Name______Per_____ Date______

Chapter 4 Study Guide- Greece and Iran

Directions: Using complete sentences, answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.Page numbers are provided.

  1. Who was the king responsible for unifying Iran? p.96
  2. How did Cyrus treat local rulers in his empire? p.96
  3. Darius is known as a lawgiver. How were subjects treated under his authority? p.98
  4. Who is the Zoroastrian god and what are the basic beliefs of the religion? p.99
  5. Despite the fact that it was not very resource-rich, how/why did Greece prosper economically? p. 99
  6. What were some items that farmers were able to grow in Greece? p.102
  7. How did ancient Greeks view the sea? p.102
  8. Why was the Phoenician alphabet considered to be a great gift to the Greeks? p.102
  9. What were the “Dark Ages” and how did the Archaic period begin? p.102
  10. What do acropolis and agora mean? p.105
  11. Why did hoplites, the new more efficient kind of soldier, emerge in Greece? p.105
  12. What are 4 benefits of the introduction of coins? p.107
  13. How was democracy defined in Greek society? p.107
  14. How did Greeks worship the gods? p.108
  15. Define humanism. p.109
  16. Spartan life focused mainly on what? p.110
  17. What was the outcome of the Persian Wars? p.111
  18. Why were the Athenians successful warriors on the seas? p.112
  19. Who were the sophists? p.113
  20. Name the 3 great classical Greek philosophers. p.113
  21. Why was a large presence of slaves in Athens ironic? p.114
  22. What was the cause of the Peloponnesian War? p.115
  23. When Alexander died, how was his empire broken up? p.116
  24. What does Hellenistic Age refer to? Describe at least 2 features of a Hellenistic society. p.116

