Classical Conversations Cycle 1 History Sentences

Thou shalt:

1 have no other gods before Me.

2 not make unto thee any graven image.

3 not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

4 remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5 honor thy father and mother: that thy days may be long upon the land the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Tell me about commandments 1-5.

Thou shalt:

6 not kill.

7 not commit adultery.

8 not steal.

9 not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10 not covet.

Tell me about commandments 6-10.

Greek gods Roman gods

Zeus Jupiter

Hera Juno

Ares Mars

Aphrodite Venus

Artemis Diana

Hermes Mercury

Tell me about the Greek and Roman gods.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are: the Pyramids of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Pharos Lighthouse at Alexandria, and Colossus of Rhodes.

Tell me about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Roman Republic became the Roman Empire when Augustus was crowned emperor in 27 BS. This was followed by the Pax Romana.

In 286 AD, the empire divided into the Western and Eastern empires until Germanic barbarians defeated the Western Empire, in AD 476.

Tell me about the split of the Roman Empire.

Homer, a famous poet, Pythagoras, a famous mathematician, Socrates, a famous philosopher, and Archimedes, a famous inventor, shaped Western ideas. Ancient Greek city-states were among the first democracies.

Tell me about the ancient Greeks.

Hinduism, developed around 1500 BC, and is known for karma, reincarnation and the caste system. Buddism, founded in the 6th century BC, Buddhism teaches self-denial as the path to enlightenment.

Tell me about Hinduism and Buddhism.

During the Age of Imperialism, the British established rule over India in 1858, and Queen Victoria was declared the Empress of India in 1877.

Before his assassination in 1948, Mohandas Ghandi led the passive resistance movement, which helped win India's independence.

Tell me about the Age of Imperialism.

Around the 6th century BC, Lao-Tzu founded Taoism which emphasizes harmony with nature and Confucius taught compassion and obedience.

Tell me about Lao-Tzu and Confucius.

Around 794, Japan’s emperors moved to Heian, present day Kyoto. The Heian period ended in the 12th century when Civil War gave control to military commanders called Shoguns in a feudal systems where knights called samurai protected wealthy landowners.

Tell me about the Heian Empire.

Emperor Constantine stopped the persecution of Christians in the Eastern Roman Empire. In AD 330, he moved the capital of Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople. Emperor Justinian's Code became a model for legal systems. The Byzantine Empire lasted until the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453.

Tell me about the Byzantine Empire.

In 622, Islam was founded in the Arabian Peninsula by Muhammad who worshiped Allah. Mecca is the holy city of Islam. During the 1400s, the Ottoman Turks expanded the Muslim Empire.

Tell me about the Muslim Empire.

The Kush mined gold along the Nile River from 2000 BC to 350 AD. The Berbers traded gold, iron, salt in the desert.

Tell me about Kush.

In 700, Ghana was known as “the land of gold” The Mali nation took control of the gold trade in 1240 and established Timbuktu as the center of trade, culture and learning. By the mid-1400s, the wealthy and powerful Songhai Empire controlled trade in western Africa.

Tell me about the Songhai.

In the 1400s, Prince Henry of Portugal founded a school of navigation. His work advanced European exploration and trade including the slave trade.

Tell me about Henry the Navigator.

Three of the advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica from 1200 BC to 1500 AD were the Olmecs, Mayans, and the Aztecs.

Tell me about the civilizations of Mesoamerica.

The Aztecs used pyramids in rituals of human sacrifice. Their civilization began to fall when Hernan Cortes of Spain defeated Montezuma II in 1519.

Tell me about the Aztecs.

Circa 1000 BC to AD 1450, three North American mound-building civilizations were the Adena, the Hopewell, and the Mississippians.

Tell me about the Mound Builders.

The Anasazi of the southwestern United States built adobe villages in caves and on the sides of the cliffs from 500 BC to AD 1200.

Tell me about the Anasazi.

Circa 1910, during the Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata fought the federales for "Land and Liberty."

Tell me about the Mexican Revolution.

John Cabot and Samuel de Champlain explored Canada and the St. Lawrence River. Creation of the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1670, eventually led to war between Britain and France. The maple leaf is the symbol of Canada.

Tell me about the exploration of Canada.

In 1867, The British North America Act established the Dominion of Canada. The Canadians gained total independence from Britain in 1982. French is spoken in the province of Quebec.

Tell me about the British North America Act (1867).

In the early 1800s, San Martin of Argentina, O'Higgins of Chile, and Bolivar of Venezuela fought to liberate South America from Spain.

Tell me about the liberation of South America.

When Napolean threatened the Portugese Empire, King John VI fled to Brazil. His son, Dom Pedro 1, declared Brazil independence in 1822.

Tell me about Napolean.