HIS 101

NASSAU COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Garden City, New York
Prof. T. Popovich
REVIEW OF THE ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL WORLD
(for the Quiz)

Instructions how to log into Online course: Start at the college home page
(www.ncc.edu), 1) Scroll down to the end of the page and look for MyNcc Portal, click
the button; 2) On the right hand side is User Name: Enter your Banner N# in the in the
User Name field, 3) Password: Enter your Banner PIN in the Password field. 4) Login,
click the button; 5) On left hand side NCC Online, click the button; 6) The course will be
entitled: FA-HIS101-PA Western Civilization I.
L THE IDEA OF HISTORY: Textbook, pp. 93-94, 98, 145-146.
Myth, legend, Herodotus, The Persian Wars, Thucydides, Peloponnesian Wars, parochial
view, Polybius, universal history, Livy, History of Rome, magistra vitae, Golden past, Tacitus,
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, progress, Voltaire, Culture, Civilization, artifact, ax, knife,
paleolithic, cave man, nomad, food gatherer, Ice Age, Neolithic, agriculture, domestication of
animals, social organization, permanent settlement, Monumental buildings, food producer,
Bronze Age, Iron Age, Hittites.
II. MESOPOTAMIA: Textbook Ch. 1, pp. 1-22Ch. 2, pp. 59-73.
Government: Limited monarchy, lugal, Ainsi, Amorites,
Religion: polytheism, Apsu, Tiamat, temple, ziggurat, wheel, seal, Zodiac,
System of writing: cuneiform, clay tablets, library, commerce, seal, Deluge, Epic of
Gilgamesh, Story of Creation.
I. SUMERIANS: 1) agriculture, 2) brick (houses, palaces, ziggurats), 3, archives, seal,
libraries.
II. AKKADIANS: Sargon, Empire
III. BABYLONIANS: Babylon, Hammurabi's Code
IV. ASSYRIANS: Ashur, military rule, conquest of Israel, Egypt (722).
III. EGYPT: Textbook Ch. 1, pp. 22-37, Ch.2, pp. 39-59.
Government: Dynastic rule, centralized government, Pharaoh, Menes, Osiris, Isis, Horus,
Seth, Old Kingdom, Interegnum, Middle Kingdom, Hyksos, New Kingdom, Akhenaton,
Israelites: Moses, Exodus, Sinai Peninsula, Yahweh, Covenant, David, Solomon, Hebrews,
and Babylonian Captivity.
Religion: polytheism, Ptah, Amon Re, Aton, pyramid, temple, sphinx, mummy, Solar
Calendar.
System of writing: hieroglyphs, pictorial, engraved in stone, papyrus, scribes,
IIIA. PERSIA: Textbook pp. 64-69.
Government: Empire, Cyrus, Darius, Marathon, Xerxes, Salamis, satraps
Religion: Zoroaster, zoroastrinism, Ormuzd, Ahriman, dualism.

