Deck 3: The Poleis Become Cosmopolitan: The Hellenistic World, 336-150 B.C.E

Question 1

The period of ancient Greek history that began with Alexander's conquest of Persia is called

A) Paleolithic
B) Hellenistic
C) Medieval
D) Renaissance

Answer 1

Hellenistic

Question 2

During the Hellenistic period

A) Ancient Middle Eastern and Greek civilizations joined in a manner that changed them both
B) The Eastern Mediterranean was dominated by Greek language and culture
C) Kings ruled large kingdoms rather than citizens ruling independent city-states
D) All of these options are correct

Answer 2

All of these options are correct

Question 3

Evidence suggests that during the Hellenistic period, as compared to the Classical, Greek women

A) Were freer from family authority and could work and earn money
B) Became dominant over men politically and economically
C) Became even more subject to the will of their husbands and fathers
D) Were admitted to the citizen assemblies, achieving political equality

Answer 3

Were freer from family authority and could work and earn money

Question 4

Macedonia

A) Was an Aegean island kingdom
B) Was a Greek-speaking kingdom north of Greece
C) Had a long tradition of democratic rule
D) Was an early Roman outpost

Question 5

The southern Greek states, the self-described "civilized" Greeks, regarded the Macedonians as

A) Highly developed politically and culturally, and to be emulated
B) Backward because they did not have the political life of the city-states
C) So poor and backward they were not worth bothering about
D) Dangerous because they were allied with Persia

Question 6

Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great

A) Participated in several Greek wars during the fourth century B.C.E
B) Reformed the Macedonian army, especially the phalanx, to make it more formidable
C) Hoped to unite the Greek city-states under his leadership
D) All of these options are correct

Question 7

Demosthenes opposed the expansion of Macedonia under Philip II because

A) Philip threatened the traditional freedom and self-government of the poleis
B) Philip was a weak military commander and would not be able to fight the Persians
C) He wanted Sparta to assume the leadership of Greece
D) Macedonia was not rich enough to be the leader of the Greeks

Question 8

The southern Greek states were defeated by Philip II at the battle of

A) Marathon
B) Salamis
C) Chaeronea
D) Actium

Question 9

Philip II dreamed of conquering Persia, but did not do so because

A) He was assassinated under circumstances that have never been clearly explained
B) The coalition of Athens and Thebes crushed his troops at Chaeronea
C) He died young, of a fever
D) The king of Persia persuaded the Macedonian troops to mutiny

Question 10

Alexander's love of Greek culture and literature seems to have come from his tutor

A) Socrates
B) Plato
C) Aristotle
D) Zeno

Question 11

In which country was the greatest of the many cities Alexander founded?

A) Egypt
B) Persia
C) Phoenicia
D) Macedonia

Question 12

In Egypt, Alexander

A) Was finally defeated
B) Diverted the Nile to the south
C) Organized a democratic government for the people
D) Was declared the incarnation of the god Amon, and treated as pharaoh

Question 13

In order to consolidate his authority in Greece, Alexander

A) Returned to Greece after defeating Darius III at Issus
B) Publicly identified himself with the legendary Greek heroes, Heracles and Achilles
C) Restored democracy in Athens
D) Openly adopted the Spartan way of life

Question 14

Which of the following policies did Alexander not follow in his imperial rule?

A) Founding many cities to spread Greek urban life throughout the empire
B) Supporting intermarriage between Greeks and Asians
C) Destroying all conquered cities to obliterate non-Greek culture
D) Recruiting Persian soldiers as part of a new combined army

Question 15

In 323 B.C.E., Alexander died in Babylon

A) By assassination by one of his officers
B) By suicide by drowning in the Euphrates
C) From alcohol abuse and fever
D) From a battle wound that had become infected

Question 16

Alexander turned back from his quest for the end of the known world because

A) His Macedonian troops refused to go on
B) He thought that the land extended forever
C) He was defeated by the kings of northern India
D) He was warned to go no further by his father Zeus

Question 17

Alexander's legacy includes

A) The blending of Greek and Asian cultures
B) The idea of a single great empire of many peoples ruled by one king
C) His political conquests, although in some regions these did not last long
D) All of these options are correct

Question 18

Following Alexander's death, his empire

A) Survived intact for a century under his son and grandson
B) Was divided into three main successor kingdoms
C) Was destroyed by an invasion of Mongols
D) Disintegrated as the native peoples rose and expelled all Greeks and Macedonians

Question 19

The Alexandrian successor kingdom ruled over by his general Ptolemy and Ptolomy's successors was

