Countdown to the Millennium: III Quiz

Answer: Yangtze

The Battle of the Red Cliffs was a massive battle between the warlord, Cao Cao, who was also the Chancellor of the Han dynasty, and the warlords, Sun Quan and Liu Bei. Cao Cao's goal at the time was uniting China after the chaos of the past few decades; he had already retaken control over the north and was now focusing on the south. Cao Cao attempted to take control over the Yangtze River, but was ultimately repelled after suffering a major defeat on land and in the river itself.

The use of fire ships, ships whose sole purpose was to smash into the enemy fleet and set it ablaze, devastated Cao Cao's fleet, including the countless numbers of soldiers and cavalry on board many of his ships.

The aftermath of this battle would have massive implications on the future of China as Cao Cao was unable to unite the country while Sun Quan and Liu Bei would both end up becoming major power players in the lead-up to the Three Kingdoms period.

Answer: the Sassanid Empire

Early into the 3rd century, Ardashir I established the Sassanid Empire. Ardashir led a campaign of rapid conquest, culminating in 224 A.D. in the Battle of Hormozdgan. The aftermath of that battle signaled the end of an era with the death of the last Parthian emperor, Artabanus V, and the rise of the Sassanids as the inheritors of the Persian Empire and its legacy.

The Sassanids continued the Persian rivalry with Rome over control of the Middle East as after conquering the Parthian Empire, Ardashir fought the Romans for control over the lands of Mesopotamia and Armenia. Even after Ardashir died, his son, Shapur I, continued the war against the Romans and become one of their most dangerous enemies.

Answer: Sui

The Han dynasty finally fell in 220 A.D. after centuries of once prosperous rule. While Emperor Xian ruled on paper, it was Chancellor Cao Cao who was the real power behind the throne at that point, and his death marked the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period. Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi, usurped power from the emperor after his father's death and declared himself the ruler of China, founding the state of Wei.

In response, his father's biggest rivals, Liu Bei and Sun Quan refused to recognize Cao Pi as the emperor, forming the states of Shu and Wu respectively. Liu Bei was distantly related to the Han imperial family and claimed legitimacy through his ancestry.

His former ally, Sun Quan, however had broken ties with him years after the Battle of the Red Cliffs due to territorial disputes. For the next few decades, China was locked in an incredibly bloody three-way war that cost tens of millions of people their lives.

Answer: Taoism

One of the major beliefs of Manichaeism is dualism, dividing the world in two as part of a cosmic struggle between good and evil. Good was represented by light and the spiritual world, while evil was represented by darkness and the material world. Mani had grown up with early Christian beliefs due to the teachings of his father, yet he felt that those teachings were incomplete.

His new religion would not only take influences from Christianity, but also Buddhism and Zoroastrianism. While he became a part of the royal court of Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire, he drew the ire of Zoroastrians due to his competing religion and was killed in 274 AD.

However, his religion spread quickly throughout the Middle East and followers even existed as far as China. For centuries Manichaeism remained a prominent religion before eventually dying out.

Answer: the Roman Army

Severus Alexander's rule was marked by conflict as a result of the rise of the Sassanid Empire in the Middle East, and the ongoing attacks on the Roman frontier by Germanic tribes. Alexander attempted to solve the conflict with the Germanic tribes by trying to buy peace with them, yet this was deemed cowardly and dishonorable by the army.

As a result, the Roman soldiers revolted against their emperor and killed him, marking the end of the Severan dynasty and the beginning of the Crisis of the Third Century.

This period of Roman history was marked by a succession of numerous emperors, all generally having a short reign before being killed in nearly constant power grabs. In addition to political instability, there were many economic problems caused by the devaluation of Roman currency that caused massive inflation, and the disruption of trade due to the chaos.

Answer: inventor

Zhuge Liang was the chancellor of the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period. He was considered to be a brilliant man by his contemporaries, having not only been a skilled strategist, but also a pioneering engineer credited with several inventions.

His inventions include the landmine, the wooden ox (a sort of wheelbarrow used to transport supplies), Kongming/sky lanterns (floating lanterns used for military signaling), and the repeating crossbow. However, he would end up dying of illness during the Battle of Wuzhang Plains against Sima Yi, a general from the state of Wei.

This battle was part of a bloody campaign by the Shu in an attempt to move northwards into Wei territory, yet ultimately failed upon the death of Zhuge Liang as the armies of Shu were forced to retreat.

Answer: the emperor was captured in battle

Throughout the third century, the Persians became a huge threat once more to the Roman Empire in the Middle East following the rise of the Sassanids. The Romans mustered 70,000 men in response, but many ended up dying of disease. Under the command of Shapur I, the Persian army crushed the weakened Romans during the Battle of Edessa and ended up capturing Valerian, the Roman emperor.

The capture of the Roman emperor was unprecedented and caused the already chaotic situation in the Roman provinces in the east to become even more unstable. For years, Shapur would raid Syria and Asia Minor while Valerian soon died in captivity after the battle in 260 AD. Gallienus, Valerian's son, ended up succeeding his father as emperor, but in the east, a new figure was beginning to rise in power and popularity.

Answer: Odaenathus

Odaenathus was a nobleman from the city of Palmyra in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. He was instrumental to organizing a counterattack against the Sassanids after the disastrous defeat of Edessa, and managed to drive them back from their recent gains.

He also brought some stability to the Roman Empire by defeating and killing Macrianus Major, who attempted to take over the empire from the newly crowned Gallienus. Eventually, his armies even reached the Persian capital, Ctesiphon, although he was unable to take it. For his service, he was awarded the title of "King of Kings [of the East]" and retained massive power in Rome's eastern province.

Despite the clear opportunity to take advantage of the situation and take power for himself, Odaenathus remained loyal to the emperor and the empire.

In 267 AD he was assassinated under mysterious circumstances that remain unclear, but by that time he had brought stability back to the Roman Empire by driving the Sassanids back east.

Answer: Jin

After decades of fighting and tens of millions of lives lost, by 265 AD it appeared that the Wei would stand victorious over its two rivals and unite China. Yet behind the scenes, the ruling Cao family's control over the kingdom was weakening in favor of the Sima clan. Starting with Sima Yi, a Wei general known for defending the Wei from Zhuge Liang's armies, essentially took control during the "Incident at Gaoping Tombs".

While the Cao family still held imperial titles, they were essentially figureheads while real control rested with the Sima clan. Sima Zhao, son of Sima Yi, would go on to conquer Shu in 263 AD, and was given the title "King of Jin". Zhao's son, Sima Yan, would finally get rid of the ruling Cao family altogether and proclaimed himself the emperor of the Jin dynasty.

His conquest of the last of the three kingdoms, Wu, in 280 AD ended of the Three Kingdoms era as China was once again united, now under the control of the Jin dynasty.

Answer: Italia

Postumus, prior to declaring independence from Rome, had been well known for defending Rome's frontier regions against the Germanic tribes. However, during the political instability of the Crisis of the Third Century, he took advantage of the situation and laid siege to Colonia Agrippina (now known as the city of Cologne), killing the heir to the Roman Empire and the commander of the Praetorian Guard in the process as they were in the city at the time.

The Roman emperor, Gallienus, was unable to defeat Postumus, whose authority spread across Gallia, Germania, Britannia, and Hispania. Postumus later faced a challenger to his rule named Laelianus.

While he managed to defeat Laelianus and had him killed, Postumus' own soldiers turned against him when he refused to let them pillage Mogontiacum (now known as the city of Mainz).

The Gallic Empire did not last long after Postumus' death as the Romans managed to retake all of its lost territories by 274 AD.

Answer: the Palmyrene Empire

After Odaenathus was assassinated, his son, Vaballathus, was given his titles and positions, but Vaballathus was a young child at the time. His mother, Zenobia, became his regent and would continue to rule over Palmyra and all the territory her husband had secured prior to his death. Under Zenobia, the borders of the Palmyrene Empire expanded quickly, first starting with Egypt, a rich and fertile province yielding huge amounts of grain within the Roman Empire.

At the time, Rome was still preoccupied with political instability with the rise of the Gallic Empire in the west. Zenobia attempted to avoid open hostilities with Rome, feigning loyalty despite carving out an empire out of Roman territories.

The Palmyrene Empire continued to expand across the Levant and up north in Asia Minor, reaching as far as the city of Ancyra (now known as the city of Ankara).

But soon after, the Roman Empire would stabilize and the full might of the Roman legions would rain down on the upstart Palmyrene Empire. By 273 AD, the Palmyrene Empire was no more and the city of Palmyra itself was all but destroyed. Zenobia and Vaballathus were both captured and were sent off to Rome, where presumably they were made to march through the streets in chains, but were ultimately spared execution.

Answer: Aurelian

Aurelian was a man who came from humble beginnings as he was born into a family of farmers. As an adult, he would go on to join the military and became renowned as a cavalry commander, quickly rising through the ranks. Under the reign of Emperor Claudius Gothicus, Aurelian won great prestige and popularity thanks to his victories against tribal invaders in the Balkans, particularly against the Goths.

