Geography & the Polis
What sea connected Greek communities through trade?
The Aegean Sea
What government is ruled by a small powerful group?
Oligarchy.
Who used questions to test assumptions?
Socrates.
Who defeated Athens and Thebes at Chaeronea?
Philip II of Macedonia.
Which official could veto actions harmful to plebeians?
A tribune.
Who carried Christianity to gentile communities and wrote letters?
Paul.
What was the marketplace and civic gathering place of a polis?
The agora.
What made Athenian democracy direct?
Eligible citizens debated and voted on decisions themselves.
Who wrote about an ideal state led by philosopher-kings?
Plato.
Where did Alexander die in 323 BCE?
Babylon.
Why were the Twelve Tables important?
They made Roman law public so citizens could know and reference the rules.
What decree granted religious freedom in AD 313?
The Edict of Milan.
Why did mountains encourage independent poleis?
They separated valleys and made land travel and political unity difficult.
Which battle was the decisive Greek naval victory against Persia?
Salamis.
What three-step routine helps historians analyze an artifact?
Observation, inference, limitation.
Why was Alexander’s empire divided after his death?
No clear successor could hold it together, so his generals divided it.
Name Rome’s opponent in the Punic Wars.
Carthage.
Name one factor that helped Christianity spread across the empire.
Roads/sea routes, shared languages, missionaries, urban networks, or the message/community.
Name the civilization centered on Crete and one piece of evidence of its maritime wealth.
The Minoans; Knossos, palace remains, or frescoes.
Why did Sparta fear Athens after the Persian Wars?
Athens expanded its power through the Delian League.
What values did the Parthenon communicate?
Balance, religious devotion, civic pride, order, or public achievement.
Define Hellenistic culture.
A blend of Greek and local traditions created after Alexander’s conquests.
How did latifundia hurt small farmers?
Large estates using enslaved labor produced cheaply, contributing to debt and displacement.
Name two categories of problems that weakened the Western Empire.
Any two: political, economic, social, military.
Explain one benefit and one drawback of a coastal polis.
Benefit: trade/harbor access; drawback: vulnerability to attack or stronger local separation.
Why did victory over Persia fail to create lasting Greek unity?
The common threat faded, while Athenian expansion and competing alliances increased distrust and led to war.
Contrast tragedy and comedy in Greek theater.
Tragedy examined suffering and difficult choices; comedy used humor and satire to criticize society.
Why should a historian qualify a judgment of Alexander?
Accounts were written from different perspectives, often later, and include both praise and evidence of violence.
Why was Caesar an accelerator rather than the sole cause of collapse?
Inequality, political violence, and armies loyal to generals existed before him, but his civil war and dictatorship pushed Rome toward one-man rule.
Why is “both” the strongest answer to whether Rome fell or transformed?
Western imperial government ended after a long decline, while Roman law, Latin, Christianity, engineering, and the Byzantine Empire continued.