Western Civ to 1500 Reading Guide
Chapter 1:
What had peoples in the Near East developed post-Stone Age that allowed for the creation of
civilization?
How did Egypt’s and Mesopotamia’s geography impact the way people lived in both regions?
When did civilization begin in Sumer (Mesopotamia)?
What caused political difficulties for early Mesopotamian governments?
Why was Sargon significant to the history of the west?
What contributions in learning did Mesopotamia make to the west?
What was the biggest sector of the Mesopotamian economy? (And what was a popular product within
that economy)?
How does Mesopotamian religion compare to that of Egypt?
What were the achievements of Early Kingdom Egypt?
What was the biggest sector of the Egyptian economy?
What was the focus of Eyptian religion and how did it work?
What were the achievements of Middle Kingdom Egypt?
Chapter 2:
Whose culture did the Babylonians cultivate?
How was Babylonian society stratified?
What were the key elements of Hammurabi’s law code? Who was Hammurabi?
Where did Indo-Europeans come from and what did they contribute to the west?
What did the Hittites contribute to the west? What did the Phoenicians contribute?
What did the Hebrews contribute? Why was King Solomon significant to the history of the west?
What lessons did Assyria teach the west about empire building? (Look at both sections about the
Assyrians for this)
What characterizes the Aegean civilizations?
How did the Hyksos impact the Egyptians?
How did the pharaohs of the new kingdom maintain their absolute authority?
What impact did Akhenaten have on Egyptian history?
What was Zoroastrianism?
How did the Persians govern their empire?
Chapter 3: Greece Before 500BCE
What accounts for the splendor of ancient Greece, according to our author?
Why are Sparta and Athens significant to the history of the west in terms of politics?
How did geography influence Greek political development?
What is: monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny, democracy?
How does the social stratification of Sparta compare to that of Babylonian society (chapter 2)—besides
the different names for the groups?
How did the military influence life in Sparta?
What role did material wealth play in Athenian life?
What were the big trends in Solon’s reforms (not the details, but the overall effect the reforms had)?
What were the goals of Cleisthenes’ reforms?
What role did increased trade play in Greek life?
How did the humanities foster Greek unity?
What characterized Greek gods?
Chapter 4: Greece in the Fifth Century BCE
What were the weaknesses of 5thcBCE Greece?
Critical ID: What were the Persian Wars and why were they significant for Greece and the west? (When
we look at war we want to know why it was fought, who won, and why it matters. The details are
significant for us only in the way they support those three analytical questions, so don’t get bogged
down in names and battles. Think the big picture, not the tiny pixels).
How did Athens change after the Persian Wars, particularly through the Delian League?
Critical ID: What was the Peloponnesian War and why was it significant for Greece and the west?
Socrates & Plato—he’s in chapter 5 and is the only thing you need to look for from that chapter
(because they’re foundational philosophers for the west we need to know who they are and what their
big ideas were)
How did the arts and sciences develop after the big wars (sum up the trends vs. focusing on lots of
details)?
Chapter 5: Just look for Plato and background to Alexander the Great (academic skim)
Chapter 6: The Hellenistic Age
Critical ID: Alexander the Great (use the chapter to supplement. We’ll get most of our Alexander
information from video links and in-class primary source readings). This means an academic skim of the
chapter until Societal Conditions)
How did society change in the east and west under Alexander’s successor generals?
What were the more impressive scientific achievements of the Hellenistic age?
What did the Epicureans believe? The Stoics?
Chapter 7: The Rise of Rome
Use as a reference for dates. We will use lecture and video sources for this material.
Chapter 8: The Flourishing of the Roman Republic
Critical ID: Punic Wars (Remember what we want to know from a war—why it was fought, who won,
and how it impacted those involved and the west generally—so don’t get bogged down in details. This
means academic skim of much of this chapter)
What is a Pyrrhic victory? Who is Hannibal and why is he famous?
How did all of these wars influence Roman society in the 2nd century BCE?
What were 2nd century BCE Rome’s great accomplishments?
What reforms did the Gracchi (the Gracchus brothers) propose? What did their example do to Roman
government?
Critical IDs: Gaius Marius, Sulla
Chapter 9: The Establishment of Empire
Use as a reference for dates. We will use lecture and video sources for this material.
Chapter 10: Imperial Rome
We’ll handle the first part of this chapter with lecture and video. Begin reading with the section on
religion, especially Judaism and Christianity. What was going on with each of these religions in the first
century empire?
What characterized the second-century Roman government? Culture? (these are broad trends
questions, not detail questions)
What happens with the Roman government in the third century? Culture? Religion?
Much of this chapter is an academic skim
Chapter 11: The End of the Ancient World
Critical IDs: Diocletian, Constantine
What problem did the Nicaean Creed decide for early Christians?
What happened to the Christian church in this period?
What was monasticism and what social function did it serve?
Chapter 12: Barbarians, Christians, and Muslims
What traditions did the Germanic tribes bring to Rome?
Academic skim what the various tribes were doing until you get to the Franks. Why do the Franks stand
out in the history of the Germanic tribes?
What Roman traditions remained? What Germanic traditions remained?
What types of literature were being written?
Critical ID: Justinian, Benedict of Nursia
Who were the four doctors of the church and what did they do that made them so famous?
What is Islam and what did its followers believe? How far did it spread?
What four pillars was the medieval world built on?
Chapter 13: The Early Feudal Age
What are the disagreements about when the Middle Ages begin?
What does this section tell us about what characterized the Middle Ages? Put in your own words:
“Instead , the new world was based on local, territorial units that slowly amalgamated to form larger
political entities or nations. Most of the peoples showed some Germanic traits and ways of life. These
were modified by Christian views and standards and by Roman legal and cultural tradition. Feudal
institutions flourished. They were not founded on despotic rule, circumscribed law, or economic power
derived from extensive capitalistic undertakings. Instead, they were based on the vague authority of the
heads of Christianity (the German emperor and the Roman pope), on the leadership of numerous kings
and dukes, on a great variety of local legal customs, on honor as the link between ruler and follower,
and on land as the basis of wealth and social status.”
Chuchiak, John; Kirchner, Walter (2011-08-23). Western Civilization to 1500 (Collins College Outlines)
(Kindle Location 4297-4302). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
What was the relationship of Pepin and his son Charlemagne to the church? Why was that key to their
successes?
Critical IDs: Charlemange, Carolingian Renaissance
How did the Viking invasions impact France and England, Russia?
How did Otto continue and change Charlemagne’s policies? What was the Holy Roman Empire?
How did the church influence everyday life? What were its flaws and how were they reformed?
What do historians mean by the term “feudalism”?
What was life like in this period?
Chapter 14: Eleventh Century
Critical IDs: Hastings, First Crusade
What was the conflict between Henry IV and Gregory VII?
What was the overall trend of events in northern and eastern Europe in the 11th century?
What fueled economic change and how did the economic change impact everyday life?
What were the cultural achievements of the 11th century?
How did religious zeal fuel both pacifist monks and the First Crusade?
Chapter 15: Flourishing of the Middle Ages
We’ll deal with the political stuff via lecture and videos. You can use that section of the text for more
info on individual figures/events. Start reading the chapter with “The Cultural Scene.”
Critical IDS: Bernard of Clairveaux, Peter Abelard
How were the first universities similar to and different from universities/colleges today?
What was new in literature and art?
How did these cultural changes impact the lives of nobles, burghers, peasants?
Chapter 16: The Thirteenth Century
Critical ID: Innocent III (this is a biggie), Franciscans and Dominicans
Again, we’ll handle the political stuff through lecture and videos. Pick back up with “Commerce and
Society.”
Again, what happened to the nobles, burghers, and peasants in this century?
What were the advances in science, literature, architecture?
Chapter 17: The Later Middle Ages