World civ 2
Which of the following is an accurate comparison between the way Bantu "big men" and Eurasian elites achieved status and wealth?
"Big men" attracted followers based on courage, valor, and wisdom, while Eurasian nobility was based on inheritance.
Which of the following best explains why Tang China and the Abbasids competed directly for dominance in central Asia, in contrast to the relationship of the Han and Roman empires?
Afro-Eurasia had become more closely integrated through trade, conversion, and political contacts, as both the Tang and Abbasids expanded into central Asian border regions.
What led to the collapse of Mayan urban centers?
After years of warfare, the ruling households collapsed and people abandoned the cities.
Who was the Christian bishop who argued that the "City of God" was represented by the universal Catholic Church?
Augustine of Hippo
In what way did both Mayan kings and many rulers of Afro-Eurasian empires legitimate their authority?
Both claimed divine approval for their rule and traced their lineage directly back to the gods.
Which of the following is an accurate comparison of Buddhist monasteries in China and Christian monasteries in the west?
Both were refuges from worldly affairs that were supported by royal courts and pious warriors.
What explained the spread of both Buddhism and Christianity?
Both were religions of monks, whose communities offered protection from the strife that surrounded them.
Which of the following cultural characteristics was common to both the Romans and the Han?
Both were strongly traditional and idealized their ancestors.
Which of the following statements concerning Buddhism in the third and fourth centuries CE is accurate?
Buddhist travelers had become frequent visitors in the streets and temples of the competing capitals.
Which two faiths in particular aspired to universality in the period between 300 and 600 CE?
Christianity and Buddhism
What was an important difference between Daoism and Buddhism in China during the Six Dynasties period?
Daoism sought ways to prolong life, while Buddhism sought enlightenment through transcendental experiences.
The Quran offered women which of the following protections?
Dowries went directly to the bride, rather than to her guardian.
Which effect of climate change weakened the Byzantine Empire?
Drier weather proved fatal to the prosperity of agricultural villages in Southwest Asia.
Which of the following was a consequence of Rome's power elite using the wealth acquired from conquests around the Mediterranean to buy large tracts of land in Italy and Sicily?
Free citizen farmers were driven from their lands into the cities, reducing the number of men available for the army.
What was a consequence during the Later Han dynasty of the landed elites' manipulating tax system?
Free peasants were forced to become tenants whose rents rose rapidly.
To help secure the frontier along the desert regions, what did Emperor Wu do?
He established military and farming settlements in which soldiers and their families could settle.
Which of the following represents one of Qin Shi Huangdi's techniques of governance?
He required regional and local officials to answer directly to the emperor, who could dismiss them at will.
Which of the following slowed Hinduism from becoming a universalizing religion?
Hinduism was intertwined with the varna system, which was specific to South Asia.
Which of the following characterized Charlemagne's rule?
His empire was smaller in both population and wealth compared to regimes of the Islamic world.
Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the ways the Han and Roman empires were governed?
In comparison with the Han Empire, the Roman Empire was relatively understaffed in central government officials.
Which of the following is an accurate statement concerning the city-state of Teotihuacán?
It influenced its neighbors beyond the Valley of Mexico mostly through cultural and economic diffusion.
Which of the following did the Northern Wei dynasty pursue after it took control of part of the old Han territory?
It maintained many Chinese traditions of statecraft.
What was the role of the eunuch bureaucracy in the Tang dynasty?
It mediated between the emperor and the provincial governments.
What was the impact of the Code of Manu on South Asia?
It provided mechanisms for absorbing new groups into the system of varnas and jatis, propelling Hinduism into every aspect of life.
Which of the following accurately describes Islamic authority around 1000 CE?
It ran out of energy at the fringes of Islam's reach, creating political fragmentation within the Muslim world.
What was the Hagia Sophia's symbolic importance?
It represented the flowing of Christian and imperial culture.
Why was Ghana celebrated in Baghdad?
It was the terminus of North Africa's major trade routes.
Which of the following accurately describes Mayan culture?
Mayan priests were skilled mathematicians who integrated mathematics with astronomy and worked out an accurate calendar.
Which of the following is an accurate description of Mecca before the introduction of Islam?
Mecca contained a revered sanctuary where polytheistic Meccans worshipped.
Which of the following characterized Roman social structure?
Men and women of wealth and high social standing acted as patrons, protecting lower-class clients.
Which of the following comparisons accurately reflects Han social ideals?
Peasants were honored for their productive labors, while merchants were subject to a range of controls.
Which of the following is the primary cause of the collapse of the Qin Empire?
Qin rule weighted heavily on taxpayers and constant warfare consumed massive tax revenues.
Which of the following is a valid comparison of Roman and Han mining operations?
Roman and Han mines both polluted the environment, but Roman pollution was more extensive.
Roman family life was characterized by which of the following?
Roman law gave husbands and fathers complete authority over their families.
Why was Rome more dependent than China on slaves and "barbarian" immigrants to expand its workforce?
Rome wanted to bring more people into its empire.
Which of the following facilitated the spread of Brahmanism in South and Southeast Asia?
Sanskrit emerged as a common language of the elites.
Which of the following stemmed from Empress Wu's attempts to secure her rule?
She expanded the military and recruited her administrators from the civil examination candidates.
Which of the following demonstrates the cultural influence of Muslim merchants in Africa?
Swahili, which became the language of trade in East Africa
Which of the following accurately describes Abbasid culture?
The Abbasids encouraged mathematicians, who pioneered advances in arithmetic, geometry, algebra, and trigonometry.
What replaced the political unity provided by imperial Rome after its collapse in western Europe?
The Christian church brought cultural unity centered on the authority of regional bishops under the bishop of Rome.
Which of the following accurately describes the origins of the Fatimid regime?
The Fatimids began when a Shiite religious and military leader overthrew the Sunni ruler in Egypt.
Which of the following is an accurate comparison between the Han and Roman empires?
The Han Empire covered a large contiguous landmass, while the Roman Empire was spread around the Mediterranean.
Which of the following was a major difference between Mahayana and Hinayana (Theravada) Buddhism?
The Mahayana school accepted the divinity of both the Buddha and the bodhisattvas, while the Hinayana school accepted only the divinity of the Buddha.
Which of the following inhibited the Mayans from developing a great metropolis?
The Mayans settled in a region that was hot, infertile, lacked navigable river systems, and that was vulnerable to hurricanes.
What did the Tang gain by dismantling Buddhist landholdings and monasteries?
The Tang ensured that no religion would rival their power.
Why did the progressive land reform policies of the Northern Wei dynasty fail to bridge the cultural divide between the Han and the Tuoba?
The Tuoba had little interest in farming, so were not interested in working with the Han.
What spurred Islam's remarkably rapid territorial expansion under the "rightly guided" caliphs?
The caliphs linked religious uprightness with territorial expansion and empire building.
Which of the following characterized daily life in the imperial city of Rome?
The emperor assured the inhabitants of Rome basic food and water supplies.
According to common belief during the Han dynasty, what would a cluster of calamities, prodigies, and heavenly omens usually portend?
The emperor had lost the mandate of heaven.
In what way did the relationship between religion and power differ for Islam and Christianity?
The followers of Muhammad had to create an empire to facilitate the expansion of their faith, while Christianity inherited an empire when Constantine converted.
For what reason did the second wave of Bantu-speaking migrants entering central Africa revert to subsistence farming?
The region was infested with tsetse flies carrying sleeping sickness that wiped out the Bantus's cattle.
Which of the following is a characteristic of early Han rule?
The ruling family had to compromise with the aristocratic groups.
Which of the following statements concerning Christian churches built after the conversion of Constantine indicates the structure of the religion?
The spaces for the bishop and clergy were separate from the congregation.
How did Roman landowners in Gaul respond to the threat of peasant revolts and barbarian invasions?
They allied themselves with Christian Goths to provide stability.
What was the impact of the Five Pillars of Islam on regional political structures?
They created a doctrinal and legal structure for the empire.
Why did the Vikings fail spectacularly when they attacked Constantinople?
They faced, for the first time, a city defended by well-engineered late Roman walls and Greek fire.
What did Bantu peoples do as they began migrating out of West Africa?
They moved rapidly, absorbing most of the local hunting and gathering populations.
What did the western Bantu-speaking people do?
They organized themselves into small-scale societies that relied on family and clan connections.
Roman emperors used which of the following to calm the people's concerns about the reinstitution of monarchy?
They presented themselves as civil rulers whose power depended on the consent of the Roman citizens and the power of the army.
Which of the following accurately describes the Yellow Turbans in China?
They proclaimed a Daoist belief in a "Great Peace" and demanded equal distribution of all farmland.
How did Roman mining operations contribute to the efficient functioning of the Roman economy?
They supported massive, standardized coinage.
Which of the following factors inhibited religions from becoming universalizing religions?
They were tied to a specific locality or ethnic group.
How did Zheng, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, attempt to secure his throne?
Zheng forced the rulers of defeated states to move to his capital, Xianyang, to ensure that they were not plotting rebellion.
What was the context for the foundations of early Christianity?
a direct confrontation with Roman imperial authority
The so-called barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire in the late fourth and fifth centuries CE were, in actuality, what?
a more violent and chaotic form of immigration pouring into the empire
In contrast to Han China, Roman expansion and empire building were characterized by what?
a process of continual experimentation, innovation, and adaptation
What was one of the most important factors that led to establishment of one-man rule of the Roman Republic?
ambitious generals whose rivalry led to a series of civil wars
For the Byzantine Empire, which of the following was a negative impact of trade connections to the east?
an outbreak of bubonic plague during Justinian's reign
During the Republic, to whom did Rome's poor citizens look for protection of their interests?
army commanders, to provide them with land and a decent income
How did the Han solve the problem of staffing a competent bureaucracy?
by establishing institutions of learning, including an imperial university
What notion, perhaps derived from China, spurred Attila to attempt to conquer much of Eurasia?
divine right to rule all the tribes of the north
Which of the following was the most enduring of the public works created by the Qin Empire?
erecting massive defensive walls along the border
Which of the following was a long-lasting cultural impact of Qin rule?
establishing a uniform written script
Which of the following was Emperor Justinian's most enduring legacy?
instituting a major reform and codification of Roman law
What undermined Etruscan power on the Italian peninsula?
invasion by the Gauls
Which technological innovation allowed the Bantu to become successful agriculturalists in different ecological zones?
iron smelting
What hampered the Han military's effort to expand the empire in southwestern China?
lack of immunity to malaria
The Sogdians were responsible for which of the following achievements?
linking the two ends of the Silk Road through its oasis cities
The growth of early Christianity coincided with the appearance of what central figures in matters of faith? priests
martyrs
Which of the following was a consequence of Han farmers' deforestation?
massive runoffs of soil into the Yellow River
What issue brought Christians into a Mediterranean-wide debate on the nature of religion?
obedience to God rather than to human rulers
What technique did the Romans use to create their military might?
organizing communities they conquered on the Italian peninsula into a system that provided a huge reservoir of manpower for the army
Which of the following was a major cause of the Roman Empire's fall in the west?
overextension of the empire, leading to high taxes and constant demands for more manpower
In contrast to Rome, Han monumental architecture was primarily associated with what?
palaces and tombs of rulers
What did Han Confucian scholars invent?
paper and the magnetic compass
Which of the following events weakened both Persia and Rome, making them easier prey for Arab armies in the seventh century?
prolonged warfare between the Sasanians and the Byzantines
What was the major commodity that the Romans wanted from the German and Goth populations to their north?
slaves
What marked the limits of Roman expansion to the east?
the Parthian Empire
In contrast to the Qin dynasty, the Han Empire was distinguished by what?
the alliance between the imperial family and the scholar-gentry class
What new crop introduced by the Bantu into the rain forests of central Africa radically changed regional agriculture and slowed deforestation?
the banana
Which of the following was the most prominent political and social organization among western Bantu-speaking communities?
the caste system, which supported a warrior elite
Which of the following led al-Mansur to establish a new capital for the Abbasid empire at Baghdad?
the desire to reaffirm Mesopotamia's centrality and exalt the universalist ambitions of Islam
Who, according to the Sunnis, should succeed the Prophet?
the four rightly guided caliphs and then the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties
What factor of Roman civil society long outlasted the empire?
the legal system and extensive written laws
Which of the following contributed to the fall of Wang Mang?
the massive flooding of the Yellow River, which affected half of the population
Islam supplanted family, clan, and tribal communities and created a new community of the faithful. What was this community called?
the umma
Which of the following was a means by which both the Roman and Han empires incorporated their conquered neighbors into their realms?
tightly restricting the flow of trade goods within conquered territories
For what purpose did Constantine summon bishops to the Council of Nicaea?
to bring unity to diversity of belief in disparate Christian communities
What was the main purpose of warfare in Mayan lands?
to provide victims for the bloodletting rituals of rival dynasties
The status of Nestorian Christians in the Sasanian Empire exemplified which of the following?
universalizing religious communities spreading across Asia along trade routes
