Who was forced to raise food for the soldiers? helots, women, free non-citizens, the soldiers themselves.

Correct  HELOTS

The context of this question is the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta.  Sparta was a strongly militaristic society, and so soldiers were of highest value to the city.  Helots were a class of agricultural laborers that we might call "serfs" in other contexts of history later on, such as Russia.  They were less than citizens, but not exactly in a status of slaves.  The name "helots" is of uncertain etymology.  The best guess is that it derives from a Greek word meaning "to be captured and made a servant."  They were in a position of forced servitude, to produce the food supply for the Spartan state. Indeed, it was common for Sparta to issue declarations of war against the helots to keep them under control and in subjugated status.

d. it adversely affected american productivity

        i'm fairly sure that the correct answers are 2 and 3.

        i used both my knowledge of world history and the process of elimination to obtain these answers. option 1 cannot be a possible selection because the mandate of heaven belongs to ancient chinese philosophical belief. option 4 sounds like it would benefit the region than detriment it. however, both 2 and 3 explain a potential reason for what could have contributed to the fall of the roman empire.

      hope this ! if i were you, i'd get a second opinion, because i haven't taken this course for a year. best of luck!

***websites that me understand the curriculum better last year are and ***