Strayer Chapter 3 Vocab & Big Picture Questions

Persian Empire

A large & wealthy empire that stretched from Egypt to India & was ruled by a single king.

This is significant because they were one of the first empires to successfully have a cosmopolitan population along with having large technological advancements like underground irrigation.

Athenian Democracy

The first known democracy in the world allowing citizens of Athens (eventually other city states) to help decide upon political matters.

This is significant because as the first form of democracy it set up the guidelines that discluded women & "minorities."

Greco-Persian Wars

Wars between Persian Empire & Greek city-states that resulted in what's considered to be Greece's "golden Age."

This is significant because Greece's victory over the persians allowed their culture to influence the present day era so much

Hellenistic Era

(323-30 B.C.E..) THe era defined as the time after Alexander the Great died & before the rise of the Romans.

This is significant because during this era, Greek became the popular culture everyone adhered to & became extremely widespread.

Alexander the Great

A young king of Ancient Greece that ultimately destroyed the Persians & was considered to be the "king of Asia" along with the "son of Gods" in Egypt.

This is significant because he was a major reason for why Greek culture was so influential as he took over Egypt & ruled there until he died

Augustus

THe first "emperor" of Rome beginning his reign in 27 B.C.E.

This is significant because he used words such as "first man" rather than emperor but still acted like the emperor of ROme.

Pax Romana

The era of Rome's greatest extent & authority also known as the "roman peace."

This is significant because much of the land surrounding the mediterranean was at peace as it was mostly under Roman control.

Qin SHihuangdi

The first "emperor" of China's newly united states.

This is significant because as one of the first states to have advanced agriculture & legal systems, he ultimately was able to dictate how China was governed in the coming years.

Trung Trac

A female warrior that was the face of the Vietnamese resistance to Chinese Invasion.

This is significant because she was considered a "ferocious warrior" when succeeding, but when she failed it was because she was a woman; she inspired the people to resist being taken over by other invaders as well

Han Dynasty

The 2nd imperial dynasty that lasted for 4 centuries after the fall of the Qin & is considered the "golden age" in chinese history.

This is significant because when the Han took over, they rolled in a way of ,moderated harshness with confucius backgrounds.

Mauryan Empire

an empire with significant political structure that ruled over much of India that only lasted for about 150 years.

This is significant because despite having a strong political system & a large military, the empire still collapsed

Ashoka

an emperor of the Mauryan empire who lead through religion & moralistic values.

This is significant because leading through Hinduism & Buddhism a;;pwed for a more fair society; he left a record of his actions that gives us lots of insight.

What common features can you identify in the empires described in this chapter? In what ways did they differ from one another? What accounts for those differences?

All the empires sought out a form of dictatorship that eventually turned into local powers & loyalties rather than a single dictator with no one else in charge. ALl empires funded themselves through taxation of conquered people. Each empire increased cultural diffusion & magnitude of trade.. The empires differed in ways such as how they chose to rule; some chose to force those they conquered to assimilate to their culture, others allowed them to stay as is as long as they paid tribute.

Are you more impressed with the "greatness" of empires of with their destructive and oppressive features? Why?

I'm more impressed with the empire's destructive & oppressive features. They managed to rule such a large territory almost solely by force. The ways these empires acted & thought about things give good insight to how society today was created. The Greek empire heavily influenced our culture, which explains the sex inequality., class division, disputes on citizenship & many other negative aspects of society. They strived to maintain political control over everyone which ended up being more destructive than unifying.

Do you think that these second-wave empires hold "lessons" for the present, or are contemporary circumstances sufficiently unique as to render the distant past irrelevant?

I believe the classical empires hold many "lessons" for the present. Some of the issues empires faced such as the overstretched resources & political influence/control. One cannot simply rule over a large territory that encompasses many cultures. They also have made mistakes that as a society today we should be learning from. THe textbook specifically compares the u.S. to Rome & prompts us to look at their similarities & hopefully prevent the collapse of the U.S.

Looking Back: How do these empires of the second-wave civilizations differ from the political systems of the First Civilizations?

The 2nd wave civilizations differ from the 1st ones because they're much larger & have many more people under one ruler. There is an increase in technology & military power as they now need to defend themselves against invaders. In the 2nd wave the ruler had to cater to the cosmopolitan nature of their empire so that they wouldn't have uprisings.