia easy.
D) regularly blow from the southwest during the winter, but reverse direction during the rest of the year.

Answer 1

regularly blow from the northeast during the winter, but reverse direction during the rest of the year.

Question 2

A primary reason that the Persians invaded Greece during the early fifth century B.C.E.was

A) to gain new tributary states.
B) to prove that they could.
C) for religious reasons.
D) to avenge the destruction of Susa.

Answer 2

to gain new tributary states.

Question 3

For trading goods,land routes compared with sea routes were

A) faster.
B) cheaper.
C) relatively safe.
D) better for moving high-value products.

Answer 3

better for moving high-value products.

Question 4

The founder of the Persian Empire was named

A) Xerxes.
B) Cyrus.
C) Artaxerxes.
D) Darius.

Question 5

The rock inscriptions set up by Asoka appear

A) only in southern India.
B) only in northern India.
C) scattered throughout India.
D) primarily in the Krishna Valley.

Question 6

After the conquests of Alexander the Great,the government of the Persian Empire

A) was maintained more or less intact.
B) was changed to a democracy.
C) was changed to a traditional Macedonian monarchy.
D) was transformed into a mix of democracy and monarchy.

Question 7

In the development of the Roman Empire,the Romans treated citizenship as

A) something to be shared even with conquered peoples.
B) only for native Romans.
C) something that was fitting only for peoples who had freely joined them.
D) meaningless because the Roman government was tyrannical.

Question 8

The Persians did all of the following for their subjects EXCEPT:

A) rebuild the Egyptian pyramids
B) build a canal linking the Nile and the Red Sea
C) build fortifications in the Caucasus Mountains
D) rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem

Question 9

Between 500 B.C.E.and 100 C.E.,empires first arose in

A) Europe.
B) China.
C) India.
D) Southwest Asia.

Question 10

Rome's most vulnerable frontiers were

A) to the North, along the Rhine and Danube.
B) to the South in North Africa.
C) on the sea.
D) to the West in Britain.

Question 11

One of the main ways that Roman culture was spread throughout the Mediterranean world was through

A) the popularity of traditional Roman religion.
B) the popularity of Roman pottery.
C) marriage of Roman soldiers to local women and subsequent settlement in areas where they had been stationed.
D) the Romans' requirement that subject peoples to adopt their culture.

Question 12

The state religion of the Persian Empire was

A) Christianity.
B) Judaism.
C) Buddhism.
D) Zoroastrianism.

Question 13

The ancient Celts

A) were considered by the Romans to be an uncivilized people.
B) had a written language, but it was only used for religious purposes.
C) were thought of as cowards and weak by the Romans.
D) became enthusiastic collaborators in the Roman Empire.

Question 14

The earliest written evidence of the Silk Road comes from

A) Herodotus.
B) Zhang Qian.
C) Livy.
D) Indian geographers.

Question 15

During the fifth to fourth centuries B.C.E.,the Greek states were regularly

A) at peace because of Persian influence.
B) divided by the Persians.
C) united against the Persians.
D) at war over who would lead a united campaign against Persia.

Question 16

The expansion of the Roman empire can be attributed to militarism and brutal conquest as well as to which of following practices?

A) imposition of Latin as the language of politics and commerce
B) encouraging collaboration between elites in subject states and by treating them as Romans
C) limiting religion only to deities with a unique Roman past
D) gradually abolishing slavery throughout the empire

Question 17

With the growth and development of trade during the last centuries of the first millennium B.C.E.,

A) large states became too cumbersome to keep up with the change.
B) large states developed on a scale previously unknown.
C) large states developed with little connection to or interest in trade.
D) most states were detrimental to the development of trade.

Question 18

The Romans acquired the Kingdom of Pergamum in 133 B.C.E.by means of

A) conquest.
B) a will.
C) purchase.
D) the defeat of Macedon.

Question 19

One of the stories from the Indian Jatakas describes the piloting of a ship as

A) a godlike gift.
B) useful, but not noble.
C) less useful than leading a caravan.
D) a waste of time.

Question 20

The most common language in the Eastern Mediterranean during the height of Roman rule was

A) Hebrew.
B) Latin.
C) Greek.
D) Persian.

Question 21

A chief characteristic that the Roman and Chinese empires shared was

A) a policy that required all their subjects to follow the same religion.
B) an emphasis on creating a monolingual society.
C) a focus on building roads.
D) a belief in a single god.

Question 22

What was the nature of the sea routes used by traders in Eurasia? What types of goods were traded over these routes? What effects did these routes have on state development?

Question 23

Which of the following was NOT one of the edicts that Asoka decreed?

