Midterm #1 Flashcards
(73 cards)
1
Q
What constitutes empire?
A
- Trade, roads, legal systems and propaganda
2
Q
What are two forms of rule in an empire?
A
- Hegemony- support in exchange for protection, stability etc.
- Dominance- conquest and control through military power and threat
3
Q
What is the timeline of empires?
A
- Persia
- China- Qin and Han
- Greece
- India
- Rome
4
Q
Who was the Persian empire founded by?
A
- Founded by Cyrus
- Tolerant Ruler
- Law-giver
- “Annointed one of God”
- Allowed 40,000 Jews to return to Palestine from Babylon
5
Q
What existed before empires?
A
City-states
6
Q
What is Persepolis?
A
Ancient great city of the Empire
- Was used as propaganda to display power
7
Q
What was the Persian Royal Road?
A
- Very important to the empire
- Road holds empires together
- Moves food, troops etc
- Longest empire road
8
Q
What causes the decline and fall of empires?
A
- Leadership Failure
- Overextension (administrative)
- Economic Collapse
- Ideological Doubts
- Military Defeat
9
Q
What was the Persian religion?
A
Zoroastrianism
10
Q
How did the Persian empire fall?
A
- Differences between Persians and subject people
- Long period of warfare with Greeks resulted in defeat
11
Q
First dynasty of China?
A
Shang dynasty
12
Q
Who was the Shang dynasty? Significance?
A
- First recorded dynasty
- Belligerent aristocracy
- First Chinese cities, center of court life
- Villages organized by clans
- Cast bronze and created silk
- Developed writing
- Honoured ancestors using oracle bones
13
Q
Chou Dynasty? Significance
A
- 2nd dynasty, overthrew Shang
- Longest lasting Chinese Dynasty
- Feudal system
- Territorial expansion-complicated central rule
- Innovations: Confucianism, Mandate of Heaven, Chinese Language, system of currency
14
Q
Chou Dynasty-Language
A
- Promoted linguistic unity, single standard language was Mandarin
- Largest single group of people speaking the same language in the world
15
Q
Chou Dynasty- Mandate of Heaven
A
- Asserted that heaven itself had transferred its mandate to rule China to the Chou emperors
- Key justification for Chinese imperial rule
16
Q
Why did the Chou dynasty decline?
A
- Breakdown of ability to control its vassals led to political internal conflict
- Rebellion, overthrow by Qin dynasty
17
Q
Qin Dynasty significance?
A
- Qin Shi Huangdi proclaimed himself the First Emperor of China
- Shortest empire, only 21 years but much accomplished:
- Centralized power
- Burning of Confucian books
- Strict written laws, standardized weights and measures
- Unified China
18
Q
Great Wall of China
A
- Began with the Qin Dynasty
- Forced slave labour
- Also built roads, bridges, canals
19
Q
Han Dynasty Significance
A
- 3rd rulers
- Had two goals: to centralize government and expand the empire
20
Q
Han Dynasty Reforms
A
- Expanded the bureaucracy
- Started an imperial university
- Food reserves
- Erected shrines to Confucius whose ideas became the official state philosophy
- Confucian examination system- to work in govt
- BUDDHISM INTRODUCED, increase in population
- Paper invented
- Expanded the Silk Roads
21
Q
How long did the Han dynasty rule?
A
The Han Dynasty ruled China for the next 400 years, during this time period they were one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations on Earth
22
Q
What happened when the Han dynasty was overthrown?
A
- Overthrown by Huns, weakened by corruption and peasant uprisings
- BUDDHISM BECOMES POPULAR, confucianism failed
23
Q
What was the influence of Confucianism?
A
- Confucius: Provided the theoretical basis for the empire, developed the modern concept of political nation state
- peace and order
- Respect for elders
- Ethics
- Emphasis on learning
- Came to define Chinese culture
24
Q
What were important Chinese inventions during the dynasty age?
A
- Paper, silk and compasses, disseminated over much of Eurasia and northern Africa
25
What were the last three dynasties?
1. Yuan Dynasty
2. Ming Dynasty
3. Qing Dynasty
26
Significance of Ming Dynasty
- Established China's tributary system, system for managing foreign relations
- Zheng He- explorer to develop trade and commerce
27
Religious Beliefs about Ancestors
Religious history of China is complex and has developed over the centuries, interwoven with beliefs about the veneration of ancestors
- Believed ancestors were watching over them and could be called upon during difficult times
28
Who was Confucius?
