AP World History Unit 2 Vocabulary Flashcards
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| 470612606 | Cyrus the Great | (c. 576 or 590-529 B.C.E.); founded Persian Empire by 550 B.C.E.; successor state to Mesopotamian empires; died in Egypt; people are free to worship their own god as long as they recognize him as emperor | 0 | |
| 470612607 | Zoroastrianism | Persian religion that saw material existence as a battle between the forces of good and evil; stressed the importance of moral choice; a last judgment decided the eternal fate of each person; Zoroaster → the prophet; good = light, bad = darkness; | 1 | |
| 470612608 | Hellenism | culture derived from the Greek civilization that flourished between 800 and 400 B.C.E. | 2 | |
| 470612609 | Hellenistic culture | culture associated with the spread of Greek influence and intermixture with other cultures as a result of Macedonian conquests. | 3 | |
| 470612610 | Iliad and Odyssey | Greek epic poems attributed to Homer; defined relations of gods and humans that shaped Greek mythology | 4 | |
| 470612611 | Polis | city-state form of government typical of Greek political organization from 800 to 400 B.C.E.; means city | 5 | |
| 470612612 | Socrates | Athenian philosopher of late 5th century B.C.E.; condemned to death for "corrupting" minds of Athenian young; usually seen as the father of western philosophy; people should teach by asking questions; did not approve of democracy (Athens was a democracy); took poisoned hemlock as suicide | 6 | |
| 470612613 | Direct democracy | literally, rule of the people—in Athens it meant all free male citizens; all decisions emanated from the popular assembly without intermediation of elected representatives: "demos" means people; "cratos" means power; republic is a type of government where you vote for leaders/desicions | 7 | |
| 470612614 | Pericles | Athenian political leader during 5th century B.C.E.; guided development of Athenian Empire; made funeral oration; great democratic thinker (would have opposed Socrates) | 8 | |
| 470612615 | Olympic games | one of the pan-Hellenic rituals observed by all Greek city states; involved athletic competitions and ritual celebrations; only for men (in honor of Zeus) | 9 | |
| 470612616 | Persian Wars | 5th century B.C.E. wars between the Persian Empire and Greek city-states; Greek victories allowed Greek civilization to define identity. | 10 | |
| 470612617 | Peloponnesian War | war from 431 to 404 B.C.E. between Athens and Sparta for domination in Greece; the Spartans won but failed to achieve political unification in Greece. | 11 | |
| 470612618 | Macedon | kingdom of northern Greece; originally loosely organized under kings; became centralized under Philip II; conquered Greek city-states. | 12 | |
| 470612619 | Philip II | ruled Macedon from 359 to 336 B.C.E.; founder of centralized kingdom; conquered Greece; assassinated by his wife (she issued an order) | 13 | |
| 470612620 | Alexander the Great | (r. 336-323 B.C.E.); son and successor of Philip II; conquered Persian Empire and advanced to borders of India; attempted to combine Greek and Persian culture; taught by Aristotle | 14 | |
| 470612621 | Alexandria | Egyptian city; founded 334 B.C.E. by Alexander the Great | 15 | |
| 470612622 | Aristotle | Greek philosopher; teacher of Alexander; taught that knowledge was based upon observation of phenomena in material world. | 16 | |
| 470612623 | Stoics | Hellenistic philosophers; they emphasized inner moral independence cultivated by strict discipline of the body and personal bravery; Stoicism - name of the philosophy | 17 | |
| 470612624 | Sophocles | Greek writer of tragedies; author of Oedipus Rex; "rex" means king | 18 | |
| 470612625 | Doric, Ionic, Corinthian | three distinct styles of Hellenic architecture; listed in order of increasing ornate quality; Greeks preferred Doric while Romans preferred Corinthian | 19 | |
| 470612626 | Consuls | two chief executives (co-presidents) of the Roman republic; elected annually by the assembly dominated by the aristocracy. | 20 | |
