Europe until fall of Western Roman Empire

Question 1

Where is Europe?

Answer 1

Europe is to the West of Asia.

This is why Europe is sometimes referred to as “The West”.

Question 2

Who was the first civilization to develop in Europe?

Answer 2

The Minoans

Question 3

What are the accomplishments of the Minoans?

Answer 3

The Minoans were mostly peaceful.

They have no significant accomplishments aside from the fact that they were the first civilization in Europe

Question 4

Who conquered the Minoans?

Answer 4

The Mycenaeans conquered the Minoans. This was possible because the Myceneans were more war-like than the Minoans.

Question 5

What is a major difference in the culture between the Minoans and Mycenaeans?

Answer 5

The Minoans mainly lived in the cities and were peaceful. Their culture was diverse, whether it was in the way they made pottery, made fishing ships, or played sports.

The Mycenaeans lived out in the countryside. Their culture was not diverse, because the only time they made anything having to do with culture, it always showed something having to do with war.

Question 6

What civilization was the next big one after the Mycenaeans?

Answer 6

The Greek City States

Question 7

Why did the Greek City-States develop into tiny city-states instead of one big empire like the Mauryan or Gupta?

Answer 7

Geography.

The Greek City-States are surrounded by mountains. Because of these natural barriers, travel between city-states is difficult.

Because people did not travel very often between city-states, each city-state developed its own unique culture.

Question 8

What was the religion of the Greek City States?

Answer 8

Today, it is called “Hellenic Polytheism”.

Basically the religion is like a big soap opera where the Gods act like humans do. So the gods get jealous, the gods can love, and can hate. The gods can do stupid things too.

Question 9

What are some important Greek Mythology stories to know?

Answer 9

Well. Here is a website with the top 10.

https://owlcation.com/humanities/top-10-greekmyths

My favorites (and the ones you will be required to know) are:

1. Prometheus
   
   • Explains how Humans obtained fire
2. Icarus
   
   • Explains the danger of extremes

Question 10

What are the Olympic Games?

Answer 10

They were friendly competitions between Greek City States to test athleticism

Question 11

What happened when Persia attacked the Greek City states?

Answer 11

All the Greek City-States got together to fight off Persia.

Athens and Sparta led the fighting against Persia.

Question 12

What was the city-state of Athens like?

Answer 12

Athens was a democracy. Meaning, that the citizens of Athens could vote on important decisions within the city-state, but only a minority participated.

Women had no right to vote, only men.

Question 13

Who is Socrates?

Answer 13

Socrates was an Athenian philosopher, who taught people to question everything.

If your boyfriend or girlfriend says “I love you”, but then doesn’t treat you like it, Socrates would ask you why you believe they love you if they don’t treat you like it.

This process is called “rational inquiry”.

Socrates would teach this to kids, and as a result, was killed, for “corrupting the youth”

Question 14

What are the three main styles of Greek Architecture?

Answer 14

The first (on the left) is Doric

The middle is called Ionic

The last (on the right) is called Corinthian

These styles are important because they are still used today!

Question 15

What is another way to describe the civilization of Ancient Greece?

Answer 15

Ancient Greece (and also Ancient Rome) are referred to as the “Classical Civilizations”.

Question 16

Besides Athens, who was another major Greek City State?

Answer 16

Sparta.

Sparta was different from Athens in that it had two people in power, which was called a dual(meaning 2) Monarchy

Question 17

Why did Sparta have two Kings?

Answer 17

One King was to take care of the homeland. The other King was to be in charge of the armies in battle.

Spartan Kings ruled for life

Question 18

What are the biggest differences between Sparta and Athens, aside from the government?

Answer 18

1. Athens had a trade-based society, Sparta was based on growing food and conquering
2. Athens had a powerful navy, Sparta had a powerful army

Question 19

How did Sparta and Athens treat their women?

Answer 19

In Athens, women had less freedom. Girls, would only be taught how to do work around the house so they could be good housewives.

In Sparta, women had more freedom. Girls would be taught everything boys needed to learn so that when the men went off to fight in a war, the women knew what to do.

Question 20

What was the major battle that occurred within the classical Greek City-States?

Answer 20

The Peloponnesian War

This war was fought between Athens and Sparta.

It was just not those two city-states though. The FRIENDS of Athens also fought against the FRIENDS of Sparta.

Question 21

Who won the Peloponnesian War?

Answer 21

Sparta won, after defeating the Athenian Navy.

