| A | B |
|---|
| monarchy | type of government where a king or queen has central power |
| direct democracy | people hold the ruling power |
| tyrant | person who gains power by force |
| Parthenon | temple stood on the acropolis [hilltop] in Athens & was dedicated to the goddess Athena; rectangular shape with columns - It reflected balance & order |
| ethnocentrism | belief that your culture or ethnic group is superior to all others [the Greeks called non-Greeks barbarians |
| polis | name for a Greek city-state |
| strait | narrow passage of water connecting 2 larger bodies of water |
| Golden Age | Time of peace and prosperity cultural, & technological advancements The economy was good & things were at their peek – life was very good |
| philosopher | "lover of wisdom" - Socrates, Plato, Aristotle |
| philosopher king | Ruler in Plato's republic about an ideal state that controlled peoples' lives |
| cultural diffusion | spread or mixing of cultures - an example is the hellenistic culture [blend of greek, Egyptian, persian, Indian] |
| Hellenistic | new culture created by Alexander the Great's empire in which he brought Greek ideas, culture, art, etc. to mix with the cultures of the lands he conquered: Egyptian, Persian, Iindian |
| Socrates | developed Socratic method of questioning to examine the truth; believed in a democracy [citizens make decisions] but was put to death by it |
| Plato | Socrate's student; wrote "The Republic"; the state should control evry parts of peoples' lives under a philosopher king] |
| Aristotle | philosopher; government run by one strong and virtuous [good] ruler; believed in human reason |
| Pericles | leader of Athens during the Golden Age - he set up a direct democracy [in which all men participated in government]; rebuilt the temples of the acropolis & made Athens the center of Greek culture |
| Xeres | Persian king tried to attack Greeks, but the Greeks tricked Xeres' Persian navy to come into the narrow Strait of Salamis where they got trapped & then rammed & sunk by the the Athenian navy |
| republic | a government of the people with no monarch [king] |
| Senate/ Senators | law-making body in Rome; made of 300 Patricians; most powerful part of Roman gov't. |
| dictator | chosen during war; ruler who has complete control over the government, but that person could rule for only six months |
| consuls | elected by the Senate; controlled the government and commanded the armies. |
| tribunes | plebeian officials represented the plebeians and they could veto [block] laws they thought harmful to the plebeians |
| veto | power to block laws [tribunes had this power] |
| Patricians | wealthy, landowning class; made up the senate & judges |
| Plebeians | common people, most of population; at first had few rights, but then had the laws written down [Twelve Tables} and gained representation [tribunes] |
| rivalry | competition & conflict |
| diplomacy | attempts to keep the peace by discussion, treaties, etc. with other countries |
| Pax Romana | Roman peace [200 years] & a Golden Age of good government, many achievements, trade & unity - began with Augustus Caesar |
| peninsula | surrounded on 3 sides by water [ex. Italy & Greece] |
| scapegoat | people used to blame when things went wrong [ex. Romans used christians as scapegoats to blame for the problems of the empire] |
| Julius Caesar | General conquered Gaul; returned to Rome made himself dictator for life; made some reforms [employed jobless, granted more citizenship; created Julian calendar] then was assassinated in the Senate for having too much power. |
| Octavian Augustus Caesar | Julius Caesar's grandson became the first emperor and ended the 500 year republic Augustus [the exalted one] began a 200 year period known as Pax Romana [literally means “Roman Peace”]. |
| Nero | Emperor who persecuted [killed] Christians and was blamed for setting a fire that burned most of Rome. |
| Calligula | Emperor who appointed his favorite horse as consul |
| Jesus Christ | the "Messiah" called himself the Son of God, preached mercy & compassion; ”If anyone hit you on the cheek, let him hit the other", was crucified by the Romans; believed to redeem the sins of mankind & rose from the dead |
| Constantine | Emperor influenced by his mother [a devout Christian] and after seeing a cross in the sky during battle - first to issue the Edict of Milan in 313 granting religious freedom to all, including Christians |
| How could greece communicate with each other & other cultures | Greece's long coastline had many harbors so Greeks could use sea-going ships to trade & travel all over the Mediterranean region |
| Impact of mountains on Greek cities' governments | Mountains isolated the city-states by land separating them into independent city-states with their own kind of gov't. Athens had a democracy; Sparta had a monarchy [2 kings] |
| Women in Athens VS Women in Sparta | Athens' women stayed at home/ Sparta's women expected to raise healthy males, but could own property |
| What did the philosophers do? | used their minds [reason] to question and seek truth about education, government, and other parts of society |
| What was greek art like? | colorful, lifelike; balanced; showed order & perfection; beautiful |
| What did Greek architecture value? | balance & order [Ex. temples like the Parthenon were a perfect rectangle outlined by columns] |
| Why was hellenistic culture an example of cultural diffusion? | Alexander the Great brought Greek ideas, language & art every place he conquered; Greek architects built Greek temples in the new cities Alexander created in his empire. greek soldiers married local Persian & Egyptian women. Greek ideas, culture & learning mixed with Persian, Egyptian & other local ideas. Alexander's military conquests resulted in a new blended Hellenistic culture, heavily influence by Greek achievements |
| How was Rome's geography different from Greece? What could Rome do that greece could Not? | The italian peninsula did not have rugged mountains that greece had. italy had many flat, fertile plains. Therefore, Rome could spread out and UNITE into One government. |
| Twelve Tables & why important | Written Law Codes [like Hammurabi's Code] that told all citizens how to behave |
| How did julius Caesar come to power? | After conquering Gaul, Julius Caesar disobeyed the Senate & crossed into Italy with his army - he defeated his rival's army & forced the Senate to make him dictator for life |
| Who killed Julius Caesar & why? | The Senators stabbed Julius to death on the Senate floor because he had taken away their power |
| Pax Romana & 4 achievements | The Roman Peace [200 years]; 1. engineering [built roads, harbors, bridges, aqueducts] connecting all parts of the empire; 2. Roman Law applied to all citizens based on fairness; "innocent until proven guilty"; 3. Architecture - combined Greek & Roman ideas [Greek elegance & Roman grandeur]; used Greek columns, improved the arch & dome; Famous domed building = Pantheon temple to all gods; 4. Art - Adopted realism of the Hellenistic style – statues very life-like; Imported shiploads of Greek statues to decorate homes; used art to show power of Roman leaders |
| Roman women during Pax Romana | had it better than greek women - Roman women could own businesses |
| Fall of Rome | 1. military - army hired many foreign soldiers not loyal to Rome & Rome too large to defend against many German invaders; 2. Social - people became lazy because of Rome's large welfare system; 3. economic - haevy taxes needed to support a big government & large army - taxes crushed people so they had to give up their farms or businesses; also slave labor caused unemployment 7 kept wages low; 4. Political - Rome's gov't had no way of chosing the next ruler so many people/generals fought over power - called civil wars |
