Humanities: Ancient to Medieval Test Questions
Course Introduction
This course explores the rich tapestry of human thought, culture, and creativity from ancient civilizations through the medieval period. Students will examine key developments in literature, philosophy, art, and religion across regions such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and medieval Europe. By analyzing primary texts and artifacts, the course encourages critical reflection on the ways these societies grappled with fundamental questions about existence, morality, governance, and the nature of the divine. Through interdisciplinary inquiry, students will gain a deeper appreciation for the enduring legacies of ancient and medieval cultures and their influence on the modern world.
Recommended Textbook
Western Civilization Volume A To 1500 8th Edition by Jackson J. Spielvogel
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12 Chapters
720 Verified Questions
720 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/2021 Page 2
Chapter 1: The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40201
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not true of Egyptian art?
A) It was largely individually expressive, illustrated by many identifiable artists.
B) It was primarily functional and not intended to add beauty.
C) It was highly stylized.
D) It followed strict formulas governing form and presentation.
E) It often glorified the pharaohs.
Answer: A
Q2) One of the few female pharaohs was
A) Ramses.
B) Hatshepsut.
C) Menes.
D) Amenhotep.
E) Isis.
Answer: B
Q3) The word "Paleolithic" means "old stone."
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 2: The Ancient Near East: Peoples and Empires
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40202
Sample Questions
Q1) Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the city of Nineveh, making it the Persian capital, and there he erected the Ishtar Gate, which opened on to the Triumphal Way.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The relationship between the Assyrian king and his officials was based on A) fear.
B) loyalty.
C) money.
D) cult of personality.
E) coercion.
Answer: B
Q3) The Persian god was Ahuramazda.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) Most Hebrews believed that monogamy was the preferred form of marriage.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Page 4
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Chapter 3: The Civilization of the Greeks
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40203
Sample Questions
Q1) The rise of tyrants in the poleis in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.
A) had little to do with the development of the hoplite fighting force.
B) often encouraged the economic and cultural progress of the cities.
C) meant the increased oppression of the peasants.
D) crushed for good the power of the democratic oligarchies.
E) were supported by the aristocracy in order to control the merchant and artisan classes.
Answer: B
Q2) Socrates was condemned to death for
A) corrupting the youth of Athens.
B) leading a political coup attempt.
C) killing one of his followers in a rage.
D) marrying his cousin and committing bigamy.
E) opposing the Peloponnesian War.
Answer: A
Q3) The "great expedition" by Athens against Crete dominated much of the second phase of the Peloponnesian War.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: The Hellenistic World
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40204
Sample Questions
Q1) Isocrates
A) condemned Philip II for his aggression against the Greek city states.
B) agreed with Demosthenes that Alexander would be an improvement over Philip II.
C) hoped that Philip would unite the Greek world in a campaign against Persia.
D) was put to death for criticizing the gods.
E) supported Alexander of Macedonia in his struggle against his father, Philip.
Q2) Of all the many varieties of products traded in the Hellenistic world, the greatest trade was in gold.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following led a revolt against Seleucid monarchy in Judea in the 160s B.C.E.?
A) Isaiah.
B) Antiochus IV.
C) Judas Iscariot.
D) Jesus of Nazareth.
E) Judas Maccabaeus.
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Chapter 5: The Roman Republic
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40205
Sample Questions
Q1) Rome was established in the first millennium B.C.E. on the A) plain of Latium.
B) river Danube.
C) coast of the Aegean Sea.
D) foothills of the Alps.
E) toe of the Italian peninsula.
Q2) The head of the Roman religious observances was
A) a caesar.
B) the vestal virgins.
C) the tribunate.
D) a consul.
E) the pontifex maximus.
Q3) Livy's account of Cincinnatus
A) was used to teach the Roman people the treachery of tyrant.
B) was written as an act of defense against the government.
C) tells the story of the founding of Rome.
D) tells how the virtues of duty and simplicity in the behavior of leaders enabled Rome to survive in difficult times.
E) justified the concept of divine right monarchy.
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Chapter 6: The Roman Empire
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40206
Sample Questions
Q1) During the Early Empire (14-180 A.D.), the Roman army
A) was increased to 400,000 men.
B) was dominated by only Italian legionaries.
C) was successful in invading Gaul.
D) became corrupt due to nepotism.
E) became mostly made up of German soldiers, although Romans remained the officers.
Q2) Which of the following is not true of the Colosseum:
A) Its official name was the Flavian Amphitheater.
B) It could seat 50,000 spectators.
C) It was the scene of gladiatorial combats.
D) It was built by Vespasian.
E) It was destroyed by Caligula.
Q3) Augustus' social legislation enacted to stop the decline of Roman morals
A) meant a social revolution at every level of Roman society.
B) made adultery a criminal offense and outlawed wasteful expenditures for feasts.
C) penalized couples for having too many children.
D) encouraged the development of the nuclear family.
