STUDY GUIDE FOR THE FIRST EXAM IN HISTORY 101
(180 - 476 AD)
GREECE
GENERAL:
What were Ancient Greece's contributions to the development of Western Civilization?
What were the important Greek values and beliefs?
Topic 1:
What was the nature of Greek Olympian religion? How do the Greek gods differ from the gods of the Ancient Near East? the Judeo-Christian religions?
What were the main Greek values as manifested in the Iliad? How do Achilles and Hector embody the Greek values?
Topic 2:
Why was the polis so important for the Greeks?
How did Athenian democracy develop and function? How does it compare to American democracy today?
How and why did Sparta develop into a "garrison state"? How did it differ from Athens?
Topic 3:
What was Thucydides' historical method? purpose in writing history? Why would it last forever?
What caused the Peloponnesian War? Why did Sparta win? What does Thucydides teach us about war?
Topic 4:
Why did philosophy develop in Greece? How did it develop?
What was Plato's idea of the Ideal Polis? What was his theory of knowledge or ideas?
How does Aristotle compare to Plato? What was his view of the Ideal Polis?
Topic 5:
How did backward Macedon defeat the Greek poleis? What was the Hellenistic culture created as a result of Alexander the Great's conquests?
ROME
GENERAL:
What was Rome's contribution to Western Civilization?
What are important Roman values and beliefs?
Topic 1:
How do you explain Rome's "greatness"? (territoral conquests)
Topic 2:
How do explain the decline of the Roman Republic?
Topic 3:
Was Augustus the "resotorer of the Republic" as he claimed? the destroyer of the Republic as Tacitus claimed?
Topic 4:
How do you explain the Fall of the Roman Empire?
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