- Kongzi- born to a poor family in Shandong
- Saw many problems of the world, wanted to fix them, became a teacher
- Students spread teachings
29
Significant Beliefs of Confucianism
- Strong rulers and consolidation of political power
- Rule by elite male
- Began as ethical system rather than religious
- Established norms for all aspects of Chinese life
- Norms for bureaucratic life
- Influenced art, music calligraphy
- Basis of Chinese philosophical and religious beliefs
30
Daoism
- Alternative to Confucian ideas
- Laozi taught that a force known as the Dao permeates all living things
- Emphasizes Harmony with nature
- How to behave towards the natural world and with themselves personally
31
What are the Four Noble Truths?
1. Suffering is part of human life
2. Suffering is caused by people's desires for pleasure and material things, resulting in cycle of rebirth
3. Overcoming desires during lifetime eventually brings end to this cycle and suffering
4. Desires can be overcome by following the Eight Fold path
32
What is the Eightfold Path?
1. Know the truth
2. Resist evil
3. Say nothing hurtful
4. Respect life
5. Free the mind from evil
6. Work in service to others
7. Resist evil
8. Practice meditation
33
Nirvana
By following the four noble truths and the eightfold path, an individual can achieve nirvana and achieve harmony with the universe
34
Mauryan Dynasty
- Founded by Chandragupta Maurya when the Magadha state fell into decline
- Largest empire in India ever
35
Who was Chandragupta Maurya?
- Founder of Mauryan Dynasty
- Divided his empire into provinces, then districts for tax assessments and law enforcement
- Feared assassination, paranoid
- Had a bureaucratic administrative system to enable policies throughout the state
- Set up court at Pataliputra on the Gange River
36
Who was Kautilya?
Chandragupta Maurya's advisor
-Brahmin caste
-Guide for king adn ministers,
Wrote Arthashastra
37
Who was Ashoka?
- Best known Mauryan emperor
- Conqured most of India
- Used elephants in warfare
- Involved in the Battle of Kalinga
- Created the Pillars of Ashoka
- Centralized bureaucracy
- Expanded agriculture
- Built roads
- Promoted the spread od Buddhism
38
Asoka and the Buddhist Empire
- During his conquests he massacred 100,000 people
- Psychological impact of these deaths caused him to renounce violence and convert to Buddhism
- preached virtues of good work, non-violence and religious tolerance
- Stoophas
- Spread Buddhism to SE Asia with missionaries
- Inscriptions in Pratkrit, Greek and Aramaic
39
Stoophas
- Asoka- Buddhist complex built for monks throughout empire and repaired roads so that pilgrimages could be made to religious shrines
40
What happened to the empire after Asoka's death?
- After Asoka's death civil war erupted in the Mauryan Empire
- Groups invaded but were assimilated over tiem
- But Greek invaders deeply influenced Indian culture and society
41
Greek India
- Greeks invaded Mauryan Empire
- King Demetrius, followed Alexander in seeking to blend Greek and Indian cultures
- Greeks influenced sculpture, medicine, astronomy, astrology and currency in India
42
Who were the Kushans?
- Greeks were assimilated, Kushans took their place
| - Ruled parts of India fro 200 years, encouraging art, medical studies and construction
43
Who was Kanishka?
- Leader of Kushans
- Converted to Buddhism, employing monks to regulate Buddhist techigns in empire
- Resulted in the creation of Mahayana Buddhism
- Mahayana Buddhism expanded into East ASia
44
Gupta Empire
- A golden age of peace and prosperity
- Reunited India
- Emperor- another guy named Chandragupta I
- He eventually gave up his throne and became a Jain
- Maintained Buddhist influeunces but became absorbed by Hinduism
45
Gupta Government
- used alliances, tribute and conquest
- Coalition of regional kingdoms
- Policy and administration left to local rulers
- Destroyed by White Huns
46
Tamils
- Rulers in the south maintained their distinct culture, absorbing the diverse traditions of Hinduism
- Strong trade with Roman Empire
47
Ancient Greek Geography
- Geography prevented political unification
- Culturally unified
- Included the Balkans and islands in Aegean Sea
City States
- Offered safety and wealth
- Had differing political systems
48
Ancient Greek-Mountains
- 1/3 is mountainous
- Protected Greeks from foreign invaders and kept them isolated
- Preventing Greeks from uniting under one government
49
Aegean Civilization-Before Greek Invasion
- Lived on the island of Crete off the coast of Greece
- Ruled by King Minos
- Both men and woman curled their hair woke jewellery, sports
- Woman had high status
- Ended because of climate change and Greek Invasion
50
Who were the Mycenaeans?
