| A | B |
|---|
| city-state | independent state consisting of a city and its surrounding territory |
| direct democracy | government in which citizens take part directly in the day-to-day affairs of government |
| oligarchy | government in which a small group of people rule |
| philosophy | general study of knowledge and the world; Greek for "love of wisdom" |
| cultural hearth | place where cultural traits begin and from which they spread to surrounding cultures and regions |
| patrician | wealthy aristocrats in ancient Rome |
| Pax Romana | period of stability in the Roman empire under Augustus |
| plebeian | nonpatrician citizen of ancient Rome |
| aqueduct | channel that moves water over a long distance |
| representative democracy | form of government in which citizens hold political power |
| schism | split or division |
| lord | in medieval Europe, noblemen who gave land to other noblemen in return for services |
| vassal | in medieval Europe, noblemen who received land from other noblemen in return for their services |
| feudalism | in medieval Europe, a system in which land was owned by lords but held by vassals in return for their loyalty |
| manorialism | in medieval Europe, the economic relationship between a lord and the peasants who worked for him |
| Crusades | religious wars in which Christian soldiers from Europe aimed to stop the spread of Islam and to retake control of Palestine, also called the Holy Land |
| Reconquista | reconquering of Spain by Christians beginning in the 1000s |
| guild | association of people who have a common interest |
| Magna Carta | document that limited the English king's power |
