Deck 5: The Empires of Persia

Question 1

The leader of the Lydians who fell to Cyrus was

A)Cambyses.
B)Miltiades.
C)Astyages.
D)Croesus.
E)Darius.

Answer 1

Croesus.

Question 2

Satrapies were

A)Mesopotamian kings.
B)Egyptian administrators.
C)Persian administrative and taxation districts.
D)demons of the Lydian underworld.
E)Arabian merchants.

Answer 2

Persian administrative and taxation districts.

Question 3

The qanat were

A)Persian underground canals.
B)Persian oral historians.
C)the religious texts of the Zoroastrians.
D)the priestly class of the Persians.
E)the parables of Zarathustra.

Answer 3

Persian underground canals.

Question 4

Which of the following was true of Persian emperor Xerxes?

A)He ruled over the least violent period of the Achaemenid empire.
B)He showed extreme toleration for subject peoples.
C)He tried to impose Persian values on Mesopotamia and Egypt.
D)He harshly repressed rebellions and was seen as cruel.
E)He sought to prevent his successor,Darius,from damaging his legacy.

Question 5

Darius picked up the idea of a standardized government-issued coinage from the

A)Babylonians.
B)Egyptians.
C)Lydians.
D)Indians.
E)Chinese.

Question 6

Which of the following lists of Persian empires is listed in correct chronological order,from earliest to latest?

A)Achaemenids,Sasanids,Seleucids,Parthians
B)Parthians,Achaemenids,Seleucids,Sasanids
C)Sasanids,Parthians,Seleucids,Achaemenids
D)Achaemenids,Seleucids,Parthians,Sasanids
E)Sasanids,Seleucids,Parthians,Achaemenids

Question 7

The king who failed to follow the normal Persian governing policy of toleration was

A)Darius.
B)Xerxes.
C)Cambyses.
D)Cyrus.
E)Hammurabi.

Question 8

Pasargadae was

A)the last great Persian emperor.
B)a nomadic tribe from the north that provided a constant threat to Persian survival.
C)the location of the greatest Persian military defeat.
D)the capital of the Persian empire before Persepolis.
E)the most important Persian religious prophet.

Question 9

The Persian law system under Darius sought to

A)codify the laws of the subject peoples where possible.
B)abolish the laws of individual lands.
C)impose a completely uniform law code on the entire empire.
D)terrify the subject tribes of the empire into submission.
E)enslave the conquered tribes.

Question 10

For his decision to allow them to return to their capital city and rebuild their temple,Darius received high praise from these people.Who were they?

A)Assyrians
B)Egyptians
C)Medes
D)Jews
E)Dravidians

Question 11

The founder of the Achaemenid empire was

A)Xerxes.
B)Cambyses.
C)Cyrus.
D)Darius.
E)Alexander.

Question 12

In organizing their empire,Persian rulers relied heavily on techniques of administration from the

A)Lydians.
B)Egyptians.
C)Romans.
D)Chinese.
E)Mesopotamians.

Question 13

The Persian king who regularized tax levies and standardized laws was

A)Cyrus.
B)Cambyses.
C)Darius.
D)Xerxes.
E)Alexander.

Question 14

The magnificent capital of the Persian empire constructed by Darius was

A)Byzantium.
B)Pasargadae.
C)Marathon.
D)Susa.
E)Persepolis.

Question 15

The centerpiece of the Persian communications network was the

A)Royal Road.
B)qanat.
C)Emperor's Trail.
D)use of Assyrian mercenary spies.
E)Persian navy.

Question 16

The population of the Achaemenid empire under Darius was

A)one million.
B)three million.
C)six million.
D)eleven million.
E)thirty-five million.

Question 17

The Medes and Persians were originally

A)Indo-European peoples.
B)Semitic-speaking nomads related to the Hyksos.
C)later Mesopotamian petty kingdoms.
D)Dravidian tribes who had fled before the arrival of the Aryans in India.
E)minor Babylonian rulers.

Question 18

The Persian "eyes and ears of the king"

A)was Ahura Mazda.
B)were satraps.
C)was a popular expression that related to the divinity of the king.
D)were spies.
E)were the cavalry.

Question 19

The major early turning point in the rise of the Persian empire was the

A)victory of Darius at Salamis.
B)victory of Cyrus over Lydia.
C)victory in the Persian Wars.
D)defeat of the Sasanid empire.
E)victory of Cambyses over Rome.

Question 20

The greatest of the Achaemenid emperors was

A)Darius.
B)Cyrus.
C)Xerxes.
D)Cambyses.
E)Miltiades.

Question 21

Ctesiphon was

A)the greatest Parthian ruler.
B)the capital of the Seleucid empire.
C)the prophet who transformed Persian religion.
D)the capital of the Parthian and Sasanid empires.
E)a Greek philosopher.

Question 22

The greatest Parthian conqueror was

A)Cyrus.
B)Mithradates I.
C)Ctesiphon.
D)Shapur I.
E)Darius.

Question 23

Zarathustra viewed the material world as

A)an illusion.
B)a trick of Angra Mainyu to mislead the faithful.
C)the equivalent of hell.
D)a gift from Ahura Mazda that should be enjoyed.
E)a resting place for the reincarnated.

Question 24

The words "good words,good thoughts,good deeds" were used to sum up the view of morality of the

A)Jews.
B)Zoroastrians.
C)Hindus.
D)Buddhists.
E)Greeks.

Question 25

The Seleucid empire was founded by one of Alexander's generals.

Question 26

The decisive victory of Alexander of Macedon over the Persians was called the battle of

A)Gaugamela.
B)Marathon.
C)Persepolis.
D)Issus.
E)Athens.

Question 27

The Persian loss to the Greeks in 490B.C.E.was at Marathon.

Question 28

Shapur I was the Sasanid ruler under which the kingdom stabilized the western frontier and formed buffer states between it and the Roman empire.

Question 29

The Gathas were

A)Persian underground canals.
B)the laws that made up the Persian legal code.
C)Persian administrative units.
D)Persian administrators.
E)Zarathustra's compositions.

Question 30

The religious teacher who brought about a major transformation of Persian religion was Zarathustra.

Question 31

Shapur I was the

A)Sasanid king who managed to defeat the Romans in several battles.
B)Persian king who lost the battle of Marathon to the Greeks.
C)last powerful Parthian ruler.
D)founder of the Achaemenid empire.
E)founder of the Seleucid empire.

Question 32

Which of the following was NOT a basic tenet of Zoroastrianism?

A)the belief in a heaven and hell
B)the encouragement of high moral standards
C)the view of the material world as a place of temptation that had to be ignored
D)the doctrine that individuals will undergo a final judgment
E)the belief that each individual could help determine his or her spiritual destiny

Question 33

Which Iran-based empire followed the Achaemenids?

A)Parthian
B)Sasanid
C)Indo-European
D)Median
E)Carthaginian

Question 34

The Achaemenid empire was founded by Cyrus.

Question 35

The social structure of the Medes and Persians was originally very similar to that of the

A)Mesopotamians.
B)Greeks.
C)Aryans.
D)Romans.
E)Egyptians.

Question 36

The greatest Parthian conqueror was Mithradates I.

Question 37

Zarathustra talked about the battle between the "wise lord" Ahura Mazda and the evil spirit

A)Avesta.
B)Angra Mainyu.
C)Ashur.
D)Ctesiphon.
E)Enlil.

Question 38

The emperor of the Achaemenid empire at its greatest extent was Cyrus.

Question 39

The empire comprising most of the old Achaemenid state that was taken by a general of Alexander the Great was the

A)Parthian empire.
B)Alexandrian empire.
C)Sasanid empire.
D)Seleucid empire.
E)Aryan empire.

Question 40

The Seleucid empire

A)created a state on a far grander scale than the Achaemenid empire.
B)employed a form of imperial administration copied from the Achaemenids.
C)fundamentally differed from the Achaemenids in their political structure.
D)was a petty kingdom that helped give rise to the later Achaemenid empire.
E)copied the Roman model of administration.

Question 41

Examine the role of trade and agriculture in explaining the success of the Persian empires.Why was the Royal Road so important?

Question 42

Examine the social structure of the various Persian empires from the Achaemenids through the Sasanids.What was the role of women during these empires?

Question 43

The Sasanids claimed direct descent from the Achaemenids and ruled from 224C.E.C.E.to 651

Question 44

What brought about the decline of the Achaemenid empire? How much did the Persian Wars contribute to that decline?

Question 45

The victories of the Greeks at Marathon and of Alexander of Macedon at Gaugamela are all too often seen as victories for the rise of civilization.In what ways might these Persian losses be considered losses for the rise of civilization?