The Spartans won after they got help from Persia

Question 22

What are the biggest consequences of the Peloponnesian War

Answer 22

1. It greatly weakened the two biggest city-states, Athens & Sparta. After this war, neither city-state would ever be the same.
2. Because Athens and Sparta were no longer powerful, it left room for another city-state to become the most powerful. That city-state was called Macedon.

Question 23

Besides becoming the most powerful city-state among all the Greek City-States, what’s important to know about Macedon?

Answer 23

Alexander the Great was from Macedon.

Basically, without the Peloponnesian War happening, there is a good chance there would have been no Alexander the Great.

Question 24

What is the Delian league and the Peloponnesian league?

Answer 24

Delian League was led by Athens

Peloponnesian League was led by Sparta

Question 25

Where did the Roman Republic begin?

Answer 25

On the Italian Peninsula.

A peninsula is a geographical land area that is surrounded by water on three sides

Question 26

What were the two biggest reasons that made Rome difficult to conquer?

Answer 26

Reason #1: Its a peninsula, which means its surrounded by water on three sides

Reason #2: The only side that DOES NOT have water, is the same side that is covered in Mountains, specifically the Alps Mountains.

Question 27

What was the name of the people who came before the Romans?

Answer 27

Those people were called the Etruscans.

Pronounced EH-TRUE-SCANS

Question 28

What’s important to know about the Etruscans?

Answer 28

1: They treated their women like they treated their men

Question 29

What was the most powerful Etruscan city-state?

Answer 29

Rome.

Eventually, Rome came to be so powerful that it conquered all the other city states, creating a new government called The Roman Republic.

Once organized into the Roman Republic, city-states would no longer exist.

Question 30

What are the two types of Romans that existed?

Answer 30

Patricians = Who were the landowning wealthy people. You had to own land AND be rich in order to be a patrician. All rich people owned land, but not every landowner was rich.

Plebians = Everone else that wasn’t rich and didn’t own land.

Question 31

Why were Plebians upset with the Patricians?

Answer 31

Patricians were usually the bosses of the Plebians.

The Plebians would work on the farms that were owned by the Patricians.

One day, the Plebians had enough and threatened to go to war with the Patricians. This was called the “Conflict of the Orders”.

Question 32

What was the biggest demand that the Plebians had?

Answer 32

The Plebians demanded that the Patricians agree to the 12 tables.

Question 33

What’s important to know about the 12 tables?

Answer 33

Some of the most important ideas in our law system today come from the 12 tables.

The idea that all people are innocent until proven guilty, comes from the 12 tables.

The idea that you have the right to face your accuser in court, comes from the 12 tables.

The idea that NO ONE is above the law, comes from the 12 tables

Question 34

How was the Greek system of Government in Athens different from the Roman system of government in Rome?

Answer 34

Athens had a Direct Democracy, Rome had a Republic.

In a direct democracy, the people are supposed to vote on everything.

In a Republic, people are elected as representatives, and then those representatives vote on everything.

Question 35

How many parts of Roman government were there, and which part of Roman government was more powerful?

Answer 35

Rome had two branches of government. One of them was called the Senate, and the other was called the Assembly.

The Senate was for Patricians only, and the Assembly was for Plebians only.

The Senate was WAAAY more powerful than the Assembly. The Senate could block any of the Assembly’s laws, and the Senate would also replace Consuls.

Question 36

What is a consul and how many were there?

Answer 36

Rome had two Consuls, who served for life. Consuls are similar to the way we have a President today. Except for today we have one President and back then, Rome had two consuls.

During times of Emergency, the Roman senate would vote to give ALL THE POWER to one consul. It was usually the consul that was the oldest or had the most experience.

Once the Consul was done protecting Rome with Emergency Powers, the Consul would give back all the power to the Senate & Assembly.

Question 37

Where did the Roman Republic get its military strength?

Answer 37

The Roman Republic got its military strength from citizen soldiers.

Citizen-Soldiers were ordinary Roman citizens who volunteered to fight for the Roman Republic.

If the soldiers survived the battle, the Roman Republic, in exchange, would often pay soldiers back in land.

Question 38

Whats important to know about the 1st Punic War?

Answer 38

1. 1st Punic War was fought over the island of Sicily.
2. It was technically started by Carthage (although there is some dispute)
3. Romans won, establishing themselves as a naval power

Question 39

What’s important about the 2nd Punic War

Answer 39

Started by the Romans

Hannibal ( a general in Carthage’s army) crosses the Alps Mountains with his army of War Elephants (first time ever done)

Despite Hannibal’s accomplishments, the Romans are still victorious.

