View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Athens in a superior position at the start of the war?
(a) Because her her allies are more numerous, richer, and better positioned to prosecute hostilities against the largely agrarian Spartans.
(b) Because the Athenian army is better trained and more rugged.
(c) Because Athens is built on an unassailable mountaintop.
(d) Because Athens has the largest army in the world at that time.

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

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

4. What problem soon arises for Athens?
(a) Their triremes begin needing major repairs.
(b) The treasury is rapidly being depleted.
(c) They have a large number of military desertions.
(d) They begin having to travel farther for supplies.

5. In the early days of the war, which power seems to have the upper hand?
(a) Thrace
(b) Corinth
(c) Sparta
(d) Athens

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the four major geographic areas listed in Book One?

2. What happens to the annual raids on Attica in 426 BC?

3. Why does Thucydides say that Sparta chose to go to war against Athens?

4. What did Sparta demand of her allies?

5. By the end of Book Two, how widespread is the war?

Short Essay Questions

1. Simultaneous to the blockade of Mytilene, what offensive action was taken by Athens?

2. What was Thucydides' attitude toward so-called supernatural occurrences?

3. What was the significance of the Mytilenean revolt against Athens?

4. What was the only threat to Athenian power after the defeat of the invading Persians?

5. What happened to Brasidas during the unsuccessful assault on Pylos?

6. What was unusual about Spartan use of new methods of war?

7. What was the first major geographical area in the Peloponnesian War?

8. What complicates the chronology of Thucydides' history?

9. What happened to the Spartan fleet dispatched to Mytilene?

10. What did Thucydides identify as the starting point of the war?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 821 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample