West Civ Final

Philip II

king who conquered the Greeks

Hellenistic

imitating the Greeks

Menander

a writer of comedies during the Hellenistic era

Chaeronea

site of an early battle between the Greeks and the Macedonians

Macedonia

home of Alexander the Great

Macedonia, Syria, Pergamum, and Egypt

four kingdoms that emerged following Alexander the Great’s death

belief of the philosophy of Epicurus

happiness is the goal of life and can be achieved through the pursuit of pleasure

conclusion of Eratosthenes (astronomer)

the Earth was round, and calculated its circumference, coming within 185 (298 kilometers) of the actual figure

the conquests of Alexander the Great gave rise to the

Hellenistic era, during which the Greek language and Greek ideas spread to the non-Greek world

Stoicism

a school of thought that became the most popular philosophy of the Hellenistic world and later flourished in the Roman Empire as well; created by Zeno

Apollonius of Rhodes

wrote the epic poem Argonautica

Archimedes

most famous scientist of the Hellenistic era; worked on the geometry of spheres and cylinders

Aristarchus of Samos

developed the theory that the sun is at the center of the universe

Euclid

wrote The Elements (book on plane geometry)

hinduism

followers of this religion believe in a single, universal force called Brahman

karma

the force generated by a person’s actions that determines how the person will be reborn in the next life

caste system

Portuguese name given to a rigid social structure in Indian society that said every individual is born into a social group defined by occupation and family lineage

varnas

the name given by Aryans in ancient India to a social structure that divided Indian society into four groups

yoga

a method of training developed by the Hindus that is supposed to lead to oneness with Brahman

the Brahmins

priestly class of ancient Indian society

reincarnation

Hindu belief that the individual soul is reborn in a different form

Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer

the three chief gods in Hinduism

the Untouchables

the lowest level of ancient Indian society who were given tasks seen as menial and degrading, such as collecting trash and handling dead bodies

Aryan society was divided into these four Varnas

Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and the Sudras

higher castes had

greater religious purity (lower castes were impure)

main economic change in the 1500s

people went back to farming and farming villages

caste system

a rigid social structure dependent on occupation and skin color; unique because it was also based on the religious purity of the individual

the Dharma

the divine law that rules karma

four kinds of yoga

1. path of knowledge, 2. path of love, 3. path of work, and 4. path of meditation

nirvana

ultimate reality, or the end of the self and a reunion with the Great World Soul

Four Noble Truths

Siddhartha Gautama’s message about suffering and desire

asceticism

self-denial as a method to achieve an understanding of ultimate reality

Buddha

the “Enlightened One”

Middle Path

eight steps that Buddhists follow on the path to enlightenment

Siddhartha Gautama

founder of Buddhism; denied the reality of the material world; denied the multitude of gods

differences of Hinduism and Buddhism

1. Buddhists believed that people should be responsible for their own lives and 2. Buddhists rejected the many Hindu gods

Eightfold Path

we must do work that uplifts our being; explains how to transcend the physical world

sixth century BC

Buddhism appeared in Northern India and became a rival of Hinduism

Asoka

the greatest ruler in Indian history; set up hospitals for people and animals

the Ramayana

a literary work about the fictional ruler Rama

Aryabhata

famous Indian mathematician and one of the first scientists known to have used algebra

stupa

type of religion structure originally meant to house relics of the Buddha

Candra Gupta II

India’s golden age of culture flourished under this monarch

Kushans

the people who spread over northern India as far as the central Ganges Valley into modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia; adapted the Greek alphabet; prospered from trade on Silk Road

religious trade

Gupta rulers earned large profits from it

Mahabharata

longest poem in any written language

the Mauryan Empire

highly centralized government

Empire of the Guptas

“Golden Age” of Indian culture

Vedas

earliest known Indian literature; contains religious chants and stories

India’s most important contributions

architecture, literature, mathematics, and sciences

confucianism

focus on ethics rather than spirituality; emphasis on duty and Five Constant Relationships; advocacy of rule by merit, not noble birth

daoism

emphasis on inaction, noninterference with natural order; based on the teachings of Laozi; focus on proper forms of human behavior

legalism

held that human beings are evil by nature, advocacy of strong ruler, harsh laws, stiff punishments; a “School of Law”

Analects

followers of Confucius recorded his sayings in this

Confucius

believed that the early Zhou dynasty was a golden age, when “the world was shared by all alike”

Five Constant Relationships

the relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, siblings, friends, and rulers and their subjects

two elements of the Confucian view of the Dao

duty and humanity

civil, military, and censorate divisions

organization of the central bureaucracy of the Qin dynasty

Qin Shihuangdi

seized the estates of wealthy landowners and gave the lands to the peasants; he then taxed the peasants (to eliminate rivals and gain an important tax base); came to the throne in 246 BC; legalist

censorate

checked on government officials

infrastructure

roads, bridges, and canals

regime

government in power

instituted

put into action

ideology

a set of beliefs

individuality

a total character that distinguishes an individual from others

Han Wudi

added the territory south of the Chang Jiang to the empire

Ban Gu

wrote biographies that combined political and social history

rudder

helped enable Chinese trade in Southeast Asia and India

paper

was not made in Europe until the twelfth century

iron casting

led to the invention of steel

concentration of land in the hands of the wealthy

factor in peasant uprisings in the late Han dynasty

a general increase in economic prosperity

the effect of the technical advancements in the Han dynasty

family

the Han increase its importance in the Chinese system of life

peasant uprisings, weak rulers/official corruption, war

factors that led to the fall of the Han dynasty

basis of merit

how government officials were chosen

AD 170

Han dynasty faced war, intrigues at the court, and peasant uprisings

Qin

Qin Shihuangdi, harsh laws, 221 BC to 210 BC, little or no education, death of the emperor

Han

lead by virtues learned in school, confucianism, 202 BC to AD 220, promoted education, internal corruption

struggle of the orders

conflict between the plebeians and the patricians

patricians

made up the Roman Senate; great landowners, ruling class

the Twelve Tables

Rome’s first code of laws

First Punic War

264 BC; Romans sent an army to Sicily

Second Punic War

216 BC - 202 BC; the Battle of Cannae and the Battle at Zama

Third Punic War

146 BC; Carthage becomes a Roman province

elections, architectural styles, and legal procedures

aspects of modern life that might be descended from ancient Rome

Gracchus brothers

men who tried to return land to small farmers, assassinated

First Triumvirate

group composed of Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey

Julius Caesar

dictator who rose to power in 47 BC

Marius

Roman general who created a new recruitment system; recruited the landless poor

Augustus

Rome’s first emperor; chose the governors of provinces

31 BC

Octavian defeated the army and navy of Antony and Cleopatra

sequence of events that led to an increased use of slave labor in the Roman Republic

1. small farmers lose land to wealthy landowners, 2. wealthy landowners make large estates with slave labor, 3. small farmers are used as slaves because of their lack of land/money

impact of the Battle of Actium

led to the defeat of Antony, Octavian gained control of Roman Republic, the republic soon because the Roman Empire

factors that led from the transformation from a republic to an empire

1. farmers lost land, 2. seizure of power by army, 3. first triumvirate leads to civil war, 4. Caesar becomes permanent dictator and is assassinated, 5. second triumvirate leads to civil war, 6. Octavian becomes emperor

Hannibal

Carthaginian general

plebeian

groups of craftsmen, merchants, and small farmers

praetor

official in charge of enforcing civil law

consul

chief executive of the Roman Republic

Virgil

author of the Aeneid

imperator

commander in chief