251. The key to the prosperity of Constantinople was its crucial location on the
(A) Caspian Sea
(B) Red Sea
(C) Tiber River
(D) Baltic Sea
(E) Bosporus Strait
252. The movement that shook the Byzantine Empire between 726 and 843 was known as
(A) Monophysitism
(B) Arianism
(C) Pelagianism
(D) Nestorianism
(E) iconoclasm
253. The first major military challenge to the Byzantine Empire came in the late sixth and early seventh centuries from the
(A) Slavs
(B) Avars
(C) Sassanids
(D) Arabs
(E) Bulgars
254. Tensions between Eastern and Western Christianity
(A) were resolved after the fall of Constantinople in 1453
(B) were settled by the Fourth Crusade
(C) resulted in a split between the popes and patriarchs in 1054
(D) involved only practical and not doctrinal differences
(E) were ignored by the patriarch Photios the Great so he could pursue his classical studies
255. All of the following are true of the so-called Macedonian renaissance of the ninth and tenth centuries EXCEPT that
(A) it is sometimes called the first Byzantine renaissance
(B) Basil II subjected all of Bulgaria to Byzantine rule
(C) Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos wrote books on geography and history
(D) relations with the Roman Catholic Church improved
(E) Photios the Great helped convert the Slavs to Christianity
256. The earliest Christian coenobitic monasticism emerged in
(A) Russia
(B) Greece
(C) Anatolia
(D) Persia
(E) Egypt
257. Byzantines flocked to hippodromes, mixing sports rivalry with
(A) theatrical presentations
(B) religious festivals
(C) political partisanship
(D) inaugurations of government officials
(E) declarations of anathema against Muslims
258. The Byzantine Empire did all of the following EXCEPT
(A) bar women from witnessing wills
(B) outlaw prostitution
(C) make divorce and remarriage more difficult than under older Roman law
(D) require women to veil their heads as a sign of modesty
(E) institute stiffer legal penalties for sexual offenses
259. Pronoia refers to
(A) the mid-tenth-century reform of the monasteries
(B) the policy of the Byzantine Empire toward the Crusader states
(C) the deflation of the currency under the Comnenian Dynasty
(D) a system of land grants in the Byzantine Empire
(E) a Christological heresy regarding the nature of Jesus’s humanity
260. All of the following are true of Hagia Sophia EXCEPT that
(A) it was commissioned by Justinian I
(B) it was the largest cathedral in the world for almost 1,000 years
(C) it was noted for its stunning figurative mosaics
(D) it was sacked and destroyed during the Fourth Crusade
(E) its enormous dome was supported by construction devices known as pendentives
261. All of the following are true of the Palaeologan Dynasty EXCEPT that
(A) it ended with the fall of Constantinople in 1453
(B) political chaos and military defeats prevented a renewal of art and literature
(C) Michael VIII Palaeologus tried to rebuild Constantinople
(D) the migration of Byzantine scholars to western Europe helped spark the Renaissance in Italy
(E) civil wars helped undermine Byzantine recovery
262. Some scholars believe the reorganization of Byzantium into military districts in the seventh century led to
(A) poor farmers being pushed off their lands
(B) the creation of a class of farmer-soldiers
(C) a shift in education from a secular to a religious focus
(D) Eastern Orthodox bishops receiving more authority in civil matters
(E) all of the above
263. All of the following are true of Justinian I EXCEPT that he
(A) encouraged increasing tolerance for polytheists
(B) prohibited male homosexual relations
(C) nearly bankrupted the East with his wars to reunify the empire
(D) relied heavily on his wife, Theodora
(E) embellished Constantinople with magnificent and costly architecture
264. The spread of Christianity and the increased restrictions placed on polytheists led to
(A) the expansion of pagan Neoplatonism
(B) the publication of the Codex
(C) the immigration of many Latin-speaking scholars to Constantinople
(D) the popularization of Ambrose’s writings on Christian ethics
(E) the closing of the Athenian Academy around 530
265. Ravenna (in northern Italy) is famous for
(A) Hagia Sophia
(B) its church architecture in the Greek Orthodox style
(C) its fabulous mosaics
(D) its proto-Gothic architecture
(E) its realistic Byzantine/Roman wall painting
266. Western European soldiers sacked Constantinople in the
(A) First Crusade
(B) Second Crusade
(C) Fourth Crusade
(D) Fifth Crusade
(E) Seventh Crusade
267. All of the following are true of the so-called Plague of Justinian EXCEPT that it
(A) was probably some variant of bubonic plague
(B) killed about half of Constantinople’s population
(C) reduced Byzantine tax revenues by leaving many farms vacant
(D) led to a shortage of Byzantine army recruits and the hiring of mercenaries
(E) killed more than 65 percent of the people of the Byzantine Empire
268. Which ruler was responsible for the Corpus Iuris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) codifying Roman law?
