World history UNit 2

Collapse of the Bronze Age (c. 1200 BCE)

Massive regional collapse caused by Sea Peoples, drought, and warfare; destroyed Mycenaean Greece and Hittites.

Phoenicia / Greek Dark Age (c. 1100–800 BCE)

Era following Bronze Age collapse; loss of writing (Linear B), trade contraction, emergence of Phoenician alphabet.

Carthage / Assyria / Archaic Greece (c. 800–600 BCE)

Rise of Assyrian empire, Phoenician colonization of North Africa, and re-emergence of Greek poleis and trade.

Babylon / Medes / Greek Archaic Age (c. 600–550 BCE)

Neo-Babylonian empire and Medes destroy Assyria; rise of merchant aristocracies and Greek tyrants.

Cyrus the Great / Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–522 BCE)

Cyrus conquers Medes, Lydia, and Babylon; establishes Persian Empire based on regional liberation and tolerance.

Greco-Persian Wars I / Marathon (490 BCE)

Darius I invades Greece to punish Athens; Athenian phalanx under Miltiades defeats Persians at Marathon.

Greco-Persian Wars II / Thermopylae & Salamis (480–479 BCE)

Xerxes invades Greece; 300 Spartans hold Thermopylae; Athenian Navy under Themistocles destroys Persian fleet at Salamis.

Perikles / Classical Age of Athens (c. 460–429 BCE)

Golden Age of Athens; Delian League funds used to build Parthenon and Long Walls to Piraeus.

Peloponnesian War / Trial of Sokrates (431–399 BCE)

27-year war between Athens and Sparta; ends in Athenian surrender (404 BCE) and execution of Sokrates (399 BCE).

Philip II & Alexander / Fall of Persia (359–323 BCE)

Macedonian conquest of Greece; Alexander overthrows Achaemenid Persia and expands empire to India.

Beringia Theory vs. Coastal Route

Theory of land bridge migration vs. sea-route migration along coasts; supported by linguistic tracing of human movement.

Milpa System

Mesoamerican agricultural technique intercropping maize (corn), beans, and squash ("Three Sisters") to preserve soil nutrients.

Chinampas

Artificial floating gardens constructed on shallow lake beds in Mesoamerica to produce high crop yields.

Vertical Archipelago

Andean ecological strategy of placing farming colonies at different mountain altitudes to exchange diverse resources.

Quipu

Andean system of knotted colored strings used for record-keeping and administration without an alphabet.

Olmec Civilization

Mesoamerican "Mother Culture" (c. 1200–400 BCE); known for colossal basalt stone heads, jade, and jaguar deity.

Caral & Chavín

Early Andean civilizations; Caral lacked visual arts (leading to quipu); Chavín de Huántar was a major shamanic pilgrimage center.

Moche Civilization

Andean coastal culture known for advanced gold/copper metallurgy, complex irrigation, portrait pottery, and human sacrifice ("The Decapitator").

Phoenician Trade

Seafaring merchants trading Tyrian purple dye, cedar timber, incense, and papyrus across the Mediterranean.

Carthage

Major Phoenician colony in North Africa (modern Tunisia); ethnic mix of Phoenicians and native Berbers; practiced infant tophet sacrifice.

Cyrus the Great

Founder of Achaemenid Empire; conquered Medes, Lydia (Croesus), and entered Babylon as a liberator rather than conqueror.

Pyramidal Administration

Persian system separating civil governors (satraps) from military commanders to prevent regional rebellions.

Satrapies

Persian imperial provinces ruled by local kings/governors under the Great King, allowing efficient local administration.

Royal Road

1,500-mile highway from Susa to Sardis facilitating rapid postal communication and military troop movement across Persia.

King's Progress

Persian royal practice of the Great King traveling between capitals (Persepolis, Susa, Ekbatana, Babylon) to inspect satraps.

Immortals

Elite 10,000-man Persian infantry unit; primary weapons were the spear and bow.

Zoroastrianism

Persian quasi-monotheistic religion centered on Ahura Mazda (good/light) vs. Ahriman (evil/darkness); worshiped via fire without idols.

Faravahar

Primary Zoroastrian symbol depicting a winged spirit disk; represented divine guidance and royal power.

Queen Atossa

Daughter of Cyrus, wife of Darius, mother of Xerxes; powerful Persian queen noted as the first recorded person to die of breast cancer.

Polis

Independent Greek city-state (plural: poleis); Greece was never a single nation, but a collection of autonomous city-states.

Agon

Greek cultural value of intense zero-sum competition in war, politics, and athletics (no ties; only one winner).

Arete

Greek value of personal individual excellence ("ever to be the best and stand far above all others").

Timē

Social standing, honor, and public reputation in Greek shame-based society; preferred death over loss of honor.

Debt-Bondage & Tyranny

Poor soil and cash-cropping (olives/wine) caused farmer debt; tyrants seized power by promising to abolish debt, stripping aristocrats of land.

Greek Colonization

Sending excess sons to "shore-deep" coastal colonies (Sicily, Black Sea) to relieve land pressure; colonies were politically independent metropoleis.

Acropolis

"High city"; fortified hill in a Greek polis containing major temples and sacred shrines.

Agora

Central Greek marketplace, civic meeting center, court area, and social hub.

Gymnasion & Palaistra

Public park (gymnasion) and athletic training facility (palaistra) used for physical exercise, wrestling, and political networking.

Symposion

"To drink together"; elite male-only evening dining and drinking party held in the Andron (family women excluded).

