View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who owns the Helots?
(a) The Spartan state
(b) The Persian who farms them out to Sparta.
(c) Individual Spartan citizens
(d) The Spartan merchants

2. What is the major blow to Athens from the Mytilene revolt?
(a) The loss of triremes supplied by the island of Lesbos
(b) A potential blockade of Athenian waterways
(c) Vast sums of tribute money no longer available
(d) The defection of thousands of soldiers from Lesbos

3. What complication does geographic scope add to the difficulty of reading Book One?
(a) The geography is only hinted at and not spelled out clearly.
(b) The geographic scope of Book One, particularly throughout the Pentecontaetia, is vast and shifts rapidly.
(c) The geography uses names of places that were used only in thucydides' time.
(d) The geography is inexact based on maps that were not correct.

4. In the same year as the Plataea defeat, what is happening in Corcyra?
(a) The economy is growing from sales of weapons.
(b) They hold new elections.
(c) They are disbanding their army.
(d) There is a revolt.

5. At the time Athens is gaining control in Lesbos, what is happening in Plataea?
(a) Plataea declares itself neutral.
(b) Plataea is defeated by an Athenian attack.
(c) Plataea finally capitulates and the Spartans execute all of the surviving forces.
(d) Plataea holds off the Spartans until Athenian forces arrive.

6. After the Helot uprising in Sparta, what action does Athens take?
(a) Athens removes sparta from the Delian League.
(b) Athens resettles some Helots and forges a strong alliance with Megara, which splits from Corinth.
(c) Athens conscripts Helots to fight against Persia.
(d) Athenian armies are defeated by Corinth.

7. According to Cleon, why does the attack at Sphacteria stall?
(a) Not enough troops
(b) Too much rest time
(c) The curse of the gods
(d) Poor field management

8. After the Spartan forces give up the Attica offensive, what does Athens continue to do?
(a) Press for a military truce and peace treaty
(b) Hit-and-run naval attacks on the Peloponesian isthmus
(c) Build higher walls around Athens
(d) Stockpile commodities against future Spartan attacks

9. What is detailed in Book Two?
(a) The formula Thucydides uses for writing the remainer of the history
(b) A complex layout of the geography of the day
(c) The biographies of important individuals ca. 421 BC
(d) The beginning history of the Peloponesian War

10. How are Spartan envoys able to get through the Athenian blockade of Mytilene?
(a) They go around and come in on the back side of Lesbos.
(b) They infiltrate the Athenians and get into the city.
(c) They disguise themselves as merchant ships.
(d) In those days, envoys are always given safe passage.

11. During the winter of 427 BC, what returns to Athens?
(a) The money owned to the Delian League
(b) The plague
(c) The Athenian fleet
(d) The Athenian soldiers from Corcyra

12. After Athens intervenes in Corcyra, what does Thucydides observe?
(a) Violence of all kinds sweeps through Corcyra and mass murder is enacted for political and personal reasons.
(b) There is nothing left of Corcyra.
(c) Corcyrans flee to the safety of Athens.
(d) It is a time of peace in Corcyra.

13. What happens when Athens attempts to invade Boeotia?
(a) The oracle at Delphi forbids the invasion.
(b) They suffers a disastrous defeat.
(c) The Boeotians escape to the mountains.
(d) The Athenians run out of supplies and have to retreat.

14. Paragraphs 89 through118 are referred to as the Pentecontaetia and deal with what aspect of the history?
(a) This segment deals with the five geographical areas of the major powers involved.
(b) The segment is used to give the five majoy reasons that tensions were running high.
(c) In this segment, Thucydides examines a period of roughly fifty years leading up to the formal outbreak of hostilities.
(d) In this segment, Thucydides ennumerates the five main generals who led the wars.

15. While the Spartan fleet is at sea, what is happening in Mytilene?
(a) The Mytilene envoy is recalled from Athens.
(b) The Mytilenes halt ship production.
(c) The Mytilene government has a change of mind.
(d) The people of Mytilene seize power and surrender the city to Athens.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Sparta demand of her allies?

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

3. How might the Spartan envoy to the Athenians have changed history?

4. Which political powers are at the epicenter of the Peloponnesian War?

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 818 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample