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1. What were the major political influences of Persia?

empire stretched from eastern Europe to Pakistan
and from southern Russia to Sudan (modern
boundaries)
 Unification of imperial power dividing territory into
provinces and using of a strong military to maintain
power
 Roads were built for King’s messengers to
communicate
2. What were the major religious/philosophical
influences of Persia?
Zoroastrianism- (good and evil)-ideas may have
spread to Hebrews and influenced early Judaism
Jewish People = Hebrews
3. What were the major cultural influences of
Persia?
R.
O.
A.
D.
S.
4. What River Valley Civilizations did Persia
conquer?
◦ Indus River Valley
◦ Mesopotamia
◦ Egypt
5. What were the major political influences of Israel?
 Nomadic Hebrew tribes migrated from what is now central Iraq to
eastern Mediterranean and established the Kingdom of Israel there
 After years in exile in Egypt, Hebrew leaders brought followers to the
‘promised land”
 Height of political power came during the reigns of King David and his
son Solomon around 1000BC
 Invasions by the Assyrians and later Babylonians ended the kingdom as a
political entity
 Area was politically controlled by Alexander the Great and by Romans in
63BC
 135 AD Jewish Diaspora- Roman rulers scattered rebellious Jews
throughout the empire
6. What were the major cultural influences of Israel?
 Hanakkah, festival of lights
 Temple built in Jerusalem, destroyed by the Babylonians
7. What were the major religious/philosophical influences of Israel?
 Belief that Hebrew people have a special covenant with God
 Established idea of monotheism-THIS WAS DIFFERENT!
 Emphasized following laws handed down by the prophets
 Introduced Ten Commandments
 Christianity grew from Jewish traditions
8. What are the origins of Judaism?
 emerged among the Hebrews, an Eastern
Mediterranean group, around 2000BC as the first
major monotheistic faith
 Present day Israel
 Abraham made a covenant with God- Yahweh or
Jehovah making the Hebrews the “chosen people”
and be led by God to the “promised land” of
Canaan
9. What are the central ideas of Judaism?
 Worship of one God who has a unique
relationship with the Jewish people
 Honor and serve God by following a strict code of
conduct based on Jewish laws contained in the
Torah (first five books of the Old Testament)
 Belief in an afterlife reached by humans with
divine help
1. What are the major political influences of Classical
China?
 Dynasties- Zhou, Qin, Han
 Continued strong centralized imperial rule and
introduced civil service exams as entry tests for
government jobs
 Silk road trade flourished
2. What were the major religious/philosophical
influences of Classical China?
Confucianism, Buddhism
◦ Legalism-Chinese philosophy that assumed human nature
was evil and required threat of or actual harsh punishment
and strict rules to prevent societal disorder
3. What were the major cultural influences of
Classical China?
N/A
4. What is the mandate of heaven?
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Cycle of Dynasty
Legitimized dynasty’s rule until the people thought
that the dynasty lost Heaven’s favor
Mandate of Heaven gave the ruler the right to rule
5. What were the 3 Main Dynasties and what
were their beliefs?
Han Dynasty believed that only people who
were educated in morality should rule. So the
Han Dynasty created civil service exams
6. What were the major political influences of
Classical India?
 Gupta Empire v. Mauryan Empire
 Which covered more land?

7. What were the major religious/philosophical
influences of Classical India?
 Growth of Hinduism and Buddhism in India
provided means for social control
 Conversion of Ashoka to Buddhism
influenced his policies
8. What were the major cultural influences of
Classical India?
Social stratification intensified by the caste
system
Caste system-social structure- no mobility
9. What are the central ideas of Hinduism?
polytheistic (to some extent), reincarnation;
based on fulfilling the duty of your caste/role
in society, no social mobility; goal: merge
with Brahma
10. What are the origins of Buddhism?
 Hinduism, founded by Siddhartha Gautauma
(Prince Sid G);