Aphrodite's Tortoise

Metaphor for Greek women's public seclusion; expected to wear heavy face/body wraps when outdoors ("carrying house on back").

Greek Views on Sexuality

Behavior was judged by social action/role (penetrator vs. penetrated), not gender; bisexuality was the norm.

Critical Reasoning

"Spirit of Inquiry"; clear, rational, independent thinking asking "why?" rather than accepting tradition or myth.

Authority of Tradition

Pre-philosophical belief that truth comes from divine/royal authority (e.g., Sumerian King List or Hesiod's Muses).

Orthopraxis

Practice-based religion focused on proper ritual/action rather than correct doctrine/theology (orthodoxy).

Pre-Socratics

First natural scientists (Thales, Anaximenes, Democritus); asked "What is the nature of the cosmos?" using physical elements.

Sophists

Paid teachers of rich youth; asked "What is the nature of man and society?"; taught rhetoric, debate (aristics), and "might makes right."

Herodotus

Father of History (hysteria = critical inquiry); investigated human causes for the Persian Wars and evaluated oral sources.

Sokrates

Athenian philosopher asking "What is the nature of the Good?"; taught for free using Socratic Method; executed for corrupting youth.

Socratic Method

Teaching technique using structured question-and-answer dialog to dissect assumptions and arrive at truth.

Plato

Student of Sokrates; founded the Academy; wrote The Republic (Allegory of the Cave, Philosopher King); distrusted democracy.

Aristotle

Student of Plato, tutor of Alexander the Great; founded the Lyceum; father of scientific method (empirical data before theory).

Hoplite & Phalanx

Greek citizen-soldier armed with heavy shield (aspis), breastplate, and spear; fought in tight rectangular phalanx formation.

Trireme

Fast Greek warship with 3 banks of rowers; weaponized for speed, ramming enemy hulls, and snapping row oars.

Battle of Marathon (490 BCE)

Athenian phalanx under Miltiades double-timed across the beach to defeat Darius's landing force; Athenian army marched back to close harbors.

Themistocles

Athenian naval strategist who persuaded Athens to use silver discovery to build a 200-ship trireme navy against Persia.

Thermopylae (480 BCE)

"Hot Gates" pass where Leonidas, 300 Spartans, and 700 Thespians held off Xerxes' army for 3 days before betrayal by Ephialtes.

Battle of Salamis (480 BCE)

Decisive naval victory where Themistocles lured Xerxes' heavy ships into narrow straits, allowing light Athenian triremes to destroy them.

Battle of Plataea (479 BCE)

Final land battle where united Greek forces defeated remaining Persian army under Mardonius.

Delian League

Anti-Persian defense alliance led by Athens; treasury stored at Delos was later moved to Athens and misused by Perikles.

Long Walls

7-kilometer fortified walls built under Perikles connecting inland Athens directly to its port at Piraeus.

Peloponnesian League

Spartan-led military alliance formed to counter Athenian imperialism and protect Spartan helot slave control.

Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE)

27-year civil war between Athenian naval empire and Spartan land coalition that devastated all of Greece.

Plague of Athens

Outbreak inside overcrowded walls during Spartan siege; killed over 25% of Athens' population, including Perikles (429 BCE).

Cleon

Hawkish, populist Athenian leader who took over after Perikles' death, favoring aggressive war policies.

Alcibiades

Brilliant, scandalous Athenian general; defected to Sparta (advised them on timber/Persian aid), fled to Persia, then returned to Athens.

Lysander

Spartan admiral who secured Persian financial backing to build a navy, cutting off Athens' grain supply at Aegospotami.

Third Front in Macedon

Critical northern theatre during Peloponnesian War where Athens and Sparta fought over vital timber for ship construction.

Thirty Tyrants

Pro-Spartan oligarchic puppet government installed in Athens after its surrender in 404 BCE; quickly overthrown.

Battle of Leuctra (371 BCE)

Theban victory over Sparta led by Epaminondas; freed Spartan helots and ended Spartan military supremacy forever.

Philip II of Macedon

Macedonian king who reformed chieftain kingship; created professional army with long sarissa pikes and "hammer and anvil" cavalry tactics.

Sarissa

18- to 21-foot long wooden pike used by Macedonian phalanx infantry to impale enemy formations at range.

Hammer and Anvil Tactic

Macedonian tactical system where heavy infantry phalanx held enemy in place (anvil) while heavy cavalry struck from behind (hammer).

Battle of Chaeronea (338 BCE)

Philip II's decisive victory over combined Athenian/Theban forces, establishing Macedonian hegemony over mainland Greece.

Oracle of Siwa / Divine Sonship

Alexander's pilgrimage into Egyptian desert; greeted by priest of Ammon/Zeus as "Son of God," boosting his heroic mystique.

Hephaestion

Alexander's closest companion, second-in-command, and administrator; his death left Alexander without a viable ruling successor.

Proskynesis

Persian court ritual of bowing/prostrating before the Great King; Alexander tried to enforce it on Macedonians, causing mutiny.

Opis Mutiny & Babylon Weddings

Alexander forced mass intermarriages between Macedonian officers and Persian noblewomen to unite East/West, causing troop revolts.

Hellenistic Successor Kingdoms

Four monarchies (Ptolemaic, Seleucid, Antigonid, Attalid) created by Alexander's generals (Diadochi) after his death.

Koine Greek

Common Greek dialect spoken across Afro-Eurasia during the Hellenistic era, serving as the lingua franca for trade/diplomacy.

Hellenization

The spread of Greek language, urban planning, theater, and culture across Asia/Egypt following Alexander's conquests.