| 470612627 | Carthage | founded by the Phoenicians in Tunisia; became a major empire in the western Mediterranean; fought the Punic wars with Rome for Mediterranean dominance; defeated and destroyed by the Romans. | 21 | |
| 470612628 | Punic Wars | three wars (264-146 B.C.E.) between Rome and the Carthaginians; saw the transformation of Rome from a land to a sea power. | 22 | |
| 470612629 | Hannibal | Carthaginian general during the second Punic War; invaded Italy but failed to conquer Rome. | 23 | |
| 470612630 | Republic | the balanced political system of Rome from circa 510 to 47 B.C.E.; featured an aristocratic senate, a panel of magistrates, and popular assemblies. | 24 | |
| 470612631 | Julius Caesar | general responsible for the conquest of Gaul; brought army back to Rome and overthrew republic; assassinated in B.C.E.by conservative senators. | 25 | |
| 470612632 | Octavian | later took name of Augustus; Julius Caesar's grandnephew and adopted son; defeated conservative senators after Caesar's assassination; became first Roman emperor. | 26 | |
| 470612633 | Cicero | conservative senator and Stoic philosopher; one of the great orators of his day. | 27 | |
| 470612634 | Vergil | a great Roman epic poet during the Golden Age of Latin literature; author of the Aeneid. | 28 | |
| 470612635 | Axum | a state in the Ethiopian highlands; received influences from the Arabian peninsula; converted to Christianity; later part of Ethiopia | 29 | |
| 470612636 | Shinto | religion of the early Japanese court; included the worship of numerous gods and spirits associated with the natural world. | 30 | |
| 470612637 | Pastoral nomads | any of the many peoples, from the steppes of Asia that herded animals; migrants (Mongols); use of gunpowder ended them | 31 | |
| 470612638 | Celts | early migrants into western Europe; organized into small regional kingdoms; had mixed agricultural and hunting economies. | 32 | |
| 470612639 | Germans | peoples from beyond the northern borders of the Roman Empire; had mixed agricultural and pastoral economies; moved into the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries C.E. | 33 | |
| 470612640 | Slavs | Indo-European peoples who ultimately dominated much of eastern Europe; formed regional kingdoms by the 5th century C.E. | 34 | |
| 470612641 | Olmec | cultural tradition that arose at San Lorenzo and La Venta in Mexico circa 1200 B.C.E.; featured irrigated agriculture, urbanism, elaborate religion, beginnings of calendrical and writing systems. | 35 | |
| 470612642 | Polynesia | islands contained in a rough triangle with its points at Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island. | 36 | |
| 470612643 | Yellow Turbans | Chinese Daoists who launched a revolt in 184 C.E, promising a golden age to be brought about by divine magic. | 37 | |
| 470612644 | Sui | dynasty succeeding the Han; grew from strong rulers in northern China; reunited China. | 38 | |
| 470612645 | Tang | dynasty succeeding the Sui in 618 C.E | 39 | |
| 470612646 | Rajput | regional military princes in India following the collapse of the Gupta Empire. | 40 | |
| 470612647 | Devi | mother goddess within Hinduism; devotion to her spread widely after the collapse of the Gupta and encouraged new emotionalism in religious ritual. | 41 | |
| 470612648 | Diocletian | Roman emperor (284-305 C.E); restored later empire by improved administration and tax collection. | 42 | |
| 470612649 | Constantine | Roman emperor (321-337 C.E); established his capital at Constantinople; used Christianity to unify the empire. | 43 | |
| 470612650 | Byzantine Empire | eastern half of the Roman Empire; survived until 1453; retained Mediterranean, especially Hellenistic culture. | 44 | |
| 470612651 | Mahayana | version of Buddhism popular in China; emphasized Buddha's role as a savior. | 45 | |
| 470612652 | Bodhisattvas | Buddhist holy men who refused advance toward nirvana to receive prayers of the living to help them reach holiness. | 46 | |