Who is Siddhartha Gautauma?
Siddhartha Gautauma was trying to reform
the Hindu religion and make it more equal.
11. What are the central ideas of Buddhism?
 no belief in a god, reincarnation; equality;
goal: achieve nirvana
12. What are the central ideas of
Confucianism?
◦ Chinese philosophy that sought to create social
order and good government by organizing
society into five relationships –inferior and
superior members in each relationship
 Ruler (good example)/Subject (loyal and
obedient)
 Father/Son
 Husband/ Wife
 Elder brother/younger brother
 Elder Friend/younger friend

1. What are the major political influences of Classical Greece?

Politically divided into city-states, the two most famous being
Sparta and Athens
 An unanticipated victory of Greeks over the Persians led to a
unification of the Greeks
 Animosity between city-states led to civil war (Peloponnesian War)
and eventual decline in power of the Greek city-states
 Democratic ideas based on Athenian experiment with limited
democracy- 1st Direct Democracy
2. What were the major religious/philosophical influences of Classical
Greece?

Polytheistic pantheon of gods and goddesses, personified nature
and explained the human condition
3. What were the major cultural influences of
Classical Greece?
 Hellenistic culture that celebrated the human
experience and human body
 Stressed science, mathematics, astronomy (Galen
and Archimedes)
 Notable creation of architecture using columns
and sculpture
4. What are the major political influences of
Classical Rome?
 12 Tables
 Equality before the law
 Innocent before proven guilty
 Right to trial by jury of peers
◦ Influenced our legal system
5. What were the major religious/philosophical
influences of Classical Rome?
Christianity developed in the eastern edge of
the empire originally as a Jewish sect
 After years of persecution, Constantine put
an end to persecution and Christianity was
adopted as the official state religion in Rome
6. What were the major cultural influences of
Classical Rome?
 Latin language
 Roman legal traditions- Twelve Tables,
“innocent until proven guilty” right to
challenge accuser in front of a judge

7. What are the origins of Christianity?
 Jesus was born (Israel) to a Jewish family and
as an adult became an itinerant teacher
gathering a following of disciples
 Eventually Jesus claimed to be the Messiah
and “Son of God”
 Jesus gained popularity with the poor and
common people and threatened the power of
the Jewish establishment
 Jewish authorities persuaded Roman leaders
to bring Jesus to justice, Jesus was tried for
blasphemy and treason, found guilty and put
to death by crucifixion
8. What are the central ideas of Christianity?
 Jesus is divine “son of God”
 Christian teachings are found in the Bible
 After his death Jesus resurrected from the
dead to reveal himself, A second coming of
Jesus-Day of Judgment
 Worship God, practice love and service to God
and fellow human beings is expected
 Forgiveness of sins and salvation are
obtained through belief in death and
resurrection of Christ
1. What advances did the Greeks make?
 Columns
 use of geometry, and calculation of the
earth’s circumference
2. What advances did the Romans make?
 Idea that the earth revolved around the sun
 aqueducts, roads, monumental building
3. What advances did the Indians make?
 Work in geometry and algebra
 Calculation of the circumference of the earth
 Concept of zero, decimal system and number
system used today
4. What advances did the Chinese make?
 N/A
5. What advances did the Persians make?
 Roads
 Postal System
6. What were the achievements of:
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Archimedes
Established the value of pi (π)
Explained the workings of levers
Invented the screw pump
Eratosthenes
Calculated the circumference of the earth,
created a star catalogue
Pythagoras
Responsible for proving that in a right triangle,
the sum of the squares of the two right-angle
sides will always be the same as the square of the
hypotenuse (the long side). A2 + B2 = C2.
1. Why did Rome fall?
 Plagues=fewer people farming & less money to pay taxes
 Taxes increased
 Western Empire weakened
 internal problems
 unable to enforce laws
 No clear line of succession
 Invaded by Huns & Visigoths
 End forever
2. Why did the Han Empire fall?
 corruption weakened government
 noble families took over land
 Population reduced by plagues
 fewer people to pay taxes
 Nomadic invaders
 Revival- come back
3. Why did they both fall?
 internal problems
 lack of taxes
 Plagues
 Invasions

Similarities between Rome and HanPatriarchal Society
Questions8, 9, 14, 16, 19, 22, 23, 25