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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Book 6.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Thucydides suddenly include more information on Peloponnesian events?
(a) He is able to travel to Sparta under the protection of an envoy.
(b) Thucydides' exile somehow gains him greater access to Peloponnesian sources.
(c) He finds a Peloponnesian collabarator.
(d) He goes to Pylos and stays there for a long time.

2. How does Thucydides write about important speeches and rhetoric during his time?
(a) As a scribe, he is actually present for most of the important speeches and negotiations.
(b) He interviews important principal characters in the political area of his day.
(c) He has a good imagination for what is being thought and said.
(d) He asserts a knowledge about the thoughts of individuals at key moments within the history.

3. Which government did Sparta seek to form an alliance with in spite of earlier conflicts?
(a) Egypt
(b) Persia
(c) Corinth
(d) Thrace

4. Why do the Spartans fear the Helots?
(a) The Helots control most of the money.
(b) The Helots are adept at warfare.
(c) The Helots have treaties with the Athenians.
(d) The Helots outnumber the Spartans.

5. By the end of Book Two, how widespread is the war?
(a) It is confined to Attica
(b) From the Peloponnesian coast all the way up into Thrace
(c) Limited to the Peleponnesian isthmus
(d) Up to the borders of the Persian Empire

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is the initial confrontation between Sparta and the Athenians?

2. How do the Spartans react about their marooned troops?

3. Stylistically speaking, what is the quality of Thucydides' text?

4. How does Thucydides picture certain charismatic generals during the years of the Peloponnesian War?

5. What appears to be a mistake made by the Athenian forces under Pericles?

(see the answer key)

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