The CLEP Western Civilization I exam covers Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East; the Middle Ages; Renaissance and Reformation.  The CLEP Western Civilization I exam contains approximately 120 questions to be answered in 90 minutes.   Note: This exam uses the chronological designations b.c.e. (before the common era) and c.e. (common era). The labels correspond to b.c. (before Christ) and a.d. (anno Domini), which are used in some textbooks. Exam contents:  Ancient Near East (8%–10%) Political evolution Religion, culture, and technical developments in and near the Fertile... Show more

The CLEP Western Civilization I exam covers Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East; the Middle Ages; Renaissance and Reformation. 

The CLEP Western Civilization I exam contains approximately 120 questions to be answered in 90 minutes.  

Note: This exam uses the chronological designations b.c.e. (before the common era) and c.e. (common era). The labels correspond to b.c. (before Christ) and a.d. (anno Domini), which are used in some textbooks.

Exam contents: 

Ancient Near East (8%–10%)
Political evolution
Religion, culture, and technical developments in and near the Fertile Crescent

Ancient Greece and Hellenistic Civilization (15%–17%)
Political evolution to Periclean Athens
Periclean Athens through the Peloponnesian Wars
Culture, religion, and thought of Ancient Greece
The Hellenistic political structure
The culture, religion, and thought of Hellenistic Greece

Ancient Rome (15%–17%)
Political evolution of the Republic and of the Empire (economic and geographical context)
Roman thought and culture
Early Christianity
The Germanic invasions
The late empire

Medieval History (23%–27%)
Byzantium and Islam
Early medieval politics and culture through Charlemagne
Feudal and manorial institutions
The medieval Church
Medieval thought and culture
Rise of the towns and changing economic forms
Feudal monarchies
The late medieval church

Renaissance and Reformation (13%–17%)
The Renaissance in Italy
The Renaissance outside Italy
The New Monarchies
Protestantism and Catholicism reformed and reorganized

Early Modern Europe, 1560-1648 (10%–15%)
The opening of the Atlantic
The Commercial Revolution
Dynastic and religious conflicts
Thought and culture
 

Related: CLEP Western Civilization I Practice Test 1: Ancient Near East to 1648

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CLEP Western Civilization I Practice Test 2: Ancient Near East to 1648

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25 Questions

1. Which of the following is true of the tyrant Peisistratus?

He abandoned the constitutional reforms instituted by Solon.He was assassinated in a violent uprising of the Athenians.He led the Macedonians in the conquest of Greece.He instituted the festival of Dionysos at Athens, where Greek drama flourished.He instituted the harsh laws that governed Spartan society.

2. Which of the following Greek philosophers taught that virtue consists in choosing the golden mean and theorized that governments can be divided into three basic types (rule by the one, the few, and the many)?

PythagorasPlatoThales of MiletusAristotleSocrates

3. In the system of medieval economics known as manorialism, the demesne was

the land whose produce was reserved for the lord of the manor.strips of land reserved for individual peasant families.a hedge that separated strips of land belonging to different peasant families.a plot of land granted by a lord to his vassal in exchange for feudal services.woodland cleared for agricultural use.

4. The members of the Second Triumvirate in Late Republican Rome were Octavian, Lepidus, and

Crassus.Mark Antony.Pompey.Julius Caesar.Augustus Caesar.

5. The wife of Henry II of France (1547–1559), who as Queen Mother used her influence both to set policy in France and to introduce cultural features of the Italian Renaissance beyond the Alps, was

Henrietta Maria.Catherine de’ Medici.Christine de Pisan.Eleanor of Aquitaine.Catherine of Aragon.

6. During the period of the Old Kingdom in Egypt (c. 2700–c. 2200 B.C.E.), the Egyptians regarded the pharaoh as

a figurehead with merely symbolic power.a god.a representative of the gods.the foremost citizen of the republic.the chief high priest.

7. Medieval colleges, such as the one founded by Robert de Sorbon in Paris during the thirteenth century, were originally

residence-halls for poor students enrolled in a university.guild-like associations of teachers and students.schools that were devoted entirely to the liberal arts.schools that specialized in the study of law, medicine, or theology.associations of churchmen who met periodically to elect a new pope.

8. Which of the following was NOT a reason for the rapid conquest of the Near East and North Africa by the Arabs during the seventh century?

uninterrupted unity among the Arab tribesresentment against Constantinople for the suppression of Monophysitism in the Byzantine provinces of the Near Eastoverpopulation in Arab landslong wars of attrition between the Byzantine and Sassanian Empiresthe zeal of a new religion proclaimed by the prophet Muhammad

9. Which of the following was NOT an action of Pope Innocent III (1198–1216)?

He made England a papal fief.He proclaimed a crusade against heretics in southern France.He instructed the Fourth Crusade to sack Constantinople.He approved the foundation of the Franciscans and Dominicans.He presided over the Fourth Lateran Council.

10. The Emperor Hadrian’s decision to rebuild Jerusalem on the model of a Greco-Roman city

triggered the Bar Kochba rebellion.revived Jerusalem as the most important center of Christianity.was greeted by the Jews as a welcome gesture.ended the Diaspora.led ultimately to the siege of Masada.

11. A Dutch political theorist who used the concept of natural law to discuss the nature of just war was

John Colet.Ulrich Zwingli.Nicole Oresme.Niccolo Machiavelli.Hugo Grotius.

12. All of the following inventions appeared in Europe before the fifteenth century EXCEPT

the printing press with movable metal type.mechanical clocks.eyeglasses.magnetic compasses.astrolabes.

13. The geography of Greece

kept the Greeks safe from foreign invasion.favored the formation of large, unified empires.made sea-faring impractical.favored the formation of small, self-governing city-states.made political unification of the Greeks impossible.

14. The Gospels, which form the core of the New Testament, are attributed to

Matthew, Thomas, James, and John.Matthew, Mark, Thomas, and James.Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.Matthew, Luke, James, and John.Matthew, Thomas, Luke, and John.

15. Which of the following did NOT field large armies in the Thirty Years’ War?

EnglandFranceDenmarkBohemiaSweden

16. The Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.E.) was caused by

an Athenian invasion of the Peloponnesus.Sparta’s fear of Athenian imperialistic expansion.a Roman invasion of Macedon.Xerxes’s invasion of Greece.imperialistic conflict between Rome and Carthage.

17. The Golden Bull of 1356

ended the Investiture Controversy.established a college of electors made up of seven German states which were responsible for choosing the Holy Roman Emperor.ended the Hundred Years’ War.declared the doctrine of papal supremacy in relations between kings and emperors.ended the Great Schism in the Latin church.

18. An important feature of Renaissance art that originated outside Italy was

the use of oil paint as a new medium.the revival of the dome as an architectural feature.the revival of classical themes.the revival of nudes in sculpture.the use of linear perspective.

19. Which of the following theologians is NOT considered one of the four Latin doctors of the Church?

St. Gregory the GreatSt. JeromeSt. Augustine of HippoSt. John ChrysostomSt. Ambrose of Milan

20. An artist whose use of copper engraving and woodcuts extended the principles of Renaissance art far beyond Italy was

Titian.Jan van Eyck.Sandro Botticelli.Donatello.Albrecht Dürer.

21.
The areas shaded black on the map above represent territories controlled by

the Athenian Empire, around 450 B.C.E.the Ottoman Turks, around 1400 C.E.the Byzantine Empire, around 1000 C.E.Alexander the Great, in 323 B.C.E.Justinian the Great, in 565 C.E.

22. A Dutch humanist who published an edition of the Greek New Testament was

Johann Reuchlin.Thomas More.Desiderius Erasmus.John Colet.Marsilio Ficino.

23. Machiavelli was critical of the Italian city-states for their

patronage of the arts.dependency on mercenaries.use of violence to attain their goals.opposition to the pope.failure to honor treaties.

24. “Before he had reached the age of 33, he had conquered the Near East and founded several cities that bore his name, the most famous of which was in Egypt. He hoped to conquer India as well, but was prevented by the mutiny of his troops.”
The paragraph above describes which of the following?

Augustus CaesarAlexander the GreatPhilip of MacedonJulius CaesarCyrus the Great

25. Which Catholic ruler made an alliance with the Ottoman Turkish sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent?

Gustavus Adolphus, King of SwedenHenry VIII, King of EnglandPhilip II, King of SpainCharles V, the Holy Roman EmperorFrancis I, King of France