Name:___________________________________ Date:__________________________ Period:___________
AP World History
Chapter 3 Reading Questions
1. What is an empire?
2. List the Eurasian empires of the classical era.
3. At its height, how large was the Persian Empire? How many people were within its borders?
4. Who were the two most famous monarchs of the Persian Empire?
5. Describe the “Royal Road” in the Persian Empire.
6. How did the political set-up of the Greek city-states differ from the Persian Empire?
7. Although the Greek city-states were independent from each other, what did they have in common?
8. What is the most distinctive political difference between the Greeks and the Persians?
9. How did democratic participation expand in the Greek city-states?
10. Describe the Council of Elders in ancient Sparta.
11. Which groups were NOT considered citizens in ancient Athens?
12. Describe what instigated the Greco-Persian Wars.
13. How did Greek victory in the Greco-Persian Wars affect Athens? (Be detailed).
14. Who fought in the Peloponnesian Wars? Who won?
15. Describe Alexander’s greatest military accomplishment.
16. Why were Alexander’s conquests so significant?
17. Describe how the Hellenistic cities (like Alexandria) differed from the original Greek city-states.
18. Describe the relationship between native peoples and the Greeks in these Hellenistic cities.
19. How did the Roman Empire begin?
20. Describe the 3 ways in which the plebeians were protected politically.
1)
2)
3)
21. What were some motivations for the creation of the Roman Empire?
22. In what ways did Augustus maintain the forms of the Roman Republic?
23. Which Chinese leader was successful in reunifying China? How long did it take him?
24. What did he do to people that opposed him and/or his policies?
25. What things did he make uniform/standardized throughout China?
26. What common features did the Roman and Chinese Empires share?
27. How did the Chinese assimilate non-Chinese people into its empire? How did the Romans assimilate nonRomans?
28. What culture remained popular in the eastern half of the Roman Empire?
29. What problems did both the Chinese and Roman Empires encounter that led to their collapse?
30. In what ways had the Chinese attempted to appease the Xiongnu people to the north?
31. What is the difference, in regards to culture within the empire, between the Xiongnu in China and the
Germanic tribes in the Roman Empire?
32. What happened to China politically after the collapse of the Han dynasty? What happened to Europe
politically after the collapse of the Roman Empire? Why was there this difference?
33. Who were the Aryans?
34. How was the new civilization in India under the Aryans organized politically?
35. Who two features united classical India?
36. Who was the best-known Mauryan emperor? What were his rock edicts?