History of the Peloponnesian War | Short Question Answer Key

Short Answer Key

Book 1

1. What are the dates of the Peloponnesian War ?

431 to 404 BC

2. The war is between what two powers?

The Athenian empire and the Peloponnesian League, an alliance of city-states led by Sparta.

3. What is the stated purpose of Book One of Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War?

To establish background and attempt to examine the causes of the war.

4. How is the book historically divided by modern scholars?

Book One has historically been subdivided into two named segments although these do not exist as such in the text itself.

5. What is the general title given to the first twenty-three paragraphs of Book One?

The Archaelogy

6. Paragraphs 89 through118 are referred to as the Pentecontaetia and deal with what aspect of the history?

In this segment, Thucydides examines a period of roughly fifty years leading up to the formal...
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