Question 41

Whats important about the 3rd Punic War?

Answer 41

Started by the Romans

Carthage is annihilated (destroyed) by the Roman Empire

The Romans put salt over Carthage’s fields, destroying them

Question 42

Who was the historical Jesus Christ?

Answer 42

Jesus Christ was known for saying things that went against the patricians of the Roman Empire.

He would say things like “..easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God”, “First shall be last and the last shall be first”.

It’s for this reason why Jesus Christ was arrested and later crucified, by the Romans.

Question 43

What religion did Jesus Christ belong to, before becoming the founder of Christianity?

Answer 43

Judaism.

Jesus Christ was a Jewish Carpenter.

A Carpenter is someone who fixes and repairs wooden structures.

Question 44

How did soil depletion affect the Roman Empire?

Answer 44

Overtime, the agricultural output of the farmers decreased, meaning, they were growing less and less food as time went on

Question 45

How did the problems of the farmers affect the Roman Empire?

Answer 45

To make up for lost money, (because farmers were having difficulty growing food) farmers would often take out loans.
These loans were difficult to pay back because the farmers were not making more money, but they were making less and less money.

In response to the plight of the farmers who owed lots of money, Patricians were willing to forgive the loans of the plebeian farmers, but only if they gave up their land to the Patricians.

This made income inequality worse, where the rich got richer and the poor got poorer

Question 46

What military problems did the Roman Empire face?

Answer 46

The citizen-soldier did not want to fight for the Roman Empire anymore. Over time, Roman citizens did not think the pay they received was worth the cost of defending the Empire.

So basically, the Roman Empire had a shortage of soldiers

Question 47

How did the Roman Empire respond to the shortage of soldiers?

Answer 47

They hired barbarians (nomadic people)

They didn’t pay the barbarians more money, they just paid them what they used to pay the citizen-soldiers.

These nomadic people were used to living out in the woods and countryside and didn’t mind working hard and getting dirty, unlike the Roman citizens who got used to enjoying city life.

Question 48

Who was Julius Caesar?

Answer 48

He was a Consul who refused to give back the emergency powers that the Senate had given him.

Obsessed with his power, the Senate assassinated him in the room of the Senate with his BFF Brutus delivering the final stab.

Julius Caesar started the Roman Empire. He was still considered a Consul when he was assassinated, and WAS NOT the first Emperor of Rome

Question 49

Who was Augustus Caesar?

Answer 49

Was the 1st Emperor of Rome

Went after the senators who assassinated his Uncle, Julius Caesar.

Question 50

What were the major accomplishments of Augustus Caesar?

Answer 50

1. He ordered the creation of massive infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges, aqueducts.
2. He established the creation of a single currency, which was split up into gold, silver, and bronze.
3. He expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest maximum landholdings. In other words, the Roman Empire would never be bigger than it was under Augustus

Question 51

What was the major problem that Rome faced, 200 years after the death of Augustus Caesar?

Answer 51

The Roman Empire was waaaaay too big to manage efficently

As a result, Emperor Diocletian decided to split the Roman Empire in half.

The Western Half had the city of Rome as its capital and would be called the Western Roman Empire.

The Eastern half had the city called Byzantium as its capital and would be called the Eastern Roman Empire. Later, a Roman Emperor named Constantine would change the name from Byzantium to Constantinople

Question 52

What was the status of Christianity for most of the time it existed in the Roman Empire?

Answer 52

Christianity was illegal to practice.

This was just plain 100% persecution. The polytheists didn’t like Christians because Christians only worshipped one all-powerful God, whereas the Polytheists worshipped lots of gods.

Question 53

Who was Constantine?

Answer 53

Constantine was the Roman Emperor who made Christianity legal

He made it legal through his “Edict of Milan”

Constantine didn’t actually do this because he was a big fan of Christianity or Jesus’s teachings. Constantine made Christianity legal because he thought it would make it easier to control the Roman people.

Question 54

Why did the Western Roman Empire Collapse?

Answer 54

The Western Roman Empire collapsed because it was conquered by Barbarians (nomadic people)

These are the same nomadic people who the Romans would pay money to in order to defend Rome.

Question 55

What happened to the Eastern Roman Empire after the Western Roman Empire collapsed?

Answer 55

The Eastern Roman Empire dropped its name and took on a completely new name, calling itself the Byzantine Empire.

Its capital city would continue to be Constantinople.