Chapter 4 Reading Guide
Name: ___________________________________________
Unit Summary
The civilizations of Greece and Rome rivaled those of India and China in cultural richness and their
effect on world history. Their institutions and values reverberated in the later histories of the Middle
East and Europe and Europe’s colonies around the world. The study of classical Mediterranean
civilization is complicated because it includes Greek and then Roman political, social and economic
institutions, which were sometimes shared but often unique.
Using the maps on page 80 & 81, outline (and color) the Greek civilizations boundaries in 431 BCE
and label the following: (Note: the orange, green, and purple areas are ALL Greek)
•
Sparta
•
Ionia
•
Asia Minor
•
Peloponnesus
•
Aegean Sea
•
Macedonia
•
Athens
•
Mediterranean Sea
•
Crete
1. How might have Greece’s geography contributed to its development of sea trade with Egypt
and Phoenicia?
Introduction (pg. 76-79)
2. One of the more famous events at modern Olympic Games is the marathon, a run of 26 miles.
Why is a marathon 26 miles?
3. Why did Persia invade Greece?
4. How does the expression “brains over brawn” apply to final Greek victory over Persia at sea?
Chapter 4 Reading Guide
5. Around what modern day state was Persia centered?
6. Who was Alexander the Great’s teacher?
7. Where did the Mediterranean culture begin and where did its center late move to?
8. Look up images of the following buildings:
Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., The White House, Washington D.C., the Pantheon, Rome,
and The Parthenon, Athens
Identify the specific architectural similarities between them.
Why do these similarities exist?
The Persian Tradition (pg. 79)
9. What Middle Eastern civilization inherited many of Mesopotamia’s achievements?
10. Define Zoroastrianism:
11. What present day religion(s) does Zoroastrianism resemble in some aspects? Identify the
similarities.
12. What famous pseudo-Greek (i.e. “sort of “ Greek) conquered the Persians?
13. What empire will rise from Persia’s ashes later?
Patterns of Greek and Roman History (pg. 79-83)
Greece (79-81)
16. What do the Greeks and Aryans have in common?
17. Important: What sort of political units did the Greeks have?
18. What led the Greeks to have this type of political unit rather than a unified empire?
19. In what area of the Mediterranean did the Greeks focus their trade and colonization efforts?
Chapter 4 Reading Guide
20. What two Greek city-states were at the heart of the Peloponnesian Wars and what did those
wars lead to?
21. Examine the architecture of the famous Treasury of Petra in the picture below. What elements
does it share with the buildings in question 8? How do you think this building came to have
those characteristics? (hint: Map on pg. 81)
Rome (pg. 81-83)
23. What new Mediterranean power conquered and absorbed Greek culture?
24. What did the Romans do in 509 BCE that would inspire American colonists and thinkers in the
late 1700’s?
25. Who was Rome’s opponent during the Punic Wars?
26. How many years did the Roman Republic last?
27. What famous Roman marked the end of the Republic?
28. When Augustus seizes power this begins a new period of Roman history as Rome is now
referred to as the what?
29. How many years did this new political structure last? (use your timeline on pg. 78 and a
calculator if you need help.)
30. Compare the 1st half of this new Roman political structure’s history to the 2nd half. In general,
what is the key difference between them?
31. What was the final catastrophe that marked the end of Rome? How is this similar to the end of
Han China and Gupta India?
Chapter 4 Reading Guide
32. Besides the final reason for the fall of Rome, what were some other factions in its decline?
33. What new religion was adopted in Rome in 313 BCE?
Greek and Roman Political Institutions (pg. 83-87)
Note: Aristocratic means “nobles” or upper class citizens and were usually large land owners who
inherited their property from their fathers. If you were in the aristrocracy you were most likely born into
it.
34. Dr. Jackson has the ultimate authority in the school. However, Mrs. Roberts runs her classroom
and establishes assignments and sets standards for her AP students to meet. How is this
analogous (similar or symbolic of) to the power relationship of the Roman emperor and citystates around the empire?
35. How were Greece and Rome’s political cultures and institutions similar to China’s?
36. How were Greece and Rome’s political forms similar to India’s?
37. What type of government did Greece and Rome (at least while a republic) avoid?
38. Today the word “tyrant” is associated with a ruler who abuses his power and his people’s
freedom and rights. How were tyrants different in classical Greece?
Greece (pg. 83-84)
39. Where did the Western concept of democracy come from specifically and from what word is
it derived?
40. How is”direct democracy” different from present day democracy in the Untied states? (Hint:
The United States more closely resembles Rome’s system before it became an empire. Hint:
One of your & Principles of Government you learned in 8th grade.)
41. What people were not considered citizens in Athens?
42. Read the short passage by Pericles on pg. 83-84 and assess the validity of this statement:
“Athenian democracy and the principles espoused by Pericles are echoed in present day
Western democracies such as the United States.” Your answer MUST follow this formation:
“While Athenian democracy and principles were similar to modern Western democracies in
that ________________________________________________, (cite several similarities), there were
significant differences such as _______________________________ (cite several dissimilarities).”
43. What was the most common form of government in the Mediterranean world?
Chapter 4 Reading Guide
Rome (pg. 84-87)
44. Roman citizens would gather to vote in assemblies but they would not vote on laws. What
were they voting on? (Hint: That’s why Rome was called a Republic)
45. What was the most powerful lawmaking body in the Roman Republic? (Hint: It shares the same
name as ½ of the U.S. Congress).
