Semester A Unit 3 Essential Questions

Question 1

How did the geography of Greece influence the development of independent city-states?

Answer 1

Because only the valleys between mountains were good for farming; and the mountains surrounding the valleys walled people off from other peoples

Question 2

What elements of shared culture and values bound together the diverse Greek city-states?

Answer 2

They were polytheists, and believed their gods to be immortal but human; they explained nature from gods;
They shared epics;
They shared the olympic games;
They shared a writing system

Question 3

How did life in Sparta and Athens differ?

Answer 3

Sparta was mainly a military society, while Athens was

Question 4

What are the main reasons for the rivalry between Sparta and Athens?

Question 5

Why is Athens considered the birthplace of democracy?

Answer 5

Because democracy started there

Question 6

What was the significance of the Persian Wars in Greek history?

Answer 6

Greeks preserved their independence

Question 7

What are the major cultural and political achievements of the Golden Age of Athens under Pericles?

Answer 7

He sponsored building programs
He paid government official
He encouraged the arts

Question 8

How did Greek democracy influence later Western political thought?

Answer 8

It became the government of many countries

Question 9

What were the major causes and consequences of the Peloponnesian war?

Answer 9

Sparta and Athens interfered with each other’s allies

Question 10

What qualities define classic works of Greek art and architecture?

Answer 10

They have harmony and balance and symmetry

Question 11

Who were the great Greek playwrights of the classical age? What major themes did they explore?

Answer 11

Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes

Question 12

How did Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle influence the course of thought in Western civilization?

Answer 12

Socrates question-asking method of teaching is used by many modern teacher; Plato was greatly influential to Western philosophy; and Aristotle’s study of logic and its rules set Western thought on a path toward scientific understanding, along with all his works that he did

Question 13

What were major achievements of the ancient Greeks in science and mathematics?

Answer 13

Democritus theorized the world was made of atoms; Hippocrates discovered that disease was a natural phenomenon, and setting down ethical standards for physicians; Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth; and Pythagoras made the Pythagorean Theorem

Question 14

How did Alexander the Great build an empire? What was his vision for the empire?

Answer 14

By force of arms; to have a big empire

Question 15

What were the major cultural characteristics and achievements of the Hellenistic Age?

Answer 15

A time of great advancements and spreading of Greek culture; advancements in math and science, and in philosophy and art

Question 16

What is a republic?

Answer 16

A government in which citizens elect their leaders

Question 17

What were the key features of government in the early Roman Republic?

Answer 17

Separation of power

Question 18

How did the Roman Republic evolve over time to become more representative?

Answer 18

Plebeians were allowed a part in the government

Question 19

How did Rome expand and maintain control of its territory?

Answer 19

By conquering or forming alliances with other territories, and using citizen-soldiers; It organized conquered territories into provinces

Question 20

As Rome undertook its Mediterranean conquests, how did its society and government change?

Answer 20

A widening gap between rich and poor led to unrest among the poor, and stuff

Question 21

What crises threatened the Roman Republic after 100 B.C.?

Answer 21

Gap between rich and poor, poor unrest, slave riots, stuff

Question 22

What role did Julius Caesar play in the end of the Roman Republic?

Answer 22

He became dictator for life, and his assassination led to Caesar Augustus becoming emperor

Question 23

How did Rome become an empire under Caesar Augustus?

Answer 23

He became emperor

Question 24

What was the Pax Romana?

Answer 24

A 200-year period of peace and prosperity for the Roman Empire

Question 25

What were the major social and cultural characteristics of the Roman Empire?

Answer 25

They had bloody entertainment, and used slaves, believed ancestors helped them and that boys rule; they also imitated what they saw as good,

Question 26

In what ways did Roman culture borrow from and build on the achievements of the Greeks?

Answer 26

They took Greek deities; they made their own histories; they believed in oration; idealized human form; and used what Greeks discovered and adapted to be practical

Question 27

What were the major teachings of Jesus of Nazareth?

Answer 27

To love you enemies, and just to generally be kind

Question 28

How did Christianity survive early persecution and spread to become a major world religion?

Answer 28

By worshipping it in secret; the apostles and Emperor Constantine helped spread it

Question 29

What social, political, and economic factors contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire?

Answer 29

A lack of strong leaders and leaders not focusing on the empire’s problems; they depended on paid soldiers; and there was inflation, epidemics, and more taxes

Question 30

What is Rome’s cultural and political legacy?

Answer 30

Their language developed into many modern languages; its laws; its government pioneered stuff like U.S.