View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. In Chapter 9, who dies on the final night of the training exercise?
(a) Alexandros dies on the final night.
(b) Hermion dies on the final night.
(c) Rooster dies on the final night.
(d) Dekton dies on the final night.

4. How do the Spartans count their dead?
(a) 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.
(b) They stand in formation and count off.
(c) They walk the field of battle and count the dead.
(d) The senior surviving officer calls out the names of the soldiers, and who ever doesn't answer is counted as dead.

5. What does Dienekes teach about fear?
(a) He teaches that fear is silly and unmanly.
(b) He teaches that fear is a very real, and dangerous thing.
(c) He teaches that fear defeats the enemies of Sparta.
(d) He teaches that the only thing to fear is fear itself.

6. What does agoge boua mean?
(a) Agoge boua means training platoon.
(b) Agoge boua means battle rage.
(c) Agoge boua means honorable death.
(d) Agoge boua means eight-nighter.

7. How does Polynikes react to Alexandros' answer?
(a) He is saddened.
(b) He is angered.
(c) He is happy.
(d) He does not care.

8. To whom does Rooster become a squire?
(a) He becomes the squire of Leonidas.
(b) He becomes the squire of Xerxes.
(c) He becomes the squire of Olympieus.
(d) He became the squire of Dienekes.

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

10. After their return to Sparta, how does Alexandros tell Polynikes the battle made him feel?
(a) He tells Polynikes that he experienced a bloodlust during the battle.
(b) He tells Polynikes that the battle didn't effect him at all.
(c) He tells Polynikes that the battle made him sick.
(d) He tells Polynikes that he was amused by the ease with which they defeated the enemy.

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

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

13. By what other name is Sparta called?
(a) Sparta is also called Thermopylae.
(b) Sparta is also called The Hot Gates.
(c) Sparta is also called Lakedaemon.
(d) Sparta is also called Mount Oracle.

14. Xeones tells of an exercise that the people in the baggage train practice where they serve as punching bags for the Spartan heavy infantry. What is this exercise called?
(a) It is called The Oak.
(b) It is called sparring.
(c) It is called The Ploughman's Blade.
(d) It is called The Breaking.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the half helot's nickname?

2. Why does Xeones go out into a snowstorm to freeze to death?

3. What kind of story does Xerxes want to hear in chapter one?

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

5. What are the Spartan battle games designed for?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 822 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample