ID quiz September 16th-30th

Question 1

who was Cyrus the Great

Answer 1

the first king of Persia
559-530 B.C.
led a rebellion against the Medes, success seen in the conquest of Babylon
the Cyrus cylinder describes and justifies these conquests and affirms his legitimacy as an agent of the god Marduk

Question 2

who was Darius I

Answer 2

522-486 BCE
a usurper to the throne but claimed to be related to Cyrus
was the ruler at the beginning of the Persian wars

Question 3

what is the prelude to the Persian wars

Answer 3

tried to take on a campaign against the Scythians
the Athenians come to the Scythians aid (Ionian revolt)
the revolt failed but Darius was furious with the Athenians as they were supposed to be subservient to the Persians and this is the prelude to the Persian wars

Question 4

when was the first Persian war?

Answer 4

490 B.C.

Question 5

describe the first persian war

Answer 5

an invasion of Attica by Darius’ general
the Persians are initially quite successful but then the battle of Marathon sees a hoplite phalanx defeat the Persians despite being heavily outnumbered
there was a threat that the Persians were going to take Athens by surprise so an Athenian general ran 42km to warn Athens

Question 6

when was the second Persian war

Answer 6

482 B.C.

Question 7

describe the second Persian war

Answer 7

Darius died and was taken over by his son Xerxes
Herodotus story of how he wasn’t originally going to go to war but was visited by a phantom
he had a huge invading force
Xerxes hubris e.g. his whipping of the water after the bridge is destroyed
the Hellenic league and Greek freedom ideology
the battle at Thermopylae

Question 8

what was the hellenic league

Answer 8

a Greek union led by Sparta against the Persians
the biggest unification of Greek poleis but probably only included a third of them

Question 9

describe the battle of Thermopylae

Answer 9

the Greeks chose a narrow pass to mitigate the fact they were outnumbered
there was great initial success but someone revealed to the Persians that there was a way round the back of the pass which surrounded the Greeks
the Spartans valiantly stayed on led by Leonidas and fought to their deaths

Question 10

what happened after the battle of Thermopylae

Answer 10

the path was open to the Persians to Athens and the take the city, burning the Acropolis

Question 11

what is the prelude to the battle of Salamis?

Answer 11

the Peloponnese wanted to give up central Greece but others from central greece disagreed
Xerxes is tricked by Themistocles to fight at the battle despite wise advice from Artemesia

Question 12

what are some facts about salamis

Answer 12

a narrow passage that gave the Greeks a naval advantage
Artemisia rams her ship into another persian one to stop the enemy from chasing her and make Xerxes think she’s doing really well
the decisive battle in the persian wars that sees the Greek alliance win

Question 13

when is the classical period of Greece?

Answer 13

most of the 5th and 4th century B.C. but particularly after Greek victory in the Persian wars

Question 14

what are possible reasons for Greek victory

Answer 14

they claimed it was because they were free men fighting of their own will whereas Xerxes’ men were ‘slaves’ showing Greek pride
it was more likely because of Hellenic league tactics, luck with weather etc.

Question 15

how did the Athenian empire develop?

Answer 15

emerged out of the Hellenic league
they travelled round ensuring freedom of poleis that had been under Persian control
the Spartans had been leading this but rolled back and Athens took control
they were renamed the Delian league with various outposts to prevent any future invasion
they win the battle of Plataea and Mycale that finally pushes the Persians out of the Mediterranean
the league starts to turn into a tool of Athenian power and the line begins to blur between Athenian empire and Delian league

Question 16

who was Pericles

Answer 16

a highly popular Athenian general/politician
devised innovations to strengthen the egalitarian tendencies of Athenian democracy
he also introduced important reforms that paid those who had been put into official positions by the ballot (e.g. jury) as previously poorer men had found it difficult to leave their jobs and serve which brought an end to the more elite aspect of the Athenian democracy

Question 17

what are some features of the Greek classical age

Answer 17

the Parthenon is built to Athena
friezes are created that depict mythological scenes
Athens becomes the intellectual centre of the Greek world
philosophy grows e.g. the Sophists and Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
theatre booms e.g. Antigone 441 B.C.

Question 18

what was life like for Athenian women?

Answer 18

citizens but not at all involved in politics
concerned only with the household
girls tended to be married at 14 to much older men

Question 19

what was life like for Spartan women?

Answer 19

participated in training and athletics
could speak publicly
relationships outside of marriage were allows
however all of these were to produce stronger children

Question 20

who was Aspasia of Miletus?

Answer 20

a metic of Athens (a resident foreigner there) who had a relationship with Pericles
she had a large influence over him and some say her intellect is what attracted him to her
she ran a house of prostitutes so was also a business woman
people like Socrates came to hear her speak

Question 21

what was slavery like in Athens?

Answer 21

most were owned privately
they were acquired through war, if a slave had a child or just by buying
working domestically or in religious temples was one of the best roles and the mines were effectively a death sentence