FINAL EXAMINATION
DR. JAMES LEPREE
WORLD CIVILIZATION 101
SECTION B and D
SPRING, 2020
Please answer two of the following essays to the best of your ability
1. Compare and contrast African American Slavery to slavery in the Ancient
World either in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Greece or Rome. Use
information from the Slave Narratives, Unchained memories and other
sources. Discuss such areas as jobs, differences between house slaves and
field slaves, men and women. Describe what it was like being a slave during
the period of the Civil war, using information from the sources available to
you and compare and contrast this to the life of a slave in Roman culture.
2. Imagine you are either Heinrich Schliemann or Manfred Korfmann. Discuss
how you were able to locate the position of Troy and Mycenae. Following
this, in diary form, make a record of your thoughts, activities and
discoveries during a typical day of excavation at either Troy or Mycenae.
3. Define Iconography, discuss the different types of iconographical evidence,
and how it can be used to reconstruct the political and religious beliefs of a
people. Discuss this within the context of a particular culture.
4. Discuss the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Talk about their discovery,
their significance and the community of Qumran whose members
supposedly wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. Look at the War scroll and the
Manual of Discipline. From these documents what do we know about the
Community of Qumran. Some archaeologists believed that early
Christianity had a direct link to the Community of Qumran. Do you agree
with this or not?
5. Discuss the period of the Roman monarchy. Following this, discuss the
rise of the Roman Republic and events in the history of the Republic that
you feel are significant. What factors led to the fall of the Republic? What
could the Romans have done to prevent the fall of the Republic?
6. Discuss the various types of sources available in Ancient and Medieval
History. How may they be used to reconstruct the history and beliefs of
specific cultures, and also talk about the sources’ strengths and
weaknesses.
7. Discuss and analyze the world of the Celts. Include their religious beliefs,
political structure, appearance and fighting tactics. Analyze Caesar’s Gallic
Wars as a trustworthy source for recreating the world of the Celts.
Additionally, evaluate Celtic monasticism. Discuss the lives of Saint Patrick
and St. Columbanus. How important was St. Patrick’s conversion of the
Irish in the history of Christianity and what important contributions did St.
Columbanus and Irish monasticism make that are still relevant to us today?
8. In the Res Gestae Divi Augusti (the Accomplishments of the Divine
Augustus), the first Roman emperor claimed that he “restitutus sum rem
publicam” (I restored the Republic). Do you believe that Augustus restored
the Republic or not? Discuss the evidence that would support your answer
9. Analyze the religion of Islam. What are its major components, include a
summary of the Life of Mohammad. What are some of the major
similarities between Islam and Christianity. Give specific examples to
support your answer.
10. Fully analyze the following statement “Africa has no history and
contributed nothing to the advancement of civilization. In answering this
question, I recommend using the culture of Nubia, the kingdom of Kush.
11. It has been said that Constantine was converted to Christianity by a vision
at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Using the evidence I presented, analyze
the validity of this statement.