Western Civilization Final Review

A collection of vocabulary terms covering Western Civilization from early Mesopotamian and Egyptian societies through the Middle Ages, based on lecture notes.

Civilization

A society differentiated by levels of wealth and power, in which military, religious, economic, and political control are based in cities.

Osiris

The Egyptian god most closely associated with the process of death and resurrection.

Philip II

The Macedonian king who conquered Greece by defeating an alliance of Thebans and Athenians at the Battle of Chaeronea in $337\,B.C.$

Sargon the Great

The founder of the Akkadian Empire and known for establishing the first empire in Mesopotamia.

Paleolithic Age

A period spanning from $2.5\,million$ to $10,000$ years ago, characterized by the development of stone tools, cave paintings, the discovery of fire, and a division of labor between men and women.

Neolithic Revolution

The transition from hunting and gathering toward the systematic growing of food.

Sumer

The area in Mesopotamia where one of the first ancient civilizations began around $3000\,B.C.$

Hammurabi

The most famous of the Amorite kings of the Babylonian Empire who developed a significant set of laws.

Cuneiform

The wedge-shaped writing system developed in ancient Mesopotamia.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

A great literary epic of the ancient Sumerians.

Nile River

The river of paramount importance in the development of ancient Egyptian civilization.

Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom

The three major periods into which ancient Egyptian history is divided.

Re

The sun god who was the chief god of the Egyptians during the Old Kingdom.

Pharaoh

The title taken on by the rulers of Egypt during the New Kingdom.

Hieroglyphics

The primary writing system used in ancient Egypt, including symbols that represented sounds and objects.

Base $10$

The number system used by the ancient Egyptians.

Indo-European

The language group to which Greek, Latin, Persian, and Mycenaean languages belong.

Crete

The Mediterranean island where the Minoan civilization was geographically located.

Linear A

The undeciphered primary script used in the palace and religious writings of the Minoan civilization.

Mycenae

A civilization where being a skilled warrior was considered the most important virtue.

Linear B

The earliest written form of Greek used by the Mycenaeans.

Abraham

The person considered the patriarch of the Hebrew people according to religious tradition.

King David

The ruler credited with founding Jerusalem and considered the greatest king of Israel.

Jewish Religious Tradition

A tradition characterized by three important aspects: The Covenant, the Law, and the Prophets.

Babylonian Captivity

The period following the destruction of Jerusalem in $586\,B.C.$ at the hands of the Chaldeans.

Phoenicians

The group whose most important contribution to the ancient Near East was a simplified alphabet and system of writing.

Assyrians

Warlike conquerors of Babylonia and Egypt who used terror tactics, iron weapons, and horse-drawn war chariots.

Nebuchadnezzar

The ruler under whose reign the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were constructed.

Alphabet

The writing system adopted by the Greeks from the Phoenicians during the Archaic Age.

The Iliad

A work of ancient Greek literature telling the story of the Trojan War and the wrath of Achilles.

Polis

An independent, self-governing Greek city-state.

Phalanx

A new Greek military formation where soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder in ranks often $8$ men deep.

Democracy

A system involving rule by the people that does not discriminate based on birth or wealth.

Solon

The figure to whom Athens turned over power to save the city from economic problems and slavery.

Cleisthenes

The leader who began major reforms to create Athenian democracy.

Cyrus the Great

The founder of the Persian Empire.

Miltiades

The leader who led the Athenians and their Greek allies to victory at the Battle of Marathon.

Xerxes

The Persian ruler who led the second Persian Invasion of Greece in $480-479\,B.C.$ with a force of $150,000$ to $250,000$ men.

Battle of Thermopylae

A heroic delaying action led by King Leonidas and his $300$ Spartans to buy time for Athens against the Persians.

Great Peloponnesian War

The conflict that resulted in the destruction of Greek unity.

Herodotus

The author of the 'Persian Wars' and known as 'the father of history.'

Socrates

A famous Greek philosopher forced to commit suicide by drinking hemlock for 'corrupting the youth of Athens.'

Hellenistic

A word used to describe the civilization based on Greece that developed following the conquests of Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great

The ruler also known as Alexander III who created the largest empire the ancient world had known by age $31$ and diffused Greek culture.

Major Battles of Alexander the Great

The Battle of Granicus River, the Battle of Issus, and the Battle of Gaugamela.

Apollonius of Rhodes

The author best known for the epic poem 'The Argonautica.'

