Deck 8: An Age of Giant Empires, 300 B.C.E -300 C.E

Question 1

In historical terms, the Mediterranean Sea can best be described as a

A) barrier to trade and communication.
B) consistent conduit of trade and communication.
C) body of water only relevant to the emerging states of Europe.
D) minor body of water, primarily used for fishing and leisure trips.

Answer 1

consistent conduit of trade and communication.

Question 2

The ancient form of Latin spoken by early Romans belonged to which language family?

A) Semitic
B) Dravidian
C) Persian
D) Italic

Answer 2

Italic

Question 3

Which of the following cultures most significantly influenced early Rome?

A) Etruscan and Greek
B) Egyptian and Nubian
C) Phoenician and Greek
D) Achaemenid and Egyptian

Answer 3

Etruscan and Greek

Question 4

The term patrician refers to which of the following?

A) Rome's class of poorer citizens
B) Rome's priestly class
C) Rome's aristocratic class
D) Rome's slave class

Question 5

Which of the following best describes the status of Rome's plebeian class from the fifth to second centuries B.C.E.?

A) The plebeians had no legal rights and were entirely subject to the whims of the patricians, who often abused their authority.
B) The plebeians held the majority of the power in society and succeeded in subjugating the patrician class.
C) Social tensions between plebeians and patricians often ran high, and the two groups constantly struggled for the upper hand in Roman society.
D) The plebeians succeeded in obtaining a great deal of legal equality within Roman society and participated in public affairs and elective bodies.

Question 6

Roman republicanism can best be defined as a political system in which

A) all adult men and women were permitted the right to vote.
B) adult men elected a single leader for life.
C) only certain male citizens were permitted the right to participate in civic elections and public affairs.
D) all adult males were permitted the right to vote, while only certain women were able to participate in elections.

Question 7

Which of the following was NOT a right of Roman women?

A) the right to make wills
B) the right to serve as an elected official
C) the right to sue for divorce
D) the right to buy and sell property

Question 8

Which of the following terms best describes the character of Roman rule?

A) oligarchy
B) monarchy
C) democracy
D) matriarchy

Question 9

Which of the following best summarizes Rome's patron-client system?

A) a system in which wealthy patricians fostered the education and training of promising artisans and scholars from the poorer classes
B) a system in which wealthier aristocrats provided poorer Romans with services and other favors in exchange for votes and other support in public affairs
C) a system in which wealthy Romans hired poorer artisans for life, in essence turning them into a type of pseudo-slave
D) a system in which foreign subjects living in Rome might obtain citizenship by providing labor at little cost to wealthy Romans

Question 10

Rome's army most closely resembled the army of which other territory?

A) Egypt
B) the Achaemenid empire
C) the Greek city-states
D) the Etruscans

Question 11

The Punic Wars led to which of the following?

A) the defeat of Rome by the Phoenicians
B) the defeat of Rome by the Greeks
C) the incorporation of the Greek city-states into the Roman empire
D) the incorporation of Sicily, Iberia, and parts of North Africa into the Roman empire

Question 12

One consequence of Rome's rapid expansion was

A) greater rights for women as more and more men left home to fight in Roman wars.
B) the destabilization of Rome's republican rule and the emergence of professional soldiers.
C) the freeing of large numbers of slaves so that they might contribute to Rome's war efforts.
D) a mass desertion of Rome's cities for the countryside when food became scarce.

Question 13

The rise of latifundia or large Roman estates led to which of the following?

A) slave rebellions that drew heavily on Roman resources
B) a sharp rise in Rome's agricultural output
C) an increase in the power of the mainly female population that ran the estates
D) a decrease in Rome's agricultural output, as the estates proved difficult to manage

Question 14

Which of the following rulers began Rome's Principate era?

A) Julius Caesar
B) Augustus
C) Mark Anthony
D) Pompey

Question 15

The Pax Romana refers to which of the following?