IV. GREECE: Textbook Ch. 3, pp. 75-109; Ch. 4, pp. 111-143.

Government: Acheans, Monarchy, Dorians, Aristocracy, Oligarchy, tyranny, democracy,
poleis, Athens, Draco's Laws, Solon, Pericles, archon, Licurgus, hoplite, Marathon, Salamis,
Delian League, Peloponnesian Wars, Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great.
Religion: polytheism, Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Apolo, Aphrodite, Dionysus, temple, shrine,
Acropolis, Olympia, Delphi, oracle, Minotaur, Minoan civilization.
Literature: drama, comedy, Aristophanes, tragedy, Aeschylus, Orestia/Agamemnon,
Sophocles, Oedpus The Rex, Antigone, Euripides, Media, Homer, The Iliad, Achilles, The
Odyssey, Trojan Horse,
Science: Thales, Empedocles, Heraclitus, Democritus, Eratosthenes of Alexandria, Aristarchus,
Ptolemy of Alexandria, Archimedes,
Philosophy: sophists, Socrates, Plato, Academia, emanation, Aristotle, Lyceum, Cynics,
Diogenes, Demosthenes,
Art: temple, stoa, Parthenon, Dorian, Ionian, Corinthian order, pediment, frieze, capitol,
column, Phedias, kouros, kore, Archaic, Hellenic, Hellenistic, Lacoon
V, ROME: Textbook Ch. 5, pp. 145-177.
The Ftruscans: Cisalpine Gaul, Latium, Romulus, Tarquin, Imperium.
Roman Republic: Senate, Consuls, censors, preator, quaestor, Tribunes, Patricians, Plebeians,
Commitia Curiata, commitia centuriata, Concilium plebis, Twelve Tables, Licinian-Sextian
Laws, Samnite Wars, Pyrrhic victory", Punic Wars, Hamiclar, Hannibal, Canae, Zama,
Scipio Africanus, Scipio Aemilianus, latifundia, Gracchi brothers, Tiberius, Gaius, Ovid,
Horace, and Virgil.
VI. IMPERIAL ROME: Textbook Ch. 6, pp. 179-209.
The Making of the roman Empire: Pax Romana, Populares, Equites (Equestrian class),
Marius, Sulla, the First Triumvirate: Pompey, Crassus, Julius Caesar, Gallic Wars, the Second
Triumvirate: Anthony, Lepidus, Octavian, Cicero, Claudius, Vespasian, Hadrian, Constantine
the Great.
Religions from the East: mystery cults, Hasidim, Pharisees, Jesus the Messiah, gospels, Paul of
Tarsus, ecclesiae, episcopos, presbyters, Gnostics.
Textbook: Joshua Cole & Carol Symes, Western Civilization. Vol. 1. Eighteenth Edition. New
York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. ISBN978-0-92214 (pbk).
NASSAU COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Garden City, New York
HIS 101PA
College of the Air course
Prof. T. Popovich
REVIEW OF THE MATERIAL FOR THE ESSAY-TYPE QUIZ EXAM
(If you intend to do the essaytype exam you can expect to get 3 essay questions, each from a
different group: 12, 3-4, 56, and you will be asked to write two essays).
1. Trace the idea of history from Herodotus to Voltaire
a. Greek historians: Herodotus and Thucydides
b. Roman historians: Polybius, Livy and Tacitus
c.Christian writers: Eusebius and St. Augustine
d. Renaissance scholars, Lorenzo Valla, Donation of Constantine

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

e. Modern scholars: Voltaire and Gibbon

Textbook, pp. 2-11, 79-80, 106, 116-117.
Compare and contrast the government of Egypt and Mosopotamia
a. Egyptian government: centralized, dynastic, pharaoh
I. Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt: Menes, Osiris, and Isis
c. Trends toward the decentralization of government: Seth, Hyksos
d. Akhenaton and his radical changes in the Lieu of art and religion
e. Monarchy in Mesopotamia: limited government, city-state organization, the power of
the priests, tribal rivalry
f. Legal contribution of the Babylonian kings: Hammurabi Laws
Textbook pp. 11-32.
Discuss different systems of writing and explain new literary
forms introduced by ancient Greek writers
a. Hieroglyphs: material and the form of its presentation
b. Cuneiforms: material and the nature of its use
c. Phonetical alphabet: its meaning and significance
d. Greek literary forms: comedy, tragedy
e. Myth and legend: meaning and the reason for their use
Textbook, pp. 14-15, 80-81.
Discuss the evolution of the political thought in ancient Greece
a. Monarchy: Acheans and their idea of a king (Agamemnon)
b. Aristocracy: the impact of Dorian invasion on Greece and the rise of a government
controlled by a few
c. Tyranny: revolt of the people against the aristocratic rule to be replaced by the
governments of the despots.
d. Democracy: the government of the people - its strengths and weaknesses
e. Democratic system of Athens and Sparta
f. Rise of Macedonian monarchy: Philip and Alexander the Great
Textbook pp. 36-95.
Discuss transformation of the Roman Republic
a. Etruscan rule
b. Rise of the Republic and the role of the Senate
c. Government officials, consuls, praetors, quaestors, censors, tribunes
d. Social classes: Patricians, Plebeians (Equestrians, Populares)
e. Civil wars and dictatorship: Marius and Sulla
Textbook pp. 100-125.
Explain the main causes for the decline and the fall of the Roman empire.
A. Inherent weaknesses in the Roman government: selection of a new emperor, state
officials etc.;
b. Breakdown of the political system: bribery, wars, division of the Empire;
c. Economic decline: reduction of trade, shortage of labor, stagnation of technology;
d. Social conflict: struggle between the opposing classes, the Romans and
non-Romans;
e. Gradual invasion of the Roman provinces by various Germanic tribes: Visigoths,
Ostrogoths, Vandals and Lombards.

Textbook: Joshua Cole & Carol Symes, Western Civilization. Vol. 1. Eighteenth Edition. New
York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. ISBN978-0-92214 (pbk).
Symbols: 1) bolded to be identified, 2) underlined (Multiple Choice, True and False).