E) all of the above
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Chapter 7: Late Antiquity and the Emergence of the Medieval World
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40207
Sample Questions
Q1) The successors to Muhammad's leadership of the Muslims were known as A) holy emperors.
B) caliphs.
C) sultans.
D) anti-popes.
E) prophets.
Q2) The Edict of Milan
A) made Christianity the official state religion of the Empire.
B) was Constantine's document officially tolerating the existence of Christianity.
C) officially divided the Roman Empire into eastern and western halves.
D) formally deposed the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, from his throne.
E) made Milan the "New Rome", equal to old Rome.
Q3) Augustine's Confessions was written as
A) a response to pagan philosophers' attacks on Christianity.
B) a warning to unbelievers that damnation awaited the unbaptized.
C) an epic poem to rival the works of the greatest pagan poets.
D) an account of his own miraculous personal conversion.
E) a tool to convert the German barbarians.
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Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40208
Sample Questions
Q1) In Western Europe, the chief political repercussion of frequent Viking raids was
A) the strengthening of centralized royal authority.
B) an increase in the power of the church.
C) an increase in the power of local aristocrats to whom threatened populations turned for effective protection.
D) a decline in the power of local aristocrats whose inability to stop the raids drove ordinary people into royal cities.
E) an increase in monasticism.
Q2) Regarding sexuality, the Catholic Church in the Early Middle Ages
A) could not enforce clerical celibacy.
B) continued the Roman Empire's condemnation of homosexuality.
C) accepted sex for the purpose of pleasure within marriage only.
D) viewed coitus interruptus as the only legitimate birth control method.
E) discouraged marriage because it weakened the spiritual practices of Christians.
Q3) In the early Middle Ages, books were written on sheepskin inasmuch as papyrus was too expensive to be imported from Egypt, then under Muslim control.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: The Recovery and Growth of European Society
in the High Middle Ages
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40209
Sample Questions
Q1) The church figure who tried to reconcile faith with reason in his Summa Theologica was
A) Peter Abelard.
B) Saint Augustine.
C) Boethius.
D) Thomas Aquinas
E) Peter Lombard.
Q2) The revival of trade led to a decline of cities.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The "agricultural revolution" of the High Middle Ages
A) caused little change in the forested areas of Europe.
B) was in part brought about by a change from the two-field to the three-field system.
C) led to the demise of the cooperative agricultural villages.
D) was in large part due to the development of the aratum, an iron ploughshare.
E) was the result of corn imported from the New World.
Q4) Peter Abelard was castrated because of his book Sic et Non.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: The Rise of Kingdoms and the Growth of Church Power
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40210
Sample Questions
Q1) Scandinavia by the twelfth century
A) remained largely pagan and resistant to European culture.
B) contained the continent's most powerful nation, Sweden.
C) entered into a period of relative peace within and between local kingdoms.
D) had accepted Christianity through the agency of local kings who wished to better organize and govern their states.
E) abandoned their marriage alliances with the Holy Roman Empire.
Q2) By the end of the twelfth century, Spain was
A) free of Muslim control in the northern half of the country.
B) a fully united Christian kingdom.
C) once again completely under the control of the Muslims.
D) the most powerful nation in Europe.
E) ruled by the Valois dynasty of France.
Q3) The Christian reconquest of Spain in the thirteenth century
A) brought an economic revival, especially for the Andalusian region.
B) saw a politically united Spain.
C) saw the king of Castile, Alfonso X, expel all Jews and Muslims.
D) left Granada the last Muslim kingdom on the Iberian peninsula.
E) drove all of the Moors from Spain and back into Africa.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: The Later Middle Ages: Crisis and Disintegration in the
Fourteenth Century
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40211
Sample Questions
Q1) The bubonic plague originated in
A) Africa.
B) Syria.
C) Italy.
D) the Azores.
E) Asia.
Q2) The Visconti family ruled the Duchy of Milan throughout most of the fourteenth century.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The flagellants
A) were praised by the Catholic church for their miraculous deeds.
B) were groups that physically punished themselves to win the forgiveness of God.
C) were a new phenomenon that arose in response to the Black Death.
D) would remain a popular religious movement throughout the fourteenth century.
E) were only to be found in isolated rural areas.
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Chapter 12: Recovery and Rebirth: The Age of the Renaissance
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40212
Sample Questions
Q1) The "new monarchs" of the late fifteenth century in Europe
A) continued the trend toward decentralization.
B) were focused upon the acquisition and expansion of power. C) attempted to build up the nobility for support.
D) accepted the domination of the church as a matter of course. E) were generally illiterate.
Q2) The wealth of the northern Italian cities that funded the Renaissance was gained mostly from A) colonization.
B) the slave trade.
C) agriculture.
D) military conquest.
E) trade.
Q3) Masaccio's frescos in Florence's Brancacci Chapel, with their realistic relationship between the figures and the landscape and the visual use of the laws of perspective was the first great masterpiece of Early Renaissance art.
A)True
B)False
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