1. What was the origin of the "divine right" of kings?
2. Explain what is meant by despotism; by autocracy.
3. What European state comes nearest to being a pure despotism? What European monarch styles himself as an autocrat?
4. What do the illustrations on pages 38, 43 tell about the pomp of Oriental kings?
5. Why did the existence of numerous slaves in Egypt and Babylonia tend to keep low the wages of free workmen? Why is it true that civilization may be said to have begun "with the cracking of the slave whip"?
6. What light is thrown on the beginnings of money in ancient Egypt by the illustration on page 47?
7. Name some objects which, in place of the metals, are used by primitive peoples as money.
8. Interest in Babylonia was usually at the rate of 20% a year. Why is it so much lower in modern countries?
9. On the map, page 48, indicate the trade routes between eastern and western Asia which met in Mesopotamia.
10. The Phoenicians have been called "the English of antiquity." Can you give any reason for this characterization?