A) Egypt
B) Persia
C) Macedonia
D) India

Question 20

The Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt

A) Maintained the Empire of Alexander the Great intact
B) Conducted their official business in Greek, while permitting traditional Egyptian culture to continue
C) Suppressed Egyptian culture, thus bringing the civilization of Egypt to an end
D) Extended their empire south into Ethiopia

Question 21

The monument at Alexandria regarded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world was

A) The Museum
B) The Royal Palace
C) Alexander's tomb
D) The lighthouse, or Pharos

Question 22

The Rosetta Stone was important because

A) It recorded the deeds of Arsinoe II
B) It was written in three scripts: Greek, cursive Egyptian, and hieroglyphics, permitting the translation of the Egyptian language
C) It proved that Alexander the Great had reached China
D) It gave the name of the Pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid

Question 23

The Seleucid dynasty ruled

A) Macedonia
B) The Asian part of Alexander's empire
C) Egypt
D) Greece and Crete

Question 24

The Hellenistic monarchy of the Seleucids

A) Conquered Rome
B) Repudiated Greek culture in favor of traditional Near Eastern civilization
C) Had as its economic basis control of Middle Eastern trade routes to the Mediterranean
D) Built the great silk road to China

Question 25

The Antigonids ruled

A) Macedonia
B) The Asian part of Alexander's empire
C) Egypt
D) Italy

Question 26

In the Hellenistic age, which of the following was not a change experienced by the Greek poleis?

A) Specialists took over from citizens such activities as soldier and athlete
B) The gap between rich and poor widened, with the rich controlling politics
C) Many immigrants and freedmen became citizens, diluting the sense of community
D) The common citizens reasserted control of the governments, making them more democratic

Question 27

Which of the following was not true of the increasingly diverse Hellenistic world?

A) The ruling class, though Greek in language and culture, was open to non-Greeks who acquired Greek culture and language
B) There was a growing Chinese influence, especially in the Antigonid kingdom of Macedonia
C) Women could travel more freely and participate in the arts
D) Blacks Africans were more often represented in the visual arts

Question 28

The Hellenistic monarchs created a new economy in the eastern Mediterranean by

A) Standardizing the currency
B) Spreading new agricultural practices and products
C) Establishing royal monopolies in key industries to control production
D) All of these options are correct

Question 29

During the Hellenistic period slavery

A) Increased in number
B) Decreased in numbers as war prisoners were generally set free
C) Was controlled so that only the kings and their officials could own slaves
D) Was restricted to non-whites

Question 30

Urban problems in the Hellenistic Age included

A) A lack of public safety
B) Poor sanitation
C) A reliance on imported food supplies
D) All of these options are correct

Question 31

The ruling class of the Hellenistic monarchies was made up of the

A) Persians ennobled by Alexander and their descendants
B) Egyptian priestly class
C) Greek/Macedonians and those educated in Greek language and culture
D) Athenian and Spartan councilors sent by their governments for this purpose

Question 32

During the Hellenistic period women

A) Were increasingly sequestered from cultural, political and economic life
B) Were granted political and voting rights in most kingdoms
C) Were allowed freer access to economic and cultural professions
D) Gained the right to pass down their names and heritage to their children

Question 33

A good example of a Hellenistic royal city in both its planning and in its art is

A) Babylon
B) Corinth
C) Sparta
D) Pergamum

Question 34

A major difference between "Classical" Greek art and the art of the Hellenistic era was

A) The introduction of bronze statuary during the Hellenistic period
B) The surprisingly small amount of money spent by Hellenistic rulers and cities on public art
C) The tendency towards realistic rather than idealistic portrayal in sculpture
D) That temple building nearly stopped

Question 35

The Maccabees led a Jewish revolt against King Antiochus IV because he

A) Wanted to move all the Jews to Egypt to establish a Jewish state there
B) Converted to Judaism and insisted on being appointed high priest
C) Forbade the Jews from trading with the Ptolomaic kingdom
D) Attempted to Hellenize the Jews and violated the Temple with an altar to Zeus

Question 36

Greek schools of the Hellenistic era

A) Banned nude exercises in the gymnasium
B) Emphasized Homer as the primary literary text
C) Were usually run-down and neglected
D) Mixed male and female students

Question 37

Hellenistic "New Comedy" plays generally contained

A) Satire about the kings
B) Stories of gods to teach good moral behavior
C) Romantic stories about the problems of everyday people
D) Profound and heroic themes about politics and ethics

Question 38

The Hellenistic school of philosophy that advocated the rejection of the goods of this world in order to achieve happiness was that of the

A) Sophists
B) Cynics
C) Epicureans
D) Stoics

Question 39

Although differing in approaches to life, the Hellenistic philosophies of Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Cynicism had many things in common. Which of the following was not shared by them?

