APWH - JX 1: Classical Period

Homer

Blind greek poet who wrote an epic poem about the Trojan War

Mountains

Geographic feature that separates Greek city-states

Sparta

South-central, militaristic city-state

Athens

Attican city state that developed as a democracy

Persian wars

Wars with powerful empire of Asia minor (500-479 BC)

Darius

Leader who sailed an army across the Aegean to Greece in 490 BC

Xerxes

Persian leader who sent his army back to Greece in 480 BC

Philip II

Ruler of Macedon who united the Greek city-states

Alexander the Great

Philip’s son and successor

Persia

Empire conquered by Alexander

Egypt

Northern African country conquered by Alexander

Greek culture

Culture spread by Alexander

Trojan War

Ten-year conflict between the Myceneans and the people of Troy

Pericles

Statesman who led Athens to its greatest height

Battle of Marathon

Battle in which the Greeks defeated the Persians in 490 BC

Aristotle

Alexander’s Greek tutor

India/Indus river

Easternmost extent of Alexander’s empire

Delian Leauge

Defensive alliance led by Athens

Peloponnesian wars

30 year war between Athens and Sparta

Plague

Event in addition to war that destroyed Athens

Unification, spread of Greek culture

Alexander’s major influence on the world

Thermopylae

Mountain pass defended by Spartans in 480 BC

City-state

Geographic and political center of Greek life

Democracy

Form of government developed in Athens

Slaves

Lowest Athenian citizens

Military

Sole occupation of male spartan citizens

Acropolis

Central hill of Athens, site of exceptional temples

Drama

Form of literature and entertainment invented by the greeks

Olympic Games

Sporting festival held every four years to honor Zeus

Polis

Greek word for the city-state

Aristocracy

Form of government in Sparta

Constitution

Set of principles and rules for governing; Athens had one

Helots

Spartan slaves

Golden Mean

Greek ideal of aesthetics and thought

Pythagoras

Mathematician and philosopher who developed an enduring theorem about right triangles

Socratic method

Step-by-step questioning to arrive at a final conclusion, the truth

Being sold into slavery

Fate of Athenian debtors, abolished by Solon

Homer

Renowned epic poet who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey

Herodotus

The Father of History; the first great Western historian

Archimedes

Scientist and mathematician who explained the principle of the lever

Seven

Number of hills on which Rome was built

Tiber

Rome’s river

Rome

City founded by Latin settlers

Julius Caesar

Famed soldier and politician who became sole ruler and was later assassinated

Gaul

Country secured for Rome by Caesar as proconsul

Ides of March (March 15, 44 B.C.)

The day Caesar was assassinated

Mark Antony

Caesar’s top follower, a general who fell in love with Cleopatra

Octavian

Caesar’s grandnephew and political heir

Republic

Roman form of government, in which the citizens who voted held power

Patricians

Upper class in the Republic

Plebeians

Lower class in the Republic

Consuls

Joint officials who were chief executives and military leaders

Legion

Basic unit of the Roman army

Carthage

Great commercial power that fought with Rome

Punic Wars

The wars between Rome and Carthage

Hannibal

Carthaginian general who invaded Italy in 218 B.C.

Tiberius Gracchus

First “reformer” tribune

Gaius Gracchus

Second “reformer’’ tribune; brother of the first

Sulla

Senator and general who opposed Marius and seized Rome

Veto

Power one consul held over the other’s acts

Senate

Powerful government body whose members were chosen for life

Assemblies

Governmental bodies to which all citizens belonged

Tribunes

Elected officials who protected plebeians’ rights

Elephants

Large animals that crossed the mountains with Hannibal

Phoenicians

People who founded Carthage

North Africa

Where Carthage was located

Slave fights

Etruscan funeral event used as a model for roman amusements

Rubicon

River Caesar was ordered not to cross on his way back to Rome

Cassius (or Brutus)

One of Caesar’s killers, a close friend

Slaves

Class that expanded as the large estates grew

Small farmers

Class that was driven from the countryside to the cities

Aristocracy, patricians

Privileged class that ruled the later Republic

Scipio

Roman general who defeated Hannibal

Land reform

Main reform introduced by Tiberius

Cheap or free wheat

Main reform introduced by Gaius

Professional army

Change in the army introduced by Marius

Doubling its size

Sulla’s method of increasing the Senate’s power

Civil War

Conflict that broke out while Marius and Sulla were contending for power

Twelve Tables

Tablets engraved with Roman laws

Being sold into slavery

Fate of plebeians who fell into debt, in the early Republic

Wheat, or grain

Food staple that has to be imported as the Republic expanded

Gap between the rich and poor

Social and economic division that weakened the Republic

Macedonia

Area north of Greece acquired by Rome in 148 B.C.

Gauls

Northern people defeated by Rome during the Punic Wars

Emperor

Octavian’s stature as absolute ruler of the Roman Empire

Pax Romana

Extended period of peace that Augustus brought to Rome

Army, or Praetorian Guard

Group that controlled the choice of emperor in the late Empire

Constantinople

New, eastern capital established by Constantine

Germans

Peoples whose tribes invaded the Empire

Huns

Fierce Asiatic tribe that drove other tribes toward the Empire

Free public games

Popular public entertainment staged by the government

Republic

Form of government Augustus restore in name but not in reality

Trade

Extensive commerce that flourished during the period of peace

Attila

Leader of the Huns; “the Scourge of God.”

Plague

Fatal “souvenir” brought home from the frontier by the legions

Diocletian

Son of a freedman, he reorganized imperial administration

Co-emperors

Diocletian’s major change in the Empire’s management

Constantine

Strong ruler who moved the capital to the east

Innocent until proven guilty

Standard of law protecting the accused

Circus Maximus

Oval arena; site of races