Deck 6: Shrinking the Afro-Eurasian World 350-100 Bce

Question 1

Which of the following was an effect of Alexander the Great's military conquests?

A) Establishing a long-lasting empire supported by political and military institutions
B) Forcing conquered peoples to move to different parts of the empire to keep them from rebelling
C) Causing the Mediterranean region's economy to crash
D) Spreading Greek culture and religion from Egypt to the Indus Valley

Answer 1

Spreading Greek culture and religion from Egypt to the Indus Valley

Question 2

In the first few centuries BCE,how did Rome respond to Greek culture?

A) Roman elites immersed themselves in Greek culture in order to appear "civilized."
B) Romans rejected Greek-style temples as a violation of their own religious traditions.
C) Roman elites promoted the use of Latin and refused to adopt any elements of Greek written culture.
D) Cato the Elder became the chief spokesperson for rejecting Hellenism.

Answer 2

Roman elites immersed themselves in Greek culture in order to appear "civilized."

Question 3

Which of the following was a major difference between Greek city-states such as Athens and Hellenistic cities such as Alexandria?

A) Athenians continued to speak Greek,while Alexandrians spoke demotic Egyptian.
B) Athenians were citizens of and loyal to their city of birth,while Alexandrians were citizens of the "whole world" of Hellenistic states.
C) Athenians were cosmopolitans,conquerors of the "whole world," while the people of Alexandria were subjugated by Greek armies under Alexander the Great.
D) Athenians became citizens of the Ptolemaic Empire,while Alexandrians became citizens of the Seleucid Empire.

Answer 3

Athenians were citizens of and loyal to their city of birth,while Alexandrians were citizens of the "whole world" of Hellenistic states.

Question 4

Which of the following is a part of the teaching of the Epicurean school of philosophy?

A) One should reject society's norms because they are human inventions,not laws of nature.
B) The good life could only be found by seeking pleasure,avoiding pain,and disengaging from everyday worries.
C) Living a good life required understanding the rules of the natural order and being able to control one's passions.
D) One should do nothing because fate has more sway over a person's life than any actions or beliefs.

Question 5

Which of the following supported Philip II in his creation of a disciplined army and new military technology?

A) The Macedonian trade in steel weapons
B) Macedonian gold mines and slave trade
C) The silk and spice trade
D) Taxes on the ruling elite

Question 6

The rule of the Mauryan emperor Aśoka is characterized by which of the following?

A) He ruled over a small region of South Asia near the Gangetic plain.
B) During his reign,he refused to undertake military offensives.
C) He rejected Buddhism as a foreign religion.
D) He carved stone pillars with dhamma,the moral guidelines of his rule.

Question 7

How did the wealthy elite respond to the changing economy following Alexander's conquests and the rise of Rome?

A) Wealthy elites used surplus cash to buy large tracts of land to grow crops for export-leading to widespread plantation slavery.
B) Wealthy elites invested surplus cash in technological improvements to mining and agriculture.
C) Wealthy elites soon seized control of Hellenistic kingdoms through bribery and hiring mercenaries.
D) Wealthy elites,dissatisfied with their lifestyles,turn to philosophy to find the meaning of life.

Question 8

How did Kushan rule affect Central Asia?

A) It undermined Hellenistic influences in Central Asia.
B) It destroyed the religious shrines of Zoroastrian,Vedic,and Buddhist cults.
C) It stabilized the trading routes through Central Asia.
D) It adopted urban life and abandoned nomadic symbols such as equestrian culture.

Question 9

The mosaic of the Battle of Issus illustrates which of the following about Alexander's military organization?

A) Alexander's army relied on heavy cavalry,not chariots.
B) The phalanx was an outmoded form of infantry organization.
C) Archers were able to destroy Persian chariots.
D) Generals viewed the battle from a distant hilltop so they could see the course of battle.

Question 10

Which of the following is a valid political similarity between Alexander's successor states and those of Egypt and Southwest Asia in the period from 1400 BCE to 1200 BCE?

A) Large regional states engaged in nearly constant warfare to secure more land and resources.
B) States were short-lived and did not have long-lasting impact in the region.
C) Modest-sized states were formed that could be better regulated.
D) Relatively stable states engaged in diplomacy and treaty-making instead of warfare.

Question 11

Which of the following was true of women's roles in Hellenistic kingdoms?

A) Women's political roles could include becoming powerful queens,such as Berenice.
B) Women were powerless in the political world of the cosmopolitan city.
C) Women came to dominate trade on the Silk Roads.
D) Women were rejected by all Hellenistic schools of philosophy.

Question 12

Which of the following characterized the garrison towns that Alexander and Seleucus Nicator founded in South and Central Asia?

A) By the second generation,most people spoke and wrote only koine.
B) Greek soldiers married local women,but established institutions familiar from Greek city-states.
C) Architecture followed local styles.
D) The influence of Hellenism vanished when the Hellenistic regimes collapsed.

Question 13

In the first few centuries BCE,which of the following best describes the reaction of Carthage to the spread of Hellenistic culture?

A) Carthage rejected Hellenistic economic culture and focused its attention on domestic trade routes in Africa.
B) Carthage rejected Hellenism as a foreign influence that undermined the authority of local elites.
C) Carthage adopted Hellenistic culture on economic grounds,as it facilitated communication and exchange.
D) Carthage adopted Hellenism only after bitter struggles with a priestly class that saw its position threatened.

Question 14

Which of the following best describes the Jewish response to the imposition of Hellenistic rule?

A) Hellenism had no lasting impact on Jewish culture or religion.
B) Priests were among the first to embrace Hellenism,recognizing it as a means of expanding their power.
C) Rural Jews flocked to Hellenism because it offered them economic improvement.
D) Some Jews embraced Hellenism,while others fought against assimilation.

Question 15

How did Hellenistic culture respond to the challenges presented by new multicultural empires controlled by descendants of Alexander's generals?

A) By abandoning Greek culture in favor of indigenous cultures
B) By increasing its focus on the individual in a cosmopolitan world
C) By rejecting philosophy that investigated human relationships with society
D) By focusing on civic identity

Question 16

Which of the following was one of the main impacts of the circulation of money in the Mediterranean basin and Europe in the first few centuries BCE?

A) Gold became scarce,raising prices significantly.
B) Societies could import cultural items from elsewhere in the Mediterranean region.
C) The expansion of trade was hindered as each region produced its own coinage.
D) Borderland people outlawed the use of coins to try to maintain control over their barter economies.

Question 17

What was the impact of koine in the Hellenistic world?

A) Koine Greek became the international language of the Hellenistic world.
B) Koine was the Greek literature and philosophy that became popular across the Hellenistic world.
C) Koine became the model of the Greek marketplace that served as the center of civic life.
D) Koine was the Greek catapult that was central to the military success of the growing territorial states.

Question 18

Which of the following was an economic effect of Alexander's conquest of Persia?

A) Trade was disrupted between Southwest Asia and Egypt.
B) The massive redistribution of Persian wealth to Mediterranean city-states spurred a widespread economic expansion.
C) Loss of revenue from the Persian Empire led to economic collapse in Southwest Asia.
D) Macedonian gold flooded the Southwest Asian markets,reducing the value of currency.

Question 19

Which of the following best characterizes the relationship between individuals and the rulers of Hellenistic empires?

A) Rulers used local ideas and leaders to address local concerns.
B) Rulers promoted a return to the agrarian values of an earlier age to ensure that populations remained submissive and grew enough food to feed armies and urban centers.
C) People viewed themselves as citizens of a particular city,with little allegiance to the distant,foreign rulers.
D) States were so massive that individuals could only relate to them through the personality of their rulers.

Question 20

Which of the following describes an effect of the Bactrian kingdom on Eurasian culture?

A) Bactria served as a bridge between South Asia and the Mediterranean.
B) Bactria rejected trade with outsiders,believing that foreign contact would undermine their culture.
C) Bactria withdrew from South Asia to concentrate on its territories in central Asia.
D) Bactria abandoned Persian religions as its rulers adopted Hellenistic influences.

Question 21

The nomadic horsemen of Central Asia had what crucial advantage when acting as trade intermediaries between far-flung urban centers?

A) They had unique knowledge of the mountain passes through which trade goods flowed.
B) They developed political ties with dozens of local kings who allowed them to carry trade goods.
C) They had acquired resistance to many diseases because of close contact with their animals and interaction with many peoples.
D) They had learned many languages through their long history of interactions with settled peoples.

Question 22

In the Kalinga Edict,Mauryan emperor Aśoka proclaimed his intention to rule according to dhamma (dharma).

Question 23

Which of the following was a result of the mixing of Hellenistic,nomadic,and Persian traditions with traditional Buddhism in South Asia?

A) Buddhist monks resisted Hellenistic influences as militaristic and immoral.
B) A new religious and spiritual synthesis led to Mahayana Buddhism.
C) The chief deity became Tengri,god of the open sky.
D) Persian traditions dominated because of the strength of Zoroastrianism.

Question 24

By 120 BCE,which of the following allowed Arab sailors to dominate the Indian Ocean trade routes?

A) The mastery of the new navigational technique of longitude
B) Use of the stern-post rudder to propel ships
C) Small ships called coracles allowed free roaming of coastal waters.
D) New knowledge of the monsoon winds

Question 25

The Parthians destroyed the Hellenistic cities of Central Asia,forcing them to abandon Hellenistic culture and to adopt Buddhist beliefs and practices.

