Unit 2 Flashcards
What was the importance of Upanishads to Hinduism?
The Upanishad texts claim to be linked to the Vedic tradition but introduce entirely new ideas. They turn away from sacrificing rituals.
What is Karma and how does it translate into the life of every indian?
Karma is the idea that people’s acts in this life determined how they would be born into the next.
What were the tasks of the Brahmin caste?
To perform Vedic rituals.
How did Buddhusm and Jainism challenge old Vedic religions?
Old Vedic religion involved animal sacrifice to advance into the next stages of certain event within life, Buddhism did not involve sacrifices, and focused on the transition into the next life.
Define Bhakti
Means “personal devotion or love”, a term for Hindu poetry or cults that emphasize a strong personal tie between the diety and a devotee, and did not use priests as intermediaries
What is the literal meaning for the word Buddha?
The englightened or awakened one.
What is Varna and how does it decide who is the purist in indian society?
Varna is the Sanskrit word for color. It put people in social groups in order of purity, not power or wealth. The purest were Brahmins because they conducted Vedic rituals. Them farmers and merchants, then laborers, then dependant laborers.
What does the Bhudda ask of each individual follower?
To follow the 8-fold path
How did Ashoka spread the word of the Bhudda?
He adopted it as the state religion of the Mauryan dynasty making it spread vastly.
Why was the battle of Kalinga a turning point for Buddhism?
The huge number of deaths at the battle filled Ashoka with remorse, so he made a decision to follow the Buddha and uphold the 5 important precepts.
What do The Analects mean when translated to English?
Discussions and conversations
What is the importance of The Analects to confucianism?
They are the only record we have of confucius’s thinking.
What relationships did Confucius focus on?
Respect for one parents, parents and children.
Under which dynasty did Confucius focus on? How was Confucianism used in Chinese politics?
The Han dynasty. It was used by the government embracing it, creating better officials.
What are major similarities between Daoism and Confucianism? What characteristic do they share?
Daoism and Confucianism are both philosophies created to find a “way” to peacefulness.
Although Confucianism is not considered a religion what aspect of the philosophy may qualify as a religion?
The fact that it was the spreading of the teachings of one man, and had many followers. People built shrines and buildings devoted to him.
Why did the Roman empire have Jesus crucified?
They feared his teachings and criticism may provoke unrest or an uprising against roman rule, so out of fear, Jesus was crucified.
Why were so many converts attracted to the promises of Jesus?
The religion welcomed everyone, including the poir, and didn’t favor anyone
Who was Paul and why did he feel he was a true personal disciple of Jesus?
Paul was an early Christian leader who was born into a wealthy Roman family. He thought he was a true personal disciple because he had a vision of Jesus.
What is the major concept of Zoroastrianism?
Good vs Evil entity/spirit in life choices.
Why were Persian couriers so effiecient and what did Herodotus say about them?
Persian couriers were so effiecient because of their acccess to an extensive network of roads. Herodotus so there was nothing on earth faster than the couriers and that they travel from station to station and get a new horse at each station.
Who were the Persians unable to defeat?
The Greeks
What political structure did the persians use and why was it so successful?
The Persians used a monarchy and it was successful because Darius ruled with absolute power, had couriers, and reformed an efficent tax system.
Why did Darius 1 choose a monarchy as the poltical structure?
He believed that in a monarchy if the person in power had good character, they would experience success, and he believed he had good character.
What changes did Cyrus make to his military to make it more effective?
He made his soldiers paid full time, staffed by many other people, kept a King’s bodyguard unit, have kept up an extensive network of roads.
What was the Babylon captivity and who ended it?
The Babylon captivity was a 60 year captivity of Jews they captured and Cyrus ended it when he conquered them.
What were the characteristics of a greek city state or polis?
The majority of citizens in these city states farmed, with a small minority settling inside walled cities. These city states were small with a surrounding agricultural area, had a population between 5-10,000, was self sufficient, had its own courts, law, and army. The poleis had a temple for a guardian diety inside city walls.
Who was Solon and what did he create?
Solon was the Civilian head of state in Athens and reformed Athen’s goverment into more a democracy.
How did the role of the city staye caused the Persians to not be able to defeat Greece?
The city states were able to combine their forces into a Delian league to fight off the Persians.
What was Athens like militarily, politically, culturally, intellectually, etc. at the height of its power?
Greek genre of tragedy took shape, built amazing buildings, a strong military, became a center of studies for philosophy, they had a democracy, and were advanced intellectually.
Who was plato and what did his academy emphasize?
Plato was a student of socrates and a teacher of aristotle in philosophy and his acedmy emphasized reason.
Who was Aristotle and what did he emphasize?
A student of Plato in philosophy who was born in Macedon and entered Plato’s academy. He emphasized that people had to study hard to gain control over their desires.
Who was Homer and what did he write about?
Homer was a poet who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey describing the Trojan Wars.
How was Alexander’s empire more Persian than Greek?
He donned Persian clothing, he expected troops to act like Persians did to their king, Alexander married for political alliances,
What is the story behind the founding of Rome?
Romulus and Remus, were grandsons of a rightful king. The evil king ordered a servant to kill them but abandoned them instead. The twins survived and were raised by a wolf, and Romulus went on and found Rome.
What groups were among the first to settle in the Italian peninsula?
The greek, romans, and etruscans.
What empire did the Romans have their first major clash with?
The carthaginians.
What did the term latinfundia refer to?
Latinfundia were private estates held by rich landowners for mass production of crops and food to sell.
How was Julius Ceasar able to take power?
After defeating the Gauls, he led his army into Rome and declared himself dictator for life, then he was appointed dictator, then served as consul every other year.
Why was Ceasar assassinated?
The senators did not like him or what he did to become dictator because it antagonized them.
Who was Octavian and what does Augustus mean?
He was the first sole ruler of Rome, he eliminated all his competition and brought a century of political chaos and civil war to an end, he was basically Rome’s first emperor and he changed the political structure of Rome. He recieved the title “Augustus” which means “revered”.
What was the Pax Romana?
The period between 27BCE when Octavian took power, and 180CE is called the Pax Romana or Roman Peace because that was a time of stability.
