Deck 7: The Empires of Persia

Question 1

The leader of the Lydians who fell to Cyrus was

A) Cambyses.
B) Miltiades.
C) Astyages.
D) Croesus.
E) Darius.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In organizing their empire,Persian rulers relied heavily on techniques of administration from the

A) Lydians.
B) Egyptians.
C) Romans.
D) Chinese.
E) Mesopotamians.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

The founder of the Achaemenid empire was

A) Xerxes.
B) Cambyses.
C) Cyrus.
D) Darius.
E) Alexander.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The population of the Achaemenid empire under Darius was

A) one million.
B) three million.
C) six million.
D) eleven million.
E) thirty-five million.

Question 5

The Persian law system under Darius sought to

A) codify the laws of the subject peoples where possible.
B) abolish the laws of individual lands.
C) impose a completely uniform law code on the entire empire.
D) terrify the subject tribes of the empire into submission.
E) enslave the conquered tribes.

Question 6

The Persian "eyes and ears of the king"

A) was Ahura Mazda.
B) were satraps.
C) was a popular expression that related to the divinity of the king.
D) were spies.
E) were the cavalry.

Question 7

The magnificent capital of the Persian empire constructed by Darius was

A) Byzantium.
B) Pasargadae.
C) Marathon.
D) Susa.
E) Persepolis.

Question 8

Which of the following was true of Persian emperor Xerxes?

A) He ruled over the least violent period of the Achaemenid empire.
B) He showed extreme toleration for subject peoples.
C) He tried to impose Persian values on Mesopotamia and Egypt.
D) He harshly repressed rebellions and was seen as cruel.
E) He sought to prevent his successor,Darius,from damaging his legacy.

Question 9

Who used the words,"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," to describe the Persian courier service?

A) Cyrus
B) Xerxes
C) Darius
D) Herodotus
E) Homer

Question 10

The centerpiece of the Persian communications network was the

A) Royal Road.
B) qanat.
C) Emperor's Trail.
D) use of Assyrian mercenary spies.
E) Persian navy.

Question 11

Darius picked up the idea of a standardized government-issued coinage from the

A) Babylonians.
B) Egyptians.
C) Lydians.
D) Indians.
E) Chinese.

Question 12

Pasargadae was

A) the last great Persian emperor.
B) a nomadic tribe from the north that provided a constant threat to Persian survival.
C) the location of the greatest Persian military defeat.
D) the capital of the Persian empire before Persepolis.
E) the most important Persian religious prophet.

Question 13

The Persian king who regularized tax levies and standardized laws was

A) Cyrus.
B) Cambyses.
C) Darius.
D) Xerxes.
E) Alexander.

Question 14

For his decision to allow them to return to their capital city and rebuild their temple,Darius received high praise from these people.Who were they?

A) Assyrians
B) Egyptians
C) Medes
D) Jews
E) Dravidians

Question 15

Satrapies were

A) Mesopotamian kings.
B) Egyptian administrators.
C) Persian administrative and taxation districts.
D) demons of the Lydian underworld.
E) Arabian merchants.

Question 16

The qanat were

A) Persian underground canals.
B) Persian oral historians.
C) the religious texts of the Zoroastrians.
D) the priestly class of the Persians.
E) the parables of Zarathustra.

Question 17

The major early turning point in the rise of the Persian empire was the

A) victory of Darius at Salamis.
B) victory of Cyrus over Lydia.
C) victory in the Persian Wars.
D) defeat of the Sasanid empire.
E) victory of Cambyses over Rome.

Question 18

The greatest of the Achaemenid emperors was

A) Darius.
B) Cyrus.
C) Xerxes.
D) Cambyses.
E) Miltiades.

Question 19

Which of the following lists of Persian empires is listed in correct chronological order,from earliest to latest?

A) Achaemenids,Sasanids,Seleucids,Parthians
B) Parthians,Achaemenids,Seleucids,Sasanids
C) Sasanids,Parthians,Seleucids,Achaemenids
D) Achaemenids,Seleucids,Parthians,Sasanids
E) Sasanids,Seleucids,Parthians,Achaemenids

Question 20

The Medes and Persians were originally

A) Indo-European peoples.
B) Semitic-speaking nomads related to the Hyksos.
C) later Mesopotamian petty kingdoms.
D) Dravidian tribes who had fled before the arrival of the Aryans in India.
E) minor Babylonian rulers.

Question 21

Which Iran-based empire followed the Achaemenids?