Question 46

Examine the development of the Seleucid,Parthian,and Sasanid empires.In what ways were they a continuation of the Achaemenid tradition? In what ways were they different?

Question 47

Examine the rise of the Achaemenid empire.What role did Cyrus play in this process? Discuss the nature of the empire under Darius.

Question 48

In what ways,both political and religious,did the later Seleucid,Parthian,and Sasanid empires try to position themselves as the heirs of the Achaemenids? Why did they do this? How successful were they in this attempt?

Question 49

What was a satrapy? How did satrapies help the Achaemenids rule their empire?

Question 50

The victory of Alexander of Macedon at Gaugamela,in 331B.C.E. ,helped to bring about an end to the Achaemenid empire.In what ways did the empire live on?

Question 51

Examine Map 5.1,The Achaemenid and Seleucid empires,558-83B.C.E.Compare the size of the Achaemenid empire to the size of earlier states,as well as to that of the later Seleucids,Parthians,and Sasanids.What would be the difficulties of ruling a state this large? How cosmopolitan was the Achaemenid empire? Explain the significance of the Royal Road.

Question 52

The Achaemenid empire began to decline under Xerxes.Was his approach any different than that of his predecessors,such as Cyrus or Darius?

Question 53

Examine the relationship between the various Persian dynasties and the Zoroastrian religion.What does the spread of this religion say about the Persian philosophy of rule?

Question 54

Compare the ruling techniques of the Persians,especially those of Cyrus and Darius,to other societies you have studied so far.

Question 55

Describe the Achaemenid method of empire administration.What did the Achaemenids borrow from previous Mesopotamian kingdoms,and what innovations did they introduce?

Question 56

Cambyses was the Persian emperor who captured Egypt.

Question 57

The Parthians were a powerful Iranian empire that extended into Mesopotamia.

Question 58

Compare Zoroastrianism to any of the other religious concepts you've seen so far.How was Zarathustra's philosophy different,and in what ways was it influential?

Question 59

Discuss the basic tenets of Zoroastrianism.What role did Zarathustra play in the rise of this religion? How influential was Zoroastrianism on later religions?

Question 60

In the Gathas,Zarathustra wrote,"In the beginning,there were two Primal Spirits,Twins spontaneously active." Who were these "Twins"? Could it be argued that Zoroastrianism was not monotheistic at all? If Zoroastrianism is not monotheistic,might Christianity not be monotheistic?

Question 61

In what ways did Darius,and his successors,promote communication and commerce throughout the empire?

Question 62

In what ways did Alexander of Macedon both destroy and preserve elements of the Achaemenid empire?

Question 63

Discuss the passage from Zarathustra .Examine the nature of Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu.In Zoroastrian thought,what is the relationship between human beings and the gods? Does this critical role of human beings indicate that Zoroastrianism was really a dualistic belief?

Question 64

Look at the picture of the gold clasp with the symbol of Ahura Mazda on page 96.Based on Zarathustra's religious views,why would Ahura Mazda be portrayed as a winged god?

Question 65

Look at the carving of Darius on page 89.How does it reflect the hierarchy of government and the power of the Achaemenid empire under Darius? Is the location of the carving significant?

Question 66

Look at Map 5.2 The Parthian and Sasanid empires,247B.C.E.-651C.E.Compare these empires to the earlier Achaemenid state.How did the Achaemenids influence the Parthian and Sasanid empires? What were the main contributions of the Achaemenids to history?

Question 67

What was the role of the imperial bureaucrats in Persian society? How did they fit in with the other social classes?

Question 68

How did Cyrus manage to expand the Persian holdings so dramatically during his lifetime?

Question 69

Why does the text say that Darius was "more important as an administrator than as a conqueror"?

Question 70

What agricultural technologies and techniques did the Persians use to produce the large surpluses they needed to feed their huge population of nonfood producers?

Question 71

What can the passage from Zarathustra tell us about the influence of Zoroastrianism on later religions? In what ways did Zoroastrianism influence Judaism,Christianity,and Islam?

Question 72

Describe the administrative structure of the Achaemenid empire.

Question 73

How did the Parthians come to control the Persian empire?

Question 74

Describe the status of the free classes and slaves during the Persian empires.How was each connected to the economy and what contributions did each make to the larger society?