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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Book 2.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who are the Helots?
(a) Athenian spies in Sparta
(b) A minor political party in Sparta
(c) Greeks from Helotia
(d) Serfs who are little more than Spartan slaves

2. What natural phenomenon affects the war at the same time as a failed peace envoy to Sparta?
(a) The plague appears in Lesbos, then Athens, and then Potidaea.
(b) A tsunami causes widespread destruction in the Peloponnesian isthmus.
(c) An earthquake brings down much of Athens' walls.
(d) Cyclones sweep across the eastern side of Greece.

3. What opinion does Thucydides seem to have about Pericles as a leader?
(a) He faults him for not taking on Sparta sooner.
(b) He blames him for the later defeats of the Athenians.
(c) He rates him as highly effectual.
(d) He thinks he is too passive.

4. Why is the Theban attack able to precipitate the war?
(a) There is a serious debate over which league would be allied to Thebes.
(b) It threatenes to weaken the Spartan strength and made immediate war necessary.
(c) False information has Thebes invading Athens.
(d) Athens and Sparta both embrace the Theban attack as the justification for, and opportunity toward, a greater conflict.

5. What political action does Sparta take in 432 BC?
(a) Sparta decides to declare war against Athens.
(b) Sparta pulls out of the conflict between Corinth and Athens.
(c) Sparta begins adding more allies to the Peloponnesian League.
(d) Sparta holds a referrendum to see what their citizens want to do.

Short Answer Questions

1. After the war begins, what diplomatic success does Athens have?

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

3. What composes what Thucydides calls Western Hellas?

4. Who is the notable politician who is successful in diverting the attention of Sparta from the Athenians?

5. Who prevents the Athenian army from marching out to meet the Spartans?

(see the answer key)

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