A) Parthian
B) Sasanid
C) Indo-European
D) Median
E) Carthaginian

Question 22

The words "good words,good thoughts,good deeds" were used to sum up the view of morality of the

A) Jews.
B) Zoroastrians.
C) Hindus.
D) Buddhists.
E) Greeks.

Question 23

The social structure of the Medes and Persians was originally very similar to that of the

A) Mesopotamians.
B) Greeks.
C) Aryans.
D) Romans.
E) Egyptians.

Question 24

The king who failed to follow the normal Persian governing policy of toleration was

A) Darius.
B) Xerxes.
C) Cambyses.
D) Cyrus.
E) Hammurabi.

Question 25

The Achaemenid empire was founded by Cyrus.

Question 26

Ctesiphon was

A) the greatest Parthian ruler.
B) the capital of the Seleucid empire.
C) the prophet who transformed Persian religion.
D) the capital of the Parthian and Sasanid empires.
E) a Greek philosopher.

Question 27

Gimillu was

A) the Persian general who lost the battle of Marathon to the Greeks.
B) the most important text created by Zarathustra.
C) a slave associated with the temple in Uruk.
D) the founder of the Sasanid empire.
E) the leading Persian prophet.

Question 28

Zarathustra talked about the battle between the "wise lord" Ahura Mazda and the evil spirit

A) Avesta.
B) Angra Mainyu.
C) Ashur.
D) Ctesiphon.
E) Enlil.

Question 29

Zarathustra viewed the material world as

A) an illusion.
B) a trick of Angra Mainyu to mislead the faithful.
C) the equivalent of hell.
D) a gift from Ahura Mazda that should be enjoyed.
E) a resting place for the reincarnated.

Question 30

Which of the following was NOT a basic tenet of Zoroastrianism?

A) the belief in a heaven and hell
B) the encouragement of high moral standards
C) the view of the material world as a place of temptation that had to be ignored
D) the doctrine that individuals will undergo a final judgment
E) the belief that each individual could help determine his or her spiritual destiny

Question 31

The Seleucid empire was founded by one of Alexander's generals.

Question 32

The emperor of the Achaemenid empire at its greatest extent was Cyrus.

Question 33

The decisive victory of Alexander of Macedon over the Persians was called the battle of

A) Gaugamela.
B) Marathon.
C) Persepolis.
D) Issus.
E) Athens.

Question 34

Shapur I was the Sasanid ruler under which the kingdom stabilized the western frontier and formed buffer states between it and the Roman empire.

Question 35

The greatest Parthian conqueror was Mithradates I.

Question 36

The greatest Parthian conqueror was

A) Cyrus.
B) Mithradates I.
C) Ctesiphon.
D) Shapur I.
E) Darius.

Question 37

The Seleucid empire

A) created a state on a far grander scale than the Achaemenid empire.
B) employed a form of imperial administration copied from the Achaemenids.
C) fundamentally differed from the Achaemenids in their political structure.
D) was a petty kingdom that helped give rise to the later Achaemenid empire.
E) copied the Roman model of administration.

Question 38

The Gathas were

A) Persian underground canals.
B) the laws that made up the Persian legal code.
C) Persian administrative units.
D) Persian administrators.
E) Zarathustra's compositions.

Question 39

The empire comprising most of the old Achaemenid state that was taken by a general of Alexander the Great was the

A) Parthian empire.
B) Alexandrian empire.
C) Sasanid empire.
D) Seleucid empire.
E) Aryan empire.

Question 40

Shapur I was the

A) Sasanid king who managed to defeat the Romans in several battles.
B) Persian king who lost the battle of Marathon to the Greeks.
C) last powerful Parthian ruler.
D) founder of the Achaemenid empire.
E) founder of the Seleucid empire.

Question 41

The religious teacher who brought about a major transformation of Persian religion was Zarathustra.

Question 42

What brought about the decline of the Achaemenid empire? How much did the Persian Wars contribute to that decline?

Question 43

In the Gathas,Zarathustra wrote,"In the beginning,there were two Primal Spirits,Twins spontaneously active." Who were these "Twins"? Could it be argued that Zoroastrianism was not monotheistic at all? If Zoroastrianism is not monotheistic,might Christianity not be monotheistic?

Question 44

Cambyses was the Persian emperor who captured Egypt.

Question 45

Describe the Achaemenid method of empire administration.What did the Achaemenids borrow from previous Mesopotamian kingdoms,and what innovations did they introduce?

Question 46

The Parthians were a powerful Iranian empire that extended into Mesopotamia.

Question 47

The victories of the Greeks at Marathon and of Alexander of Macedon at Gaugamela are all too often seen as victories for the rise of civilization.In what ways might these Persian losses be considered losses for the rise of civilization?

