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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do the Spartans do when they reach the field of battle?
(a) They immediately retreat.
(b) They calmly go about getting ready for battle, and wait for the enemy.
(c) They charge recklessly into the melee.
(d) They send some men to sneak around and flank the enemy.

2. Which of the following is not one of the activities listed as part of Spartan life?
(a) Spartans train at controlling their fear.
(b) Spartans love to fish.
(c) Spartans make sacrifices to their gods.
(d) Spartans wrestle and run.

3. How many boys are there in the training platoons, according to Xeones?
(a) He says that there are several thousand.
(b) He says that there are seven hundred.
(c) He says that there are fourteen hundred.
(d) He says that there are twenty-five.

4. What is oktonyktia?
(a) It is the final right of passage from boyhood to adult status.
(b) It is the armor and shield that each soldier must carry.
(c) It is the lake near Sparta.
(d) It is an eight-night training exercise.

5. To whom does Xeones tell his story?
(a) He tells it to Lady Arete.
(b) He tells it to Xerxes.
(c) He tells it to Leonidas.
(d) He tells it to a scribe.

6. What does Xeones become in the Spartan army?
(a) He becomes a swordsman.
(b) He becomes a general.
(c) He becomes an archer.
(d) He becomes a spearman.

7. What causes Xeones to continue the story?
(a) Xerxes told him that he would kill him if he did not continue.
(b) Dmaratos, a deposed Spartan king, reminds him of his duty to Apollo.
(c) Dmaratos, a cruel Persian soldier, threatened to beat him if he did not continue.
(d) Xeones decides to finish the story.

8. How do the soldiers show their disfavor when Polynikes is scolding Alexandros?
(a) They rap their knuckles on the table.
(b) They ignore the speech.
(c) They join Polynikes in berating Alexandros.
(d) They politely leave the area to avoid overhearing.

9. How old is Xeones when he flees the destruction of his home?
(a) He is in his middle teens.
(b) He is eighteen.
(c) He is nine.
(d) He is twelve.

10. Alexandros wants to go to battle with the older Spartans. Who tries to stop him?
(a) His mother tries to stop him.
(b) Polynikes tries to stop him.
(c) Xeones tries to stop him.
(d) Leonidas tries to stop him.

11. What does Dienekes tell the Egyptian about freedom?
(a) He tells the Egyptian that it is better to live as a slave than to die free.
(b) He tells the Egyptian that the only free men are dead men.
(c) He tells the Egyptian that freedom must be bought with steel, not gold.
(d) He tells the Egyptian that freedom is a state of mind.

12. Who is Xeones' sparring partner?
(a) Xerxes is Xeones' sparring partner.
(b) Rooster is Xeones' sparring partner.
(c) Alexandros is Xeones' sparring partner.
(d) Polynikes is Xeones' sparring partner.

13. What happens to the parents of Xeones?
(a) They escape with him.
(b) They are captured and sold into slavery.
(c) They are killed trying to defend their home.
(d) They also escape, but are separated and spend years searching for him.

14. How do the Spartans count their dead?
(a) The senior surviving officer calls out the names of the soldiers, and who ever doesn't answer is counted as dead.
(b) They each have half of a twig with their names on them, and the other half is in a basket. After the battle, they all match their halves to the others in the basket and count the remaining twigs.
(c) They stand in formation and count off.
(d) They walk the field of battle and count the dead.

15. Who is the half helot's father?
(a) His father is king Leonidas.
(b) His father is a member of the council.
(c) His father is a farmer.
(d) His father had been a Spartan soldier.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Rooster feel about Alexandros smuggling special salve for Xeones?

2. How old are Xeones and Diomache when they separate?

3. What does the Egyptian tell the Spartans about the Persian invasion?

4. Where does the Spartan king march and fight, relative to the rest of his army?

5. Why does Xeones refuse to narrate anymore?

(see the answer keys)

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