However, during these battles, the emperor died of a plague, and his brother, Quintillus, came to power with Senate approval.

However, the army ended up opposing this appointment and instead wanted Aurelian to become emperor. He defeated Quintillus' forces in battle and took the imperial title for himself. With his position secure, he turned his attention against the two rebel empires that fractured Rome.

In the east, he quickly reconquered the lands of the Palmyrene Empire and captured Zenobia. Just as quickly, he reconquered the Gallic Empire after negotiating a deal with Emperor Tetricus of the Gallic Empire, whom wished to surrender, but wanted to save face by purposely losing against Aurelian.

These events all took place within a relatively short reign as Aurelian was only emperor from 270 AD till his death in 275 AD. While there was still political instability over the imperial succession, Aurelian had left the empire in a much stronger position, having crushed major rebellions, repelled several barbarian invasions, and united the empire.

Answer: who would act as regent for the emperor

The War of the Eight Princes was not a single war, but a series of conflicts between eight major members of the Sima clan that had united China under the Jin dyansty. These eight "princes" were: Sima Liang (Prince of Runan), Sima Wei (Prince of Chu), Sima Lun (Prince of Zhao), Sima Jiong (Prince of Qi), Sima Ying (Prince of Chengdu), Sima Ai (Prince of Changsha), Sima Yong (Prince of Hejian), and Sima Yue (Prince of Donghai).

At the time, the Jin dynasty was ruled by Emperor Hui, who was developmentally disabled.

As a result, whoever became his regent would essentially be in control. In addition to the aforementioned "princes", Emperor Hui's wife, Empress Jia, was also a major player in these conflicts as she was unhappy about the her own lack of political power. Over time this conflict would grow from a somewhat minor power struggle to a destructive war that lasted over a decade from 291 AD to 306 AD, greatly weakening the Jin dynasty. Eventually, Sima Yue, the Prince of Donghai, became Emperor Hui's final regent as the emperor was poisoned in 306 AD, possibly by Sima Yue, ending the power struggle.

He was succeeded by Emperor Huai, but by that time, the damage was done.

Answer: Christians

While Christians had been persecuted in the Roman Empire in previous centuries, the level of persecution against them was ramped up under the reigns of several emperors, particularly during the reigns of emperors, Decius, Valerian, and Diocletian. Emperor Decius declared that everyone in the empire had to make a sacrifice to the Roman gods and goddesses, except for an exemption made for the Jews. Christians that refused to perform the sacrifice for those who they felt were false gods were put to death, including Pope Fabian.

Others that refused to perform the sacrifice went into hiding. Valeriane also declared that Christians had to make a sacrifice to the gods or else face the punishment of death. In addition, high ranking officials and civil servants that were Christian could be stripped of their rank and property. Diocletian purged the army of Christians, and also put the Manicheans to death.

Many of the actions previous Roman emperors did against the Christian population were repeated during Diocletian's reign, though the level which this persecution was enforced could vary greatly throughout the empire.

Despite this, or perhaps even because of this fact, Christianity was rapidly spreading throughout the empire, particularly in the eastern provinces and North Africa, becoming a significant percentage of the Roman population.

Answer: splitting the empire into different parts to govern separately

Emperor Diocletian is credited with having ended the Crisis of the Third Century overall by bringing political stability back to the imperial institution. Like Aurelian, he had risen through the ranks of the military before seizing the title of emperor thanks to the unpopularity of Emperor Carinus, whom he overthrew. Feeling that the size of the Roman Empire was too much for one person to oversee, he gave his general, Maximian, the title of Caesar, to act as a sort of "junior emperor", and then later, the title of Augustus. For a few years the two ruled under a diarchy, meaning that there were two heads of state, as had been common back in the times of both Rome's republican and imperial ages.

However, Diocletian would expand this system into a tetrarchy, giving the rank of Caesar to Galerius and Constantinus Chlorus, whom were to serve under Diocletian and Maximian respectively. Diocletian oversaw the richest and most developed territories of the empire, consisting of the all the lands of Asia Minor down to Egypt with his capital being Nicomedia. Galerius oversaw lands from up north in Illyria in the Balkans down to Greece with his capital Sirmium. Maximian had control over Italia, Hispania, and Africa with his capital being Mediolanum (now known as the city of Milan). Constantius Chlorus had control over Gallia, Britannia, and the frontier region of Germania with his capital being Augusta Treverorum (now known as the city of Trier). By subdividing the empire like this, each of the co-emperors could deal with problems more directly within their own section of the empire.

In addition, this tetrarchy was also somewhat of a precursor of the future split between the Western and Eastern Roman Empires.