Chpt. 4, The Roman and Han Empires

Question 1

legends of Rome’s founding

Answer 1

one legend is that of Romulus and Remus, who were left to die in the wilderness, were raised by she-wolves, and founded Rome; another is that it was founded by Aeneas, a refugee from the Trojan War

Question 2

Rome’s founding (actual)

Answer 2

the early Romans were nomadic pastoralists on the Italian peninsula; they were originally ruled by the Etruscans, who moved in around 800 BC, but then established their own empire

Question 3

dictator

Answer 3

an absolute ruler; in the Roman Republic, one of these could be appointed in times of crisis to restore order

Question 4

Twelve Tables

Answer 4

written in 451 BC, they were the codification of current Roman law, and established the concept that citizens had the right to protection under the law

Question 5

legions

Answer 5

military units of 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers

Question 6

Scipio

Answer 6

the Roman general who attacked Carthage, forcing Hannibal to return there to protect it, and ultimately defeating Hannibal

Question 7

latifundia

Answer 7

large Roman estates where people were enslaved and forced to work; their development displaced many former small-time landowners into the cities, and fueling the development of an urban poor

Question 8

Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus

Answer 8

two brothers who devoted their careers to the relief of the poor in Rome, even as it became more corrupt; their major plans included redistribution of land from latifundia to peasants; Tiberius was clubbed to death by other senator’s supporters, and Gaius committed suicide to prevent the same from happening to him

Question 9

Marius

Answer 9

became a consul in 107 BC after suppressing a rebellion in North Africa; substituted Rome’s drafted army with a professional one; this led soldiers to become more devoted to their commanders, and less to Rome

Question 10

Sulla

Answer 10

another general who executed many of Marius’ followers in 82 BC and acted as military dictator until 79 BC

Question 11

1st triumvirate

Answer 11

a political alliance in 60 BC between Crassus, a wealthy aristocrat, Pompey, a highly regarded general, and Julius Caesar, another general

Question 12

Cleopatra

Answer 12

intervening in a power struggle in Egypt, Julius Caesar placed this women on the throne of Egypt as an ally of Rome

Question 13

2nd triumvirate

Answer 13

composed of Octavian (Caesar’s nephew), Marc Antony, and Lepidus; Lepidus was forced into retirement by Octavian, and after a long power struggle against the combined force of Egypt and Marc Antony, Octavian won control of the Roman Empire, taking the title Caesar Augustus

Question 14

Pax Romana (Roman Peace)

Answer 14

a period of peace that was created by a succession of very good and capable Roman Emperors; it was a 207-year period of prosperity starting with the rule of Augustus in 27 BC

Question 15

Trajan

Answer 15

increased the empire to it’s greatest size

Question 16

Hadrian

Answer 16

erected defensive walls in northern Britain

Question 17

Marcus Aurelius

Answer 17

a stoic philosopher, he was the last of a succession the “5 Good Emperors” of Rome; when his rule ended, so did the Pax Romana

Question 18

entertainment

Answer 18

with the establishment of the empire, new forms of entertainment arose to distract people from the poor conditions and keep them from revolting; these included major fairs with horse races, gladiator fights, and the distribution of free bread

Question 19

Roman government

Answer 19

the government of Rome kept a watchful eye on its provincial governors, and brought the benefits of civilization and advanced technology into it’s provinces as well; Roman law involved modern legal concepts such as innocent until proven guilty and protection of citizens

Question 20

Roman learning

Answer 20

the Roman Empire valued education only for it’s practical use, and were not very intellectually curious, as the Greeks had been; as a result, they did not have many intellectual, mathematic, or scientific achievements, though they were very advanced architecturally

Question 21

Roman literature

Answer 21

Roman literature featured histories, essays, poetry, and biographies; Virgil, the greatest Roman poet, wrote the Aeneid, which extolls Rome’s greatness

Question 22

zealot

Answer 22

during this time period (there is a different definition for them in general), were Jewish loyalists who aimed to rid Judea of Rome’s dominance