A) the pact signed between Rome and the Greek city-states following Augustus's rise to power
B) the time of civil unrest preceding Augustus's rise to power
C) the era of relative peace following Augustus's rise to power
D) the era in which republicanism rose again, following Augustus's rise to power

Question 16

Which of the following best describes the absorption of non-Roman populations into the Roman empire?

A) Most non-Roman populations welcomed Roman rule and willingly assimilated into Roman society.
B) Rather than use violent coercion, Romans employed tax and land incentives to entice new populations into the Roman empire.
C) Romans were extremely lenient regarding newly acquired peoples and introduced them to Roman rules and customs very gradually.
D) Romans often encountered a great deal of resistance from non-Roman populations and suppressed rebellions throughout the empire on a regular basis.

Question 17

The actions of Boudica tell us what about Roman rule?

A) Romans faced fierce opposition in conquering and maintaining control of non-Roman populations.
B) Rather than oppressing newly incorporated populations, Romans attempted to gain favor with non-Roman peoples.
C) Women played an insignificant role in public affairs under Roman rule.
D) The British were one of the few peoples to offer no resistance to Roman rule.

Question 18

One consequence of Roman imperial rule was that

A) cities declined rapidly, as individuals fled to the countryside to avoid Roman soldiers and officials.
B) Rome's republican origins began to reemerge and slowly replaced the Principate.
C) cities burgeoned throughout the empire, as Roman officials sought to centrally govern newly acquired territories.
D) Romans destroyed many cities in their efforts to subdue regional powers.

Question 19

All of the following are examples of Romanization EXCEPT the

A) adoption of Latin by local elites.
B) worship of local Celtic gods.
C) emulation of Roman architecture in Gaul.
D) acquisition of Roman-style dress by chiefs along the Danube.

Question 20

The Great Wall of China originated under the rule of which of the following dynasties?

A) the Zhou
B) the Shang
C) the Han
D) the Qin

Question 21

The Chinese philosophy of Legalism, adopted by the Qin dynasty, maintains that

A) the king is above the law.
B) humans are inherently good and only require some assistance from their rulers to steer them in the right direction.
C) humans are inherently corrupt and require laws to organize and rule them.
D) humans are inherently corrupt, and any laws they create are flawed.

Question 22

Which of the following was NOT a consequence of Legalist thought in China?

A) the switch from a logographic system of writing to an alphabet
B) the standardization of weights and measures
C) the standardization of coin
D) the standardization of the Chinese writing system

Question 23

Confucianism gained prominence during which dynastic reign?

A) the Zhou
B) the Qin
C) the Han
D) the Shang

Question 24

Confucianism can best be described as which of the following?

A) a religion
B) a path to moral and ethical enlightenment
C) a literary movement
D) a system of political rule

Question 25

According to Confucian thought, women

A) are equal with men.
B) deserve less respect than men.
C) deserve respect, but are largely subject to men.
D) are only valuable as wives and mothers.

Question 26

One important difference between the Roman and Han empires was that

A) Rome relied on an extensive bureaucracy, while the Han relied mostly on hierarchies of personal ties and loyalties.
B) women in the Han empire were able to obtain far more authority and privileges than in the Roman empire.
C) the Han bureaucracy was far smaller and less organized than the Roman central state.
D) the Han employed an extensive army of bureaucrats to rule, while the Romans relied heavily on patron-client relationships to carry out imperial expansion.

Question 27

One important difference between Daoist and Confucian thought is that

A) Daoists believed in strict adherence to rules of social order, while Confucians rejected notions of social divisions.
B) Daoists sought truth in retreating from the everyday realities of the world, while Confucians sought truth by engaging with everyday circumstances.
C) Confucians rejected the idea of universal truths, while Daoists embraced them.
D) Confucians encouraged meditation, while Daoists viewed meditation as a useless and unworthy endeavor.

Question 28

One important innovation of the Han dynasty was

A) the cast iron plow.
B) the chariot.
C) iron metallurgy.
D) infantry.

Question 29

The term Sinification refers to which of the following?