(A) Constantine
(B) Leo III
(C) Manuel I
(D) Justinian I
(E) Alexius I
269. Monophysites believed that
(A) Jesus was more divine than human
(B) Jesus was more human than divine
(C) original sin did not taint human nature
(D) good and evil were distinct principles with separate origins
(E) the material world was created by an intermediary (Demiurge) rather than directly by God
270. Emperor Leo III (the Isaurian)
(A) defended Constantinople against the Muslim siege from 717 to 718
(B) sided with the iconodules
(C) usurped power from the Macedonian dynasty
(D) made peace with Kievan Rus and supported its conversion to Christianity
(E) blinded 99 out of every 100 Bulgarian prisoners
271. Byzantine contact with western Europe continued through
(A) Venetian traders
(B) Russian traders
(C) Jewish traders
(D) Muslim traders
(E) Syrian traders
272. All of the following are true of John Chrysostom EXCEPT that he
(A) was known for his eloquence
(B) attacked Jews in his sermons
(C) was the archbishop of Constantinople
(D) supported the theater and horse races against attacks by ascetic Christian moralists
(E) preached against the abuse of authority
273. Kievan Rus
(A) developed close economic and cultural ties with Byzantium
(B) could not compete with western Europe in wealth and power
(C) was able to repel the Mongol invasions
(D) encouraged the Vikings to invade western Europe
(E) refused to trade slaves after the population adopted Christianity in the 10th century
274. Stylites were
(A) Byzantine infantrymen who had formerly been slaves
(B) eunuchs who had high court positions and served the emperor
(C) farmer-soldiers from the themes
(D) Muslim adventurers who fought for the Byzantines in the 11th and 12th centuries
(E) Christian ascetics who lived on pillars
275. Anna Comnena is famous for writing
(A) The Spaneas
(B) The Secret History
(C) The Alexiad
(D) The Universal Chronicle
(E) Digenis Acritas
276. All of the following were true of eunuchs in the Byzantine Empire EXCEPT that
(A) they could become generals
(B) they could become patriarch of Constantinople
(C) they could become parakoimomenos
(D) they could become emperor
(E) they could become civil servants
277. The Byzantines lost control of most of Anatolia in the battle of
(A) Adrianople
(B) Edessa
(C) Solachon
(D) Kleidion
(E) Manzikert
278. Byzantine literature is almost entirely concerned with
(A) Acritic songs
(B) religious expression
(C) the compilation of encyclopedias of classical knowledge
(D) popular poetry
(E) heroic and epic tales
279. Which of the following is sometimes considered the last major historian of the ancient world as well as the first Byzantine historian?
(A) Procopius of Caesarea
(B) Niketas Choniates
(C) George Acropolites
(D) Michael Attaleiates
(E) Joannes Cinnamus
280. All of the following are true of the reign of Emperor Manuel I Comnenus EXCEPT that
(A) he invaded Italy
(B) the Seljuk Turks crushed his army at Myriocephalon
(C) he invaded Fatimid Egypt
(D) he hated western Europeans