The Assemblies of the Roman Republic were accorded many important powers in their first early centuries. The members of the Assemblies were selected from each of the various familial and/or ethnic tribes and possessed an assortment of powers, including: the power to conduct trials and carry out executions, the power to declare war and peace, and the power to elect various city officials.

In 82 CE, the Emperor Domitian commissioned the construction of the Arch of Titus – curiously enough, the Arch is named after the previous emperor, Titus, who was also Domitian’s elder brother and who had perished the previous year. The Arch commemorates the Roman Army’s subjugation of the Hebrew cities of Judea and Jerusalem, who had long been resisting Roman control. The Arch also memorialized the Roman Army’s sacking of the Temple of Jerusalem, which the Romans saw as an important public statement meant to inform the Jewish citizens of that city of the apparent wisdom of compliance with their new overlords. Titus, the Arch’s namesake, was the first to instigate the campaign against Jerusalem and Judea and so perhaps this is why the Arch bears his name rather than that of his brother.

Over an intermittent period between 264 to 146 BCE, Rome and the city of Carthage battled each other for supremacy in a series of contests which became known as the Three Punic Wars. The city of Carthage lay at the heart of the wealthy and sophisticated Carthaginian civilization, situated along the coast of Northern Africa, with a prosperous far-flung trading network and impressive territorial ambitions. It seems somewhat inevitable that these two vying civilizations would clash, given Rome’s wide-ranging imperialism and Carthage’s resistance to subjugation. The struggle was indeed bitter, so much so that periods of cessation had to be instituted because the two sides had fought each other to an exhausted standstill. For a time, it seemed that Carthage was destined to be victorious, thanks to the brilliant campaigns waged by its top general, the infamous Hannibal. But eventually, the Roman Empire triumphed – in 146 BCE, the Roman Army captured Carthage and razed the entire city to the ground. The Carthaginians never recovered.

The years between 100 and 31 BCE witnessed the long, slow death throes of the Roman Republic. These years were wracked by intermittent civil warfare, continual social unrest, and a succession of temporary leaders, all jockeying for power. Ultimately, the Republic’s demise was hastened by a multitude of social conflicts which sprang up amongst the Republic’s various collections of peoples – often, these conflicts intersected with and exacerbated one another. Roman citizens sought to deny the extension of citizenship to noncitizens, fearing a loss of prestige and benefits, while noncitizens battled mightily to gain Roman citizenship, as well as all the attendant rights that came with it. Class warfare also broke out between the optimates (the wealthy and landed nobles) and the popularis (the poor majority). The popularis in particular felt that they had been deprived of their rightful share of political power, while the wealthier optimates, who had long maintained an iron grip on the Republic’s governmental controls, had no intention of surrendering one iota of their accumulated influence. In the meantime, the city of Rome was itself a hotbed of political scheming, as the city’s leaders strove to keep the high-ranking members of the military (whom they regarded as their social and intellectual inferiors) from gaining positions of social and/or political prominence. The military leadership, in turn, felt that their victories in battle had entitled them to some say in how their great city functioned and they were determined not be denied. But perhaps the most dangerous threat was posed by the rise of factionalism – specifically, ambitious and charismatic individuals who drew crowds of fiercely loyal followers and who sought to propel themselves into positions of high power, regardless of the mechanisms by which they might ascend. Often, these individuals faced off against each other, sometimes on the Senate floor and other times on the battlefield, but violence increasingly became common. Some of the most influential of these ruthless individualists were: Cicero, Marc Antony, Crassus, Octavian, Pompey, and Julius Caesar.

After the Roman Republic finally collapsed, and in the midst of the following transitional period into the early Empire era, Lucius Cornelius Sulla seized power in 82 BCE as dictator. Most often referred to as Sulla, he brought back the lapsed practice of dictatorship, which hadn’t been practiced in Rome for over several centuries. Before becoming dictator, Sulla first made a name for himself as a successful military general and a twice-elected consul. Like so many others, Sulla saw the chaotic situation of the Republic’s era of civil warfare as the perfect opportunity to seize power for himself. Using the popularity he’d earned among the Roman soldiers as a long-serving general, he put together a massive army and marched into the city of Rome – a flagrant violation of laws banning the presence of armies within the city limits. Once inside Rome, he and his forces were confronted by another equally ambitious challenger, Marius, and his forces, but Sulla quickly defeated this new threat and installed himself as dictator. The Senate had no choice but to issue an edict “appointing” him as the official dictator. Many historians speculate that Julius Caesar (Rome’s most infamous dictator) was inspired by Sulla’s actions and explicitly mimicked his pattern during his own later seizure of power.

Julius Caesar, among his many accomplishments, is credited with starting and/or popularizing the artistic style known as Verism. Verism was most often used in portraiture, sculpture, paintings, murals, and even death masks. The movement’s most defining characteristic is its passionate embrace of realism – subjects were shown in a manner that was accurate as possible; no wrinkle or wart or other physical “imperfection” was spared. Additionally, historical and mythical themes were shunned in favor of more every-day, ordinary settings and scenes. As is perhaps only natural, some of the best examples of Verist artwork portray Julius Caesar, including many full-bodied statues and busts. In these images, true to Verist form, Caesar is shown in his natural state, with lines around his mouth and eyes, facial blemishes, and a steely, flinty stare. Many historians view Caesar’s link to Verism as a logical extension of his typical style of self-promotion: he favored direct, unflinching, even overt interactions, with a sort of aggressive understanding of the real conditions of the world and his own place in it.

The Warring States Period of Chinese history lasted from 476 BCE until 221 BCE. It was a period of disorder and civil conflict in China as various states rose and declined in a long-standing struggle for power. The 250 years of conflict came to an end in 221 BCE with the conquests of the Qin and the establishment of the short-lived Qin Dynasty under Qin Shi Huangdi.

The Zhou period (c.1050-256 BCE) was a time when ancient China saw fundamental scholars emerge, like Confucius and Laozi. Confucian doctrine is based on unity of self and the universe, and the unity of man and the heavens. The "Five Constants" characterize Confucianism, which are: Benevolence, Justice, Rites, Knowledge, Integrity. 

The largest land empire in the history of the world was held by the Mongol Empire, so they would be the best answer. The Yuan dynasty was founded by one of Genghis Khan's grandchildren and was only a portion of the larger Mongol Empire, so that would not be the best choice. The Indus River Valley civilization was one of the earliest known civilizations but did not occupy a large amount of land, so that would not be the best answer. The Roman Empire did not ever extend into Asia, so they would not be a good answer here. And the Persian Empire was large, but it was not nearly the geographic size of the Mongol Empire, so it would not be the best choice.

The Magna Carta was the document that established a constitutional monarchy in England, so that would not be a good answer here. Manifest Destiny was a concept used in 19th century America to justify the expansion of the United States, so that would not be a good choice for this question. The Eightfold Path is the teachings of the Buddha as they relate to achieving enlightenment and it did not have a strong impact on Chinese cultural narratives, so that would not be the best choice. The Mandate of Heaven was a term that began to be used around 1000 BCE and continued on for centuries to justify the rule of various emperors and dynasties, so that would be the best answer.