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AP World History: Chapters 3 and 4 Flashcards

Classical Civilization: China, Classical Civilization: India

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221931572Alexander the GreatSuccessor of Philip II; successfully conquered the Persian Empire prior to his death in 323 B.C.E.; attempted to combine Greek and Persian cultures.0
221931573HimalayasMountain region marking the northern border of the Indian sub-continent; site of the Aryan settlements that formed small kingdoms or warrior republics.1
221931574MonsoonSeasonal winds crossing Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia; during summer bring rains.2
221931575AryanIndo-European nomadic pastoralists who replaced Harappan civilization; militarized society.3
221931576SanskritThe sacred and classical Indian language.4
221931577VedasAryan hymns originally trasmitted orally but written down in sacred books from the 6th century B.C.E.5
221931578MahabharataIndian epic of war, princely honor, love, and social duty; written down in the last cenutries B.C.E.; previously handed down in oral form.6
221931579RamayanaOne of the great epic tales from classical India; traces adventures of King Rama and his wife, Sita.7
221931580UpanishadsLater books of the Vedas; contained sophisticated and sublime philosophical ideas; utilized by Brahmans to restore religious authority.8
221931581VarnasClusters of caste groups in Aryan society; four social castes-Brahmans (priests), warriors, merchants, and peasants; beneath four Aryan castes was a group of untouchables.9
221931582IndraChief diety of the Aryans; depicted as a colossal, hard-drinking warrior.10
221931583Chandragupta MauryaFounder of the Maurya dynasty; established first empire in Indian subcontinent; first centralized government since Harappan civilization.11
221931584MauryanDynasty established in Indian subcontinent in 4th century B.C.E. following invasion by Alexander the Great.12
221931585AshokaGrandson of Chandragupta Maurya; completed conquests of Indian subcontinent; converted to Buddhism and sposored spread of new religion throughout his empire.13
221931586DharmaThe caste position and career determined by a person's birth; Hindu culture required that one accept one's social position and perform occupation to the best of one's ability to have a better situation in their next life.14
221931587KushansDynasty that succeeded the Mauryans in northwestern India; sponsors of Buddhism; empire did not extend to the Ganges River valley.15
221931588GuptasDynasty that succeeded the Kushans in the 3rd century B.C.E.; built empire that extended to all but the southern regions of Indian subcontinent; less centralized than Mauryan.16
221931589KautilyaPolitical advisor to Chandragupta Maurya; one of the authors of Arthasashtra; believed in scientific application of warfare.17
221931590GurusBrahmans who served as teachers for the princes of the imperial court of the Guptas.18
221931591VishnuThe Brahman, later Hindu, god of sacrafice; widely worshipped.19
221931592ShivaThe Brahman, later Hindu, god of destruction and reproduction; worshipped as the personification of cosmic forces of change.20
221931593ReincarnationThe successive attachment of the soul to some animate form according to merits earned in previous lives.21
221931594BuddhaCreator of major Indian and Asian religion; born in 6th century B.C.E. as son of local ruler among Aryan tribes located near Himalayas; became an ascetic; found enlightenment under bo tree; taught that enlightenment could be achieved only by abandoning desires for all earthly things.22
221931595NirvanaThe Buddhist state of enlightenment, a state of tranquility.23
221931596KamasutraWritten by Vatsayana during Gupta era; offered instructions on all aspects of life for higher caste males, including grooming, hygiene, etiquette, selection of wives, and instruction on lovemaking.24
221931597StupasStone shrines built to house pieces of bone or hair and personal posessions said to be relics of the Buddha; preserves Buddhist architectural forms.25
221931598Scholar-gentryChinese class created by the martial linkage of the local and land-holding aristocracy with the office-holding shi; superseded shi as governors of China.26
221931599Cyrus the GreatEstablished massive Persian Empire by 550 B.C.E.; successor state to Mesopotamian empires.27
221931600ZoroastrianismAnimist religion that saw material existence as battle between forces of good and evil; stressed the importance of moral choice; righteous lived on after death in "House of Song"; chief religion of the Persian empire.28
221931601Olympic GamesOne of the pan-Hellenic rituals observed by all Greek city-states; involved athletic competitions and ritual celebrations.29
221931602PericlesAthenian political leader during 5th century B.C.E.; guided development of Athenian Empire; died during early stages of Peloponnesian War.30
221931603Peloponnesian WarsWars from about 431 to 404 B.C.E. between Athens and Sparta for dominance in southern Greece; resulted in Spartan victory but failure to achieve political unification of Greece.31
221931604Philip II of MacedonRuled Macedon from 359 to 336 B.C.E.; founder of centralized kingdom; later conquered rest of Greece which was subject to Macedonian authority.32
221931605Hellenistic periodThat culture associated with the spread of Greek influence as a result of Macedonian conquests; often seen as the combination of Greek culture with eastern political forms.33
221931606AlexandriaOne of the many cities of that name founded by Alexander the Great; site of Mediterranean's greatest library; center of literary studies.34
221931607Roman RepublicThe balanced constitution of Rome from 510 to 47 B.C.E.; featured an aristocratic Senate; a panel of magistrates and several popular assemblies.35
221931608CarthageOriginally a Pheocian colony in northern Africa; became major port and commercial power in the western Mediterranean; fought the Punic Wars with Rome for dominance of the Western Mediterranean.36
221931609HannibalGreat Carthaginian general during the Second Punic War; sccessfully invaded Italy but failed to conquer Rome; finally defeated at the Battle of Zama.37
221931610Augustus CaesarFirst emperor of Rome38
221931611DiocletianRoman emperor from 284 to 305 C.E.; restored later empire by improved administration and tax collection.39
221931612ConstatineRoman emperor from 312 to 337 C.E.; established second capital at Constantinople; attempted to use religious force of Christianity to unify empire spiritually.40
221931613polisCity-state form of government.41
221931614Direct democracyLiterally rule of the people; as interpreted in Athens, all decisions emanated from popular assembly without intermediation of elected representatives.42
221931615SenateAssembly of Roman aristocrats; advised on policy within the republic; one of the early elements of the Roman constitution.43
221931616ConsulsTwo chief executives or magistrates of the Roman republic; elected by an annual assembly dominated by aristocracy.44
221931617CiceroConservative Roman senator; Stoic philosopher; one of great orators of his day; killed in reaction to assassination of Julius Caesar.45
221931618AristotleGreek philosopher; teacher of Alexander the Great; knowledge based on observation of phenomena in material world.46
221931619StoicsHellenistic group of philosophers; emphasized inner moral independence cultivated by strict discipline of the body and personal bravery.47
221931620SocratesAthenian philosopher of later 5th century; tutor of Plato; urged rational reflection of moral decisions; condemned to death for corrupting minds of Athenian young.48
221931621PlatoGreek philosopher; knowledge based on consideration of ideal forms outside the material world; proposed ideal form of government based on abstract principles in which philosophers ruled.49
221931622SophoclesGreek writer of tragedies (woman)50
221931623IliadGreek epic poem attributed to Homer; defined gods and human nature that shaped Greek mythology.51
221931624OdysseyGreek epic poem attributed to Homer; defined gods and human nature that shaped Greek mythology.52

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