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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the political position of Argos from 418 through 416 BC?
(a) Consistently pro Spart
(b) Consistently pro-Athens
(c) Maintained neutrality
(d) Vascilation between Athens and Sparta

2. Who incites the revolt of Chios?
(a) Tissaphernes
(b) Demosthenes
(c) Alcibiades
(d) Brasias

3. What ultimatum does Athens give to Melos?
(a) Build triemes for Athens or face an embargo
(b) Join the Delian League or remain neutral
(c) Surrender supporters of Sparta or face the consequences
(d) Pay tribute or be wholly destroyed

4. When Alcibiades is eventually recalled for blasphemy, what does he do?
(a) He flees to Sparta.
(b) He tears up the summons.
(c) He goes to Alexandria.
(d) He hires Socrates to defend him.

5. What is the significance of Thucydides' inclusion of the story of Aristogiton and Harmodius?
(a) It is an important event that is glossed over lightly.
(b) It is a nearly unique authorial digression from the history of the war itself.
(c) It is a strange inclusion of Greek superstition.
(d) It has nothing to do with either Athens or Sparta.

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

7. What area remains as the seat of power after the defeat at Syracuse?
(a) Persia and Corinth.
(b) Athens and the Delian League.
(c) Samos, Chios, and Sardis.
(d) The Attica-Euboea-Boeotia-Peloponnesus Theater

8. What unusual plan does Syracuse put into operation against Athens?
(a) Syracuse sends sick civilians into the Athenian ranks to spread disease.
(b) Syracusans build a fleet and attack the Athenian navy.
(c) Syracusans lead land attacks.
(d) Syracusans put out a rumor that the city has the plague.

9. What happens in 411 BC to the Athenian democracy after the defeat at Syracuse?
(a) All the leaders resign in helplessness.
(b) Athenian democracy collapses under the pressure of assassinations and military defeat.
(c) The democracy splits into three separate factions.
(d) Martial law is declared to restore order and democracy.

10. How are the triremes used in naval combat?
(a) They aim for the enemy ship and ram it.
(b) They come alongside another trireme and break its oars.
(c) They are outfitted with dart throwing devices.
(d) The move in quickly and are able to board the enemy ship.

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

12. What major battle occurs in the winter of 415 BC?
(a) Athens versus Syracuse
(b) Sparta versus Italy
(c) Sicily versus Macedonia
(d) Thrace versus Thebes

13. What makes it plausible that Thucydides begins his history from first-hand knowledge?
(a) His father is Athenian and his mother is from Sparta.
(b) He is a wealthy Athenian and general in the early days of the war.
(c) He is a financier who has connections in high places.
(d) He is associated with the highest levels of diplomacy in the early days.

14. What are many Syracusans advocating prior to the arrival of Gylippus?
(a) Calling for spartan intervention
(b) Joining the Delian League
(c) Abandoning the region
(d) A settlement with Athens

15. What is the response to Nicias' communique during the winter of 414 BC?
(a) Nicias' correspondence is intercepted by Sparta.
(b) There is cold silence after Nicias' request arrives in Athens.
(c) After debate, the city decides to send more reinforcements and new leadership.
(d) Athens answers that there are no more reinforcements available.

Short Answer Questions

1. What charismatic individual rises to prominence in 420 BC?

2. What practice does Thucydides not value other than recognizing its effect on politics and the military?

3. What are the Athenians doing in Italy at about the same time?

4. What claim does Alcibiades make when the Phoenician navy remains neutral in the Aegean?

5. How does Gylippus counteract the Athenian siege?

(see the answer keys)

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