Download AP World History Reading Guide Stearns

AP World History
Reading Guide
Stearns-Chapter 4
Chapter 3—Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean: Greece and Rome
Here is the vocab you should be familiar with:
Zoroastrianism
Persian Wars
Peloponnesian Wars
Philip II (of Macedon)
Hellenistic Period
Alexandria
direct democracy
Socrates
Aristotle
Stoics
Iliad &Odyssey
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian
republic
Punic Wars
Hannibal
Julius Caesar
Diocletian
Constantine
consuls
Cicero
Virgil
Aeneid
Pericles
Alexander the Great
polis
Plato
Sophocles
Herodotus
Carthage
Augustus Caesar
Senate
Twelve Tables
NOTE: Your Pre-AP text had a chapter each on Greece & Rome. Here the text combines the two into one chapter so there
won’t be as much detail. Hopefully you’ll remember some of the details that relate to this overview. In addition, the
chapter is pretty thematic (like chapters 2 & 3…politics, religion and culture, etc.) so you’ll get Greek then Roman
politics, Greek then Roman culture, and so on. Try to keep the chronology straight and ask about anything that confuses
you when we get the discussion of this chapter in class.
1. How has classical Mediterranean civilization influenced US society—politically? artistically? philosophically?
2. What are the three major classical civilizations?
3. Why does this text put Greece and Rome together in one chapter whereas you text last year had one chapter for
each? This is not a question that is answered in the text…think about it!
4. What are the comparisons & contrasts between Greece and Rome that the author notes at the end of the chapter
intro on p. 78-79?
Hopefully you know MUCH more about the first Persian Empire than the tiny bit on information on p. 79, but
5. What was the Sassanid Empire?
Read the “Patterns of Greek and Roman History” on p. 79-83
The best thing to do here is to create a time line. Put all the Greek events on one side and the Roman events on the other.
This will give you an overall idea of the chronology of each civilization and also allow you to see how they overlap.
Also make sure that you are familiar with the vocab terms included in this section.
p. 83-87 “Greek and Roman Political Institutions
1. One of the bullets under the title to this section says, “Greece and Rome were ruled by aristocrats but also
introduced some democratic elements.” After reading the section, what evidence can you find that supports these
ideas?
2. How do the political ideals in Greco-Roman society compare (remember—compare refers to similarities and
differences in this course) with those in classical China? with those in classical India?
3. What role did tyranny play in classical Greece? Did it completely disappear in the Mediterranean world? Explain.
4. Two of the important political alternatives (to monarchy!) that developed in the Mediterranean world were the
Athenian democracy and the Roman republic (AP theme—political structures and forms of governance—in fact
this entire section in pretty much about this theme!). Take detailed notes about each system (as best you can…this
area of the chapter is pretty sketchy. But the idea is to extract everything you can about each theme).
5. Even though the Athenians made some moves toward democracy, what was the dominant type of government in
the Mediterranean world? Provide evidence that this was true in Greece and Rome.
6. Discuss law in Mediterranean society especially in the Roman Empire. In fact, what does the author say was the
key political achievement of the Roman Empire? How did that compare to the key political achievement in
imperial China?
7. What kind of public works projects did the government of the Roman Empire undertake? Why did the
government undertake these projects?
8. What were the policies of the Roman government regarding religion?
Read the “In-Depth” on p. 84-85
1. What similarities did the classical civilizations share? What were some of the differences?
2. Why did classical civilizations all have a gap between the rich and the poor? How did this affect the ideologies
developed in each society?
“Religion and Culture” p. 87-90
This section basically addresses each of the AP Cultural themes!
1. Theme: religion
 Describe the indigenous religion of Mediterranean society. What was lacking in Mediterranean religion
for commoners? For the upper class?
 How was it similar to that of classical Indian society? Why is thus similarity not surprising?How was the
Mediterranean view of the gods different from the Indian view?
 Why doesn’t this chapter include a thorough discussion of Christianity?
2. Theme: Belief Systems, Philosophies, & Ideologies
 Why so much emphasis on ethical philosophy? Examples of ethical philosophy?
 What did Socrates’ philosophy have to say about the human ability to think? How did this become a
problem for Socrates? What did Plato’s philosophy have to say about the human ability to think?
 How does compare with Chinese Confucianism?
3. Theme: Science & Technology
 Greek science
Greek interest in science focused on what? What achievements did this focus lead to? What goofs?
 Roman technology
Discuss the achievements
4. Theme: Art & Architecture
 Note that the text separates art into literary & visual arts…a good way to think about it! Identify the areas
of achievement in the arts and discuss.
 What are the characteristics of Greek monumental architecture? What did the Romans add?
 What were the uses of Greek and Roman public buildings?
”Economy and Society in the Mediterranean” and the rest of the chapter, p. 91-95
1. Theme: Agricultural and Pastoral Production (here pretty much just agricultural!)
 How did most Greeks and Romans make a living?
 What problems did small farmers face in both societies—from other Greeks and Romans? From mothernature?
 How did the Mediterranean climate impact the type of agriculture of the region? How did it contribute to
colonization and expansion?
2. Theme: Trade & Commerce…discuss! What did they trade? With whom?
3. Theme: Social & Economic Classes
What status did merchants have in Mediterranean society? How did the status of Roman merchants compare with
their counterparts in classical China and India?
4. Theme: labor systems…discuss the institution of slavery in Mediterranean society. This one is big here! How did
reliance on the institution of slavery (a labor system) impact technological innovations in manufacturing and
agriculture?
5. The reading blends the social themes of family & kinship and gender roles & relations. What can you glean about
each of these themes from the reading
6. How did the collapse of classical Mediterranean civilization differ from the collapse of classical Chinese and
Indian civilizations?
MAKE SURE THAT YOU READ THE “GLOBAL CONNECTIONS” AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER. In fact
you should ALWAYS make sure that you do!