| 470612653 | Saints | holy men and women in Christianity; their merit could be tapped by ordinary Christians. | 47 | |
| 470612654 | Pope | Bishop of Rome; head of the Catholic church in western Europe. | 48 | |
| 470612655 | Augustine | North African Christian theologian; made major contributions in incorporating elements of classical philosophy into Christianity. | 49 | |
| 470612656 | Benedict | founder of monasticism in the former western half of the Roman Empire; established the Benedictine rule in the 6th century. | 50 | |
| 470612657 | Bedouin | nomadic pastoralists of the Arabian peninsula with a culture based on herding camels and goats; most valuable animals were horses, camels, and goats | 51 | |
| 470612658 | Shaykhs | leaders of tribes and clans within bedouin society; usually possessed large herds, several wives, and many children; today, they would be multi-millionaires | 52 | |
| 470612659 | Mecca | Arabian commercial center; dominated by the Quraysh; the home of Muhammad and the future religious center of Islam | 53 | |
| 470612660 | Medina | town northeast of Mecca; asked Muhammad to resolve its intergroup differences; Muhammad's flight to this town is called the hijra, in 622 AD, began the Muslim calendar; means "town" | 54 | |
| 470612661 | Umayyad | clan/tribe that dominated Mecca; later an Islamic dynasty (first Muslim dynasty) | 55 | |
| 470612662 | Muhammad | (570-632); prophet of Allah; originally a merchant of the Quraysh; "the seal of the prophets" | 56 | |
| 470612663 | Khadijah | the wife of Muhammad; first Muslim, or disciple of Muhammad | 57 | |
| 470612664 | Ka'ba | revered pre-Islamic shrine in Mecca; incorporated into Muslim worship; most holy place in Islam; Muslims believed that Abraham built it; "Black Box" | 58 | |
| 470612665 | Qur'an | the word of god as revealed through Muhammad; made into the holy book of Islam; "recitations of God" | 59 | |
| 470612666 | Umma | community of the faithful within Islam | 60 | |
| 470612667 | Zakat | tax for charity obligatory for all Muslims; like "tithe" | 61 | |
| 470612668 | Five pillars | the obligatory religious duties for all Muslims: confession of faith, prayer (five times a day), fasting during Ramadan, zakat, and hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) | 62 | |
| 470612669 | Caliph | the successor to Muhammad as head of the Islamic community; religious king | 63 | |
| 470612670 | Ali | cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad; one of the orthodox caliphs; focus for the development of shi'ism (branch of Islam) | 64 | |
| 470612671 | Abu Bakr | succeeded Muhammad as the first caliph | 65 | |
| 470612672 | Jihad | Islamic holy war | 66 | |
| 470612673 | Siffin | battle fought in 657 between Ali and the Umayyads; led to negotiations that fragmented Ali's party | 67 | |
| 470612674 | Copts, Nestorians | Christian sects of Egypt and Syria; gave their support to the Arabic Muslims | 68 | |
| 470612675 | Sunnis | followers of the majority interpretation within Islam; included the Umayyads | 69 | |
| 470612676 | Shi'a | followers of Ali's interpretation of Islam; 10% live in Iraq and Iran | 70 | |
| 470612677 | Mawali | non-Arab converts to Islam | 71 | |
| 470612678 | Jizya | head tax paid by all non-Muslims in Islamic lands (Christians, Jews, etc.) | 72 | |
| 470612679 | Dhimmis | "the people of the book," Jews, Christians; later extended to Zoroastrians and Hindus | 73 | |
| 470612680 | Abbasids | dynasty that succeeded the Umayyads in 750; their capital was at Baghdad | 74 | |
| 470612681 | Hadiths | "traditions" of the prophet Muhammad; added to the Qur'an, form the essential writings of Islam; not as important as the Qur'an | 75 | |
| 470612682 | Baghdad | Abbasid capital, close to the old Persian capital of Ctesiphon | 76 | |
| 470612683 | Wazir | chief administrative official under the Abbasids; Vizier → like prime minister of England, but in Muslim culture | 77 | |
| 470612684 | Dhows | Arab sailing vessels; equipped with lateen sails; used by Arab merchants; Columbus uses this design later in his ships | 78 |