Download 1. Emperor/Empress 2. Han Dynasty/Yuan Dynasty 3. City

Study Guide: Unit 3 Exam (Fall of the Classical Civilizations & World Outcomes [The First Empires])
Directions: Complete the study/review guide in its entirety in order to help you prepare for the Unit 3 Exam.
Here is a list of some of the key terms/concepts that you may need to know for the exam (this list is by no
means exclusive; it is only meant to provide you with a foundation for beginning to study for the exam):
1. Emperor/Empress
2. Han
Dynasty/Yuan
Dynasty
3. City-State
4. Empire
5. Direct
Democracy/
Republic
6. Hellenistic Empire
7. Citizen
8. Pax Romana
9. Pax Mongolica
10. Julius Caesar
11. Silk Road
12. Roman Empire
13. Byzantine Empire
14. Octavian
(Augustus)
15. Emperor Justinian
& Empress
Theodora
16. Fief
17. Lay Investiture
18. Pope/Patriarch
19. Priest/Clergy
20. Lord/Vassal
21. Peasant/Serf
22. Knight/Code of
Chivalry
23. Primogeniture
24. Christianity
25. Great Schism
26. King
27. Manor &
Manorialism
28. Cultural Diffusion
29. Feudalism (Feudal
System)
30. Feudal Contract
31. Trade & TransRegional Trade
32. Excommunication
33. Pilgrimage
34. Simony
35. Tithe
36. Islam
37. Judaism/AntiSemitism
38. Pope Urban II
39. Alexius II
40. Caliph/Caliphate
41. People of the
Book
42. Magna Carta
43. Kahn/Khanate
44. Mongols
45. Genghis
Khan/Kublai Khan
46. Roman Catholic
Church/Orthodox
Christian Church
47. Crusade
48. Deos Volt
49. Jihad
50. Holy Land
Basic Content Questions:
1. What is an empire? What led to a transition from civilizations to empires and how does a
civilization differ from an empire?
2. How did the earliest Eurasian empires come into existence? To what extent was the creation and
governing (including the use of religion) of these empires similar or different to one another?
Explain.
3. How was the geography of Greece responsible for the development of independent city-states
instead of a unified empire (like that of Persia)?
4. How did Rome grow from a single city to the center of a huge empire? Explain.
5. Why was the Chinese empire able to take shape so quickly, while that of the Romans took
centuries? Explain.
6. Why were the Roman and Chinese empires able to enjoy long periods of relative stability and
prosperity? Explain.
7. What internal and external factors contributed to the collapse of the Roman and Chinese empires?
Explain.
8. What are some common factors that led to the decline/downfall of the classical age
civilizations/empires (Han Dynasty [Chinese Empire], Ancient Greece [Athenian Empire],
Alexander the Great [Hellenistic Empire], and Ancient Rome)? Explain the importance as to why
modern societies should study and understand the common factors that led to the decline/downfall
of the civilizations/empires of the classical age?
9. What is feudalism (feudal system)? How did it organize and provide structure for European
Medieval society? How did feudalism & manorialism provide what was necessary for society to
survive after the fall of the Western Roman Empire?
10. How did the Roman Catholic Church become one of the most powerful institutions in medieval
Europe (be sure to consider excommunication, heaven, hell, and purgatory)?
11. What role did the Byzantine Empire play in preserving and expanding on the knowledge,
technology, and the Greco-Roman culture of the Roman Empire? Explain.
12. To what extent was the Byzantine Empire a continuation of the Roman Empire or was it a
new/different empire? Explain.
13. What factors/events led to the decline and downfall of the Byzantine Empire? Explain.
14. How did Islam spread to become the predominant religion in the Middle East? Explain.
15. Who were the people of the book? How did the Islamic faith and Islamic Caliphates/Empires treat
the people of the book? Explain.
16. How did the expansion of Islam and the Islamic empires (caliphates) influence the expansion of
trans-regional trade? Explain.
17. What allowed for the Mongols to be able to so easily conquer so much territory and how did the
Mongols help to influence trans-regional trade in Afro-Eurasia? Explain.
18. What was the significance of the Pax Mongolica? What caused the downfall of Mongol rule?
Explain.
19. Why did Pope Urban II call for the first crusade? Why were the people of Europe so willing to take
up the crusade (what were their possible motivations; religious, political, economic)?
20. List and explain at least three effects that the crusades had on the development of Western Europe
and the Middle East (be specific)?