WORLD HISTORY II: The Rise of the East Sample Questions for Mid-Term Exam

1. While Stearns, Adas, Schwartz, and Gilbert in World Civilizations: The Global Experience (a.k.a. the textbook) argue that the decline of the Roman empire can be attributed to “a set of general problems, triggered by a cycle of plagues that could not be prevented, resulting in a rather mechanistic spiral that steadily worsened” (2nd ed., p. 239; 3rd ed., p. 258; 4th ed., p. 233; 5th ed., p. 219) Kenneth Clark, in the video The Skin of Our Teeth in the “Civilisation” series, asserted that the fall of the Roman Empire was the result of (A) the people of Bendi around the year A.D. 200 voting in favor of road restrictions. (B) depopulation between the first and fifth centuries A.D. due to the introduction of measles, mumps, chicken pox, etc., creating a manpower shortage. (C) rust in the pipes leading to lead poisoning in the populace. (D) the moral degeneracy of the ruling elite by intermarriage with slaves creating a nervous and moral breakdown. (E) nobody caring. 