Question 48

The Achaemenid empire began to decline under Xerxes.Was his approach any different than that of his predecessors,such as Cyrus or Darius?

Question 49

Examine the development of the Seleucid,Parthian,and Sasanid empires.In what ways were they a continuation of the Achaemenid tradition? In what ways were they different?

Question 50

Examine the social structure of the various Persian empires from the Achaemenids through the Sasanids.What was the role of women during these empires?

Question 51

In what ways,both political and religious,did the later Seleucid,Parthian,and Sasanid empires try to position themselves as the heirs of the Achaemenids? Why did they do this? How successful were they in this attempt?

Question 52

Examine the relationship between the various Persian dynasties and the Zoroastrian religion.What does the spread of this religion say about the Persian philosophy of rule?

Question 53

The Persian loss to the Greeks in 490 B.C.E.was at Marathon.

Question 54

Examine the role of trade and agriculture in explaining the success of the Persian empires.Why was the Royal Road so important?

Question 55

The victory of Alexander of Macedon at Gaugamela,in 331 B.C.E.,helped to bring about an end to the Achaemenid empire.In what ways did the empire live on?

Question 56

Compare the ruling techniques of the Persians,especially those of Cyrus and Darius,to other societies you have studied so far.

Question 57

The Sasanids claimed direct descent from the Achaemenids and ruled from 224 to 651 C.E.

Question 58

What was a satrapy? How did satrapies help the Achaemenids rule their empire?

Question 59

Discuss the basic tenets of Zoroastrianism.What role did Zarathustra play in the rise of this religion? How influential was Zoroastrianism on later religions?

Question 60

Examine the rise of the Achaemenid empire.What role did Cyrus play in this process? Discuss the nature of the empire under Darius.

Question 61

How did Cyrus manage to expand the Persian holdings so dramatically during his lifetime?

Question 62

Describe the status of the free classes and slaves during the Persian empires.How was each connected to the economy and what contributions did each make to the larger society?

Question 63

Examine Cyrus's tomb at Pasargadae on page 138 and of the ruins of Persepolis on page 139.Discuss the significance of Alexander of Macedon paying homage to the tomb of Cyrus but also,either intentionally or not,burning down Persepolis.

Question 64

What was the role of the imperial bureaucrats in Persian society? How did they fit in with the other social classes?

Question 65

What can the passage from Zarathustra (see Textbook: Sources from the Past: Zarathustra on Good and Evil)tell us about the influence of Zoroastrianism on later religions? In what ways did Zoroastrianism influence Judaism,Christianity,and Islam?

Question 66

Look at the picture of the gold clasp with the symbol of Ahura Mazda on page 148.Based on Zarathustra's religious views,why would Ahura Mazda be portrayed as a winged god?

Question 67

Describe the administrative structure of the Achaemenid empire.

Question 68

Examine Map 7.1,The Achaemenid and Seleucid empires,558-330 B.C.E.Compare the size of the Achaemenid empire to the size of earlier states,as well as to that of the later Seleucids,Parthians,and Sasanids.What would be the difficulties of ruling a state this large? How cosmopolitan was the Achaemenid empire? Explain the significance of the Royal Road.B.C.E.and 323-83

Question 69

Discuss the passage from Zarathustra (see Textbook: Sources from the Past: Zarathustra on Good and Evil).Examine the nature of Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu.In Zoroastrian thought,what is the relationship between human beings and the gods? Does this critical role of human beings indicate that Zoroastrianism was really a dualistic belief?

Question 70

Look at Map 7.2 The Parthian and Sasanid empires,247 B.C.E.-651 C.E.Compare these empires to the earlier Achaemenid state.How did the Achaemenids influence the Parthian and Sasanid empires? What were the main contributions of the Achaemenids to history?

Question 71

In what ways did Alexander of Macedon both destroy and preserve elements of the Achaemenid empire?

Question 72

Why does the text say that Darius was "more important as an administrator than as a conqueror"?

Question 73

What agricultural technologies and techniques did the Persians use to produce the large surpluses they needed to feed their huge population of nonfood producers?

Question 74

In what ways did Darius,and his successors,promote communication and commerce throughout the empire?

Question 75

Compare Zoroastrianism to any of the other religious concepts you've seen so far.How was Zarathustra's philosophy different,and in what ways was it influential?

Question 76

Look at the carving of Darius on page 140.How does it reflect the hierarchy of government and the power of the Achaemenid empire under Darius? Is the location of the carving significant?

Question 77

How did the Parthians come to control the Persian empire?