Quiz 1

• Context: Archaic Greece (c. 8th–6th centuries BCE); Greek city-states expanding across the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

• Characteristics: Colonies founded for trade, farmland, and to ease population pressure; chosen sites based on harbors and resources; maintained ties with metropolis (mother city) through religion, festivals, and trade.

• Importance: Spread Greek language, art, religion, and political ideas; facilitated cultural exchange; laid foundations for pan-Hellenic identity.

Greek Colonization

• Context: Located at Delphi, central Greece; peak influence in Archaic and Classical Greece.

• Characteristics: Sanctuary of Apollo; priestess (Pythia) delivered oracles; sayings included “Know thyself” and “Nothing in excess.”

• Importance: Central to Greek decision-making in politics, colonization, and warfare; reinforced religious and cultural values about moderation and self-awareness.

Oracle at Delphi

• Context: Post-Greco-Persian Wars, 5th century BCE Athens.

• Characteristics: Direct democracy; Assembly (ekklesia), Council of 500 (boule), law courts; voting by citizens; magistrates chosen by lot, limited terms.

• Importance: First large-scale experiment in democracy; influenced later democratic systems; connected civic identity with political participation.

Athenian Democracy

• Context: Formed 478 BCE after Persian Wars; led by Athens.

• Characteristics: Naval alliance of Greek city-states; treasury originally on Delos, later moved to Athens; members contributed ships or money.

• Importance: Strengthened Athens’ power; turned into Athenian Empire; resentment fueled Peloponnesian War.

Delian League

• Context: Throughout Greek world, Classical period especially.

• Characteristics: Slaves were war captives, foreigners, or debtors; worked in households, mines, workshops; some educated slaves as tutors. Manumission possible, but freedpersons had limited rights. Spartans differed: helots were state-owned serfs.

• Importance: Backbone of Greek economy; highlighted inequality in a society that valued freedom for citizens.

Greek Slavery

• Context: Classical Athens, 4th century BCE; student of Socrates.

• Characteristics: Founded the Academy; wrote dialogues; ideas included Theory of Forms, philosopher-kings, critique of democracy.

• Importance: Profound influence on Western philosophy, especially metaphysics, politics, and education.

Plato

• Context: 4th century BCE; student of Plato, tutor of Alexander the Great.

• Characteristics: Founded the Lyceum; emphasized empirical observation; wrote on politics, ethics, logic, science.

• Importance: Systematized knowledge; major influence on medieval scholasticism and modern science.

Aristotle

• Context: Hellenistic era, founded in Athens c. 300 BCE by Zeno of Citium.

• Characteristics: Emphasized rationality, self-control, virtue as highest good; accept fate (logos).

• Importance: Popular among Romans; shaped ideas of duty, natural law, and endurance that influenced Christian and later Western ethics.

Stoicism

• Context: King of Macedon (359–336 BCE).

• Characteristics: Military reforms (phalanx with sarissas); diplomacy and conquest unified Greece; presented himself as leader of a Greek crusade against Persia.

• Importance: Laid foundation for Alexander’s empire; transformed Macedon into dominant power.

Philip II of Macedon

• Context: Conquered Egypt 332 BCE.

• Characteristics: Welcomed as liberator from Persians; founded Alexandria; visited oracle of Zeus-Ammon at Siwa, claimed divine status.

• Importance: Secured Egypt for empire; Alexandria became major cultural/learning center; blended Greek and Egyptian traditions.

Alexander the Great in Egypt

• Context: Hellenistic Egypt, under Ptolemies.

• Characteristics: Temple-like institution dedicated to Muses; included Library of Alexandria; scholars studied literature, science, medicine.

• Importance: Major hub of learning and preservation; symbol of Hellenistic intellectual achievement.

Museum in Alexandria

• Context: Roman Republic and Empire.

• Characteristics: Built roads, aqueducts, bridges, sewers (Cloaca Maxima), and public baths; advanced use of concrete and arches.

• Importance: Enabled military mobility, urban growth, sanitation; legacy visible in modern infrastructure.

Roman Civil Engineering

• Context: Core values of Roman Republic.

• Characteristics:

  • Justitia (justice)

  • Gravitas (seriousness/dignity)

  • Pietas (duty to gods, family, state)

  • Fides (faith, loyalty)

• Importance: Guided Roman politics, family life, and expansion; fostered civic virtue and unity.

Roman Ideals

• Context: Early Republic, 6th century BCE onward.

• Characteristics: Advisory council of patricians (later plebeians); controlled finances, foreign policy, legislation.

• Importance: Central institution of Republic; symbol of tradition and aristocratic authority; weakened during late Republic but retained prestige.

Roman Senate

• Context: Roman Republic and Empire.

• Characteristics: Legal dependence on father/husband but could own property, attend banquets, participate in religious life; elite women influential through family ties; lower-class women worked.

• Importance: Shaped social and political life indirectly; gradual expansion of rights under Empire.

Roman Women

• Context: Roman Republic and Empire.

• Characteristics: War captives, criminals, debtors; labor in agriculture, households, mines; could be freed (manumission), with ex-slaves often becoming clients of former masters.

• Importance: Foundation of Roman economy and social hierarchy; frequent revolts (e.g., Spartacus).

Roman Slavery

• Context: Second Punic War, 216 BCE.

• Characteristics: Hannibal’s Carthaginian forces encircled and destroyed a larger Roman army.

• Importance: Major Roman defeat; Rome refused peace, shifted to war of attrition; Hannibal lacked reinforcements, leading to eventual Roman recovery.

Battle of Cannae

• Context: Late Roman Republic, early 1st century BCE.

• Characteristics: Marius—military reforms, populist support; Sulla—optimates, marched on Rome, proscriptions.

• Importance: First major civil war; showed fragility of Republic; precedent for military intervention in politics.

Marius vs. Sulla

• Context: 60 BCE alliance.

• Characteristics: Caesar, Pompey, Crassus; united for mutual benefit—Caesar’s consulship, Pompey’s land for veterans, Crassus’s wealth. Sealed by marriage of Caesar’s daughter Julia to Pompey.

• Importance: Informal alliance bypassing Senate; collapsed after Crassus’s death and Julia’s death; civil war between Caesar and Pompey.

First Triumvirate

• Context: Dictatorship, 49–44 BCE.

• Characteristics: Expanded Senate, reformed calendar, debt relief, public works, colonies for veterans and poor, curbed corruption.

• Importance: Centralized power, reduced Senate authority; reforms left lasting impact; fueled fear of monarchy, leading to assassination.

Julius Caesar’s Domestic Policies