Question 23

Paul of Tarsus

Answer 23

the greatest Christian missionary of the 1st century AD, he was a persecutor of the Christians who eventually converted to Christianity and became a follower himself

Question 24

Gentiles

Answer 24

those who are not Jewish

Question 25

2nd Diaspora

Answer 25

this was when Rome, finally fed up with zealot rebellions, broke up the Jewish state and dispersed the Jews throughout the Roman Empire

Question 26

Wailing Wall

Answer 26

during the 2nd Diaspora, the Roman’s destroyed the temple of Jerusalem, and all that remained was the western wall of the temple; today, it still stands as the most noted Jewish shrine

Question 27

Masada

Answer 27

a final Jewish stronghold that fell to the Romans in 73 AD

Question 28

Peter

Answer 28

the first bishop of Rome

Question 29

Coptic Christianity

Answer 29

the form of Christianity that spread to Egypt and Ethiopia

Question 30

Nestorian Christianity

Answer 30

the form of Christianity that spread to parts of northern Africa

Question 31

Nicene Creed

Answer 31

a statement of Catholic beliefs set down by the Council of Nicaea, which met in 325 in Asia Minor

Question 32

Saint Augustine

Answer 32

a great Catholic leader who further clarified to the teachings of the Catholic Church

Question 33

Huns

Answer 33

a nomadic group that came from central Asia and under the leadership of Attila, moved in the direction of the Roman Empire

Question 34

Germanic tribes

Answer 34

to avoid the Huns, many Germanic tribes crossed into Roman territory; these included the Saxons, Angles, Franks, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and Vandals; Rome might have been able to withstand them if not for other factors

Question 35

Roman decline

Answer 35

many factors impact this, among them are:

• population was lowered by disease in the packed cities, but the number of soldiers needed to defend the territory stayed the same, so fielding soldiers was harder
• Rome had mildly overextended itself to begin with
• corruption had increased
• societal values became decadent, and people increasingly sought only for their own pleasure, rather than the glory of Rome
• people no longer thought for themselves, as they had long ago substituted “bread and circuses” from the emperor for democracy
• the army became loyal to commanders rather than to Rome, and in some cases mercenaries were hired
• slavery had caused many Romans to forget how to work

Question 36

barracks emperors

Answer 36

known as such because of their lack of leadership and general failure political instability led to a quick succession of 28 of these in less than 100 years, the last years of Rome

Question 37

the fall of Rome

Answer 37

Rome officially fell in 476 with the defeat of it’s last emperor, Romulus Augustus; nevertheless, it had been in decline for 200 years, and had even been sacked in 410 by Alaric, king of the Visigoths

Question 38

Constantine

Answer 38

Diocletian’s successor, who was made emperor in 324; he legalized Christianity, and he also established a new capital at Constantinople in the East, splitting up Rome into Western and Eastern halves; this was a recognition of the greater vitality of Rome in the East

Question 39

Byzantine Empire

Answer 39

after Rome fell to the barbarians, Eastern Rome lived on, except now referred to as the this

Question 40

Silk Roads

Answer 40

a system of overland trade routes that connected India, China, and the Roman Empire; it led to cultural and technological diffusion

Question 41

Han Wudi

Answer 41

the longest ruling of the Han rulers, he appointed provincial administrators to promote governmental efficiency

Question 42

Empress Lu

Answer 42

a particularly influential Chinese empress who seized and retained control over the throne by naming her infant sons as emperors

Question 43

shi

Answer 43

the scholar class of China starting with the Han, who instituted the first civil service examination systems

Question 44

the decline of China

Answer 44

plagued by poor emperors and internal weakness, the Han empire collapsed in 220 AD, producing 400 years of political turmoil before China was unified again

Question 45

Manichaeism

Answer 45

a religion founded by Mani that traveled the Silk Roads and was a blend of other religions, with reach religions holy figure as a prophet (Zoroaster was the prophet of Persia, Buddha the prophet of India, and Jesus the prophet of the Mediterranean basin)

Question 46

Arianism

Answer 46

the teaching that Jesus had been a creation of God rather than a divinity who had coexisted as part of the Trinity throughout eternity; this was a heresy of the early church