Download first quarter exam study questions

NAME_____________________________________________DATE___________HOUR_____
MIDTERM (QUARTER 1) EXAM
CHAPTER 4 & 5 STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Even though they shared a common culture and language, why did the ancient
Greeks never unite into one country?
2. What early Greek civilization set up kingdoms centered around a hilltop fortress
where the king of each kingdom lived?
3. After the Dorians swept in from the north and conquered the Mycenaeans, Greece
experienced a dark age that lasted for 300 years. List three things that happened to
ancient Greece during the dark age.
4. In what unique way did the Greeks view their gods and goddesses? Where did they
believe that their deities lived? How did their deities act, and what did their deities
control?
5. What were two epic poems written by the Greek poet Homer during the 700’s BC?
6. The epic poem ‘The Iliad’ describes:
7. What is a ‘polis?’
8. Why did each Greek polis begin to develop colonies along the Mediterranean and
Black Seas?
9. How did the Greek farmers and commoners begin to gain a greater voice in the
government?
10. What Greek polis was located on the Peloponnesus?
11. Who were the Helots?
12. In Sparta, at what age did a child begin military training? At what age did a
Spartan male become a soldier, and how old was he when he was allowed to retire?
Also, what negative outcomes did militarism have for Sparta?
13. What is the only true democracy to have ever existed in the history of mankind?
14. What is a government system in which the government is directly ruled by the
people(citizens)?
15. Tyrants engineered changes in Athens that expanded citizenship and rights by 507
BC. As a result of these changes who was considered to be a citizen, and was
therefore allowed to participate in the government or Assembly in Athens?
16. What was the major political institution of Athens? It passed laws, acted as a
supreme court, and picked 10 generals to run the army and the navy.
17. How were the members of the Council of 500 chosen in Athens?
18. What type of vote does an Athenian jury need in order to get a guilty verdict in
court cases?
19. To prevent corrupt politicians from gaining too much influence in the Athenian
democracy, a system of Ostracism was developed. Fully explain how ostracism
works.
20. At what battle did the Athenian army win a surprise victory against the Persian
army even though they were outnumbered 2 to 1?
21. The Spartans under the leadership of ___________ managed to slow the progress of
the Persian army at Thermopylae, while the Athenian general _______________
defeated the Persian navy at Salamis
22. The Persian wars were the first and only time that the Greeks would _____.
NAME_____________________________________________DATE___________HOUR_____
23. When the Greeks formed the Delian league after the Persian wars, who were they
trying to protect themselves against?
24. Explain how the formation of the Delian league led to the outbreak of the
Peloponnesian War.
25. Who fought against each other during the Peloponnesian War?
26. Who initially seemed to have the advantage in the war? What devastating event
later took place that caused them to lose their advantage?
27. Who eventually won the war?
28. What did the Greeks believe that the human mind was capable of understanding?
29. One ancient Greek philosopher taught his students by asking them questions
without giving them answers, then opposing their answers with clear logical
arguments. In doing so, he was teaching his students to clarify their thinking. Who
was this philosopher?
30. Some Athenians believed that the teachings of the philosopher Socrates were a
threat to the polis, so he was arrested and charged with the crime of ‘corrupting the
young.’ What was the result of his trial, and what was his punishment?
31. The Greek philosopher Plato wrote the world’s first political science book. It was
called The Republic, and was about what he thought would be the ideal society and
government. List Plato’s four basic principles of the ideal society and government.
32. Who was Pythagoras, and what theory is he noted for developing?
33. Upon the death of the King Phillip II, who became the king of Macedonia?
34. One of Alexander the Great’s original goals for his invasion of Persia was to get
revenge for Persia’s past attacks on Greece. What was the original name of his
campaign?
35. However, as he conquered more land, how did his views change, and what did he
change his campaign to?
36. How did Alexander try to spread Greek culture and language throughout his
empire?
37. How far did Alexander the Great eventually stretch his empire?
NAME_____________________________________________DATE___________HOUR_____
MIDTERM (QUARTER 1) EXAM
CHAPTER 6 STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Briefly explain the legend of the founding of the city of Rome.
2. Who were the Etruscans, and how did they build Rome into one of the wealthiest
cities in Italy?
3. What were the two original social classes in Rome? Which was the only one whose
members were allowed hold public office?
4. What is a form of government in which the citizens elect leaders to represent them
and run the government?
5. Regarding the executive branch of Rome’s government during the years of the
Republic, who were the chief executives? How long of a term did they serve? What
special power did they have allowed them to strike down any act of the Senate?
6. What kind of official could the Romans appoint to rule temporarily during a time of
crisis? This person had absolute authority during their tenure of office.
7. Regarding the legislative branch of Rome’s government during the years of the
Republic, how many senators were in the Senate? How long of a term did they
serve? In general, what was their job? Who was responsible for choosing the
leaders of the executive branch?
8. What were the ‘Twelve Tables?’ What legal principal did they create?
9. With whom did Rome fight during the Punic Wars?
10. Why was the first Punic War fought? Initially, what disadvantage did Rome have
during the first Punic War? How did they fix this problem?
11. During the 2nd Punic War, what general nearly defeated Rome? Who eventually
led Roman forces to victory over this person?
12. What was the ultimate outcome for Rome at the end of the Punic Wars?
13. Through numerous wars of conquest, Rome gained vast amounts of territory.
However, the government was only designed to rule a city – not a huge empire –
which in turn led to many social, economic, and political problems. What problem
was created in the provinces due to the corruption of the proconsuls and publicans?
14. What is ‘latifundia?’ What provided the labor force that worked on the
latifundias? How did this effect paid laborers throughout Rome?
15. The vast majority of Rome’s population was ____________. Thus in order to keep
them content and prevent them from rebelling, the Roman government provided
them with ___________________________.
16. What reforms were proposed by the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus? What
eventually happened to both brothers?
17. What reforms were made by the Consul (and general) Gaius Marius? What effect
did his reforms have on the Roman military?
18. ____________________ became Consul in 60 BC and later took command of Rome’s
legions in Gaul. He would go on to conquer all of what is present day France, and
became incredibly popular with the people.
19. The person from the previous question became dictator for life in 45 BC. As
dictator, what reforms did he make? What eventually happened to him?
20. Who made up the second Triumvirate?
NAME_____________________________________________DATE___________HOUR_____
21. With whom did Octavian battle for control of Rome? After defeating this person,
Octavian was Rome’s undisputed ruler.
22. Briefly list the reforms that Augustus (Octavian) made during his time as the first
true emperor of Rome.
23. What did Augustus do in regards to the number legions in Rome’s army? Why
would this eventually become a problem?
24. List the five ‘good emperors.’
25. What was the Pax Romana?
26. What was the gigantic 50,000 seat stadium where Romans would go to watch
gladiator fights?
27. What was the 250,000 seat stadium where Romans could watch chariot races?
28. What were the three main reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire?
29. What is the term that means a rise in prices due to a decrease in the value of money?
30. What emperor willed that Rome should be officially split into two separate empires?
31. The western empire is referred to as the Roman Empire, but eastern empire became
known as ___________.
32. List three reasons why the Germanic tribes began to move into Roman territory.
33. The Huns were the most feared of all the barbarian tribes. Who was their leader?
How were the Huns finally defeated by Rome?
34. Why is 476 considered to be the year that Rome ‘fell?’ Who was it that sacked
Rome and declared himself ‘king of Italy’ in 476 AD?