What was the biggest natural threat to stability in Justinian's empire? Why?
What will be an ideal response?
Answers will vary, but students should demonstrate an understanding of the destructive impact of the bubonic plague. Nearly half of the population living around the Mediterranean died between 542 and 572 C.E. Once bustling cities seemed empty of residents. The high mortality rate led to hardship throughout the empire. Landowners took possession of lands left vacant by the epidemic and ruthlessly pushed peasants off their small plots of land and into poverty. Heavy taxation forced many others to give up farming. The landless peasants moved to urban centers in the hope of finding work or at least charity. Once there, they found soaring prices and rents, but also higher wages, because labor had become scarce.
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Oligarchy in ancient Greece meant
A) government by a limited number of patricians B) government by the military. C) ownership of land by commoners. D) constitutional government. E) all of the above.
The most important outcomes of the Mongol peace were
a. the establishment of a stable, coherent government across Eurasia. b. the transfer of goods and technology from East to West. c. the adoption of Islam. d. the spread of Western ideas to the East.
The Dutch miracle during the late sixteenth century was
a. religious. b. cultural. c. military. d. economic. e. All of these.
The prophet Zoroaster my have lived about
a. 2000 B.C.E. b. 500 B.C.E. c. 1500 B.C.E. d. 1000 B.C.E. e. 100 B.C.E.