Persian Empire and Ancient Greek History Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, figures, events, and concepts from the Persian Empire, ancient Greece, and the Hellenistic Age.

Cyrene

A prosperous Greek city-state in North Africa that grew wealthy from the medical plant silphium and later submitted to the Persian King Cambyses.

Silphium

A plant prized for its medical properties that brought economic prosperity to the city-state of Cyrene.

Achaemenids

The official name given to the line of Persian rulers starting with Cyrus.

Cyrus

Son of a Persian chieftain and Median princess who united Persian tribes, overthrew the Median monarch, conquered Lydia, Anatolia, and defeated the Neo-Babylonian dynasty.

Magi

Priests and ritual specialists in Persian society who specialized in conducting sacrifices.

Darius I

Persian king who seized the throne after Cambyses, expanded the empire to its largest extent at the time, acted as a second founder of the Persian Empire, and divided it into $20$ provinces.

Satrap

A provincial Persian governor related to the royal family by blood or marriage, tasked with supervising a province and collecting tribute for the king.

Persepolis

The ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire begun by Darius I, featuring grand palaces, audience halls, and treasury buildings displaying empire wealth.

Zoroastrianism

One of the major ancient world religions that originated in Persia.

Dark Age

A period in Greek history marked by depopulation, poverty, backwardness, and Greek isolation from the rest of the world.

Archaic period

A era of Greek history characterized by population growth, colonization, the development of the polis, and renewed cultural and intellectual activity.

Phoenicians

The maritime traders who introduced the writing system to the Greeks.

Polis

A self-governing Greek city-state consisting of an urban center and the surrounding rural territory under its control.

Agora

An open gathering space in a Greek polis where citizens assembled to debate and discuss political leaders.

Hoplites

Heavily armed Greek infantrymen who fought in close phalanx formation.

Debt-slave

An individual forced into servitude as punishment for failing to repay a debt.

Tyrant

A leader who seized and held political authority outside the traditional political customs of a Greek community.

Oligarchy

A form of government where political power and privileges are restricted exclusively to wealthier citizens.

Democracy

A system of government in which political authority is exercised by free adult males.

Anthropomorphic

Attributing human traits, forms, or behaviors to non-human entities or Greek deities.

Logographers

Early Greek prose writers and historians.

Historia

A Greek term meaning investigation or research.

Herodotus

Greek chronicler of the conflicts between the Greeks and Persians, widely known as the 'father of history.'

Peloponnese

The southernmost peninsula of the Greek mainland.

Helots

State-owned serfs bound to the land in Spartan society.

Solon

Athenian lawgiver granted emergency power who abolished debt slavery and reorganized Athenian social classes into four tiers based on income.

Pisistratus

An Athenian tyrant who consolidated power by reducing aristocratic influence and investing in city projects and festivals.

Pericles

Prominent Athenian statesman who oversaw the full development of Athenian democracy and expanded the powers of popular civic institutions.

Ionian Revolt

An uprising of Ionian Greek city-states against Persian rule, supported by Athens and Eretria, which was ultimately crushed by Persia.

Persian Wars

A series of conflicts between Greek city-states and the Persian Empire triggered by Persian expansion; resulted in the ultimate repelling of Persian invasions.

Xerxes

Persian king, son and successor of Darius I, who led the second major invasion of Greece during the Persian Wars.

Delian League

A coalition of Greek city-states under Athenian leadership formed after the Persian Wars to deter further Persian aggression.

Trireme

A fast, Greek warship rowed by $170$ men.

Sophists

Traveling teachers and philosophers in ancient Greece known as 'wise men.'

Peloponnesian War

A major conflict between Athens and its allies against Sparta and its allies, caused by rising Athenian power, ending in a Spartan victory.

Philip II

Macedonian king ($359-336\text{ BCE}$) who modernized army tactics, defeated Greek city-states at Chaeronea in $338\text{ BCE}$, formed the Confederacy of Corinth, and was killed in $336\text{ BCE}$.

Alexander the Great

Son of Philip II who overthrew Darius III, conquered the Persian Empire ($334-323\text{ BCE}$), expanded his domain into the Punjab, and established Greek-style cities across his empire.

Hellenistic Age

The era from $323-30\text{ BCE}$ following Alexander's death, characterized by widespread diffusion of Greek culture across the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean.

Seleucid Kingdom

A Hellenistic empire governing Mesopotamia, Syria, and parts of Anatolia.

Ptolemaic Kingdom

A Hellenistic dynasty ruling Egypt and parts of Syria-Palestine.

Alexandria

An Egyptian coastal city that served as a major center of Hellenistic commerce, science, and learning, home to the Library of Alexandria and the Museum.

Socrates

Athenian philosopher executed in $399\text{ BCE}$ on charges of corrupting Athenian youth and disrespecting state gods.

Plato

Philosopher, student of Socrates, and founder of the Academy who authored dialogues on political wisdom, justice, and ethics.

Aristotle

Philosopher, student of Plato, tutor to Alexander the Great, and founder of the Lyceum who produced extensive writings on science, logic, ethics, and politics.

Eratosthenes

Hellenistic mathematician and geographer who calculated the circumference of the Earth with high accuracy.

Aristarchus

Hellenistic astronomer who estimated the relative sizes and distances of the Sun and Moon and advanced a heliocentric model of the solar system.

Claudius Ptolemy

Astronomer who developed a geocentric model of the universe that dominated scientific thought for approximately $1,400\text{ years}$.

King's Peace

A peace treaty arrangement in which Persia functioned as the ultimate arbitrator over divided Greek city-state affairs.

Piraeus

The primary port city of Athens that developed into a vital trade hub in the eastern Mediterranean.

Parthenon

The primary temple structure built on the Athenian Acropolis using financial tribute collected from imperial subject states.

Hellenization

The spread and integration of Greek language, culture, and institutions across non-Greek lands conquered by Alexander the Great and his successors.