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Unit 2 Terms

Terms in this set (60)

Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (356-323 B.C.E) conquerer of the Persian empire and part of Northwest India.
Ashoka
the most famous ruler of the Mauryan empire (r.268-232 B.C.E), who converted to Buddhism and tried to rule peacefully and with tolerance.
Athenian democracy
a radical form of direct democracy in which much of the free male population of Athens had the franchise and officeholds were chosen by lot.
Caesar Augustus
the great-nephew and adopted son of Julius Ceasar who emerged as sole ruler of the Roman state at the end of an extended period of a civil war (r. 31 B.C.E-14 C.E.).
Greco-Persian wars
two major Persian invasions of Greece, in 409 B.C.E. and 480 B.C.E., in which the Persians were defeated on both land and sea.
Han dynasty
dynasty that ruled China from 206 B.C.E-220C.E., creating. durable state based on Shihuangdi's state-building achievement.
Hellenistic era
the period from 323 to 30 B.C.E. in which Greek culture spread widely in Eurasia and North Africa in the kingdoms ruled by Alexander's political successors.
Mauryan empire
a major empire (322-185 B.C.E.) that encompassed most of India.
Pax Romania
The "Roman peace", a term typically used to denote the stability and prosperity of the early Roman empire especially in the first and second centuries C.E.
Persian empire
a major empire that expanded from the Iranian plateau to incorporate the middle east from Egypt to India; flourished from around 550-330 B.C.E.
Quin Shihuangdi
literally "first emperor from the Quin"; Shihuangdi (221-210 B.C.E.) forcibly reunited China and established a strong and repressive state.
Trung Trac
vietnamese woman from an aristocratic military family who led an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against China Round 40 C.E. following the execution of her husband
Ban Zhao
a major female Comfucian author of Han dynasty China (45-116 C.E) whose works give insight into the implication of Confucian thinking for women.
Bhagavad Gita
a great Hindu epic text, part of the much larger Mahabharata, which affirms the performance of castle duties as a path to religious liberation.
Church of the East
a theologically and organizationally distinct Christian church based in Syria and Persia but with followers in southern India and Central Asia.
Confucianism
the Chinese philosophy enunciated by Confucius, advocating the moral example of superiors as the key element of social order.
Daoism
a Chinese philosophy/ popular religion that advocates simplicity and understanding of the world of nature, founded by the legendary.
greek rationalism
a secularizing system of scientific and philosophic thought that developed in classical Greece in the period 600-300 B.C.E; it emphasized the power of education and human reason to understand the world in nonreligious terms.
Jesus of Nazareth
the prophet/god of Christianity.
Judaism
the monotheistic religion, developed by the Hebrews, emphasizing a sole personal to God (Yahweh) with concerns for social justice.
Legalism
a Chinese philosophy distinguished adherence to clear laws with vigorous punishments.
Mahayana
"Great Vehicle", the popular development of Buddhism in the early centuries of the Common Era, which gives a much greater role of supernatural beings and proved to be more popular than original (Thervada) Buddhism.
Moksha
in Hindu belief, liberation from separate existence and union with Brahman.
Nirvana
the end goal of Buddhism, in which individual identity is extinguished into a state of security and compassion.
Saint Paul
the first great popularizer of Christianity .
Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha)
the Indian prince turned ascetic who founded Buddhism (ca. 556-ca. 486 B.C.E).
Socrates
the first great Greek philosopher to turn rationalism toward questions of human race.
Theravada
"The Teaching of Elders", the early form of Buddhism acorrding to which the Buddha was a wise teacher but not divine which emphasizes practices rather than beliefs.
Upanishads
Indian mystical and philosophical works, written between 800 and 400 B.C.E
Vedas
the earliest religious texts of India, a collection of ancient poems, hymns, and rituals that were transmitted orally before being written down, ca. 600 B.C.E
Zoroastrianism
Persian monotheistic religion, founded by the prophet Zarathustra
Aspasia and Pericles
a foreign woman resident in Athens (ca.470-400 B.C.E) who was framed for her learning and wit. She was the partner of the statesman Pericles, who worked to extend the rights of Athenian citizens.
Caste as Varna and Jati
the system of social organization in India that has evolved over millennia; it is based on an original decision of populace into four inherited classes (varna), with the addition of thousands of social distinctions based on occupation (jati), which became the main cell in social life in India.
China's scholar-gentry class
a term used to describe members of China's landowning families, reflecting their wealth from the land and the privilege that they derived as government officials
Empress Wu
the only female "emperor" in Chinese history (670-705 C.E), Empress Wu patronized scholarship, worked to elevate the position of women, and provoked a backlash of Confucian misogynist invective
Ge Hong
born into a upper class family in China during troubled times (283-343 C.E), his efforts to balance Confucian service to society and his own desire to pursue a more solitary and interior life in the Daoist tradition reflected the situation of many in his class.
Greek and Roman slavery
in the Greek and Roman worlds slaves, were captives (and their descendants) from war and piracy, abandoned children, and the victims of long distance trade; manumission was common. among the Greeks household service was the most common form of slavery, but in parts of the Roman state, thousands of slaves were employed under brutal conditions in the mines and on greater plantations.
Helots
the dependent, semi-enslaved class of ancient Sparta whose social discontent prompted the militarization of Spartan society.
Patriarchy
literally "rule of the father"; a social system of male dominance.
Pericles
a prominent and influential statesman of ancient Athens (495-429 B.C.E.), he presided over Athens Golden Age.
ritual purity
in Indian social practice, the idea that higher castes must adhere to regulations limiting or forbidding their contact with objects or members of lower castes to preserve their own caste standing and their relationship with the gods.
Spartacus
a Roman gladiator who led the most serious slave revolt in human history (73-71 B.C.E.)
the "three obediences"
in Chinese Confucian thought, the notion that woman is permanently subordinate to male control: first to her father, then to her husband, and finally to her son.
Wang Mang
a Han court official who usurped the throne and rule from 8C.E.-23C.E.; noted for his reform movement that included the breakup of large estates.
Yellow Turban Rebellion
a massive Chinese peasant uprising inspired by Daoist teachings that began in 184C.E. with the goal of establishing a new golden age of equality and harmony
Axum
second wave era kingdom of East Africa, in present day Eritrea and Northern Ethiopia; flourished from 100-600 C.E.
Bantu Expansion
gradual migration of Bantu speaking peoples from their homeland, to what is now southern Nigeria and the Cameroons into most of Eastern and Southern Africa, a process that began around 3000 B.C.E and continued for several millennia. the agricultural techniques and ironworking technology of Bantu speaking farmers gave them an advantage over the gathering-hunting people they encountered.
Batwa
forest dwelling people of Central Asia who adopted some of the ways of their Bantu neighbors while retaining some of their distinctive features of their own culture, also known as "pygmies"
Cahokia
the dominant center of an important Mississippi valley mound-building culture, located near present day St. Louis, Missouri; flourished from about 900-1250 C.E.
Chaco Phenomenon
name given to a major process of settlement and societal organization that occurred in the period 860-1130 C.E among the peoples of Chaco canyon, in what is Northwestern New Mexico; the society formed is notable for its settlement in large pueblos and for the building of hundreds of miles of roads.
Chavín
Andean town that was the center of a large Peruvian religious movement from about 900 to 200 B.C.E.
Maya Civilization
a major civilization of Mesoamerica; flourished 250 to 900 C.E.
Meroë
city in Northern Nubia that was the center of Nubian civilization between 300 B.C.E and 100 C.E
Moche
an important regional civilization of Peru, governed by warrior priests; flourished from about 100 to 800 C.E.
Mound Builders
member of any of a number of cultures that developed east of the Mississippi River in what is now the United States and that are distinguished by their large earthen mounds, built during the period 2000 B.C.E.-1250 C.E.
Niger Valley Civilization
distinctive city based civilization that flourished from about 300 B.C.E. to 900 C.E. in the floodplain of the middle Niger and included major cities like Jenne-Jeno; the the Niger Valley civilization is particularly noteworthy for its apparent lack of centralized state structures, having been organized instead in clusters of economically specialized settlements
Piye
ruler of Kush (762-721B.C.E.) who conquered Egypt, reuniting it under his rule.
Pueblo
"great house" of the Ancestral pueblo people; s large apartment building- like structure that could house hundreds of people.
Teotihuacán
the largest city of Pre-Columbian America with a population between 100,000 and 200,000; seemingly built to a plan in the Valley of Mexico, flourished between 300 and 600 C.E., during which time it governed or influenced much of the surrounding region. The name Teotihuacán is an Aztec term meaning "city of gods".
Wari and Tiwanaku
two states that flourished between 400 and 1000 C.E. in the highlands of modern Bolivia and Peru. At their height they possessed urban capitals with populations in the tens of thousands and productive agricultural systems.
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