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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What removes Syracuse, Sicily, and Italy from the text of Thucydides' history?
(a) Athens' ultimate defeat of Syracuse
(b) The defeat and rout of the Athenians
(c) Sparta turing its attention on Thrace
(d) The eruption of Mt. Aetna

3. 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) Martial law is declared to restore order and democracy.
(d) The democracy splits into three separate factions.

4. What innovation does Gylippus utilize in the second battle at Syracuse?
(a) Battering rams
(b) Cavalry
(c) Explosives
(d) Catapults

5. At first, what action by Athens signifies a lack of understanding of the defeat at Syracuse?
(a) They vote to build more ships and press forward with the war.
(b) They launch an attack on Sparta.
(c) They believe their allies will not desert them.
(d) They raise taxes and duties for military spending.

Short Answer Questions

1. What success does Cleon have during the time of Book 5?

2. What is the relationship of Melos to Athens during the period of the peace of Nicias?

3. What is the response to Nicias' communique during the winter of 414 BC?

4. What military plan is put into effect in response to Nicias' request?

5. Who is instrumental in getting Sparta to join Syracuse against Athens?

Short Essay Questions

1. What commonly held belief did Thucydides reject but observed its impact on the war?

2. What explanation is given to the stylistic density and complexity of History of the Peloponnesian War?

3. Aside from the disintegration of Athens and its allies, what was the political/military condition of the Grecian world in 412 BC?

4. What is today generally referred to as the peace of Nicias?

5. What happened in Athens after the revolt of Euboea?

6. To what did Thucydides attribute the final rout of the Athenian navy in the harbor at Syracuse?

7. Who was the charismatic Athenian who promulgated an anti-Spartan alliance in the Peloponnesus? What weakness did he seem to have?

8. What historical turning point is inaugurated by Athens in 415 BC?

9. In 411 BC, what happened to Athenian democracy?

10. During the so-called peace of Nicias, what marked the military conflict between Athens and Sparta?

(see the answer keys)

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