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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What further mischief does a former Athenian general create in 412 BC?
(a) Demosthenes attempts to establish an oligarchy with himself at its head.
(b) Nicias leads a revolt of the Athenian army.
(c) Cleon turns traitor and gives state secrets to Sparta.
(d) Alcibiades attempts to subvert an Athenian army in the field at Samos.

2. What is Alcibiades able to do in the Peloponnesus?
(a) Establish new strongholds
(b) Surround Sparta
(c) Form a successful naval blockade
(d) Create an Athenian-dominated, anti-Spartan alliance.

3. From a more historical point of view, how does the peace of Nicias seem to scholars?
(a) It seems to be misnamed for Nicias and should be credited to Cleon.
(b) It does not look like a peace at all.
(c) It looks like a failed effort at diplomacy.
(d) It appears to be a gradual cessation of hostilities.

4. Where is Thucydides writing his History of the Peloponnesian War?
(a) In the Library of Alexandria
(b) In Sparta
(c) In exile
(d) Underground Athens

5. During the winter of 421 BC, what happens with the Boeotians?
(a) They capitulate to Sparta and avoid a massacre.
(b) They refuse an alliance with Sparta and make new ones of their own.
(c) They are once again defeated by Athens.
(d) They begin arming for an offensive in the spring.

Short Answer Questions

1. What ultimatum does Athens give to Melos?

2. As Spartan power grows, what happens in the Delian League?

3. What desecration of religious idols is charged to Alcibiades?

4. How are the triremes used in naval combat?

5. How do scholars generally explain the contradictions in Thucydides' text?

Short Essay Questions

1. In 422 BC, what caused the popularity of the Athenian general, Cleon, to rise?

2. What was so alarming about the revolt of Chios?

3. What shenanigan was attributed to Alcibiades prior to his setting sail for Sicily?

4. What feature of Thucydides' writing would not be acceptable in historical writing today?

5. What was the mindset of Athens after the defeats at Syracuse?

6. What was Thucydides' intention for his history of the war in terms of future reference?

7. After Gylippus' arrival in Syracuse, what immediate conflict began between Syracuse and the Athenians?

8. What explanation is given to the stylistic density and complexity of History of the Peloponnesian War?

9. After the defeat at Syracuse, what was the condition of of the Athenian league?

10. Who was the charismatic Athenian who promulgated an anti-Spartan alliance in the Peloponnesus? What weakness did he seem to have?

(see the answer keys)

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