A) They argued for something of a withdrawal from the life of the cosmopolitan cities
B) They seldom appealed to really destitute people
C) They argued for an increased participation in the life of the polis
D) They emphasized control of the self and personal tranquility

Question 40

Which of the following is not a characteristic of the mystery religions?

A) Ceremonies were led by the civic leaders so the gods would protect the polis
B) Individual salvation and an afterlife were promised the initiates
C) Music, dance and purification rituals led to a mystic union with the god/goddess
D) Initiates were sworn to secrecy about the special rituals

Question 41

Hellenistic Science

A) Was clearly inferior to the early Greek science of Thales and Pythagoras
B) Perfected the manufacture of steel
C) Culminated in the work of Homer
D) Made important advances in mathematics and astronomy

Question 42

The southern Greek city-states admired the Macedonians for their advanced culture as well as their military prowess.

Question 43

Macedonian wealth derived from good pasture, farming and mines of gold and silver.

Question 44

Philip of Macedonia had no desire to conquer the Persian Empire.

Question 45

Alexander received a good education in Greek literature and culture.

Question 46

Alexander's empire stretched as far as the Pacific coast of China.

Question 47

Although Alexander wed a Persian princess, he forbade his soldiers to intermarry with Asians.

Question 48

Alexander wrote in his memoirs when he was an old man that he wanted to combine Greeks and Asians into a new, universal race.

Question 49

Alexander's empire was divided after his death, with three main kingdoms emerging.

Question 50

Alexandria grew into a large city as capital of Egypt, but could never surpass Athens in trade and commerce.

Question 51

Greek immigrants to Asia and Egypt were relegated to the same low social and economic status as the native inhabitants.

Question 52

In the Hellenistic eastern Mediterranean, Greek became the language of government and business.

Question 53

In the Hellenistic world, the gap between rich and poor grew wider.

Question 54

The Nike of Samothrace is a statue of the goddess of victory.

Question 55

The use of elephants made Hellenistic armies invincible.

Question 56

The number of people traveling for business and professional reasons increased in the wider cosmopolitan Hellenistic world, and even women found a new freedom to move about.

Question 57

Women had far more opportunities to exercise economic, social, literary, and occasionally even political power in Hellenistic Greece than in pre-Alexandrine Greece.

Question 58

Hellenistic artists and architects had to depend on the uncertain support of democratic governments to carry out their projects.

Question 59

In general, Hellenistic religion and philosophy emphasized the needs of individuals struggling for identity in a wider, cosmopolitan world, rather than the needs of the community or city.

Question 60

The leading centers of Hellenistic science and learning were Pergamum and Alexandria.

Question 61

Archimedes, though a superb mathematician, invented no practical devices.

Question 62

The Macedonian king who achieved a dominating position in Greece, but who was killed before he could invade Persia, was ________.

Question 63

Demosthenes, defending the traditional freedom of the city of ___________, warned of the danger to the southern Greek states posed by the policies of King Philip of Macedonia.

Question 64

Philip reorganized the Greek fighting formation, known as the _____________, into a more flexible and mobile infantry force.

Question 65

Twice, Alexander defeated _______________, the king of Persia, who fled and was eventually murdered by his own servants.

Question 66

When he reached the river ________, Alexander was forced by his soldiers to turn back.

Question 67

Alexander never returned to Greece or Macedonia; he died in the ancient Mesopotamian city of________.

Question 68

The great city that Alexander founded in Egypt was _____________.

Question 69

The Hellenistic dynasty that ruled Egypt was known as the _________________.

Question 70

The Hellenistic dynasty that ruled Syria and the Asian portions of Alexander's empire was known as the _________.

Question 71

The dynasty that ruled Hellenistic Macedonia was known as the _____________.

Question 72

The basic unit of currency of the Hellenistic world was known as the _______________.

Question 73

The Nike of Samothrace was a goddess of _________________.

Question 74

Instead of patriotic citizens, most Hellenistic armies were made up of ________________.

Question 75

The Hellenistic city in Asia Minor with its royal palaces arranged at the top of a high hill was________________.

Question 76

Judas Maccabeus led a revolt of the Jews against King __________________ of Syria.

Question 77

__________________ was a philosopher who believed in maximizing pleasure and avoiding pain.

Question 78

Living in Alexandria, _________________ wrote the standard text on the subject of geometry, still used today.

Question 79

The greatest inventor of antiquity, __________________ devised the value of pi, discovered the principle of the lever, and designed war machines to hold off a Roman attack on his native city, Syracuse.

Question 80

Describe the strengths of Macedonia and the weaknesses of the Greek poleis during the fourth century B.C.E.