Set 1: APWH Themes, General Key-terms, Western Civilization

Social Structures

The complex pattern of relationships that shape any society. They help to determine how justice is lived out in society.

Politics

Method of maintaining, managing, and gaining control of government (who gets what, when, and how)

Interaction with the Environment

As part of an ecosystem, each organism interacts continuously with its environment

Culture

Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.

Economics

The study of how people seek to satisfy their needs and wants by making choices

Technology

The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes

Consensus

general agreement

Ceremonial Burial

elaborate burial sites indicated the afterlife, example of Paleolithic Societies thinking of a spirit world

Animism

Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.

Nomads

people who wander from place to place

Egalitarian

promoting equal rights for all people

Agriculture

farming

Irrigation

A way of supplying water to an area of land

Civilization

A society with cities, a central government, job specialization, and social classes

Monumental Architecture

architectural constructions of a greater-than-human scale, such as pyramids, temples, and tombs

Urbanization

An increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements.

Legitimize

To give credit or recognition to

Theocracy

A government controlled by religious leaders

Polytheism

Belief in many gods

Hierarchy

a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.

Patriarchy

A form of social organization in which males dominate females

Western Civilization

civilization that evolved in Europe and in recent centuries spread to America

Ancient Greece

Location was where the present day country of Greece is. It is famous for types of columns in architecture. The acropolis and the Parthenon. First democratic form of government

Consolidate

(v.) to combine, unite; to make solid or firm

Mediterranean Trade

allowed Roman empire to trade with many different places thus increasing the economy

Decentralized

governmental power is spread among more than one person or group

City-state

a city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state.

Athens

A democratic Greek polis who accomplished many cultural achievements, and who were constantly at war with Sparta.

Monarchy

A government ruled by a king or queen

Tyranny

Cruel and oppressive government or rule

Democracy

A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them

Greek Golden Age

5th century BCE

Euclid

Father of geometry

Socrates

(470-399 BCE) An Athenian philosopher who thought that human beings could lead honest lives and that honor was far more important than wealth, fame, or other superficial attributes.

Cultural Diffusion

The spread of ideas, customs, and technologies from one people to another

Roman Empire

Existed from 27 BCE to about 400 CE. Conquered the entire Mediterranean coast and most of Europe. Ruled by an emperor. Eventually oversaw the rise and spread of Christianity.

Latin

The language of the Romans

Romance Languages

Any of the languages derived from Latin including Italian, Spanish, French, and Romanian.

Roman Legal Concepts

Innocent until proven guilty, equality under the law

Hebrews

the ethnic group claiming descent from Abraham and Isaac (especially from Isaac's son Jacob)

Judaism

the monotheistic religion of the Jews.

Monotheism

Belief in one God

Abrahamic Religions

Judaism, Christianity, Islam

Imperial Cult

in the Roman world, a partly political and partly religious ceremony in honor of the emperor who was recognized as a superhuman or divine figure

Jewish Diaspora

the scattering of the Jewish people outside their homeland beginning about 586 BCE

Missionaries

people who work to spread their religious beliefs

Christianity

A monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior.

Rome legalizes Christianity

313 CE

Germanic Tribes

Nomadic groups that invaded the Roman Empire from the North and East. They caused the fall of Rome.

Fall of Rome

476

Roman Catholic Church

the Christian church headed by the pope in Rome