Introduction to World Civilizations: From the Gupta Dynasty to the Greco-Persian Wars

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the lecture transcript covering the Gupta dynasty, ancient Greek culture, the Persian Empire, and the Greco-Persian Wars.

Gupta dynasty

An Indian dynasty regarded as a golden age for cultural growth, art, architecture, and commitment to scholarship in math and science.

Arabic numbers

The zero through 10 number system invented in India, named after the Arabs who traded with the Gupta Empire and introduced the system to Europe.

Minoans

An early civilization that emerged on the island of Crete, from which many Greek cultural stories and origins, such as the Minotaur, derived.

Minotaur

A mythological Greek creature from the island of Crete whose name literally means Minos bull.

Bronze Age collapse

A widespread historical event occurring around $1200\text{ BC}$ during which major civilizations around the world collapsed or uprooted.

Iliad

An ancient Greek poem compiled around $750\text{ BC}$ describing events related to the Trojan War, typically recited to music.

Homer

A blind Greek poet credited with compiling the epic poem the Iliad.

Dorians

A group from the north that invaded Greece, causing the burning of palaces and introducing the distinct Dorian dialect.

Ionians

A Greek population speaking the distinct Ionian dialect, separate from the Dorian dialect.

Herodotus

An early Greek historian who independently recorded historical events for future generations without being funded by a monarch.

Cyrus the Great

The king of Persia who conquered Babylon, organized his empire into satrapies, exercised religious tolerance, and abolished slavery.

Satrapies

Administrative governor-led provinces established throughout the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great.

Zoroastrianism

An ancient Persian religion founded by Zoroaster that views the universe as a cosmic struggle between the god of light, Ahura Mazda, and the god of darkness, Angra Menu.

Ahura Mazda

The universal god of light, truth, and goodness in Zoroastrianism.

Angra Menu

The god of darkness and evil in Zoroastrianism who opposes Ahura Mazda.

Messiah

A Hebrew term meaning anointed one, which is used in the Old Testament to refer to Cyrus the Great.

Darius

A Persian king and general who succeeded Cyrus, built the Persian Royal Road, and put down the Ionian revolt.

Persian Royal Road

A long highway system built by Darius connecting the Persian Empire from Iran to Turkey to enable rapid trade, communication, and troop movements.

Democritus

A scholar from Miletus who proposed atomic theory, arguing that matter consists of tiny indivisible particles called atoma.

Athens

A democratic Greek city-state governed directly by its male citizens, known for aiding the Ionian revolt against Persia.

Battle of Marathon

A battle in which Athenian forces launched a successful surprise attack on invading Persian troops offloading in shallow water.

Xerxes

The son and successor of Darius who assembled a massive Persian army of hundreds of thousands to a million troops to conquer Greece.

Sparta

A highly militarized Greek city-state that sent all male citizens to military boot camp at age five to train as full-time soldiers.

Oracle at Delphi

A fortune teller in Greece who offered prophecies to the Greek people while situated near sulfurous gases.

Themistocles

An Athenian general who interpreted the Oracle at Delphi's advice of a wooden wall as a instruction to build a fleet of warships to defeat Persia at sea.

Leonidas

A Spartan king who led a force of around $5000$ Greeks, including a bodyguard of $300$ Spartans, at the Battle of Thermopylae.

Battle of Thermopylae

A battle where King Leonidas and his $300$ Spartan bodyguards fought to the death at a narrow pass to buy time for the Athenian fleet.

Aphelites

The traitor who showed the Persian army a secret pass to surround King Leonidas and his Spartan forces at Thermopylae.