- Migrated from central Asia
- Had many small city states or kingdoms, surrounded by stone walls for protection, palaces,
- People were taxed in the form of livestock, what and honey
51
Who were the Dorians?
- Conquered Myceaneans
| - Resulted in the dark ages of Greek culture- trade stopped, people lost skills, poverty increased
52
Who were the Ionians?
- Reintroduced Greek cutlure 300 years later
| - A new Greek cilivizatoin emerged called Hellenic
53
Greek Polytheism
- Greeks believed that Gods caused the physical events of Earth to occur and controlled how people behaved, as well as what happened to people
- Greeks did not fear deities
- Greeks stressed the human natures of Gods, allowed them to approached Gods with dignity
54
Polis
- Greek city state
- Developed independently but shared common features with other city states
ex: Athens as a typical polis
55
Greek Colonies and Trade
- Increase in Greek pop.- not enough grain
- Therefore each polis sent out groups of people to set up colonies in unoccupied or scarcely occupied areas
- Colonists sent grain back as tax to parent polis
56
The introduction of money
- Around 600 BC, the Greeks replaced their barter system with a money system
- They also began producing textiles, cloth and pottery for trade purposes
57
History of political and social change in Greek culture
- Disputes between aristocrats and commoners/farmers
- Farmers began to protest, joined by middle class
- Tyrannies arose
- Eventually democracies arose
58
Greek Democracy
- City states became oligarchies or democracies
| - Most famous were Athens-democracy and Sparta-democracy
59
What was the Peloponnesian War?
- The emergene of Athens as an imperial power led to open hostility with former allies
- Mainly between Spartans/Persians and athenians
- Lasted three decades, Spartans won
60
Who was Alexander the Great?
Aka Alexander of Macedonia
| -Built a massive empire through conquest (Persia, Egypt, Greece, India)
61
Geography of the Romans
- Central location contributed to its success in unifying Italy and Mediterranean Sea
- Tiber River and Seven Hills afforded protection
- Apennine Range-runs along its length like a spine seperating the eastern and western coastal plains, iron, metal and timber
- Mild climate-crops
62
What was the first major group of Italy?
- Etruscans
- Developed influenced early development of Rome- first Roman kings
- Influenced writing, religion and arch architecture
63
Significance of the Roman Republic
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Political system was
- Consuls
-Senate
-Tribunes
Military Expansion
- Assimilated conquered peoples
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Twelve Tables
- Created a standardized system of laws
- Established rights for defendants
64
Roman Senate
- Senate was an advisory council, first to Kings and later to Republican officials, sons became public officers
- Brought together wealth, influence, political and military experience
- Unequities, unrest- govt became unsuitable for large republic
65
What are the three stages of Roman expansion?
1. United Italian peninsula
2. Conflict with Carthage
3. Subjugation of Greek States
66
Juluis Caesar
- Rome became an Imperial Empire
- Made himself dictator for life
- Paved the way to centralized, imperial form of govt
- Assassinated
67
Second Roman Empire
- Estbalished by Augustus
- Continued military expansion
- Not a dynasty
- Success upon military stregnth
- Tolerant of local customs and religious
- Held together by laws roads and patriotism
68
Twelve Tables
- During a period of peace, jurists created the Twelve Tables, elaborate system of law
- Rational body of law that applied to all people
- Ex: innocent until proven guilty, could challenge accusers
69
New Religions During Roman Society
- Law for people of the empire to worship Roman deities, new religions developed
- Jews of Palestine and Jewish Sect- aka Christians
70
What was the 3rd Century Crisis?
-Political Problems
military Problems
-Economic probelms
-Social problems
71
Diocletian's Reforms
PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS
- Political
- Divided empire into 2 parts with 2 co-emproros and 2 Caesars
- Decreased power of prov.
- Emphasized the diving nature of the Emperor
Military:
- doubled army
- began draft
- Created mobile field armies
- Fortifications
Economic
- Direct Requisition
- Issued new currency
- Heavy taxes
- Frozen wages and prices
72
Constantine
- Won a battle claimed to see a cross, believed the Christina God had helped him achieve victory
- legalized Christianity, ended persecution
73
Byzantium
- Constantine transferred imperial city from Rome to Byzantium, became known as Constantople and Empire as Byzantine Empire
- Church of Hagia Sophia, were Emperors were crowned and buried, largest dome- converted to mosque