46. The United States has a President who serves as the executive (enforcing) authority. What did
Rome have?
47. The Chinese, starting with the Han, created an elaborate bureaucracy as form of political
control and to manage government affairs. The Romans did not. What did the Romans
emphasize instead? (Hint: It’s another legacy of Rome to the West.)
48. What was the primary reason behind Rome’s decision to build roads and harbors, types of
public works?
49. If Rome was generally tolerant of other religions, why were Christians singled out for
persecution?
50. What was the single greatest accomplishment of the Roman Empire that has yet to be
repeated?
In Depth: The Classical Mediterranean in Comparative Perspective (pg. 84-85)
51. Fill in the chart below using JUST the first two paragraphs on page 84 in this section. Describe
the common political, economic, and social characteristics shared by Green & Rome, India
and China.
Point of Comparison
Greece & Rome
India
China
Political -
Economic -
Social -
Religion and Culture (pg. 87-90)
52.
How did Rome and Greece differ from India and China in the area of religion?
53.
What allowed Christianity to spread within the Roman Empire?
54.
Chapter 4 Reading Guide
What was lacking from the Greco-Roman religion that lower class people desired?
55.
Read the quote below about the ruler of the Greek gods, Zeus (Jupiter to Romans) and then
explain why the Greeks and Romans had to invent separate ethical systems for people to model their
behavior after whereas Hindus, Confucianists, Daoists, Buddhists, Jews, and Christians did not.
Zeus did indeed bring order out of Chaos, but one of his failings was that he did not look kindly upon the
people, those creatures that populated the lands over which he reigned. Many were not beautiful, and Zeus
had contempt for anyone who was not beautiful. And of course they were not immortal, as the Olympian
gods were, and they complained about the lack of good food and the everlasting cold nights. Zeus ignored
their complaints, while he and the other gods feasted endlessly on steaming hot game from the surrounding
forests, and had great crackling fires in every room of their palaces where they lived in the cold winter.
“Greek Creation Myths” by Daphne Elliott
http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/europe/greek/greek_creation_myths.html
56. Identify: Aristotle –
57. “Don’t believe everything you hear.” What famous Greek does this expression best personify?
Why?
58. Your text states that “the Greeks were not outstanding empirical scientists.” Look up the word
empirical and explain what the Greeks were NOT doing (usually) that students who study the
scientific method are taught to do in school today.
59. In what academic areas did Greeks produce important achievements?
60. What theory of Ptolemy’s was wrong but dominated Western teachings until the Renaissance
(Hint: Galileo & Copernicus)?
61. In what area did Romans excel in particular?
Chapter 4 Reading Guide
62. Explain what these movie posters have to do with Greek contributions to drama? (From top
left: Titanic, I Am Legend, Romeo & Juliet, King Kong)
Economy and Society in the Mediterranean (pg. 91-94)
63. What THREE aspects were the economies of Greece and Rome based on?
64. What part of Greek and Roman society is most left out of our conception of that time period?
65. How did agriculture and geography encourage the Greeks and later Romans to become
traders with connections around the Mediterranean Sea?
66. Who were the Greeks & Romans trading with beyond the Mediterranean?
67. What trading problem did they encounter with these far away peoples?
68. Cite several examples of how slaves were used in the Mediterranean. Be sure to note the use
of Greek slaves by Romans.
69. How did slavery encourage the expansion of militaries and conquests?
70. Use the quote below and your text to explain why the Greeks and Romans did not pursue
advances in technology, leaving the West at a trade disadvantage with the East for centuries.
When a mechanical engineer found a better way to move heavy columns, the Emperor Vespasian
(d. AD 79) gave him a reward but refused to adopt the technology. Said the emperor “You must let
me feed my poor commons” A similar but less heartwarming story is also told about the Emperor
Tiberius (d. AD 37), who supposedly met the inventor of plastic (“unbreakable glass”). Tiberius had
the man beheaded, lest, he said, “gold be reduced to the value of mud.”
Innovation and Incentives by Suzanne Scotchmen
Chapter 4 Reading Guide
71. Describe the economic role of women in Greece and Rome.
72. Cite one example of how women were unfairly treated in comparison to men in Rome.
73. Cite one example of how later Roman law made the treatment of women better, although still
unequal.
74. How did the treatment of women in Greece and Rome compare to China?
Toward the Fall of Rome (pg. 94-95)
75. When did Rome begin to decline?
76. Describe the fall of Rome geographically.
Global Connections: Greece, Rome, and the World (pg. 95)
77. How were the Greeks like the Chinese in their view of others?
78. How were the Greeks unlike the Chinese in travel and trade?
Timeline
Insert the following events into the timeline. Pick up on the dates as you read them in the text. The
timeline at the front of the chapter will also be invaluable to you.
A. End of Punic Wars
B. Peloponnesian Wars
C. Persian Wars
D. Alexander the Great Dies
E. Rise of Greek city-states F. Cryus the Great begins
rule of Persian Empire
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
1000BCE
500CE
Gaul is located at
______
The Danube River is
located at ______
The City of Rome is
located at ______
The City of Carthage is
located at ______
The Tigris River is
located at ______
The City of Alexandria
is located at ______