A) that all must adhere to Buddhism
B) amnesty for criminals
C) laws that concerned the humane treatment of animals
D) condemnation of all rituals

Question 24

The art of Teotihuacán suggests that

A) the rulers of the state were obsessed with the movements of the stars and the planets, especially Mars and Jupiter.
B) the state was confident and secure that the gods would always bless it with abundance.
C) there was a feeling that the gods were unreliable.
D) the people of the city were largely peaceful and primarily interested in trade and commerce.

Question 25

In forming his government,Asoka recruited what group to serve as bureaucrats?

A) the traditional Brahmin elite
B) the rising merchant class
C) the Buddhist clergy
D) the military elite

Question 26

The balance of trade across Eurasia during the axial age was tilted to the advantage of

A) East Asia.
B) Southwest Asia.
C) Europe.
D) Southeast Asia.

Question 27

The reason that Asoka paid his military leaders was

A) to provide them with wealth.
B) to give them a share of booty taken in battle.
C) to keep political power in his own hands.
D) to keep in step with tradition.

Question 28

Examine the structure of the Roman state as it developed during the last half of the first millennium B.C.E.

Question 29

What was the cultural impact of the Persian Empire? On balance,was the rise of the Persian Empire beneficial or detrimental for the various societies they conquered?

Question 30

The basis for the economy of the Xiongnu was

A) pastoralism and raiding.
B) silk production and trade.
C) farming and raiding.
D) pastoralism and silk production.

Question 31

The total population of Teotihuacán at its height was

A) 20,000.
B) 50,000.
C) 100,000.
D) 200,000.

Question 32

At Monte Albán in modern Mexico,evidence of the earliest

A) agriculture in the Americas has been found.
B) bloodletting ceremonies in the Americas has been found.
C) writing in the Americas has been found.
D) complex state in the Americas has been found.

Question 33

How did the Persian Empire arise,and how was it governed?

Question 34

What was the nature of the overland routes across Eurasia? What types of goods were traded over these routes? What effects did these routes have on state development?

Question 35

Which of the following was NOT decreed by the emperor Shi Huangdi?

A) abolition of slavery
B) creation of a uniform writing system
C) making Confucianism the only philosophy
D) standardizing of weights and measures

Question 36

The Arthasastra emphasized Asoka's role as

A) a developer of the economy.
B) a war leader.
C) a religious leader.
D) a heroic defender of the country.

Question 37

All of the following were important legacies of the axial age EXCEPT:

A) the adoption of monotheism.
B) a remarkably durable heritage of ideas.
C) greater trade and exchange of ideas in Eurasia.
D) a fragile group of empires.

Question 38

What event seems to have triggered Asoka's dramatic religious conversion?

A) victory over Kalinga
B) defeat by Bengal
C) conquest of Sri Lanka
D) vision after recovery from illness

Question 39

How and why did states tap into the wealth that traveled along both land and sea routes?

Question 40

During the period of the Han dynasty,the population of China

A) doubled in size, but continued to be concentrated along the banks of the Yellow River.
B) remained relatively constant and gradually expanded to different regions of the growing empire.
C) decreased in size because of famine, warfare, and disease.
D) tripled in size and was often forced to migrate to different places in an expanding empire.

Question 41

Beyond conquest and military power,what elements of Persian rule enabled its leaders to build such a vast and successful empire? Discuss the role of diplomacy,politics,and trade in sustaining the Persian empire.

Question 42

What were shared characteristics of the early large states of Mesoamerica?

Question 43

What role did the Buddhist clergy play in Asoka's empire?

Question 44

What effects did the axial age have on political and economic development? Provide at least two examples.

Question 45

What were the main characteristics of the axial age in terms of philosophy and religion? Provide at least two examples.

Question 46

How did Rome interact with its neighbors during the last half of the first millennium B.C.E.?

Question 47

To what extent can the size and longevity of the Roman Empire be attributed to military,social,and cultural practices that differed from those used by the Persians or the Han Chinese to extend their empires?

Question 48

How do the structure and philosophy of Asoka's empire compare to those of the Roman Empire?

Question 49

What effect did the acquisition of an empire have on the Roman republican form of government?

Question 50

How does the governmental structure of Shi Huangdi's China compare to those of Asoka's empire and the Roman Empire?
In Perspective

Question 51

Beyond the great Eurasian empires,other states and societies thrived.Can they justifiably be called "empires"? Why or why not?

Question 52

How did Asoka convert to Buddhism? What role did his conversion play in the way he ruled his empire?

Question 53

How did Shi Huangdi unite China into an imperial state?