1.
"The Gordian Knot" has become an expression indicating a problem that is complex and difficult to unravel. It comes from the legend that _______________ "untied" the knot by cutting it.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
2.
Athens was a city in Greece with high levels of cultural influence, but whose political power became limited after being defeated by ______________ in the Peloponnesian War.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
3.
The first Emperor of Rome and enforcer of the "Pax Romana" was ___________
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
4.
Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovered ___________________ and claimed it for Spain.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
5.
Thomas a Becket was a(n) _________________ in the 12th century, defending the church against the king. He gained noteriety after being murdered by 4 of the king's men.
A. 
B. 
Priest of an Anglican parish
C. 
D. 
6.
The illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, this Italian was known for being a statesman, cardinal and general, but was infamous for his cruelty.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
7.
"Bread and circuses", a quote by a contemporary political observer, referred to _______________ and described that entity's decline into a citizenry placated by food and flash, rather than interested in substantive issues of statehood.
A. 
The Greek city-state of Athens
B. 
C. 
D. 
8.
The wheel and ox-drawn plow were features of this age, which preceeded the Iron Age.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
9.
A rival to Rome before 0 AD, this North African city featured the general Hannibal and was defeated in the Third Punic War.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
10.
This first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was held as a model for later Christian rulers, and remembered for encouraging education.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
11.
Romantically linked to both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, this queen eventually committed suicide by asp.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
12.
Hernando Cortez was a Spanish explorer who arrived in ______________ in the 16th century, spreading Catholicism, but also disease while establishing Spanish hegemony in the region.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
13.
Demosthenes was...
A. 
B. 
The greatest orator of ancient Greece.
C. 
Part of Homer's intrepid band in The Odyssey.
D. 
Ruler of Carthage during the Second Punic War.
14.
___________ was a Dutch scholar, Catholic priest and humanist of the early 16th century that satirized the excesses of the Catholic Church, but later attempted to mitigate aftereffects of the Reformation.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
15.
A landed estate given by a lord to a vassal in return for the vassal's service.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
16.
Lady Godiva was an English noblewoman of the 11th century, best known for
A. 
Daliances with French royalty.
B. 
Riding naked through Coventry to protest high taxes.
C. 
Requesting that her daughter be made head of state.
D. 
Conniving to unseat her husband by having him seduced.
17.
Guilds might be said to be the forerunners of what modern type of organization?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
18.
A general from Carthage, known for taking 100,000 men with elephants from Spain to Italy in an attempt to conquer Rome. Though he failed, this logistical effort is considered one of the greatest troop movements in history.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
19.
The Battle of Hastings was won by ____________ and paved the way for ________________.
A. 
William the Conqueror / the Norman conquest of England.
B. 
England / a continued British resistance to the Germans.
C. 
The Russians / the crushing of the November uprising.
D. 
The French / continued French success in the Napoleonic Wars.
20.
Declaring himself head of the church in England, this monarch ended England's time as a Catholic nation; it has been Protestant ever since.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
21.
Herodotus was an ancient Greek, and is remembered primarily for for his...
A. 
Role as the first person to attempt a narrative history writing.
B. 
Role as advisor to Alexander the Great.
C. 
Sedition during the Peloponnesian War.
D. 
Coining of the phrase "bread and circuses", in derision of the Romans.
22.
Joan of Arc helped rally the French to expel the English in this/these war(s), which ended in the 15th century.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
23.
The ides of March, or March 15, saw who assassinated?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
24.
This period followed the Bronze Age, and saw the development of hardened tools and weapons.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
25.
Warned by the Senate to disband his army, this general instead crossed the Rubicon and declared himself dictator.
A. 
B. 
C. 
D.