World History I Midterm Review Topics

Name:______

World History I Midterm Review Topics

Directions: Below is a list of the major topics we have covered this year. Use this outline to help you to organize your notes and study for the midterm. The midterm will be cumulative, however will have more questions pertaining to Greece, Rome, and the Byzantine Empire.

Era 1: Human Origins and Early Civilization (Prehistory to 1000 BCE)

Topic 1: Early development of human kind from the Paleolithic Era to the Neolithic Revolution

·  Definition of a hominid

·  Definition of hunter gather civilization and characteristics

·  Reasons that Paleolithic tribes were hunter-gatherer

·  Types of tools used during the Paleolithic Period and the development (stone tools)

·  Define the Neolithic Revolution

·  How did agriculture lead to sedentary societies

·  How did agriculture advance during the Neolithic Revolution (moved from stone tools – metal tools)

·  Define archeologist, paleontologist, artifact, radio-carbon dating, archeological dig

Topic 2: Neolithic villages, Ancient river valley civilization (cradles of civilization), and other early civilizations

·  The reasons why early civilizations developed on rivers

·  Early civilizations were polytheistic

·  Reasons for the development of religion and how it influenced the government

·  How the economy developed from barter to “money”

·  Advanced tools were used in these later societies made from metal instead of stone

·  How/why slavery developed in early civilizations

·  Origins of Judaism and characteristics of the religion

·  Holy book of Judaism and core beliefs and why this caused Jewish persecution

·  Define the Diaspora and explain how this fostered the spread of Judaism

·  Location of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Shang China, Indus, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Hebrews, Nubians on a map

·  Discuss the development of written language – hieroglyphics, and cuneiform (and lack of a written language in the Indus Valley Civilization)

·  Rivers Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, Shang China are located on

·  Religion, writing, government of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, Shang China

Era 2: Classical Civilizations and Rise of Religious Traditions (1000 BCE – 500 AD)

Topic 3: Persian Empire

·  Be able to locate the Persian Empire on a map

·  Define the government of Persia as being an imperial monarchy

·  Discuss the importance of Cyrus the Great, Cambyses, and Darius

·  Discuss the events of the Persian Wars (who were they against, and why were they fought)

Topic 4: Ancient Greece

·  Be able to locate Ancient Greece on a map

·  Discuss the effect the geography (rocky soil, mountainous terrain) had on the development of Greece

·  Discuss the early government of Greece (monarchy) and the development based on the culture of the Minoans and the Myceneans

·  Define the Polis

·  Discuss the culture of Athens – the government, the emphasis on art and beauty and learning

·  Discuss the culture of Sparta – the government, the emphasis on military and loyalty to polis

·  Discuss Greek mythology

·  Discuss the importance of slavery in Ancient Rome

·  Discuss citizenship in ancient Rome (who was considered a citizen and who was not)

·  Identify the causes of the Persian Wars, major battles, and effects (Athenian Golden Age)

·  Identify contributions of Athenian Golden Age (Pericles, philosophers, mathematicians, literature, playwrights)

·  Identify the difference between the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League

·  Causes of the Peloponnesian War

·  Major battles and timeline of the Peloponnesian Wars and outcome of the Punic Wars

·  Identify Philip and Macedonia and Alexander the Great

·  Discuss Alexander’s conquests of Greece and the Middle East

·  Locate Alexander’s Empire on a map

·  Identify causes of the breakdown of Alexander’s Empire

Topic 5: Ancient Rome

·  Identify the Roman Republic and Roman Empire on a map

·  Discuss the foundation myth of Rome (Romulus and Remus)

·  Discuss the effect the geography (fertile soil, hilly, but not mountainous) had on the development of Rome (ability for it to develop as a Monarchy)

·  Identify the Roman Republic on a map, and identify the hill it began on

·  Identify the “first Romans”

·  Discuss why the first Roman Monarchy ended

·  Discuss the hierarchy of the Roman Republic (Patricians, Plebeians)

·  Discuss the role of slaves in Ancient Rome (gladiators, role of slaves during the Punic Wars)

·  Compare Roman and Greek government

·  Analyze the way Greece influenced Roman culture

·  Roman mythology

·  Discuss the government of the Roman Republic

·  Discuss the causes of the Punic Wars

·  Discuss the events and major battles of the Punic Wars

·  Discuss the results of the Punic Wars

·  Explain why the Republic failed (wars, growing gap between rich and poor, death of the Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus)

·  Discuss the first and second Triumvirates and how they established an Imperial Monarchy in Rome

·  What role did Julius and Augustus Caesar play in the establishment of the Imperial Monarchy in Rome

·  Discuss the government of Rome during the Imperial Monarchy

·  Discuss how emperors were able to keep Peace in the Imperial Monarchy

·  Define Pax Romana and discuss the characteristics

·  Describe the origin, beliefs, traditions, customs of Christianity

·  Discuss the spread of Christianity (How its spread, the role Pax Romana played in the ease of its spread, why people converted to Christianity)

·  Discuss Constantine’s role in the spread of Christianity and Theodosius role in the spread of Christianity

·  Discuss contributions in art and architecture, technology and science, literature history and language and religious institutions from the Roman Empire

·  Discuss the 4 precipitating and one major cause of the fall of the Roman empire

·  Discuss why the Huns were able to defeat Romulus Augustus in the West, but could not capture Constantinople in the East

·  Discuss Diocletian’s tetrarchy and split of the Roman Empire

Era 3: Postclassical Civilizations (300 to 1,000 AD)

Topic 6: The Byzantine Empire

·  Locate the Byzantine Empire on a map

·  Explain the establishment of Constantinople as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire

·  Discuss Justinian’s contributions, including the codification of Roman law, and expansion of the Byzantine Empire (re-unifying the two halves of the empire)

·  Discuss how/why the Byzantine empire was able to preserve Greek and Roman art traditions

·  Explain the disputes that led to the split between the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches and be able to recognize differences between the two

·  Discuss the impact of Byzantine influence and trade on Russia and eastern Europe

·  Discuss the reason for the fall of the Byzantine Empire

·  Discuss the importance of the Byzantine empire culturally (preservation of Greek and Roman culture)