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Unit 2 Classical Empires Flashcards

Qin and Han, Greece and Rome

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232420304XiongnuA confederation of nomadic peoples living beyond the northwest frontier of ancient China. Chinese rulers tried a variety of defenses and stratagems to ward off these 'barbarians,' as they called them, and dispersed them in 1st Century. (168)0
232420305Gaozuthe throne name of Liu Bang, one of the rebel leaders who brought down Qin and founded Han dynasty in 202 BCE. Modest background and peasant qualities; denounced harshness and laws of Qin but was a Legalist; frugal to cut taxes; stored excess grain1
232420306Sima Qiana Chinese scholar who wrote the most important history of ancient China, HISTORICAL RECORDS2
232420307Chang'anCity in the Wei Valley in eastern China. It became the capital of the Zhou kingdom and the Qin and early Han Empires. Its main features were imitated in the cities and towns that sprang up throughout the Han Empire. >(p. 164)3
232420308gentrypeople of standing(rank or position); people of good family or high social position; class of people just below nobility4
232420309patron/client relationshipAnciant Rome: a fundamental social relationship in which the patron-a wealthy and powerful individual-provided legal and economic protection and assistance to clients, men of lesser status and means, and in return the clients supported their patrons5
232420310PrincipateFirst period of the Roman empire started by Augustus, characterized by a concerted effort on the part of the Emperors to preserve the illusion of the formal continuance of the Roman Republic6
232420311AugustusHonorific name of Octavian, founder of the Roman Principate, the empire that replaced the failing rule of the Roman Senate.7
232420312equitesIn ancient Italy, landowners second in wealth and status to the senatorial aristocracy. The Roman emperors allied with this group to counterbalance the influence of the old aristocracy and used the equites to staff the imperial civil service8
232420313pax romanaA period of peace and prosperity throughout the Roman Empire, lasting from 27 B.C. to A.D. 180.9
232420314RomanizationThe process by which the Latin language and Roman culture became dominant in the western provinces of the Roman Empire.10
232420315third century crisispolitical, military, and economic turmoil that beset the Roman Empire during much of the third century C.E.: frequent changes of ruler, civil wars, barbarian invasions, decline of urban centers, and near-destruction of long-distance commerce.11
232420316Shi HuangdiFounder of the short-lived Qin dynasty and creator of the Chinese Empire (r. 221-210 B.C.E.). He is remembered for his ruthless conquests of rival states and standardization.12

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