Epicureanism

A philosophy founded by Epicurus whose teachings are known as the 'Doctrine of pleasure.'

Stoicism

A philosophy founded by Zeno emphasizing the acceptance of fate and active participation in public life.

Aristarchus of Samos

The thinker who proposed the groundbreaking astronomical theory of the heliocentric view of the universe.

Eratosthenes

The scholar best known for determining the circumference of the Earth.

Euclid

The mathematician whose most famous contribution was compiling 'Elements,' a textbook on geometry.

Archimedes

The mathematician best known for establishing the value of pi ($\pi$).

Consuls

The highest civil and military officials during the Roman Republic.

Struggle of the Orders

A conflict between the Patricians and Plebeians resulting in the Plebeians obtaining more power.

Laws of the Twelve Tables

The foundation of Western legal culture that governed civil and criminal disputes among Roman citizens.

Hannibal

The Carthaginian leader whose greatest victory of the Second Punic War was the Battle of Cannae.

Publius Cornelius Scipio

The Roman commander who defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama.

Punic Wars

A series of wars fought between Rome and Carthage.

Spartacus

The leader of the Third Servile War who was suppressed by Crassus and Pompey.

Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus

Brothers whose reform efforts resulted in increased instability in Roman politics.

Marius

The leader whose military reforms, including abolishing land ownership requirements, made the army more loyal to commanders than to Rome.

Sulla

A leader who used the army to seize power, became dictator, attempted to restore the Senate, and retired in $79\,B.C.$

First Triumvirate

A political alliance formed by Julius Caesar, Marcus Crassus, and Pompey the Great.

Battle of Actium

A battle in $31\,B.C.$ where Octavian's forces defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra.

Augustus

The ruler whose reign is considered a Golden Age for Rome.

Nero

The Julio-Claudian emperor who persecuted Christians, reigned during the Great Fire of Rome in $64$, and was known for scandalous behavior.

Antonine Decree

An act in $212$ that granted citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Roman Empire.

Bread and Circuses

A Roman metaphor for citizens choosing food and entertainment over freedom.

Diaspora

A term associated with Jewish life after the destruction of the Temple in Judea.

Jesus Christ

A figure who preached humility, charity, and brotherly love, whose followers became known as Christians.

Paul

The individual who contributed the first coherent Christian theology to early Christianity.

Constantine

The emperor who issued the Edict of Milan in $313$, officially tolerating Christianity.

Theodosius the Great

The emperor who declared Christianity the official religion of Rome with the Edict of Thessalonica in $380$.

Bishop of Rome

The head of the church in the West based on 'Petrine Primacy' following the line of St. Peter.

Nicene Creed

The first uniform Christian doctrine formed at the First Council of Nicaea in $325$.

Monastery

A communal life described by Saint Benedict of Nursia focused on prayer, reading, and manual labor.

Byzantine Empire

The surviving eastern half of the Roman Empire that lasted for a thousand years after the fall of the West.

Justinian

The most important Byzantine Emperor of the $6th$ century.

Hagia Sophia

Completed in $537$, it was the largest Christian church in the world at that time.

Iconoclasm Controversy

An $8th$ and $9th$ century dispute over the use of religious images in the Byzantine Empire.

Seljuk Turks

The group that crushed the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert in $1071$.

Constantinople

The capital of the Byzantine Empire.

Hegira

Muhammad's flight to Yathrib (Medina) in $622$, marking the start of the Islamic calendar.

Muhammad

The prophet who unified most Arab clans under Islam and delivered the definitive message of God.

Qu'ran

The holy book of Islam.

Charles Martel

The leader of the Frankish and Burgundian armies at the Battle of Tours, halting the Muslim advance into Europe.

Umayyad Caliphate

The first stable Muslim state, based in Damascus, Syria.

Charlemagne

The most important Frankish king of the Carolingian dynasty, crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III in $800$.

Carolingian Renaissance

A rebirth of interest in ancient Greek and Latin literature and language promoted by Charlemagne.

Treaty of Verdun

The treaty that officially split the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms.

Roman Catholic Church

The organization that provided identity and unity in Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in $476$.

Virgin Mary

The highest saint in the Middle Ages according to medieval Christians.

Vikings

Germanic warriors and shipbuilders from Scandinavia who raided Europe.

Feudalism

A social system where lords granted fiefs to vassals/dependents in exchange for services.

Vassal

A person whose principal obligation was to provide military service to his lord.