A) the process by which Chinese rulers adopted Roman customs to emulate Roman imperial success
B) the process by which Chinese merchants joined the ranks of the aristocracy
C) the process by which Chinese culture and customs spread as the Han expanded their empire
D) the process by which Confucianism came to replace Daoism

Question 30

The Xiongnu Confederation grew out of which of the following?

A) a group of nomadic merchants
B) pastoral nomads
C) bands of foraging communities
D) small farming settlements

Question 31

Which of the following best describes Parthian rule?

A) The Parthians ran a highly centralized bureaucracy in which representatives of the Parthian king were sent throughout the empire.
B) The Parthian king was highly autocratic and attempted to rule all aspects of his realm directly.
C) The Parthian government was highly decentralized and relied heavily on the support of local aristocrats and leaders.
D) The Parthian empire was a type of semi-theocracy in which religious leaders served the king while carrying out their priestly duties.

Question 32

The Parthians favored which cultural style?

A) Greek
B) Egyptian
C) Achaemenid
D) Roman

Question 33

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the Romans and the Parthians?

A) After an initial violent conflict, the Romans and Parthians forged a lasting peace.
B) Impressed with Parthian victories in the Aegean, aristocratic Romans began to emulate and adopt Parthian modes of dress and culture.
C) Geographically distant, the Romans and Parthians only dealt with one another on a diplomatic and trade level.
D) After an initial violent conflict, the Romans and Parthians continually battled one another for hundreds of years.

Question 34

Most of our knowledge regarding the Kushana state is derived from which of the following sources?

A) historical treatises written by Kushana scholars
B) gold and silver coins
C) tablets containing the legal code of Kushana
D) tales of Kushana transmitted by nomadic merchants

Question 35

One major industry of the Kush empire was

A) horse breeding.
B) the manufacture of silk products.
C) iron smelting.
D) pottery.

Question 36

Trade between Rome and Kush led to which of the following?

A) the adoption of some types of Hellenistic culture into Kush society
B) the adoption of the Roman alphabet by Kush's ruling elite
C) an increase in power for Roman women, after the Kush model
D) the eventual conquering of Kush by Roman soldiers

Question 37

The kingdom of Axum was located in which modern-day states?

A) Egypt and Iraq
B) Turkey and Syria
C) Sudan and Egypt
D) Ethiopia and Eritrea

Question 38

The term periplus refers to which of the following?

A) a type of ancient guidebook used by elites and diplomats who could afford to travel from region to region
B) a type of handbook used by ancient sailors marking distances between important trade ports and noting important landmarks and commodities for sale
C) an unofficial legal code used by sailors when not in their home territories
D) a highly detailed map drawn up by ancient cartographers and used by wealthy merchants

Question 39

Which of the following is one important consequence of the move from state-sponsored to private trade at the end of the first millennium B.C.E.?

A) Merchants no longer sold luxury goods across long distances, preferring to make their profits by smaller but more frequent sales of cheaper goods.
B) Rulers lost interest in building up the infrastructures of their territories, since they no longer profited directly from the actions of merchants.
C) In addition to luxury goods, which continued as an important part of long-distance trade, merchants began to transport and sell cheaper goods to a larger variety of people.
D) Pirates gained considerable strength as merchants lost the protection of strong rulers.

Question 40

Which of the following best describes the relationship between state building and trade at the end of the first millennium B.C.E.?

A) Private merchants found it increasingly difficult to compete with the wealth of powerful rulers and aristocrats.
B) The military campaigns of large states often interrupted trade for long stretches of time.
C) The rulers of large states often interfered with the trade of merchants, dictating what and where they could sell their goods.
D) As states grew, merchants often found better systems of roads and communication, which facilitated trade.

Question 41

East-west trade throughout Afroeurasia was achieved through which of the following?

A) systems of relay in which merchants remained in a relatively fixed territory and sold their goods to other merchants in neighboring regions
B) a system in which groups of nomadic merchants traveled great distances to sell their goods
C) a system in which many soldiers also engaged in trade, as they were some of the most well-traveled members of society
D) a system in which rulers appointed trusted merchants to carry luxury goods and obtain large profits for the royal court

Question 42

Technological innovations of the first millennium C.E. led to which of the following?

