Honors West Civ I

Ave Maria University

Epic of Gilgamesh

Ancient poem about the ruler of Uruk around 2700 BC

Dark Age of Greece

1200-800 BC, Mycenean collapse, loss of literacy, smaller towns

The Odyssey

Epic poem about Odysseys' 10-year journey home after the Trojan war

Rhapsode

"Weaver of songs"

Hoplites

citizen soldiers on foot, usually in phalanx formation

Phalanx

formation where the army is several columns across and several columns deep

Hubris

Excessive pride

Aristoi

plural of 'the best'

Tyrannos

Someone who takes the throne through military power

Athenian democracy

Polis

Political city state

Agora

meaning 'outside' or marketplace

Acropolis

Top of the city, fortress 'high citadel'

Apella

Assembly of the citizens

Krypteia

Secret police

Helots

Spartan slaves, native to the land that was taken

Homoioi

Meaning equal, limited to men, warrior class of Sparta

Agoge

State education in Sparta

Ephors

Elders, men sixty or older

Panhellenism

A term for shared language and culture that united the mainland, islands, and Colonies of Greece

Olympia

Location of the Olympic games

Solon

Elected archon in 594 BC, he was an Athenian aristocrat that made lots of political and economic reforms that formed the basis of Athenian Democracy

Delphi

City

Corinth

City between the main part of Greece and pelebines, Sparta's allies

Archon

Group of nine magistrates

Draco

One of the first lawgivers in Athens, known for being harsh

Peisistratos

Tries to fix Solon's instability, tries to seize power with the military

Persian Wars

400s BC, A political conflict between the Greek ruler Aristagoras and the Persian emperor, Darius. Despite being outnumbered Athenian hoplites defeated the Persian army. Xerxes, Darius' son, invaded Greece but was defeated by Athens + Sparta

Ostracism

When they vote to kick one guy out of the senate every single year

Xerxes

Son of Darius, king of Persia. Seeking to avenge his father's shame and demolish future threats of Persia but was defeated by Greek allies in 479 BC

Delian League

Athenians have control over it

Ekklesia

Assembly of the people, also used to describe the church

Peloponnesian War

2 phases, one short phase, and one longer phase. Most of the war is a truce

Pericles

Athenian statesmen and leader of Athens in Peloponnesian War

Demagogue

Guy who leads and rallies the people, but in a negative sense by leading people to unrest

Alcibiades

Leader of the factions in the ekklesia, Athenian general with a lot of scandal, betrays the Athenians and swaps sides

Thucydides

Only writes what he knows, but when someone's speaking, he changes what they said to what they should've said

Herodotus

First historian, takes what people say at face value and writes it down

Pre-Socratics

Philosophers before Socrates

Socrates

469-399 BC Athenian philosopher who promoted the careful examination of all opinions

Sophists

'Practioner of wisdom' usually means they are reasoning in a way to get out of something

Aristotle

Plato's student, teaches Alexander the Great

Plato

428-348 BC, mimics Socrates in his teaching and didn't like Athenian democracy

Xenophon

Socrates' student

allegory of the cave

People are trapped in a cave, the real world is like a shadow of ideas, it hurts to look at

philosopher kings

Socrates argues that the state should be run by a philosopher king

Sophocles

Playwriter

comedy in Greek drama

Generally a happy ending

tragedy in Greek drama

Everything's going well and then it all crashes and ends sadly

chorus in Greek drama

"dance" shouting out responses from the theater

Philip II of Macedonia

382-336 BC Father of Alexander the great, consolidated the southern Balkans and Greek city states under Macedonian rule

Alexander the Great

300s BC, The king whose conquests of the Persian Empire and Egypt created a new Hellenistic world

Plutarch

Greek biographer and philosopher who compared the lives of Greeks and Romans

Cynicism

Emphasized virtue and moral freedom and rejected societal norms

Epicureanism

Emphasizes pleasure and happiness, highest good is the pursuit of pleasure

Stoicism

Philosophy that emphasizes discipline, duty, and tolerance. Everything happens for the best.

Skepticism

'Those on the lookout" believed no one can really know anything

Cosmopolitanism

Comes from the Greek word meaning "universal city," challenged and transformed the narrower worldview of the Greek polis

Etruscans

Settlers of the Italian Peninsula who dominated the region from the late bronze age

Romulus

Killed his twin brother Remus and became the founder of Rome and first king (myth)

Censors

Assign people in their place in society by dividing people by taxes, they also negotiate infrastructure projects

Consuls

1 year term

Curiae

Political divisions of the citizenry, numbering 30 people, serving as the 'assembly of the people'

pater familias

head of the Roman family, the oldest living male

Sarcophagus

Elaborate stone coffin

Latifundia

Agricultural state

Twelve Tables

450 BC, mentions rights for all citizens

res publica

"public affair" referring to the policial system of the Roman Republic (509-27 BC)

Lucretia

The virtuous Roman wife who was raped by the son of Rome's last king

Carthage

Great maritime empire that grew out of the Phoenician trading colonies in North Africa and later rivaled the power of Rome

Roman slavery

Property, acquired through war, debt, birth

Punic Wars

264-146 BC, 3 periods of warfare between Rome and Carthage, seaside empires that struggled for dominance of the Mediterranean

Plebeians

Common people of ancient Rome

Tiberius Gracchus

Tribune who proposed to close the growing gap between rich and poor by redistributing property

Gaius Gracchus

Tiberius' brother elected 10 years after the assassination, wanted to stabilize the price of grain in Rome and give equestrians greater power to check the abuses of senators

Gaius Marius

Fought a successful campaign against north Africa and was later elected to the office of the consul, he expanded the army as well and proved a man without strong family connections can rise up to be great

Sulla

Military officer under Marius, senate wanted him to command war is Asia minor, becomes dictator in 82 BC, gave senate supreme power to enact laws

Pompey

Son of an immigrant from central Italy who made a fortune through questionable businesses. To him, the army was a path toward gaining political and social foothold

Pax Romana

Translates to "the Roman peace"

Aeneas

Mythical Founder of Rome, a Trojan who escaped after the fall of Troy