Question 26

Which of the following best describes the expansion of Buddhism eastward in the first few centuries BCE?

A) Buddhist monks followed commercial networks,spreading the words of the Buddha.
B) The spread of Buddhism was inhibited because Buddhist monks refused to translate Buddhist texts into local languages.
C) Buddhism spread rapidly in China,gaining large numbers of adherents.
D) Buddhism dislodged Zoroastrianism from its dominance on the Iranian plateau.

Question 27

Which of the following correctly describes the city of Palmyra during the Roman period?

A) It became the most important caravan city at the western end of the Silk Roads.
B) It was carved into rocky mountain cliffs.
C) It was ruled by a king who dictated trade prices.
D) It had a priestly class that focused on material comforts and ignored concerns with the afterlife.

Question 28

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the spread of Buddhism with the spread of Hellenism?

A) Both spread widely influential philosophical and spiritual ideas.
B) Both rejected outside influences.
C) Both developed distinct and isolated cultures in Afro-Eurasia.
D) Both rejected commerce along established trade routes.

Question 29

As trade developed in the first centuries BCE,China established a series of major ports in northern China to facilitate the silk trade.

Question 30

Which of the following best characterizes economic changes in China's economy in the first few centuries BCE?

A) Plantations increasingly produced commercial crops using slave labor.
B) Merchants lost power as trade decreased following the Warring States period.
C) Buddhist monks exercised a tax monopoly on goods carried along the Silk Roads.
D) Power shifted away from the agrarian elite and into the hands of traders and financiers.

Question 31

What environmental factor in the second millennium BCE led the Xiongnu and other Central Asian nomads to spread southward into settled areas?

A) Traditional pasture lands became arid.
B) Intensely cold winters
C) Warming trends that made the permafrost too boggy for horses
D) Repeated flooding of the Amur River

Question 32

What was a significant change that resulted from the expansion of trade routes in the first few centuries BCE?

A) Traders traveled across the entire Silk Road to sell their products in distant lands.
B) The effectiveness of new land routes inhibited the development of maritime commerce.
C) The cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia faded as sources of innovation and knowledge.
D) People developed an important exchange of necessities like food,weapons,and domesticated animals.

Question 33

Which of the following represents Hellenistic influence on Buddhist art?

A) The recurring use of militaristic imagery
B) The exclusive use of Greek-style clothing on figures
C) Presenting the Buddha and bodhisattvas in realistic human form
D) Depicting the Buddha as an ornately dressed prince

Question 34

The revolution in navigational techniques and knowledge dramatically reduced the cost of long-distance shipping and multiplied the number of ports around large bodies of water such as the Indian Ocean.

Question 35

Which of the following best describes Buddhist art outside of South Asia?

A) Buddhist art imposed South Asian artistic norms on diverse populations.
B) Buddhist art adopted styles from the diverse populations that produced it.
C) Buddhist art focused on severe images of the suffering of life.
D) Buddhist art never depicted the image of the Buddha.

Question 36

Which of the following most accurately describes the Mahayana School of Buddhism?

A) It rejected the divinity of the Buddha.
B) It was primarily adopted by a sect of Buddhist monks in the mountains of Nepal.
C) It incorporated spiritual pluralism and positioned Indian believers as a cosmopolitan people.
D) It rejected the influence of outsiders and returned to the original teachings of the Buddha.

Question 37

In Mahayana Buddhism,what were the enlightened demigods who helped individuals obtain nirvana called?

A) Amithabas
B) Asvaghosas
C) Bodhisattvas
D) Kushans

Question 38

Alexander's successors thought of themselves as loyal citizens of their Greek city-states.

Question 39

Which of the following best illustrates the value of Chinese silk?

A) It was limited by law to use in clothing for elites.
B) It was a luxury commodity because it was too fragile for use by those who undertook physical labor.
C) It was made from the fibers of hemp plants.
D) It was used as payment in China's diplomatic and military activities.

Question 40

Which of the following best describes the role of caravan cities?

A) They often served to promote local cultures in opposition to Hellenism.
B) They were central in transporting slaves to the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
C) They brought rare commodities from northern Europe to the Mediterranean.
D) They emerged at strategic locations such as the intersection of major trade routes.

Question 41

Compare the influence and acceptance of Hellenism in Carthage,Judea,and Bactria.

Question 42

How did the development of trade affect social structures and cultural practices in Chinese and South Asian societies following the conquests of Alexander the Great?

Question 43

Analyze the ways that Buddhist beliefs and practices during the first few centuries BCE differed from those of the Axial Age.

Question 44

Explain the political impact of Alexander the Great's invasion of the Indus Valley.

Question 45

"The horse-riding nomads of Inner Afro-Eurasia made long-distance trade possible." Construct an argument in support of this statement,addressing the role of these nomads in trade and their effects on populations in South Asia,China,and Central Asia.