A) vehicles that could more easily traverse the silk road
B) an increase in the availability of books due to cheaper and more durable paper
C) increased trade due to improved sea vessels more capable of navigating monsoon winds
D) sea vessels that could withstand attacks from iron weaponry

Question 43

The presence in Roman markets of spices originating from Indonesia during the first century C.E. suggests which of the following?

A) Indonesian spices were readily available and easy to store and transport.
B) Despite the great distances of Afroeurasia's trade routes, a well-developed network of trade flourished in the face of technological limitations.
C) Romans had a strong preference for the spices of Southeast Asia and went to great lengths to obtain them.
D) Though originating from the islands of Indonesia, Romans were successful in planting and harvesting several spices and herbs from eastern lands.

Question 44

The term sericulture refers to which of the following?

A) the attempt to grow plants from distant lands in exotic soils
B) the specific culture adopted by Roman merchants
C) a technique for making pottery developed by the Kushana people
D) the technique of making silk from the cocoons of silk worms

Question 45

A universalist religion can best be defined as which of the following?

A) a religion that seeks to destroy class barriers between peoples
B) a religion whose values and beliefs are broad enough not to interfere with already established local religions
C) a religion that spreads among many groups of people from different ethnicities and social classes
D) a religion that seeks to unify the different peoples of the world into a single culture

Question 46

Buddhist sacred texts are known as

A) sutras.
B) the testament of Buddha.
C) the Gospels of Buddha.
D) the Upanishads.

Question 47

Which of the following is NOT a belief of Mahayana Buddhism?

A) The Buddha is a personal savior.
B) No one can be aided on their path to nirvana.
C) Compassion should be celebrated as a cardinal virtue of Buddhism.
D) People could achieve nirvana without taking up a monastic life.

Question 48

Christianity grew out of which religion?

A) Zoroastrianism
B) Buddhism
C) Brahmanism
D) Judaism

Question 49

Most of what we know of Jesus' life is derived from

A) the Old Testament.
B) the Gospels.
C) a lengthy treatise written by Jesus before his execution.
D) accounts left by Jewish scholars who opposed Jesus' teachings.

Question 50

Which of the following best explains Christianity's success?

A) Christianity offered wealth to all of its followers.
B) Early Christians were fierce warriors who spread their religion through violence and conquest.
C) Christianity did not discriminate along social or class lines and promised salvation to the rich as well as to the poor.
D) Christianity offered escape from persecution by Roman authorities.

Question 51

Describe the structure of Roman society. How was Rome governed? Discuss the relationship between richer and poorer classes in Roman society. What rights did women in Roman society possess, and how did women exert influence in matters of state?

Question 52

Explain Rome's transition from a republic to an autocracy. How and why did this transformation occur? How were the rights of Roman citizens affected by this shift?

Question 53

Explore the rise of the Han dynasty in China. How did the Han rule, and how did they structure society? Discuss the role that Confucianism played in Han society in general and in the Han government in particular.

Question 54

Compare and contrast the rise of the Roman and Han empires. In which important ways were these two empires similar, and how did they differ? Consider the rule of law, the relationship between ruler and subject, and issues of culture and trade.

Question 55

Examine the relationship between state building and trade at the end of the first millennium B.C.E. and the beginning of the first few centuries C.E. How did the rise of large states affect trade during this era? What role did merchants play in the large empires of this time period, and how did trade change as a result?

Question 56

Describe the role of universal religions discussed in this chapter. Why are Buddhism and Christianity classified as universal religions? How did these religions spread, and why did they achieve so much success in the first few centuries of the Common Era?

Question 57

Explain how the rise of large states throughout Afroeurasia contributed to cultural uniformity as well as cultural diversity. Provide examples of how empires sought to unify their territories and how they also drew upon local differences to maintain rule.