Major Classical Era Empires – Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key empires, rulers, philosophies, and innovations from the Classical Era lecture notes.

Achaemenid Empire

Persian Empire founded in the 6th-century BC that created a vast, centrally administered, multi-ethnic state stretching from Central Asia and India to Egypt and Greece.

Cyrus the Great

Founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire who united Iranian tribes and initiated Persian expansion in the 6th-century BC.

Satrap

Imperially sanctioned provincial governor in the Persian Empire responsible for enforcing the emperor’s laws and policies.

Imperial Central Administration

System in which major laws and policies originate from a single ruling authority—in Persia, the ‘god-emperor’—and are carried out by local officials.

Persian Religious and Cultural Toleration

Policy allowing conquered peoples to keep local customs and faiths, reducing resentment and rebellion within the empire.

Persian Royal Road

Extensive road network that facilitated communication, trade, and a state-run mailing service across the Persian Empire.

Greek Polis

Independent city-state of ancient Greece characterized by self-government, citizen participation, and distinct local culture.

Democracy (Athenian)

Form of government in which free male citizens of Athens directly debated and voted on laws and policy.

Phalanx

Tightly packed infantry formation of Macedonian and Greek armies that used long spears for offensive and defensive strength.

Macedon

Kingdom in northern Greece unified by Philip II that later led Greek conquests under Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great

Macedonian ruler (r. 336-323 BCE) whose undefeated campaigns toppled the Persian Empire and spread Greek culture to Egypt, Persia, and India.

Hellenistic Era

Period following Alexander’s conquests marked by widespread dissemination and dominance of Greek language, culture, and political models.

Alexandria (Hellenistic Cities)

Greek-style urban centers founded by Alexander and successors, serving as hubs of Greek learning and administration.

Greek Skepticism

Intellectual approach emphasizing logical inquiry and observation rather than reliance on myth or divine revelation.

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Classical Greek philosophers whose writings on ethics, politics, logic, and science influenced later Arab, Persian, Indian, and Western thought.

Roman Republic

Roman government (509-27 BCE) led by an elected Senate that expanded through conquest of Italy, Spain, Gaul, and Greek colonies.

Punic Wars

Series of three wars (264-146 BCE) between Rome and Carthage that ended with Roman dominance of the western Mediterranean.

Roman Citizenship Policy

Practice of granting full legal protections and privileges to many conquered peoples, encouraging loyalty to Rome.

Roman Empire

Autocratic phase of Roman rule initiated by Julius Caesar’s rise (27 BCE) that employed a vast bureaucracy, roads, and common currency.

Byzantine Empire

Eastern continuation of the Roman Empire (330-1453 CE) that survived after the Western Empire’s fall in 476 CE.

Gupta Empire

Indian dynasty (c. 350-543 CE) that centralized much of the subcontinent and oversaw a ‘Golden Age’ of art, science, and mathematics.

Golden Age of India

Gupta-era period marked by advances such as the modern numeral system, concept of zero, algebra, and theories of Earth’s rotation.

Warring States Period

Era (c. 475-221 BCE) of fragmentation and warfare among seven Chinese states following the decline of the Zhou Dynasty.

Mandate of Heaven

Chinese belief that heaven grants rulers legitimacy; loss of virtue or success leads to withdrawal of the mandate and dynastic change.

Legalism

Chinese philosophy favoring strong state authority, strict secular laws, harsh punishments, and merit-based bureaucracy, adopted by Qin.

Qin Dynasty

First centralized imperial dynasty of China (221-206 BCE) that standardized currency, script, roads, and began the Great Wall.

Shihuangdi

Founding emperor of the Qin Dynasty who unified China, employed Legalism, and mobilized labor for massive state projects.

Great Wall (Early Sections)

Fortifications begun under the Qin to protect China’s northern frontier against the Xiongnu Confederacy.

Han Dynasty

Chinese dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE) that expanded territory, adopted Confucianism, and presided over a golden age of culture and technology.

Silk Roads

Network of trade routes linking China and the Mediterranean that facilitated exchange of goods, ideas, and culture during the Han era.

Xiongnu Confederacy

Nomadic pastoralist power north of China that clashed with Qin and Han dynasties until subjugated and vassalized by Han forces.