Cyrus- Founder of the Achaemenid PersianEmpire. Between 550 and 530 B.C.E. he conquered Media,Lydia, and Babylon. Revered in the traditions of both Iranand the subject peoples, he employed Persians and Medesin his administration and respected the institutions andbeliefs of subject peoples. / Darius- Third ruler of the Persian Empire
(r. 521–486 B.C.E.). He crushed the widespread initial
resistance to his rule and gave all major government posts toPersians rather than to Medes. He established a system ofprovinces and tribute, began construction of Persepolis, andexpanded Persian control in the east (Pakistan) and west(northern Greece).
satrap- The governor of a province in the Achaemenid
Persian Empire, often a relative of the king. He was responsiblefor protection of the province and for forwarding
tribute to the central administration. Satraps in outlying
provinces enjoyed considerable autonomy. / Persepolis- A complex of palaces, reception halls, and treasurybuildings erected by the Persian kings Darius I andXerxes in the Persian homeland. It is believed that the NewYear’s festival was celebrated here, as well as the coronations,weddings, and funerals of the Persian kings, who wereburied in cliff-tombs nearby.
Zoroastrianism- A religion originating in ancient Iran with
the prophet Zoroaster. It centered on a single benevolent
deity—Ahuramazda—who engaged in a twelve-thousandyear
struggle with demonic forces before prevailing andrestoring a pristine world. Emphasizing truth-telling, purity,and reverence for nature, the religion demanded that humans choose sides in the struggle between good and evil.Those whose good conduct indicated their support forAhuramazda would be rewarded in the afterlife. Otherswould be punished. The religion of the Achaemenid andSasanid Persians, Zoroastrianism may have spread withintheir realms and influenced Judaism, Christianity, and otherfaiths. / polis- The Greek term for a city-state, an urban center andthe agricultural territory under its control. It was the characteristicform of political organization in southern and centralGreece in the Archaic and Classical periods. Of thehundreds of city-states in the Mediterranean and Black Searegions settled by Greeks, some were oligarchic, others democratic,depending on the powers delegated to the Counciland the Assembly.
hoplite- A heavily armored Greek infantryman of the Archaic
and Classical periods who fought in the close-packed phalanx
formation. Hoplite armies—militias composed ofmiddle- and upper-class citizens supplying their ownequipment—were for centuries superior to all other militaryforces. / tyrant- The term the Greeks used to describe someone whoseized and held power in violation of the normal proceduresand traditions of the community. Tyrants appearedin many Greek city-states in the seventh and sixth centuriesB.C.E., often taking advantage of the disaffection of theemerging middle class and, by weakening the old elite,unwittingly contributing to the evolution of democracy.
democracy- A system of government in which all “citizens”
(however defined) have equal political and legal rights,
privileges, and protections, as in the Greek city-state of
Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E. / Pericles- (ca. 495–429 b.c.e.) Aristocratic leader who guided
the Athenian state through the transformation to full participatorydemocracy for all male citizens, supervised constructionof the Acropolis, and pursued a policy of imperial
expansion that led to the Peloponnesian War. He formulated
a strategy of attrition but died from the plague early inthe war.
Herodotus- Heir to the technique ofhistoria—“investigation”—developed by Greeks in the late
Archaic period. He came from a Greek community in Anatolia and traveled extensively, collecting information inwestern Asia and the Mediterranean lands. He traced theantecedents of and chronicled the Persian Wars betweenthe Greek city-states and the Persian Empire, thus originatingthe Western tradition of historical writing. / Persian Wars- Conflicts between Greek city-states and the Persian Empire, ranging from the Ionian Revolt (499–494B.C.E.) through Darius’s punitive expedition that failed atMarathon (490 B.C.E.) and the defeat of Xerxes’ massiveinvasion of Greece by the Spartan-led Hellenic League(480–479 B.C.E.). This first major setback for Persian armslaunched the Greeks into their period of greatest culturalproductivity. Herodotus chronicled these events in the first“history” in the Western tradition.
trireme- Greek and Phoenician warship of the fifth and
fourth centuries B.C.E. It was sleek and light, powered by 170
oars arranged in three vertical tiers. Manned by skilled
sailors, it was capable of short bursts of speed and complex
maneuvers. / Alexander- (356–323 b.c.e.) King of Macedonia in northernGreece. Between 334 and 323 B.C.E. he conquered the PersianEmpire, reached the Indus Valley, founded many Greekstylecities, and spread Greek culture across the Middle East.Later known as Alexander the Great.
Peloponnesian War- A protracted (431–404 B.C.E.) and costlyconflict between the Athenian and Spartan alliance systemsthat convulsed most of the Greek world. The war was largelya consequence of Athenian imperialism. Possession of anaval empire allowed Athens to fight a war of attrition.Ultimately, Sparta prevailed because of Athenian errors andPersian financial support. / Socrates- Athenian philosopher (ca. 470–399 B.C.E.) whoshifted the emphasis of philosophical investigation fromquestions of natural science to ethics and human behavior.He attracted young disciples from elite families but madeenemies by revealing the ignorance and pretensions ofothers, culminating in his trial and execution by the Athenianstate.
Hellenistic Age- Historians’ term for the era, usually dated
323–30 B.C.E., in which Greek culture spread across western
Asia and northeastern Africa after the conquests of Alexander
the Great. The period ended with the fall of the lastmajor Hellenistic kingdom to Rome, but Greek culturalinfluence persisted until the spread of Islam in the seventhcentury C.E. / Ptolemies- The Macedonian dynasty, descended from one ofAlexander the Great’s officers, that ruled Egypt for threecenturies (323–30 B.C.E.). From their magnificent capital atAlexandria on the Mediterranean coast, the Ptolemieslargely took over the system created by Egyptian pharaohsto extract the wealth of the land, rewarding Greeks andHellenized non-Greeks serving in the military and administration.
Alexandria- City on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt foundedby Alexander. It became the capital of the Hellenistic kingdomof the Ptolemies. It contained the famous Library andthe Museum—a center for leading scientific and literaryfigures. Its merchants engaged in trade with areas borderingthe Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.

Free Response Focus Questions:Answer these questions in a 4-6 sentence paragraph.

In your own words.Do not simply copy from the book and memorize the response.

You must support your response with plenty of facts.

Understand where events fall historically (global context, cause/effect, etc)

  1. Describe Persian religious beliefs during the height of the Persian Empire.
  1. How did geography and the environment affect Greek development?
  1. Discuss the development of Greek democracy. Was Greek democracy “democratic”?
  1. Explain what is meant by the Hellenistic Age.