Europe - AP World History: Modern

In his most famous work, The Republic, Plato argues that for Greek society to become truly enlightened, it is necessary for philosophers to be kings, or else that “kings must genuinely and adequately philosophize.”

Pericles was a political figure and a leader of Athenian democracy. Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle were all philosophers whose works (and philosophies, in the case of Socrates, from whom we have no extant written works), continue to be immensely influential to this day. Sophocles was a dramatist and a renowned writer of tragedies. The ancient Greeks were known for their tragedies and comedies.

Solon was an Athenian statesman in the sixth century BCE. His economic, political, and social reforms were designed to improve the conditions of life in ancient Athens, and although his reforms failed, they are credited with laying the foundations for Greek democracy.

Ancient Greece developed many philosophies that continue to influence the world today. One of these is Humanism, the belief that reason is more important than piety and that people, not a deity or deities, were at the center of the universe.

The Socratic Method, developed by the famous Greek philosopher Socrates, focuses on challenging established truth by employing logical reasoning and questioning.

Epicureanism is a philosophical belief that rejects superstition and divine providence and argues that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important aspect of life. In Epicureanism, the pursuit of pleasure is somewhat removed from a modern philosophy of hedonism; instead, it advocates modest living and actively seeking knowledge as pleasurable pursuits.

Aristotle was an Ancient Greek philosopher and a student of Plato. He is most famous for establishing a system of logic that continues to be relevant to this day. The term Aristotelian Logic is named after him and was the dominant form of logical understanding up to the beginning of the Twentieth Century.

The Hellenic Period of Greek history was a time of great innovation in politics, economics, philosophy, mathematics, and a great deal else. Diophantus of Alexandria was a Greek mathematician who lived in the third century of the common era. He is often credited with the invention of algebra.

According to Roman legend, the city of Rome was founded by twins Romulus and Remus in 753 BCE. This date would become extremely important as Rome established an empire over the entire Mediterranean, as they dated their years from this event, using the phrase "Ab Urbe Condita," or "from the founding of the city." This form of dating was the preferred usage in Europe until Christianity became dominant in the fifth century.

The story of Achilles, told famously in Homer's Odyssey and The Iliad, tells the tale of the Greek invasion of Troy and recounts the heroics of the Ancient Greek mythological hero.

The Roman pantheon of gods was very similar to the Greek pantheon of gods. The Roman equivalent of Zeus, the head god in the Greek religion, was Jupiter.

According to mythology, Romulus and Remus are two brothers who are raised by wolves in the wild. When they return to human society, they compete to found a city, and in the protracted disagreement, Romulus kills Remus and founds the city of Rome.

The two famous pieces of ancient Greek literature, The Odyssey and The Iliad, are a part of an oral tradition attributed to Homer.

As the question explains the Roman pantheon of Gods was based off of the Greek pantheon, but with different names. The head of the gods in Greece is Zeus, but in Roman religious practice his name is Jupiter. The only one of these which is incorrectly matched is Mercury and Athena. Mercury is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god of messengers called Hermes and Athena is the Greek version of the Roman god Minerva.

In Ancient Greek mythology the twelve primary gods and godesses live atop Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece and so a logical choice for a home for Gods in a religion where the gods routinely come down and intefere in the lives of humans.

As Christianity developed during the first century CE, its earliest followers were persecuted in the Roman Empire. Not until the Edict of Milan in 313 CE was Christianity even legal in the empire. Therefore "the widespread acceptance of Christianity" is the correct answer.

All of the other answer choices were true of Rome during the first century CE as it approached its height in the early second century CE.

The Roman Emperor held a number of different titles, including pontifex maximus, which is Latin for "chief priest". The title was held by Julius Caesar as a pre-Empire designation, but given to his adopted son Octavian. When Octavian became the first true Roman Emperor with the title Augustus, he kept the designation of pontifex maximus, which was passed on to later emperors.

The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between the Roman and Carthaginian Empires between approximately 265 B.C.E. and 145 B.C.E. At the time of the outbreak of war, the Carthaginian Empire was the largest in the Mediterranean and controlled massive swathes of North Africa and Spain. However, the war would eventually end in their total defeat and ushered in half a millennium of Roman dominance of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

As the Roman Empire expanded through Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, it came to consist of individuals of a wide variety of religious beliefs. In general, the Roman Empire treated these diverse religious elements with tolerance and a practical acceptance. This changed after the Roman Empire became officially Christian, but as this did not occur until near the downfall of the Roman Empire, it cannot be said to be “generally” indicative of Roman policy.

The First Triumvirate of Rome was a political alliance between Julius Caesar, Marcus Crassus, and Pompeius Magnus. It was not an official political organization, but rather a secretive organization that sought to engineer the downfall of the Roman Republic. Following Crassus’ death the Roman world was essentially in the hands of two men - Pompey (his anglicized name), who controlled the Senate and Julius Caesar who controlled the armies of Gaul and enjoyed the most popular support. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon he was declared an enemy of the state and Pompey was charged by the Roman Senate with defeating him. Thus ended the First Triumvirate of Rome; when Caesar defeated Pompey in battle and then had him assassinated.